Chapter 2:
Ava pushed through the thick, bitter smoke that filled the narrow streets. Her lungs ached, but she pressed on, her pulse beating with an unshakeable sense of urgency. The harbor conflagration blazed in the distance behind her, its flames clawing at the sky in defiance of everything that had come before. The pandemonium surrounding her is just the beginning; she may want to feel it. She had to find answers.
A makeshift safety command center loomed ahead, with infantrymen and officers shifting in green, frantic clusters to reestablish order in a chaotic metropolis. She steeled herself as she approached, avoiding the looks of the uniformed soldiers stationed outside.
"Ms. Sinclair?" A chilly, dominating voice rang across the group. Ava turned to see a tall father approaching with intent; his black eyes sharpened as he looked her over.
"Commander Hayes," she responded, meeting his eyes without hesitation. The air between them felt electrified, as if there was an unspoken agreement simmering beneath the floor.
Commander Lucas Hayes nodded sharply. "You asked to look me."
Ava drew a breath and held her floor. "I need to understand the emergency protocols you're implementing in the vicinity. Whatever you plan, it won't be enough."
His eyes cooled, and his stance stiffened. "We have the situation under control, Ms. Sinclair." Evacuation routes are mapped, and our groups are deployed"
"and you're routing humans towards the highways?" She interrupted, her voice harsh. "You'll entice them in a bottleneck, right inside the direction of the following shockwave."
Commander Hayes folded his fists, his face dubious. "And you understand this how, precisely?"
"Call it instinct," she shot lower back, her voice steely. "Or, don't. But I've been proper about everything else up until now. Take a look at the harbor."
Something flickered across his face, either disbelief, inflammation, or something more serious. "You're announcing you noticed this coming."
"I had goals," she said, hesitantly. "Nightmares that seem more like memories. The first one hit the port just as I saw it. Now the next one is approaching, and it is heading inland. "The evacuation routes you've established could be death traps."
He eyed her with skepticism, a silent war visible in his expression. "if you're incorrect, it will fee lives."
"And if I'm right?" She raised an eyebrow, the weight of her reality pressing upon him.
There was an annoying pause between them, but he eventually appeared to leave, his jaw tense. "exceptional. Include me. However, if I find out you are wasting our time...
"Then flip me away," Ava concluded for him, her eyes unwavering. "I apprehend the stakes."
Without saying anything further, he indicated for her to follow him into the command center. The tent swarmed with frenzied energyradios squawking, people shouting coordinates, charts unfolded across tables in a hurried attempt to control the escalating crisis. The air was thick with stress and anxiety, and people's faces furrowed in awareness or pressure.
Lucas motioned for her to face him as he glanced through a series of maps posted to a primary board. He tapped his finger on a line indicating the first evacuation direction.
"We've planned to transport civilians through those zones," he explained, his voice firm and disinterested, but a hint of suspicion lingered beneath the floor.
Ava followed his finger, her gaze tracing the road until it abruptly ended in the direction of the dual carriageway. "The fault line is moving," she explained, referring to the map. "those factors might be the first to go."
He arched an eyebrow and crossed his palms as he observed her. "and also you're certain?"
"I've seen it," she insisted, her tone low but forceful. "Accept as real with meif we don't reroute people, they'll get stuck in it. We need to send them west instead."
He paused, returning his gaze to the map and passing over a younger officer. "Radio the westbound units. "Redirect all civilians there immediately."
The cop nodded and raced away, but Lucas' gaze remained on her. "I don't understand how you did it," he mumbled almost to himself. "but you had been right."
Ava's pulse raced as she noticed the confirmation in his eyes. "I didn't ask for this," she explained, her voice softening. "These visions..." I do not want them. But now that I have them, I'm not going to stand by and let humans go through this."
For the first time, his countenance relaxed, but only little. "Then let's wish you're right again, Ms. Sinclair."
Time seemed to slow as the minutes passed, dread rising in the air as officials hurried to replace routes, citizens were redirected, and emergency signals flooded in from all directions. Ava leaned against a desk, her mind racing, the weight of every decision pressing on her shoulders.
