Arvium

6: Attack

Her ears rang as she glanced around her, her head spinning.

All around her, strange cries came from the other students who had been hit. A gaping hole at the front of the cabin let in blinding rain. She shook the water out of her eyes and blinked, looking around her surroundings. Thunder followed a rumble that shook the train, metal creaking and grinding as the train started to tip sideways.

"All students head to the shelters nearest you. This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill."

Aella gasped, her fingers fumbling at her chest to undo the straps. The chest strap clicked out of its holster and snapped back to the seat behind her with a whiz. Shards of glass fell to the floor as she stood, and she trembled. She pushed into the mass of students, joining the line to exit through the door that led into the station.

She coughed, waving a hand in front of her face, using the other hand to clear the debris from her face. Her ears rang, the moans and screams from the students nearest the explosion echoing in her mind. She slid to the floor in front of her, leaning over as she coughed, her chest feeling tight. She saw ragged strips of cloth where her sleeves had been, and her arms ached as if she had been stabbed with thousands of needles.

Shouts came from the empty hole, and the ground rumbled. The metal creaked as footsteps thundered onto the train. She glanced up, her eyes growing wide as she caught a glimpse of the sky through the hole. Angry greenish-brown clouds of smoke and storm were billowing above them, explosions creating darks shadows and arcs of light that reflected across the gray walls like phantom fingers. Her eyes grew wide as she realized the biodome had been destroyed, letting the freezing rain come through unhindered.

A staff member ran toward her, his laser rifle smoking. Aella moaned as her muscles pulled as he lifted her up. She swatted at him as he sprayed protectant on her arms, sending spikes of pain through her senses.

He pushed her toward the hole, and she grabbed the handle of a mangled seat, her hand sliding off. She stumbled forward into a medical technician who was bent over the body of a student, scarlet blood streaked across her head and torso. "Evacuate to the shelters," the technician shouted, using a hand to push her away from the student.

She felt strong hands grab her shoulders and she let the person guide her through the stretchers, stumbling forward down the rubble.

Rain pelted her as soon as she cleared the cabin. She bent her legs and sat down on the edge of the cabin, scooting forward down the pile of rubble. Shouts filled her ears as soldiers hurried down a ramp next to her, carrying the wounded away on stretchers. She placed her boot on a rock and used her palm on the edge to stabilize her as she moved forward.

Her foot slipped on the wet metal and she crumpled onto the ground, a jagged piece of wreckage slicing across her leg. Black filled her vision as a soldier wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up.

She stood, swaying in the rain, blinking as she watched him. She jerked as the ground exploded on the other side of the train and shouts filled the air.

The soldier used an arm and pulled something from her back, and she felt lighter. She glanced down as he pushed a rifle into her chest. "Use it if you need to," he shouted. "Now follow me."

She stumbled forward as he pushed her toward the back of the small group. Four stretchers were being carried by technicians in front of her, four soldiers guarding the corners, their weapons drawn and glowing with red energy.

Aella gasped, her fingers sliding over the rifle as she primed it, watching as the weapon began to glow, humming beneath her gloves. The technicians started jogging forward and she hurried after them, the ground crunching under her feet.