Phase 43

Chapter 8 - Finn

They were nowhere to be seen. Paramedics were everywhere. One was running up to me.

"Miss, miss can you hear me?" An young woman ran up to me, waving a light in front of my eyes. I blinked hazily, trying to figure out what she was saying.

"What...?" I mumbled. The ringing in my ears wouldn't go away. The woman was about to say something else but there was high pitched screaming in the air. I turned frantically towards the sound, my eyes whipping around. I tried to find anyone - one of my brothers, one of my parents... Sam had been right next to me when the blast hit? Where could he have gone?

Ping!

I was thrown out of my hazy trance as bullets rained down on the opening. The woman immediately tackled me to the ground, and from the way my knee began to scream in pain, I knew I had landed wrong. I frantically crawled behind a destroyed table that had been flipped on its side, my back pressed against the thick wood. The ringing in my ears grew louder as I watched the glass above me become peppered with bullet holes.

"STAY HERE!" The woman screamed over the noise of the chaos. I was only able to stare at her - her words just didn't make sense. But, I just stayed tucked in my little hideout as she pulled her own gun from its holster and slipped out of the protection of the table. I blinked fast, trying to catch up with what was going on.

It took me a moment, but after one bullet hit the back of the table hard, I was up and sprinting. I had no idea where I was going, and I knew that my knee was torn beyond repair, but I had to find someone, anyone.

"FINN!"

I whipped my head around, frantically trying to find the source of the voice. It was Charlie, it had to be. The way he said my name, the way his normally quiet voice was warped by fear and pain. I avoided clouds of dust and fallen walls, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I was almost able to convince myself that my knee hadn't been re-injured. My backpack bounced painfully on my back as I hobbled through the chaos.

Then, in the midst of the dusty air and static sounds, there was two little boys clinging to each other behind a couch. The eldest had the younger's head tucked into his chest, and they were crying.

My throat turned raw from screaming.

I bounded towards them as fast as I could, falling to the ground painfully when I reached them.

"Charlie, Lucas, oh god..." I cried, wrapping my arms around them. They immediately tucked themselves into my shoulders, their skinny arms tight around my waist. I slid us back into the couch, pressing my face into Lucas's curls.

"Finn, oh, it was so scary - the big sound - and..." Charlie was mumbling. I rested my hand on his shoulder and shushed him quietly, trying to cover both their ears from the sound of gunfire. Oh, when will it be over?

It took a while, but then everything silenced. It was odd, the transition between complete chaos and absolute calm. There was a moment when everything got too loud to cope with, and then everything was quiet and I was sure I had lost my hearing. Dust floated in the air in front of me like the blokeh you would see in some kids artsy totally-not-edited picture they would post on Instagram. The only thing I could hear was my heartbeat - it pumped loud in the back of my mind. Charlie and Lucas were talking, and I knew that because their mouths were moving, but I could not hear their words.

"Finn!" It took Lucas a moment of tugging, but then my eyes were latching onto his and they were pulling me up. I protested for a terrifying moment, thinking that they were going to stand up right into gunfire, but then I remembered that it had ceased for the moment. Drowsily, I spotted another paramedic running our way.