Ultimate Corruption Chapter Two

The aftershock of the earthquake continued for two minutes. To me and Iris it seemed liked a lifetime after all we’d been through.The dirty place place we lived in seemed more unstable than it was before. Iris was crying after it all happened.

“Iris it’s ok now, it’s all over, we’re alright, you see?” I console her.

“I know but I’m afraid there’ll be more.”

I got up and looked around the house, and spotted cracks all over the walls. “Iris we gotta get out of here. The house is too unstable.”

Iris was still in shock, so I went over and picked her up, and looked for way out. I found an exit where the door of the house used to be. Suddenly a loud screech went through the walls of the old dirty house.

“Oh no! the house is about to collapse!” I exclaimed.

“Please don’t let me die, Eric...” Iris continued to cry.

I ran to the door, and leaped with Iris. Just afterwards, the whole house collapsed. “Are you ok, Iris?” I asked. Yes, I was fussing a bit, but Iris was my responsibility. I had to keep her safe… for Mom and Dad’s sake, and my own.

“My elbows and legs feel like they’re burning off,” Iris said with a grimace. They were scraped and bleeding, but not too bad.

“You’re ok, Iris, you gotta keep it together, now get up,” I said calmly. He pulled his sister off the ground.

We stood up and saw all the devastation that happened after the earthquake.

Houses collapsed, trees toppled, innocent people injured from the earthquake engineered by President Sawk and his government.

“What do we do now brother?” asked Iris.

“We help out the people injured by this menace, and make President Sawk pay.”

We walked over to the first person I saw, and helped him out.

To my surprise, it was Uncle Roger, grimacing in pain.

“Uncle Roger?” Iris asked in a weak voice. Uncle Roger coughs.

“I-Iris? Eric? I thought you two had died a long time ago.” I gave him a warning look, hoping he wouldn’t say anything about Mom and Dad’s death. It was so not the right time.

“Nope,” I said, “Still here.” Roger smiles weakly, then grimaces.

“Ah, my head,” he groans softly. A bruise the size of a goose egg was blooming like a flower on his head.

“You have a bruise,” Iris noted unhelpfully. Roger swallows hard.

“Some water would be grand right now.” I scoop up a handful of melting snow and hand it to him. He shoves the icy, dripping mess into his mouth. Then I take a handful for Iris and myself. The snow, although dirty and brown, tastes like heaven, and I find myself seeing clearer after - eating? drinking? - consuming it. I look up.

“So what now?” I ask weakly. “We have no house, no food…” My words are left to linger in space for a moment before a mreply comes to mind. We bury our heads in the snow and die. My brain can be very unhelpful sometimes.

“I guess you guys can come hang out with me at my house - that is, if it’s not destroyed."