These Broken Tears || Kotlc

Chapter Fifteen: Wylie

Atlantis is crumbling.

That sounded like the worst description ever, but Wylie couldn't explain it.

All the buildings were being blown to bits- as none of them had ever been built to survive a full on war. If that was what was going on.

Up until now, the Neverseen had been very subtle with their attacks, thefts, and planning. But all that seemed to be thrown away.

It was very. . . spontaneous. And now it looked like that the sunken city would be flooded at last.

Pyrokinetics and Psionipaths from the Neverseen furiously worked to try and take the giant force field down while still others flooded the streets, throwing fire and all sorts of bombs across Atlantis. People were shrieking with terror.

All Wylie was doing was running. He wished he could save them- he really did. But his ability was practically useless for anything fighting related. He had to be smart and evacuate as many people as possible- then get to Maruca and Lesedi Chebota to see if they were okay.

They were his only family left.

Wylie choked back sobs. He just watched his father Prentice and Tiergan being blown to bits in one explosion. There had been nothing left. In the span of two second Wylie had become an orphan- and the only living Endal. He had to get to Lesedi and Maruca.

Boom.

"DUCK!" Wylie heard one teenager say- one he knew. Wylie crouched to the ground as some sort of fireball hurled over him.

His breathing heavy, Wylie looked up. It was Tam.

"T-Tam? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was originally looking for an ointment for Linh- but, now. . . you know," Tam muttered, crouched low behind him, his face full of ash.

"It's not safe here- we have to move," Wylie said, pulling Tam behind a wall of debris.

A blast sounded from overhead and Wylie instinctively covered his head. But he heard Tam scream. 

Wylie looked up to see the Shade fall to the floor, his hands scrambling at his face.

"We have to move!" Wylie shouted. Tugging on Tam, Wylie felt a trickle of blood flowing down his arm.

It was dripping from Tam's face. There was practically nothing but blood. His nose was basically blown to pieces and his eyes were red and puffy- almost squeezed shut. He couldn't tell if there was any flesh left.

Wylie grimaced, deciding he didn't want to see the horrific damage done to the poor boy. 

"Come on, you can do it," Wylie said gruffly, helping Tam to his feet. He heard Tam choke back a sob from the pain.

 Wylie led Tam as they both ran, heads ducked towards whatever exit out of the city.

Wylie bumped into someone. Staggering back he saw his cousin Lesedi Chebota, tears streaming down her face. She was covered in scratches and scorch marks.

"Wylie!" she gasped, embracing him in a tight hug, soaking his tunic with tears.

"Lesedi? W-what's wrong?"

She gulped, tried to speak, but her eyes were round with shock and fear.

"What is it?" Wylie begged.

"Not right now," murmured Tam anxiously, his voice scratched and damaged.

"But-" Wylie trailed off.

"No, we have to get out of here. Lesedi- isn't it? Come on, we have to keep going," Tam huffed.

Choking back sobs, Lesedi shook her head, backing away. "The- the lagoons to exit. They aren't working. The Neverseen destroyed them. We- we can't leave. We're all doomed."

Silence. Wylie didn't know what to say. Was this the end? Would he never get to go back? Never live a happy life?

Tam looked down, clenching his fists. "I- I have to get back to Linh," his voice broke. "I- I can't leave her."

"We will," Wylie promised Tam, his voice shaking. Wylie patted Tam's shoulder, "We'll figure a way out. You'll see Linh again and me and Lesedi will find Maruca. It- it'll all be fine."

Lesedi broke down in sobs once more. "Wylie- she's, she's dead! They killed her! They're going to kill us all!"

"M- Maruca? They killed her?" Wylie said, shuddering. He collapsed on the ground. Another family member gone. How much more could he take?

He wished for tears to overcome him- to relieve him of this terrible pain. But none came. There were none left. Everything was burning down- and was soon to be flooded. No Hydrokinetic was going to be able to hold off the whole ocean.

Except Linh. The beautiful, smart, kind, selfless Linh. Wylie hoped it wasn't weird how much his heart ached for her.

He hoped that the . . . gap didn't mean anything to her.

Wylie shook himself. He couldn't be thinking about that right now. Or maybe he should.

Maybe he should just in case he'd never get the chance to again.

Who knew if they'd make it out alive anyway?

What if this was the end?

What if all of his fighting- all of his sacrifices, meant nothing in the end?

He gulped, trying to push out the thoughts with one, singular strand of hope that tuned out everything else- that would soon be the death of him.

I always find the way out.

***

A/N: Sorry for this crappy chapter! I know it could've been a lot better but honestly I didn't know how I wanted to arrange everything!

Happy Reading!

-will0w-tree