Grandfather (37 page)

“
I don’t think it was a
pothole,” the driver said quietly, speaking for the first
time.

Another jolt. This one was
more severe than the others. Several alarms went off. I had never
heard anything like it so, naturally, I was about to start freaking
out.

“
What’s that?” Ashton
asked, sounding as if he was about to lose it too.

“
Car alarms,” Edgar
said.

Another jolt.

“
That’s
what I’m worried about,” he
said.

I think we all saw it at
the same time. We all knew something like it was coming. We had
proof that it was coming. But none of us even thought Cornelius
would go through with it so soon, especially with everything going
on.

In the distance, I
witnessed a massive explosion that sent vehicles and pieces of
asphalt into the air. We saw another explosion, this one closer to
us.

“Out now!” Belladonna
demanded after another jolt.

We all jumped out of the
car and joined the other panicked pedestrians and people abandoning
their vehicles.

There was another
explosion, this one even closer. Cars, pedestrians, parts of nearby
buildings, and concrete from the street shot into the air.
I really hoped nobody was in those buildings, but
that was stupid. Of course there were.

“
This whole damn road is
gonna explode!” Edgar screamed. “The alley way!” He pointed at a
nearby alley leading us away from the road. It seemed as if
everybody had the same idea. We joined the frantic crowd in getting
away from the street as quickly as possible. The driver stayed near
Belladonna, grabbing her arm and pulling her up when she nearly
tumbled to the ground.

All I could think about
was Grandfather. This had to be the explosion we had heard about.
It was the only explanation. Cornelius had planted explosives under
the street.

I heard an explosion. Then
another. And another. Then there was one straight behind us where
our abandoned vehicle sat. I wasn’t so sure how far we had gotten,
but I sure didn’t plan on glancing back.

The explosion was loud . .
. very loud. I mean, as soon as it went off, I couldn’t hear
anything but an annoying ringing noise. Everything seemed so . . .
so muffled.

We didn’t explode into
pieces, obviously. I wouldn’t be writing this if so. But I swear, I
thought it was the end. As soon as that explosion went off and I
lost my hearing, I was lifted off the ground and flung what felt
like ten yards away. It was hard to tell. All I saw was smoke,
people shooting up into the air, and the brick walls of the
building.

My back slammed into one
of the buildings, completely knocking the air out of me. My eyes
watered as the pain coursed down my spine. I wheezed for air, just
knowing I was going to die.

My ears were still
ringing. I couldn’t focus my eyes on anything. I closed them, not
knowing if I couldn’t move because of shock or because I had broken
something.

I curled up, taking deep
breaths until air filled my lungs again. Slowly, my hearing started
returning.

I wished it
hadn’t.

All I heard were
terrifying screams and people begging for help. Everything seemed
so jumbled. I tried focusing my eyes on anything, but I couldn’t.
People were running, others were on the ground, trying to gain
their focus again. The sound of crying and screeching pierced my
ears. Suddenly, a man screamed for everybody to cover their face. I
looked up to see debris falling our way. Quickly, I got into fetal
position and covered my head as pieces of asphalt, building, and
I-don’t-know-what rained down, clinging and banging on everything
it hit. All I could do was hope something really large didn’t crush
me, or anybody for that matter.

There was just so much
screaming. Another blast sounded in the distance. This one sounded
a little further away. I was guessing the explosions were
continuing down the road.

I stayed in fetal position
until there was no longer debris falling. Slowly, I opened my eyes.
I was alive. I sat up and wiped the debris off of me. I took a few
deep breaths and rubbed my eyes to get them focused. Then, I got my
first clear look at what Grandfather had done.

Buildings nearby the
explosion were in flames. Smoke smothered the air to where I
couldn’t even see the sky. Back toward the street, where the
explosions started, I saw the worst. All I could do was think about
how lucky we were to have gotten as far as we had. A hundred yards
toward the street, which was now a large hole in the ground, were
lifeless bodies . . . people injured. One man screamed in agony
while holding his shoulder where an arm used to be. I had to turn
away. I really felt like throwing up.

A woman held her head,
crying as blood ran down her cheeks, mixing with the tears. Another
woman cried over a man’s body that didn’t move. I closed my eyes
and opened them again, hoping it wasn’t real.

“
Help me!” a man scream.
But everybody was too busy helping themselves and looking for their
companions.

“
Please! Somebody help!”
some woman screamed.

I managed to stand up, my
legs wobbling. I heard another explosion, this one even
fainter.

“
Wake up mommy,” a little
girl screamed at a motionless body.

That’s when I almost lost
it. I fell back down, placing my head between my knees.

I threw up
everywhere

Anger and hatred toward
Cornelius built up inside me like never before. I clenched my fists
and teeth. My blood was boiling, ready to erupt like a volcano.
People continued shouting others’ names. Some people who were alone
stood up and ran away, not caring that others needed help. They
wanted to get away. Thankfully, there were some that helped those
who were trapped under pieces of debris.

Then I
remembered.

Belladonna. Edgar.
Ashton.

I didn’t see
them.

My heart
stopped.

I heard another faint
explosion. When would it end?

“
Ashton!” I screamed.
“Edgar! Belladonna!” My eyes darted from person to person. I didn’t
see them. I was starting to flip out. I screamed for them again,
feeling like I was about to cry.

Then, Edgar came into
sight. He was helping somebody up. “Edgar!” I screamed, running
toward him. He turned to face me. His nose was bleeding pretty
badly. When I reached him, I realized it was Belladonna he was
helping. She had a large cut from her elbow to her hand.

“
You’re okay,” Edgar said
with relief. “But where’s Ashton?”

We scanned the area. There
were just so many people doing the same thing. It was so difficult
to see anything.

