Two: Run

Aurelia

Anger, hurt…those emotions pull a sob from my chest. My fists pound the bunker.

“Please!” I cry. “Please, don’t do this. Dad! Dad!” I bang on the bunker, over and over and over.

Until my skin splits, until blood drips and until the ground splits under me.

I scream from the pain of my limbs stuck between the earth, and I struggle until I break free.

A loud crack splinters through the air, and I look up to see the roof of our house being dislodged. It catapults into the air, and I run.

God, I run for my life.

I run into my car and kickstart the engine, but it doesn’t start.

“Come on, come on,” I whisper, frantic. Blood from my hands smears across the steering wheel and gear as I turn the key over and over.

It doesn’t budge.

It. Doesn’t. Budge.

I let out a frustrated scream, mixed with tears, as I slam the wheel. “Come on! Please! Please!”

The car shakes violently, and I push the door open, falling out just in time for it to tilt and fall.

I run into the road and realize I'm not alone. There are a handful of people running around too, with nowhere to go.

Just like me.

Maybe Tessa and her family would have space for me, but when I look in the direction of her house, everyone’s running in the opposite direction.

Trees are uprooted from the ground, houses are destroyed, rooftops circle in the air.

There are strange lights in the air. Emergency sirens blare and stop continuously.

But I just keep running.

Something zips past me, and I feel a sharp pain on my arm. I reach for the spot and come back with bloody hands.

I stop, out of breath, and inspect the injury.

I was sliced.

The sleeve of my shirt is quickly soaked in blood. I tear off the sleeve and wrap it around the wound just as the ground gives way beneath me.

Another scream leaves my lips as my lower half falls into the earth. Someone drops in front of me, blood seeping out of them.

It takes a moment to realise the blood is coming from the back of his head.

I use his body to wedge myself out. “Hey.” I shake him. “We need to go.”

He doesn’t respond. His body lolls carelessly in every direction I shake him.

Then I press my ears to his chest.

No heartbeat.

I press two fingers to his wrist.

Nothing.

My lips part, cheeks wet. He’s…dead.

Bile rushes up my throat, and I vomit on the concrete—or what remains of it.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god…” I stand on shaky legs in both disbelief and fear.

Someone is dead.

Someone just died because of this.

And my parents…they left me out here. To die.

I stumble backwards and fall on my butt as I hug my knees to my chest.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die.

Tears roll down my face. My body aches. There’s blood on my slacks, on my shirt. I’m bleeding everywhere, including places I didn’t know I was hurt.

An electrical tower collapses in the near distance and fire immediately erupts. People run past me while others fall and get up.

We’re not going to survive this. All of us here…we’re all going to die.

“What are you doing?!” A man yells in front of me. “Get up!” He hoists me to my feet and drags me along.

We run until we find some sort of level ground, and for a moment we just sit. The man collapses on his back and exhales loudly.

He’s a slender man with salt-and-pepper hair.

There’s still some ruckus in the distance, but we have a bit of a break.

“I’m Walter Bell,” he breathes.

“I’m Aurelia Hayes,” I murmur.

“I know who you are.” He sits up and pins me with gray eyes, lips pinched into a thin line. “Greg’s daughter.”

“You know my father.”

“Yes. I worked with him.” He frowns. “Why are you not with your family?”

My lips quiver as I recall the way he shut the door in my face. Tears threaten to spill, and I rub my hands across my cheeks, smearing blood and dirt. “Apparently the bunker couldn’t contain me.”

His frown deepens. “What?”

I shrug, blinking back the tears that sting my eyes as I roll the ring still on my finger.

“I guess their supposed son-in-law is more precious than their daughter.” My voice is thick with emotion.

Pity fills his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“How about you? You didn’t prepare for this?”

“I did. I’m looking for my son.” He runs a hand down his face. “Such a bull-headed man. We had an altercation, and he left. I was expecting he’d come back to the bunker when shit hit the fan, but he didn’t for a good thirty minutes. Had to come out and find him.”

“You will,” I assure him. “You’re a good father.”

If only my father could forget our altercation. Instead, he left me out here to die.

My heart squeezes painfully in my chest.

Walter shrugs with a small smile. “I try my best. Our kids expect us to be perfect, not realizing we’re living this life for the first time too. I wish I could find him, apologize, and take us back to the bunker.”

None of us say anything for a few minutes. The ground rumbles slightly between us, but not enough to take us under.

“This ground is going to give way very soon,” Walter says.

“Yeah,” I whisper. “You said you worked with my dad? Did you know about the deaths too?”

His eyes narrow, and then he shakes his head. “Your father’s research has caused more harm than good.”

“I found out about the deaths. I threatened to turn him in. I guess this is my punishment.”

Walter sighs. “I warned him, you know? After my daughter died, I realized how bad it was. I told him the reactor was becoming unstable. I told him we needed to shut everything down.”

“And he didn’t?”

Walter shakes his head. “He said we were too close. So, I left. Tried to gather enough evidence to turn him in until this happened.” He shows me a flash drive. “This is all the evidence I could save.” And it disappears back into his pocket.

The ground shakes even more violently this time. There are so many questions I want to ask.

Can this research be stopped? Is there a better way to get clean energy? How many people have actually died because of this?

But we don’t have the time.

“Come on, we need to leave.” He grabs my hand and yanks me up.

But just before we can continue running, the ground opens, and we fall in.

I scream.

The earth keeps moving; heavy stones crush my bones. The sky explodes with lights that fall to the ground as hot matter.

They fall on my skin, burning me. “Walter!” I yell.

Fear chills me. It’s like I’m drowning, like the earth is trying to pull me under. To bury me…alive.

“I’m here, kid.” He grabs my hand. “I’ll help you up, and then you help me.” He shouts over the noise of distorted radio frequencies.

We trudge through the earth until we get to some sort of leveled ground.

My nails dig into the earth, while Walter pushes me up from my waist.

I manage to get over to the other side. Half a pair of my shoes are lost. My clothes are torn, and I have more cuts and wounds on my body.

Crawling on my belly, I reach for Walter. “Grab me.”

He holds onto my hand, and with all the strength I have, I pull him up.

We don’t get very far when his eyes widen. “Aurelia! Duck!”

I obey. My head slams into the earth, and suddenly, I hear a loud impact.

Something warm splatters on me, and I look up.

Walter.

He’s been hit.

“Run.” He grunts.

I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you.”

His face is mangled and bloody from the force of whatever hit him, his grip slipping from my hands. His blood is splattered across my clothes and hands.

He’s unrecognizable.

Blood drips down his face and forehead. There’s an open gash where one of his eyes used to be.

My stomach rolls.

“Walter,” I beg, sobbing. “Walter, I’ll pull you up. Please.”

He wheezes, struggling to breathe. “Find… my… son.”

That’s the last thing he says before his head hangs.

I don’t let go.

I struggle to hold onto his weight. “Please, Walter.” Snot drips down my nose. “Please. Please.”

He doesn’t respond anymore.

Not even another grunt. Nothing.

And when the ground gives way again, Walter drops from my hands.

“Walter!!!!” I scream.

The scream is cut off as something slams into the back of my head.

For a split second, I remember the happy days. When my family was my family. When my dad was the best in the whole world…and god, he used to love me.

The memories blur.

Then they crack.

Eventually, they fade.

And everything goes dark.