Anna stumbled out of the room. She recognized that trail of light as well as everyone else in the city, it was the angel of San Francisco, Calliel.
At least with her here the behemoth will be handled.
She wasn't sure she believed that or not, but it was better then the alternative. The glimpses of the thing she remembered made her shudder. She desperately hoped the angel would be ok by the end of this.
She stumbled over to the elevator before deciding against it. She wasn't even sure it would run. The stairwell door swung open with a push and the concrete steps lay out before her, illuminated by harsh buzzing lights. Dread coiled in her stomach. There were twelve floors between her and the bottom.
For a second she stood, frozen, at the top. People from higher floors rushing past her. For just a second she contemplated staying behind and waiting for her fate, buildings didn't last long during behemoth attacks. Then the second was over. She didn't look back.
The first flight down went by quickly, then the second, third and even fourth. Her legs had started to ache a little. people rushed past her as she moved, most were faster.
One pushed her shoulder and she almost fell down, barely catching herself on the railing. She gazed down into the hole in the center, it went all the way to the bottom. Her knees felt weak but she had to keep going.
On the top of the fifth a shake went through the building itself. It groaned and the lights over the windowless passage flickered.
The floor shifted beneath her. She fell backwards, landing on her side. Her hip smarted, but she picked herself back up again. That's going to leave a bruise, she thought. Well if I live that long.
Flights five and six went by. Most of the people from above had passed her already, only a few stragglers like her were left. On flight seven her left shoe fell of her foot, she tried to reach for it in a panic and only pushed it further away. Another straggler kicked it as he went by, knocking it into the central well.
Swearing she hobbled down another flight, hand tightly gripping the railing. By this point she was the last one left. One more and another giant quake hit the building. The railing was nearly torn out of her hand but she managed to hold on.
Dust rained from above and the lights flickered again. Once, twice, then they went out. The stairs were plunged into darkness. She could barely see in front of her.
Come on, one stair at a time. Only a few more to go. She picked her way down, taking the steps as carefully as she dared. another rumble hit the building and she heard it groaning over her, just like the other building.
She moved faster, down the tenth flight as more dust fell off. in the middle of the eleventh she heard something whoosh down from above. Chunks of something crashed against the bottom of the well and more even dust was kicked up.
She coughed as she hit the last flight. Her legs ached with every further step, threatening to give out on her. she finally hit the bottom. There was a crack of light where the door was. For the first time she allowed herself a little bit of hope.
But it wasn't over yet.
She pushed through them.
Eyes blinking from the influx of light, the first thing she noticed was the lobby. It was a mess. Heaps of rubble and glass lay strewn all over the previously polished floor. Dust caked the floor like a layer of snow. The glass walls were empty of glass, one of the walls had collapsed inwards a bit.
Noises met her ears. Screams filling the air coming from outside. Cries of agony pierced her eardrums and she clutched at them. There was nothing worse then the sounds of agony.
Then there was the bodies. An unmoving hand stuck out from underneath a pile of concrete. A line of drying blood wound from the hand, making a trail through the coating of dust.
She saw her supervisor with his head split open and hideously red. Facedown, clumps of his hair and grey matter lay scattered around him. Pink staining a nearby rock. More scatters of blood lay every which way. So many she couldn't bear to follow all of them. The horror was too much already.
She threw up. Some of it landed in front of her, some landed on her. she grabbed at her stomach. like it was on fire, leaning over as even of her breakfast came out. Then all of it was gone. She still dry heaved again and again and again.
A wave of pure panic washed over her. It grew bigger and bigger with every moment, threatening to drown her alive.
She sat on the ground, eyes pointed towards her manager, but not really seeing him. I can't do this. I can't do this, I have to do this but I can't. She heaved again, this time is silent sobs. Or maybe it was laughter. She couldn't tell.
She put her head between her knees, Come on, come on, for once in your goddamn life be something more then useless. If you can't get yourself up to save your own godforsaken life then who will. No one to redo your terrible report, no one to pick up your slack in a project, no one to step in when you forget all your words in a presentation. No one but you.
She took a breath, in and out. Another fit passed over her. One more breath, then another, and another. You need to get the fuck out of here, the building could collapse any minute. A breath and she calmed down a little more. The waves ebbed more and more with every second. I can do this. I believe in me. She knew what she had to do.
Her eyes blurred a little as she barely managed to push herself up again. Her legs nearly gave out but she caught herself on a block of rubble, scraping her palms. A buoy of certainty keeping her afloat.
Stumbling forward she stepped on a shard of glass, it cut into her unprotected foot but at this point she hardly noticed. She wobbled but kept moving forward till she hit the doors.
A brilliant explosion of light obscured her vision as she reached them. A miniature sun created by the angel. Her eyes were blinded and it cost her precious seconds to clear them.
The street was worse. It lay broken and cratered. dust drifted down like ash after a volcano and even more bodies littered the ground. Twisted every which way. Gliders flocked around them like wolves after a slaughter, tearing still screaming people limb from limb. Their blue, scaly skin moved like water as they worked.
She could see their barracuda-like faces from here. Their eyes much more cruel then dead. Their mouths pointed in small, sharp teeth.
More dragged away thrashing men and women. Flying off to eat them elsewhere she assumed. She didn't dare look closer in fear of recognizing them. Still the waves threatened to swallow her whole again.
Dark, liquid dripped off of surfaces everywhere. Inky black and thick. Smoke curled from it and the asphalt below looked melted, a burning smell carried throughout the air.
I think I would throw up again if there was anything left to give.
She clutched at the frame, glass digging into her skin. Breathing in and out, it didn't help.
The battle with the behemoth was obscured by even more clouds of dust. Smaller flashes of light shot out but nothing as big as the previous. She desperately hoped Calliel was ok. Something clenched deep in her when she remember how it had just disappeared like that.
That was when a piercing cry rang out across the scene. She clasped her hands over her ears, and cried in pain. It was worse then ever the dying people had been, Animalistic and angry. Oh so angry. She was so distracted by it she nearly didn't hear the tentacle hitting the side of her building.
She felt it though.