Chapter 286: The woman who burned.
The woman laughed, it started off as a ripple--sharp like glass under pressure. The sound sliced through the air like a scalpel or a whip of flames. Her shoulders shook as the sound poured out of her throat like venom.
There was hatred in it, the kind that was aged like cheeses and wine. Cruelty mired her face as she hurled lames in the direction of the soldiers. The ground beneath her blackened from the flames engulfing her body.
She made an eerie sight. Even the snow seemed to avoid her as she walked forward, every step silent like a falling leaf and yet loud like a thunder crack.
"You wanted to know my power?" She shouted, voice hoarse like she was fighting a cough, "Now you know and every one of you will burn with it."
She burst through the front doors and hurled a sphere of fire across the hall, aiming at Ceaser. But he pulled a soldier and used the man as cover. The flaming ball struck the soldier square in the chest_he went down screaming, body ignited.
The woman did not stop; she was a fire hose of liquid flames. A blast caught the ceiling, sending molten debris crashing down. Another burned two soldiers, their screams echoed off the walls, spreading the chorus of pain they were under.
"Protect the president!" Lugard shouted an order while firing at the woman.
She dodged the bullets, using fire to redirect them. Some soldiers panicked and run away meanwhile; they were tired of sacrificing their lives for an ungrateful man.
Lugard saw them and cursed, "You fools, get back here! There is nowhere to run, you will freeze out there." He shouted but the men only run further away.
The woman continued to send explosions of flames that sent shock waves through the white house, scorching the walls, shattering the glass and destroying whatever was in her path.
People ran from all directions. Some searched for cover while others left the white house all together. The woman on fire was determined to kill everyone, not just the man that harmed her and her family. It was as if she wanted the whole world to burn with her.
Ceaser barely made it to the bunker before an explosion of heat rolled through the corridors like the breath of a beast. He fell on his knees, chest heaving, sweat pouring down his face. "That crazy bitch!"
"Close the fucking door!" Lugard ordered another soldier, he did not care that some of their men were still out there, hoping to take shelter in the bunker.
The thick door slammed shut behind them with a heavy metallic clang. Since the soldiers were hesitating, Lugard marched over and twisted the locking wheel himself, panting all through. They moved to command room and looked at the monitors.
Their hope was that the woman had given up now that Ceasar was unreachable. But that was not the case. All the people outside, within her reach were falling victim to her flames.
Her rage was so strong that she was shooting her fire blindly at everything within sight.
"She is burning everything! My God, it’s like she has an infinity tap of fire." Jade Garwood’s finger’s trembled, she regretted staying when the other’s left, there was nothing fun in being Ceaser’s secretary only death chased her at every turn.
Why was the man always determined to piss everyone off? When the next opportunity presented, she would run. There had to be a better place than this hell.
Ceaser pressed his trembling back against the cold wall, the bunker shaking under the force of the stone above. "I am alive that is all that matters, that fucking psycho pyromaniac bitch really wanted me dead!" His voice cracked between disbelief and grim satisfaction. "Tell the men that are still out there to do everything that they can to capture her"
Everyone exchanged gazes, shocked by his orders.
"Sir." Jade spoke for the others remained silent. "Does that look like a woman that can be captured?"
Ceaser cast her a cold glance. "I do not care that specimen cannot be lost. She knows what is in the mist." He slammed the wall. "Use ice, fire extinguishers, water, every damn thing!"
Not a single person moved.
Outside the bunker, the world screamed. Through the small, reinforced view port on the door curious people that lived in the bunker peeked out and saw a dance of orange and red flames above them.
Others squeezed into the command room to look at the woman on fire. She moved through the blazing corridor like an angry spirit; her eyes reflected the flames. Everyone that dared to go close to her became silhouette of ash before hitting the floor.
"Good God!" Lugard lowered his head, he could no longer watch anymore as his men were roasted.
Ceaser was quiet. He simply stared sweat dripping down his temple. His heart pounded not from sorrow_but from awe. "I want to get such unrefined power, even more."
Outside the woman screamed_a sound of rage, grief, and agony that echoed through the burning ruins. She tried to access the bunker, but it was proving difficult.
"Come out Ceaser, you coward." She shouted into the roaring flames. "You must enter that mist yourself just like you made my family enter it." She flung her arms outward, and fire streaked along the walls like veins of molten light.
"If you do not come out, I will kill all these men. She had a wall of fire over most entrances, and nobody could flee anymore. Some pleaded for their lives begging for mercy, others asked for pardon. But the woman looked at them with merciless eyes.
Inside the bunker, smoke and heat began to seep through small cracks in the metal. Ceaser flinched as the air turned uncomfortably hot. Jade clutched her blouse collar, coughing. "I do not think we will survive here for much longer."
"Turn on the cooling system.....air filtration." Ceaser ordered.
Lugard pressed a few buttons on the console. "They have jammed, we have to go out there and do it manually. But we cannot go out there." He motioned at the men. "Bring the emergency breathing masks."
"Someone should put a bullet in her head, give the order. This is a botched specimen." Ceaser ordered.
The woman was still at the bunker door, eyes blazing. Her face twisted with fury as she hurled fire at the door. Her skin glowing with heat cracks like burning charcoal. "This door will melt soon; it is just metal anyway." She said, an evil laugh came from her. "Come out Ceaser and face the monster that you created."
The metal groaned and hissed, glowing orange at the edges.
"On the other hand, don’t do anything. She is going to burn out of energy soon enough....and then we will capture her." Ceaser said, calculating and still unrepentant.
"Sir!" Jade shouted, in total disbelief.
Minutes stretched into hours. The woman’s flames weakened, sputtered. The bunker walls blackened but did not yield. Finally, she dropped to her knees, gasping for breath. Her power had devoured itself from within. She coughed, blood and smoke spilling from her lips. Her still body seemed burnt out of energy and the flesh itself.
"I...I think she is dead." Lugard said.
Ceaser’s eyes barely shifted from her. "We will wait until the air clears."
As soon as he finished his sentence, the woman got to her feet raced to the door and darted out of the white house.
A watcher dipped from the sky and snatched her up, flying away with her.
Ceasar felt his heart cracking. His eyes bulged, the veins in his neck throbbed. "Noooo...." he bellowed.