Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

ONE

When I woke up, it was over.

I slowly blinked my eyes open and looked around. We were laying in Evergreen Park, or what was left of it. Rubble was everywhere, along with a few small fires. Nearby were the broken remnants of the zip line we'd used to escape from Sector 7. And at that thought, I sat up, all of it coming back to me in a rush.

The plate collapse, fire and thunder everywhere. The city above us, falling apart piece by piece as it crushed the slums beneath it. And lost in middle of all that was Jessie. Terribly hurt when the console's power surge had caused it to explode after flooding her body with electricity. She'd been thrown across the platform and into the railing, dropping to the floor in a wounded, smoking heap.

And then she'd been torn from me, ripped away in the chaos of the plate collapse. A massive chunk of debris, shearing through the edge of the platform and taking Jessie down with it to the base of the pillar and into the middle of the inferno. She was gone. But in spite of all that had happened to her, I knew in my heart that she was still alive. She had to be. And I was going to go back to what was left of Sector 7. I was going to find her, no matter what it took.

Aerith had also been taken away from us. By Shinra. I didn't know how they'd managed to do it, but they had. She and I had dealt with the Turks a few times since we'd met, but I still didn't fully understand why they were after her. Something about her being an Ancient, but... what did that mean? I didn't know. But I was going to find out. She was sure to be at the Shinra Building now. And I'd have to find a way in there to save her. I was her bodyguard, after all.

I hoped the others had gotten out, too—Biggs, Wedge, and Lena. I didn't want to lose any of them. Two months ago, I hadn't known them or cared much about them. But that had changed with time and all the experiences we'd shared together. Fighting side by side, completing the missions to the reactors and the 7-6 Annex warehouse, playing cards at night, having dinner together at Seventh Heaven. They were my friends now, more important to me than I'd ever thought possible, even if I still didn't really know how to show it.

I looked over to see Tifa and Barret stirring as well. They had a few minor scrapes and scratches like I did, but nothing serious. The deeper wounds were inside, I knew. The kind no spell or potion could heal. As Tifa sat up, she looked down, as if she didn't want to see the cold reality of what had just happened. The gate, or what was left of it, was nearby, and piled just behind it was a mountain of debris at least fifty feet high. Barret raced over to it, his eyes wide.

"Marlene!" he yelled. He kept at it while Tifa and I slowly stood up and joined him. "Marlene! Jessie! Biggs! Wedge!"

Tifa touched his arm. "Barret..."

He pulled away from her and started grabbing at the debris, calling the names of his daughter and friends over and over again. He yanked out chunk after chunk of broken concrete and metal, throwing them to the ground, but there was no way he'd get through. Some of the rubble was the size of boulders. But he tried anyway.

"Marlene!" he screamed. "You out there!? Anybody? Jessie! Talk to me! Say somethin'! Biggs! Wedge!"

"Barret, hold up for a—" I started.

He wasn't listening. "Marlene! Marlene!"

And then, his tear-streaked face a mask of rage and grief, he began shooting at the huge pile of rubble with his gun-arm as if he could just blow it apart and find everyone on the other side. But all he was able to do was send shower of rock and dust everywhere. His voice became an almost inhuman roar as he kept firing.

As much as I wished he really could have cleared us a path through the rubble, I knew there was just too much of it here for him to do that. But there had to be another way back into Sector 7. Something nagged at me then, poking at the back of my mind. Something I felt I should've remembered. But I couldn't, so I just left it alone for the moment. I felt for Barret, but we had to get him calmed down before we could decide where to go and what was next. He stopped, leaned back with his arms out to either side, and screamed again.