×÷ Skies Divided ÷×

◇ Chapter Two - Akira ◇

As soon as I let out my warning, I heard the sound of stuff breaking all around me as April, Ozone, and Sol fled. In the midst of it all, the flame started to grow. Fear had taken over all my senses at that point. In no time, I was separated from the rest of the group in the panic. As fast as my paws could take me, I ran down the hallway towards the exit. As the smell of smoke started to become strong, a loud noise hit my ears. It seemed to be the fire alarm, as April called it. But I could also pick up what seemed to be the faint screeches of other gootraxians. Worried it could be April, I turned around to go back, but I was only greeted with a giant wall of fire blocking the way. It would be impossible to jump over without getting injured in some way. Lashing my tail, I continued heading towards the exit. I would just find the others after this, safe and uninjured... right? Keeping this in mind, I continued running. After turning a corner, I ended up seeing a line of humans blocking the way. They all seemed to have some kind of weapon on them, and there certainly was variety between them. They seemed to have every weapon I could think of- bats, scythes, machetes, pistols, even random stuff like bricks and bottles. It would most likely be hard to get past them, but it was either push through them or get caught in the fire. Sucking it up, I got on all fours and charged foward. It wasn't until I had picked a quite a bit of speed that they noticed me. But ramming into the group was highly effective. Most of them either dodged, ran, or got flung back. While they were stunned, I bolted for the exit door, only to find out the door was stuck. Growling, I tried to pry it open, but to no avail. Letting out an aggravated hiss, I ran off to try and find another exit. But this time, it would probably be harder. The flame was garenteed to have spread by now, possibly blocking some exits. But after seeing flames blocking off any ways foward, I decided that my best chance of survival was to try and pry the broken door open. Turning back around, I quickly ran back to where the original exit was. I had fully expected to see the humans there when I turned the corner, but yo my surprise they were gone. Not taking the time to think about it, I unsheathed my claws. I didn't have much time for error here. The fire was only getting closer, and my chest was already starting to hurt from the amount of smoke in the air. Sticking my claws in the small opening in between the door, I pushed against it. It hurt, but it was better than dying to the fire. But to my disappointment, the door only budged a bit. Growling in frustration, I kept pushing. I needed to get out alive. I needed to be able to see everything again. I needed to be able to see April. But even with my best efforts, the door only opened a bit more. Letting out a roar, I continued. I wasn't going to go down like this. The smoke was getting worse, the flames closer and closer. I was coughing like wild, but I continued to try and push open the door. And after all of my effort, it finally gave in and opened. Stumbling out of the door, I was greeted with giant weird machines and a weird rock-like substance under my paws. But in the moment, I wasn't focused on exploring the outside world. I was focused on survival. So I ran off towards a dark place filled with weird green and brown things, most taller than me. But I stopped short. April, Ozone, and Sol were still out there. Coughing, I turned around and bolted back towards the flaming facility. Smoke was billowing up, and a few weird machines with flashing red and blue lights blared in the distance. Though at that point, the only thing on my mind was April. Yes, I also cared about Ozone and Sol, but April was my main worry. I didn't want to let anything bad happen to her. As soon as I got to the edge or the fire, I started to circle around it. The whole facility was now on fire, the thing was lighting up the whole... sky? I think that's what April said it was called. Gootraxians were also near the flames, though none as close as I was. Though I probably shouldn't have got that close, as I was still coughing pretty bad, to the point I could only taste blood and smoke. But I was ignoring it, as I was determined. Looking around, I saw a few gootraxs I was unfamiliar with. Probably ones from the test lab that had managed to escape aswell. There also seemed to be a few humans aswell, although most of them had run off in those weird machine things. But nothing I saw even left me of a hint of where April could be. But after awhile of circling the building looking for stuff, the weird, noisy, flashy light machines came near, which caused most of the goos to flee the scene. The only ones who stayed seemed to be more curious than worried. I was also slightly curious, but I was more worried than anything. As I was about to near the machines, a ton of humans jumped out and grabbed what looked to be a hose from the gardens, but much bigger and a little off looking. But after I sat there for a few more seconds, I confirmed it was just a giant hose. The humans were using it to seemingly put out the fire. After a moment of just standing there, I decided I would try and hide to see what was in the aftermath. It might've been a bit hard for me to hide however, as I was still coughing pretty badly, to the point a bit of blood had started to drip out of my mouth.

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After the fire was put out, all that remained was ash, rocks, goo, and an assortment of other ruined things. Everything seemed to have been destroyed, from the top floor to the basement. Which meant everything I had ever known was now destroyed. My home, the cave, everything. I only had my hopes and senses to guide me now. But after giving up on find April here and trying to run off to search somewhere else, I fell down in a coughing fit. My chest burned horribly, it seemed the smoke had gotten me pretty good. So good my vision started to haze. Trying to make a call for help, I used what was left of my energy to cry out... but nothing came out. As my vision started to go black, I could've sworn I saw a flash of grey and red and something lift me...

(Look at that, I'm back! Apologies for the break, but I'll be updating more from now on. Wonder what the flash could've been?) 1198 words