Vivienne and I teleported into the Union conference room, still holding each other and shaking. The reality of the situation had only just begun to set in for me. I’d never owned anything before, and most of the stuff I did technically own was actually just Viv’s stuff that she was letting me use. The idea that it was all just… gone made no sense. All my paintings and art supplies, our TV, our clothes, Viv’s book collection. That stuff was supposed to be ours for the rest of our lives. And now, in an instant, we’d lost everything. I couldn’t comprehend it.
“Guys! Are you okay?”
Madeline and Maggie ran over to us. Looking around, we realised everyone was in the conference room, no doubt having been woken up by the explosion.
Vivienne shook her head. “Our… Our apartment. It was destroyed. We got out, but… All my neighbours…”
“The Godling finally made Its move,” I said. “A huge explosion just destroyed the entire CBD. It was like a nuke.”
Maddie pulled us both into a hug. “I’m just glad you two are okay. When we felt which direction the shockwave came from, we were worried.”
Rosalyn walked up from behind her. “If your apartment was destroyed, ours probably didn’t fare much better.”
Maggie ran a hand through her hair. “Fuck. I’m so glad we got Diego to move in here before tonight.”
We pulled out of the hug, Viv still clinging close to my side. “What are we gonna do?” I asked, looking around. All of the civilians we’d taken in were staring at us, scared expressions on their faces.
“Reconvene in my office,” Ashley said, a serious frown marring his usually laid-back visage. “These people don’t need to be hearing this.”
He turned and stalked into the hallway. With one last look at each other, we all followed.
—
“There are two things we can glean from this situation,” Ashley said, sitting at his desk with his hands steepled. “The first is fairly obvious; the Godling is now in Tombguard, meaning we know Its general location and can use that information to launch a counterattack. The second is that it took an entire week of inactivity for It to charge up that attack, meaning we likely don’t have to worry about anything similar happening any time soon, especially if It’s making moves on the ground now.”
“Except, because of the explosion, all the internet and phone lines are bust,” Maddie said, holding up her phone, which displayed a ‘no service’ symbol. “We’re cut off from the outside world.”
“Maybe for now, but someone outside the city would’ve seen the flash and reported it,” I said. “It was too bright for them not to.”
“We can hope for that, but until we know for sure, we’re on our own,” Steve said. “We need to be prepared to deal with this by ourselves.”
“So, what’s the plan, then?” Maggie said. “We can’t just fling ourselves at it. We don’t even know exactly where it is.”
“Just… Just gimme a minute, okay?” Ashley said, rubbing his temple. “I’m thinking.”
“There’s nothing to think about,” Vivienne muttered, her voice low and even. She stood up from the couch we were huddling on, fists clenched. “How can we hide away in here when people outside are dying? How can we just let that… thing have free-reign of our city? We’re meant to be heroes, for fuck’s sake! Right now, Tombguard doesn’t need us to fight the Godling, it needs us to protect its citizens, like we always do! We don’t even have any way to hurt It right now, so it’s pointless to think about! We just need to get out there and save people.”
Everyone stared at her. She wilted under their scrutiny. “Look, I… I just don’t want any more people to get hurt.”
“No, you’re absolutely right,” Ashley said. “We need to focus on what we can do. But that doesn’t mean rushing out without a plan, either.” He remained silent for a moment, pondering, before looking back up. “Alright. We all go out in groups of two or three, spreading out across the city to search for survivors and investigate the situation. Vivienne, you’ll act as an intermediary, teleporting between the groups to check in and transport any civilians we rescue. We’ll communicate via walkie-talkie, and if you see even a hint of the Godling, you call it in and run in the opposite direction. Do not engage under any circumstances. That sound good to everyone?”
“Yeah, sure,” Maggie said, “but I couldn’t help but notice your use of the word ‘we.’ You’re not saying you’re coming with us, are you?”
“I am,” Ashley replied. “At a time like this, we all need to do our part. If the triplets are going out as well, they’re going to need someone that knows the city going with them. Also, over the past few days I’ve been stockpiling weaponry just in case something like this happened, so I’m not going to be going out there unarmed, either. I know I can’t do everything that you all can, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help out, either.”
“If you’re going, I am too,” Steve said. “Ever since Jordyn’s wish, my injuries have pretty much healed. I’m not gonna let a bunch of kids show me up.”
“Won’t that leave HQ unguarded, though?” Rosalyn asked.
