Project Devilgama

Twenty-One

That man in teal white suit sluggishly walked, tumbling left and right. His body could not find a subsidy amidst the heavy smoke. On the Platform, the thick flame had swarmed the edge and started consuming it from outside in. The surrounding air became saturated in a dark, cloudy haze. The world turned murky before him, only lit by occasional sparks and a background of fire.

He looked at both of his hands as he stepped, dust and dirt ingrained its crevices, swelling redness. He took his spectacle off his eyes, which is now defiled with cracks and dust. It had shut off completely.

It was only about time; he lost his balance as his vision began to blur. Dizziness was getting prominent – fireflies swirl inside his eyes. His body dropped to the hot plate of the Platform, but then the heat gave him the urge to crawl. He only needed to get out. As quickly as possible, otherwise, he would suffocate and the worst thing happens; getting grilled inside here.

His hand gripped the surface ahead, then dragged his body forth with it. Then the same goes with another hand. Little by little, he would make it through.

He did not even have the power to doubt himself.

A series of approaching footsteps clang behind. "Come on, man." In the last few steps, a brief, barely noticeable voice seeped into his ears. It was Nate's.

Mhaz could feel his acheful right arm lifted and put across the shoulders. With Nate's support, he began to stride. He could hear Nate's unstable gasps; it kept telling Mhaz that despite all his valiant effort, he might not be sturdier than him either.

"Where's Watcher?" Nate asked, lowly.

Mhaz had no clue about her. The last time he saw her, she was hanging near the edge of the Platform with her life on the tip of the horn.

"Watche!" Nate spontaneously called out. It was to no avail.

Mhaz and Nate kept on walking. They directed their steps toward the side where it smokes the least, where they could drop off the burning wreck.

"Alright, let us hop down," Nate said as the two were two steps away from a secure, fireless ledge of the Platform.

The two hopped down together and crumbled apart right after touching the hard concrete surface. Using his last boost of energy, Nate immediately sprang back to Mhaz, slipped both of his arms into his armpit, then began dragging him away from the burning Platform – that was to avoid getting blown up, just in case. They did not make it far, though.

Still, there was no cry left to spew.

Nate sat with his legs stretched out. Mhaz lay flat on his back, puffing thick breaths as if all the fatigue, heat, and pain could vaporize off with it. And he gazed up, the sight his eyes captured put him a hit of amazement. All he saw were branch-like protuberances stemming around the place he stood on. They were arranged sparsely among each other and by no means uniform – just like the branches of a tree. There were modules on each tip of that, and together, all of them concocted a crown of Beton tree.

Now, he realized that his Platform had fallen among the crannies.

At the first glance, this structure seemed to serve as a hotel or apartment. It was supposed to be thriving and lit but sadly, all of them appear weathered and colorless just like the rest of the city. Battered by manmade disasters, all the modules were riddled with shattered windows and messy holes.

The distant noise of the blasts still occasionally visited Mhaz's ear; the sounds were heard as a barrage of crackles, the low-pitched brattles that gave him a slight jolt, and the rest of them that made up the ambiance.

Nate stood and strode. He took Mhaz's hand; pulled him up and put him back on his feet. He checked the side pocket on his pants which seemed to bulge, he knew Farad's drive was still there.

It relieved him a little.

"We got to find Watcher," Nate said.

"Alright. But we should not hassle checking up on this entire rooftop. Start by the Platform's edges." Mhaz responded as he began to move. "You check over this side, I do the other."

"I'm here," The voice of the woman sprang right as the two started the plan. It was Watchers. She appeared from the blowing smoke, upright, but she was almost as bad as them. As she unleashed the modular sash off her, she spoke again, "But we have a problem,"