It didn't feel like a whole minute, not even thirty seconds. My eyes had been crushed shut, leaving a harsh drowsiness when I’d jolted awake. I couldn’t help but to take a sharp inhale of breath, and I also couldn’t seem to make sense of what had happened. It was absolutely horrible trying to see anything through the heavy smoke that weighed down the air. Especially when my vision was already disoriented from the explosion. It just didn't feel real, nothing that had happened seemed real. It had to have been a nightmare. For a second there, I actually believed it had been a dream, that it all had been a horrible night terror, and I’d wake up any second. It was all too real though, I didn’t need any explanation, I just knew it was real. Of Course, all I wanted to do was wake up safe and sound from everything that had happened.

I shortly found my eyes scanning the destruction from The Town Hall’s unwanted explosion. Remembering what had happened, my heart began thudding loudly against my chest. It felt as if a flash sparked when the events  rushed back into my mind. One person flooded through my memories. Last time I’d seen, her emerald green eyes were widened with pain stricken fear. I guess you could say that reality struck me across the face."Katrina?" I whispered her name, my voice slightly wavering. When I received no answer, you can bet I started to panic. The muscle throughout my body tensed up uncomfortably, and instantly I began patting the surface surrounding me, but of course there was nothing there. "K-Katrina?" I questioned more hesitantly this time, tears threatened to blur my vision, but I didn’t allow them to fall. Not then. Still though,  there was no answer, and it felt as if the world had spinned off its axis.

Even when I was in agonizing pain, and didn’t want to get up. I tried to pull myself from the ground. Of course my head was still pounding loudly against the back of my head, as if someone were repeatedly hitting me there, which only made my eyes feel heavier with exhaustion. Although to my surprize, I wasn’t able to get leg away, it wouldn't budge no matter how hard I tried.  My leg was stuck, I didn’t even know why pain suddenly was surging through my veins. Not understanding what had happened, I slowly scanned my legs. My eyes grew wide at the sight alone, but It didn’t hurt as bad as it probably should have. Removing what had been on my leg, wasn’t going to be just a leisurely stroll in the park.

The heavy concrete-wall was rigid around the corners, and a large crack traced the lining throughout. Although somehow, it was still whole, and just enough to keep my leg trapped under the wall. Must’ve been a aftermath from the explosion. The concrete dug painfully into my leg, and the more I struggled to free myself, the worse it got.

Since my graceful attempt to escape the wall hadn't been working out too well. I leaned forward and carelessly gripped my hands around the corners of the wall trying to lift it up off of me. As I began to push it, I felt a sharp pain slice away at my hand. Quickly, my hand jumped back, and as responce I gasped. My hand was stinging painfully, but I did my best not to let it bother me at them moment, I had bigger problems to deal with. When I looked back down, a few crimson droplets had embedded themselves to the concrete-wall. I couldn’t really do anything about that though, I just glared down wondering how I was ever going to be able to get away from it by myself.

I was just ready to give up, thought it would  logical if I laid back down and helplessly stared at the sky until my conscious slipped. I was doomed to lay there until I died of starvation, or dehydration. It was so easy to just give up right then and there, I felt the need to just lay back down and wait, just wait for something to happen. Although I just sat there trying to pull my leg away, which still wasn’t working at all. I gritted my teeth, and held back yelps of pain the more I did this. The unmistakable pain only seemed to get worse though.

I don’t know how I wasn’t able to hear feet approaching, but of course it wasn’t mistaken, because soon enough I heard an over confident voice speaking behind me. "Well that's gotta hurt; you probably should watch out next time." Even though I wasn’t even able to see him, I could almost hear the smirk on his mouth.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes impatiently. I didn’t want to talk right then. I also knew that it wouldn’t get me anywhere if I stayed completely silent. So, not wanting to communicate I folded my arms, and gave a humorless snort. "Next time." I repeated his words under my breath, sarcastically.

        Silence engulfed the area once again, and of course I knew I’d have to talk at some point, but I really didn’t feel like making an idiot of myself. I didn’t want to talk to someone who was just going to continuously mock me, but to my surprise I didn’t have to, because I heard the same voice once again speak. "Do you need some help?" He coughed trying to to sound to formal, or kind, honestly, it didn’t work that well.

