STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Lauren

Bombs exploded everywhere, dropping from the air and landing on the ground. Bodies soared, crumbling to masses of skin and blood as the impact hit them. The watchmen didn't get to escape as well, and I gradually saw each one of them go up in flames ordetonate to pieces. Citizens burst out of their houses, running as fast as their legs could carry them. I saw children clinging on to the hands of their mothers and fathers, crying and wailing and covering their ears. I saw some people trying to save whoever they could, dragging the injured only to burst into bits as another bomb dropped from the sky. I saw old women who couldn’t run anymore, just standing there, praying to whoever god they could call and waiting for death to come take them. I caught a glimpse of and underage couple, the boy dragging the girl, whispering to her and assuring her everything’s going to be alright only to end up losing her in the sea of people as another bomb fell. A watchman was trying to shoot on the source of the bombs, several black airborne vehicles that we haven’t seen before. I looked harder but my vision was clouded with smoke. The only I could make out of it was its dark silhouette, the rotating blades on its side which allowed it to float from the ground and the explosives being dropped with a shrill and nerve-wracking sound. It was big, black and bulky. They were coming from the west and flying fast. Wood and shards of glass sprang from different directions. Flames rose from the parched land engulfing houses, establishments and everything that used to be Division 34. Smoke, dust and ash filled the atmosphere making me cough and choke.

I looked to my side and caught a glimpse of Daniel, squinting in the dark air, trying to shoot a watchman coming at us. It was a miracle that this one survived. His other teammates probably died because of the bombing. My vision was getting hazier and I heard more bombs drop to the ground accompanied by more screams, loud enough to break your eardrums. Everything around me screamed one word: DEATH. Daniel and I kept running away from the direction of the bombs. The only way we were headed was the border fence, now unguarded but still humming with electricity. I looked up and saw more of those vehicles and stopped just as I noticed a familiar crest. The flying vehicle swooped down which allowed me to get a closer look on its structure, especially its wings. I stopped running and looked closer. I’d seen that crest during my history classes and I was sure to have recognized it whenever it appeared. It was drawn in white, a huge letter “A” on a circle. Instead of the third line in the connecting the other two lines of the letter, a gun substituted it. It flashed in my brain like a neon sign which had started to blind me. It was the symbol of The Alliance. My enemies were coming for me. The Division War has just begun.

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I planted my feet firmed on the ground and Daniel stopped. “Give me your pack. I need every weapon I can get.”

“I don’t have much.” He answered, taking the backpack off his shoulders.

“I said, I needed every weapon I can get.” I snapped. I didn’t mean to sound so rude but someone had to give him a little push. I was still in charge here. I grabbed the pack from him and rummaged through it, pulling out two guns, sliding them on the holsters in my belt and checking them for ammo. I gathered four different-sized knives and strapped their individual sheaths to my belt as well. I attached the smallest one on the strap a few inches from my ankle. I left I tossed Daniel the backpack and shoved him towards the direction of the border fence. “Keep running. Don’t stop and don’t look back.” I told him, heading off the opposite direction, on my way to meet and battle with death running in a faster pace.