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Part 6: Clara

"Maybe we should turn back and do this tomorrow," Derek was saying to Rebecca. "It's gonna be dark soon, and you know it's not a good idea to be out here after dark."

"No," Rebecca said firmly. "We'll find them before dark."

I glanced at the sky. 'Will we, though?' I thought, feeling my heart begin to pound. I was excited to find my family, of course, but being out here after dark? Then again, I didn't want to leave them alone out here.

   Determination began to seep through the fear. We would find them before dark. There was no way I was leaving my family to the Cranks.

   I jogged up to walk beside Rebecca. "Rebecca," I said when I reached her. She looked at me and smiled. "Listen, I just want to thank you for doing this. You're sacrificing your time, and risking your life to help me find my family."

   "Of course," she replied. "I would do this for you, for anyone in my safe haven, without a second thought."

   I gave her a big smile and fell back to walk beside Derek again. 'Wow,' I thought happily. 'I'm so glad I ended up at this safe haven.'

   Derek leaned over to whisper something to me. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed with worry and uncertainty. "Just say the word, and we can go back."

   "I'm doing this," I said. "I'm not leaving my family to the Cranks."

   He looked like he wanted to protest more, but he kept his mouth shut and looked ahead of himself again, frowning. We continued our trek to the city in silence. After another 10 minutes or so, I could see it in the distance.

   My heart began to race again. There was no doubt that place was overrun with Cranks. They may be out of sight, but they were definitely still there. And if the sun set before we left, we would be screwed. I subconsciously lifted my right hand and rested it on one of my guns.

   The Cranks were kind of like vampires, I realized. They usually only liked coming out when it was nighttime, and they lived in dark places. Mostly, though, they were like zombies.

   Finally, we arrived at the city and I looked around in disbelief. It was hard to think that this city was once teeming with life, now empty and destroyed, basically devoid of life.

   My heart began to beat twice as fast. If my family was here, there was no way we'd find them hanging out in plain sight. They'd be hiding, possibly waiting for someone to rescue them. For me to rescue them. But where, in this place overrun by Cranks, would it be safe to hide?

   "You three," Rebecca pointed to three guards that had come with us, keeping her voice relatively quiet. "Go that way. Me, Weathers and Bell will go this way."

   The three guys nodded and went left, while the rest of us went right. It was so quiet here. No cars, no people, no birds. There was an occasional creak of a door from the wind, but that was it. But I knew better than to believe it was deserted.

   There were Cranks hiding somewhere here, not yet aware of our presence. We'd be running the second they were, I was sure.

   As we searched the city, we passed by an apartment, and Rebecca made us stop. "Hang on," she said. "Let's check out this place."

   "Why?" Derek said, but I went up to the door and tried opening it.

   It was locked. Someone had to be hiding here. Right? Rebecca pulled something sharp and thin out of her pocket, and used it to unlock the door.

   When she got it unlocked, she slowly pushed it open, her right hand tightening around her gun. I held my breath, ready to duck if someone tried shooting at us. But no one did.

   "Weathers," Rebecca said, her voice a whisper now. "Take the lead."

   Derek nodded and made his way inside. I followed closely behind him, and Rebecca was right behind me. Just as I stepped a few feet inside, though, I tripped over a wire, falling to the floor with a thud.

   The door slammed shut behind me and I scrambled to my feet, heart racing.

   Rebecca began banging on the door. "Weathers! Bell!" she shouted, her voice frantic. "Get out of there. Now!"

   Derek and I stared at each other, both frozen in shock. The next few moments were a blur. Derek lunged for me, knocking us both to the ground, and he covered my body with his own like a shield. There was a loud explosion somewhere nearby.

   Only it was right next to us.

   I felt something hot scrape my left side, and experienced a blinding white pain go through my whole body. Derek was torn away from me, and I felt myself thrown back against a wall. Rubble rained down all around us, and I weakly lifted up an arm to protect myself. Not that it did any good.

   I lay there in silence, slipping in and out of being conscious, when I realized it was quiet, except for ringing in my ears. I forced my eyes open and found I was in the rubble of the apartment, ashes drifting to the ground and smoke billowing up into the sky.

   I tried looking to my right, and nearly passed out from the pain that went shooting up my left side. Slowly, I turned my head back, looking down at myself. The bottom half of my left side was bleeding, thin tendrils of steam rising from the charred skin.

   A large piece of cement was pinning my left foot down and I couldn't move. Not that I would be able to even if it wasn't.

   The ringing in my ears stopped, and I could hear the crackling of flames around me. I also heard quiet whimpering, then realized it was me. Looking to my left, I saw Derek, lying unconscious just outside the perimeter of the apartment.

   "Derek," I attempted to say, but it came out as a garbled mess.

   Behind me, I could hear groaning sounds. Looking back, I saw a large building teetering back and forth, looking ready to collapse. On me.

   Panic settled in and I looked down at my foot, trying to figure out a way to dislodge it. Breathing heavily, I pulled at it, ignoring the blinding pain that went through my whole body. I could hear the building's groaning grow louder.

   Screaming, from pain and frustration, I gave one final tug and my foot came free. Gasping in pain, struggling not to pass out, I dragged myself across the ground, willing myself not to give up. I just needed to get to Derek and I would be safe.

   I was only a foot away from safety when the building began to fall forward, and at an alarmingly fast pace. Panicking, I forced myself to my feet and stumbled in the direction of safety.

   But the pain was too much and I tripped, falling forward and rolling on the ground next to Derek just as the building came crashing down with a loud boom.

   My breath came out in heaving gasps, and I stared up at the ash-filled sky, my vision darkening. I guess this was it. This was where I died.

   "I don't," my voice came out hoarse and broken. "want to die."

   I was more scared than I thought I would be when the time came. Reaching out my hand, I grabbed Derek's, holding on as tightly as I could. I closed my eyes as a few tears slipped down my face and the world around me began to grow dim.

   At least I wouldn't be alone.