"You knew I'd pull you out in time," Ali rolls her eyes. "You know I know the timers. What would you have done if I didn't pull you out in time?"

"Pull a miraculous survival, then come haunt you for letting me die."

Ali laughs as I walk to the edge of the roof and shrug off my backpack, pulling out the binoculars and using them to look at the church using the infrared. It separates out human forms from the flames quite easily, and there's only one human still alive.

Or rather, one Sigil-Bearer. I switch to normal view and identify him as Mr. Sonic. I guess the massive beep let him know something was about to go down, but it does look like only he managed to escape.

Probably with that ability of his. Did he ride the beep out? Did he even bother warning the others, or did he just leave without a word as soon as he heard the beep?

I set the binoculars down, then glance at Ali, who's looking through my backpack.

"Peaches!" She exclaims. "Canned, but still!"

"They're saying the local peach orchards might produce fruit next year," I tell her. "They probably won't be so expensive then."

Before the World Revolt, there were orchards nearby. Peaches, apples, pears, and a ton of other fruits. However, they were destroyed during the World Revolt, first by a tornado, then by lightning and the fires that followed the lightning storms. Because the focus has been on reconstruction and building up homes, the schools, and a few businesses, it took a little longer to start remaking the orchards, which had to be done from scratch – the World Revolt was thorough. No seeds remained in the area.

They actually planted the apple trees about five years ago, but the peach trees were only planted two years ago. They're hoping the apple trees bear fruit this summer, they're expecting them to with the blooms we had.

Some of the local farms survived or were fixed up, to help provide us with food. We can't rely on the Federation alone for that.

"I can't wait to taste apples fresh from the orchard," Ali says. "Rather than the ones we import from a couple hundred miles away."

"You'd have to go to the orchard for that," I tell her as I approach the other side of the roof and check for survivors from the first explosion. "Rocket launcher."

She drops my backpack and hands me the rocket launcher. I make sure it's ready, then aim at the aerokinetic. He probably managed to use his wind power to deflect the blast away from him and help him land better when he fell, though it looks like he broke his legs. From the blast or the fall, I don't know, and I don't really care.

I pull the trigger. A second later, the rocket hits him square in the chest and he dies in an explosion of blood, flame, and shrapnel.

"Your boyfriend's toys are cool," Ali takes the launcher back. "Didn't he says these are much simpler than the ones the military uses?"

"He's everyone's favorite technokinetic," I say. "There isn't one better, so it's only natural he'd be able to make ones this good. We're down to two, and it's unlikely we'll manage to kill Mr. Sonic. I'll call Frank."

"I can't believe that's his name," Ali snorts. "Hi, Frank. What are you doing, Frank? Piss on any fire hydrants lately, Frank? Why is it you can call your boyfriend from here, but not anyone else?"

"I have not the slightest clue," I tell her. "The earpiece isn't connected to either of my phones, which rely on cell towers, and there aren't any here in the ruins, so we don't have coverage. I've never asked Ian how the earpiece works, I just trust it."

"Right," she says. "What are we going to do about Mr. Sonic?"

"Nothing," I answer as I pull on my backpack. "I'll call Frank and let him know about Kyle once I return to town. That is, if Ian hasn't already contacted him. Based on what I know of his power, it'll take a Sigil God to deal with this easily. Until then, you should stick to the disturbance zone."

"Alright," she says, then the two of us and the grenades, rocket launcher, and two remaining rockets lift up into the air. "Let's head back over now."

Ali takes us in a roundabout way to reach the disturbance zone in order to avoid Mr. Sonic's gaze. With how high up we are, he won't catch our scent, either. Rather than landing as soon as we enter the disturbance zone, Ali takes us to the five-floor parking garage where she lives.

Without the rest of his group, Mr. Sonic will have a difficult time finding her here. Part of the fourth floor collapsed, and the concrete chunks from that were used to build up a barrier around Ali's living quarters, apart from a section which overlooks a small pond outside that formed when the ground beneath collapsed.

The reason we call it the disturbance zone is because of the smell. A normal person would notice that it smells nice and fragrant. A Sigil-Bearer? They'd lose any trail they attempted to follow inside of it.

