The World Of Steam

51

The Black Mark continued their raging battle against the Zeppelin, pounding it with everything that they had. Bullets and bombs exploded against it uselessly, doing nothing but enveloping it in a giant cocoon of smoke. The force field stayed and the balloon continued its floating reign of terror. More and more people fell as Dexton signed their death warrants. A sniper quickly ran up numerous flights of stairs, skipping two at a time, his rifle in both of his hands. Finding a high enough post, he reached into his coat taking out a single large, glowing, blue bullet. Frowning as he looked at it for a second, he loaded it into the chamber. He armed the gun and aimed. He pulled the trigger, juddering backwards slightly from the immense force and watched as the bullet flew for its target, leaving a trail of crackling blue lightning behind it. It made its way through the force field, punching a hole through it as it did so. The bullet pierced through the fabric and struck itself into the metal frame. There was a bright flash, followed by a spark of electricity that enveloped the Zeppelin for a single second as the bullet blew up. The force field shimmered once and was quickly disabled. The engineer was suddenly blown back as the generator exploded in his face, spraying electricity all over him. His back hit the wall and he collapsed to the floor, not moving. His coat released steam like a campfire, scorched. The sniper looked up, over to the Zeppelin and after giving a second for his brain to process what had happened, he laughed in triumph. Grabbing the advantage that they had now, The Black Mark fired their rifles in a never ending stream of bullets, pelting the powerless Zeppelin with all of the might that they had left. The bullets punched holes through the windows of the Zeppelin's gondola, killing a few pilots in the process. All of a sudden, the airship exploded in a fiery blaze and began to crash to the ground, billowing a huge black plume of smoke as it burned. Panic was instantly engaged. The gunners left their posts. The soldiers began to open windows and jump from them. They all splashed into the river below. Dexton looked down at the rapidly nearing ground and merely sighed, not seeming bothered that his fiery death was incoming. As the Zeppelin hit the earth, it exploded once more into a spectacular fireball, toppling buildings and turning every single person beneath it into a pile of smouldering ash. A young man and a young woman sat at the edge of a building's roof and observed the carnage that was going on. Smoke rose from the exploded Zeppelin and the flames quickly engulfed the city, burning away at the bricks, charring the pavements and roads. The man finished eating away at a finger and flicked the bone over the edge, letting it fall onto the street below. A show like this needed some snacks. The woman clasped his hand and put her head down onto his shoulder, a small emotion of grief and sadness present in her eyes.