Fantasy

34 - Sarah

Marie grabs my arm and pushes me forward, urging me to run. She doesn't have to tell me twice; I book it. We only make it about 20 yards away from the grenade when the thing detonates, its outer shell being blown apart from the inside. I clap my hands over my ears as Marie tackles me to the ground and shields me from shrapnel. A loud boom echoes through the trees, vibrating my bones, and then a cloud of charred leaves, dirt, and smoke fall over us. I cough; the smoke stings my eyes and lungs. "Get up," Marie shouts, also coughing. She helps me to my feet and we pull our shirts over our noses. "This way!" Marie leads me to the right, but a figure steps in front of us as we reach the edge of the dust cloud. It's a CMRA agent and he's wielding a large knife. Marie turns on her heel, pushing me back into the smoke, except another agent is three feet in front of me. He also has a knife and he lunges towards us. Marie jerks us both to the side, but we can't see anything. The air is beginning to clear, but we still almost hit a few trees. It's like trying to navigate a maze blindfolded.

"Wait, stop!" I yell at Marie. Her ears are probably still ringing, but she obviously hears me as she screeches to a halt.

"What?" she demands, searching frantically for an agent she overlooked. I release her hand and hold up my palms to send a gust of wind out. It flushes all the dust and smoke away.

"Now they'll be able to see us," Marie says. We look behind us, the agents with knives are only a little ways away from us, but they're facing the opposite direction. Just a few hundred yards in front of us is the end of the forest and beyond that an intersection. Dad's shop is just down the road from that.

"Go, quick," I say to Marie, "Before they turn around." We put our generator power to good use and take off running. Even if the agents do see us, they are no match for our speed.

Marie and I practically fall into Dad's store. I feel like someone getting off of a ship they've been lost at sea on for a decade. We made it! I close and lock the door before collapsing to the floor, exhausted. Marie looks like she wants to do the same thing, but she takes the time to call, "Abby! Abby, are you here? It's Marie, honest. Come out if you're here! Abby!" No one answers. Marie sighs pitifully and drops to the floor beside me.

"Hey, I'm sure Abby will come soon," I tell Marie. She doesn't answer. After a few minutes she climbs to her feet and goes behind the counter to the fridge Dad has in the back. She comes back with a soda and a cold slice of leftover pizza for me and some pizza and a bottle of water for herself. "Thanks," I say as she hands me the food. As I bite into the pizza Marie resumes her position on the floor next to me. When I come up for air about three quarters of the way through my second slice of pizza I say, "I don't see how this small little place could house all the members of the World Defenders." Marie shrugs.