“I’ll put Maggie’s man Diego in the security seat,” he replied. “I’ve been showing him the ropes since he moved over here. Other civilians have offered to help out, too.”
Rosalyn whirled around, turning to Maggie. “Wait, you’re straight? How does that work?”
Maggie shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I guess Andreas just put me together wrong. I don’t have any programming like Jordyn and Hex, either.”
Ashley cleared his throat. “Anyway, does anyone else have any more questions? Because if not, we shouldn't waste any more time.”
Vivienne grinned. “Alright. Suit up, everyone. It’s time to earn our paychecks.”
—
Those of us with hero costumes all quickly got dressed. Ashley had costumes commissioned for Maggie and myself over the winter months, so we got to join in the fun as well. The reason we wore them despite our identities being public knowledge was for civilian morale, apparently. According to Ashley, studies showed that heroes being easily identifiable on the scenes of disasters made the victims feel like help was truly on the way, which kept their spirits up. It also had something to do with the perception of heroes in popular culture such as movies, and how that translated to real life, but I didn’t know a lot about that.
Regardless, my costume was a black bodysuit with a long, billowing cloak designed to create a large pool of shadows for me to pull from. It made me look mysterious and foreboding while still leaving enough room to express myself, which was a vast improvement over my old armour, at least. I just wished the designers weren’t always so focused on making me look scary.
Once everyone was dressed and had retrieved a weapon from the stockpile, we split into groups, trying to balance recon ability and combat potential with personal relationships. The groups ended up being: Brea and I; Rosalyn and Madeline (getting those two to separate was an impossible task that none of us cared to even attempt); Maggie and Hex; Ashley, Ten, and Nina; and Ettie and Steve. We were all a little surprised at Nina volunteering to go out, but with her superhuman hearing, she would no doubt be indispensable in finding survivors trapped under rubble.
Routes were devised using the conference room’s big map of the city. We would fan out from the Union HQ, each heading for the crater (now dubbed ‘Ground Zero’) via different paths, spreading apart and exploring the increasingly ruined cityscape in search for survivors and useful supplies. Once we reached the crater edge, we would turn around and take a different route back, maximising the amount of ground we could cover. Of course, this was all assuming nothing went wrong, and even if we did succeed, we’d only have scouted our half of the city. The ruins on the other side of Ground Zero would have to wait for another expedition.
Even then, it was inevitable that we’d miss people. We could try our best, be as thorough as possible, but in the end, there were only a dozen of us – most of us untrained for these sorts of rescue operations – without any proper rescue equipment. We would need the outside aid of professionals if we wanted to achieve any sort of efficiency or mass success with this plan. But, with the internet and phone lines down, that wasn’t an option right now. We just had to put the morbid knowledge that some people couldn’t be saved behind us, and do the very best we could for those within reach.
With our preparation out of the way, there was nothing left to do but depart. Vivienne took a scopalomine pill, kissed me like it might be our last ever touch, and disappeared with a pop, teleporting away to scout ahead.
“Nothing to it but to do it, guys,” Ashley said, opening the front door and stepping out onto the deserted street. He pulled back the bolt of his rifle, checked that it was loaded, and turned back to us.
“Let’s go.”
—
“You look like a slut.”
Maggie blinked, turning to her little sister. It had been the first words uttered by either of them since they left the Union some thirty minutes ago, heading towards Ground Zero. By now, the buildings around them were beginning to show signs of damage from the explosion, but not to the point where they had to go looking for survivors yet. The real ruins were a bit further ahead. “Excuse me?”
Hex briefly glanced at her before looking back forward. “Sorry. It was too quiet. Also… you kinda do.”
Maggie looked down at herself. Alright, she’d be the first to admit that her hero costume was a little on the risqué side, but that was only because it was shoulderless to facilitate a full range of movement for her wings, and that meant that the ‘neckline,’ if such a term even applied, was pretty low on her chest, showing off a not insignificant amount of cleavage. But she didn’t mind being a little sexy for the public, even if her little sister was endlessly embarrassed by it. She’d spent two years in hiding, so sue her if she wanted to show off a little.
…It was a little cold, though. Maggie pulled her wings in tighter around her arms to block the breeze.
“You’re just jealous that you’re not old enough to get an official costume yet,” she shot back. Hex was just dressed in a simple jacket, jeans, and boots combo.
