The wind picked up, blowing the thick gray clouds across the horizon until inevitably getting sliced by the sky scrapers penetrating sky. Ash fell like rain onto the capital, coating the streets and rooftops in a thick layer of dirt-like snow. Ahead was a line of trees, the middle flattened to nothing but twigs, presumably by the elongated foot of a Compactor.
Matoi climbed through the rubbish, her feet getting caught between the branches and tree roots. She looked forward, hearing the rumbling of a monster's growl. She advanced, pulling Makina by the hand behind her. Around the corner was a Compactor's limp body with its jaw unhinged, breathing faint and slow. It's core was nearly severed but still attached to its stomach by a string of veins and muscle. Her eyes followed the blood trail beside the paralyzed creature, noticing an Omega, dead, with her entrails spread against the wall behind her.
She sighed. Matoi kneeled down, resting Makina against a demolished street light. Her fingers tucked under her sleeve, pulling out her weapon as she unfolded it. Aiming the blade at the monster's core, Matoi stared into its lifeless eyes. "I'll put you out of your misery."
The core shattered underneath the point of her blade. The monster's body lit up for a split second as its soul died out. A pool of blood soon started dripping out from its flesh wound, dying Matoi's legs red. She stepped back, watching blankly as she pulled Makina back up. "Are you going to talk now?"
Makina lifted her head up, holding her bruised nape. Looking to the right, Makina said, "That way. The bridge."
The busses remained at a stop, collided with each other. Black smoke lifted up from the bent hood of the bus behind Akino and the others. The people that fled the streets slowly stumbled out of the bus, bruised and sweaty. Sakagami knelt down, helping a pregnant woman off the floor. Akino watched through a shattered window as Miki followed Yukino out of the bus. A warm sensation covered his right cheek. He noticed his reflection in a shard of glass, realizing his forehead was bleeding and coloring his face red. He used his sleeve to wipe it off, smearing it in the process.
"Akino, are you okay?" Sakagami asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.
He looked back at her. Sakagami's blonde hair was knotted and caked with ash and her eye was bruised with black and purple. She gave a forced smile, blood dripping down her nose. Akino shrugged her hand off, replying, "It looks like you're the one who should be answering that. Look at you."
Yukino leaned against the side of the bus, feeling the veins in her forehead pulse as she cradled the headache. Her phone was pressed against her scratched cheek as she waited for someone to pick up. Tapping her foot anxiously against the pavement, Yukino sighed and brought the phone back down to dial a different number.
She looked up into the humid sun, sweat dripping down her face as the phone rang. Suddenly, a voice came through. "Huh, mom?! Mom is that you?!" She covered her open ear, unable to hear over the incessant screaming from the other end of the bridge. "Mommy, I'm on Aminawa Bridge! I know I didn't tell you before but th-." She stopped, realizing the voice that picked up was an automated voice message. Her hands went limp and she dropped the phone to the ground.
Miki walked up to her, waving the smoke out of his face. "Babe, we need to get out of he… What's wrong?"
Yukino sat on the ground, hugging her knees. "Nobody is picking up…," she said, muffling herself with her legs. "Not mom, not dad…"
Miki approached her, pushing her white and pink hair out of her face. "It's chaos out there, it wouldn't surprise me if the cell towers were down. For now, we should evacuate and find a way around this."
A whimper escaped her lips. She pulled her legs closer, biting her lip to silence her cries. "What if they're…"
"They're not," Miki assured her. Before he could continue, he noticed Akino stepping out of the bus and stopping in front of Yukino. His eyes narrowed, turning away from Akino in disgust. "We need to leave, Yukino."
Akino looked down sympathetically. "What happened?" He asked the two of them.
Miki bent down and pulled Yukino off her feet, avoiding eye contact with the other. "It's fine, none of your business."
Akino watched, confused, as he and Yukino walked past him. Yukino wiped her damp cheek, meeting Akino's gaze for a brief second. He gulped, uneasy, before glancing down to see Yukino's abandoned phone.
"Akino," Sakagami called out, leaning out the bus entrance. "We need to leave, it isn't safe here."
He nodded, looking around. To his left was a crowd of people speedily walking towards his direction and a capital decimated with Compactors. To his right was a long stretch of highway overlooking the bay leading to the South West District. "We're trapped."
"What do you mean? Everyone is evacuating into the next district," she stated, pointing right.
He shook his head, refuting her claim. "Look; not a single vehicle or person has made it past the border. They're not letting any of us get in."
She stumbled to the side of the bridge, bending over the railing to catch a better look. "That can't be." She gawked at her surroundings, stepping back next to her son. "They should still let you through, right? You're of use to them, right?"
"I'm not going anywhere without you," he informed her, walking around to the front of the bus. "The other districts… do you think they'd let us in?"
"They won't," a familiar voice said. Akino turned around to see Matoi and Makina walking up to them, noticing the limp Makina was moving with. "They're trapping us in here to prevent any survivors from escaping," Makina mumbled.
"What?" Sakagami exhaled. "They can't do that! Tell the Royal Ambassador to open the borders!"
"I cant," Makina replied. "My earpiece is broken. And even if it wasn't, we'd have no hope of getting through to her now, if she isn't dead."