I spent a couple of years planting stuff all over the place specifically to make it disorienting. That's why no one's managed to find Ali before we took them out. Every Sigil-Bearer the Klen's brought here so far has ended up disoriented by the smell, allowing Ali time to either act or contact me.

Now that we're in her hideout, we unpack the supplies I bought for Ali and she puts them away.

"It's a bit dangerous, though," I tell Ali as we sit on the edge of the parking garage and stare out over the pond. "Mr. Sonic's definitely more powerful than you. If he finds you before the Goddess of Chaos arrives on the scene, it won't be good."

This is a pretty nice view. With this place being abandoned for nearly two decades, nature has begun to reclaim it, both what's left and what's fallen. Vines and ivy growing on the ruins, grass, flowers, and trees growing the cracks of the concrete and asphalt, and even more thickly in the gardens and yards that once added some beauty to the town.

I like the view of nature reclaiming the world. Sure, humanity is still tearing it apart, but right now, it's not as severe as it was before. They're breaking up the rubble of some buildings, retrieving what materials are usable and recycling, rebuilding. To save on time, money, and space, a lot of things are condensed, too.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

For example, I live in an apartment complex built about eight years ago, specifically for students, whether we have parents or not. We're allowed to stay until we turn twenty, to give us time after graduation to find a job. Why build fifty homes when they can build a single complex with fifty apartments that take up significantly less space?

It's honestly for the better. It takes up less space and stretches up into the sky, and rather than having to deal with foster homes and all that, orphans and foster kids can just live there, mostly monitoring themselves. There is staff who watch over things, but they only step in if something gets bad.

Eventually, society will reclaim more of the ruins, such as here, and rebuild. They'll go back to their extravagant ways, wasting space and destroying the world. But it may take a long time in the aftermath of the World Revolt, and there's the possibility that it may take even longer if people decide to help save the world in this new era.

"You want me to come back into town," Ali states.

"It'd be safer," I tell her.

"No," she shakes her head. "It might endanger the normies, even if it's only until tomorrow. If even one person sees me, everyone will know I'm back, and if they see me with you, they'll become suspicious."

"It was worth a try," I shrug. "You're right, though. There's another Sigil-Bearer in town, I saw him when I was at the store earlier. I'll have to ask Ian to look into it, he might be Klen that's staying in the town rather than risking coming out here and meeting the same fate as the rest."

"Yeah," Ali says, then stretches for a moment before giving me an odd look. "How did you know their abilities? You always seem to."

"Ian sends me a regular update of all known Klen Sigil-Bearers," I answer. "And their abilities. I recognized their faces."

That's not actually the truth, but it'll satisfy her inquiry.

"So you already knew how dangerous he was," she sighs. "Sometimes, I think you're asking for the Klen to hunt you down and kill you."

"They can try," I tell her. "But I'll just make a miraculous survival."

"That doesn't make any sense," she says. "Besides, you aren't a Sigil-Bearer, even if you have the looks of one."

"Maybe," I say. "But that doesn't mean I can't pull acts of god out of my rear. It wouldn't be the first time."

Ali laughs.

"I'm still trying to figure out how you managed that," she says. "A building fell on you, yet you reappeared an hour later, looking perfectly normal! Your clothes weren't even dusty!"

Maybe I've dragged that mystery on for too long. It's been a year and a half since the incident, after all. It's been fun watching her squirm over it, though.

"I wasn't in the building when it collapsed."

Ali gives me a dumbfounded look.

"The building wasn't all that structurally sound," I explain. "I'd been in it a few times, and I'd noticed signs I'd picked up over the years from other buildings that it was going to collapse soon. When it actually started to fall, it did so on the side you were on first, and I was actually a little past it. As soon as I felt the vibrations, I ran out the back, since it was closer. You probably didn't hear me over the crumbling and collapse."

She groans, then slugs me in the arm, though she remembers to hold back. The punch of a Sigli-Bearer as powerful as her could seriously hurt someone. Unfortunately, her power isn't enough to take on someone with the sonic ability.

Her power is to make objects float, though she's trained enough that she's able to perform a type of telekinesis through it as well. It's really just applying her float ability to objects in such a way that she's actually using a flight power instead.

