Highlander

Chapter Twenty-Four | I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds

Chapter Twenty-Four | I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds

Three hours.

That was all it took for everyone to get gear together. How long it took for everyone to trek miles away to where the ship had crashed. How long it took to find the charred remains of every single passenger aboard.

Aurora thought going would make her feel better. She thought she ́d be able to identify the bodies, make sure Dexter wasn ́t one. But as she stood there, in the center of the sight with flames dancing besides her she realized how wrong she was. The scent of burnt flesh and gas was nauseating and the bodies... the oneś Aurora had seen were burned beyond recognition. They were practically skeletons with pieces or gored flesh hanging from the bones. It all made everything worse. Aurora could barely tell their gender apart, let alone identify her brotherś familiar face.

Clarke had seemed to have the same idea. The blonde had come too and every time she looked at a body her face fell. Any one of these bodies could be her mother and just like Aurora, they would never know.

Aurora swallowed down her tears, tearing her eyes off the body by her feet. It was smaller than Dexterś build and Aurora was sure it had once been a child. Her heart clenched at the thought of a kid burning away in the air.

Had it hurt? Did they die slowly or was the burn quick and painless?

Aurora prayed that all these people didn't suffer in their final moments.

Aurora released a heavy sigh, squeezing her eyes shut as she avoided breathing through her nose. If she had to breath in another whiff of the burnt flesh and gas she was going to be sick. She could hear the traveling voices of the other kids from camp, all stuck wandering and wondering if any of these dead people were their family.

Aurora wasn't even sure why they had come here. They all knew everyone was probably dead, and even if they hadn't known before they sure as hell did now.

It was funny.

They knew being here was pointless yet they still stayed, and searched, and prayed for something to help.

Everything electrical on the ship had been fried in the crash and all supplies had burned away. Nothing was of use to them. Nothing.

"Rory?"

Aurora licked her lips before peeling her eyes open again. It was Clarke, the girlś eyes bloodshot from crying. She was frowning as she stared at Aurora, eyes flashing down to Auroraś freshly wrapped wrist. The bandage was over the bracelet, Clarke unable to remove the bracelet without causing more damage. Aurora was annoyed she was stuck with the dumb useless transmitting device when everyone else had removed theirs. Clarke had said they needed to wait until Auroraś hand healed fully and until then Aurora had to have a tight thick wrap keeping her wrist from moving.

Clarke gnawed her bottom lip before turning her eyes back to Auroraś wrist. Blood was seeping into the bandage, in obvious need of a change but Aurora was more focused on this crash to care about infection.

"How ́s the wrist?" Clarke reached out, Aurora quick to jerk her hand away and back up some.

Clarke looked confused at Auroraś actions, her hand hanging in the air for a moment. Clarke swallowed, pulling her hand back to her side. "Your wrap needs to be changed."

"Clarke, I ́m not in the mood for your Doctor side right now." Aurora scanned the crash site, frowning as she spotted Bellamy ́s black head of curls. He was hugging a grief-stricken girl, one of the few actually able to identify a body. The girl was sobbing into Bellamy's chest, her father's pure metal engraved lighter clutched in her hands.