"Go, go, go!" Brynn whisper-yelled to the group. She was ushering them out the door that connected the end of the stairway to the roof. Her brother was at the back of the group, making sure they all followed quickly and quietly. They knew it was best to get out of the building before the soldiers that shot Michael and took Cathryn got to them. The majority of the group was just speechless or didn't know what to say. Brynn had decided she needed to switch back into her military mode and take responsibility for the people she brought into this.
Once the group piled onto the roof, they all crouched low in hopes the soldiers would not look up. The sun beat down on the roof and made Brynn wish she didn't put her hoodie back on. Tristan finally came out of the door at last with a chair in his hand and the duffle bag over his shoulder.
"What…" Alex trailed off, looking at the chair in Tristan's hand. Brynn's brother shut the door and looked at the group.
"Shut up." He scoffed, seeing the slightly judgemental look on their faces. He placed the chair underneath the doorknob to the entrance of the stairwell. Brynn would label him either super paranoid or super smart in this scenario, but it depended what the outcome would be.
Brynn crouch-walked over to the side of the apartment complex. She felt a twist in her stomach as she looked down the 20-story side. She cursed to herself. She should've thought ahead better than this, she never did though and she probably never would. Improvising was one of Brynn's strengths, but that proved not to be helpful sometimes.
The sun continued to make Brynn sweat and long for sunscreen. Her eyes glanced back up to the other building across. It was about two feet lower than the roof they were on now and about six feet across the gap. This was the only option. She put her hair into a low bun, preparing to make the jump. She ventured back to the group who was all still crouching in the hot sun.
"You guys aren't gunna like this," Brynn warned. It didn't matter though. Even if they didn't like it, she knew they didn't have another option. Brynn cast a glance to the other building.
"No." A guy in the group spoke up. Joseph, she thought. He had been quiet after he saw one of his classmates get shot in the street. He looked as if he were shaking like a leaf, his face very pale. The guy beside him, Andrew, put a hand on his shoulder.
"We don't have a choice, babe." Andrew told him, his voice wavering as well. Brynn wasn't used to seeing people react like this to death. She knew they did, but she had become so desensitized during her time overseas. She couldn't figure out if it was refreshing or annoying.
"She's right. I don't like it either," Lilly mentioned, pushing her black hair behind her ears. Brynn knew her name because she stood out the most. She couldn't decide if she liked Lilly or not. The fact that Lilly agreed with Brynn, though, made her sway to liking her a bit more. Brynn was still trying to read these people. Not just get to know them, rather get to know their motives and intentions. "But we have to."
With a sigh, Brynn declared she would go first. A breeze came as she stood up, blowing back the baby hairs that came into her face. She thought of how good it felt, despite the terrible situation going on. Brynn walked back a few steps, wanting to get a running start.
A whizzing sound went through the air. Then a crash. Then the building shook.
Brynn immediately got low to the roof, sharing a look with Tristan. The soldiers were shooting at the building with something strong. Strong enough to shake the whole 20 floors. Brynn put a hand on Nadeen's shoulder, as she was beside her, and took off sprinting to the other roof.
The paved roof came up under her feet in an even stroke while the wind whistled past her ears. The gun in the waist band of her pants moved somewhat uncomfortably against her hip, and pinched her every so often. Her breathing was strong and steady as she prepped herself for a giant leap across a six-foot expense. She briefly realized she should've done some stretches beforehand, but there was no time. The end of the roof came up in no time and Brynn pushed off her left foot towards her destination. The building shook just as she jumped.
She absorbed the fall with bent legs then tucked and rolled. After a couple rolls, she got up as fast as she could to motivate the group to jump. Her muscles screamed from the lack of stretching beforehand.
Mackenzie was next. She tried to copy what Brynn did, but ended up with a torn-up pant leg. Joseph came, followed by Andrew. Nadeen and Nathan took a run together and jumped at the same time. Then Lilly, then Mark. Alex came the closest to copying Brynn's form, but lost balance due to the building being fired at once more. Then Tristan, who first threw the duffle bag and then jumped like a god. His facial hair was also beginning to help like look like a god as well. Brynn was cast away her jealousy quickly. Now was not the time to joke about it either, or to have selfish thoughts. Brynn took a quick look at the group. Some of them looked like they were in pain, some looked pumped with adrenaline.
Alex gave a triumphant laugh, slightly out of breath. Brynn realized he had brought the bag of food he found with him. His dyed-blue hair was ruffled from the tumble, and his eyes had a glint in them. Alex looked over at her mid-smile and gave a tilt of his head. His stubble complimented the dimples that appeared in his left cheek. He looked so satisfied and riled up with adrenaline. Brynn thought it was wonderful to look at. A laugh threatened to come out, but she knew laughing was wrong in this situation. Brynn gave a small smirk then turned away. Brynn took notice that she found herself holding back lately, which was unlike her.
