[ENG]Shoto Todoroki : Modern-day Terrorist

Chapter 33

I saw the scene in slow motion.

The rocket exploded from its black tube.

It violently threw back the man who had fired it.

A cloud of white smoke rose from the barrel. Then it turned red. As if it were on fire.

The air shook.

The wind blew. Crackled.

Kenzei threw me underneath him, forcing me to put my head between my knees.

I felt it the second the rocket hit the bumper.

The metal bent. Rumbled.

The ground shook as if there had been an earthquake.

The pavement creaked. Buildings swayed.

Car windows exploded behind us. One of them, thrown into the air, spun around before smashing through the window of a flower shop.

Our car continued to creak.

For a second, the front wheels lifted.

I dug my nails into the seats and clenched my teeth. Kenzei, leaning over me, kept me from sliding.

A front tire burst. The car fell back. The airbags went off. The car alarm mixed with the crackling radio.

The rocket exploded.

The windshield shattered.

A blast of hot air lifted all the dust off the street, raising a gray haze over the crosswalks. The temperature inside the car rose.

The trees and groves on the sidewalks burst into flames.

On our left, a building collapsed. Pieces of brick rained down from the sky. A cement block larger than a television set hit our windshield. The crack widened, cobweb-like tears spread. The block rolled onto the bumper.

Brick projectiles hit our car so fast and so hard that, for a second, I thought they were bullets.

To our right, the window of the dry cleaner's exploded on impact. A veritable shower of cement meteorites fell on the street and the houses, gouging the asphalt and punching holes in the walls.

A boulder hit a fire hydrant, shattering the red cap. A veritable geyser erupted, soaking our car and the burning trees.

Steam was released.

The remains of the collapsed building drowned the sidewalk like a foamy wave crashing on the beach.

I waited, motionless, my heart pounding. Kenzei kept an iron grip on my neck.

Finally, he released me.

"You're all right ?"

I nodded, barely able to utter a word because of how dry was my throat. We'd just been hit by a missile at point-blank range - and we survived. Ha.ha.ha.

Kenzei patted the car's roof with his knuckles.

"A really solid machine," he hissed admiratively, "The Germans really are the best when it comes to cars"

He smiled to reassure me, but positioned himself so that I couldn't see what was going on outside.

All I knew of the chaos around us was thanks to my hearing.

He looked over his shoulder and down the street.

I looked down at the cell phone and pulled it out of my pocket. The call with my father was still in progress.

Kenzei mumbled.

"Solid or not..."

He turned to me, still smiling.