FALTER

CHAPTER 31: The scorched town (10)

Something was seen stirring through the gigantic hole within the crumbling abode. Dust hung in the air, as the shadow inside came closer and closer to the exit.

A flaming hand shot out of the smoke to help its bearer find balance as Ari stumbled outside. She remembered flying through the sky until she had crashed into the house, feeling her back splinter. The air had been squeezed out of her whole body as the girl was sure she had gone unconscious, only to be knocked awake instantly as the Drive around her waist immediately melded her bones back together. Her left arm still blazed on, now feeling more solid than ever, as the child gingerly stepped onto the main street.

Her hair flung itself into her eyes due to the breeze, but nothing stung more than the stench of smoke permeating the air. Ari coughed, noticing that the pain in her chest had returned. Bright embers littered her vision as the girl squinted to see the glow of the blaze at the centre of the town. She didn't notice that some of the particles had landed on the wooden houses at the edge of town, slowly starting to burn away at them like the wick on a candle.

Ari struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. She stumbled, causing the Drive to fall to the ground as the belt wasn't tight enough. She picked it up and fastened it diagonally around her body before starting to run towards the source of the fire.

But she was slow, and the steps she took were small. As Ari ran, a sharp pain made itself known in her chest, but the girl ran until t he pain was too much. Heaving to take in oxygen, she rapidly pressed the button on the Drive. The petals on it clicked open as usual, and Ari felt her minor scrapes healing, but nothing would get rid of her pain.

"Why, please," Her voice shook, trying to hold the barrage of tears back. "Why won't you fix me?"A horrifying roar echoed down the street, the very vibrations of it shaking the little girl's frail body. Following the noise, a tiny scream was heard.

Quietly sobbing, Ari continued pressing the button as she started running again, her tattered clothes trailing behind her. She glanced sideways, seeing the houses barely passing by. Her heart ached again, as her knees threatened to give out. But they only threatened, and never did. It seemed whatever healing the Drive was capable of, it also extended its powers to preventing the building up of fatigue. Ari realized this as well, and she put all her strength in her legs, sprinting faster and faster until she felt the muscles in her legs struggle to keep their sinews together. The girl was now scrambling, grabbing the air in front of her with her very hands as if to assist in speeding up. Eventually, when the fibres couldn't hold themselves together anymore, they tore and Ari gasped out with pain but she didn't stop. She couldn't. The houses passing by her became a blur, the wind stabbed into her eyes and blood spewed out of her calves.

But she kept running.
The monster in front of Imti looked like two flat cans of sardines with arms stacked on top of each other. The one on top was using its arms to whip itself at the hero attacking him, but Imti stood frozen in fear. Imti felt his sister hold onto him beside him, her mouth hanging open in shock. He had to get her out of the vicinity but he didn't want to fight and he couldn't fight, and so the boy forced Deepti to turn away.

He regretted it instantly. Carnage littered the scene around him. People, very obviously dead people, lay on the ground, their lifeless eyes looking up at the orange tinted sky above them as their families either ran or kneeled hopelessly next to them, tears streaming down their face. Rubble from the explosion had crashed down into the houses next to the venue and smoke poured out from inside. A man near the gate screamed, his legs pinned under a giant piece of concrete. Something flooded Imti's brain and he started running automatically, scrambling to a stop next to the victim. The man looked at Imti with a mixture of horror and fascination, eventually letting the horror win over as he started yelling obscenities.