Immortals Chapter 3
Dedicating this update to Jordan and Sydney. You both motivated me to post two chapters this month. Thanks to both of you!
Chapter 3
It was like a nightmare. Screams of terror mixed with wails of grief and agony. Dyads fell by the dozens, their bodies twisted at odd angles. Many made mad dashes for the streets leading out of the square, hoping to get to safety in one of the other meeting places, not realizing that the same hell was happening all across the city.
Ember ran as fast as she could, her heart pounding, adrenaline pulsing through her veins. A bullet struck a Luca and he fell in front of her, tripping her. She scrambled up, pausing to stare at the young man. Scarlet blood streamed from his head, soaking his formerly immaculate suit, but even as she watch it began to slow. He had died before hitting the ground. Forcing herself to look away, she continued on. Navan had paused and was trying to help up a Noxx who had fallen, only to bow his head briefly and let the woman fall back, her eyes dulled in death.
“So many are dying,” he clenched his fists in rage as he moved on. “What the heck is happening?”
Ember could only shake her head and pick her way around the bodies. Another round of bullets ripped through the crowd and the two friends flung themselves to the ground. The projectiles whizzed over their heads and struck the huge flag that had been hanging behind the speaker, tearing it to shreds and severing the ties supporting it. Slowly, it fell to the platform in a crumpled heap.
Navan and Ember remained on the ground, the bullets ceased. Silence hung over the city, broken only by the moans of the injured and dying. No one moved, and those who could, barely breathed. No one could be seen on the rooftops or anywhere else. A few people rose tentatively and began to move around searching for their friends and counterparts among the fallen. Turning her head slowly, Ember saw Navan looking at her, attempting his reassuring smile without the usual success.
“Awake now, Ember?” Then, seeing her disgusted look, he looked away. “Sorry...that was tasteless...I wasn’t thinking.”
Navan grimaced and leaped to a standing position, offering Ember his hand, “Let’s find our dyads…”
A single shot sounded in the stillness then several more. Those standing cried out and fell to the pavement yet again, some to remain alive, others dead. Navan stumbled slightly and raised a hand to his shoulder. Blood seeped from the circular wound and soaked his dark jacket.
“Don’t stand up...” he said slowly, “they have more snipers.”
Ember’s eyes widened, “No kidding, moron! Get down, you have to stop the bleeding. Does it hurt? Did it hit anything important?”
“Aside from me?” Navan snorted and pulled off his jacket and shirt and tore the jacket into strips. “Here give me a hand with this so we can move on. Let’s go underneath the stage for a while, we can move around behind it and be shielded from more gunfire. I’ll be fine.”
His white face and shaking hands told otherwise, but all Ember could do was help bandage her friend’s shoulder and hope he knew what he was doing. Navan would never admit that he was in pain and it would be up to Ember to make sure he didn’t exert himself too much. The two crawled below the stage through the cobwebs, dirt, and debris. Peering through the slats, Ember saw the dark shapes of trucks pulling into the square and several figures got out of them, cradling guns in the crooks of their arms. They stepped over the bodies, occasionally nudging one with the end of a gun or with a foot. Suddenly, one of them bent and felt one body’s wrist.
“Breather. Get ‘im into the truck and tag ‘im.”
Two men picked up the Noxx and dumped him unceremoniously in the van. Another man waved over his companions to several more dark forms. As one picked up a slender young man, a broad-shouldered Luca shakily pushed himself to his feet and staggered towards the gunmen.
“Put him down! What do you expect to gain from taking dyads?”
The men just laughed and one shoved the Luca back. Before he realized what was happening, the young man had swung a fist at his face. The older man moved out of the way and brought the butt of his rifle down on the back of the Luca’s head, knocking him out.
“Should I take this one? He might prove useful.”
“Go ahead.”
Ember nudged Navan gently, “Let’s go, I don’t think I see Dawn on this side. Do you see Max?”
“No,” Navan said shortly, his mouth pressed into a tight line of worry. “Let’s go around back.”
There were no trucks behind the stage and Ember slowly stepped out of cover. There were less bodies back here, most of them Luca who had tried to take cover while their Noxx counterparts tried to put up a fight. Navan dropped to his knees suddenly, moving several bodies carefully to the side. Then he froze and his hands gently dropped to his side and his head bowed. Ember didn’t need to ask. Max lay partly concealed by his fellow Luca, glasses askew and cracked, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Ember rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder but Navan jerked away.
