Tragedy ✔️

Chapter 28

We decided to make camp in the building. Looking out the windows, we can see packs of demon hounds guarding the streets, clearly obeying the king's command. The sun is redder than ever and trees sometimes burst into flames randomly.

From where we are posted, the streets of New York seem empty. Burning cars litter the street. Clothes and paper along with other trash is blown across the pavement by the dry gust. The sky has a pink hue and gunshots can be heard in the distance. Maybe from our army or the U.S Army.

We lost all contact with the other squadrons. All we know is where we are supposed to be posted and we all have to do one main task. Protect each other to get to the king's hideout. We are that squadron to do so.

We moved to the fifth floor of this twenty-story building. The first four floors were a disaster. Probably because of the people who worked here were running for their lives. It is the end of the world.

We sit in the corner of a small office which is still neat and clean. There are lights on but they are very dim. Tony says it's because they are being powered by the backup generator. The low light barely shows our expressions, but they are clear. We all have tired faces, beads of sweat streaming down, and for the first time since I died, I am hungry.

"So," I say trying to catch my breath, "We're alive and breathing again, aren't we?"

"I- I believe so," says Richard, "According to what Susan said."

Susan is laying on her back with her helmet off and says, "There is far too much evidence suggesting my hypothesis is correct; Matt bleeding and dying. Our low stamina, perspiration, dehydration, and famine. All signs that we are alive, or slowly dying."

"What are we going to do?" I ask.

"We stick to the plan," says Richard, "We can't let this sidetrack us. Remember Charlotte is counting on all of us. On you."

Charlotte fogs my mind with regret and makes me recollect how selfish I was. I could've taken Charlotte that moment away from Starla and teleported us back to the White Box. But I guess this war was inevitable. The forces of good and evil would have to clash and what did we expect? For them to drown us with flowers while we shoot rainbows at them. Fights are bloody. Wars are deadly.

"I'm going to see if I can find something to eat," says Tony, breaking the silence. He stands up and walks out the room and out to the left.

After Tony leaves, none of us speak. We are all really tired and we are taking advantage of this time of peace to refuel our bodies. I am sitting on the carpet floor, leaning on the wall and I close my eyes. No matter how many times Susan reminds us that we are alive, it goes through one ear and out the next. This means no jumping from high altitudes, no hard hits, no more major risks. If I do this, I die. Simple as that. But I've been dead too long that I have long forgotten the rules of life. It's a whole different world in a world I used to know.

My train of thought is derailed when we hear a shout from out the hall. "Guys!" shouts Tony, "Over here, now!"

We glance at each other and quickly get up. We run out of the room and follow the sound of Tony's distressed voice. At last, after scurrying across the narrow office hallways, we find Tony in another office, standing in front of a TV.

"What's wrong?" shouts Richard.

He looks at us with a wide grin on his face. For a minute, I think he has gone mad, mind controlled by the king and ready to attack any minute. I place my hand on my gun just in case.

"The Yankees were about to win the World Series just before the end of the world started!" grins Tony ear to ear.

I lower my gun. He really scared me. He might have scared me but not Susan. She walks up to Tony and punches him hard in the jaw. He instantly starts bleeding in a small cut made by Susan's blow.

"What the hell was that for?" shouts Tony.

"You're and idiot!" backlashes Susan, "We are fighting the war of end of days and you are wasting your time worrying about baseball? What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry if I am actually enjoying being alive again."

"I'll be enjoying my life when you are begging me to save your ass from death, again."

"Stop fighting!" shouts Richard and points to the TV, "Look."

Susan and Tony shut up and turn their attention to the TV. It is a news report, but there are no news anchors. It is just footage of the streets of New York and the chaos in them. But not only New York. L.A. San Francisco, London, and cities all over the world are like scenes  from a sci-fi film. Some starting to crumble, others already turned to dust.

"It's everywhere," I whisper, mostly for myself.

"Look at that!" shouts Tony at a live video of New York. Ginormous fireballs are raining down from the sky and striking the streets of New York. One hits Times Square and all of the screens turn to black panels. The live footage switches to a shot of the Empire State Building. Suddenly, a flaming red ball strikes the building and a ball of red flames cover it. A loud boom is heard but not on the TV, but close outside. We see the building on flames and the footage cuts off.

"You said the king was there," says Tony to Richard after we are all left with our mouths wide open.

"He was there," says Richard.

"What if the blast that made us alive again also affected the king," says Susan, "what if he's... dead."

"He can't be," says Richard clearly thinking hard, "If he were dead, all of this would be over. It would be as if it never happened."

"Then where could he be?" I ask.

"We'll have to figure that out later," says Richard, "Right now, the main streets of New York are the most dangerous. We have to get somewhere safe. I know a place."

"How do we get there?" asks Tony.

"I know we don't have any magic, but there is always some left in a personal emergency reserve. If we all put our last bit of magic together, we may be able to use it to teleport to the safe place."

"Let's do it," I say. Everyone agrees and we all form a small circle in the middle of the room. We all close our eyes and I concentrate. I think of when Charlotte was destroyed. There was no hope. She had already turned to dust. But there was just a little bit of magic inside of me left to save her. Now I have to do the same thing but for billions of people.

Beam of light shoots out from by hands and so does from everyone else. Our magic meets in the middle of the circle, creating a vortex that starts spinning slowly but picks up speed.

"Jump in!" shouts Richard over the loud gusting wind and electric sounds the portal omits. We all instantly jump into the portal and the white light blinds me. When the light fades, I am facing the thing that caused the downfall of Earth.

The king spits poison like a snake when he says, "Hello, Colin."