The Majors, Cold Fury (Book 2)

Chapter 79: Hopeless

~Jimmy~

My eyes couldn't break away from the sight.

Screams ripped through the air of those searching for their loved ones among the chaos. There were already people searching the wreckage of the city, large buildings dangerous and crumbling in on themselves collapsing every few minutes. The crater was near the very center of Eastvale, the outside ring and bits of the wall still slightly intact but heavily damaged and unstable.

And it was all my fault.

I couldn't stay here.

I needed to find help.

I needed Lizzie. I needed Scott. I needed Fwhip to be okay. Yet a voice in the back of my head whispered to me that there was no way he had made it...

The landscape was a haze, the ground cracked and the air arid and scraping against my throat as I inhaled even more smoke. It was as if a hand had closed around my chest, restricting my supply of air, and forcing me to take even larger breaths of the toxic fog.

Throughout the muddled frenzy of my mind, I managed to form the most basic of plans. Find the others. But I hardly knew the area, nor did I know which way was which kingdom. I knew Gem and the Crystal Cliffs was to the west, and to the north was Joey in the Lost Empire, but I had no way to tell how far either were from where I stood. From where Eastvale used to stand.

I still couldn't comprehend the fact it was gone. My eyes stared at the ruins, processed the fact that all there was were piles of rubble and collapsing homes, flames raging where wood had caught fire, bodies scattered here and there with some stirring and some still as death. But I wouldn't believe that this apocalyptic sight was where the great city once stood.

I hadn't even realized I was unconsciously backing away, farther from the site.

My fault.

My fault.

My fault.

I didn't want to be here anymore. I should have stayed in Ora. I shouldn't have tried to fix things. I wanted this to disappear, to hide the consequences of my choices.

I was slowly retreating, my own breathing as shaky as my hands. I felt numb, but at the same time like I was experiencing every single negative emotion that made me want to sink into the ground and never feel again, my chest tight and my heartbeat so fast I could practically hear it beating in my ears.

I wanted to close my eyes, watery and stinging from the harsh, polluted and smokey air, and make it all go away. But no matter how many times I blinked, how many time I smashed the heel of my hand into the side of my head, it remained.

This was no dream.

I was still backing up, eyes locked on the destroyed site. That was, until I tripped.

My heel caught on something protruding from the ground, and I bit back a shriek as I fell harshly backwards, landing on my shoulder blades. Many rows of somethings poked into my shoulders, my sides and back throbbing from the impact against the ground.

With a groan I rolled over, my body aching and stinging and exhausted. Half of me just wanted to lay there, unmoving, let myself rot away like I deserved. Unfortunately for that half, the other was stronger and forced me to keep going. I lifted my head up, searching for what I had tripped over. It wasn't that hard to miss.

Train tracks. Miles upon miles of steel bracing and wooden brackets stretched before and behind me. I had walked right onto the track. Or rather, into it.

I got to my feet, brushing myself off which was pretty pointless. I was covered in debris, powder, and grime of destroyed buildings mixed with dirt and blood I hoped was my own laying in patches along my clothes and bare skin, sticky and uncomfortable. But at the moment, this was the least of my concerns.