Shadows Peak |✔

Chapter 3: Sydney

Chaos. This is what chaos looks like.

One moment ago there was a cheerful and expectant crowd of citizens awaiting a speech from their president, and now there was chaos.

Sydney was lying on the ground, about twenty feet from where she was just standing, next to a few people she hadn't seen anywhere near her. A few seemed unconscious, but when she looked to her right she saw a girl shaking violently with her mouth open. Confusion took over Sydney's mind until she felt a violent vibration and saw it again. A bright flash of fire to her far left. Bodies flying and people running. That's when she realized that the girl next to her was screaming, she just couldn't hear her. Panic began to set in.

Bombs? What? Where did they come from? Why can't I hear anything?!

She tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in her right leg told her that wasn't going to happen.

Boom!

Another bomb went off about thirty feet in front of her, knocking her back on her butt from the small crouch she managed to maintain. She needed help, and looking around her, all she saw were bodies and people crying. But, none of them were the two people she was looking for.

Liz? Jasper?

She was trying her best to analyze the faces of people near her, but her vision was constantly impared by the legs of those running past her.

Where are you guys?

Mixed emotions started flooding her body as she thought of the possibilities.

Okay, it's possible that you're already safe somewhere.

She took in deep breaths, trying to keep the chaos from crippling her thought process. But as the earth continued to shake from explosions further away from her, fear crept in.

Or you could be blown to bits somewhere else.

Not much of an optimist, she started to consider the latter as a real possibility. That was until she saw a frantic Jasper push through a crowd of people running in the opposite direction of him. Sydney thought his face looked pained, horrified, but mostly scared.

"Jasper!" Sydney cried, though unable to hear it herself. She trusted that the sound was coming through despite not knowing for sure. "Jasper! Jasper, do you hear me!?"

Broken through the crowd, Jasper followed the sound of his name being called and saw Sydney in pain, on the ground. He rushed straight to her, crouching beside her.

"We have to get you out of here!" He yelled, but Sydney couldn't hear him and was terrible at reading lips. It took Jasper a moment to realize, but when he did he pointed to the direction they had to go.

"I can't run, Jasper. My leg."

Understanding, Jasper lifted Sydney into his arms and took off running, keeping her close in case of another explosion. The way he held her was desperate, like he feared for her life, and it made it difficult for Sydney to see, so she squirmed a bit in his arms.

I should keep an eye out for Liz. She's probably terrified.

Each time Sydney moved, Jasper would readjust her back to the position he had her before. Eventually he held her so tightly she couldn't move out of his hold.

"Jasper, stop it," she said. "I need to keep an eye out for-"

"No, Syd," he said.