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Hey, guys. This is my semi-new story and has been my main writing project for some time, and I'd really appreciate your opinion and criticisms. I'll update this with more chapters as soon as I write some more. Enjoy!
HEART OF THE EARTHChapter 1
The winds howled like banshees as they flew across the white, freezing landscape. Bits and pieces of snow and ice traveled with them, fast enough to draw blood if they made contact with skin. Far off in the distance, in the direction the winds were heading, a derelict, once magnificent, city stood. Its sparkling exteriors had fallen to reveal the skeletons underneath, the supports jutting out like broken bones.
Although the flurries of snow obscured parts of the city, the remains of what used to be a network of streets and commercial buildings were visible. What was most visible was the gigantic fissure crossing the city's length. The rift extended down into the earth, the bottom only visible because of the buildings, structures, vehicles, and people lying there, broken.
Leaving the city behind in its wake, the wind rushed across the icy plains, crossing what could be distinguished as a highway. Skeletons and carcasses of cars and trucks were scattered everywhere, and the remains of several people could be seen, some on the concrete ground, some poking their heads and arms out of their vehicles.
Another rift divided the highway into two. Chunks of metal and concrete were dispersed all over the highway. Smoldering fires were the only signs of light in the area as they emitted an ominous, foreboding glow onto the broken metal of the cars and the cracked concrete of the highway.
The wind moved on, swooping past fallen trees and buildings. Suddenly, the landscape below changed to barren fields, covered completely with layers of cold, white snow and ice. With no obstructions to block its journey, the wind picked up speed, letting out a triumphant scream. It sped towards a dark blot in the distance, a blot that was quickly growing larger and larger.
***
Howling winds pounded on my back, the icy snow ricocheting off of the coat like bullets. I pushed my hands deeper into my pockets and angled my head down as meager protection from the blizzard. Not that it really helped.
I pulled my foot out of the ankle-deep snow and took another laborious step forward. By now, the snow had penetrated every bit of my clothing, particularly my shoes. They were little more than a second sopping layer of skin now, for all the protection that they offered.
My eyes turned upward, away from the layers of snow on the ground and to the spectacle ahead. Normally, these fields would be empty and bare, with nothing in sight for miles around. Everything would be uniform: the landscape, the color, the sky, everything. I imagine that one would get a strong feeling of loneliness here, perhaps even an ominous feeling when looking around at the endless plains.
But this wasn't a normal day.
My eyes registered a long, dark line, contrasting sharply with the white of the snow, extending as far as the eye could see. The line shifted and moved in the direction of the horizon. I, too, was part of that line, the line of refugees.
The man in front of me stumbled and fell. The sound of the impact was barely audible over the blizzard. A small child, presumably his daughter, turned to him, a worried expression forming over her tired face.
I brushed the wet hair out of my eyes and bent over. Placing a hand on the man's shoulder, I asked, "Hey, you all right?"
He turned to me with weary eyes. Pointing to his ears, he shook his head.
"You all right?" I asked in a louder voice.
He nodded. I extended my hand. Grasping it, he pulled himself back up and brushed the snow off his parka. "Thanks."
I nodded. "No problem."
He turned to his daughter and pulled her hood over her head tighter. I noticed that she was staring at me with wide eyes. Despite the cold freezing my face, I managed to put on a brief smile. She tentatively smiled back and turned back to the front of the line.
I glanced back at the city we left behind three hours ago. I could barely make out its shape; the snow was that thick. The man behind me looked up at me strangely. I turned my head back around, wiping the snowflakes off my face with a cold, wet hand.
The winds picked up, screaming in my ears. I pulled my hood over my head tighter and concentrated on walking. Pull foot out. Lean forward. Push foot into the snow. Rinse and repeat. The wind began to die down a bit.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting cracking noise ripped through the air. Instinctively, I tensed, my head jerking up. My eyes flitted back and forth across the horizon. In that moment, I realized that there was no sound of crunching snow under booted feet. There was no sound of labored breathing. Only the wind's whistling was audible, but even that seemed to have been humbled by the crack in the air.
I was just about to let my body relax when the cracking noise came back, and in full force. It was strange, really. It almost sounded like...
Alarm filled my mind as I quickly knelt down, my worn and wet jeans becoming even more soaked in the thick layer of snow. Feeling slightly self-conscious, I thrust my bare hands into the icy snow, gasping at the frigidness. I finally fully comprehended how something could be so cold that it hurt.
Pieces of snow flew up into the air as I dug deeper into the layer. The cold got to be so intense that I could barely feel my hands anymore, just a steady throbbing numbness. My mind vaguely registered the man in front of me asking, "What're you doing?" I ignored him, digging on resolutely.
