Rebel Born [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 16: Inferno

The flames of the fire licked at my face as I was lowered down into the burning Sector. As I neared the ground, I did a 180 turn to land on my feet. I balanced myself and took off running in a random direction. The suit protected me from the fire but it did very little to protect me from the heat. Beads of water dripped down my back, my shirt already sticking to my skin.

Shrill cries and deafening screams cut through the fire. I turned sharply to the direction I heard them from and ran towards it as fast as I could. It was two mothers, protecting their children from the flames. They were huddled against a building that was surrounded by flames, which were making their way towards them. Skidding the last few meters to them, I placed a hand on one of the mothers.

"I'm here to help you." I pointed up to the sky which was painted red, orange and grey. "Hovercraft waiting."

The other mother understood my intentions and forced her daughter into my arms. Shocked, I stumbled slightly to balance myself with the added weight. I balanced her onto one arm and motioned that I can take the other child too. The first mother seemed to snap out of a daze before she handed her son over as well.

The little girl was asleep and had snuggled close to me, while the boy was crying and screaming, reaching out towards his mother. I hugged both of them close. "I'll be right back." The two of them backed up to the concrete wall and nodded. I pressed a button on the side of my neck and the rope began to recoil, tugging my up towards the sky.

I clenched my teeth and focused on staying upright, instead of tumbling into a face-down position. The trip upwards was much faster than I had anticipated. Within seconds, I had delivered the two children to the waiting paramedics and dropped back down to get the mothers. I told them both to hold onto the rope and me as the smoke was already getting to them. On the way up, one of the mother's hair caught on fire. When we reached the hovercraft, she immediately reached over for a sharp object and cut her hair off.

Once I made sure that they were secure in the hovercraft, I dove back down to look for more people. Some people were huddled together, waiting for the imminent death, when I found them. Others were alone, a few had even caught on fire. Those who had just caught on fire were immediately blasted with water when approaching the hovercraft.

At one point, I realized that there were two more metal ropes set up and thrown over the side of the hovercraft. "A girl named Vanessa, and a boy named Kyle, showed up a few minutes ago on hover boards to help. Both of them are in the same Syndicate as you, right?" One of the people managing the recoil machines said as he noticed my confused look. I nodded before diving back down.

As I ran, I noticed a section of fire seemed to be flickering and wilting before replaced by the fires behind them. Curious, I ran towards it to be blasted in the face by water. I pushed forward until the water stopped.

"Amelia?"

Christopher stood there disheveled, black marks around his face and body, and had a giant hose in his hands. Behind him stood a group of people, most of whom were injured and curled on the floor in pain. Dr. Rau was crouched in group, helping the injured in any way he can. I ran forwards towards him and pointed upwards.

"Hovercraft waiting. I can bring up the injured. Paramedics are in the hovercraft."

Christopher nodded, "I'll keep the fire back."

I nodded back to him and ran towards the group of injured. I repeated the same words to Dr. Rau, who immediately pointed to an old man who was deathly pale and was covered in burns. Dr. Rau helped the man up and I grabbed onto him. As soon as I had a steady grip on him, I pressed the button and sped up towards the hovercraft. I dropped the man off, shouting the word 'critical' before dropping back down.