After a moment of thought, Alex abruptly breaks the silence with rushed words. "Well, Lovia, it's been fun, but Jack and I have to go!" Then he swivels on the ball of his foot and starts speedwalking away. Jack, confused but loyal, follows him across the filthy room.
Lovia pauses for a moment before throwing her head back and uproariously cackling, spittle flying out of her mouth. "You're in a rush!" A few homeless people are disturbed by her laughter, but she ignores their annoyed glares and shouts after Alex just before he reaches the exit. "It's called the Harrow Bridge, directly south of LT Tower! Try not to die!"
Alex waves without looking back and disappears through the doorway, a bandaged Jack in tow.
Lovia's laughter dwindles off soon after, and she heaves a deep sigh. If she were younger, she probably would've helped more, but time is cruel, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. She's no longer fit enough to help with such physical things. The best thing an elder like her can do now is offer advice.
Of course, if she were the type to have good advice, she wouldn't be homeless... or looking after a brat like Alex. So, the actual best she can do is laugh off the worry and watch from afar.
***
Alex starts running the moment he steps out of the doorway. This surprises Jack, and he doesn't start running until after a moment, struggling to catch up.
"Why are we leaving!?" He hollers while chasing Alex through the dingy streets between unfinished buildings.
Alex huffs as he looks back at Jack, "Because if the tremors stopped, the fight is over! And I don't want to meet the winner!"
This decision was made in a split second, but Alex stands by it. The reason is simply paranoia. If the creature managed to defeat Silas, then it will no doubt come after Alex next, so it's best to start running now. Although Alex thinks Silas is more likely to win, the fight could still go either way, and he doesn't want to bet his life on Silas winning.
Jack understands Alex's meaning in an instant, and it fills him with a sense of urgency, pushing him to run faster. After all, he doesn't want to gamble his life either.
Despite this, an overwhelming optimism drowns out his worry. Whether it's his innate nature or the way he was raised, Jack tends to look on the bright side of things.
For the first time tonight, they have an actual concrete plan and the means to pull it off. Getting to the bridge will be difficult, but there's a solid chance they can do it. Not only that, but a potential ally has also appeared, and there's a good chance he's beaten the monster already!
Obviously, Jack's also going to play it safe and escape with Alex, but he wouldn't be surprised if they met a victorious Silas along the way. After all, they've both gone through so much tonight. They've withstood explosions, fires, chases, and more; doesn't that count for something? Surely they've earned their good ending!
Unfortunately, life is neither easy nor fair, and fate loves its cruel ironies.
Just as Jack has those thoughts, a loud, ominous groan echoes throughout Tetanus Town. Like an inhuman titan breathing its last, the groan settles deep within Jack's bones and leaves him with a feeling of foreboding.
Numerous homeless people are startled awake by the groan, and they turn their heads in confusion, looking for the source. Alex's pace slows slightly as he also tries to locate it.
Another groan echoes out. This one is louder and more inhuman, sharper and faster too. Instead of a dying behemoth, now it sounds like a bar of steel, being bent to the point of nearly snapping. The light sleepers in the apartments surrounding Tetanus Town are jolted awake by the sound, and the residents of the makeshift community are filled with an overwhelming tension.
For a moment that feels like eternity, an eerie silence pervades Tetanus Town. Everyone is wary, and everyone is trying to find out what's going on. Finally, a shrill, ear-piercing scream cuts through the tension. "The tower!"
Instantly, everyone in earshot, including Alex and Jack, turn their gazes onto the only tower in Tetanus Town.
The Tower of Rust, a ten-story steel building frame that towers over the block, has stood for years, slowly accumulating rust, but now, it's starting to lean. This landmark of the community, an unfinished skyscraper's frame, rusted to the point that it turns blood red in the sunset, is finally beginning to collapse under its own weight. And it's set to fall directly on Alex and Jack.
The sight is so stunning that Alex is dazed to the point of walking instead of running. He stares at the Tower of Rust as it picks up speed, the wind starting to whistle around it. Y-you've gotta be kidding me. A loud crash jolts him out of his trance as the tower base's steel beams start to snap under the immense pressure, causing the Tower of Rust to fall even faster.
Back to his senses, Alex starts to sprint perpendicularly away. His raincoat flaps in the wind as his legs burn. Despite having spent some time with Lovia, neither he nor Jack have recovered, so just running drains their stamina immensely.
