Hours later, the firestorm had finally passed.
The sky above the city was an ashen gray, heavy with smoke and soot.
Clouds of it still curled lazily through the streets, the scent of burning flesh and ruin soaked into every breath.
Buildings stood like blackened husks, windows shattered, steel warped, concrete charred and crumbling.
Trees had become skeletal fingers clawing at the sky, some had even turned to dusk.
The world outside the community center was no longer a place for the living.
Inside, only silence reigned.
The barrier had held, both the building and the it's occupants had survived the dreadful ordeal.
Its glow had faded to a pale shimmer, flickering weakly like a dying ember. Cracks had spread along the walls where the worst of the heat had struck.
The protective seal from Caocao was intact, but soon cracks had started to appear . One more hour, perhaps, and it would have collapsed.
