SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 97- Crushed

 As we sit over our grandmother's body, I feel an unbelievable sense of guilt wash over me. I know that Gaia is lashing out because of what we've done, what I've done, to her family. Kai rests his hand on my shoulder as if he can read my mind, knowing my pain.

"There was nothing you could do," he sighs, and I start to stand up, looking across the room as Roxie starts to approach us.

"She's gone, isn't she?" she asks solemnly, and I nod my head in response "C'mon," she explains, waving for us to join the efforts to dig out the corner of the room.

"Is Nixi the only one under there?" Magnus asks as he helps Jasper lift a heavy piece of the wall.

"At least two guards were over here when everything came down," Jasper states nervously, turning back to us and seeing the look on our faces "Is she...?"

"She's gone." Roxie sighs. Suddenly, my father looks at Eli, the color draining from his face as he stops what he's doing.

"Safe travels, mother." he sighs, looking up as he takes a deep breath.

"Safe travels," Eli and Roxie say in unison.

"We mourn the dead after we do what we can for the living," my mother sighs as she deepens her focus, trying to lift as much as she can. Desire had been climbing the side of the pile, trying to shift through the edges to see inside.

"Wait, guys!" she shouts as she perks her head up "I see one of the guards, he's alive!" she exclaims as she pushes herself in further.

"Be careful," Roxie says nervously as she makes her way around.

"Can you hear me?" I hear Desire ask, her voice muffled under the rubble, and Roxie climbs behind her and holds her legs, making sure she doesn't fall through.

"Magnus, Jasper, start pulling from that side," my father commands, and they carefully climb around to where Roxie is.

"He can see Nixi, but she's unconscious," Roxie parrots back, leaning in to hear Desire "Damnit, she's all the way at the bottom." she sighs as she helps pull her daughter out of the hole. Suddenly, the worst happens; another tremor starts to rumble the ground beneath our feet. As it builds, we start to trip on the jagged ground, and I fall to my knees, scraping my calf on a sharp stone.

"Get to the opening in the hall!" my father screams, and everyone tries to get up and run outside, all except for my mother who is standing resolute, creating a shield above her head.

"Veronika, what are you doing?" Roxie screams as she dodges falling parts of the roof.

"I'm not leaving her!" my mother screams as she climbs over the debris pile "If she gets crushed anymore, it'll kill her!"

"Mom!" I scream, trying to go back in, but I feel my father grab me by the waist and drag me out "Let me go!" I shout, and I watch as Aurora jumps close to my mother, staying behind.

"Breeze, stop!" he shouts as he lunges outside, and we roll past the hall onto the hillside. I watch as more of the walls crumble before us, and Jasper catches us before we go any further down the hill.

"Holy shit," Jasper gasps in terror as the tremor starts to calm down. As I climb to my knees, I brush my messy hair back as I cough up dirt, trying to get my bearings as I look around. Eli is standing at the edge of the hall looking at the destruction before us.

"Veronika!" He screams into the mess, trying to climb back in. Looking around, I see Kai lying on his back rubbing his forehead in pain while Magnus sits up, frantically looking around.

"Tessa!" he shouts as he crawls over, lunging at me.

"I'm fine," I say exhaustedly, suddenly noticing that my hand is covered in blood. Confused, I touch my head with my clean hand, seeing it return just as messy "Scratch that, mostly fine."

"What the hell were you thinking?" my father asks as he looks at my head, making it sting when he touches the open wound. Jasper quickly tears a part of his shirt and hands it to my dad to help sop up the blood.

"Me? What about Mom?" I counter "She's stuck in there too!"

"Nika is skilled in earth power and knows what she's doing, on the other hand, you are a fledgling of the wind who had no business trying to run back into that disaster," he explains disappointedly, but I can tell he's just as stressed by my mother's decision as I am.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I sigh, glancing up at my forehead and feeling blood starting to drip down toward my eyes.

"Just promise me you won't keep up with this reckless streak? You picked one hell of a time for a rebellious phase." he sighs as he wipes his hand on the grass "You're gonna need stitches, kiddo."

"Son of a bitch," I sigh irritatedly.

"Kai?" I hear Desire plead desperately "Kai, wake up!" We look over and see her knelt over him trying to shake him awake, but to no avail. Magnus quickly gets up and rushes over, but when I try to stand, I get a massive head rush and fall back down, landing on my father.

"Take it easy, you might have a concussion." he sighs as he pulls the ponytail out of my hair.

"I can't catch a break lately," I say sarcastically as I rest my head on him, tilting my neck so I can see what's going on across the hill. It's a little quiet, but I can make out what they're saying.

"I don't know what happened, he seemed fine a minute ago." Desire explains nervously as she holds her head with both of her hands.

"I think he may have gotten hit a little too hard, look at this scuff," Magnus explains, pointing at the side of his head "Just breathe, give him a minute."

Between the injuries and the wreckage, everything seems bleak, not to mention the fact that that's just us. The rest of the temple could be in just as much peril, who knows how many servants and guards are in just as much trouble as us. And it's hard to tell considering the damage Atlas had already done, but the city is being just as affected by this.

"I'm here!" I suddenly hear my mother's voice, and my dad perks up, looking at Jasper.

"Can you take her?" he asks as he carefully passes me onto Jaspers's lap, rushing to the hall.

"Are you okay?" Eli asks frantically as he and Roxie try to dig out the wall.

"Stand back," I hear my mom say, and as he steps aside, there's a sudden blast that opens the dining hall back up. I can barely see inside from here, but it definitely looks worse. As my mom steps outside she takes a deep breath, coughing up dust as she looks at the sorry state we're in. Eli and Roxie quickly rush inside and my father hugs her in relief. As she looks around, she sees Jasper and me and rushes over, hesitantly touching the rag on my forehead.

"You really know how to scare the shit out of me, don't you?" she says sarcastically as she hugs me.

"You're one to talk." I sigh as I sit up "I'll be fine, what about Nixi?" I ask nervously, and she suddenly looks dejected.

"What's going on?" Jasper asks in a panic.

"We got one of the guards out, and he saw that a part of her rib cage was...pretty crushed." my mother explains reluctantly "She's still alive for now, but... there's nothing we'll be able to do. We can't even get to her, Aurora can't reach her to get into her mind to talk to her." she sighs longingly. I can feel my heart pound as I process her words, and tears start to fill my eyes. Then suddenly, I realize that even if we can't save her life, and if Aurora can't reach her, there's something that only I can do for her in her final moments.