Chapter 182
- Evan -
We stand on the incline, watching the last of the people we rescued vanish from sight while others assist the remaining individuals. I turn back and glance at a nearby store where people are scattering and shouting.
Voices are desperate and angry.
Fear, finally setting in, was driving the people of District Three.
We turned the corner and saw the crowd.
A small grocery store sat near the base of the incline leading toward District Four. Glass hung for a recently smashed door, and the other door hung crooked from someone forcing it open.
People rushed in and out of the store like ants running from a broken hill.
Spilled boxes everywhere.
Bags stuffed full.
And any other things people could grab were carried by the armfuls.
The water sloshing through the street had now reached the lower part of our knees, pushing against our legs with slow, steady pressure.
Josh stopped walking for a moment as he stared at the chaos.
Someone pushed past another person carrying a case of bottled water.
Another person dragged a cardboard box of canned soup through the water.
Inside the store, people were tearing open inventory boxes left by the stockers, filling their backpacks with bags of food that exploded onto the shelves and floors like candy from a piñata.
This wasn't clean or organized; thought no one was really fighting as the chaos grew, with people grabbing items, trying to survive.
Josh slowly ran a hand down his face.
"Oh, brother, you have got to be kidding me."
A woman rushed past. Becky, holding three loaves of bread against her chest.
"Move!" She snapped, bumping into Becky's shoulder.
"Hey, watch where you're walking," Josh shouted as he turned back around, looking at Becky, unsure.
"They're scared," Becky whispered without a fraction of animosity in her voice.
Josh sighed. "I know..." he said, quietly under his breath.
Fear changes the reality of what may be decent people, causing them to do things they may not normally do in order to survive.
The roar of the flood echoed faintly between the buildings behind us.
Closer now.
Much closer.
Josh stepped forward into the doorway of the grocery store.
"HEY!"
He shouted, his voice echoing off the walls and through the aisles, attempting to attract the attention of the crowd.
Almost nobody stopped.
Someone shouted from the back of the store.
"Grab as much as you can!"
Another voice yelled.
"The evacuation shuttles might not reach the next district!"
Josh blinked slowly.
"Oh lord."
He turned to me.
"They're going to drown over canned beans."
Duke stepped forward into the street, water swirling around his legs.
His wings opened slightly behind him, catching the dim city lights reflecting off the floodwater.
"People!" He called.
His voice carried authority, and yet some heads turned.
Most didn't.
Fear had already taken control of the room.
A man rushed past Josh carrying two grocery bags so full they were tearing at the seams.
Josh grabbed one of the bags and ripped it away from him.
The man spun around.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Josh tossed the bag back into the store.
"You don't need twelve pounds of pasta if you're dead. Do you think you can swim with that?"
The man glared at him.
"My kids need food!"
"They need oxygen more, idiot!"
No one else stopped.
The panic made them blind and ignorant.
Boxes ripped open.
Food was dragged across the floor.
People were grabbing anything they could carry.
I stepped beside Duke and Josh and raised my voice.
"Listen to me!" I shouted with only a few glances again.
I pointed down the street behind us.
"The flood doors failed!"
Someone shouted back from the shelves.
"We know!"
"Funny way of showing it! Do you really know?"
My voice cracked louder than I expected.
The store went a little quiet.
But not completely silent.
"The water behind us isn't a leak."
The distant thunder of rushing water rolled louder with each passing second.
Most of the people started noticing. But not enough.
A man kept filling a backpack with canned vegetables.
Josh's jaw tightened.
"Alright, the hard way. My turn! If I, a big mouth and angel, won't get your attention, maybe this will."
He rolled his shoulders.
"Plan B," he whispered.
His soul-fire ignited. Blue-cyan flames burst along his arms and back with a sharp crack of energy.
The sudden heat filled the doorway.
Several people froze.
Josh raised his hand, and a small sphere of fire formed in his palm.
He threw it.
BOOM.
The flames slammed into an empty metal shelf near the center of the store. The explosion was small but violent.
Metal racks slammed backward. Boxes of cereal burst into the air.
Flames flared up half a second before dying out.
The sound thundered through the building.
Everyone froze.
The silent hit instantly.
Josh stepped forward slowly, flames still burning around him.
His voice calm to calmer.
"If you drown today..."
He pointed at the food scattered across the flooded floor.
"None of this matters."
Everyone remained still, frozen in awe.
Waters continued creeping through the doorway behind us.
I stepped forward beside him.
The water around our knees crackled slightly.
Blue electricity flickered along my boots.
Just enough to cause a current to spread through the floodwater in thin, glowing threads.
Not enough to hurt anyone, just a small sharp tingling pulse.
Just enough to feel.
The entire crowd jerked slightly as the sensation moved its way through their legs.
Dozens of people gasped.
The waters shimmered as the last bit of the electricity I released eased.
My voice stayed steady.
"You feel that?"
The store had gone completely silent now.
"If we wanted to hurt you..."
I sparked an arc across my fingers.
"We wouldn't be here. But the reality is that the ocean is maybe three minutes away, and none of this will help you survive if you're left here."
Someone near the back looked out the window.
"Only three...?"
I pointed down the streets.
"Do you not hear the roar of the waters getting louder? In this short time alone, the water is now above our knees."
Everyone listened to the unmistakable thundering sound of the waters moving closer and closer. It was coming fast.
A woman near the register dropped the food she was holding.
"Oh God, they're right."
Josh pointed uphill.
"Finally," he whispered. "Alright, let's move to District four before the water slams into this store!" He announced.
The waters started to come in thicker waves, now slamming through the windows and door. The water sloshed against the now abandoned backpacks and boxes, splashing around the store.
A man shouted from the back.
"We are not going to make it unless you all hurry."
Panic changed. Most moved as a herd, migrating up to the ramp, some slugging through the waters.
"Let's go, MOVE, unless you need some shock therapy again!" I raised my fist, showing the spark again.
The stragglers at the back sped up and started to run.
The crowd surged toward the street.
There was no more fighting between them, just panicked focus and pure survival driving them.
Josh stood to the side of the door, letting them rush past.
"Finally, it was like herding a pack of donkeys."
I chuckled. "They need a hungry lion to get them moving."
Water splashed violently as dozens of people pushed up toward the next district.
Becky grabbed the arm of an older woman trying to keep up.
"Stay with me!" She said with kindness in her voice.
Duke moved on the outside of the crowd, leading them glowing against the dark waters.
"Keep moving." He waved us by.
I looked down the street again, back at the place we left the others.
The water surged higher and higher by the second.
And somewhere inside, that demon crocodile fought to break through Kaysi, Baby, and Micah's defenses as they did their best to buy us time.