1.6
Athan, Fiona, and Ronny, were silent. None of them responded, they just nervously followed. Kids were running everywhere. Like hundreds of ants, they were crawling everywhere, jumping over furniture, and each other, making their way to the exits. Some fought the flow of people to get to their lockers for non-essential items. Off in the distance, other explosions could be heard. Tom heard them, and noted where they were coming from. However, Athan, Fiona and Ronny eyes were fixed on Tom, so none of them even paid any attention to the other explosions, despite seeing Tom’s pause and tilt his head for a brief moment. The three kids were overwhelmed and trying to keep up with Tom.
As they were trying to leave the school grounds, the reality of what was happening started to sink in. Smoke was rising in the distance to the north, and the east, then . . . in all directions. A pile of debris, was all that was left, of the federal building Tom had thought about earlier. The smoke and dust was everywhere, blowing across faces like dirty clouds. People were panicking. The distinct smell of burning buildings filled the air. One man took his shirt off, ripped it in half, and put one half over his mouth, and the other piece of shirt on his girlfriends mouth. Those who did not try to filter the air, began to cough and choke. Memories of September 11th flashed briefly though his mind.
Tom looked up to the sky, and caught sight of a rocket as it sailed by on its way to destroying an unsuspecting target. The explosion was deafening. They kept moving. The rocket struck the already devastated federal building. Whoever was firing those things really wanted that building down. Even though they were a couple of blocks away from the former federal building, the shock wave knocked them off their feet. Disoriented, they slowly got back on their feet. Despite the ringing in their ears, they ran as fast as they could to Tom’s truck. The silence created from the ringing in their ears made the events seem like a dream. As their hearing came back, the reality from the sounds bombarding them made the situation very real. Police and fire trucks were responding to the explosions. The kids piled in the truck, as Tom was throwing the truck in drive, and taking off before the doors were shut.
