Fire. She remembered fire. Warped tendrils clawing at the wings of a metal bird. The dancing fingers a hellish myriad of red heat.
And smoke. She remembered the smoke. The clouds of grey choking the air as she had desperately grasped for the dangling piece of plastic hope. False, false hope. The smoke in her hair and eyes and lungs, burrowing deeper til it was as thick and real as the black tangle of fear deep beneath. So much smoke.
And then she remembered.
Her.
Her, who's face was so full of light and life.
Her, who was so familiar and immortal in the mind of one so young and hopeful.
Her, with a face twisted with tears and fear of the chaos around them. Her with a face of dancing fire and smoke.
Kyra woke with rocks in her limbs and needles in her throat. A dull ache throbbed beneath her skull, a painful beat on a soundless drum. Her mind was mess of strewn thoughts and scattered memories, all tangled and cut apart like the tatters of a forgotten quilt. Fire. Smoke. Darkness. Different fabrics sewn in a nonsensical order.
Exhaustion whispered for her to return to the nettles of sleep. Necessity demanded Kyra rise and act. In the end, it was the latter who won. With a gasp of pain, Kyra forced herself to sit up. The dull pounding in her skull grew into a raging throb. It spread throughout her body, settling in the insides of her chest. It was as if her bones were knives, slashing at the fleshy prison of her skin. The world spun around her, and a bile rose up in Kyra's throat. She shut her eyes, giving into the upheavals of her stomach. She deposited the remains of her last meal, involuntary tears springing from her eyes. The nonsensical ramblings of her thoughts returned, brought on by the delirious sensation of pain. Was this what dying felt like? No. It couldn't be. Dying was peaceful. This was hell.
With a shaky breath, Kyra forced herself to stand. She swayed, the sharp pain in her chest growing. Everything was hurting. Everything felt wrong. But she had to keep moving. She had to find water. She had to find people. People like
her. Kyra trembled, her resolve wavering.
Her. Her sister. Oh God, her sister. The beach was empty. The white dunes were bare, save for the scattered debris of twisted, black metal. No live other life than Kyra. She bit back a sob. Where was she? Where was Josefine?! She had to be alive. She couldn't be far. She couldn't...she can't...there was no way...
Kyra swallowed her growing hopelessness. Josefine had to be alive. There had to be more survivors. It couldn't have been just her. Now it was just a matter of finding them and surviving.
Once, when she was eight, Kyra had stayed with a distant relative during Summer. An uncle, perhaps, or maybe a cousin? She never quite knew. He had been a drill Sargent. Retired due to his age, but it seemed like the spirit of the job never left him. He was kind enough, save for his short temper, but the moments he chose to discipline Kyra were the worst moments of her life. She had once made the mistake of talking back. The result was two hours of nonstop running around the house. No walking, no water, no breaks. Only the merciless heat of the red sun, and the sweat running together with the tears as her dry throat gasped for air to fill her shriveling lungs.
It was like that now, only tenfold worse. It was hard to say how long she's been walking. An hour? Five? A whole year? Kyra pressed herself to keep moving. The pain in her chest had grown into a throbbing, dull ache. Her mind spun even more, strained from the lack of water or rest. Her shoes, a pair of heels, had long been abandoned for the sensibility of bare feet. The results remained constant throughout her walk. No life. Just the plain stretch of sand, water, and jungle. Kyra wobbled, the unspoken fears wrestling with sensibility in her mind. What if she was alone? What if everyone was dead? What if? What if? What if?
A sudden noise pierced through the air, cutting through Kyra's train of thoughts. It was too deep for a seabird, too brief to be the wind. It was almost as if it was...
Kyra froze as the shout came again. Human. It was human. An actual human being. She forced her legs to run faster, ignoring the growing blisters on her soles.
"H-hey!" Her voice was low and scratchy, strained in her throat.
"Hey!" She was louder this time, a frantic desperate hope fueling her calls as she caught sight of an approaching figure in the distance.
"I'm over here!"