Brynn stood up and shrugged off her hoodie before tying it tightly around her waist. One last whizz was heard through the air, and a crash was heard. The group shared a look as the whole building they were just on started to shake, then vibrate, then completely began to crumble. Brynn had an intrusive thought of her group stuck on that building, falling into the rubble, and getting buried. She shook her head, as if to shake away the dark thoughts.
"We were just there…" Nadeen croaked out, still in the sitting position she rolled into. "Jesus fucking Christ." She flopped onto her back. Brynn was still getting used to Nadeen speaking up because she was usually quite shy.
Brynn ventured toward her and held out a hand. She opened her eyes and squinted into the sun.
"It ain't even over." She replied, a crease in her brow. She had to be sympathetic to these people, more so empathetic. These people just saw someone die; someone they may have been close to. No matter how much of a dick he was, they knew him. That had to be traumatizing. Seeing a life being taken before their eyes for the first time. Brynn remembered the first time she had seen that too. Putting herself into someone else's shoes was hard for Brynn sometimes, but she had been working on it for a few months. Before all this stuff happened at least. It turned out to be quite painful, which is why she tried to block it out most of her life.
After helping Nadeen up, the whole group continued on their way to get away from the wreckage. Everyone was on edge and shaken up, considering they could have died if they jumped even a minute too late. Brynn and the group walked to the end of this building, then made the significantly smaller jump to the building next to it. Then, they found that door to the roof and knocked off the knob to get in.
It was some sort of professional office with cubicles. A job Brynn probably would have hated to do. Brynn doubted it had the same vantage point that the building they were just on did. Tristan went with Alex to scan the floor and find the stairwell to get to the bottom floor. Left alone with the group, Brynn now decided to interrogate them. Well, more like get to know them. She strolled around and looked at a couple cubicles. Lilly followed her.
"How are you doing?" Brynn asked, picking up a fancy pen from a desk. All the computer screens were black. The power was obviously cut off, and she doubted there were any working lights except for the ones those soldiers had. Soldiers was a word she used to use for herself. Perhaps they cut off everything so they could only have it for themselves. Brynn was full of questions that she doubted would get answered.
"I'm… okay." Lilly hesitated as she answered. She sent a shy glance at Brynn, who raised an eyebrow. Brynn knew she would continue if she kept quiet. "I don't want to even think about it. He was an ass… But did he deserve to die?"
It seemed she was asking herself more than she was asking Brynn. Brynn looked back down at the fancy pen she held. She drew an inappropriate doodle on the desk, then chucked the pen to the floor. She almost laughed at the childish act, wishing Tristan were here to laugh about it.
"I'm sorry you had to see something like that." Brynn commented, beginning to walk to the next cubicle. "It gets easier seeing this stuff with time."
"You think there will be more?" Lilly sounded either worried or exasperated. Brynn grabbed a computer monitor and pushed it down on the desk. She found it entertaining to ruin expensive things now that there was no one there to stop her. The rebel inside her was screaming in ecstasy.
"Unfortunately." Brynn looked back at Lilly, who looked back in the direction of the group. She had begun to sway the opposite way with Lilly, in that she found her a bit... annoying? Nevertheless, Brynn still gave her another chance. "Is your friend okay? Mark?"
Lilly scoffed. "He saw his mom go insane and attack him. How do you think he is?"
Brynn was amused but held back a small laugh. The tone that Lilly used was sarcastic, something that she wouldn't expect from a girl like her. Brynn smirked to herself. Then something clicked.
"His mom went insane? Like rabid insane?" Brynn questioned, turning on her heel to look at Lilly. Lilly seemed startled that Brynn wanted to know more.
"Yeah, he had to—um—" Lilly looked like she had trouble getting the words out. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes looked glossy in the light of the windows. "She wasn't going to stop."
Brynn understood. Mark had killed his mom because she was attacking him.
"Tristan and I saw a rabid dog in an alley feasting on someone." Brynn told her. Lilly cringed outwardly. "It must be the radiation. It's making people go batshit."
Tristan and Alex busted back into the office room the group was in. Brynn and Lilly quickly joined the group.
"You gotta see this." Tristan announced with an urgent tone in his voice. His expression told Brynn that he was dead serious and concerned. She nodded and took the lead with him, the group following in pursuit.
They ventured down the hallway and to a door that led into a stairwell. After god knows how many stairs, they reached the bottom. Brynn loved the burning feeling in her lungs and remembered the drills she had to do overseas. The glass doors of the stairwell opened to reveal a fancy pale floor with blue themed décor and paint adorning the walls. A desk to the right, and a waiting area to the left. The floor-length windows had the shades drawn shut with only the slightest bit of light peeping in. But that wasn't what concerned Brynn.
In the middle of the lobby floor were six people. Corpses. All with white bags on their heads, and all with blood soaking the area where their heads were. Or should have been.