Morning all. I wanted to start my day right and soon after posting I will be hitting the road. I have a cooler full of pies to take with me. I spent much of yesterday baking. I am going to try to keep up with my prompts for the rest of the week. I may be successful and I may not. I tend to get up earlier at my Mom’s house and need the prompts to settle my brains. We shall see how it shakes out. But for now let the prompt begin.
Not my favorite, but it could be an interesting start to the story. I don’t think it is the actual start though. Maybe there is a bit before. I’ll think about it on the drive.
Wednesday, November 22nd: The explosion knocked them to the ground.
The explosion knocked them to the ground. There was no warning, no explanation as they tried to regain their feet. George struggled to stand, looking around as his brain tried to make sense of it. In the sky he could see a plume of gray smoke. It billowed into the sky.
His mind decided this was the source of the explosion. He leaned down and Helped Patrica to her feet making sure she was okay. He then assisted the others around him, wondering if it would be a good idea to go towards the explosion or to run away from it.
From the looks of things, everyone was trying to decide the same thing.
Then another explosion sounded. More than half of the people who just regained their footing toppled again. Patricia grabbed him and together they somehow managed to steady themselves and remain in their feet.
This explosion was closer. He looked at the smoke billowing at ground level and moving upwards. This closer one let him see a little more about what was happening. His eyes followed the line from one explosion to the second.
“It’s the pipeline,” he yelled even as his brain was still processing. Others seemed to realize the same thing he did and began screaming even as they ran away. He grabbed Patricia’s arm and spun her away from the buried line. Troy was on the ground and they helped him up before he could be trampled. The three of them moved as a unit as the entire crowd began to stampede away from the pipeline.
The ground rumbled under their feet. This time the explosion was close enough that they could feel it building. The three of them were able to brace themselves and only rocked on their feet instead of falling. The crowd was wild now and the only goal was to make it out of the blast area without being trampled. The three of them clutched each other and ran.
The sound of falling masonry was loud. Patricia glanced over her shoulder. Her face went pale and she turned away. George didn’t want to know. He didn’t look back but pushed them forward. He aimed them towards a side street hoping to not only angle away from the pipeline and any possible destruction but to get them out of the bulk of the crowd. He could tell that Troy was limping and knew there was the very real danger of the faster moving crowd behind them taking them down.
Behind them the sound of crumbling buildings was loud. Another rumbling sounded and they braced for the next explosion. They managed to get into the side street and out of the maddened crowd. There were a few people with them and they knew they had to keep moving but there was less danger of being crushed by the crowd. All three of them were breathing hard. They slowed but kept moving.
The angle took them towards the first explosion but angled away so they avoided the destruction. Behind them, the world fell apart.
Ten til Midnight 