Page 50 of I Married Kayog
But nothing could even remotely compare to the agony in my head. At the same time I pointlessly shouted that word, Iattempted to push the debilitating noise out of my head with all my might. I couldn’t explain how, but it felt like a massive blast detonated all around me.
And then, things went quiet.
No, not quiet. The noise still assaulted me, but it had significantly reduced, as if half of the people bombarding me with their wretched emotions had suddenly vanished. Leaning against the wall, my innards still horribly twisting, I blindly tried to make my way back towards the main entrance. After only a couple of steps, I nearly fell when my foot bumped into something soft. On instinct, I sank my claws into the wall for purchase and yanked myself back into a straight position.
Blinking, my head pounding, I tried to make sense of what my blurred vision was trying to show me. This couldn’t be right. And yet, it couldn’t be denied. Dozens of bodies lay at my feet. Everyone around me, all the way to the end of the corridor, was passed out on the ground. I couldn’t say whether they were dead. One seemed to be breathing, but I couldn’t swear to it. Anyway, even if I had wanted to help, I was in no condition to do so. The excruciating pain crushing my skull also had me on the verge of collapsing.
As I clumsily navigated my way around the fallen, the semi-reprieve all these people passing out had given me was quickly fading. More panicked voices and fearful shouts ahead assailed me like a rabid flock of screeching banshees. I doubled over and dry heaved again. Every muscle in my body screamed as if they were being pummeled by spiked clubs.
A warm liquid began to trickle from both my ears. A part of me knew what it was and understood that it indicated that my body was nearing critical failure. I didn’t know if I would make it out in time. I could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other while I still had strength left.
To my horror, as I reached the main hall, I could vaguely see the silhouettes of people crouching on the balcony, looking for cover, while others were attempting to crawl towards one of the rooms likely to hide. The people on the opposite side of the hall from me were conscious and terrified. My brain couldn’t comprehend why they were on the floor, most of them kneeling with their hands up.
But that also didn’t matter to me. The thick liquid pouring out of my eyes was almost blinding me. Just as I was opening my mouth to yell at the people kneeling to get the fuck out of my way, two masked males burst into the main hall from the entrance.
“What the fuck is going on here?! What happened?” one of the men shouted as he glanced at all the unconscious people behind me. “Why are your eyes bleeding?”
“Quiet,” I whispered, the sound of my own voice painful to my ears.
“What the fuck?!” the man exclaimed, raising his blaster towards me. “Get down on the floor, you freak. Don’t take another step!”
“Quiet!”I repeated, this time louder as a murderous rage swelled within me.
“I fucking asked you to—!”
“QUIET!” I yelled, interrupting him.
With a will of their own, my hands rose before me. My palms tingled, and intense heat radiated around them before a blinding light went off. Both men looked as if they’d been hit by a ram, and they flew back, crashing brutally against the wall before sliding down to the floor, unconscious.
As one, the people on the other side of the room started screeching and scrambling to get away. It felt like a thousand hammers bashing my skull all at once. Something broke insideme as I tried to push them away. The air shifted around me, as if a powerful vacuum had sucked the oxygen out of the room.
Everyone went quiet. But I no longer cared. The floor rushed towards me. I never felt the moment I made contact with it as blessed oblivion claimed me first.
Chapter 12
Linsea
Istirred awake to the sound of sirens, pained whimpers, and panicked voices. Shocked, I realized that I was lying on the floor in the aisle between the seats of the conference room. My head hurt a bit, like after a mild hangover. However, seeing everyone else around me also on the floor and groggily attempting to get back on their feet had a shiver of dread running down my spine.
A single glance at the room displayed no structural damage that an earthquake or something along those lines could have caused. That would have explained why everyone had fallen, some of us banging our heads which would have justified my headache and the fact that I had been unconscious. But clearly, something else had happened.
And then I remembered the sound of an explosion. The building had been attacked.
“Kayog!” I whispered, my voice filled with fear.
I raised my left forearm in front of me and tapped a few instructions on my bracer as I attempted to rush out of the room.To my dismay, Kayog didn’t answer my call. I tried to reach his com again while elbowing my way out, only for it to ring without answer. Feeling faint with worry, I attempted to track his com.
My blood turned to ice when it indicated that he was only a few meters away.
He should have been long gone, and halfway to his house by now. How was he still here? Why was he not answering? My fertile imagination started conjuring up all kinds of horrible scenarios especially in the wake of the two explosions. However, a more horrifying tableau awaited me when I finally emerged into the main hall.
“KAYOG!” I shouted, terrified.
I ran to him, my chest constricted, and my stomach twisting with fear at finding him lying on the ground. He was crushing his right wing as he’d fallen on it at a bad angle. But the blood running down his face from his eyes and ears destroyed me. Involuntary spasms shook his body as he took shallow, whistling breaths.
“MEDIC!” I shouted while running my bracer over his head.
It only possessed the standard basic scanning abilities that most personal bracers offered. But it was advanced enough to confirm critical swelling and cerebral hemorrhage.