"Is there something else you noticed?" Lucas' words interrupted her thoughts.
Ava bit her lip and looked at the maps that had been placed before them. She could sense somethingthe weight of an answer on the edge of her thoughts, just out of reach. "It's more than just the earthquakes and fires," she said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "It doesn't sense…natural."
A glimmer of interest crossed his face. "What do you imply?"
She grew to be able to face him fully, meeting his intense look. "I don't realize, but. However, it appears that a person is orchestrating it.
Lucas's expression darkened, and his gaze dropped to the floor. "There's an idea floating around," he said, his voice low. "Something we will not affirm. However, there is a name associated with this disaster. His voice sank accordingly. "Victor Reyes."
The name struck her like a blow to the gut, sending a chill down her spine. Something in her intestine told her she'd heard it before, in the murky depths of her nightmares.
Before she could ask any further questions, an alarm sounded, cutting through the dense air like a knife.
"Commander!" A light officer dashed closer to them, panic written over his face. "Seismic interest just spiked againthis time dangerously close to the west routes."
Lucas's gaze shifted to Ava, a silent, unspoken question burning in his eyes.
Ava's pulse raced as she fought with the looming reality within her. "The sample is changing," she said softly, mostly to herself. "some thing's at the back of that is adaptingreacting."
"What do you suggest?" He inquired forcefully, his gaze dulled on her.
She shook her head, the weight of understanding resting on her shoulders. "If we don't forestall the following wave, there may not be a city left to shop."
The words had barely left her mouth when another tremor shook the ground beneath their feet. Screams erupted outside the tent as the earth rumbled, a low, terrifying growl that seemed to emanate from the very center of the earth.
Lucas grasped her arm, stabilizing her as another wave of dread surged through the command center. "Are we secure right here?"
"No one is safe," she said firmly, her hands tightening over the edge of the table as the floor settled. "no longer till we apprehend whoor whatis inflicting this."
The words hung heavily between them, the repercussions soaking in. Outside, the dust had settled, and Ava should be able to see the distant silhouettes of houses wobbling on unstable foundations.
"Commander Hayes!" A voice called from the edge of the tent piqued his interest. "We came across something strange. "There is movement in the water just off the coast."
Lucas' face stiffened. "movement?"
The cop nodded, and his expression disappeared. "something…big. We don't know what it is, but it's moving quickly and heading inland.
Ava's heart beat as the conclusion hit her like cold water. "Commander, this is no longer a herbal calamity. It's a pressurea weapon.
Lucas met her gaze, his expression opaque yet strained. "And you observed this is all Reyes?"
"I don't think," Ava said, her voice just above a whisper. "I are aware of it."
The hubbub around them intensified, with officers shouting and radios crackling, but it all seemed to dissipate as Lucas moved closer, his expression hardening with purpose.
"We don't have time to dispute. You stated that you are no longer wrong about these topics. Display metell me what's coming next."
Ava halted, the weight of her visions pressing against her, so vivid that she could almost feel the heat, pay listen to the screaming. "If we don't take action, they will overrun us. This is not just an earthquake, Commander. "That is an invasion."
His eyes widened as he absorbed her words. But before he could respond, every other siren sounded, piercing the night and sending another shockwave of panic through the camp.
A voice yelled, "Prepare for impact!" Ava had just enough time to react before a blinding flash burst from the coast, illuminating the darkened sky with sickening green and electric blue hues.
Lucas grasped her hand, firm and unyielding. "If we make it thru this, Ms. Sinclair, you're going to tell me the whole lot you recognize."
Ava hardly had time to nod before the ground broke way underneath them. Collectively, they stumbled out of the command tent, joining the mob of survivors rushing through the streets as the shoreline exploded in flames. As she looked over her shoulder, Ava should have felt the horror swelling in her chest.
The horizon changes to hearth, and the town is immersed in pandemonium.
For the first time, she realized how serious their situation was. And in that dread
ful second, with Lucas by her side, Ava recognized her visions were more than simply warnings.
They were a promise.