"Sadie," he called as he laid eyes on her, "Sadie."
She was talking to a group of men when she looked back to meet his eyes. He saw her excuse herself from the conversation and head in his direction.
As she reached him they shared a brief kiss, which felt longer to him than it was.
"They haven't started yet, have they?" he said.
"Without you? Never"
"Very funny Dee," he looked at the various foods she had carefully balanced on the napkin in her hand, "hungry much?"
"You know it's not just me," she said as she gently cupped the small, growing bulge of her belly.
"Any of it go-," before he could finish he was cut off by a loud explosion followed closely by panicked screams, "Stay here!" he said and turned to run for the nearest window.
Looking out he could see smoke rising behind a flood of fleeing people. He glanced back to check on Sadie, she was exactly where he had left her, smiling nervously. He flashed a quick smile to reassure her and made for the door.
Outside, he tried to push through the stream of rushing pedestrians but couldn't even make it to the edge of the sidewalk. Soon he discovered that he didn't have to.
He looked back in the direction where the people were running from and his followed the black, sooty stream of smoke rising behind them to meet the clouds in the sky. Instantly his eyes widened, he stared at the sky struggling and refusing to believe what he saw.
The clouds seemed to have take on a life of their own, swirling slowly, brooding horror. Bright, festering boils were growing out of the grey mass, cracking open at places like dry clay, exposing their fiery innards. At once a boil burst and a molten bolt of some bright red lava-like substance exploded from the resulting hole, obliterating anything it came into contact with. He stood frozen in horror as some devilish force drove the clouds with hellish speed directly towards him. Another boil exploded so close to him that he could feel the inferno of the hot devastation.
He was instantly ripped back to reality and jumped out of the way. The force of the explosion blew him across the road and once he stood up he quickly began surveying the situation; half of the hall had already been consumed in flames and a steady stream of some molten liquid was flowing down the street, swallowing up anything it came into contact with. The destructive force was advancing with increasing speed, liquefying or incinerating anything it came into contact with. He looked back at the hall, the entire roof was ablaze. Sadie!
He tried to find a way through the maddening crowd to reach the door. I have to get to her. He began fighting through the panicked rush of people and he could see others peeling out of the hall. If they are still alive, so is she. He fought harder, getting closer with every step. As he looked up towards the door he saw nothing but flames. "No!" he screamed, "Sadie!...Sadie!" His eyes frantically darted from face to face, searching for hers. He began to feel sick, and felt tears on his face. She can't be...
He continued to fight towards the hall, ripping people out of the way, and twisting others around to see their faces. "Sadie" he called again and again. Blazing bodies poured out of the flaming doorway. The hall was completely engulfed in flame, and so was everything in its vicinity. The destruction was gaining and he had to get out of the area soon if he wanted to live, even if it would be alone. "I love you" he whispered.
While searching he hadn't registered how quickly the devastating force was advancing. He ran for his bike and as soon as he reached it he shoved the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. He whipped his head around in a final hope that she was still out there, but he was encircled by flames. He could feel fire reaching out, trying to scorch his flesh. He twisted the throttle back all the way and felt the powerful engine growl beneath him. Sadie. He released the clutch and the back wheel spun for a moment, letting loose a wicked howl before gaining traction and ripping into the tar.
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