I shrugged my shoulders casually, after rolling my eyes at him. "No, I got this. I think I'll just stay here for the rest of eternity, and possibly, I don't know, rot." Pausing, I took a small dramatic breath as if to give more emphasis to my statement. "At least the coyotes will have something to eat."

I only recived a quiet-boyish chuckle from behind me. "Well, if there were any coyotes around this part of the woods, than I'm absolutely sure that they would appreciate your sacrifice, unfortunately there isn't, and if there were, it looks like I found you first."

I couldn’t help myself, aggravated, I gave a humorless laugh under my breath. "My savior!" I called sarcastically, then I rolled my eyes once again, knowing he couldn't see my face. I was completely and utterly capable of doing this myself. I was just trying to make it obvious that I didn't want his help, but he still didn't seem to get the hint.

I heard a pair of feet shuffling through the torn down building surrounding us. Glaring forward, I met a pair of sapphire eyes that gleamed with worry. His light brown hair laid casually over his eyebrows. His jeans were torn around the knee, and his shirt was ripped at the sleeve. His outfit was completed with dust that made him look like he’d traveled hell and back. I probably looked just about the same, but maybe a bit worse seeing as my foot had been stuck under a wall.

         Without saying a word he approached me, and wrapped his hands roughly around the other end of the concrete. His dark eyes continued to watched mine from a short distance, well that was until he spoke once more. "When I lift this, move your leg away as quickly as possible, I don't want to loose grip, and have it land back on you.” He paused, searching my face silently. “You got that?"  I bit my lip nervously, but nonetheless, shook my head indicating yes.       

         With a grunt, he was able to pull the concrete a little more than a foot above my leg. It didn’t take me but five quick seconds to quickly shuffle my leg out from under the heavy concrete. Once I was free and the boy knew I wouldn’t get hurt, he dropped the wall back down.

I didn't stand up immediately after I was free from the wall. I just let my eyes scan the remainings of the area around. I was trying to find a glint of dirty blonde, or wildy curled hair somewhere, anywhere really. Still, I saw nothing and my heart began to sink. It felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach repeatedly a few thousand times. Glancing around, I started to pat the surface at which dust piled heavily above the concrete-walls, and other nonsense that had fallen down with the explosion. Still, again I couldn't find anything. I also didn’t know whether it was a good or bad sign that my little sister had gone missing. I was starting to panic at that point. Adrenaline rushed through my body, and my eyes wouldn't come to a halt.

         My little sister was missing, and all of it was my fault. Guilt started to build deep inside of me, it felt like a painful rawness that flourished inside my gut. I was in charge of my little sister, and I wasn't paying attention… Long story short, I lost my six year old sister.

Letting out a shaky breath, I pulled myself up hesitantly. Still, I was searching, and I just knew that I wasn't going to find Katrina. That fact was just making matters worse, because i was determined to find her. Biting my lip so hard I could’ve drawn blood, I took a quick step forward ignoring the pain it sent. "Come on Katrina. Where are you?" I whispered quietly, looking everywhere, but it was hopeless. Just miles of torn down concrete and dust. I guess you could say I’d completely forgotten there was a stranger with me at that moment. I took another cautious step forward, feeling completely lost. "Come on Katrina." I almost cried fearfully through my gritted teeth.

   Then, of course out of nowhere, I felt a hand land softly against my shoulder, as if he were trying to comfort me. I didn’t understand why, I mean he barely even knew me at the time, so why should he have cared? I didn’t happen to calm down either, instead I frantically pushed his hand off of my shoulder. I didn’t want his help, I just wanted to find her. "Calm down." His voice was barely a whisper.

