A Perfect World Pt. 7 (The Battle)

Author’s note: This doesn’t relate to the prompt a whole lot, but I tried my best 

I recommend listening to this playlist while reading: https://open.spotify.com/album/1ilz7Yv916lbJUR41wNMIs

Trigger warning: explosions, blood

Ember’s POV

Shouts and screams thunder around me, and the ground trembles with a thousand panicked footfalls. 

I stand, craning my neck, watching the sky declare the truth to every citizen under the Dome. People rush past me, an announcement blares over countless PA systems, deafening my ears. Security swarms everywhere, trying vainly to calm the stampeding crowds. 

I snap out of my trance as a security officer comes our way. I shout a warning to Echo and Ivy who still stand, gaping at the sky. They look around and Echo grabs my hand, and we dart through the crowds. 

We dodge more officers and soldiers, and I look over my shoulder repeatedly until Echo voices my main concern. 

“We’re trapped. Now the whole city knows the truth, there’s no stopping Sparrowhawk from killing us all. As long as the Dome is intact, everyone is in danger. There’s no way out!”

Ivy sighs and nervously fidgets with her long brown braids. She looks over her shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps, but it’s only a lost looking middle aged civilian who runs past us without a second glance. 

She replies in a tense voice “I know, I know, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Maybe we can sneak into the armory and steal a bomb and blow the side of the Dome or something…. But now everyone knows what we’re up to, so I’m sure security will be increased a hundred fold…”

Suddenly the Sky Display shifts and the photos disappear to be replaced by the Director’s face. One of her eyes is swollen and black, and her expensive makeup is smeared. I realize that it must be a live video when she starts to speak. 

“Loyal citizens of the Dome, judging from your panic and disarray, you have seen the photos leaked by a group of insurgents known as Peregrine. 

I plead, DO NOT believe what these photos hold. They are lies, spread to cause chaos and disruption in our peaceful and organized society. Remember, it was ME, and the rest of Sparrowhawk who saved you from the aftermath of The Disaster-”

The Director is cut off by a sudden torrent of shouts, and boos, and chants of “Peregrine! Peregrine! Peregrine!” Someone screams “DOWN WITH SPARROWHAWK!’

Astrid’s bruised face twists into an expression of ugly displeasure. “So be it.” She growls.

Her video cuts out, leaving the sky blank, and a feeling of deep apprehension in my stomach… 

“Wipe us all out if she wants to…”

The crowd screams insults at the Sparrowhawk, the soldiers strain to keep them back, and Echo, Ivy, and I watch anxiously from the sidelines. 

Everyone turns as a rhythmic clanking fills the dome. Echo and Ivy recoil in fear as an entire battalion of soldiers appears, all sporting shields and ray guns. 

There is a moment of silence, then everything is thrown into action. The crowd is screaming and stampeding, the soldiers are firing in every direction, sizzling bolts flying everywhere.  

I lunge for a little girl as a soldier takes aim, missing us by an inch. We tumble to the ground and I shove her into her mother’s arms. I yell over the tumult “Get to the edge of the Dome! We’ll get you out of here!”

I don’t check to see if the young woman follows my orders, because the next second I’m on the ground again, rolling away from another deadly blast.

I fight my way through hordes of people, occasionally shoving someone out of harm's way, or punching a soldier in the face.

Finally I spot Ivy directing a stream of people away from the chaos and I scream to her “Ivy! We need a plan!”

Ivy yells back without taking her eyes off of the fighting crowd “I have a plan! Don’t die!!”

“That’s really helpful!” I shout sarcastically, ducking a swipe from a soldier behind me.

Without warning the entire west side of the Dome explodes. 

I shriek as I’m thrown to the ground by the force of the blast. Shards of glass and metal fly through the air like missiles, and the ground trembles and heaves with shock. 

I shield my head with my arms as smoke and fire unfurl from that direction and debris continues to rain down around me. 

I raise my head as soon as the ground stops shaking and I immediately cry out.

Many figures pour into the Dome, silhouetted black against the smoke. The soldiers around me shout out and rush to meet them, guns raised. Suddenly a girl leaps out of the smoke, and tackles the soldier in the lead with a yell of fury. She darts and twists, dodging everything they throw at her. Her fists fly and her opponents collapse with yelps. 

I sit up, my heart in my throat. “DUNE!!”

She turns, a broad smile on her face, her emerald eyes twinkling even in the low light. “Ember! Are you okay?”

I choke back a sob and scramble to my feet. Dune hugs me so hard that she lifts me off the ground. “I missed you…” I whisper, her soft brown hair brushing my face. 

  She lets me down. “Come on, you and Echo need to get the civilians to safety outside the Dome. Me, Wren, and the rest of Peregrine will handle the soldiers.”

I nod before Dune sprints back into the smoke with a fierce war cry. I turn and dash down a street, and it isn’t long before I come across a group of cowering people. “Come on!” I shout over a distant volley of blasts and shouts. 

“I’ll lead you to safety.”

I offer my hand to a little boy, and the rest of them follow. I weave through piles of rubble, and occasionally a Peregrine member rushing in the other direction. 

