Road to Arcadia: the Path East

Chapter Twenty-one: Deadwood

 Even from his limited view in the middle row of seats, Kai could tell something was not right.

He was used to the homes in the area looking out of sorts, but they weren't supposed to look like this.

Pieces of siding were ripped from the sides and strewn about the lawn, stumbling into the road. Windows not boarded up were shattered. There were holes in roofs that had not yet been covered by desperate tarps.

The walkie buzzed. "Everyone, put your hats on. Get ready to jump on my signal."

Baz had put something together that Kai didn't. Even with the compounding debris, he couldn't fully grasp it.

Yulia flew down the flight of steps to the first level, helmet already in hand. "Come on, get up," she urged, toen a morbid shift from her usual airiness.

Kai hopped up eagerly. "What is it? What happened here?"

"Is it not obvious?" She glanced at Deon for reassurance. "We got lucky out on the road, we must have just missed it as we were coming in."

The realization came before she even had to utter the word.

They rolled past a house.

But the word house was overly optimistic--in denial, even.

The first thing Kai noticed was the wood, raw wood sticking up like a splayed tree stripped of its leaves. The rest of it came into view. A sheet of shingles, a painted green front. White outlines that once were window panes. It had been flattened, as if stepped on by a giant, like the kind only spoken about in fairytales.

Except this wasn't a fairytale. Far from it.

This was the aftermath of a tornado.

His balance was thrown off by the bus screeching to a halt.

The doors flung open and they filed out without discussion.

Baz was already on the ground, helmet on and eyes squinting through the lingering rain. She was able to scan and command at the same time. "Divide and conquer," she called out, voice sharp and pointed. "Split into pairs and look for survivors. Desco, take Ziskin. Kirk and Garver. Largo and Gilling. Keo stays with me. No questions, go."

Kai adjusted his helmet as his eyes scanned for Carsten Largo. It was hard to miss the hulking silhouette, even amongst the swirling rush of emotions. His baggy white suit built to contain his mass contrasted the snugly fit helmet strapped to his head.

Largo's eyes only made passing contact before he was off in a counter direction to the rest of the group. Kai ran to catch up.

It was chaos, in its purest form. While the destructive funnel had dissipated before they had gotten their sights on it, its aftermath painted the perfect self-portrait. There was no semblance of what this street used to be—houses, sure, but Kai had trouble reconstructing the shapes in his mind. The streets were loose outlines of viable paths, but the absence of signs or other indicators voided the area of order.

Carsten stopped at a pile of debris flatter than the ones lining the block. He started calling out for survivors.

Kai didn't wait for instruction. Training aside, he had enough sense to know what to do. The two circled the plot, one clockwise the other counter, shouting nothings in hopes of garnering a response.

At the sound of a muffled voice, Carsten sprang into action, clearing a path and overturning debris.

Kia understood why Baz put the two together. Largo flipped walls and tossed pieces of furniture like they were styrofoam. Kai could only clear away scraps of wood and shattered antiques.