      "Calm down?!" I repeated humorlessly. "My little sister is missing, and it's all my fault!" My voice began cracking with realization. "It's all my fault." I repeated, letting that fact sink in more for myself than him. Guilt piled itself on top of my chest. I knew that I’d have to somehow find her, but I also knew it wouldn’t be there if I did. "The last time I saw her... She was scared to death, she wasn't crying, but you could see it, the way she was screaming when we went under... I can't live like this, It’d feel like I allowed myself to just... Lose her." My breathing was starting to slow, and the crack of my voice became more visible.  "But you wouldn't understand something like that."

     His dark eyes looked back and forth from my own. "You think that I don't, but honestly, I do," his voice was quieter. "I know what it's like, but, freaking out isn't going to fix anything." Slowly, he removed his hand from my shoulder, but continued to keep his intense gaze on me.

         I let out a shaky breath while looking at the dusty floor. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I finally allowed myself to meet his gaze. "I- I know, I know, you're right." Another short pause settled in, and I found myself looking back at the ground, we'll that's before I saw a glint of sapphire staring back at me with some sort of concern. I myself, tried not to stare at him for too long."I'm sorry." I  was barely able to whispered.

         "Well, I mean it's your sister, I know how it feels. Don't be sorry, at least, not to me." His voice seemed casual, but in his eyes, It was a whole different story. It was like he’d been hiding something deep down, as if he were trying to forget about it. I didn't say anything about that fact though, already I was speechless, and found my eyes slip once more to the floor not wanting to meet his troubled gaze.

Then out of nowhere of course, there was this roar that pierced my ears. It seemed to come from any direction possible. Quickly, I whipped around trying to find the source, and where the screeching sound had come from. I didn’t though, because I felt a hand wrap around my wrist with such force and determination to run that my hand throbbed where they’d grabbed me. I was being dragged through the debris surrounding us, with the scrawny boy pulling me quickly behind his tracks, fear stricken.

"Oh my God! W-what is that?!" I tried to yell over the noise above us. I didn’t even realize the panic inside of my voice until that exact moment. I didn’t want to know what it was, but deep down inside I already knew, I knew exactly what it was.

His light brown hair waved and bounced in the air as wind from above swirled, but somehow he continued to pull me away from the threat above. He was hasty, so quick that I was nearly tripping over my own feet the whole time that he was dragging me behind him. "Pendomite's Air Force.” He explained over the loud roar that the plane above had produced. “We need to get out of here before they catch us!" He yelled in between choppy breaths, trying his best to continue with the speed we were already maintaining.

That was the moment I comprehended what the exact danger we were in was. Well if the Pendomite’s actually saw us fleeing from the scene, which was also very likely, I mean, they were flying so close to the ground anyway. So, we both sprinted toward the forest, as quickly as our own legs would carry us. My heart was pounding against my chest, warning me that I wouldn’t be able to make it that far. My breathing was also already short, because of how frightened I’d been. You can probably already imagine how neither of these things were making running any easier. I was slowly falling behind the stranger infront of me. Although, for him, there was not even a hint of skepticism showing as we ran, and he didn’t seem to have any sort of problems when it came to running.

Finally when we reached the line of trees, we ducked through the tree branches, and ran through the woods as quickly as possible. The Pendonmite’s wouldn't be able to see us throughout the narrow paths of the peaceful forest, so I began to slow down. Although, when I did, that only got got me dragged farther into the woods to get lost in. The boy wouldn't let go of my wrist, he just continued to run, which made me confused and yet scared at the same time. I wanted to stop running then, wanted to lean back against a tree and catch my breath after sprinting so far through the woods. Adrenaline was still rushing through my bones though, so I really had no huge problem continuing to run. My breathing got heavier, and I was beginning to get dizzy.

After a few more minutes of running, we finally reached a secluded area where the trees narrowed, and the leaves above hid us somewhat better than anywhere else we ran, but also it wasn’t very perfect. He dropped his hand from my wrist, and leaned against the tree behind him. I took a deep breath and sunk down against the tree stump behind me trying to bring the rush of oxygen back to my lungs. "Are you trying to kill me?" I muttered bitterly under my breath.  

