The white was searing. It was loud. It was painful. Their eyes and skin burned from the amount of light that shone down like a spotlight upon Verdigris. Kaspar and Seth ran as fast as they could through the wide streets and numerous walkways that littered the inner circle of the city. Seth’s lungs burned as he gasped for the cool, humid air, his legs ached from taking bound after bound, and his neck screamed as he continued to force it to swivel from side to side, scanning the streets and paths ahead for the quickest, most effective route to the other side of the city.

Kaspar lagged behind. He was never the most athletic person Seth knew. He was good at a variety of things, and while he wasn’t the least coordinated person Seth had ever met, he definitely wasn’t in shape at all times. Now was the time he was probably regretting not going to the gym like Seth had been bugging him to.

“Have you ever considered using some of the machines we’ve got on the first floor?” Seth had said to Kaspar one time while making dinner after a long night of studying. Seth was sitting in the living room, watching the small broadcast screen they had recently got installed into their already lavish apartment.

“I have, I just never get around to actually putting good work-out clothes on and actually going down there.”

“I’m just saying, you don’t lead the most active of lifestyles,” Seth had started.

“Yes I know,” Kaspar said, standing up from the couch with an audible groan, even though Seth was sure it caused Kaspar absolutely zero pain to stand up in the first place. “I am getting to a stage in my life where I need to stay in shape or else I’ll lose countless years off my lifespan, I’ve heard it a thousand times.”

“Why not hear it again?”

“Because no matter how many times I’ve heard it from somebody, it never actually finds a place to get into my brain and make a difference. It’s always in one ear, out the other.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Now I wonder who’s fault that might be?”

“Yeah I don’t need your snark,” Kaspar had walked into the kitchen to look fruitlessly through the cabinets and pantries for something to snack on mindlessly. “I know that I need to do it. I just can’t for the life of me bring myself to get off this damn couch and walk down a few flights of stairs and do like thirty minutes of running.” He had found something and started to walk back to the couch.

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s something different from being lazy.” Kaspar grabbed something out of the pantry and threw himself back down on the couch.

They continued to run around to the north side of the tower. They were making some pretty good progress, and would at the very least get to the far side of the inner-city, a respectably safe distance away, by the time the screaming white ball of energy hit the peak of its parabolic trajectory. Seth took a sudden left, and picked up the speed. If Kaspar wasn’t gasping for whatever oxygen he could get his lungs on, Seth was sure he would have sighed audibly at him. Kaspar promptly picked the pace up as well.

Seth’s estimates were accurate. They had just arrived at the very sudden and jarring transition from the inner-ctiy to the middle ring when the bomb had reached what looked to be the peak of its arch. Seth had turned his body completely to watch the bomb reach it’s peak, while also waiting for Kaspar to catch up to where he was.

“We’re probably safe here but I think we should head just a little further out, just in case.” Seth said. Kaspar just nodded, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

Even though it was painful to look at the white light rising into the sky, it was hard to look away from. It was almost beautiful, as it rose into the sky and peacefully illuminated the entire city. If it weren’t for the extremely audible scream it let out, it would have been entirely serene. But the searing sound that emanated from it changed the atmosphere it gave off from peaceful and beautiful to one that reminded them of something they were so close to forgetting: death, destruction, and pain. So much pain.

Seth took a few skips backwards, tore his eyes away from the light, and started running into the middle city. The bomb left a spot in his vision.