The Chapters

Chapter Eighteen

It doesn't hit us. The cannon fire doesn't fall on top of us. The only reason I assume it didn't hit us is because I, being one of the closest people to the edge, can't see any lead or steel raining down up ahead and feel no shockwave of impact behind me. Also, I'm still alive. That's the good news.

Your writing is partly obscured by the new pairs of feet that have joined. And the bad news is?

Based on the shaking that happened between the two chapters, which I guess you missed in the transition, the Death Towers attacked below us. This can mean two things. Either they're too far away and will start aiming more critically as they get closer, or they aren't aiming for the surface of the plateau at all. By targeting underneath us and damaging the foundation of where we are, the Death Towers could bring us down with our own weight.

That feels like it could apply to a number of things...

Maybe. That's not important right now.

The fire cannon is joined by several more, all hitting the rock face below our plateau. The impact and cracking noises spark new panic as people begin picking up on what's happening. Things are left behind and forgotten as they run past them, taking anything they consider valuable with them before rushing to any transport they have access to. I can see that some people are still standing around, looking confused, and that even though others are shouting at them to move and get out of the way, they're hesitant to move or act.

The radios are being passed by, no one deciding to pack them up to save them - no, not true. As more people start moving, I can see a man on the platform where the radios are, haphazardly tossing them into a wooden crate. I pick up my pace to reach him in time.

The man's eyes widen as he looks up to see me running straight at him. I grab the small radio he has clutched in his hand and switch it on, releasing a high pitched noise throughout the site. Thank God there are still speakers up.

Shouting probably isn't going to make the feedback go away, but between the possible lack of speakers (I'm sure some have been taken down by now) and everyone else shouting and running, it's really the only thing I can do. "That's the Death Towers! We're being attacked by them! Everyone gather anything sensitive and what we can't let them have and get out of here! Don't -"

Someone spins me around by the shoulder and rips the mic from my hand, shoving it into the chest of the man packing them away. The left side of my face stings a split second later, a sharp slap not as punishment, but just as a slap on the wrist. No... Double use of phrase intended. By the time the black spots have cleared themselves from my vision, I am already being dragged away and yelled at both, and hearing the voice I can immediately tell who it is.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Rey shouts into my ear. "This is no time for you trying to play hero!"

"I'm not!" I try and wrench my arm from his grasp. "Let go!"

"Not until you're in your vehicle and on your way out of here! Jesus Christ, Mica, I can't lose anyone else, especially not an idiot like you!"

"Then what about those people who had no idea what was going on? Someone had to tell them!"

"They're raining down on us as we speak! How could they not know by now?"

As if to emphasize his point, I hear another round of cannon's firing. They seems to hit higher up, getting closer to where our site is. Between the prospect of them hitting us head-on and the sound too similar to a gun, my feet and mind have frozen. Again.

"Mica!" I numbly hear Rey protest as he tries to drag me again, but my feet are so heavy they only stumble forward a few steps before the speed he's trying to make me move at makes me trip and fall to the ground. People run past us, moving frantically and not paying us any attention. think more cannons fire, but there's no sound. I realize the shaking I feel isn't coming from the Death Towers, but me.