Soon we reach the edge of the Dome where other people stand, helping and directing citizens toward the gaping hole that leads to freedom. 

I turn and run back to the center of the Dome to gather more people. On the way I pass Echo shouting instructions to a large family. 

As I near the courtyard the sound of explosions become more frequent, and I pass several large fires. 

Suddenly I remember- Hawk! I still need to find him.

I look around desperately as though hoping there will be a sign directing me to him. There is not. 

I see Dune, Ivy, Echo, and several soldiers running in all directions. My eyes scan every face I pass and the base of every building, but I don’t see the golden eyes or the white hair that resembles Hawk. 

I grow more desperate with every step. What if Hawk is still locked up in a dungeon? What if we never find him? What if he’s already been executed by Astrid? What if-

“Ember!!”

My heart leaps. “HAWK!!” 

Finally I spot him in the shadow of a decimated building, clutching his bleeding leg. I scream and throw myself into his arms. I break down completely as I remember again the night he was taken from me…

It was the day Sparrowhawk had officially declared it too toxic to live outside. The day they chose which ones could live in the main Dome, and which would be doomed in the sister Dome. Hawk and his family were some of the ones that were rich enough, or talented enough to be accepted into the main Dome. 

We only realized we weren’t going to the same place when the guards tore us apart. 

My mother had never trusted Sparrowhawk, and it was this that finally set her over the edge. She grabbed me, and my siblings and fled. 

No one even tried to stop us. If the Outside was really as bad as they told us, they would have been leaving us for dead. 

I come back to myself and I realize Hawk is stroking my hair. I sniff and look up at him. He whispers “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you again.”

The world ends. Everything is torn apart in pain and fire and thunder. There is screaming, screaming like I’ve never heard before. Of unendurable pain and horror. 

Everything is tumbling and burning, and I feel like I’m being bashed against a thousand rocks. Finally my body grows limp, and darkness overcomes the fire and thunder. 

***

Distant shouts reverberate around my skull. My whole body aches, and I can feel a hot sticky liquid dampening my forehead. My eyes flutter open. At first all I can see is the blurred outlines of people and shadowy colors and shapes. 

I blink and things come into better focus. I sit up with a groan. I immediately regret it. Black spots dance in front of my eyes, and my ears ring, and my head pounds fiercely. 

I glance to the left of me as soon as my vision clears. A scream is torn from me.

Hawk lays broken and battered, blood pooling onto the rubble beneath him. “NO! HAWK!”

I crawl to his side, and lay my head on his chest. Sobs rack my frail body. Memories flash through my mind, blocking out the sounds of the continuing battle. 

My hands scrabble and his shirt, gripping it as though it were a life raft. “Hawk… You promised… that you wouldn’t leave…. Please….”

Gentle hands tear me away from Hawk, and Dune shakes me. “Ember! Are you okay!”

I shake my head, tears fogging my vision. The only word I can say is “Hawk….”

“Come on,” Dune says softly “We need to take him to the edge of the Dome. He’ll be safe when he gets there. Peregrine has skilled medics.”

I nod slowly, and Dune sets me down. She lifts Hawk’s torso and I shakily get his legs. Together we carry him through the maze of debris. 

I walk, dreamlike, hardly aware of where I’m stepping, or the people rushing past us. 

We near the broken side of the Dome and several Peregrine medics run toward us. I wander away while they speak urgently to Dune. 

Out of the corner of my eye I see them take Hawk away on a stretcher. I turn back towards the battle and something catches my eye immediately. 

Director Astrid, sporting a brilliant black eye, and a flaming sword. She ducks and twirls, smiting Peregrine fighters and her own, her elaborate hair disheveled and her golden robes ripped. All who meet her crumple.

My trance is broken as soon as Dune leaps into action. “NO!” I scream. 

Dune runs, oblivious to my cries. She clambers onto a rock and leaps into the air, fists clenched. 

Astrid turns a second too late. Dune screeches “nEVER TOUCH MY FAMILY AGAIN!” The Director falls, for the second time. Onlookers gasp, and the battle ceases abruptly. Sparrowhawk’s soldiers fall, overwhelmed by numbers.

Members of Peregrine gather around unconscious Astrid and Dune. 

A girl with long black hair and pale skin joins Dune in the center of the circle. “Wren-”

Wren grabs Dune’s wrist and raises her hand high in the air. Cheers and whistles explode from the crowd. Wren shouts “DUNE! SHE’S DELIVERED US FROM A LIFETIME OF OPPRESSION AND LIES!”  

I glance around the circle of onlookers and spot Echo and Ivy. I shove them into the center of the circle along with Dune and Wren. I yell “THESE PEOPLE ALSO DESERVE APPRECIATION! Together they showed everyone the truth about Sparrowhawk!

And together we can rebuild the world that we lost! It may not have been a perfect world, and it never will be, but as long as we live with freedom and harmony and peace and knowledge…. We can build a world we can be proud of. And that’s all we need.”

Cheers and screams pierce the air once again, and Dune pulls me close as someone takes Astrid away. “It’s okay now, Ember. We have each other.”