Suddenly, my hands hit a cold, hard surface. I tried to steady my heart as I slowly cleared the residue snow off. I sat back and took a deep breath, hands dropping to my sides. I heard the man in front ask, "What's wrong?"
Fear filled every part of my body as I responded, "It's ice. We're standing on a frozen lake."
Horrendously loud cracking noises filled the air as I stood up quickly. Pushing my numb hands into my coat pockets, I shouted, "Everyone get out! Run!"
The others stared at me strangely.
I pointed at the ground ferociously and said, "We're standing on a lake, and it's about to cra...!"
At that moment, the ground buckled under my feet. I stumbled, my hands coming out of the pockets instinctively. I could barely hear the screams as a series of loud cracking noises issued across the ice, all of them coming after each other like bullets out of a machine gun.
I glanced towards the front of the line. My eyes widened as the dark line grew shorter and shorter. The schism in the lake was spreading, and the ice was splitting right under the feet of the refugees. Shouts and screams filled the air as people fell from the ice layer into the lake.
I felt frozen in place with terror as the cracks came closer and closer. I dimly registered the sounds of the people behind me scrambling away from the ever-growing schism. I looked down onto the hole that I had dug. The dark water underneath swirled and bubbled maliciously.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw the man that I had helped up a few minutes ago. "Come on," he said urgently, looking over his shoulder. "We need to get out of here."
I nodded, standing up on shaky knees. The man grasped his daughter's hand tightly and took a step forward.
Things happened so quickly after that moment. With a loud cracking noise, the ice broke underneath the man's feet. I barely saw him fall into the dark water; it was so fast. The daughter screamed and began to cry as the schism widened. The chasm opened up in front of me, its huge mouth gaping, armed with jagged icy teeth.
Unthinkingly, I rushed towards where the man had fallen and jumped into the depths. Hot pain seared across my arm as the skin scraped against the remainders of the ice layer. Unbelievably cold water sped up to engulf my body, numbing the very cores of my bones. My mouth opened on its own, screaming out into the water, bubbles rising up frantically.
I tread water underneath the ice, frantically trying to find the man. Gloomy rock formations loomed out of the darkness, their sharp spears jutting out in all directions. Pieces of broken ice slowly sunk, their whiteness contrasting sharply with the blackness of the lake. Worst of all, I could see people suspended in the water, the light from the surface casting an eerie look on their pale faces. Some were trying to swim up, bubbles blooming from their mouths and noses. Some, like me, were surveying the scene, trying to rescue the people that could still be rescued. Some were staying perfectly still, with no bubbles issuing out of their open mouths.
Suddenly, I saw the man. His body floated, ghostlike, suspended in the cold water. His clothes were waving serenely back and forth, his jacket caught in one of the rocks. As I quickly swam closer, I saw that red mists of blood were blooming out of the back of his head. Silently cursing, I oriented myself upright and felt around for the source of the injury.
Superficial gash, my mind said. Nothing permanent. Still, lack of air could kill him if I didn't get him up to the surface.
I suddenly coughed. A storm of bubbles flew out of my mouth. My chest felt tight. My head started to ache from lack of oxygen. With the rush of adrenaline gone, the intense cold returned, stronger than ever.
I tore away the man's jacket with trembling, pale hands and threw it to the side. My mouth instinctively opened to breathe. Water rushed in. Coughing, I grabbed the man around the waist. My sore legs struggled to kick and tread water, but we slowly began to sink. I gave another loud cough, but this time, no bubbles came out.
My head throbbed violently, my brain beat against the sides of my skull, my vision began to blur and spin. With the last remnants of my strength, I pushed the man upwards, my body screaming out for oxygen.
The man floated upwards towards the white surface. Completely devoid of strength, I did my best to relax, slowly lying in a horizontal position, almost like I was going to sleep. A strange calmness filled me, and the panic drifted away into the corners of my mind. I felt my body become numb and unfeeling from the freezing water.
Suddenly, a new, sharp pain filled me. I looked down and saw that a sharp rock formation had pierced my leg as I slowly sank into the depths. Weakly, I tried to pull it out. Blood spewed out, forming strange, yet beautiful designs in the water. Ah, what the hell, my oxygen-deprived mind said wearingly. The pain wasn't even that much anyway.
A large, jagged, white piece of ice scattered the blood as it slowly descended. Nice change of scenery, I thought. Suddenly, it stopped moving, and a new pain dimly registered in my fading mind. I looked down towards my trapped leg and saw that rock and ice had met, sandwiching my ravaged leg.
I coughed weakly and laid back. The dark floating bodies against the stark-white ice layer were the last things I saw before consciousness left me, flying away into the dark depths of the lake.
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Originally Posted by Ramen
