Ground Two

Hurt

Eva watched as Ground 2 melded with Ground 1. Soon, all that was left of the two halves was a tiny, jagged crack in the soil, liquid metal spilling out and hardening, cementing the two halves together.

Lumina shot out just in time, climbing ever higher, her Hover Wings pitching black smoke until they finally sputtered and died. Eva watched as Lumina plummeted, her body limp.

Almost calm.

Almost peaceful.

Eva started running forwards, her eyes still locked on the falling body, hoping to determine where it would land.

Lumina's body was falling fast. People were following behind Eva and closing in around her, their gazes leading them to the same place Eva's was.

500 ft.

450 ft.

400 ft.

"Quick! Form a human net," someone called out from among the crowd.

Eva caught hold of one woman's hand and then a young man's. Their arms weaved together. Others caught on to what Eva and the two were doing and joined in, multiple other hands and arms weaving together until everyone formed a circular net.

35 ft.

20 ft.

15 ft.

Eva could feel every limb squirm and tense. Eva took a breath, letting her body relax, knowing that the amount of force that would crash down on them would shatter more bones unless they were relaxed.

"Everybody relax!" called out the same person that hollered to form a net. "We don't need any extra broken limbs when we're all done here!"

Every limb tightened. Eva heard the inhale of breath. Then, each limb became relaxed, swaying in the stiff breeze like supple ropes.

Eva looked up along with all the others as Lumina's limp body came nearer. Then, reverting her eyes to her arms, felt the weight of her sister's body strike the human net with a blow of a thousand elephants. Everyone except Eva stumbled backwards, their arms disassembling from the net. The man and woman that she'd started the net with had also fell back, clutching their arms and howling in pain.

Eva just laid there, Lumina's body piled onto hers; face tucked in Eva's armpit, left palm slapped on her face, right foot lodged in her abdomen, left foot nudging her right calf. The weight of Lumina's body combined with the Hover Wings crushed in on Eva. Her ribs screamed and her right arm - the one that got the brunt of the impact - thumped along with the beat of her heart, pain coursing up and down, deep inside of the bones making up the limb.

But, although Eva's insides screamed, she didn't let the physical scream escape her mouth. The pain filled expression fastened to her face said enough.

Two men - both older with silvery hair - came rushing up and lifted Lumina up off of Eva by the Hover Wings that were still strapped to her back. They took to laying Lumina down on her back, and unhooking her from the beat-up Hover Wings. The man with the tiny glasses held two fingers to Luminas neck, and then watched her chest slowly rise and fall. He snapped a finger in her ear and pinched some skin on the back of her hand, but she didn't get up. The man looked at the other. "I'll take her to the hospital. You take care of the situation here and call an ambulance for any extra medical assistance.

The man skirted his gaze to Eva and pointed. "She looks like she may need to be treated."

Another person came over to help the man with the small glasses lift Lumina. Eva pushed herself to sit up and watched them until they were out of sight.

The man who was ordered to stay turned around and made a path to her. He crouched over Eva, his gaze examining her - head to toe. A faint smile surfaced, Eva's name rushed past his lips. "How nice it is to see you again Captain Si. It's been a long time."

Familiarity dawned upon her as she took his hand in her left and shook. "Likewise, Chief Trattle."

"I haven't been called Chief for a long time. Please, just call me Heinz, Captain."

"Yes, sir."

Heinz shifted. "You were quite brave to soften your sisters fall and not even cry in pain at the same time! Is anything even broken?"

"Yeah. I think there are a few cracked ribs and a broken bone in my right arm. I assume that, by my aches and pains, those are the only areas that are necessary to attend to."

"Any internal bleeding?"

"I'm 90% sure that there is none."

"Can you stand?"

"I can try."

Eva was given a hand to help her up. She took it with her left, shuffled her feet beneath her, and got up. A slight pulling made her hunch forward and clasp a hand to her rib cage. She bit her lip, pain prickling at her chest.

"You alright?" Heinz asked, a supportive hand on her back, ready to catch her if she'd fall.

Eva just looked up at him and nodded.

Heinz lead her forward a few steps, then stopped upon catching Eva's grimace. "Yeah. You look real good," he said sarcastically.

Eva lowered her gaze. "I guess I really am not."

Heinz looked away from her for a moment, his eyes narrowing on a woman walking towards them. The woman was short compared to Eva. Her long, black hair - as dark as the night sky - was pulled back into a ponytail, magnifying her high cheek bones and rounded jawline. Her blue eyes were seemingly lit with a burning fire, while her smile intended that she was happy to see Heinz. The smile grew surprisingly larger as she came nearer.

The woman's hands fell into her black, leather jacket's zipper pockets. "Hello captain Si! It's nice to see that you're back."

Eva nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Director Dienze."

"In the flesh." Soal turned to Heinz. "What's going on here Trattle?"

"She's in need of medical assistance. Lumina fell from high in the sky and plummeted over 600 to 700 feet in the air. Eva was there forming a human net with several other people, but was the only one to get the brunt of the impact. When Timothy and I found her, Eva had collapsed on the ground with Lumina safely on top of her. Timothy carted Lumina off, but Eva needs to be driven to the hospital as well. She has a few fractured ribs, broken right arm, and possible internal bleeding due to the tremendous force landing upon her. Timothy directed me to be stationed here until everybody is checked on and filed away, though."

"Are you implying that I take her Heinz?"

"If it's possible?"

Soal nodded at him, then he stepped away, walking back towards the remaining, groaning crowd. Soal turned her attention to Eva, ingraining the sight of her into her head. "You haven't lost your bravery Eva."

Eva eyed Soal like the comment was meant to make fun of her. But, she replied in a nonchalant tone, "I intend to never lose it. It's a part of me that hides my fear."

"Well that was kind of you to risk your own well-being for your sister."

Eva's eyes skirted to the ground, a sheepish smile crawling onto her lips.

"How about we get you to the hospital so that the doctors can patch you up."

"That would be appreciated."

Eva held out her hand to Soal. Soal led her to a Hover just a few feet away, occasionally stopping so Eva could ward off a stab of pain. Then, they were off, smoothly driving over the dusty landscape.