Chapter 87: Shattering Heart

Delaney

As soon as I climb down the hatch, I know that something is horribly wrong.

To start with, there’s smoke everywhere, so much of it that my eyes start to burn immediately, and the thickness of it hits the back of my throat when I inhale and makes me cough.

Panic rises in me, reaching an all-time high. What is this? What’s happening? These are the questions that I’m asking myself because there’s no way that this is normal. I start toward the passageway, and find it by a miracle because of how difficult it is to see. I don’t see a single person around, and the closer toward the houses and the bar I get, the hotter it gets, too.

Fire. There’s a fire.

Many of the houses on either side of me are in flames, and I gasp, horrified. Goddess, what happened? “Hello!? Hello!? Is there anyone there!? Hello!?”

Nobody.

Nothing.

I don’t receive a single answer. I use the hem of my shirt to cover my nose. I needed some water, but this will have to do. I start speeding up as I look around,