Pieces of the Sun

Chapter Four

"It's like they don't want us to survive this." Newt muttered next to me.

I didn't answer aloud but inside I agreed with him. We were 2 days into the trek across the never ending expanse of desert. The dark smudge was close enough for us to see it was made up of buildings.

Torn down, decaying and rotting buildings.

But it was better than nothing. "I bet we reach it by nightfall." I told Newt.

"Ya think?"

I nodded and glanced up ahead at the backs of the boys in front of us. Minho and Thomas were in the front leading the group while Newt and I brought up the rear. I watched Chuck walking directly in front of me. He was so young to be dragged into this mess. What kind of people would condemn a kid that young to death? My thoughts kept wandering back to what Jensen had said, that we weren't all immune.

Out here in this unprotected wasteland there was no way to stop exposure of the disease. Any one of my friends could become sick and die a horrid death. Even me. I shuddered. I couldn't stand to think of losing any of them.

"Ari."

I blinked as Newt nudged my arm and shook me from my revere. "Sorry, what?"

"Look." He pointed at the sky behind us. I followed his gaze and looked up. The usually blinding sun was muted and the hazy grey was slowly turning dark. Huge rolling clouds of black were filling the horizon.

"Rain clouds?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know. Some rain would be nice but..." Newt trailed off as the blackening sky flashed with lightening. Unease knotted itself in my stomach as I watched the lightening flicker again and again. The clouds seemed to draw nearer by the second. "Newt, do you think-"

Lightening arced from the cloud and slammed into the dusty earth. I saw the plume of sand explode in the air. "Shit," I said, grabbing Newt's arm. I turned around to face the front. Minho and Thomas had stopped, and were glancing back at the storm.

"Run," I said, watching more sand fly up from the ground, "run!"

Teresa was the first to break into a sprint, Thomas and Clint right behind her. I lengthened my stride and caught up with Minho. Newt pushed Chuck in front of him and we made for the buildings directly in front of us.

The was a clashing sound behind us and thunder shook the earth. "Faster," Minho urged us. I risked a glance over my shoulder. The storm was gaining on us, clouds coming to swallow us whole. It was pitch black now, the sun disappeared completely from view.

"Com'n!" I heard someone yell from up ahead. I couldn't recognize the voice. "We're almost there!"

"Go, Chuck, go." Newt was saying beside me, pushing the younger boy faster. "Almost there, you can make it."

Despite going as fast as they could, Newt and Chuck were still the slowest of the group. Minho and I had slowed our pace considerably to stay with them but I refused to leave anyone behind. The others had disappeared into the gloom in front of us. I squinted through the haze and could make out the skeletal structure of the first buildings.

Then the storm was upon us.

Light arced and struck the ground only 50 feet to our left. Chuck let out a yelp of fear. Sand sprayed around us. Lightening struck again, just in front of us and I stopped abruptly to avoid the strike. I felt the wind whip at my face and then Minho was there, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me forwards with him. "Almost there!" He was yelling in vain. "We're almost there!"

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and my arms felt as if they were crawling with ants. Electricity sparked and my mouth tasted raw. There was an explosion of light and I was thrown forward. My body slammed into the ground, jolting my spine. I blinked. There was a ringing in my ears and the whole world was blurry. I swallowed a few times.

Minho

Sand drove into my face like shards of glass. I dragged myself to my hands and knees. I could vaguely make out a crumpled form a few feet away from me. My hands were black as I clawed through the sand to Minho's body. I started saying his name aloud, over and over and over again.

He was sprawled on his side, one leg bent beneath him. I tugged on his jacket, pushing him onto his back. Lightening struck again somewhere around us. I felt the hum of electricity fill the air but my hearing still evaded me.

I grabbed Minho's arm, praying he was still conscious enough to stumbled along beside me. But his eyes remained closed, one side of his face encased in sticky blood. I swallowed, wincing and more sand sprayed into my exposed skin. Another arc of light struck by me and I dropped to the ground, sheltering my head.

I grabbed both Minho's arms this time and began to pull backwards, dragging his body through the sand. Pure fear surged through my limbs at the thought of losing him, forcing me to stumbled back faster and faster. My hands burned but I didn't release my grip and I dragged him with me.

The buildings had to be close by now. I had to make it, I was going to make it-

I bumped into something solid. Relief swept through me as I realized it was a mound of overturned cement slabs protruding from the ground. I yanked and pulled until Minho safely underneath the nearest one. Then I slipped in beside him, fingers finding his wrist. I felt for his pulse and nearly sobbed with joy when I felt it. Weak but steady, it was there. He smelled like smoke but we were both alive. I gripped his hand tightly and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for it to be over.