Destiny

[jammi]

He lingered, probably weighing up risks and possibilities. As a show of good faith I went back to clearing smaller pieces of ruin, the glass tucked into my sleeve. I sifted away some sludgy ash and came across a metal surface the safe. I scrabbled away at the surface, clearing an area about two hands wide. Heavier rocks covered the rest.

Ive found it! Its here! Harman jumped forward to peer over my shoulder, shining a small torch down to the cleared area. The safes dulled and pitted surface was clear to the eye in the beam of light.

Well dig it out then! I made a show of trying to tug one of the larger and less glass-covered pieces of masonry off the safe, before giving up with a theatrical shrug of my shoulders.

I cant budge the rest its too heavy. Harman fidgeted for a moment before jumping forward to help heave rocks away. I grinned to myself. Greed was such a burden.

If you try anything Steven, Ill shoot you. Im not afraid to use this you know! he threatened, waving his pistol at me melodramatically before leaning forward to heave at a larger rock. I slowly worked at the glass in my sleeve in a way that Harman wouldnt notice.

After several minuets sifting away the mud, I had the glass in my palm. It was sharp all over if I stabbed Harman, no doubt it would slash open a wound in my own hand. I cursed my own stupidity and cast around for an alternative. My fingertips brushed against a small lump of brick. Something was protruding from it; possibly a nail.

I grasped it tightly, watching Harman from the corner of my eye. He had succeeded in rolling away a large boulder of wreckage which had masked the safes entrance, which looked slightly warped, probably by immense heat and pressure. Harman was staring at it fixedly. I raised the brick above my head, bracing myself to bring it down on Harmans skull, but then he turned.

With a scream of terror he brought the weapon to bear as the stone came crashing down, the thud and wet smash of the stone dulled by the drumming of the rain and the single sharp discharge of a laser weapon.

I fell backwards stunned. Pain blossomed throughout my body, darkness flooding my vision. I dropped to my knees, staring blankly at the squat form of the safe, which I had fallen protecting. Had it been worth it? The darkness overtook me and I fell forward into the mud, the bleak moon my only witness.

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