Flash Fiction Month 2016

Day 3: Dystopia (Evergranger)

Katniss ducked and rolled to the side to avoid a hail of bullets. Several whipped close enough for her to feel them move the air.
"Katniss, over here!"
Katniss' head swivelled, searching for the source of the voice. She found it; Hermione, waving at her from a few meters away, beside a monument that had been partially overturned by the fighting.
An explosion rocked the world around her and she covered her ears, dropping her bow.
"Katniss!" Hermione screamed.
Katniss groggily lifted her head to see a tide of something slick and black crashing down the avenue towards her.
Her survival instincts kicked into high gear; she started running, snatching up her bow as she went, making for Hermione's shelter.
The oily wave was right behind her, droplets of thick black liquid splashing onto her boots.
She had almost made it. She could see the stray wisps of Hermione's hair, escaping her loose ponytail.
She tripped.
Her face met tarmac in an explosion of light and roaring pain. She was barely aware of the strong pair of hands that grabbed her arm and pulled her across the ground.
Hermione hauled Katniss' limp body into the safety of the monument - some enormous bowl-like structure - as the torrent of black liquid smashed the street around them.
The bowl shifted and groaned, and for one horrible second Hermione thought it was going to spin and expose them to the flood. She held Katniss close and tucked herself into the curve of the bowl, eyes screwed shut in an attempt to block out the horror.
Oily waves lapped and sucked at the edge of the bowl, spattering their legs, but the sculpture remained firmly planted. Whatever it was made of, it was heavy enough to remain in place, sheltering them from the onslaught.
When the tide ebbed and the roaring stopped, Hermione dared to open her eyes. Katniss was clutching her jacket with one hand; the other still gripped her bow.
"You alright?" Hermione panted.
Katniss mumbled something and made a pained sound. She'd taken a hard blow to the head when she fell; blood was matted in her hair and dribbling down through her eyebrow, staining a red trail.
"Hang on."
Hermione wrestled her wand out of her jacket pocket and pointed it at the bloody lump on Katniss' head.
"Tergeo," she muttered. Under her wand's careful movements, the blood cleared.
"Vulnera sanentur, vulnera sanentur..."
The split skin knitted itself together slowly, leaving only a bruise and a lump the size of a small egg on Katniss' head.
Hermione put her wand away.
"Thanks," Katniss mumbled, still dazed. "Let's not do that again..."
"Agreed," Hermione smiled.
Katniss managed a weak grin in return.