Secrets in The Ashes

Chapter 8

After about 5 minutes, we decide to walk forwards. The smoke chokes me, but I continue forwards. The town seems dead, no building stands. I grip my gun and look left and right. Out of the corner of my eye I see Issy trip and stumble. I rush over to help her up. She smiles and stands before looking down at what tripped her. Then she screams.

Lying at our feet is an incinerated body. Bones jutting out, it's hands clawing for escape. I clamp my hand over her mouth and glare at her. With her eyes wide, she nods and I take my hand away from her mouth. I lock eyes with Will and nod for us to go forwards. By now everyone has their gun in their hands. Well, nearly everyone. Cleo's hand is shaking and her other hand is in Mateo's tight grip. We stop in what used to be a roundabout. I look around and glimpse something black. Long and black. A gun. Trained on me. 

'Будет, есть боевик под красной стеной' (Will, there is a gunman under the red wall.) I whisper and Will looks over before looking away casually. 

'Я получил его.' (I got him) he murmurs whilst looking  the other way. I see him turn his gun slightly and take a step forward. BANG! The bullet whizzes past my leg and hits the gunmen in the head. Silence. Then gunshots. Gunshots everywhere. Firing from both our side and theirs.

'RUN!' Bradie screams and we do, shooting wildly in every direction. We run in zig zags, hoping the bullets won't hit. Finally, we find a small piece of shelter away from the fire. We each duck in their and try to catch our breath. Cleo is crying. Mateo moves closer and takes her hand away from where it is resting on her thigh. Then he gasps. I move closer to see. There is a small bullet wound in Cleo's thigh. 

Anger bubbles inside of me. By now the gunshots have stopped. I stand and turn to walk out. 

'Loz?' Will whispers and stands behind me. 'What are you doing?'

'Going to pay them a visit.' I mutter. Will grips my arm.

'No, you're not.' he whispers. 

'Yes, I am! They shot Cleo!' I whisper-yell. Will glares at me.

'We shot them too! What gives us the right to go and shoot them more!?' he yells. I stop and think. I know what it's like to be a murderer. Memories flash as I see Mum slumps to the floor. Tears prick m eyes and I make a choked gurgling sound and fall back into Will's arms.

It is a few hours later. Cleo summoned her beast and she was healed. We haven't left our shelter. We don't really know what to do. I don't want to kill anyone, not anymore. It is dusk. Issy sighs and we go back to sitting in silence. My lips are dry. I take out the bottle of water Issy got us and drink. 

'We should probably move from here. The Shadow Men will know our location by now.' Mateo whispers. We nod and stand. I light just one hand and lead the way out of the shelter.

'They'll see us with that light.' Bradie mutters.

'Well, I think it's better then being ambushed in the dark.' I whisper and continue walking. 

'To where are we going?' Cleo whispers. No one answers. We continue walking until we come to an obliterated street with light. I turn off my flame. We walk in silence. My heart pounds and I feel as though there are Shadow Men around every corner, hiding in every shadow. We stop, but footsteps continue. A man steps out of the shadows. A Shadow Man. 

He has black pants tucked into his black boots. He has a mesh singlet and half a cloak. It hangs off the right side of him, blood red straps running across his chest and around to the back. His black and blonde hair is shoulder length and he has tattoos and scars covering him. As he approaches I realise one eye is red, the other blue.

'Hello!' he says with a sickly grin. 'What do we have here?' He takes another step forward. 

'Не показывайте себя.' (Do not reveal yourselves) I whisper to my group, and thankfully he doesn't hear. 

'Hmmm...' he says and strokes his goatee. 'What do you think boys?' he yells and more Shadow Men creep out of the background. 'We haven't seen such pretty young ladies for a very long time.' The rest of the men hoot and Will pulls me towards him and Mateo does the same to Cleo. The Shadow Man stops laughing and grins evilly at us.  'Oh my, where are my manners? The names Zeddicus. But ladies you may call me Zed.' This sends his gang into laughter once more and I feel Will become more and more angry.

'Blizzard, Bolts, calm down!' I whisper. This time, Zeddicus hears me.

'Blizzard!? Bolts!? What do you guys think you are, super heroes?' He jeers before walking forward once more. He gestures to 2 other men who step forward. One is near the back, the other to the left. Zeddicus stays where he is, in front of me. 'Grab 'em.' He commands and each man rushes forward, grabbing a girl. I am yanked away from Will's grasp and I scream, as does Cleo and Issy. Zeddicus takes a step back and Will takes one forward.

'Hold it, cowboy! Another step and every one of them dies.' Zeddicus spits and rests a gun against my temple. I see the others do the same. Will stops where he is but doesn't take his eyes off me. I struggle and kick, but it is no use against Zeddicuses strong body. 

'Burn him.' Will spits. I do a miniscule smile and slowly become hotter. I don't flame though, that will give it away. I glance over at Cleo and see vine climbing up her capturers legs whilst Issy is becoming wet so he can't keep a hold on her. I continue getting warmer and warmer. I see Will smile as he watches Zed's face contort in pain. A second later he lets go of me.

'What is wrong with you!? Your...hot!' Zed yells, clearly confused. I smile and flick my hair over my shoulder.

'Why thank you!' I say in a sickly sweet voice. 'And to answer your question of what's wrong with me, it's everything!' I yell and become engulfed in flames. Will turns to ice, Bradie to wind and Mateo to storm. Issy gets out of grasp and transforms as well. Cleo elbows her attacker in the stomach before becoming earth. Zed gasps, eyes wide while his gang backs up. He gets out his gun and points it at us, signaling to others to do the same. Soon we have around 20 Shadow Men pointing guns at us. My mind goes blank, but only for a second. I whistle my tune. The Dragon of the Volcanic Flame creeps down from a building. I gesture to the men and he lets out murderous roar, before leaping down and attacking them all.

'RUN!' Zeddicus yells and what's left of his group retreats. The Dragon of the Volcanic Flame bows towards me before dissapering into the shadows once more. We stand there in silence.

'Well that was fun!' Issy grins.