There were a few beacons of hope among the tragedies though. Names that had been crossed out with the word "FOUND!" scribbled beside them. Kat stood before the list, grasping the strap of her gym bag tightly. She scanned down the list of names, looking for anyone she knew, any name she had heard while pulling civilians to safety. Her eyes stopped on the name "Mary Kingsley". Almost immediately the name stuck out to her. The woman in Skyway. She said she had a son going to school here. Unzipping her gym bag, Kat dug into the bottom and produced a bright red gel pen. She quickly crossed out the name and wrote beside it FOUND! Admitted to LaGrange Medical Center. Kat smiled slightly and continued scanning the list. That should brighten his day. At least someone should get some good news around here. The smile on Kat's lips faded when she got about halfway down the list. There in the same red ink were the names she had written herself.
Victor Gordieva
Tatiana Gordieva
No notations accompanied these names. No news is good news right? Kat took a deep breath. She had been by their house, just out of town. It had been empty and showed signs of an unplanned and quick exit. They must have evacuated when the air raid sirens went off, Kat assured herself. They're safe. They just can't contact me yet.
Kat adjusted the strap of her bag back up onto her shoulder and dropped the pen back in. She needed to relax. She needed to clear her mind. Maybe then the dull pounding behind her eyes would stop. Squeezing the bridge of her nose, Kat turned toward the gym and began slowly walking. Practice always helped. She could lose herself in the routine for a while. Then there wasn't any list. No alien invasion. Her family was sitting on the sidelines watching her perform. Her friends were all safe in the world she created in her head. Too bad I can't change reality like that, Kat thought as she pushed open the door to the gym.
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Kat closed her eyes and bent her knees. She lined up in her mind where the beam continued behind her. She pushed off and flipped backwards, planting her palms on the beam and pushing off again in one fluid motion. As she landed on her feet again, one foot slipped off the side, sending Kat toppling off the edge. She squeaked quietly and landed hard on the mat. Kat stood and dusted the chalk from her hands. That was the fourth time she had fallen in an hour. "Come on, Kat. Get it together." Kat smiled sadly. She was beginning to sound like David. She could almost hear his voice. Kat, you know you're better than this. I've seen you do it. Now, clear your head and get back up there. She walked up the the bar again and placed her hands on it, preparing to swing her leg up on it, when her comm crackled to life with a staticy whine.
"Warning: Rikti ships have been detected heading for King's Row." It was the same calm, even voice that had heralded chaos for the past few days. Panic crept up Kat's spine, making the gym suddenly seem very cold. "Come on, Kat. Get it together," she repeated. "There are people that will need help." Quickly, she ran to her gym bag and threw a jacket on over her workout clothes. She grabbed her comm as it rang out a few more warnings and clipped it to the waistband of her shorts. Here we go again, she thought as she quickly flew out of the gym and made a b-line for King's Row.
The neighborhood had descended into chaos by the time she got there. Drop ships carpet bombed the area. People covered their heads and ran for shelter. The air smelled of ozone, smoke and death. Kat took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand. Get as many citizens to safety as she could. She took off at top speed down the streets of King's Row, dodging the real heroes as they mounted an offensive assault against the invaders. She quickly threw out some shields and continued searching the streets. Seeing a piece of rubble fall from a building toward a car, she mentally pushed the car faster down the street. The debris crashed harmlessly into the road and Kat flew all the faster. A shield here. A push out of harm's way here. Anything to keep the citizens safe while the real heroes took on the Rikti.
A couple of blocks down the road, a family abandoned their car in the street, the people clamoring out and down the sidewalk. Kat grabbed the family, lifting them mentally off the ground and flying them the last few blocks to the shelter. Most of them were emotional wrecks. The mother, a young woman in her early thirties, had a mess of flame-red hair tangled into a ponytail and tears staining her face. Her husband held their young daughter like a lifeline. She was also wailing at the top of her lungs. Kat couldn't blame her. This was scary even to her. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a five-year-old in this situation.
