The building started shaking violently.
"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" Brian shouted in the midst of hiding under the desk.
Everyone quickly got under their desks looking for some sense of security, but the violent quaking wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. The room convulsed like a living thing, walls cracking with gunshot cracks, as if the whole world was intent on breaking every last ray of hope they could find.
Orion knelt, wedging his weight against his desk. Dust flying everywhere.
"At least we're nowhere near a fault line or we would've been doomed," Orion thought trying to keep his balance when he heard a crumbling sound attracting his attention. What he saw when he followed the sound was the walls and roof cracking, dust and chunks of cement falling.
His face turned pale with cold sweat running down his back fearing the building breaking down and him getting buried underneath, suffocating to his death.
" Tch. that's one of the worst possible ways to die – oh, shit! It's about to fall" Orion uttered looking at the corner above Brian in horror.
A deafening rip split the ceiling, a slab of concrete tipping above Brian.
" Brian watch out above you!" he shouted in an impulse as he saw the corner above Brian fully break down.
"Huh...OH SHIT!!" Brian uttered in a horrified voice, eyes wide as he frantically tried to scramble away, a task almost impossible amidst the shaking ground.
As expected the quake pitched him off balance, falling face first on the ground, he tried to get up but it was too late.
For half a heartbeat, Orion met Brian's eyes—bright, terrified—and saw the leader beneath the panic.
Then the roof came down.
"Noooo hel-"
Crunch.
His cry for help was cut short by the collapsing concrete crushing him in the process, his blood seeping through the gaps.
Silence spread in the room, the students and Orian reeling in the surreal moment of Brian's death before chaos ensued.
"Aaaaahhhhhhhh run... run the building is collapsing"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY! I don't want to die-"
"aaahhhhhhh"
Orion watched Brian's crushed body in stunned silence.
Dust tasted like chalk on his tongue. A memory surfaced: Brian handing out energy bars after practice, grinning like the cafeteria never ran out. They weren't exactly friends, but he was a nice person. The loss hit harder than the quake.
Crack!
But as if to prove him wrong the ground cracked, and the building started to tilt. "Hold on" Orion yelled to no one and everyone, only to be ignored.
People were running everywhere screaming and begging for help as they tried with all their might to stand up and get away from here amidst the rumbling ground. Pushing and trampling on bags on each other, anything. Unconcerned about the fate of others they made their way out of the building. Orion too wanted to run but unfortunately, his massive body was not made for situations like this.
Too slow.
Move dammit.
He encouraged himself in silence but to no effect.
A desk skidded past him, drawn towards the window. He slammed a shoulder against it, his muscles burning.
Crack.
Another thunderous crack. Casting a heavy shadow of despair in his heart.
The outer wall bowed, windows crumbling under the weight. The wind howled through the gaps sounding like the bells of death. The air thickened tasting of iron and copper.
Ignoring it all, amidst the trampling crowd Orion moved towards the door as quickly as he could.
A girl lay struggling near the doorway, her leg pinned under a beam. The students rushed over her unconcerned about her increasing injuries.
"Mia "recognized Orion, while feeling a rising anger towards the running people.
She was one of the few people who talked to him without showing any disgust, one of the select few he could call a friend.
The memory of her winking at him, wishing him luck before any of his major medical tests surfaced in his head for a second.
"Shit! I guess I can't expect others to save her"
Orion shoved a toppled desk aside and shouted jolting her awake.
"HEY MIA PAY ATTENTION; I can only lift the beam a bit you need to put in the effort to survive"
Without waiting for a response, he clenched his jaw, slid both his hands underneath the beam, and heaved. His muscles bulged, veins popping. The beam rose just enough for Mia to wiggle her leg free.
"Thank you, Orion! "she cried seeing hope of survival again.
"Don't thank me yet you still need to survive. Get up quickly we need to get out of here" Orion said urgently as he resumed walking.
"Wait please don't leave me" Mia grabbed his pants gripping onto them as her last lifeline.
"Hey let go, what are you doing! "Orion scolded in anger thinking the girl wanted to take him down with her.
"But I can't move" Mia pointed at her mangled foot, crying, her face a mess of dust, tears, and snort.
"Are you Fu—ing kidding me? Okay hang on "Orion grumbled as he picked her up with his back.
He limped toward the hall, slower than ever now with more dead weight on him, making his mood more nervous and somber. Plaster snowed from above. Half the corridor had already packed onto itself, leaving less room to maneuver amidst all the shaking. Flames sparked at the dangling wires. Somewhere distant, alarms wailed, and frequent blasts could be heard. A mechanical countdown to the end of the world it seemed.
The shaking was making it harder and harder for Orion to move, making the thought of leaving Mia behind to surface in his head multiple times only to be rejected by his stubborn personality. He won't abandon her unless he really has to, his life was after all more important to him so if push comes to shove he won't hesitate to leave her behind.
"I still need to reach mom; I can't die here… please be safe mom"
Ahead, a side staircase remained intact. Two students sprinted down it, one turned, saw Orion, and froze. Seemingly contemplating whether to help or not. But in the end, he shouted Sorry and ran away. Orion scoffed never expecting anything from others anyway, it has always been this way. But this made him stronger, teaching him to rely only on himself. Of course, his mom was the only exception.
Hurry.
Suddenly the building groaned. A fresh tremor shook the floor. Chunks of concrete fell down. The hallway behind him buckled like paper.
Not going to make it!
Orion jumped—too late.
The ceiling above him disintegrated. Metal and concrete rained down, his legs stumbling causing him to fall onto his knees. By instinct, he threw his arms up covering his head from the falling debris.
The roof came down taking him with it.
The impact stunned his world. Pain bursting through his spine; his right leg unfeeling as his consciousness drifted away quickly, only enough time for him to get one last glimpse at the world outside when the roof collapsed.
Sirens melding with distant explosions outside. Roads buckling like waves, skyscrapers bending. Fires blooming like flowers, aircraft spiraling down, lightning that wasn't lightning but something violet and alive dancing in the sky.
"The apocalypse truly is here."
He thought before his consciousness completely slipped away, and then— darkness.