“Okay, first of all, it’s bullshit, because I help out just as much as the rest of you, and I’m literally older than Jordyn if you wanna get technical about it. Secondly, as if I’m jealous of your corny ass getup. You look like the actress in a bad superhero porn parody.”
Maggie’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve been spending way too much time on the internet.”
Hex shrugged. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore, will you? Nothing but human contact for us for a while, huh?”
Maggie sighed, looking out over the devastation. “It seems that way.”
They continued on in silence for a little while, until they reached a point where the buildings had started to collapse. Maggie took to the air, doing a quick scan of the area.
Oddly enough, there were a few people milling on the streets around them. From her aerial perspective, none of them seemed injured – or even really bothered, for that matter – so Maggie elected to let them find their own way to safety, and focus on those that needed more immediate help. If they were still there on the return trip, Maggie would advise them to follow along.
She swooped down, landing next to a collapsed building. “Yo, anyone alive in there?!” she called.
“H-hello?” A voice called back, muffled by the debris. “Can you hear me?”
Maggie called Hex over with a gesture. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna get you out. Are you injured?”
“Um… N-no, not seriously, I don’t think. B-but I can’t move.”
“Just hold on. And, uh, don’t be alarmed if you start floating.”
“What?”
Maggie nodded to Hex. She put her arms out and strained.
Bit by bit , the collapsed pieces of the building began lifting into the air, spreading out in a wide area above them. There was a lot to sift through, but eventually, Maggie heard a cry as a man was lifted up along with the rubble.
“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” he cried, flapping his arms in a clear instinctual attempt to remain balanced.
“Don’t worry, I gotcha,” she said, beating her wings and flying up, plucking him out of the cloud and setting him down on the ground. “Just stay here and you’ll be safe, alright?”
He blinked up at her and nodded shakily, covered in concrete dust. “O-okay.”
“Uh, Maggie?” Hex said. “He wasn’t the only, uh… person-shaped thing I picked up. Could you take another look?”
Dread settled deep in Maggie’s gut, but she ignored it, turning around and taking flight once more. It was a little hard to see clearly in the dark, but sure enough, there were other people floating amongst the wreckage, eerily silent. By now, Hex had pulled pretty much all the rubble up, meaning that everything here was everything she had to check through. Oh boy.
One by one, she grabbed the people and brought them down to the ground. Some were still alive, just unconscious. With others, it was difficult to tell with her limited medical knowledge. But most were definitely dead; their bodies crushed and twisted in ways that left no possibility for life. Maggie clenched her teeth as she transported them, trying not to look too hard lest she throw up.
Their families would come looking for them, she told herself. She couldn’t just leave them in the rubble, even if it was too late to save them. So she soldiered on until all that was left was the uncaring stone.
Hex dumped everything back in the husk of the building with a grunt before doubling over, breathing heavily. “Fuck me, that was hard.”
Maggie left her to her recuperation and pulled out her radio.
“Viv? It’s Maggie. We’ve got some civvies here for transport. Could you meet us on our route?”
After a few seconds, the radio crackled to life, and Viv’s voice came through. “Roger. Give me a minute to find you.”
She’d memorised all of the routes beforehand, apparently. Maggie couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer intensity of her work ethic. And sure enough, after about thirty seconds, Vivienne appeared. She looked at the scene in front of her and grimaced.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Maggie replied. “This one guy’s good to head to the Union, but the rest of the, uh… most of them are knocked out. I’m not sure what to do with them.”
“I was just at the hospital,” Vivienne said. “It’s still running, thankfully, and I let the administrator know about our plans. They’ve agreed to take in anyone seriously injured. Though, given the sheer number of injured people in the city right now, they’ve sent a handful of doctors to the Union and asked us to deal with anything minor ourselves.”
“Oh. Well, that takes care of that, then. Could you…?”
Vivienne smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll handle things here. You press on.”
Maggie sucked in a breath and nodded. “Alright. Good luck.”
“Thanks. You too.”
At that moment, Steve’s voice echoed from both of their radios, layering over himself.
“So, I’m just curious, but… Has anyone else encountered the zombies yet?”
—
A few minutes earlier…
Steve and Ettie walked side by side down a ruined street. Or, in Ettie’s case, slithered down the street. She was a strange one, that was for sure.
