The Custodes

Chapter 33 - A Sacrifice In The Name Of Friendship

Noah
"Get as far away from this city as you can. Do not come back until authorities say it's okay." Noah hoped the seriousness of his voice got the message through to the family of four standing in front of him, but just in case it didn't he stared the parents in the eyes through the slit in his mask. They both nodded, still in a daze from suddenly being grabbed from their home and teleported to the opposite end of the city in a number of seconds. Noah had to accept that that was the most assurance he was going to get from them, so with a satisfied nod he willed his body to teleport back across the city with a low crackle of electricity. He reappeared back in the family's cozy living room, trying to steady his heavy breathing as sweat trickled from every pore in his body - causing the inside of his mask to grow stuffy and hot. Noah willed it to dissipate away quickly, before using his already damp shirt to wipe his face as he struggled to shake the weariness that caused his head to ring and his vision to grow distorted. "Noah, how we doing?" Kayla's voice came through the comm in his ear, shaking Noah back to reality as he closed his eyes - teeth grinding tightly together as he placed a hand against his aching temple. "Alright. That's another...family gone. I'll blitz the rest of this building...as fast as I can...then move on." Noah spoke at a normal volume as he held down the button on the earpiece, though there was no way for him to hide the shakiness in his voice. "Are you sure?" Kayla asked after a short pause, not masking the concern lacing her tone "How many apartments have you done? You sound exhausted." "This one is my sixth. And don't worry about me, I can keep going." Noah's voice grew more firm as his resolve strengthened; though despite his mindset, his body still let him know exactly how much it was struggling to keep up. Teleporting was no easy feat, and doing it so frequently over such a great distance was starting to take its toll on him. "Are the authorities here yet?" He asked, teleporting to the next apartment room as he quickly reformed his mask - refusing to waste another second. Kayla responded while he hurriedly did a quick check of the rooms, finding no one. "Yes. All that are left, at least. When I went to talk to them and fill them in on what streets had already been evacuated, they started trying to force me to leave with the rest of the civilians. I wouldn't have been able to stay if Officer Brady hadn't shown up and spoke on my behalf; apparently he's gained enough respect to convince them to make an exception and let me help with the evacuation." "That's good." Noah replied, teleporting to the next apartment and immediately searching once again for any civilians either hiding out or unaware of the situation. He found a couple in bed fast asleep together, and without hesitation he shook them awake in an unintentionally alarming manner. Noah didn't have any reservation left - this was a crisis and he didn't care how startled these people were by his awakening them - grabbing both of their shoulders and immediately teleporting both of them away from the city. It was only once they were out in the dimly lit street that he realised they were both stark naked, and screaming in horror too. Grumbling under his breath he teleported straight back to the bedroom, yanking the first two sets of clothes he could find from the closet before teleporting back and tossing them at the couple. They dressed immediately despite their shock, following Noah's finger with their heads as he pointed directly down the street. "Go that way, get to the next city and don't come back here till you hear it's safe over the news. If you make it to a police station tell them to get here and start helping the evacuation immediately." Before the couple had even stopped staring with their wide, shock-filled eyes, Noah was back in the apartment with sweat billowing off him once again. "Where are you and Rose now? And has there been any sign of Neo?" He asked into the comm, taking a minute to wipe his face once again while he had the chance. "I'm on Roselawn Street, there's a few officers doing scans of the houses with me. I don't know where Rose is and no, I haven't seen anything from roughly where you last saw Neo." Kayla answered his question as factually as possible, but the small quiver in her voice at the mention of Neo was still there. Noah shared her concern, however he couldn't distract himself by thinking about it at that point - Neo was the one who told him he could handle things by himself. Noah tried to forget about the amount of times the boy's judgement had been wrong before. "I'm on the next street over from Noah still. Unfortunately I don't have big zappy powers that let me go from building to building in an instant." Rose's voice came through the earpiece, breaking Noah from his dangerous train of thought about Neo's current predicament. A smile so very nearly made its way to his face at her comment, but it fell just short as he conjured his mask once more and moved on to the next apartment. "Zappy powers are starting to run thin. I don't know how long I'll last after this building; but we'll deal with that problem when we come to it." Noah informed the girls, before he began running through the apartment for any sign of people yet again.