“Just...go find Dawn. Give me a minute.”
Biting her lip hard, Ember slowly started zig zagging across the plaza, looking carefully at every female Luca she passed. After reaching the edge by the buildings, she dared to hope that her dyad had escaped, but then she turned to glance down an alleyway and couldn’t contain a cry of fright. It was a slaughter house. Bodies piled up on each other, twisted in the final spasms of death, their eyes staring blankly. Trembling, Ember slowly walked into the shadows. It was clear that those who had fallen first had been trampled by those behind them to the extent that their bodies had been mutilated, crushed, and torn, many beyond recognition. White clothes had turned crimson, detached limbs lay stiff, hands reached up toward the sky as if pleading for rescue. Ember continued on as if in a daze, slipping on the blood-slick pavement. A low moaning came from several prone forms, but she couldn’t stop. Not until she found Dawn. Dust hung heavy in the air, choking her lungs.
A dark form rose up in front of her and a shell-shocked Noxx staggered out of the haze, clutching his side. He stared at Ember blankly as he muttered to himself,
“Gotta turn around...the wall fell...it just fell…”
He stumbled past Ember who started forward again, numb. A mass of rubble rose before her, the concrete stained with blood. More bodies could be seen pinned down, crushed. But one in particular held the Noxx’s gaze, blue eyes dulled in death, blonde hair matted with dust and gore.
“No…” Ember dropped to her knees and cradled Dawn’s head in her lap. “Dawn, come on! We should go, you need medical attention...Dawn! Here, I’ll get you out of there.”
Slipping her arms under the Luca’s armpits, Ember pulled hard, then harder. Something gave, and she slipped, falling hard, and felt fresh blood seep into her clothes and coat her hands and forearms. Dawn’s already crushed body had been disturbed by her dyad’s tugging and her corpse had released a fresh stream of blood as it came free from the rubble. Ember stared at her crimson hands and arms.
“D-Dawn…”
Something broke in Ember and a strangled noise, neither a scream nor a sob, tore from her as she scrambled to her feet and ran, ran from the stench of death and the horrible, staring eyes of the dead.
“Navan! NAVAN!”
Bursting out into the square, Ember was half blinded by the brilliant sunlight. The pure beams illuminated the massacre, the clear sky and light seeming to mock the hideous scene of death that had unfolded in less than twenty minutes. As Ember shielded her eyes, she saw Navan stand up and look towards her, opening his mouth as if he were about to speak. Two sharp reports rang out and blood spurted from the young man’s neck. At the same moment, a sharp object pierced the side of Ember’s neck. A wave of dazed weariness washed over her and she staggered forward. As the world went out of focus, Ember saw Navan fall to the ground. Then her own legs gave out and everything vanished into darkness.
“Subject tagged and collected, Supervisor. They should be here on schedule.”
“Excellent.”
The voice was gentle; the hand on the shoulder of the technician seemed to communicate a sense of warmth and affection. A sharper voice sounded behind the young man.
“I hope you know what you are doing, Supervisor. I don’t want to have to play doctor to these subjects when I’m supposed to be furthering our operation. Many subjects have been shot and the things that...ah…” There was a rustle of pages being turned, “Subject 1X went through just now. I’ll have to wait at least three days for the drug to be naturally removed from the bloodstream!”
“Patience Professor,” Soothed the first voice. “This was a necessary event. It’s only through the fires of the furnace that gold can be properly purified...And the flames have yet to reach their maximum heat.”
“But the mental damage! I’m not certain how many will withstand my tests and I won’t become their psychiatrist! I might just remove those damaged areas-”
“That is not your call, Professor. Those memories will become the fuel to this fire. I guarantee you that Subject 1X will pass all your examinations and exceed all your expectations. I am sorry about her friend though. He would have been an interesting catch.”
“I’ll see what I can do. He may yet prove useful.”
The hand tightened on the technician’s shoulder, nails digging painfully into the man’s skin before releasing abruptly.
“Keep us informed on their progress. Professor, this is not the place to discuss such matters.”
A pair of cold grey eyes narrowed as they cast a final glance at the screens before the technician. The image depicted Khinas, the tower at the center rising like a sword. Smoke rose from various buildings around the city.
“Let’s see how you heal this wound, Medic.”
1 comments:
These last two chapters are amazing!!! They're so intense... now I'm dying to know what's next and who these people are! (And what's going to happen to Navan?!?) Keep writing! :)
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