"I guess," Sherri said. She removed the styrofoam with some effort because it was wedged under some rocks. She was already knee deep. Without a moment's hesitation, she shifted into a cat. That will show them what a coward I am... She thought bitterly. Sherri then squirmed deeper into the unstable pile of rubble, slipping through the cracks easily because of her small shape, seeming almost liquid. She didn't think about finding herself a way back out and instead crawled closer to Connor, where he breathed slowly. She sniffed him. His condition wasn't as bad as he looked, but this was a very cramped area. She couldn't make it to where he rested because of a rock, but it could be lifted by human hands, it seemed. 'I found a way,' she meowed in cat-speak.
"Okay..." Wolfram froze suddenly, hearing shrieking not far off. Gunshots ripped through the air, rapidly firing at unprotected victims. He gave a shaky nod. "I agree with both Bleddyn and Ash. L-lets get him out of there, like, now."
Toby jumped, dropping his gun when the gunshots went off. He wrapped his arms tightly around his stomach, and stared wide-eyed at where they came from. Please don't let that be where Jessi is. Please let them be okay. He silently pleaded. He slowly reached down and grabbed his gun, his hands shaking so much it was difficult to do so.
Peter heard the gunshots, dropped the water filter, and disappeared.
Brisa jumped at the sound of the gunshots, startled out of her thoughts by the noise. “I’m pretty sure I can lift it.” She answered Wolfram, eyeing the cracked concrete slab. “I don’t know how long I can hold it, but I’ll do my best.” She raised her hands a little and very carefully started lifting off some of the lighter debris, setting the pieces down in a pile nearby and making sure not to unbalance the objects on top of Bleddyn’s father.
Wolfram shuddered, pupils horrifyingly almost nonexistent. He nodded to Brisa as another round of shots fired in the distance, and glanced at Ash, Toby, and Bleddyn, vaugely wondering where Sherri was. "When Brisa tells you to, get him out. And do it fast."
Ash was immediately there, latching her fingers firmly into the wolf's shoulder blades and pulling backward with all of her might. Connor came free relatively easily; the desperate force she used not only released him from the remaining rubble, but propelled them both backward. But when she hit the ground with fur in her face, what she felt was the farthest she could get from relief. She kept herself from getting up, from seeing how badly he was hurt and just how badly she'd worsened it all.Brisa nodded, took a deep breath, and her powers grabbed hold of the concrete. “Okay. 1,2...3! Go!” She exclaimed, lifting with all her might, and the concrete raised about two and a half feet off the ground. She very carefully got on her knees for more stability, closing her pitch-colored eyes in concentration as she strained to lift it farther.
Instead, she lay there awkwardly on the cluttered pavement with all sorts of debris pressing into her skin and relished the simple success of having him safely in her arms- even if only for this fleeting, delusional moment.
But when Bleddyn lunged forward, she wasn't going for her father. Instead, she scrambled beneath the hovering slab of deteriorating concrete, sliding painfully over the mess of smaller particles below it, and plunged her arm into the open cavern that Sherri had disappeared into. As soon as her fingers grasped a sufficient fistful of fur, she dove forward and rolled out into the open air. Once momentum had carried them both safely out of the way, she set the undoubtedly irked cat down in front of her. "Dude, you don't want to be a furry pancake, do you? Sure, trusting in Brisa is fine and all, but who knows where that thing will drop."
