Savages

Something was off.

For some strange reason I couldn't get any part of my body to move when I told it to. The sounds around me were muffled and scattered about, the energy in the air screaming to me that something was happening.

Whatever I was laying on began to shake, slowly at first, then violently. I tried to focus, tried to get a hold of my senses, but nothing could break the haze. I could make out the sounds of things crashing to the floor and felt a slight panic rise when my body was tossed from the bed.

I was helpless, useless, caught in a sluggish bubble that wouldn't pop. The only other time I had felt like this was a few days ago whe-

Savages.

The very second that word coursed through my brain my blood ran cold. I didn't care that the floor began to crumble and the building started to collapse. I didn't care that piles of debris were crushing me as a muffled groaning noise filtered through the chaos.

One single fleeting emotion started to grow in the pit of my stomach and within a few minutes I knew it would engulf me entirely.

And when it did, there was going to be hell to pay.

..........

Paul was frantic.

The entire city was in a state of emergency. Which ever way you looked buildings were going down, people were running for their lives, and police were trying to evacuate as many people as they could.

The Savages were here, now, blowing up whatever they could and killing whoever crossed their path. Had it not been for Meghan, they would already be dead.

Glancing over his shoulder he took in the large clouds of smoke rising toward the sky mixed with the screams of those still trapped in the buildings and felt his heart tighten.

"What do we do?" Zayn had his hands tangled in his hair and he was turning in slow circles. Paul looked at the group he was surrounded by and ran a hand over his face.

"We've got to get out of the city as quickly as possible," he answered.

"All of the streets are blocked off to the south. We've got to cross Westminster Bridge. Hopefully we can get out from the north," Liam rattled off quickly. Without another word they took off on foot, dodging people and debris that blocked their path.

Meghan had crawled out of bed with a smile on her face, her eyes falling to the blonde boy still wrapped in the blankets, and her thoughts drifted to previous hours of the night. With a blush on her cheeks she headed into the kitchen to start making breakfast and pulled her sweater closer to her body.

Pulling out some pans and roaming through the boys' fridge she settled on making some omelets. Finding a random package of bacon in the freezer she tossed it in the microwave to defrost it while heating up another frying pan.

Louis stumbled down the stairs not too long after she started frying the bacon shooting her a warm smile as he plopped himself down on a stool by the island counter.

"Morning Lou," she greeted while pulling out cups and mugs from the cupboard.

"Smells delicious," he replied. Pouring some coffee she lid a steaming mug to her friend and nodded.

"Figured we deserved some good morning food." He nodded in agreement and took a sip from his cup.

They sat in a comfortable silence as she continued to make the breakfast. She had just finished Lou's omelet when the sound of glass breaking caught their attention. Wiping her hands on a towel sitting on the counter she asked Lou to watch the bacon.

Her footsteps were light as she headed down the hall where the noise had come from and her eyes narrowed on the small can now sitting in the small pile of glass. The broken window let in a light breeze that made goosebumps crawl onto her skin as she knelt down to examine the black object.

The large white numbers painted on it caused her to blanch, her eyes lifting to gaze through the broken window and spotting the man in a window of a building across the street.

That's when the canister suddenly popped, the top opening to release a gas that had her eyes watering immediately.

"Lou! Lou, wake everyone up and get out!" Her shout echoed down the hall and reached the brunette boy who scrambled from the stool. Covering her mouth with the sleeve of her sweater she went to pick up the can with her other hand and yelped in pain, dropping it back to the carpet. Backing away from the can her blue eyes focused on the bright red burns that littered her fingers.

"What's going on?" Liam muttered emerging from his room without a shirt. His hair was sticking up in random places and his eyes were still drooping.

"They're here. The Savages are here!"

........

The haze was gone.

I could hear the screams, hear the explosions, and feel the ground shake. I let my eyes flutter open and was immediately met with a piece of white wall that had completely crumpled.

I didn't need to push the debris away, didn't need to harness any sort of energy to make an easy way of escape for myself. I only had to feel.

And what I felt was by far the scariest thing I had ever experienced.

Rage. And not the normal angry rage. No, this was much different.

And much worse.

A light red glow spread over my skin and a foreign energy began to hum throughout my limbs. With a mere thought that flashed in my mind the debris began to move out of the way. Once I was at my full height I took in my surroundings with one sweep.

Several buildings on the block had chunks of their walls blown out, cars were flipped onto their hoods with their tires still spinning, and parts of the street were cracked with fire hydrants spewing water into the new crevices.

I saw several mangled bodies scattered along the mass destruction and I was instantly brought back to the night before, seeing the faces of those that had died innocently at the hands of monsters. Hands that were now taking over a city.

Hands that would harm no more.

Stepping forward I was fueled for more than one reason. It wasn't just about protecting the boys, saving Meghan, or beating the Savages.

Now, it was personal.

I walked down the center of the deserted street, ignoring the way the upturned objects scraped against the road, being pushed by the invisible force that flooded my body. Using the sounds of terror as a guide I had made it three blocks before my first encounter.

A large truck barreled down an ally carrying four men armed with automatic weapons. Their chants and jeers cut through the air once they pulled out onto the street and pulled a U-turn. I locked eyes with the driver and saw the grin on his face drop, replaced by fear and panic.

"Take her out!" A guy hanging out the window slapped down on the roof of the truck and shot bullets into the sky. The truck engine roared to life and the wheels burned a black strip into the pavement as it veered slightly to the right.

I lost control of all motor function to the beast now raging inside me. Within the blink of an eye I was sprinting forward and launching myself into the air, arms wide, and delivering a metal grinding punch to the hood of the truck. The force sent the vehicle lurching forward, the back wheels defying gravity, and the momentum pushed the truck up onto the front grill. Rolling away from the vehicle I looked up in time to see gravity take hold once more on the hunk of metal and pull the top to the pavement with a loud crack.

I walked over to the driver's side door listening to the moans and groans leaving the man's lips. The other three were dead, lifeless, forgotten in the chaos as the driver tried to free himself. A scream left his lips when my hand wrapped around the collar of his jacket and yanked him through the window. He coughed up blood onto the street and tried to push himself up but my foot on his back kept him from doing so.

"Where are they?" Even my voice sounded unfamiliar.

"I don't kn-" His statement was cut short once my foot collided with the side of his stomach, his body flipping over and making him face the cloudy sky. I kneeled down so our faces were only a few inches apart seeing the red glow reflecting in his eyes.

"You have one more chance, parasite," I hissed.

"He's taking out the bridges, cutting off all routes of escape. He's going to capture them and shoot them."

"Where?"

"Hyde Park," he weazed. Another fit of coughing had blood pooling in the back of his throat, his eyes squeezing shut as he desperately searched for air.

I didn't wait around to see if he survived, if the light faded from his eyes. I stepped over his convulsing torso and continued down the street in the direction of the loudest screams.