The Collaboration Files

Why can't we be normal?

      Dust. That's all I could see and breath. I couldn't breath. That was my problem. The only thing I would comprehend was my Bazooka, crushed under at least 35 bricks. My poor Bazooka! I felt tears running down my face. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me from the pile.

     "Get up! What is wrong with you? Why are you crying?" Butler screamed in my ear. I just pointed numbly towards my Bazooka. He looked to it his eyebrows furrowed together. "Bazooka?" I nodded. He sighed, trying to get me to stay on my feet. He was getting angry but I didn't care. My Bazooka! I want my Bazooka! He finally just threw me over my shoulder and hauled me out of the wreckage. I clawed at his back, trying to get down.

     "Let me down!" I managed to say, dust coating the inside of my throat. Butler just grunted. I looked at the ground, watching at we descended the stairs. "Where are we going?" I whispered. I felt Butler shrug and keep walking. I closed my eyes, trying to make the tears stop. But that's the thing, they wouldn't. I squeezed my hands into fists, trying to clear my mind. I screamed and pounded Butler's back.

     "What is your problem?" He asked.

     "I can't stop crying and I don't know why!!" I yelled. He chuckled.

     "It's the dust. Your eyes are watering because you got dust in your eyes." I sighed, knowing he was right. I felt Butler stop walking and he set me back down. I rubbed my eyes with my shirt and blinked. We where in a small area, still underground. The room was dusty, but better than before. I could see Holly's small frame sitting next to a unidentified blob of darkness. Jene was also next to Holly. Artemis walked up to us and tapped Butler on the shoulder. Butler nodded silently and walked to the corner.

     I slowly walked to Holly and Jene. "Where's Birch?" I asked. Silence filled the room. I took a deep breath and looked down. "Oh my go-" I started, just to be cut off by a loud scream coming from down the hall.

     "Lizzie!! Syd! Where are you?" Kali screamed. Kali. She was the one who dropped the bricks. I gasped as I was tackled from behind. "LIZZIE!" She screamed in my ear.

     "Get off!" I yelled back. Holly pressed her hand to my mouth, silencing me.

     "Be quite! Do you want Rush to hear you?" She hissed. I shook my head and he let me go. I shoved Kali off of me and knelt by the dark blob that I now knew was Birch. I felt her neck for a pulse and was relieved to find one, even though it was faint. "She was hit with the bricks." Holly said quietly.

     "Where?" I asked, wishing it was lighter in the room.

     "Don't know. It's to dark to tell." Artemis said.

     "Thank you caption obvious." I muttered.

     "You're welcome Sargent sarcasm." He resorted.

     "If you don't shut the Hell up, I am going to shove a brick down your throat." I growled. He took a step back, hiding himself partially behind Butler. "That's what I thought." I said. I felt around my clothes, hoping the small flashlight I had tucked away was still there. "Ah Ha!" I cried out in victory as I pulled the light out of a pocket. I turned it on and started an examination on Birch. After looking her over, it seemed like she had been crushed. "She might have internal bleeding. Brain damage. The hole works. If she dosen't get to a hospital in the next 15 minutes, she is bound to die." I told everyone sadly.

     Kali wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder. "I don't understand what's going on, but whatever it is can wait. We have to get her out of here." She said, her words muffled by my shirt. I nodded, looking to Artemis.