Descension

CHAPTER 39

Zeline's knees buckle as she stares at the amalgam of blood, bone, and powder-white fabric before her. She feels her knees hit the pavement and bruise, her shaking hands reaching for the emblem. Split in half, she picks up one piece in each hand and places them together until the shards match up. Tears stream down her blazing cheeks, down her chattering jaw, and drip off of her chin to mingle with the blood beneath her. She screams out a sob, the sound echoing off of the buildings and bodies surrounding her. She cries out again, her voice hoarse, eyes bloodshot and wide, entire body shaking. She convulses with each sob, bile rising in her throat as she clutches the emblem to her chest. She throws her head up to the blazing orange sky as she rocks back and forth, pleading to any god there may be to wake her from this nightmare.

She watches the clouds drift by for hours, her trembling body stilling as she freezes up, numb. The winds of the flaxen planes carry away her tears, the reservoir now dry. She had cried all she could. Her head pounds from the ache of twisting her face. She doesn't know how much time has passed as she catches a glimpse of blinding light from the corner of her eye. She slowly, straining, turns her head to the source. Then, she's thrust backwards. Her back slams into the pavement and knocks the wind out of her, the force driving her meters away from where she had knelt. The emblem flies from her grasp and clatters along the pavement. She scrambles to her feet as fragments of shattered glass rain down from above, the windows on every building blast to smithereens. She ducks behind a concrete building and presses up against it, gritting her teeth as she raises her hand to her cheek. It burns as if it had spent hours in the sun.

"Zeline!" Dannika's voice crackles from her comm.

Zeline grabs the comm and raises it to her lips, "I copy you, Dannika! What was that?"

"I-I don't know, it came from!-"

Her voice cuts off.

"Dannika, I lost you!"

Silence.

Then, her voice returns, wrought with horror, "Omnicore!"

Zeline's heart drops. No. It couldn't be. Ben wouldn't let that happen. She fumbles with the comm to change signals, honing into the comm she gave to Ben.

Zeline shouts, "Ben! Ben, do you copy?"

No response.

She gasps slowly for breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she recalls the exercises taught to her when in panic on the battlefield. She squeezes her fists closed and counts backwards from 20. Her mind clears just enough for her to process an objective: Find Ben.

She rushes out from her spot behind the building, leaving the glittering emblem behind her. She follows the signal of Ben's comm through her own, the light at the top of the comm flashing faster as she points it in the correct direction. Southeast. Straight ahead towards... she lifts her eyes from the comm, her gut twisting with dread as she gazes upon the blaze that stains the sky red ...Omnicore.

Breathing in deeply, the air burns her throat and singes her lungs. She coughs and reaches for her cape, slicing off a corner with her sword. She sheathes the saber and wraps the makeshift bandana around her face, her eyes stinging against the hot wind as she rushes forward once more.

The closer she gets, the more devastating the damage. Buildings leveled, shadows of people burned into the ground, fields blanketed in blood-red ash. Her body cries at the radioactive poison leaching into her body, but she carries on, determined to find Ben. She speeds up her pace, now sprinting as fast as she can towards the beacon. A rusty haze begins to thicken before Zeline, and soon enough, she can barely see a meter ahead. The signal begins to fade as the aerosolized Omnium permeates the atmosphere.