Natural Disaster: Cracked

Chapter 1

The group of them checked over each other with whispered 'are you alright?'s and 'are you hurt?'s. The din of the area was deafening- she knew that had to be the case, what with everyone running around and panicking. Surely, there must be some noise.

The only sound in Launa's ears was a high-pitched ringing, drowning out any and all noise from the outside. She felt drugged, almost in a stupor. I don't remember hitting my head. It feels like I did, though.

Why does everything look so strange?

Light-headedness overtook her brain and nothing felt real. Like it was all a horrible dream. Surreal and silent.

Esther's hand reached out to grapple at her sleeve, asking for her attention. Why? What do you want?

What's going on?

Why am I not moving? The world is falling apart and I'm not doing anything.

Move, damn you!

She barely registered the pressure of her sister-in-law's hand, her muscles rigid, joints locked. All she could seem to do was stare straight ahead. The growing chaos around her danced at the edges of her periphery and seriously, who hit the mute button?

Finally, after what seemed like ages, her eyes finally flicked shut for a moment. Blinking. That's a good start.

The scenery came into focus bit by bit, as if her vision had gone completely black. Like she'd forgotten how to see for a moment. Big shapes and shadows, colors, and finally down to tiny pieces of rubble and splatters of blood. Crumbling buildings and asphalt, piles of bricks and structures shaken apart.

Where are the others?

Oh Gods, where are they?

Kevin? Scott? Avi?

Where are they?!

Panic. Panicpanicpanic!

Focus, Reynolds. Worry about them later.

Can't find them if you're dead.

Adrenaline shot into her veins, leaving her gasping for air like she'd been punched in the gut with a bulldozer. The world exploded into sharp focus, the sound of it roaring back into her ears. The sound of panic and terror, of 'dear god' and 'what do we do?'.

"Come on!," Esther's voice shrieked, her grip on her arm hard, nails digging into her flesh as she yanked on her limb, "We need to get out of here!"

Launa silently agreed, whipping her head around to find Mitch and Kirstie. "Get them up," she told the other woman, "Let's move."

______

She wasn't entirely sure what to expect. This was nothing like she'd been familiar with. After all, by the time she'd come to the first time around, everyone had fled the city- except for the dead, and Avi.

Where are you? Are you okay?

A shot of something- something hot and painful that felt like concern and loss- spiked through her chest. For a moment, she wondered if she might be sick. She pushed it aside, focusing on the task at hand.

Deal with it later.

Gods, there were people everywhere. Running, shouting, creating chaos out of an already destructive situation. The quakes had torn buildings and homes asunder, leaving those who'd not been quick enough- or lucky enough- trapped beneath the mixture of old bricks and modern steel girders.

Launa didn't realize she'd started to run until the others were calling for her to slow down. "We need to stay together," Esther said, maintaining a pace that was slow enough to bring up the rear of the group, but fast enough to keep up, "We lose each other and we're screwed."

"Yeah, sorry," she agreed, flickering her gaze about and gesturing them off to the side so they could all speak, taking refuge against the side of the crumbling street, "I guess I started to panic a little."

"Pretty popular reaction, right now," Kirstie piped up, maintaining an almost death-grip on Mitch's hand. The pair of them look terrified, brown eyes wide and entire frames shivering noticeably, "What do we do?"

Launa opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Esther's more-sure voice. "We need to get to an emergency center," she nodded toward the straggling survivors of the quake, "they're all going the same way. It'd be a good idea to follow them."

"Or," Launa interjected, "they're all heading that direction because it just so happens to be the opposite way of the giant fucking crack in the middle of Dublin."

There was a beat of silence. "She has a point," Kirstie said to the eldest woman, nervously tucking a curl behind her ear and holding a finger up to Esther when she began to protest, "But! Getting as far away from that thing is probably the best idea, right?"

The foursome glanced around to one another, silently nodding one by one.

"Onwards, then," Esther said with a shrug, leading the charge down the street with purpose in her step.

Launa swallowed her pride, falling into step behind Kirstie and Mitch. Now is not the time for ego.

I really really hate working in groups.

We'll get used to it.

I really really hate walking.

Well, you've done it before. You can do it again. We'll get used to it.

Gods, I hope so.