CHAPTER 5.2: K.I.D.: THE CRUCIBLE – ZUURI

CHAPTER 5.2: K.I.D.: THE CRUCIBLE — ZUURI 

[08:24] 05.01.2090

City of Haust, 

Country of Bordumond,

Mahabumi Continent,

2300Km to the Northwest of JUSM tower

A pitch black smoke covered Haust. The cold morning winds died. The temperature had risen abnormally as the fires spread in the blink of an eye. As the after scene where a bomb was dropped. But unlike a bomb, there wasn't a loud bang. 

As Zuuri got closer and closer, different sounds grew louder. However, the screams, laments, wailings and everything else was canceled out by an exchange of something louder. Something frantic.

Bombs exploded. Missiles fired. Yet the recurring thundering sounds didn't stop. The terrors they formed, vibrated even the air around the city. 

Zuuri lowered her altitude drastically to not get caught in missiles and jets. A thunderous bang could be heard between the nonstop terrors. As if an elephant stopped walking for a minute and smacked down a tree.

Finally Zuuri's destination was in view, but barely. A thick layer of smoke was covering it. The more closer Zuuri got to her house, the more the smoke became thicker. Almost as if something was inside the smoke. 

But she didn't care. She got more closer bit the smoke got bigger too. As if something moved with it. However, Zuuri didn't notice that. 

As she finally reached her house, she crashed into a wall before nailing the landing. "Huh huh.... what was that?? This damn smoke!!! ", Gasping due to the impact, she wondered what she collided with. Even though she blamed the poor visibility, her instinct was right. There was infact a wall there. One that wasn't there before. 

She opened her eyes and saw her house. Still intact. She finally let out a sigh of relief. But that relief didn't last long. She saw the smoke getting darker. As if something was over it. 

She tilted her head and looked closely. And then she saw. Something terrifying. Something dreadful. An ominous shadow covered her house. But she didn't care about that. She wanted her family. That was her only thought. Or thoughts, as she couldn't concentrate. They just rushed into her mind and the mind pumped them out to her heart. 

'Where is mom? Where is dad? Where is Nuu? Where are they? Are they still inside? Did they get out? 

She started screaming and running towards her house. Ignoring the massive shadow over her house. "MOM!!! DAD!!! NU-" But she couldn't reach it.

She froze. Zuuri saw something that made her unable to move. As Zuuri's eyes adjusted to the smoke, she saw a monster. An enormous, black monster was walking on this planet. 

It was big. It was enormous. It looked like an alien took. But in that moment, she didn't care what to call it. Neither it's appearance. As giveing it a name or describing it, didn't even reach, the list of priorities in that moment. Because she now saw something clearly. Something she wished she didn't. 

The shadow over her house was cast by a single leg of that monster. And that leg was moving. But, not forward.

It towered over buildings as if they were building blocks. It waved its tentacles and stuck anything that moved, indiscriminately. As a child throwing their toys away, it smacked down fighter jets and bombardment helicopters. Foot soldiers smashed like ants and land military weapons flying above buildings.

Zuuri saw it's foot coming down. Directly down at her house. She ran. She ran and ran. And, she opened her eyes. She was still frozen in the same spot. She thought she had ran but she hasn't. She couldn't. No matter how hard she tried. 

She screamed. She begged. But it was all in vain. The black, guant foot came down all the same. 

"No no no...NO!!! MOM!! DAD!! NUU....." She screamed. And screamed and screamed. Finally her body twitched. Her arms moved. Her torso moved. And finally her legs moved. She dashed into her house. 

She was quick, very quick. She came near, very near. She saw her family. She saw Nuuri crying with her doll in her hands. Her mother holding Nuuri while running to the door. Her father by the door screaming to get out. And at the last moment her father saw her too. Despite all the noises of bombing and firing around, she heard his voice. Zuuri heard her father calling, "Zuu....."

She called him too. But her voice didn't leave her mouth. The dread overpowered her voice. She extended her arm. She wanted it to reach her father. To reach her family. But it didn't.

*CRACKKKK CRACKKKK*

The leg reached the house. First the upper level. The roof cracked. The walls cracked. And then it reached the lower level. Where her family was. Her little sister was screaming and crying in confusion. Her mother was covering her little sister from the flying debris. Tears in her eyes. However, her father's face didn't have tears. Nor was it full of confusion or dread. It was before but not anymore. It changed after he saw Zuuri.

He had a soft smile. His glasses were gone. So his eyes were in full view. They too had a soft curve. A genuine soft smile was plastered on his face. Looking at Zuuri, he spoke. The stray bombs and whatnot overshadowed his voice. But Zuuri heard it. She heard it clearly. 

"Zuu.....thank goodness you're safe....please stay safe for the rest of your life too...go on...live....."

Zuuri tried over and over to reach him. To reach everyone. But she couldn't. And finally it came down.

*BANGGGG*

It was not enough. She was too slow. The monster's leg came crushing down. The compression of air generated, threw Zuuri away. She went crashing into her fence. The next moment she opened her eyes, the house was gone. In its place, was a giant coral like black leg with dots of deep red all over it. 

Zuuri screamed, yet a single sound didn't came. She cried, yet a single tear didn't came. She called her family, yet words didn't came. She tried getting back up but couldn't. She tried flying there but couldn't. 

The monster pulled its leg away and continued forward. Ever so slow. Unchanged. Unbothered. Unknowing. Unseen and unheard. It just went. Forward. Taking everything on its path.

What remained Infront of Zuuri was a flat piece of junk mixed with her family. The large house the four of them lived was now a flat piece of compressed junk. Nine years of memories reduced to nothing but a metal and flesh pancake. 

And Zuuri watched the whole event unfold right infront of her horror filled eyes. A small girl with a burned tracksuit just lost everything she had, in an instant. Crawling on the ground, she begged.

"Mom..dad...Nuu... don't go... please", she cried while calling her family.

"Mom... mom.. please... I'll eat all you want... I'll stay with you ... please..." She begged. 

"Nuu... don't leave me...i couldn't take you flying... i promised didn't i... please don't go..." She shouted. 

 "dad... I'll be good, I'll listen to you... I'll stay home all you want....", she implored.

"I'LL BE GOOD, I PROMISE.... I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL FROM NOW ON.... PLEASE COME BACK!!! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!....." Zuuri screamed with all her might. But she didn't get a response. Nor even a little sound.

She stood up. She fell down. She stood up again. She fell down again. Her body had already gave up. A faint smell of gas was lurking in the air. In a matter of seconds, the flattened pancake caught fire.

As long as she remembered, Zuuri wanted to flap her imaginary wings and fly. Fly away. Fly freely. However the one moment she wanted to stay, she wasn't allowed. Fate itself was against it. Zuuri became free, but her wings died. 

Her eyes slowly closed. The screams and laments of the people slowly vanished. The screaming and combat of the soldiers slowly disappeared. The destruction sounds of the monster diminished. The firery red flames slowly blacked out. Zuuri fainted. 

Yet the monster didn't. The leg that destroyed Zuuri's house was already several meters away. Yet, the monster had many. Many enormous legs. To hold it's gigantic oval body it needed at least a dozen. 

The next leg was coming. The next stomp was imminent. The next point of impact was already planned. And right under that point, laid Zuuri. Unconscious. Unknowing of the giant shadow above her. The same shadow that made her house into a flat pancake. 

One meter. It was the distance between Zuuri and the giant leg above her. And that length was diminishing rapidly.