231 Greed (35)
"But why?" Molly asked.
"To prevent others from trying to get past it, and to prevent more people from being killed."
After a moment of silence, Brett finally spoke. "Anyway, it’s a good thing that the bridge is gone. Someone may have come to the other side and are asking for help, or there are other people on the other side who are seeking to destroy aliens, and they may help us. At least no one Will be hurt again by trying to cross again."
"We should leave here. No matter which side did it, it will attract a lot of attention, and we are not far from attention." Molly bit his lower lip as he stared at the window.
Of course, she is right, but the last thing I want to do is to go outside. Everyone seems to feel the same, because no one moves. I finally got rid of the paralyzed state of holding on to me, reluctantly left Cade, and walked to the front door. I opened the shutters, and I stared at the night. I can't see anything, but I have a feeling of anxiety that there is a sinister existence waiting for us outside.
I stepped back from the door. The cold air swept across my spine and got goose bumps on my skin. "How long do you think it will take?" I finally couldn't help but jail.
"I don't know, one hour, maybe two hours," Aiden replied.
"I don't think we have that long time."
Aiden's words were interrupted by another deafening explosion. I jumped back, and when I staggered out of the door, I almost fell to the ground. When the glass window exploded inward, I raised my hands, and there were glass shards everywhere in the shop. Cade staggered forward, grabbed my arm, pulled me down, covered me with his body, and another loud noise rang in the air. I curled up under him, covering my ears to try to protect them from the noise.
Cade climbed onto me looking for something I couldn't see. He came back, took my hand away, and pressed his mouth to my ear. "We have to go, Bethany."
"Where?" I cried for the loud explosion.
Cade didn't answer, he grabbed my hand and pulled me up. As the explosion approached, another loud noise smashed a window at the far end of the store. I once had such a nightmare, when death was approaching, I was frozen in one place. Then I was able to wake up, and now I was trapped, like a fly stuck in a spider web.
Cade let go of me and stumbled towards the wall with the scuba. "Help me!" he shouted at Bright.
Brett and Aiden hobbled around, helping Cade remove the equipment from the wall. I grabbed one of the boxes, which contained various floats and hoses. When I hurriedly poured the things out, the contents were scattered on the floor. I threw the box to Aiden and found another one when they started loading the box.
Another explosion shook the ground; my ears buzzed with the constant impact of noise. The ground under my feet began to vibrate. I jumped up, grabbed my arm with one hand, and Brett pulled me to him. "Here, please!" His shouting overwhelmed the noise.
I looked around for Aiden and CapitaLand, but they were struggling to move equipment and boxes. "We must help them!" I cried.
"We must get out of here!" He fought back.
"Wait..." I tried to get rid of him, but he wouldn't let me go. "Cade."
Cade's head dangled, squinting at us. "Take her out!" He roared so fiercely that even I was taken aback. "Now! Get her out!"
Bretra pulled my arm, and this time I felt relieved and stopped resisting. Abby was already standing at the back door, opening the door for us. Brett quickly pulled me forward, and I hurried to catch up with him, almost tripping over with my own feet. I staggered out the door, breathing a huge amount of air, which was far less fresh than I had hoped. It smelled rancid, and the bitterness made me shrink. My lungs were scorched by the polluted air, and my nose hairs were scorched by the heat.
For a while, I thought it was snowing. But it is impossible to snow, at least not in August, is it? Having said that, something stranger has happened in the past few days-snow in August doesn't seem completely impossible now. I raised my hand and blinked at the tiny particles covering my eyelashes. They landed on my face, covering the stars and moon, making the night sky completely dark. Those tiny particles are pungent on my lips. My brain is struggling to accept that this is not snow, but flowing ashes.
I turned to the right, the building blocked my view, but the sky behind the building was bright orange. The night around us is as dark as midnight, but the night over there is as bright as the sun. It looks angry, vicious, and deadly. We all stood there, gazing in awe at the glowing, vicious sky. We eagerly wanted to escape the building, but I found that my feet could not move. I don’t want to see what this building hides, nor what we can’t see.
