Heritage

Heritage (Chapter 31)

Chapter 31 - Elena

"Holy...shit..." I hear my son say faintly from what seems like miles away.

My head is pounding and my heart feels as if it'll burst from my chest at any given moment. I wiggle my fingers and toes, trying to gauge any injuries, and an automatic pain jolts through my left leg, stopping at my kneecap.

"Leon," I'm barely able to whisper out.

Leon immediately turns around, horror filling his eyes as they meet mine. In the frame of the doorway I can see great billowing clouds of bluish-gray smoke. The smell of the wrecked room reminds me of my mother's basement and mixing that with the crackling headache, a wave of nausea hits me.

"Ma! Are you okay? Here, let me help you up," Leon exclaims, rushing to my side and kneeling in front of me.

"I think I'm okay, but my leg may be broken."

Leon wraps his arm around my waist as I swing my own arm around his shoulders, holding on for leverage as he slowly lifts me to my feet. He doesn't let go of my waist as I gingerly put weight on my leg. The shooting pain comes back for a brief moment, but it's soon dulled to an ache.

"Can you walk?" Leon asks.

I attempt a small step and find that my leg, while painful, isn't broken.

"Must've just pulled or dislocated something," I reply.

Next to us, a hacking cough sounds from Stella and she abruptly sits up, clutching her head.

"Stella!" we both shout in unison, hurrying to her side.

"I'm alright," she whispers, wincing as she releases the sides of her head.

Leon kneels beside her, wrapping his uninjured arm tightly around her and hugging her to his chest. He plants small kisses all over her face, examining her striking features for injuries. Even with streaked dirt and blood on her face, and her hair knotted around her shoulders, her beauty is still breathtaking.

As Leon helps Stella to her feet, Ethan and Damien both begin to stir across the room. Damien immediately pulls himself to his feet, rushing to the doorway to assess our situation. Ethan, however, is on the floor still, clutching his head and gasping for breath.

"Son of a bitch..." Damien says from the doorway, looking outside.

"What is it, brother?" Ethan asks, as I wipe the blood from a small cut on his forehead.

"It's a wasteland out there..."

I take hold of Ethan's arm and he grips the support handle on the wall, hoisting himself to his feet.

"You ok, honey?" I ask him softly as the two crewmembers finally awake from the floor.

"Just some bumps and bruises, nothing major," he replies, suddenly wrapping his arms around me and hugging me as if it's the last time he ever will. He kisses me passionately and gazes into my eyes.

"I love you, Elena," he whispers.

"I love you too, Ethan. We'll be okay. I'm so sorry you lost your ship, but everything will be ok. We always make it, no matter what," I reply. He simply nods and holds me tight, kissing me.

Across the room, Stella and Leon are helping the crew members to their feet as Ethan and I approach the door where Damien is standing awestruck.

I gasp automatically when I see the scene in front of me.

Complete and total wreckage.

Falling debris is raining down from the sky, smoking and smoldering as it makes its approach like great metal comets. Dead bodies of our fellow crewman, littering the lush green carpet beyond us. Enormous chunks of metal are implanted into the ground like shrapnel and two giant sections of our ship lay crushed in the ground in the distance. Huge spurts of fire every dozen feet or so illuminate the entire catastrophic scene.