A Crumbling Society

Part 1-14

"Carson! Carson!? What do we do?", Liza began asking. She tried to walk towards me, but Josie stopped her and told her to give me a second to breathe. A lot began to hit me all at once, the laughing from them on the watch panel, the things I've seen each of them do, everyone we've lost. I see the flames again, rising around buildings and homes. People being mutilated, screams of pain, I can't breathe. "I can't breathe", I said in panic. "I can't breathe", I fell to the ground and pushed myself up against the wall feeling like I'm being attacked from all sides. My breathing becoming shorter and shorter rapidly as the thoughts wouldn't stop. Josie told Liza to give me space and she carefully put her hand out towards me. She created a current of air that went into my nose and forced me to exhale. It kept up for a few minutes while Josie turned to Liza and said, "You're the leader, you decide what to do!" Liza asked if that meant Josie would come back, she told her only if she can at least tell her kids what the plan was and how to stay out of the way. They agreed on it, Josie said she would finish her rounds on shift and then head home. She would meet us later and figure out what else needed to get done to get the rest of the team together. I felt a bit better now, slowly standing up, with help from Liza. I gave Josie a card with a symbol on it and told her when she knows she is in the clear, call Reena to meet her with the others. I also told her they would still need help on their end, and it was easier for Liza and me to travel as a pair to stay blended with crowds. We all agreed and then Josie slipped out of the break room to finish work. Liza looked at me concernedly asking if I was fully okay again. I told her I was fine, my visions are coming true, that could be a good thing and a bad one but I'm more terrified than satisfied. If they all come true then the world really is over, and that means we failed. "We haven't even begun to strike back, we have to focus on getting everyone back together then we can tackle the real problem at hand, don't worry so much", she said. I told her I can try not to, but it wouldn't be so easy.

We made sure nobody was around when we slipped out of the room. I needed a minute to regain my strength after my episode to be able to teleport us to New York to get Jace. Liza suggested food and it sounded like a good idea, so we left the hospital and headed in the opposite direction of the carnage in the city. There was a somewhat peaceful area that looked like it was full of upper-class people. Several quads filled the area in each direction with multiple groups relaxing in them. Eateries were everywhere with their own places to sit outside. It was almost as if this place had no idea what was going on elsewhere around the corner. It was strange, but then we passed a group of people who seemed to be businessmen with their suits on and ties to match their socks. They were talking about how nice it was to pay the city to leave this district alone and target the lower-class sections so that they could scare people away. Rebuilding afterwards was their plan to bring in better wealth. Liza went to strike a rebuttal and I grabbed her hand and yanked her back towards me. "Remember, we can't draw attention to ourselves, anyone could be working for the president and if we get caught all hope is lost". "I'm sorry", she said looking away with minor embarrassment but then turned back to ask if the Italian place sounded good, I told her yes and we entered. Waiting in line I told her that I agreed with wanting to say something, how messed up it is that that's what those men are doing. It really isn't fair but then again, to suit up and stop things could get us killed. I told her we don't want to end up like Mega, no, we can't end up like Mega I corrected myself. This whole thing is giving enough of a reason to hate the world, but we have a plan and it's best to stick with it.

Sitting and eating made me feel even better than I thought it would since I forgot to eat for a while. I was starving and it felt good to eat an entire Italian sandwich. My energy was back, and I was ready to get back to trying to save the world, Liza insisted on sitting longer to finish her salad. I told her that was fine but that I was going to throw away the trash that was just taking up space on the table. We were outside since the air was nice and cool in the sunlight and I had to walk a little bit to get to the trash can. As I got close, I could see a crowd of people standing in an opening down some steps from where I was. People were clapping for some reason, so I made my way down, still trying to figure out why they were all huddled together. I stepped down the last step, about twenty feet away from the crowd and then it hit. My senses told me this was wrong, and now I could see the person in the center of the crowd. He immediately changed his arms into giant limbs of muscle and clapped his hands together with two people in-between them. Their bodies fell to the ground, and he looked at everyone around him as a smirk grew on his face. Everybody began screaming and some began crying; others started running for their lives. His arms then became tentacles grabbing several people all together squeezing the life out of them. Once he dropped them his whole body shifted into some creature form, and he began reaching for anyone he could. It happened so fast I wasn't able to move but then, after the fourth round of people he looked right at me. We stared at each other for a moment, I was more concerned if he was going to charge at me and I'd have to use my magic, but his grin became maniacal, one eyebrow raised up with interest. I then realized he had just figured out who I was. Still standing at the bottom of five steps it started rushing towards me stepping on people that were in its way. I whipped around immediately and sprinted back up to the landing. Liza was still sitting at the table looking in a different direction as I made my way to her. Ten steps away, she looked at me and looked shocked and then I saw her eyes widen knowing what was behind me and he now peaked over the steps. I lunged as hard as I could at her about to tackle her, still airborne, but once I felt her hand on my side and I grabbed her shoulders I said "New York".