In truth, he wasn’t quite sure why he’d volunteered to come along. Ettie was as efficient as a machine when it came to saving the people under the rubble. All she needed to do was goop her way between the rocks, locate them, and then wrap them up in her body mass to protect them while she slithered out. Viv had already made several round trips to transport their survivors. Steve was practically just there for moral support.
Oh well. Walking under his own strength again was enough to make the trip worth it all on its own. Also, he had a sword sheathed to his belt, which made him feel a little bit like a samurai from a Kurosawa movie or something. Ignoring, of course, that the sword was of western design and not a katana, and that he was profoundly white. Also, he had his trusty Colt 1911 holstered on his other hip, and he actually knew how to use that, so the sword was mostly for decoration. But, again, ignoring all that. Steve felt pretty cool.
“So, uh…” he mumbled, trying to think of some way to make conversation. “You’ve been at the Union for a week now. How are you… finding things, so far?”
Ettie hummed. “It is far more comfortable than Father’s hideout, and I enjoy the freedom to spend my time how I wish. But… All of the people in the conference room are annoying.”
Steve chuckled. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
“They can’t tell me apart from my sisters. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for them. Father never had an issue with it, and neither have any of your people, for that matter.”
“It’s easier for us because we know you better,” Steve replied. “Yes, you may all look just the same, but we know that Nina’s shy, and Ten’s aloof, and you’re…” He trailed off, not sure how to describe Ettie.
“Goopy,” Ettie answered with a nod.
Steve cleared his throat. “...Yes.”
“I suppose that makes sense. It’s still annoying, though.”
“I’m sure.”
A scream echoed from around a corner. Steve’s heart leapt into his throat. He and Ettie shared a quick look before bolting in the direction the sound had come from.
“Help me!”
A man ran at them from down a side street, being chased by a group of four… people? At a glance, they looked like regular humans, but as they came closer, Steve got a better view, and saw that there was clearly something wrong with them. Firstly, their hands and mouths were covered in a red substance that Steve could only assume was blood. Secondly, those aforementioned hands and mouths were all horribly misshapen. Fingers elongated, jaws widened to the point of looking dislocated, teeth and nails sharp and jutting. The worst part was their eyes. All bloodshot, rolled into the backs of their heads, with their eyelids peeled back as far as they would go. Their skin had turned several shades bluer, as well.
Holy shit. Did the Godling create fucking zombies??
Regardless of what these things were, Steve couldn’t just stand around and let them kill this guy. He drew his gun, taking aim and pulling the trigger. A bullet ripped through the kneecap of the zombie in front. Its leg buckled and it collapsed, but quickly climbed back to its feet, continuing to run even with the internal structures of its leg destroyed. Steve knew just how much an injury like that hurt, and he knew that no living, conscious person would be able to just ignore it to such a degree.
He didn’t know if it was possible to save the people that had turned. But he had to prioritise the ones he knew for certain he could save. Steve aimed higher and fired, hitting the next closest zombie right between the eyes. It dropped, and didn’t get back up again.
By this point, the man had reached their position, so Steve stepped in front of him and let Ettie take the lead. She moved literally like water, engulfing the zombies in her body before… tightening? The mechanics of the action weren’t exactly clear, but when Ettie reformed into her regular shape, the zombie’s head had been removed from its neck and placed in her hand. She discarded it behind her without a shred of remorse as its body fell to the ground. Despite being unattached, the head continued to thrash and snarl ineffectually in the dirt.
Well. At least that confirmed that these were zombie zombies, and Steve hadn’t just killed a living person. That was a weight off his chest.
Regardless, he sat back as Ettie dealt with the rest of them with ruthless efficiency, finishing up in under thirty seconds. She returned to his side, eyeing the man. “Are you going to call it in?”
“In a minute,” he replied. “Where’d you, uh… learn how to do that?”
“One of the first things Father taught us was how to effectively kill a person using our powers. Thankfully, we’ve had no reason to actually use that knowledge until now.”
Steve hummed, frowning. These poor kids. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and pulled it up to his mouth.
“So, I’m just curious, but… has anyone else encountered the zombies yet?”
—
Ashley grunted as he pulled his hatchet out of the skull of the zombie he just put down, reaching for his radio with the other hand.
“Affirmative. Ten and I just got jumped by a horde of about seven. We’re fine, though.”
He looked over at the young woman right as she punched straight through the last zombie’s head, splattering herself with gore. Her eyes were wide and she was panting heavily, but otherwise she seemed unhurt. Ashley doubted the zombies would be able to get through her stone skin, anyway.
