Hell of Earth

Part 2 Royals Chapter ELEVEN

Blood droplets fell from the sky and splattered on her bare feet. She tilted her head upwards, letting them roll down her cheeks and neck. Cold. The red sky exploded into yellow and a moment later a sharp crack forced her to slap her hands over her ears. She dropped to her knees, mouth open. She winced when a drop fell in her mouth. It wasn't salty. She cautiously removed a hand from her ear and lifted her palm. Another hand met hers and pulled her up.

"Thunderstorm." Proga yelled. The sky responded with another roaring clap. "Come on, its about to pour."

Opal turned her head to watch the sky erupt into yellow-white flame again.

"Out of the rain- you'll regret getting drenched."

She disagreed. She wanted to stay out in this forever. The wind whipped her hair, lashing it against her face. The smile was starting to hurt. "A little longer!"

"I've already given you two 'a little longers' before the rain started. Hold on to my hand."

Opal gripped it tighter and was surprised when she felt his arm twist. It sent her spinning in a half circle. She fell against him laughing. "Again!"

Proga's half smile widened. "One more- then you'll come back in?"

"Yes!"

He spun her and she shut her eyes. The rain was starting to become painful yet she wanted to stay here forever. Compared to the containment of the encampment this was heaven.

"Ok rain goddess- lets go."

Opal allowed him to lead her back into the safety of the crumbling stone building. She was panting as they crawled over the uneven steps. The warm glow greeted her and made her cheeks flush with the sudden heat.

Kait's sleepy eyes glowed orange from the firelight. "Have fun?"

"Yes! Want to go back out with me?"

"I would but... I'm still not feeling great. I'm sorry, Opal." She leaned back against Yue who tucked a thin blanket around her.

"Yue- come out with me."

He raised an eyebrow and pointed to Kait. "Regrettably I'm already being employed. Next time."

Opal sighed and turned. "How about-" The words died on her tongue at the expression on Spark's face. He was on the opposite side of the room from everyone else, arms over his chest.

"Proga- lets go out again!"

"When we have access to real shelter I'll stay in the rain as long as you like." Proga shook himself and pulled his shirt off to ring in the corner. He flipped it a few times.

Opal sighed and dropped to the ground next to the fire. She looked down. She supposed she was shivering.

"Not a lot to offer in terms of clothes, but I can get you something dry." Proga toed the small pile of random items they'd scavenged. Since escaping from the encampment they'd needed to stop frequently. Kait was still healing up and seemed to get winded easily. She didn't realize how much the other girl had taken out of herself trying to heal her, Proga and all of those kids. At one point Yue had everyone take turns while she slept to make sure she didn't stop breathing. Spark and Proga also seemed a little weaker than before leaving Yue and Opal the task of searching for what they could.

----

They'd gone out before the rain started. Despite how aloof Yue came off she found he was pretty easy to talk to, especially when it came to her not knowing what was going on.

"Where will we go?" She'd asked him, a little annoyed to be digging again even if it was for supplies.

"We need to know where we are first." He'd explained, lifting a large broken metal door for her to look under. "We were taken from near here but I'm not sure where we are exactly. Its not a good idea to walk around too freely. Some territories are friendly to guests and some are... less so."