Destia Jayden April 7th,20XX

For the first time in what felt like years, my breath was heavy against the mask and it took more energy than ever to put my feet after the other. I wasn’t quite tired, but I was closer to it than I had been for entirely too long.

“Please hang on tight and put this on. You’ll have to hold your breath for a few seconds as well.”

I handed out three surgical masks to the hapless inhabitants of the building and loaded the first onto my back. I was currently on the second floor, so it would only take me about ten seconds to get them to the safe spot outside of the parking lot, but that meant a full twenty seconds before I could come back for the next person.

Kaja and Tillo were trying their best to keep the building stable from the inside, and Aaron was working hard in holding the broken roof up and minimizing the damage of any pieces that broke off the main building.

I didn’t have any confidence in how well I could take fall damage, otherwise once I got to the fourth floor, it would have been faster and probably safer to jump out of a window and run them out of the damage zone.

Destia! Once you’re done with that floor, start throwing people out of the windows facing toward the front! I’ll catch them!

I flinched as I heard Aaron’s voice in my head, but that was one more thing that I needed to get used to. Archer had warned us that the range between our connection was relatively short, but if it failed, then we still had our earbuds. They were still underdeveloped though, and the bird monster had broken apart the shed on the roof that kept the building’s connection modem. It was crackly and most of the time, the message would come through in pieces and half of it would be lost in the static.

The second person finally finished wrapping the scarf around their face and hugged the child in between their body and mine. It was uncomfortable, but there wasn’t much else I could do. The child most definitely wouldn’t have come with me on their own, and I couldn’t very well leave them on my own.

I found myself incredibly grateful that my powers had increased as they had, but I somehow suspected that the same thing that had made them stronger was the same thing that had manifested that monstrosity.

Eva had taken as many pictures of it as she could, so I looked forward to hearing what the scientists had to say about it. Until then, there wasn’t any time to bother being afraid.

I did a final round of the second floor before jumping to the third. By now, the crack that ran down the middle of the building was so large enough that it the floors on each level of the building. If the twins or Aaron let up for even half a second, a large chunk of the building would go down and all of the people that were unfortunate to have lived in it would go with it.

Aaron’s plan was fine, but I didn’t know how much he could handle. I would organize all of them to jump at controlled times and then head up to the fourth flour to start running people out.

“Please stay in a single file! Check all the rooms in your apartment to make sure that you didn’t forget anyone! Please don’t waste time gathering your belongings! Right now, your priority is your safety! Ah- Ma’am! please stay on the other side of the crack! I know your things are in there, but that side is the most dangerous place to be at the moment.”

I managed to get them organized and carried the less able-bodied over the intense crack in the middle of the floor. As of now, I just needed to make sure they were all on the relatively stable side of the building before moving up to the next floor.

“You! Yeah, Please I’m leaving you in charge of the group. Make sure that everyone stays organized! you just need to jump and my colleague will catch you! But you can’t push and you need to give at least a thirty-second gap between each person.”

The person at the very front hesitated, despite the large inflatable matress that one of the twins had set up directly under the windows and around the building.

“Please don’t hold up the line! If you aren’t quite ready to jump, then please move out of the way for those who are!”

There wasn’t much more I could do beyond that.

I watched the first few of them go through and made sure that they floated safely to the padded crash cushions before running up to the next floor and repeating the same thing. On the fourth floor there were some people who sustained injuries from falling cement and moving furniture, but thankfully there were no fatal casualties.

“Please, put this on and keep your head down.”

For those that couldn’t jump out on their own, I had to switch back to the old way of running them outside. Somehow the more I did it, the faster I got, and I cut the forty-second time to thirty-five seconds.

Some people tried to ask me how I was doing all of this, or even who I was, but I deflected by speeding up beyond what was sustainable and running off as soon as they were safe. Thankfully, most of them understood the intention behind the masks we wore and didn’t ask questions.

Archer was on the ground, wiping as many memories as quickly as he could. I was sure he was exhausted, but right now, we all were. I didn’t have the time to pity someone in the same situation as me.

Destia, I know it’s a lot to ask, but speed up as much as you can. The building is about ready to give.

Kaja’s emphatic warning pushed me to cut the time even more. Although Aaron was supporting them, it was still the twins that were pushing themselves beyond their limits to keep the building as close together as possible. Even as I ran, the floor broke and reconnected itself multiple times. It was freaky to watch, and prompted me to be more careful with my footing. Only a moment’s mistake could lose me a foot.

The material of the building changed from concrete to metal, as the twins tried their best to turn it into something sturdy.

After what felt like an eternity and a half, I finally made it to the sixth floor and arranged everyone toward the window. I ran those that couldn’t walk on their own outside, but at some point; the stairs gave in and became an unreliable source of escape.

Aaron, On the sixth floor!

After that warning, I secured my grip on the last person in the building and jumped out of the window.