Earth: Outside Shelter Cities

Jennie was hunched over the bike, pearls of sweat dropped from her forehead and her breath came out raggedy. Her hands were shaky and it was as though she had lost all her energy. Jennie was the only one who was yet to be an official leader of Amicitia and the very thought of the pending final test left her anxious and breathless. She wasn’t worried about her skills, in fact she was more than confident in them but she was worried that her being a warrior would make her an innately selfish celestial or that she would somehow betray the alliance in the future. The other girls joked that it was an irrational fear and believed in Jennie more than she herself did. 

She had only just caught up with her uneven breath and her scampering heart when the city was attacked. The ground around her shook and Jennie was knocked down by a block of a falling building faster than she would turn around and get a sense of what was happening. Jennie lay under the remains of the building, unconscious while the dust rose above the ground and now reigned the city.

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The helicopter crash-landed on the streets of the city that bared no resemblance to what it was a minute ago. Rosé unbuckled from her seat and rushed out to the remains of the city. Heavy dust swirled over the ground and filled her lungs making it hard for her to breath and see. Rosé could sense Jennie around her and but the Jennie’s energy was fluttering and barely there.

“JENNIE!!” she screamed but only received the empty howls of the wind and dust in return. She ran around in distress hoping for a sign of Jennie but found nothing. She was near what seemed like an alley when she heard a cry for help. Rosé desperately dug through the blocks of concrete to find the voice. Jungkook, Jaehyun and Doyoung had caught up with her by then and were helping her dig through the pieces of buildings.

“Can you sense the other person?” Rosé asked Doyoung. Doyoung nodded in response, his eyebrows were knotted in concentration. Rosé heard the cry for help once more, this time she could also hear what sounded like a small baby crying. She knew that the sound was coming from under the layer of rubbles so she dug even faster until she came up to a wooden layer. She put her ears to the wooden layer and found that the sound came from a bit further away under the layer.

“Move back,” she ordered the three guys and kicked the layer giving way to a gaping hole. She jumped in without any word to the men.

The sunlight came into the bleak room from the hole Rosé had just made, she ran towards the wailing sound to find a baby cradled in the arms of a now unbreathing mother. Rosé gasped and fell to her knees, she untangled the baby from the woman arms. The baby’s cheeks were red and her temperature high, Rosé cradled the baby close, she was sniffling with tears forming on her own eyes. The child stopped wailing and fell asleep snuggling close to Rosé’s warmth and comfort.

Rosé looked around for anyone else in the room but saw no one, she climbed out and found Jungkook pacing around with concern evident on his face.

“Oh god, how could you used jump in like that?” he said coming forward to where Rosé now stood.

“I couldn’t save the mother, Kookie, it was too late,” she said bursting into tears once more. Jungkook’s face softened, he pulled her into the hug with the baby still soundly asleep between their arms. Rosé pulled apart from the hug and handed the baby to Jungkook, “Please look after her, I need to find Jennie,” she said, the baby stayed unstirred from the sleep that had taken her away from the crumbling world for the time being.

Jaehyun and Doyoung were looking Taeyong as well as any other humans that were still alive. Underneath the rubbles, Jaehyun and Doyoung found bodies of the humans. Having lived outside a shelter city, Jaehyun was used to being in the forefront of the human fight for survival, yet his heart sank when he thought about how close these humans were to having a better future. He regretted suggesting Jennie and Taeyong to go ahead leaving them with no reinforcements. If only Jaehyun and Doyoung had come with them, maybe they could’ve been able to save them all.

Doyoung put a hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder, it was as though he had seen through his thoughts when he said, “There was no way we would’ve known about the attack, don’t beat yourself over it.”

Yet Jaehyun couldn’t stop the tears from falling, “I…” he started but decided against it, “I need to find Taeyong,” he said walking away from Doyoung. “Wait,” said Doyoung, “I can sense him under here,” he added pointing to the rubbles. Together they dug through to find an unconscious Taeyong.

“Is he breathing? Is he alive?” asked a frantic Jaehyun.

“He is but it’s weak, he wouldn’t have survived had he not been part celestial,” replied Doyoung.

“You should get him to the helicopter, I’ll see if anyone else is still alive,” added Doyoung.

Rosé ran all over the city, she searched under rubbles and desperately tried to follow Jennie’s energy that was so bleak, Rosé could only sense it because she had known Jennie for so long.

She finally found her and let out a sigh of relief, she pulled Jennie out of the rubbles. Jennie’s head was now on Rosé’s lap but her leg was still caught under the concrete blocks. “Jennie!” Rosé said gently while also sharing her energy with her and healing her at the same time. Jennie’s eyes fluttered open, she saw that Rosé was shedding tears and she saw her surroundings. Her face carried a look of guilt as a lone tear escaped her eyes before she closed them again.

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