Chapter 14: Where dreams are made of.
"RUN!!!"
Henrick shouts out as he leaps down from the building, breaking his fall with a wrecked Prius. His bare feet crush the metal, momentarily stunning him with the force of the landing, before he rolls off the car and looks up at his two other companions. "What are you waiting for?!?!" the soldier shouts as David and Selene stand there with dumfounded expressions.
Leo leaps down and gently lands next to Henrick, his eyes droopy as exhaustion starts to seep in. "Awoof." says the canine as he nudges Henrick towards a subway entrance, his limbs feeling heavy from doing so much so soon after his evolution. The distant skyscraper looms even larger as its foundations fail further, glass shattering and rebar snapping as it suddenly accelerates on its descent.
Father David looks at the rapidly approaching building, then to Henrick, and does the sign of the cross quickly. "Lord, he’s crazy. Give me strength." says the priest before he and Selene leap off the building. The ground rushes up to meet them, adrenaline coursing through their bodies as David instinctively releases a steady stream of concussive force from his feet that slow his landing.
Selene, meanwhile, unleashes an explosive magical blast at the building. The explosion pushes her forward at an angle, allowing her to bleed off the majority of her momentum and roll on the ground into a standing position easily.
The group then run into the subway entrance, Henrick ensuring that they don’t enter into its depths. They wait for what seems like an agonizingly long time, before the earth rumbles violently as the skyscraper smashes into the ground.
A frown deepens on the soldier’s face as he hears the unmistakeable sounds of people being crushed, their screams cut short by tons upon tons of rubble. He looks at David and Selene, who are holding onto the railings tightly, and notes that they don’t seem to have heard the anguished wails abruptly being cut off.
Henrick decides to keep this to himself as the rumbling slowly subsides, and the earth regains a tentative calm. "It should be safe now." he says, swiftly and silently heading up the steps, mindful of his surroundings.
A glance outside paints a chaotic picture. Debris is strewn about as the remains of the building decimated most of the block, dust billowing as a breeze spreads it throughout the street. Through the haze, the soldier’s eyes lock onto some movement beneath the rubble.
It shifts and gets thrown off as a muscular red haired woman shakily gets up. She notices Henrick but frowns, clutching her left elbow, no doubt injured by the monumental collapse. Her summer dress is ripped in certain places, but keep her decent as she hobbles away from the soldier.