Kai leaned in close and whispered calmly, "She’s safe, she's in the bunker!" Veronica's eyes were wide with concern as she asked, "How do you feel?" Enzo tried to smile through the pain, but he squirmed as he replied, "Like someone beat the crap out of me." He forced a chuckle, then coughed painfully. As I approached the Education Center, a sinking feeling settled in my stomach. The place was a wreck—shattered glass littered the ground, lights flickered, and the air was thick with dust and tension. We pressed forward, our steps echoing in the silence until we reached the bunker. I pounded on the heavy metal door with all my strength. The door creaked open, and before I could say a word, Lily threw her arms around me. "Thank goodness you're alive!" she cried, her voice trembling. "Zaria?" I heard my mother’s voice calling out, strained and anxious. The bunker was packed with people, making it hard to move, let alone see. I stood on tiptoe, scanning the crowd desperately. "Is that
Kai's eyes met Enzo's, a mutual respect passing between them. Enzo continued, his tone softer, "Now I understand why you both chose to be brother and sister rather than anything else. You two are just alike."Enzo smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, delicate ring."This is the only thing I have left of my mother’s. I was going to ask her to marry me, but if I don’t make it out of this, please give it to her for me. Tell her to wear it, even if she marries someone else."Kai's heart ached at the sight of the ring. "Listen, we’re going to be alright," he said, trying to revive the dead hope, but the words were barely out of his mouth when the door burst open with a deafening crash, and people began to flood in.Meanwhile, as we reached the defense center, I turned to Lily, gripping her shoulders firmly. "Lily, I know you're still haunted by the things you didn’t do, but you need to listen to me. Focus on my voice and nothing else. Whatever happens, I’m here. I will
"Where’s Ella?" Kai shouted, his eyes darting around furiously, his fear and urgency written all over his face.Ella came running toward him, concern evident on her face. “Is everything alright?”“William is going to attack! Any minute now, the immortals will come through from everywhere. We need to get you all to safety!” Kai's shout drew everyone’s attention, and panic started to ripple through the crowd.“But we haven’t finished working on the weapons!” Amelia said, her voice trembling.“Haven’t you prepared at least one?” Kai's voice was now filled with fear.“We have,” Amelia replied, finally delivering some good news. “As Zaria demanded, we first prepared a sword, then as many arrows as we could, knowing there might be shooters in your army!”Kai breathed a sigh of relief. “Gather everything you hold dear and everything important for your survival!” he shouted to the crowd.The residents moved quickly, gathering their belongings as the noises grew louder. Suddenly, a loud crash
"Or?" Ella looked at him, her brow furrowed in puzzlement."Or... we could... you know?" Kai dropped to one knee, pulling out the toy ring from his pocket. "Get married? I mean if... you..." His voice shook a little as he watched her reaction, watching her cheeks flush from pale to rosy red.Ella covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide. Kai took a deep breath, his voice steadying as he spoke from the heart. "Ella, whenever you are around, everything seems better, every trouble seems smaller, because... with you, I find the courage to fight whatever obstacle comes my way.And since you’ve announced that something so beautiful is about to happen to us, I can’t stop imagining how it would feel to have a small house of our own, with our children, making noise and keeping us awake!"Ella sniggered, tears welling in her eyes. Kai continued, his voice filled with emotion. "So, Ella, would you... be my wife?" He extended the toy ring toward her.Overwhelmed, Ella nodded, too emotional to
When the preparations were complete, the area was a chaotic yet strategic landscape of cover points and firepower. We could only hope it would be enough.Turning back, we regrouped with Jennifer. Before leaving, I issued one final command. "Head to the last battleground," I instructed, my voice firm. "It's an open field—no buildings, no unnecessary cover. You'll be safer there, William wouldn't suspect you all being there."With that, we moved out, hearts steeled for the battles ahead, every step taking us closer to whatever end awaited us.When I reached the hidden city, Jennifer stood behind the machinery, even though she was very brave, I could still see a hint of fear in her eyes. “We have the machines ready,” she said, her voice steady despite the gravity of the situation. I glanced at the massive machine standing before us. The machine was an impressive feat of engineering—a bulky, metallic structure with a series of thrusters and stabilizers extending from its base.It looked l
Quickly mounting in the vehicle, he turned himself invisible so I wouldn’t go after him, and then he made his way toward the bottom of the island to see what was wrong with the thruster.It appeared that the two of the nozzles had lost their grip on the island.Removing the hood of his vehicle, Enzo acted quickly, tying himself with a safety rope before he reached toward the bottom of the island.The howling wind and the vibrations from the thrusters made it the most difficult journey.He switched on his headlamp, the beam cutting through the dust and smoke, illuminating the problem area.There were two of the nozzles that had lost their grip. The bolts securing them had sheared off under the immense pressure.Enzo's mind raced as he assessed the situation. He knew he had to act fast before the island’s tilt became catastrophic.“Enzo, report your status!” Jim's voice crackled through the communicator.“I’m at the thruster. Two nozzles are loose. I’m going to resecure them manually,”
If they succeeded in destroying it, the island would surely fall down. I grabbed my weapon and sprinted toward the edge of the island, under where the thruster was, firing at the drones as I ran.“Enzo, Veronica, cover me!” I shouted.Together, we fought off the drones, defending the thruster with everything we had.The air was heavy with the smell of burning metal and the sound of explosions.But we held our ground, refusing to let the drones succeed.As the last of the drones were destroyed, the sky began to clear. The flying lab slowed down above us, and it slowly got back and then disappeared.Relief washed over us but we knew this was just the beginning. William’s lab was still a threat, and we had to find a way to bring it down before it could cause any more destruction.The battle for survival was far from over.Finally, the readings indicated that we had achieved a stable speed. The islands were still falling but at a much slower rate. The catastrophic collapse had been preven
I had barely escaped before, surrounded by the starving immortals who roamed these halls, their lifeless eyes and skeletal figures forever marked in my mind. But the place was nothing like it was before, maybe because I never made it to this area.“We need to locate the missile control room,” I said, trying to remember this place.Enzo nodded and motioned for me to follow. We moved swiftly and silently, avoiding the occasional patrol. Our path led us to a large door marked “MISSILE CONTROL”.“Here it is,” Enzo whispered. “Let’s go.”Opening it was not as hard as we thought, but we made our way in.Inside the control room, we found two massive missiles ready for launch, beyond those missiles, we could see an open area.The room was filled with sophisticated equipment, and a large control panel covered one wall. Each missile was capable of destroying an entire city, the room was empty, which meant they hadn't planned to launch the second one yet.I immediately got to work, my fingers fl