Walk Through The Fire

Influx

"It's not him," she stated. "Kal-El wouldn't bleed."

"Are you the Clairvoyant?" The male probed.

"Uh," Lex choked. His eyes betrayed a refusal. The male effortlessly threw him back and Lex flew across. He hit a wall, his already pain-filled back stung with further pain. He fell with a mouthful of dirt swarmed in his mouth and narrowly missing a large piece of rubble from knocking his head. He grunted, coughing out loudly while he tried to get up. Before his next thoughts formed, the two figures whooshed out, the interaction meaningless. Lex stared at the direction to which they had left. It was now an empty space.

Immediately, the thoughts of Tyla and getting her out of the way plagued him. He got up, ignoring tenderness that creeped in his muscles, the dizziness that spun in his head and the blood that started to stain the collar of his shirt. With both arms, he pulled down heaps of debris from the mound. He clutched more dirt and threw it out of the way. One final parting of rock and he saw a delicate hand fall. He gasped, shaking away any pain before unearthing Tyla. He pulled her out, holding her in his arms. He checked her pulse. She was still breathing, but only just. Blood mixed with soil matted her truly dirty blonde locks, but Lex couldn't find where it was coming from. She needed a medic and quickly. He picked her up and carried her in his arms, staggering out of the damned cave with more questions than answers.

******

Figures....A black mass...flashes of light...whirring noises...screams...fire....lots of fire. Images pooled into her mind like fragments of a vivid movie without a context. It was four-dimensional slideshow one that sent Tyla groaning in pain. Blood...more fire...it was gunfire this time...a large white complex made of ice...no, crystal...white blinding symbols. The wheels of Lex's silver Mercedes-Benz sped 70...80...90 down the highway and Tyla was feeling all of it.

"Ty..." Lex coaxed. He glanced over to the passenger seat next to him to see Tyla moving around like she was having a nightmare. He heard her groaning and although her movements gave him some relief that she was fighting her mere inches away from death, she was expelling too much energy. "Hey...honey!" He kept his eyes on the road, taking his hand off the gear shift and reached to gently wake Tyla up. At once, Tyla's eyes shot open. She tilted her head back and let out a hair-raising scream. She arched her back. Her fingers dug into the leather seat. Her knuckles were white.

Instinctively, Lex put both hands on the wheel and slammed the breaks. The tires screeched to a halt. "Tyla!" Blood pounded in his already tender head. He looked over at her in terror. She shouldn't be thrashing around so much.

"Where am I?" She shrieked. She looked around. Everywhere but at him. Lex noticed that there wasn't any pools of light in her eyes. She appeared normal, other than the frantic state that she was in. Tyla teared at herself, feeling the seatbelt strapped to her and shook at the buckle. As she set herself free, she bolted out of the car and scrambled down the empty road.

"Whoa, Tyla!" Lex exclaimed, as he took off his seatbelt. Pushing down the confusion that rose in him, he tried to get out of the car, quickly. He chased her down the road. "Tyla, wait!"

"They're still out there," she yelled as she dashed away from Lex. However, he saw her slow down. Voices echoed in her brain. Some of it she could make out as English, some of it was unknown to her. It grated her ears, and the voices were getting increasingly louder. "They're right behind us and they will kill us if they catch us!"

"Who is?" Lex called after her. He jogged up to her, taking advantage of her steps slowing to a halt. He touched her face, but the woman pushed him back. With her back to him, Tyla reached up and gripping the sides of her head, fighting back the mixtures of sounds in her ears. "Hey..." Lex wrapped his arms around her, protectively. He rested his chin on her shoulders and held her as her cries reduced to exhausted pants. "It's-it's okay, Tyla. I'm here," he tried to reassure her.