Originally, her power was just floating things, usually a few inches, and only lighter stuff. She couldn't move them, only make them float. But with training, she became able to lift heavier items and move them around, creating flight instead.

What makes her truly dangerous, however, is the speed at which she can move items. Technically, she can only move items as quickly as she can think, which is faster than she can move her body. However, she's also able to 'launch' an object with her power, allowing her to turn a small pebble into a high-speed projectile without having to actually control the speed, allowing her to send it faster than she could move it manually.

Nothing as fast as a bullet, but it's still effective in some cases. We've used it to take out a few Sigil-Bearers from the Klen before. Mostly to lure them into a trap, but a weaker one could still be killed by the attacks.

The main downside to the 'launch' aspect is that unless Ali grabs the item with her power again, it'll continue on in whatever direction it was launched until it either hits something or its momentum is lost, just like a thrown or fired projectile.

Even as fast as she is, she can't always catch items she's launched if she sends them too fast. Thankfully, she's not the type of typical girl seen in stories and shows that do something, then make the guy go retrieve it. If we're practicing, she'll retrieve what she's responsible for, and I'll retrieve what I'm responsible for. If we even retrieve them in the first place.

"Want to practice some?" Ali asks.

If she asks for a joint training thing first, she's responsible for cleaning up the majority of the mess, should we clean things up.

"Sure," I tell her.

She moves a bucket of small stones to the edge as I grab a pair of paintball guns in the forms of pistols. After checking their clips and hooking a few backup ones onto my belt, I return to the edge as well. The magazines on my belt are easy-load, all I have to do is slide the handle over it and it loads it, then I can just pull the gun back out, the magazine loaded. No need for extra work or two hands to reload.

I didn't even know these were a thing, but Ian got them for me when I was twelve, when I told him I wanted to learn how to use a gun. With Ali's help these last two years, I've improved my skill with them even further.

As for the paintballs, they're eco-friendly, so we aren't too worried about poisoning anything. They're biodegradable and we usually can't find any trace of them after a few days. Sometimes, I think Ian makes them flavored and safe for deer to eat. And scented in such a way that deer will look for them.

"Ready?" Ali asks.

"Ready," I confirm.

Ali begins launching the pebbles and small rocks and chunks of concrete or asphalt into the air, past the pond. I take aim and begin firing once they pass a certain tree, and Ali keeps track of how many I actually strike. The moment I run out of shots in a magazine, I eject it and replace it with one on my belt.

Once I run out of shots, Ali stops launching the pebbles and chunks.

"Every shot connected," she tells me. "That's the sixth time in a row you've managed perfect aim. You've gotten a lot better from when we first started this."

"Thanks," I tell her. "Going to retrieve them?"

"Maybe tomorrow," she answers. "I've got a couple of more buckets, though, so maybe not until I'm looking for more for your target practice."

"Thanks for the help," I tell her. "You've helped me a lot."

"You've helped me a lot, too," she smiles, the magazines that fell over the edge floating back up. I grab them from the air. "With both my training and staying hidden."

"It's a mutually-beneficial relationship," I walk over to the table with our paintball stuff. "Plus, you're actually a decent person. You aren't one for all the gossip and everything, and own up to your mistakes."

"Ugh," she sighs. "You watched something yesterday that pissed you off, didn't you?"

"Yeah," I put the magazines down. "I should probably head back home, so that I can call Frank and let him know we need a goddess, just in case Ian hasn't already."

"I'll write up the list for the next time you visit," she tells me. "Thanks for the peaches. And stop watching that crap. All it does is anger you."

"I stopped watching once it became clear it would be a regular thing in the show," I tell her. "Hey, I'll help you grab some more practice rocks next time I'm out here."

"Tomorrow?" She asks.

"Maybe," I tell her. "I might play video games instead, I've been out here every day this last week."

"Good luck!" She laughs. "Don't take care of reloading those, I'll do it after you leave."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she answers. "I want to get some practice in, too, so I'll be messing with them, anyway. Let your boyfriend know we need more. And more paintballs, too – we're going to be pretty low on them by the end of the week"

"Will do," I tell her. "See you next time, Ali."