As she set down in front of the shelter, the little girl broke away from her father and took off across the street. "Bethany!" The mother screamed at her child, begged her to stop, to come back. The young girl took off down the street toward the car the family had just left. "I need Marissa!" she called back to her parents, as if it was explaination enough.
"Please!" The mother grabbed Kat's arm and looked down at her. "You're a hero! Save my little girl!" Kat didn't try to correct the woman, that she wasn't a hero, she was just a kid with powers. Instead she squinted past the mounting headache and raced down the road, catching up to the girl as she got the car. The little girl climbed in the already open door and grabbed a little blonde baby doll from the floorboards as Kat wrapped her arms around the girl's waist.
"What are you doing? You need to get in that shelter with your Mom and Dad!" Kat hoisted the girl out fo the car and turned her around to face her. The girl's red hair hung down in her face, the tips wet with the panicked tears that seemed to be constantly pouring down the girl's cheeks. "I couldn't leave Marissa! She's scared!" Bethany cradled the doll in her arms as Kat shifted the girl's weight to carry her easier.
"Come on. Let's get you bac-" Just then an explosion rang out over Kat's head. She looked up to catch a glimpse of a Rikti drop ship just before the concussive EMP pulse knocked her to the ground. Kat covered the girl with her body and pushed out with her mind. The shield spread out from her in all directions, pushing the bits of trash and small debris away from the pair. Then she felt it. One heavy hit above her. And then another. Two more. Kat looked up fearfully to see the building tumble over and cascade down on her shield. I can't move fast enough! It's gonna hit us! Kat braced herself mentally and knelt down, cradling the Bethany's face again her chest. Another, even heavier hit and the bubble gave slightly, shrinking. And again.
And again. Over and over. The sound of the battles faded away, muted by the debris and Bethany's screams. Sweat poured off Kat's forehead as she concentrated on the shield, wincing with each hit. The shield shrank again. The top of the shield touched the top of Kat's head and she instinctively bent over, keeping the girl below her.
Then the hits stopped. The world was dark. And quiet. There were no explosions. No popping of portals opening. Apart from Bethany, sobbing in her arms, there were no screams. Kat pulled back from the girl and set her down. The pressure from the collapsed building pressed against her mind. Straining, Kat pushed back against the mountain. She shut her eyes against the pain and tried to expand her shield even slightly, to move any of the building around her. Tears slipped out of the corner of her eyes and made tracks in the dirt on her cheeks. Finally, Kat let all the air out of her lungs in desparation and staggered. Suddenly, as if sensing her weakness, the bubble shrank another few inches, the rubble groaning menacingly on the other side. Kat shierked and crouched on the ground, once again pushing against the shield, just enough to keep the monster at bay. She didn't know how long she could hold out, but the child's screaming wasn't helping. Kat clenched her teeth against the pain and looked at the girl.
"Bethany?"
Bethany just cried all the louder. "I want Mommy!"
Kat took another deep breath and tried to calm herself. It wouldn't do for the girl to see her falter. She plastered a smile on her face and talked a little louder. "Bethany?"
Bethany stopped crying and sniffled at her. "Uh huh?"
Oh, thank God. She stopped crying. Kat brushed some of the hair out of the girl's face and tried to ignore the increasing pain behind her eyes. "I'm gonna get us out of here, okay? You trust me? I'm gonna get you back to your Mommy, but I need you to be quiet while I call for help." Kat, after her eyes adjusted to the low light, glanced at the doll on the ground and took it into her shaking hands. Stop it! Stop shaking! You're scaring her! She smiled at the young girl and handed the plastic baby to her. "You keep Marissa safe okay? She's really scared remember? See if you can get her to calm down." Bethany nodded and sniffled again, awkwardly rocking the doll. As Kat reached for her comm she heard the girl start singing a lullaby to the doll.