"It's terrible," Abby said, panting.
"What's that?" Molly said hoarsely.
"The fire on the bridge must have spread," Brett muttered to himself.
"Gas station," I whispered.
"There are other buildings near it. Those are explosions. The fire will continue to spread. It will reach other propane tanks, gas tanks, and oil tanks. We must leave before it arrives." I dropped my hands and were stuck on The soot on it was discouraged. "We now have no choice but to swim."
He pulled me back a few steps. For a moment, my body froze, and then self-preservation began to occur. When we hurried down the mountain, Brett's hand slipped and we stood difficultly on the rugged and dark terrain. I have to continue to wipe the dust from my eyes because they stick to my eyelashes so hard that it makes me harder to see. The hillside became smooth and covered with a layer of material, and I slipped and fell, waiting for the inevitable moment of loss of balance.
Surprisingly, I am not the first to fall. On the contrary, when she stumbled, Molly let out a slight cry. She turned her arm with a pin, trying to keep her balance, but it didn't work, her feet flew out from under her feet. When she hit the ground, I frowned, and before she turned the teapot, I jumped a few times.
Bright and Abby tried to catch her, but she was soon unable to catch her. Molly let out a depressed, painful cry, but she remained terribly quiet because her vision plummeted. "Molly!" Abby cried.
"Hush!" Brett ordered briskly.
"Shut up, Abby, Molly did it."
Abby became silent, but I could almost hear her tears. My heart is pounding, is Molly okay? Was she injured when she fell? I have no way of knowing what is at the foot of the mountain; due to the darkness that cannot be escaped, I can hardly see a foot in front of me. Are there rocks below? Is the sea below
I inadvertently glanced at my shoulder, I could hardly see Cade and Aiden struggling down the mountain behind us. In the depressed air, their breathing is loud, but my breathing is also loud. My lungs do not listen, and my throat has a fever. Inhaling this garbage may not be a good thing, but now we can't do anything about it.
A loud noise sizzled in the air. A fire rose into the sky from the flames burning behind the store. Maybe it's a propane tank? I tried to recall the buildings around the bridge. There are IHOP, a hotel; no, there are two hotels, a laundry mat, convenience store, gas station, funeral home, tourist traps, woods, and many houses. So many things can spread the growing flames without anyone stopping them.
Of course the aliens will not stop it. Especially when they know that this will drive the rest of the people away like rats fleeing the flood. This is how we are now-trapped rats will be captured by them very quickly, especially if we continue to move towards the surface.
My heart was pounding; I turned my attention away from the hateful flame. Is this the real reason why the bridge was destroyed? Did the aliens decide to destroy any chance of escape, set the land on fire, and draw us out
I was so focused on my own thoughts that I didn't realize that the ground had begun to level. Molly appeared in the field of vision at the foot of the mountain. She was dirty, her clothes were disheveled, and her lower lip was bleeding, but she didn't seem to be injured. We ran across the street and fled into the backyard of a residential area, parallel to the railroad running near the beach. The railroad tracks follow the water and roads, but the trees around them provide us with enough protection to avoid anything above them.
Our breathing is getting harder and harder, my lungs are getting hot from the pungent air, but no one asks to stop. Now this is not an option at all. I don't know how long we ran, hitting the invisible ground, trying to escape the ashes and deadly flames. I dare not look back to see how close the fire is, and I don't want to know how much time we have left.
"Here," Aiden said breathlessly.
We followed him, and he turned to the right, passed through someone's yard, and stopped by the woods. I stared at the parking lot with a shadow in front. A chill made me sweat all over at the thought of running out. We will be exposed and vulnerable.
Aiden and Cade put down the equipment they had been carrying. They murmured to each other, and then a small flashlight turned on. "Eden!" I hissed.
His mahogany eyes were harsh because he stared at me on the crossbeam. I was deeply attracted by his gaze. "Are you going to use this garbage?" he asked. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)