"Are you kidding right now? They could've seen us right out there in the open." He warned, his breath slightly raspy from running as far as we did. His leaned his head into his hands, frustrated,  he almost seemed as if he was going to breakdown at that moment. That didn’t really matter to me though. He was being a sarcastic jerk, and I didn’t want to listen to it. I had to somehow prove a point, even though I didn’t know how I would do so.

"Well, if you haven’t noticed yet, they can still find us from above here too." I allowed a slight annoyance to follow my irritated voice, as I rolled my eyes. My breath was still choppy, but I didn’t care about that, I was to outraged to care about anything but punching him right in that ugly face of his.

"What are you suggesting? Because, I know I’m fine right now. I still have a few more miles left myself, but the problem is, do you?. I mean... If you’re actually up to it I'm fine with getting out of here to." He smirked, which only made me want to slap so hard he flew across the floor and landed against a tree.

"Is that a threat?" I huffed under my breath, still leaning heavily against the tree stump behind me. My leg was slightly sore now that the adrenaline left my system, and a lasting jittery feeling followed my arms and legs from the run. I knew that there was no way I’d be able go any farther.

He leaned closer to my face, too close. "I don't know." There was a short pause in his voice. I was already feeling a bit self conscious about the distance between us, especially since I didn't even know his name. "Is it?" His voice was so low that I could barely hear him, and this only made goose bumps form on my skin. Laughing uncomfortably I glared at him, sinking further down while I crossed my arms not giving him the satisfaction of a response. He only rolled his eyes at me, and went back to where he’d been before. I could safely say that I hated this guy.

     I was barely able to take a jittery breath before letting my eyes fall down to my burning hands. They were cut up and scratched, blood slowly dripping onto the soil below. The cuts weren't too deep though, but they were deep enough to get infected. The sting sensation wasn't too strong, although some blood had started to crust around the cuts, which made it look worse than it felt.

       I awkwardly turned towards the scrawny boy, suddenly realizing that I hadn't figured out his name yet, which was weird seeing as he’d saved my life about two different times now. "I- I'm sorry I didn't get your name?" I said more as if it were a question then a statement. If we were the only people left within miles of this place then we would have to get along. At least just for the time being.

      He gave a small grin for maybe half a second, but it seemed to be forced. "Doorhan, Matthew Doorhan, you can call me Matt."

       "It's been quite the pleasure meeting your acquaintance, Doormat." I said simply as if it were actually what he had introduced himself as. Matt rolled his eyes before I continued. "My name is Destiny-" Matt cut me off with a glare, if looks could kill, I’d be dead where I was standing. I didn’t understand why he was so angry with me, what I’d said had only been a joke after all.

       "McCarterson, yeah yeah, anybody who’s anybody knows your family. I mean you’d have to be dead not to know your father"  He paused, before speaking again. "So far most of the rumors I’ve heard are true, you know, the fact that you, and all of your siblings, are spoiled brats. For awhile there I didn’t believe it, but seeing who you actually are, I do now."

        I rolled my eyes at Matt, and sucked in a deep breath before speaking so that I wouldn’t start yelling at him. I simply could already tell that I was going to hate him. He was just like everyone else, always assuming things that weren’t true. "I might be one of his children,  but I swear to god I am nothing like my father."  I growled harshly, and bit down on my lip until I tasted blood.

      I pulled the thin sleeves of my tan sweater closer to my skin, trying to get rid of the cool chill that the wind had consumed my body. The tension was horrible, neither of us said another word. I was thankful for that, because I didn’t think I could stand talking to Matt after his unrealistic remark about my family, and I.

      Then, suddenly again out of nowhere there was a roar from above the trees, thus making the leaves rattle violently against the wind. Alarmed, I twisted in the direction I’d heard the sound, trying to figure out what was happening, even though I knew full well was was going on. Before I could find the source, I felt a harsh kick against my leg, probably enough to leave a nasty bruise, which led me to  meet Matt’s face. His deep blue sapphire eyes were dilated with fear.

      "Get up." Matt whispered in a rushed tone, he grabbed ahold of my wrist and hastily pulled me to my feet, not giving me any time to balance myself before he started running again. The noise was growing louder and louder, and all I could think about was keeping up with Matt as he ran.