Fiction Fragment Friday
This weeks story is a bit short. I think I was probably inspired partially by some of the books I have read recently including comics. I have had an idea in my head for this type of story for years but never actually sat down and wrote anything.
The worst day of my life started out like any other day. I woke up in the morning and went through my regular routine. First a shower, followed by breakfast, then about a half hour on social media fighting with people I have never even met. That last one was supposed to be just a quick check to see what was new in the world, but these days it always deteriorated to fighting. Then would come the inevitable realization that I was running last for work because I allowed myself to get sucked in again. The guilt for wasting to much time and letting myself get that angry tended to shape my entire day. I realized I had a problem, but I just couldn’t seem to walk away. Just like any other day the worst day of my life started with me angry and in a hurry because I was running late.
A loud boom assaulted my ears and my apartment building started shaking. This wasn’t the familiar rattle of a sonic boom or the L train going by. I was thrown from my feet and hit the ground hard barely able to brace myself with my arms. The large bookshelf that was the last thing my father had ever made for me came crashing down onto my legs. I let out a scream of pain and I was sure something in my legs had cracked. The shaking stopped for just a moment and everything was quiet except for a creaking sound throughout the building.
My floor collapsed under me and I found myself falling. I lived on the fifth floor and as I fell debris pummeled me on the way down. The two floors above me were coming down as well. When I hit something hard I pulled myself up into the fetal position as flooring and furniture buried me. Everything went dark and the pressure on my body was like nothing I had ever felt. I could tell that my head was bleeding because the blood ran into my eyes. Breathing was extremely difficult, but there was oxygen still making it in. Unfortunately I could smell natural gas in the air as well. Pain wracked my entire body, but I knew it would feel even worse when it wasn’t being held back by adrenaline. If I didn’t move now I was going to die, but the wrong move could cause the debris to shift and kill me faster.
I felt the floor lifting up below me. I went from laying in a fetal position to being tossed sideways wish one of the floor planks impaling me in the side. I found my head open to air and I could see what was left of my collapsed building. There right under where I had fallen was Alpha. My building had collapsed on the world’s strongest superhero and he had tossed me to the side with the rubble on top of him. He shook his head and his long golden hair flowed in the wind. His clothes were torn, but he didn’t have a scratch on him. He did look angry though and he shot into the sky. The realization hit me that he had been knocked into our building during one of those big superhero brawls.
Using what was left of a wooden beam for support I limped across the rubble. I could hear crying and screams all around me. Pushing through the pain I started digging where I could. I was able to pull my downstairs neighbor Jane out and could tell right away she was in as bad a shape as I was. This was when something ignited the gas line. There was a large ball of flame that washed over us before settling into a column of fire. Wood and furniture caught fire and I realized that we couldn’t help anyone else. The two of us stumbled supporting each other out of the building before collapsing on the sidewalk.
As I lay there on the ground, I could see the fight happening in the air above me. Superbeings trading blows while my neighbors died without anyone coming to help them. Stray energy blasts hit surrounding buildings and I wondered if anyone inside had been killed by them. You always hear the stories about people getting caught up in these big battles, but you never think it’s going to be you. As I lie there barely able to move I could hear the sirens in the distance. I turned my head and coughed up blood onto the sidewalk. It would be weeks before I would find out that they both were actually heroes. This was one of those cases of mistaken identity that led to heroes fighting heroes. Much like my entire morning the whole fight had been pointless, and no one would be held accountable.
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