“Good to hear,” Steve replied. “Just so you’re all aware, these are actual zombies, so don’t feel guilty about taking them out. Ettie took the heads off of three of them and they’re still moving.”
…Fuck. That was good to know. Ashley had been forcing himself not to think about it as he frantically tried to recall his self-defence training and everything he knew about zombie media.
“Anyway,” Steve continued, “Viv, if you’re listening, I’ve got a civvie here in need of transport. No injuries.”
“Give me a minute. A little busy right now,” Vivienne replied. Ashley put his radio down, confident that his input in the conversation was over.
“Nina, you can come out now! It’s safe!” he called.
Nina crawled out from within the collapsed building she’d sought refuge inside. Not really suited for combat and easily overwhelmed by loud noises and intense smells, it’d been decided early on that she should keep clear should anything happen.
“Wh-what… what were those things?” she asked, covering her nose.
“Zombies,” Ashley replied. “Basically, dead people brought back to life. Though, I’m not sure where they came from or why they’re here. I can only assume the Godling has something to do with it.”
Nina grimaced, staring at the bodies on the floor. Her eyes shifted over slightly, and widened. “Ten, are you alright?”
Ashley turned around. Ten was still sitting on the floor, breathing heavily. She held up her hand. “I’m fine… Just… Gimme a minute…”
“What’s wrong?” Ashley asked, walking over to her.
“Ten’s always had poor stamina because of her heavier bones,” Nina answered. “She’s good for short bursts of activity, but all the walking plus the fight just now must’ve worn her out.”
Ten scowled. “Don’t tell him that, bitchhead!”
Ashley smirked. She must’ve picked up a few curse words from one of the civilians at HQ, but without any of the context to use them right. Nina, who obviously hadn’t been around such bad influences, just tilted her head, confused. “What?”
He pulled a bottle of water out of his backpack and handed it to Ten. “Drink this. It’s probably about time we took a break, anyway.”
Ten grumbled under her breath, but did what she was told, and that was good enough for Ashley.
Once she had recovered enough to move, they walked a few hundred metres down the road, until they couldn’t see the bodies anymore, and settled down next to a mostly-intact hardware store.
“You two rest here. I’m gonna check for supplies.”
“Yell if you get into trouble,” Nina said. “Or… just call out in a normal voice. I’ll hear you regardless.”
He smiled. “Sure.”
Ashley stepped up to the doors. Thankfully, the explosion earlier had smashed the glass, so reaching in and unlocking them from the inside was a simple matter. The metal shutter behind them, however, took a bit more elbow grease. He bashed the lock with his hatchet until it gave way, and pulled the shutter open, grinning at his success.
Was this technically looting? Yes. But he felt it was justified given the circumstances. The distribution of supplies in the city would no doubt fall apart now that the Godling had arrived, so he had to take what he could get. They had a decent stockpile of stuff at HQ, but it would only last so long. If they were going to stay in the city, this was likely just the first of many supply trips they’d need to go on. Who knew if outside aid would ever even reach them? Knowing the Godling, It could’ve intentionally cut them off with some sort of illusion so that It could take Its time in picking them off. It wouldn’t be the first time It had besieged a city that had scorned It like that, according to the records his mother gave him.
Ashley moved through the dark hardware store, searching through the shelves with his phone flashlight, shoving anything potentially useful into his backpack. There was a fridge next to the counter stocked with soda and energy drinks, which he quickly snatched – mostly for Ten’s benefit, but extra calories were always valuable in situations like these.
He passed by a chainsaw on display, thought about it for a second, reversed his course until he was back in front of it, and picked it up.
It was a little heavy, but not cumbersomely so. Ashley recognised it as one of the battery-powered models. There was no battery plugged in right now, of course, but a quick search around netted him one from the shelves. He slotted it in, and gave the starter cord a hearty pull.
The chainsaw rumbled to life, and he gave it a few test revs.
Ashley chuckled. “Groovy.”
…A fun thought, but ultimately not a very good idea. He turned off the chainsaw, removed the battery, and put everything back in its place.
"Ashley? Could you come out here?"
Uh oh. That didn't sound good. He quickly wrapped up what he was doing and made for the doors. Outside, Nina was on her feet, staring into space with wide eyes, shivering slightly.