Akino ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "I don't understand, something feels different. This feels like a coordinated attack. The timing was too perfect, and they new exactly where to strike. Whoever we saw in the North District, Makina, they have to be orchestrating the whole thing."
"It's just like we worst feared…," Matoi mumbled. "The Compactors have intelligence…"
"Listen, as messed up as it is, we need to get these people back into the South District," Akino said, proposing a plan. "They're trapping us in here like cattle. There's no chance any of us will get past alive, we know too much for them to let that happen, but standing here is like ringing the dinner bell. If we don't get off this bridge and spread out, there will be a massacre."
"How are we supposed to convince all these people to go back? Even if we did manage that, there's still a line of Stage Three's approaching with their mouths open as we speak," Makina argued, waving down the bridge.
"There can't possibly be that many left," Akino assured.
"There is," Matoi said under her breath. "There's more dead Omegas out there than there are Compactors."
The gray ash clouds hovered over them, sheltering them from the blistering sunlight. A dark shadow casted over the top of the bridge, making the bay beneath them look dull and lifeless. The group looked around. Smoke from wrecked vehicles billowed into the sky, followed by angry car horns and countless screams and shouts. People were constantly moving, climbing over one another and pushing things around.
"This is bad," Matoi continued. "We're too loud. There's no telling how many of them we're going to attract."
Akino started walking down the bridge, following the herd of people. "Yukino and Miki went this way. I'm not leaving this bridge without them."
Makina harshened her gaze, her red eyes gleaming in the darkness. "We don't have time for this, Akino. We need to escape before these idiots bring them to the bridge with us."
He shook his head, staring back at her over his shoulder. "You have armor, we don't."
Matoi walked up to him, matching his pace. "If that's the case, then I'm going with him."
"Please," Sakagami begged. "Makina's right, we don't have time for this."
"Then what are you guys asking me to do? Leave them to die? Talk about double standards," he hissed.
"That's not what I…"
"Yes, our own lives are our top priority right now. I'm not wasting my time worrying about someone else's life," Makina fired back.
"Where is your sympathy? You act like you're not as weak as the rest of us!" Akino shouted, shoving Matoi behind him.
"I'm not," she denied.
"Makina," Matoi interrupted. "Don't act like you didn't collapse mid-fight and make me drag you through the city. You're human, just like the rest of everyone else here."
"Don't confuse me with cattle. I'm not human, neither are you. We're Omegas."
Akino bent down, picking up Yukino's phone. He swiped up, unlocking her phone.
"What are you doing?" Sakagami questioned.
"I'm calling Miki," he said. Akino scrolled through her contacts, tapping on the one named 'hubby' with heart emojis surrounding it. He pressed the number, bringing it up to his ear. Leaning over the railing to catch a breeze, Akino waited for the call to go through. Abruptly, the phone sparked. He dropped it, shocked. The headlights on all the cars dimmed down and the hum of the engines stopped.
"What's happening?" Sakagami asked, looking around.
Suddenly, a blinding white ball of light exploded in the South District, eerily silent. Without warning, a deafening burst bombarded the area, shaking the bridge. Everyone fell to their knees, covering their ears. The wind picked up, pushing people on their backs and sending vehicles flying across the streets.
Matoi cautiously peaked her eyes open, gasping once she noticed the semi-truck flying towards them. She reached for her sleeve, unfolding her weapon into a massive gun. She pulled the trigger, shouting at the top of her lungs as a beam of light penetrated through the cargo, diminishing the vehicle to nothing but scrap metal as it passed them.
As her eyes focused, she noticed a flying Compactor head that hid behind the semi. "Oh, no!"
Without enough time to react, the massive severed head collided into the bridge. The group felt the pavement under their feet disassemble. Akino opened his eyes, noticing the head rolling into the bay along with the chunk of concrete they were crouched on. He jumped up, dragging the others to the other side of the bridge as it crumbled beneath them.
The white light dimmed down, allowing for the dull blue sky to come through. The ash clouds were blasted away and Compactor limbs decorated the streets. The breeze slowed, allowing time for the crashing waves beneath them to settle down. Sakagami clung to the railing, pulling herself up.
A pile of crumpled vehicles rested behind them, barricading the two sides of the bridge, separating the people. The South District, groaning in the distance, was covered in a cloud of haze and smoke. The traumatized buildings waved in the wind, chunks of rebar and concrete breaking off. The trees were blasted of their leaves and windows were shattered. Small fires illuminated the dull shell of the district. A siren sounded over the haunting sound of dust settling.
"Attention, citizens of Division-A."
Akino looked towards the border to a public intercom where the voice originated.
"The South District has just been under attack. The culprit is unknown, but defeated nonetheless. Any and all survivors are transported back into the city for a mandatory check up at Capital Hospital. If you know someone who is injured, please leave them where they are and paramedics will be sent shortly. This is not a time for panic, this is a time for unity."
"What the hell are they talking about?"
"What do you mean the culprit is unknown? They know damn well it was the Compactors!"
"Do you think they're going to try to bury this too?"
"I don't know."
"Division-A is a hope for humanity's future, and will always be man-kinds safe haven."