The wind picked up, blowing the thick gray clouds across the horizon until inevitably getting sliced by the sky scrapers penetrating sky. Ash fell like rain onto the capital, coating the streets and rooftops in a thick layer of dirt-like snow. Ahead was a line of trees, the middle flattened to nothing but twigs, presumably by the elongated foot of a Compactor.
Matoi climbed through the rubbish, her feet getting caught between the branches and tree roots. She looked forward, hearing the rumbling of a monster's growl. She advanced, pulling Makina by the hand behind her. Around the corner was a Compactor's limp body with its jaw unhinged, breathing faint and slow. It's core was nearly severed but still attached to its stomach by a string of veins and muscle. Her eyes followed the blood trail beside the paralyzed creature, noticing an Omega, dead, with her entrails spread against the wall behind her.
She sighed. Matoi kneeled down, resting Makina against a demolished street light. Her fingers tucked under her sleeve, pulling out her weapon as she unfolded it. Aiming the blade at the monster's core, Matoi stared into its lifeless eyes. "I'll put you out of your misery."
The core shattered underneath the point of her blade. The monster's body lit up for a split second as its soul died out. A pool of blood soon started dripping out from its flesh wound, dying Matoi's legs red. She stepped back, watching blankly as she pulled Makina back up. "Are you going to talk now?"
Makina lifted her head up, holding her bruised nape. Looking to the right, Makina said, "That way. The bridge."
The busses remained at a stop, collided with each other. Black smoke lifted up from the bent hood of the bus behind Akino and the others. The people that fled the streets slowly stumbled out of the bus, bruised and sweaty. Sakagami knelt down, helping a pregnant woman off the floor. Akino watched through a shattered window as Miki followed Yukino out of the bus. A warm sensation covered his right cheek. He noticed his reflection in a shard of glass, realizing his forehead was bleeding and coloring his face red. He used his sleeve to wipe it off, smearing it in the process.
"Akino, are you okay?" Sakagami asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.
He looked back at her. Sakagami's blonde hair was knotted and caked with ash and her eye was bruised with black and purple. She gave a forced smile, blood dripping down her nose. Akino shrugged her hand off, replying, "It looks like you're the one who should be answering that. Look at you."
Yukino leaned against the side of the bus, feeling the veins in her forehead pulse as she cradled the headache. Her phone was pressed against her scratched cheek as she waited for someone to pick up. Tapping her foot anxiously against the pavement, Yukino sighed and brought the phone back down to dial a different number.
She looked up into the humid sun, sweat dripping down her face as the phone rang. Suddenly, a voice came through. "Huh, mom?! Mom is that you?!" She covered her open ear, unable to hear over the incessant screaming from the other end of the bridge. "Mommy, I'm on Aminawa Bridge! I know I didn't tell you before but th-." She stopped, realizing the voice that picked up was an automated voice message. Her hands went limp and she dropped the phone to the ground.
Miki walked up to her, waving the smoke out of his face. "Babe, we need to get out of he... What's wrong?"
Yukino sat on the ground, hugging her knees. "Nobody is picking up...," she said, muffling herself with her legs. "Not mom, not dad..."
Miki approached her, pushing her white and pink hair out of her face. "It's chaos out there, it wouldn't surprise me if the cell towers were down. For now, we should evacuate and find a way around this."
YOU ARE READING
Division-A
Action"Humanity is a figment of imagination." 100 years ago, humanity flocked to a makeshift island due to an event that threatened to massacre everything in its path. Now, in present day, Akino has nightmares about an event that nearly killed him and his...
