I tried to swim out to the boat but only succeeded in sinking over and over. Even with all my strength I couldn’t get myself to do more than to bob a few inches off the sea bed. In defeat I returned to the shore, panting for breath. There was still the rest of the island and those on it to deal with. I just hoped the healer was on the island and not on the boat, otherwise the dead were going to stay dead.

I didn’t run back to the main campus. This time I moved more deliberately. There was no rush I didn’t want to risk missing anybody. As I came out onto the edge of the campus, I half expected to be hit by another rocket but nothing happened. I reached the Pinegree building and found the dead just as they had been left. I saw Penn still lying beneath the tree I’d knocked over on him. At first I thought he was dead but then noticed him struggling feebly.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked him, crouching down to look him in the eye.

He was covered in sweat and not fully cognizant of what was going on around him.

“Where is everyone else?” I repeated more slowly than before.

His eyes found mine but there was no recognition in his gaze.

“Retreat to…Cain Hall,” he stammered. “Airlift coming.”

I left him where he was and turned towards Cain Hall. It was then that I noticed the reinforced barriers that had been lowered over the doors and windows on the first floor. The second floor windows were similarly shielded but I didn’t think any of that would provide much resistance against me. As I got within sight of Cain Hall, however, I was struck by a rocket. Before I could recover I was hit again, and then again. The successive explosions tossed me back and I flailed in the air until I hit the ground. I rolled to the side, dodging the next barrage, and then leapt to my feet. On the roof of Cain Hall were a dozen people all armed with rocket launchers and they were taking it in turn to fire down at me to keep me from getting to them.

I ran, zigzagging as much as possible while all around me rockets exploded. About half of them hit me, knocking me back, but I was gaining ground. They must have had help reloading as well as a large stock of ammunition to keep up this rate of fire and I kept hoping they would run out of rockets.

Machine gun fire opened up on me from the third floor windows. The bullets didn’t hurt, but having so many of them striking my face was yet another distraction I didn’t need at the moment. Grenades started landing around me as well, further blasting me and my surroundings, further disorienting me.

By this time my ears were ringing so badly that it was all I could hear. Not even the noise of the explosions made much of an impression on me anymore. In some ways that was a relief. I dove over a grenade and dodged a rocket in the same motion. The kick of the explosions pushed me forward and I rolled before juking to the left. I ran forward again, dodged left, then right, and forward some more. I couldn’t let myself get into a pattern or else the people on the roof would be able to track me. I kept at least one of my hands in front of my face to shield it from the continued gun fire.

I had no idea how long it actually took me to reach the building. It could have been only a few moments but it felt like it took forever. I grabbed the barrier in front of the door and ripped it free. I had just a moment to see beyond before I noticed the small packages of explosives lining the inside of the doors.

The world went white and suddenly I wasn’t standing on solid ground anymore. I pinwheeled through the air, pain erupting from all over my body and for a long while I didn’t know what was going on around me. I tried to stand but staggered and fell. I crawled instead and tried to blink away the spots and shadows that were obscuring my vision. I tasted blood and felt like I was going to throw up. There were more explosions going on around me but I was honestly too shell shocked to notice them much. Only when they stopped did they finally become conspicuous. I tried to rise again but the pain was too much and I collapsed.

The next thing I was aware of was the dirt beneath my face and the metallic taste in my mouth. I spat out a large blood clot and slowly began to sit up. Everything ached especially my head, and I rolled over onto my back. Tattered branches that were completely bare of any leaves hung above me, many ending in splinters. The ground all around me was torn up and there were scars on the sides of the nearby buildings from where they’d been struck by shrapnel. There were no intact windows to be seen and bits of glass sparkled up from the ground.

With effort, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. I kept waiting for more explosions but none came. It was then that I realized it was passed sunset and the crimson sky was fading fast. I couldn’t quite recall what time it had been when I began my assault on Cane Hall but at least a few hours must have gone by. I looked up to the Cane Hall roof and saw no one up there.

Stumbling to my feet, I made my way shakily to the ruined front entrance of Cane Hall. It was silent inside. The ringing in my ears had thankfully gone by this time. I did a cursory search of each floor, all the way to the roof but found no sign of anyone. Returning outside I checked the Pinegree building and found it similarly empty. All the bodies were gone as well. It looked like my efforts didn’t accomplish much, if anything at all. Even Penn was gone.

I was too beat up, both physically and emotionally, to do much more than sit down and cry. I was alone, I had failed to prevent this large scale kidnapping of supers, and I had no way of contacting anyone. I just had to wait and hope someone would come for me.