Superhuman [Book 1]

36 || Falter

  ➟ sam
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The fire dome fell with a snap!, sending the eight of us back with tremendous force. I flew to the ground, my back hitting hard. I threw my hands behind my head, catching it in the nick of time. Phew, I thought, that was almost bad. I could have hit my head and been knocked out, and- I looked around at Alliot, my jaw dropping. Pulling myself up onto my elbows, I was just able to make out the rest of the team. Jack was still draped across the floor with her eyes sealed shut. Tommy, Ly, and Kyle seemed to be in a similar position. Zane too was lying down, but metal surrounded him, his powers breaking his fall. Nia was standing, but she was the only one.

"Everyone alright? We need to go, now," she said. A moan from Hazzy's direction was the only answer. "Get up, come on. We don't have time for this! If we just sit around, we'll be killed, we'll-" the sound of another weapon charging overpowered her. All sound seemed to fade except for charging balls of blue energy and the smashing of the Breakers, destroying everything in path. "RUN!" I saw her mouth, pulling Hazzy off the ground. I stood, my legs wobbly beneath me. One look around and I knew that I had to move. Not even checking where she was going, I blindly followed Nia, running as fast as I could. The faces of the unconscious Alliot ran through my mind, their fate to be determined. I pushed it from thought, forcing myself to focus on the path ahead.

"Where are you going? Guys, wait for me!" a voice called. I looked back, still running, to see Zane waving his arms, trying vainly to lessen the distance between us.

"Nia, we have to wait," I said, my breath growing ragged. I looked back to her. She had pulled Hazzy over her shoulders, almost as if she was riding piggy back. "What about the rest?"

"I'll tell you later, we have to get out of here!" Nia shouted, and I nodded, too out of breath to say more.

I looked over my shoulder at Zane as bullets ricocheted off of his metallic skin. He was running at us frantically now, the eyes wide as the blue energy zapped passed him, missing him by barely an inch. "I think those energy things can hurt him, Nia, n-not like the bullets," said, my tone faltering. I was nearly wheezing by this point.

"Then that makes him like the rest of us," Nia said. She veered right suddenly, ducking behind a tall building. Fire from both sides raged the streets of Sepur, but even for a few seconds, we were safe.

"Sam. This building has an underground parking garage," she said, looking me in the eyes. "I need you to take Hazzy and get to as low ground as you can." I looked at her, my mind buzzing with questions. Where are you going? Why won't you tell me why you didn't bring the others? How the actual hell do you expect me to be able to carry a person? She sat Hazzy down in my arms, bridal style. I struggled under the weight. "Sam, I just need you to trust me. I'll be back before you know it." With that, Nia zipped off, her speed leading her to look like nothing more than a blur.

"Well Hazzy," I murmured to her unconscious form. "It looks like it's just you and me."

I pushed open the door to the building, peering inside. I was met with a completely dark room, the lack of windows allowing for little light. "Great. Fantastic. Looks thrilling," I said to myself, kicking the door shut behind me. Darkness encircled us. "Better to hope no one finds us than to live in pretty light, I suppose," I said, my words echoing off of the walls. "Look at me, talking to myself. I'm going nuts."

The building was surprisingly humid for a continent so northern. I was still out of breath from running, and my muscles were aching from holding Hazzy for so long. I walked along, leaning on every step to make sure I didn't fall. The steps had to be somewhere near. Taking one step I faltered, nearly collapsing down the first set of stairs. "Right. Okay. There are steps here," I mumbled to myself, situating Hazzy in my arms. "No big deal. Just... don't fall. Right. Don't fall." With that I began my descent, one step at a time.