Jackson gawked as a girl entered the room. Her strawberry blonde hair was messy, her  jean pants ripped, and there were bruises and blood all over her. Not to mention the fact that she was limping. She looked exhausted.
He watched as the girl smiled at Mrs. Tuchtun and offered her gratitude. The girl looked around the room and for a split second, their eyes met. Then, she fainted.
When she fell, multiple kids gasped. Mrs. Tuchtun was pale. Not a minute later the intercom came on announcing that lockdown was over.
“Jackson,” Mrs. Tuchtun said shakily, “take this poor girl to the office. Call 911. She desperately needs a doctor.” Jackson stumbled forward, surprised his legs worked.
He picked up the girl and found her very light. He cradled the frail girl in his arms while someone opened the door for him. He rushed down the hall as fast as he could, not wanting to drop the girl in his arms.
He had a hazy memory of her. She was in his Science class. She sat in the back and almost never spoke. It took him a moment but he recalled her name was Anna. As he carried her to the office her tried to remember as much as he could about her.
She was a smarty, that was for sure, but she never rubbed it in people’s faces. He remembered that in Science someone announced her birthday was on Thursday. Was that yesterday Thursday, or next week Thursday? He couldn’t remember.
He reached the office doors and yanked them aside.
“Hello!” He called, “Anybody here? I need help!” A woman emerged from the back room, a look of surprise covering her face.
“Please help,” Jackson pleaded, “She needs a doctor ASAP.” The woman nodded and rushed to the nearest phone. Two minutes later he could hear sirens in the distance.
“Follow me,” The woman said to Jackson. He could feel Anna’s shallow breathing become rasps of air.
Please let her make it. He thought. The ambulance pulled up seconds later as they got outside. Jackson made his way to the open doors of the ambulance. One of the paramedics gestured toward Anna.
“May I?” He asked. Jackson nodded. He followed the paramedic as he put Anna into a gurney and lifted her into the truck.
“Hop in the back,” He said. Jackson gave him a bewildered look. “Just do it,”he ordered.
Jackson walked up to the front of the truck and climbed into the back of the truck. The paramedic who had helped Jackson with Anna climbed into the front and another man  pushed the pedal to the floor.
One of the others in the truck pressed a button and Jackson could faintly hear a siren. After about two minutes, one of the paramedics turned on the radio to smooth jazz. Jackson grinned as he watched the medical doctor rock out to his music.
Jackson looked out the window and saw a man in a black suit, with two henchmen behind him following in black attire. The man had a grim look on his face as his eyes followed the ambulance. Jackson noticed that the man had his shoulder wrapped in some kind of makeshift cloth. He imagined he must have hurt it.
As he watched, Jackson saw the man lift up his hand as say something. Jackson couldn’t make out the words. He was not a good lip reader. All of a sudden a green ball of flames lept from the man’s hand and hurtled towards the ambulance. His henchmen followed suit. They both brought up flames from their hands and flung them at the vehicle.
Jackson yelped as the green ball hit its mark and the car shook. The two others came right behind. The car swerved and hit a stop sign. Luckily, they were the only ones on the road. The paramedic who had carried Anna into the ambulance shouted out orders.
“Call the station!” He shouted to one. To the other he yelled to push the pedal harder. Then, he turned back to Jackson.
“Go check on your girl,” He ordered. His jaw was set in a determined line, and his eyes had a hard look in them. Jackson didn’t hesitate. He jumped the seat and pushed back the curtain to reveal Anna laying on the gurney.  Another shock jolted the car, and Jackson fell hard. The big shock startled Anna awake. Jackson heard her groan, reluctantly followed by her sitting up. She gazed around, mystified. When she caught sight of Jackson on his behind, she gave him a questioning look.
Another ball hit the car and Anna fell entirely off the gurney. The progress Jackson had made to get up was quickly diminished as he fell back to the ground again. The ambulance rocked and Jackson held his breath, hoping it wouldn’t tip over. But the vehicle kept going.
Anna turned to him.
“What was that?” She asked.
“Well…” Jackson answered. “I’m not so sure… Anyways you wouldn’t believe me if I did tell you.”
“Try me.”
Jackson exhaled. “Here it goes.” He started explaining what had happened from the time she passed out. Anna blushed when he told her he had carried her to the office. Her bright red cheeks were a beautiful contrast to her dark eyes.  Another sphere crashed into the car, jarring Jackson from his thoughts.
“And that brings us to now,” He finished. “Weird guys are shooting balls of flames at us with their hands.”
Anna’s face went pale.
“Not again,” She mumbled to herself.
“What?” he asked, although he had heard her perfectly. Had this happened to her before?
Anna tried to get up, but her face turned ashen and she swayed. Jackson jumped up and steadied her.
“Let’s take it slow for now, huh?” He grinned and Anna smiled back, a look of gratitude in her blue eyes.
“I need you to open the door,” Anna said.
“What?” He asked.
“I need you to open the door.” She repeated. Jackson gave her a strange look.
“You almost died, and you want to go out there and try it again?”
“Yup.”
“If you say so...” Reluctantly, Jackson moved toward the back door. He undid the latch slowly then backed away as the door flew open. Jackson looked out of the open doors. The truck was swerving down the road in a little neighborhood. Across the street, little kids were playing a game of four square. As the truck passed, they looked up, wonder filling their big eyes. Jackson kept looking around.
The car was still speeding down the road, but there were no strange men in sight. Jackson thought it was too much to hope they had left because they didn’t want to be late for dinner. Anna hobbled over to the open door and looked out with him. Jackson stared at her. Her sapphire blue eyes looked around intently as she surveyed the surroundings. Pieces of her hair flew to her face, but Anna didn’t bother pulling them back. The rest of her strawberry-blonde hair swayed across her back as she tilted her head this way and that.
Jackson was so lost in thought, that when Anna turned around he started. There was a hard look in her eyes, but they softened when they came across him.
“Grab my hand.” She said suddenly.
“Sorry, what?”
“Grab my hand.” She said again, more sternly. Jackson reached over and touched her soft hand. It was warm in his grip, not at all like his own sweaty hands. She said something under her breath and he felt his feet leave the floor. The truck door opened wider and Jackson saw the truck zoomed away without them, Jackson and Anna were suspended in midair.
He hated to admit it, but if this had happened yesterday, he would have been scared out of his wits. But, after all the events that had happened this morning, Jackson didn’t make a peep.
Anna started guiding them through the air towards the commotion. They turned a corner, and Jackson saw there weren’t just three people ambushing the vehicle. There were more.
Anna complained quietly.
“Okay, Plan B.” She pulled him away.
“Wait! What’s Plan B?” She didn’t answer him.
As they zipped through the city, Jackson tried to strike up some conversation.
“So… I’m Jackson…”
“Anna.” She said shortly, indicating she didn’t want to talk. A few minutes later they pulled up at the town hall.
“The Town Hall?” He asked. Anna strode forward and touched the trunk of a tree. A hole opened through the base, leading into a bright forest. Still holding his hand, Anna gently pulled Jackson through the tree and into the forest.
He stood there a moment, bewildered as a unicorn pranced past. Anna couldn’t help grinning.
“Welcome to Atanid, Jackson.”