Re: #15: Juliet & Claire
They'd barely gotten clear of the light when there was another deafening crack from behind them that lit up the world brighter than sunlight. Trees toppled from roots being shaken free of packed dirt that had held them in place for decades. Another shower of shrapnel from the shot that barreled down from the heavens covered them, smacking into their backs with no regard for their well-being. Blood speckled the side of Claire's ratty gas station shirt, the gash at her ribs dripping through bandages.
Claire, under normal circumstances, was easily at peak physical condition for a regular human. The grip on her hand, and how fast they were moving? It was too much. Claire could recognize that, even in the frantic rush to get somewhere safe. In this moment, she didn't care. Maybe she'd worry about it later when they weren't running for their lives. Agonizing jolts shot up her legs with each beat of foot on ground, and it was only through sheer will that she wasn't giving off pained grunts while she struggled to keep up with mud-caked Juliet.
"I don't know if we can blame this on Town Hall." Words panted out between pounding sprints, long strides to keep up with her partner's impressive speed. What if these blasts were coming after Juliet because she was supposed to have been pulled under? ...No. God wasn't that cruel. This was something else. Some intelligent design to test her faith. There was no time to consider the possibilities. They were moving too fast, and another of those spotlights shone down right in front of them. They had to turn. Either deeper into the woods or towards the town, but if they kept going straight the impending blast would certainly hit them.
She mumbled a prayer under her breath, Latin ('Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea, quem timebo?') and a plea for protection, her eyes closed to give her trust over to the woman that was leading the way and the powers above that she knew loved them all.