Ashley handed Ten an energy drink. "Drink this. It might help." He turned to Nina. "What's wrong?"
She took a deep breath. "I... I hear... screaming. From far away. A woman."
Ashley frowned, dread seeping into his gut. "Someone calling out for help?"
Nina shook her head, looking him in the eye.
"No. Screaming in terror."
—
I grunted, stomping on the head of the zombie I just took down, wincing as brain splattered on my shoes. Maybe that was overkill, but whatever. It got the job done, and I was a still too antsy at its sudden appearance to care that much.
Brianna let out a war cry, flipping a zombie over herself onto the ground. Her hands then de-materialized, re-materialized at the knife in her holster, and stabbed the blade right through the zombie's temple. Badass.
"Wow, you've really gotten good," I said, smiling.
She stood back up, huffing, but with a huge grin on her face. "Thanks! I can react so much quicker now that I don't have to move my arms."
To illustrate her point, she let her arms up to her shoulders turn to smoke, aside from the hand holding the knife. She then tossed the knife up into the air, de-materialized her hand, and effortlessly caught the knife again on the way down by reforming her fingers around its hilt.
I chuckled. "Awesome."
"Your advice to stop thinking about my smoke as a specific body part really helped. Look at this!"
Her smoke coalesced around her shoulders and formed into hands. She flapped them a few times. "See? I'm Maggie."
I snorted. "Don't let her see that."
She giggled, turning her hands back into smoke. She'd been using her arms' supply to keep a constant cloud around her at all times, making her aware of the immediate environment and alerting her of anything that came close; really just a refined version of what she used to get around the Union before, except that now she could instantly re-materialize her hands anywhere in the cloud to react to threats.
All things considered, this expedition really hadn't turned out as bad as I thought it would. Sure, the desolation was pretty grim, but Brea and I were doing what we could to help people, and the few zombies we encountered were pretty easy to take out
The air popped in front of us, and Viv appeared, looking ragged and rundown. She sighed and flopped towards me, and I automatically reached out to grab her with my shadows. On a night like this, there were enough to call on to completely cocoon her in soft darkness. She sighed again and snuggled into them.
"That bad, huh?"
"I'm so fucking tired," she groaned. "How are you okay, Jordyn? I know you didn't sleep tonight either."
I glanced to the side. "I may have forced myself through like five cups of coffee before we left."
It was the truth. My heart may have been racing for the past twenty minutes, but at least I was awake and aware. I just hoped we finished the expedition before the inevitable crash.
"Fuck, why didn't I think of that?"
Brea came over, patting Vivienne on the head. "Don't worry, we'll carry you for a little while."
At that moment, our radios crackled to life.
"Everyone check in?" Ashley's voice said. "Nina's reporting some weird sounds. Are you all alright?"
"Yep," came Maggie's voice.
"We're fine," said Steve.
I pulled the walkie-talkie up to my mouth. "All good over here."
We all waited for Rosalyn and Maddie to confirm.
...
They never did.
Vivienne sighed once more, wriggling out of the shadow-burrito as if this was a mild inconvenience and not wildly concerning.
"Viv, can you-"
"Already on it," she said into her own radio, before slotting it back into her belt. "See you guys later, I guess."
"Be careful," I replied. "Something doesn't feel right."
Viv gave me a soft smile. "You know me, babe. Nothing can keep me down."
And just like that, she was gone.
"...Shit," Brea said. "Hope they're alright."
"Those... Those two are tough. They'll be fine, I'm sure," I replied, mostly to assuage myself.
Brea and I continued on our path for a while, trying not to think about what might be happening, until we found another crumbled building with people calling out for help. Brea did her thing, searching through the rubble in smoke form until she had their precise locations, and then I did my thing, reaching into the shadows between the rocks and turning them solid, holding the debris in place to prevent further collapse while pulling the people out.
Once we'd checked them over for injuries, I pulled my radio out again, tuning it to Viv's specific frequency. Hopefully she'd sorted out whatever was wrong with Rosalyn and Maddie by now.
"Hey, Vivi, are you available? There are civilians here in need of transport."
...no reply. Brea frowned.
"Viv? Are you alright?"
Once again, nothing.
"Oh god," Brea whispered.
No. I refused to give in to despair so quickly. And, sure enough, the radio crackled, filling me with hope.
Only, it wasn't Vivienne's voice on the other end.
It was Rosalyn's.
"Help."
