Underdogs

THIRTY-SIX

"It was their choice, Galene. Don't punish yourself for something you didn't force upon them. They needed a light to follow, and you were the brightest star of all."

Oh, Johan...

She shook her head and gnashed her teeth. It wasn't the moment to remember the fallen; to sink into nostalgia and regret and damn the rest of the world. Her feet clacked against the gravelly ground as she pushed through everything, avoiding the accusing stares of the dead as she frantically made her way to the stony staircase.

Black hands of fog pursued her; intangible fingertips attempted to get a hold of her, jabbing at her back with their poisonous nails. She felt the chilling whispers of an unfamiliar, demonic voice grazing her skin and creeping up her spine. But she pushed through the nebulous state of mind and hurried those she found breathing along her path to follow her, guiding them towards fresh air.

Until something made her stop dead in her tracks. Quite literally.

A hand wrapped around her ankle, causing her to stumble and look down towards the source of the iron grip. The woman was lying on her stomach, her blood painting the ground crimson as her crying eyes pleaded for Galene to help her. But there was nothing the latter could do; a rock was crushing half of her body, and she could see the life seeping out of her with each passing second — she had probably not expected for part of the ceiling to collapse under the fury of the explosion.

"G-Galene," the woman called in a desperate whisper. Despite herself, said woman crouched to her level with a grave expression in her eye, feeling how the grip on her ankle loosened eventually. "M-my daughter... She i-is inside. Please... please, s-save her..."

As her hand finally lost all its strength and dropped to the ground, Galene ignored the empty stare of the now-dead woman and turned her attention to the house the child was supposed to be in. Her features contorted into a mix of concern and compunction; the sight of the thick cloud of smoke standing as a guard in front of the cracking façade sent an uneasy chill down her spine. That kid was most likely dead by now.

But what if she isn't?

Ripping the bottom of her greyish shirt, she tied the cloth in a way that it covered her mouth and nose and dashed inside. Her eyes stung as she glanced around, searching for the kid and hearing an inexistent clock ticking in the distance, reminding her that she was short of time.

A cough brought her attention towards the small bed at the end of the room, making Galene rush over. And there she found her — curled up underneath the bedsheets; big eyes staring up at her as tears soaked her cheeks, which looked sucked in under the effects of a starving stomach.

Strangely enough, the child didn't make a noise of complaint when Galene picked her up and held her in a tight embrace. Instead, her tiny arms sneaked around the woman and she hid her dirty face inside her jacket.

"Don't worry," Galene murmured as she placed a hand on her small head to keep her from breathing in the smoke. "I'll get you out of here."

The child tightened her grip around her in response.

Just as Galene was stepping out, she caught sight of a big rock falling towards them. Cursing under her breath, she only had a second to react. She turned around, using her body to shield the girl in her arms, and bit down a scream as the rock scraped her back and slashed her skin.

Her vision blurred for a moment of burning pain, and Galene felt how her skin separated from her muscles and these faced the biting air while blood poured down her back.

"Are you ok, miss?" the child's voice rang and cut through her frozen mind.

Forcing a smile, Galene could only grunt out, "Let's go."