The worse scenario came to
mind. What if we found him, and he wasn’t . . . I couldn’t even
finish the thought.

Just as I was about to
lose hope, I heard somebody scream my name, followed by Edgar’s and
Belladonna’s. They heard it too.

I looked around, still not
seeing him.

“
There,” Edgar finally
said.

I followed Edgar’s finger.
Sitting against a dumpster with a piece of metal lying on his legs
was Ashton. We rushed to him. Me and Edgar worked together to push
the piece of metal up. It was heavy, but we did it, flipping it
over. Ashton hissed in pain, trying to reach for his right ankle
but was unable to. Edgar bent down to examine it.

“
Where’s our driver?” I
asked, remembering he was with us.

Edgar just shook his head.
“Didn’t make it. I’m sorry, Belladonna.”

“
I’ll be fine,” she
said.

There was another
explosion. Like the others, this one was somewhere up the road. But
unlike the others, it sounded a lot bigger. The screaming near us
grew even louder. Something had changed, and I was afraid to see
what it was. My heartbeat grew faster and faster as I forced myself
to look around. Edgar and Belladonna did the same. The ground was
shaking like an earthquake. I followed a man’s finger pointing
toward a tall building, probably a couple of blocks away. It was
nearly thirty stories high, and like all the others, it was shiny
and had the green infinity sign on it.

There was only one
problem.
It looked as if it was moving. I
squinted to get a better look. Oh yeah, it was definitely moving.
And it seemed to be moving in our direction. It looked as if
somebody had simply tipped it over. Like a domino.

“The building’s falling!”
a man screamed, confirming my fears. He picked up a woman beside
him, trying to run without any success. He tripped and she tumbled
to the ground, crying in pain. People hurried to their feet,
running further down the alley.

Edgar picked Ashton up.
“The top’s gonna hit us!” he screamed.

Edgar was very agile,
which was shocking. He was a pretty big guy, not to mention he was
carrying Ashton. I guess adrenaline and fear can get anybody
moving.

I wasn’t complaining.
Belladonna and I kept up with him, seconds feeling like minutes.
Finally, I couldn’t help myself. I glanced over my shoulder. The
tip of the building was getting closer and closer. We were too
close.

We had run out of
time.

“
Take cover!” somebody
screamed.

Edgar knew what that
meant. Immediately, he stopped by another dumpster and practically
threw Ashton, who yelped in pain, onto the ground.

I threw myself on the
ground and covered my face as I heard a sound like thunder fill the
air. My body vibrated and my teeth chattered as the earth shook. I
heard the tall buildings slam into the smaller ones nearby,
demolishing them like they were nothing. I peeked to see dust and
smoke rolling in all directions. Just before the dust and smoke
reached us, I closed my eyes again and buried my head in the corner
between the building and the dumpster, hoping to trap oxygen there
so I’d still be able to breathe.

I could just smell the
smoke and dust smothering me. I was too afraid to open my eyes
again. The crashing noise seemed as if it would last forever.
Thankfully it didn’t. The ground stopped shaking and the thundering
was replaced with screaming and crying. I opened my eyes, and all I
saw was thick, gray smoke. It was as if I was in the middle of a
cloud. I covered myself back up and breathed, feeling the lack of
oxygen. I stayed bundled up for a few more minutes, breathing as
best as I could and listening to people nearby gasping for clean
air.

I just knew that we were
all going to suffocate right then and there. I hoped Edgar,
Belladonna, and Ashton were fine. I knew they wouldn’t be if we
didn’t find somewhere else to go.

That’s when I felt
somebody grab my elbow. “Come on,” it said, coughing.

It was Edgar. I opened my
eyes and turned to barely see his shadow picking another up.
Another shadow joined me, asking if I was okay.

It was
Belladonna.

I didn’t say anything. I
didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t dead, but I definitely wasn’t
okay. I didn’t know what I was.

I took a breath, my lungs
burning. I held my chest in pain. It was worse than slamming into
the brick wall. Belladonna grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in
the direction Edgar was running. The smoke burned my eyes, but I
forced them to stay open so that I didn’t lose Edgar. I still
refused to take a breath. That worked for a while. But, inevitably,
my lungs ached for air. I tried to make it, but I just couldn’t. I
gasped for air, barely getting any oxygen. I soon joined everybody
else in coughing uncontrollably.

I could barely make out
others running to what I hoped to be safety. But who knew how long
this cloud went for.

We weren’t going to make
it. The smoke would never end and we would suffocate. Becoming
light-headed made things worse, too. My head ached, and I was sure
that I was going to pass out.

I was about to just give
up and let my legs give, but we got lucky. Edgar led us to some
glass door. I didn’t know what it led too, and I didn’t care. Edgar
opened it and we ran inside quickly in order to let as little smoke
and dust in as possible. Finally, the door was shut, which helped
block off some of the painful noises coming from
outside.

We gasped for air with
others who had found the shop too.

I managed to look around,
noticing candy everywhere. It was a candy shop. Everybody’s nice
clothes and perfectly made hair were covered in dust. They had
never experienced anything like this. Even us outside of the wall
hadn’t. I grew dizzier. Edgar was messing around with Ashton’s
ankle. Belladonna stared out of the window, watching the thick
white smoke in disbelief. It was painful to see the beautiful
Belladonna who was always so happy and understanding look so lost
and petrified. I tried calling her name, but she didn’t notice. I
called out for Edgar. He didn’t budge. I wasn’t even sure if I was
actually saying anything. The room kept spinning, so I was sure I
was about to pass out.

No, I couldn’t do that.
Edgar already had Ashton to take care of. I held my head down
between my knees, my eyes closed, taking slow deep
breaths.