Hiro's Hardship (A Welcome To The Madhouse Prequel)

Hiro's Hardship (A Welcome to the Madhouse Prequel): Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Contorted, twisted conglomerations of melted metal, chainglass, and plastic came pouring down from the sky. There was little to no warning before each deadly fragment from the crumbling and burning hotel above, rained down around them. Just a rapid movement of air, seconds before the massive strike. In the bleak darkness, lit mainly by the blazing flames of the exploding edifice above, the whistling, then deafening crashes were almost heart-stopping. Any second, a thunderous fist would smash the earth, throwing up huge clouds of dirt, shrapnel, and dust, crushing anything beneath it, just in front of where the boys were running or to the sides. Several times, Hiro and Jude were thrown to the ground with the forceful impacts, crying out in terror.

If Hiro thought about where the next piece of wreckage was going to land, he would have been frozen into immobility. Most of the chunks of blasted building were the size of large shuttles or greter. It was impossible to predict where the next lethal piece of debris would fall. Hiro was too terrified to look upwards.

The two boys could only run for their lives, dodging the fallen wreckage, panting in panic, and hope they did not end up under the next colossal missile to uncaringly crush whatever lay below. Hiro could not remember a more terrifying time in his life. The entire sky seemed to be falling.

He was hacking and coughing, from all of the dust and ash swirling down, and Jude was wheezing. They had been pelted by hard bits of burnt plastic, melted chainglass, shattered webcrete, and metal shrapnel. Both of the boys were spattered with burns and cuts to their scalps, faces, and hands. The body armour, that covered the rest of their bodies, had protected them from most of the worst rubble that was raining from the sky - the pieces of metal that were hailing from a kilometer above their heads - but the unprotected areas of their bodies were getting pelted. They were just lucky that neither of them had been squashed by any of the huge pieces of debris that were still crashing down around them. No matter how far and how fast they ran, it seemed they had not yet moved to outside the range of the destructive storm.

All they could do was run and run and run. They knew not where they were headed, except away from the danger. Other people were fleeing all around them, like frightened deer, screaming and crying out in terror and pain. Hiro and Jude clasped each other's hand tightly, to prevent separation. They tried to stay away from the other people fleeing. Hiro did not want to think about those who he saw, one second clutching each other as they ran ahead of Jude and Hiro and, in the next instant, buried beneath a burning pile of slag. He and Jude just ran, mouths open, eyes bulging, hearts galloping, in mindless, terrorized panic.

Even though the danger of death still loomed above their heads, the exhausted boys had reached the point where they could barely jog now, their feet dragging on the artificial grass and webcrete. It was a strain to force one foot ahead of the other. Everywhere they looked, there was devastation. It was as if the entire area had been rained on by meteorites.

There were some emergency vehicles flying around with sirens going, although most were not coming into the area just below the decaying hotel. Too many emergency vehicles had been destroyed, already. There were many people being taken by antigrav ambulances out of crushed and broken buildings. There were weeping, wounded, and dead people everywhere. Hiro and Jude ran down unlit streets, where power had been disrupted. The glidewalks were motionless. The buildings were dark.

Jude was now gasping for air, his wheezing loud and strident. Hiro was dragging him forwards, half carrying him.

"I have to rest, Hiro," Jude whispered, his eyelids fluttering. He collapsed to the ground, right where he was, which was on a frozen glidewalk. Hiro's eyes darted around, quickly. His heart was thumping frantically in his chest. He wanted to get out of sight, if they were going to take a rest. Hiro could not help but yank on Jude's hand; he wanted to drag Jude as far as he could. There were some people running towards them on the glidewalk and Hiro did not want to talk to anyone or answer any questions.