Kat unhooked her comm from the waistband of her shorts and pressed the broadcast button, expecting to send a message out to the whole school. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?" She let up on the button and waited, the pressure behind her eyes growing with each passing moment. Frustrated, she pressed the button again. "Guys? It's Kat. I'm in King's Row. There's a collapsed building near the shelter. I got trapped. I need help." She let go of the button again, only to be met with silence. She looked down at her comm, checking for any signs of damage. No broken pieces, no dents, only minor scratches. But no blinking light, no sound either. The EMP thing Gabe was talking about. Oh, God... No one knows where we are. Kat set her comm on the ground and gathered Bethany up in her arms, rocking her, trying desperately to keep them both calm. Bethany looked up at her with red rimmed eyes. "Are they coming? Your hero friends?"
Kat nodded slightly and strained against the pain in her head. "Yeah, Bethany. They're on their way. We'll be out of here in no time. You'll see."
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Garrison sat down in the cafeteria, exhausted and downtrodden. The day had been particularly tough, with the Rikti invading multiple zones at once, more than a couple of times. He looked around at the faces of his friends. The effects of this invasion were making them weary and desperate. Arguements had broken out more than a dozen times among the students. Fights almost half as much. Tempers and nerves were stretched thin all across the city. He was surprised riots hadn't broken out. That'd make this God-forsaken invasion complete.
"Hey, guys," he said, only to be greeted by grim nods and people picking at their food. He popped the top on his soda and glanced around again. Something was off. More than the depression. More than the silence. There was something missing. "Ummm... guys? Where's Kat?"
Everyone at the table came to the same realization at the same time and quickly looked around. "Didn't she say she was going to meet us for dinner?"
"Yeah, maybe she's asleep still. She hasn't been sleeping well."
"Shecouldbeinthegym." Mike looked around and slowed his speech slightly. "I mean, she could be in the gym. She goes there to clear her head."
Garrison nodded to Kelly. "Can you check her room? See if she's there? I'll run to the gym real fast. She probably just lost track of the time." Garrison stood and sprinted toward the gym. Please be there. Please be okay. The feeling of dread built in the pit of his stomach. He nearly crashed through the doors, throwing them as wide open as he could. "Kat? Kat, are you in here?" Garrison scanned the room quickly. It was silent, save for the last ringing of his voice echoing off the far wall. His gaze swept across the uneven bars, the vault, and the mats on the floor. It settled on the floor next to the beam. Kat's gym bag lay, wide open, her jeans still visible just inside it. "Oh, no... No, no, no." Garrison ran over to it and grabbed the strap. "Kat? Come on! Answer me! You in here?" He fumbled with his comm for a moment before finally pressing the right button. "Hey, has anyone seen Kat? Her bag was in the gym, but she isn't."
A chorus of voices answered him. "No!" "Nope, sorry." "You check her room? She's been getting headaches."
Kelly's voice rang out across the comm. "She's not in her room. Has anyone heard from her recently? Did she say where she was going?"
"I'm kinda busy right now!" "She's just being anti-social again." "Yeah, just leave her alone. She probably is just catching her breath somewhere."
"I'm going to look for her, guys. She doesn't just leave her bag lying around." Garrison shouldered the bag and took off for the cafeteria again. After dropping it off with the few friends of his that were still there, he began searching everywhere on campus that she could be, asking anyone who might know something.
Two hours later, the entire campus and a good portion of the city had been canvased, thanks to Mike and Garrison. She wasn't anywhere to be found. No one had heard from her in hours. So, he found himself standing in front of the bulletin board. The list of missing glared at him, an ugly reminder of why he was here. He sighed and slowly wrote on the bottom of the list of missing...
Ekaterina Gordieva
((Edit: Okay, I don't know why it's running over the edge of the screen like that... I tried format it differently, but I simply don't have time to figure it out.))
((Edit: Fixed. -Erika
))((Thanks, Erika! I owe ya!))
