"EVACUATE - EVACUATE"
The distorted blaring siren covers every meter of space in the entire city, flowing as naturally with the wind as a whale does. A frantic herd of lost farm animals burst from the entrance to the church, with us being dragged along inside the heap.
In my position I can barely tell which way is down, as the city above is tilting so slightly like a painting put up wonky. My hand stays clasped on 4663's through the crowd dragging her along out of danger. A screeching cacophony of screams and pleads stumble over their own subconscious in desperate efforts to break free.
As we race down the stairwell my feet have to cautiously feel for each step to not push the whole group over like a screaming mass of dominoes.
At the bottom the crowd splits and rushes ahead, while I stop myself and keep 4663's hand in my mind. I turn back at her emerging from the fray, and wait for her to collect herself. "Are ya good!?" I shout, over ten other people.
4663 drags her head up and makes a small nod. "Which way do we go?!" I shriek. Before she can answer, someone grabs my shoulder.
I whip to whoever touches me, to see it's one of the officers left behind. He looks like one of the lower ranks, given his less extravagant dress choice. "Citizen! The nearest bunker is Theta, that way!!!" The officer barks. He points straight down the street to an electric blue bridge connecting two big blocks.
"Uuhh!!! Thanks!!?" I reply. He pushes me away towards it and prompts me to get moving. We both start jogging to the bridge, 4663's hand escaping from my grip so she can get proper running posture. I stretch my leg out to run, but wheeze when it aches like hell.
4663 notices my problem and stops trying to run, instead keeping my speed toward the bridge and coaxing me faster along with her arm. I peer up to the skyline and observe the utter madness that has begun to happen since we went inside. Every screen possible is playing the same evacuation notice, in tandem with every possible speaker blaring the identical warning alarm.
The buildings are all wobbling and rattling with great labor, not one keeping silent but all groaning and rumbling with metal clangs and drones. Down in the streets, every person who was previously standing still is dawdling around aimlessly trying to get anywhere but here. Parents are practically welded to their kids for dear life and the smaller ones are grappled precariously atop the shoulders of some men.
The church visitors are fanning out everywhere, being led by officers staying put and ordering all the visitors away with urgency.
The yelps and intense noise act like a jet engine straight next to my head; a jet engine on steroids furiously snorting magic dust.
Continuing toward the bridge, a ginormous crash courses through our legs, terrifying everyone around us. At the other end of the bridge, there are a pair of officers and one egg robot ordering people across with any gesture they can make. The robot is achieving this by blaring another warning message. "THETA OPEN. PLEASE TRAVEL TO THETA."
The officers are waving their hands to scoop the air towards them, desperately begging for people to run their way. 4663 spots their figures and yanks me forward to the bridge, only meaning my body flares in pain. She throws my arms from off her shoulders and hastily races toward the edge. "HEY!! I CAN'T RUN!!!" I scream, as I nearly topple over.
I muster up my strength and attempt to limp over the bridge, just before another crash flops me into the ground. I stay glaring at 4663 who only now looks back and notices I'm not following her. Past the middle of the bridge, she holds herself and anxiously peers back at my feeble corpse.
Noticing this, I achingly lift from the ground again, but only run a few meters before the shaking sends me off my feet again. 4663 begins to run back, before the crash that sent me down startles her out of her pursuit. Beneath my ravaged knees the city feels like it's drifting upward, and sure enough, when I look to the end of the bridge, I gaze in terror as the buildings begin to fall from my perspective.
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Dimension Of Perfection (And Its Flaws)
Science FictionIn a world of perfection, Hector Heckin' Damon is the opposite. Desires to sin plague his life, until he's transported to a world in which those who sin are discarded as Undesirable. Now stuck in an alternate version of Craftworld, Hector tries to u...
