One leg was harder to walk on than I'd imagined.
I stumbled, caught my balance, and forced myself through the pain of the prosthetic grinding against bone until I finally reached the man's back.
After this, all I had to do was tear the explosive out of his hands.
I drew a deep breath, closed in, and was just reaching for the package.
Then Willow tossed a watermelon rind down from the VIP floor above.
“Oops, sorry, wrong throw!”
She laughed and turned to leave.
The rind smacked into my head, and it startled the man.
His eyes went bloodshot. He seized my wrist and wrenched it hard backward.
“Crack!”
The sound of bone snapping reached me, and the pain convulsed through my whole body.
Someone in the crowd noticed something was wrong.
The man's face twisted, savage, and he ripped the explosive charge wide open.
“I'm going to blow you all up!”
“Your airline killed my daughter and my wife!”
His fury tore through the airport.
The crowd scattered in an instant.
I was shoved to the ground, still clutching the man's explosive charge.
He glared at me, vicious, and drove his foot into my face.
“Thud, thud, thud!”
The burning sting spread across my face. I clenched my teeth, my mouth full of blood, and didn't let go.
“You won't let go?!”
“Then we die together!”
The man snarled and pressed the detonator.
“Beep. Beep. Beep!”
The explosive's countdown ticked off the seconds in my ear.
Like death's claws, closing in inch by inch.
As the last beeps sounded, the man suddenly changed his mind.
He threw down the charge and ran, wild with panic.
The black explosive charge dropped fully into my hands.
I opened my blood-smeared eyes and saw the fear and panic on every face.
Without a second of hesitation, I pressed the charge tight beneath my body.
Trying to take the worst of the blast with my own body.
Faintly, I heard a few gentle voices calling.
It was the family in that other world, the ones who loved me, waiting for me.
I closed my eyes with a smile on my lips.
I heard the explosive's beeping stop.
The charge beneath me went off with a roar.
……
The blast was so huge the airport building shook for a few seconds.
In the VIP lounge, the Sinclairs held Willow tight against them.
A few seconds later, they heard someone screaming.
“The bomb went off!”
“Someone's trying to blow up the airport!”
They rushed out the door, about to make for the emergency stairs.
Then, again, they heard it.
“That poor girl, one leg gone, and she still held that bomb tight against her chest.”
“Her body, it's been blown to pieces……”
The stranger's words froze every one of the Sinclairs.
Adrian, the eldest, frowned and sneered.
“One leg gone? Zelda, holding a bomb? How is that possible?!”
Julian, the second son, let out a faint laugh.
“This jealous little act is really convincing this time. She found some decent extras!”
Their parents said nothing, keeping Willow carefully shielded.
“Five minutes are up. If Zelda still won't come, then let's go!”
“She needs to be taught a lesson!”
They finished and walked off without a care.
But just then, all of their phones rang at once.
Faces exactly like their own, their future selves, howling in agony.
Every pore radiating regret and despair.
“Go stop Zelda, now!”
“Don't let her hold that bomb and kill herself!!”
