Risking a glance back at the tank he was just in time to see it reach the bridge, gently testing the weight of a metal leg against the first reinforce glass pane. It seemed to hesitate. The rain made it hard to see, which only grew worse with each passing second. Thunder rolled overhead, causing Zachary’s heart to reflexively seize with fear.

The cell phone’s alarm went off again, buzzing as its vibrate feature hummed to life.

Get to land.

“I don’t think I can make it. That thing’s waiting for me.”

Zachary turned to look again. It moved, but seemed to be searching for something. Three figures were approaching. It was difficult to see through the thick curtain of rain, but their flashlights clearly marked them as three dangerous blips on the road.

You’ve got to run. I can’t help if you stay on the glass.

“They have guns Bee. If they start shooting--” Zachary was interrupted by the phone’s sudden vibration. He could feel Bee’s electric impatience tickling through the device.

I won’t let them get you. I can do this. Trust me.

Zachary only had a moment to read before the screen flashed a bright white, then suddenly cut to black. He knew Bee had left him. There was no time to argue. He was afraid to look around the corner and see how close the figures were now. So he didn’t. Instead, he ran.

Pushing away from the jeep’s wreckage Zachary tried his best to keep hidden in the shadow of the overturned vehicle. He felt his boots struggle to find traction against the surface of the bridge. It was hard to walk, harder to run, but somewhere between he found a balance.

Thirty yards. Light flickered from behind, focused on him. Men were yelling, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying over the roar of his heart pounding in his ears. Each wet slap of his boot against the ground felt more unsteady than the last.

Twenty yards. Gunfire. Someone behind him was firing single rounds. A bullet ricocheted nearby. Another struck the glass floor with a wet tink. After the third he felt his leg give way suddenly, as though it couldn’t hold the weight of his body any longer. Zachary hit the ground hard, sliding forward across a slick pane of glass.

Ten yards. Looking down through the glass bridge he could see the lake below, calm and untouched by rainfall. It was dark blue and seemed so pure. Unlike the rainwater that pooled around him, clouded in blood. He tried to crawl but could find no grip. His right leg could move, but the hole just above the ankle told a primal part of his brain that he wouldn’t be running anywhere. Somewhere in the distance, a tremendous boom cracked through the sky.

The sky flashed brilliantly. Zachary had never seen anything like it before. Streaks of white jetting through the clouds. It reminded him of those science shows he used to watch before everything had become so damn hard. The synapses of a mind, lighting up. Memories. Motion. The human will at work.

Stubbornly, he forced himself to his hands and knees. The pain was immense. He could hear footsteps splashing nearby in the water. Three men, their attire an ironic mix of weapons and Federation EMT attire. Ammunition bandoleers slung over the protective cross that once signified help. First responders of violence.

“You think you’re pretty fuckin clever, don’t ya?” said one, stepping ahead of the others with machete in hand. “Where’s the rest of your group?”

Zachary was about to answer when he felt it. The pull of static across his arm. The others must have noticed the feeling as well, as they paused to turn to each other in confusion.

A single white bolt of lightning tore from the sky. The first man was struck with enough force to rip him from the bridge. Ammunition kept across his body violently exploded into bursts of shrapnel, pulping his corpse into a cloud of red. Then, like a wave, the light ripped across the bridge.

Jagged arcs of lightning sunk into the other two raiders like the teeth of a predator, scorching their bodies while fusing their flesh and cloth into a blackened coal. Glass panels cracked or shattered as strands of light streaked across the bridge, rising like a chorus into a single crackling scream.

The bolt of lightning ricocheted across Faith’s Highway until reaching its destination. At the far end of the bridge the tank twitched for a moment, metal plated armor turning white with heat before sinking to the ground unceremoniously.

Zachary blinked. It had only taken a second. It felt like an eternity had passed.

Using the knife at his side he cut a strip of cloth from his jacket, tying a hard knot around his leg wound. He crawled to the edge of the bridge. Slow agonizing movements that made him want to cry.

“Bee! Coulda used some warning there, buddy!”

He called out into the dark. Ears ringing, eyes still trying to blink away the white glare of light that had undoubtedly saved his life, his hand finally found a grip on pavement. The glass floor came to a sudden end.

“Bee. You did it.” Zachary didn’t try hold back the relief in his voice. “That’s it. It’s over.”

The town ahead was dark, and no doubt looted. But maybe something had been left behind. He had been lucky in the past. There was a long crawl ahead, but it was one he didn’t have to make alone. Already the rainstorm had begun to subside. Clouds above had slowly begun to disperse.

Zachary checked his phone. The black screen stared back at him quietly. Raindrops ran across its surface. Unpredictable streams of water, flowing down into his hand.

“Bee?”

He held the phone up to the night sky as long as he could. Cold and shivering in the dark, Zachary began the slow crawl into the abandoned town, stopping only to check his phone for a sign of his friend.