Containment in Skyscrapers Chapter 11

[tankicola 111]

Chapter 11

 

They all stood, frozen, as seconds slid past hazily. Maybe even minutes had passed, but they were still rooted to the spot, indecisive. 

Then they heard fast movement behind, followed by rapid gunfire. The person who had moved collapsed onto the floor. Rose tried not to move but raised her head. 

She could not see anything in the sky above. Then there was a scuffling, and she saw an orange burst of light that eclipsed the moon; she fell to her knees and crawled to avoid the bullets. Then there was a resounding blast and a projectile exploded out of the darkness and rebounded off one of the cracked slabs of rock, exploding in mid-air. There were screams, then Rose was pushed back by a large group of people, then countless blasts and explosions echoed through the air. 

“Go!” yelled Rose, swinging herself up and running. She could hear heavy breathing and muffled footsteps behind her. Explosions joined the cacophony, and soon holes were appearing in the ground. Rose saw a group of people trying to climb a wall. Rose tried to make a warning noise but then a projectile that had missed her hit the wall and With an explosion of dust, debris, rubble, rock, and mysterious gases, green flames licked the entire desk and wall, whilst the stragglers screamed and fell to their knees. Rose coughed and nearly collapsed; her vision was watery, and her head spun. Blood streaked her forehead, her hands were burned, sweating and bleeding, and the pain that started from her forehead quickly worked its way down to her stomach. Liam, Leo, and Cherry helped her up, but then Cherry fell onto her back, as the green flames spread their way across the scattered rocks, metal poles and iron blocks. 

Leo helped her up and then they continued running. Rose looked up and saw blackened pieces of metal crumbling and falling down from the top. “We need to get up, fast, or the helicopter won’t be able to get us,” said Rose, pulling off her jumper and throwing it onto the ground. “We need to move as quickly as possible. Do not touch anything.”

And then they started. Rose opened the front door and they were immediately blasted back by a few meters. 

 

Rose fell, flailing, onto the ground, but Leo, Liam, and Cherry stayed on their feet. They pulled Rose out of the wreckage and stared. There were many people running around the corridor; the passport area was completely ablaze, and some of the people running around were also on fire. As they advanced, they saw even more chaos unfolding, each level getting crazier until only ten people were running in the fifteenth corridor, most screaming for others or their leader. 

Rose ran to the elevator to the next level but was blown back onto her back for the second time. Fire was blazing across the floor, fast. The shiny silver automatic doors of the elevator were blackened and melting; they could see two bodies slumped against opposite walls inside.

“What were you doing?!” shouted Liam over the din. “Why were you going to take the ele-”

There was another explosion, then the wall to their right side was blasted away, revealing the ground below and bringing a powerful gust of windswept dirt into the corridor. Rose could see that the darkness was lightening. “Rose!” shouted someone. Rose turned and saw that a helicopter was waiting for them at the very end of the corridor, which had also been blasted apart. “Come on!” screamed Rose, pulling Cherry with Liam. 

Leo limped forwards but then fell onto his front. Rose let go of Cherry and ran back to help, but was nearly pushed through the hole in the wall by the onrushing crowd. 

Then there was another blast, and there were more screams as people toppled through the new hole that had found a home in the left wall. Rose grabbed Leo’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Then they ran towards the helicopter. 

“Get in!” screamed one of the people inside. 

It seemed to happen in slow-motion; Cherry, Rose, Liam, and Leo jumped into the air as the helicopter shuddered sideways and the corridor behind exploded. 

 

The blast made them stagger forwards slightly, as they flailed in mid-air. Redman appeared from the back and grabbed Rose. Leo, Liam, and Cherry stumbled and fell forwards in a heap onto the floor. 

“What’s going on?” asked Rose, as she helped Cherry to her feet and into a seat. 

“There’s been a change of plan,” said Redman, looking over at the burning building. 

“What?” said Rose. “What do you mean, a change of plan?”

“Well, only seven of the original groups have survived and made it to the SPP so far,” replied Redman, nearly falling out of his seat as the helicopter lurched suddenly. 

Then Rose actually did fall out of her seat as the helicopter was blown sideways from a nearby explosion that caused half a tower to explode. 

“This is not many at all. We cannot split into strategic groups anymore. We just have to enter together.”

Rose swallowed as she stomached the information, but then the helicopter was hit by a flaming piece of metal, which smashed through one of the windows in the cockpit and hit the person flying the helicopter. There was an ominous shudder, then the entire helicopter shook and started its descent. There were many screams, then Redman yelled: “Look out!” 

A long bronze pole was sticking out of a crumbling tower, and it impaled the helicopter by the back. Smoke, sparkling, and fizzing fire made it almost impossible to see or breathe. 

Redman coughed. 

Rose pulled off the dead flyer’s shirt, which was wet with blood, and covered her mouth with it. Then, with an enormous effort, she lifted herself from her seat. A sick feeling swept over her, and she swayed with overwhelming nausea. Clutching her head feverishly, she fell back into her seat. The scene before her swam hazily.

"Rose?" asked Redman, his moustache tremulous, and his forehead lined with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Come on,” muttered Rose faintly.  Then the heat intensified suddenly. 

There was scrambling as they all searched for cloths and wetted them. 

“Come on!” repeated Rose, her voice muffled by the bluish-black shirt that she was covering her mouth with. “Okay,” said Rose, once they had all covered their mouths. 

She lifted herself from her seat, staggered, then clutched one of the cracked windows for support. She lifted her right foot shakily to the edge of the left landing skid. 

People below must have found what she did next comical, but the only eyes that saw were the ones that stared unblinkingly at the sky. Like a gopher, she poked her head over and her eyes became wide as she saw the drop. Then the helicopter shuddered again, and she almost fell out. 

“Rose!” Redman ran forwards and helped her, but then there was a horrible cracking noise, and he fell onto the floor, cursing and clutching his leg. Cherry helped him back to his seat.

“It’s a far drop, down there,” said Rose, nursing her burnt toe. 

Redman made to take a look, winced, then fell back. Leo went to look instead. 

He saw the tower and the bronze pole that was helping them stick to the wall, and then looked down. His stomach lurched and he shuddered.

The ground, which was littered with rusted broken pipes, bricks, poles, and the bodies of people, was fifty meters below them.

[Person_Random 4,991]

Approved.

This was by far the best chapter in this series, in my opinion. Action, description, suspense - this piece had it all! There was some awesome plot development going on here, and the descriptions are definitely a lot more concrete, making the story one of the strongest I've seen yet. I can't wait for more!

Edits: minor phrasing changes.

[F.I.N.I.S.H.E.R 2,397]

As @Person_Random remarked, this chapter stands out from the previous ones.It is engaging, compact and action-packed. I really like this series. It takes the reader step-by-step. Definitely recommend reading! 

[Lose 881]

I agree with @Person_Random, this has to be one of, if not, my favorite chapter. Awesome read as always!