Despite this, Alex grits his teeth as he glances at the rusted steel frame, sprinting even faster. It's incredibly large, so it gives off the illusion of falling slowly. However, with the speed at which it's falling, it's nearly impossible to escape in time. A direct hit by one of the steel beams could instantly kill a person.
The Tower of Rust is like a clock hand pointing at one, and every moment it moves farther down, getting faster and faster. The steel frame has been able to barely hold its shape so far, but soon, it won't be able to handle the stress and completely snap, breaking apart into large sections.
Everyone in Tetanus Town is awake and panicking now. Like ants avoiding a foot, they scramble to escape the fallout of the collapsing tower, screaming and hollering in fear at the same time. Some desperately run away like Jack and Alex, trying to get outside of the impact zone. Others crouch and hide in buildings or behind rubble, hoping against hope that their makeshift shelters will shield them. And a few are frozen, unable to form a proper thought or follow their survival instincts out of sheer shock and fear of death.
"Y'know!" Alex glances back at Jack as the two run away. He tries to put on a smile, but he can't bring himself to it. They're both sprinting as fast as they physically can, but they're still on track to be in the tower's landing zone. "There's actually…" The piercing snapping of metal bursts through the air as one beam breaks after another, the Tower of Rust crumbling into room-sized pieces. The tower's collapse is so rapid that multiple developments can occur in one sentence.
"...a betting pool…" One collection of warped steel beams plummets to the ground and decimates an unfinished building, sending concrete chunks and dust flying. Alex stumbles as the shockwave of another nearby falling beam cluster nearly throws him off balance. "...over when…" A cloud of dust and concrete chunks follows the shockwave and completely engulfs the two, leaving them blind and forcing dust into their lungs.
Alex wheezes, "...the Tower of Rust will fall!" A massive group of steel beams, the size of a small house, whistles through the air and impacts mere feet away from Alex, knocking him off his feet and scraping across the ground. His ears ring, and he gasps for breath, inhaling dangerous amounts of dust. Behind him, Jack is still struggling to recover from the shockwave.
"I lost!" Alex wheezes and laughs as, finally, only a few seconds after it started, the bulk of the Tower of Rust, a massive section taking up the two top floors, slams into the ground, directly over Alex and Jack, with a thunderous crash. It completely crushes the crumbling buildings in its impact zone, and dust explodes out from beneath it, flooding several streets. Rocks and debris shoot out in every direction, peppering the surroundings with indiscriminate shrapnel.
The shockwave from the many tons of steel crashing into the ground spreads out from Tetanus Town and rattles the buildings within. The particularly weak and decrepit ones collapse, burying the unfortunate few hiding within them, while the large ones tremble.
By some miracle, the steel beams miss Alex and Jack, who are still lying on the ground. Their position is a blessing in disguise because it makes them a smaller target for the flying shrapnel. Instead of being pelted by debris from multiple sides, the rocks and scrap fly over, missing them completely, only a few landing on top of them or punching into their sides.
After a second or two, all the debris lands, but the dust clouds remain thick in the air. If Alex were in the state to check, he would barely see his own hand, and only Jack's vague silhouette could be made out a few feet away.
Alex remains lying on the ground for a few minutes. He can't stand because his entire body is trembling from exhaustion, shock, and the reverberation of multiple shockwaves. He gasps over and over, pulling large amounts of air and dust into his lungs, the tiny particles scraping his throat.
Deep within the dust clouds, there is screaming, sobbing, and cries of pain. Large steel beams impale the ground, and entire buildings have been demolished by the impact of the Tower of Rust. A ragged old man drags his bloody, limp leg out from beneath rubble, a filthy man in rags groans on the ground, a trail of crimson liquid leading to him. A woman trapped in a collapsed building cries out for help, and scenes like these repeat all across Tetanus Town.
Despite this, there are few deaths. There are lots of injuries, ranging from minor to crippling, but only a small fraction of the Tetanus Town residents have died from the Tower of Rust's collapse.
This is to be expected. After all, the Tower of Rust is just the framework of a skyscraper, not even at its full intended height. Unless someone were hit directly by it, its fall wouldn't kill a person. The immense dust will cause health issues, and the shrapnel will cause injuries, but there are very few truly deadly things about the fall. Only those who were hit directly, are already severely frail, or are incredibly unlucky have died; the rest can live on.
So, in the end, the Tower of Rust's collapse cannot be considered a true attempt on Alex's life.
A pair of terrifying pupils, like molten metal formed into eyes, pierce through the dust and instantly lock onto Alex's prone form. A snarl, like the shearing of metal, surrounds him.
It should be considered a smokescreen.