"... Olivia?" I whispered.
"Nggh… I'm… I'm here, my Lord," she groaned, her voice coming from above me.
It was completely dark so the only thing I could see was inky blackness.
"What happened?" I asked.
"An attack, my Lord… I… Forgive me… For allowing this to happen to you… Under my watch as well… I know I am not fit to be a Guardian… Yet I still… I still…"
I was a little surprised that she was reacting like this but I recognised that she was on a spiral right now and I had to stop her before she went too far.
"Olivia. Stop it," I ordered, reaching out my hand to feel for her head.
I felt her hair brushing against my fingers and I managed to find her head using her hair as a guide.
I brushed my hand against her head, "This is no fault of yours and you have protected me here properly, didn't you? Let's focus on what is happening right now, ok?"
She quietened down before I felt her head nod, "I understand, my Lord."
"Are you able to get up?"
There was a pause before she spoke again, "There's something pressing down on my back… I'm afraid that if I were to move, it might fall on top of you, my Lord…"
I managed to reach my hand inside my pocket and pulled out my phone which was thankfully undamaged despite everything.
I tapped on the screen and a source of light illuminated the space around me.
I realised that Olivia was quite literally on top of me in a sort of push up position. She even made sure that she wasn't laying directly on top of me and that there was still some space between us.
Pushing down on her was the car that we had been riding in and also what looked like a part of the ceiling that had fallen on top of her after the blast.
I'm guessing the explosion must have knocked down some pillars which caused a part of the ceiling to come falling down on top of us as well.
I grimaced at the thought of the other people that had been escorting us, wondering if they were ok.
Quickly turning on my phone's flashlight function, I left it by my side to still give us some form of illumination before I reached forward to place my palms on the car that was pressing down on her back.
I then pulled back my legs into a sort of crouch position underneath me so that I was in position to jump up if I have to.
"I have it… We'll push up together and get ourselves out," I told her.
"Are… Are you sure, my Lord? This thing is heavy…"
"It's a car and some rubble. Did you forget part of my awakened ability is enhanced strength? I matched you blow for blow during our spar so if you are able to withstand this weight, I should be able to do the same."
"Ah… Yes, my Lord."
Yeah… I think she actually forgot that I had enhanced strength.
"On my count. Ready?" I asked her.
She nodded, lowering herself slightly in preparation to push up.
"One… Two… Three!"
I heaved against the weight of the car and rubble while Olivia pushed backwards, the both of us lifting the entire thing off her back and standing back upright.
The debris and the car dropped onto the ground with a loud crash, revealing the carnage that had been a result of the explosion.
Several other cars had been flipped on its side and parts of the ceiling had also crashed down around us. There was fire still burning in some places while the water sprinkler system was activated and the sound of an alarm ringing in the background.
I immediately tried to look for survivors, finding some of the suit-wearing people sprawled out on the ground nearby.
There were others that were no doubt buried under the rubble but I tried not to think about it and focused on those who were still able to be saved.
Most of them were unconscious while a few were able to get themselves back on their feet after I got to them.
"Olivia… Find me an exit," I ordered, lifting up the fifth unconscious guy to carry on my back.
Olivia herself was carrying at least ten people on her own, some of them draped on her shoulder while a few were slung underneath her arm like they were sacks of potatoes.
She obeyed and used her towering height to look over the debris around us until she nodded in the direction behind me.
"Over there, my Lord. That place looks clear enough to move through."
"Lead the way, everyone else, move between me and her. Call out if you see or hear anyone else that needs help."
As much as I would like to stay and look for more people to save, I don't know if the entire building might come down on us right now. That's why I decided that it would be a better idea to get everyone that I've gathered so far out of here first and assess the situation again before deciding if I should continue rescuing people.
I made sure the people in between us were following along ok as Olivia led the way towards the exit she found.
We ended up needing to leave through the carpark entrance and thankfully all of us managed to leave in one piece as smoke poured out after us.
There were people shouting and running on the streets, no doubt either passers-by who were nearby when the explosion happened or staff of the building that were in the midst of escaping.
Looking at the building itself, it looked like a part of it had sunk into the ground and some very obvious cracks had formed along the exterior walls.
If I am going by my gut feeling… I think the building might be in danger of collapsing.
I dropped the people I was carrying a safe distance away before turning to Olivia who was doing the same, "We need to get everyone out from there…"
Olivia frowned, "My Lord, you will not put yourself in danger for this. You are not invincible."
"I know that, but there's people still in there!"
"The emergency services will be arriving shortly, my Lord. They will handle this."
And as if on cue, someone flew overhead and landed right in front of us.
The first thing anyone will notice is that he was dressed completely in a white spandex suit with the only exception being his gloves and boots that were gold in colour. A white cape also billowed behind him and a white domino mask covered his face.
On his chest were the letters 'RV' that was encapsulated in an oval shield emblem.
"Have no fear! Captain RV is here! Is there anyone else inside the building?" He asked in a very self confident voice.
Right… He's one of those supposed 'superheroes'... Yeah, even our city has a few of these guys.
To be fair, I'm actually quite glad he showed up right now.
I pointed at the building, "Yes, there might still be some people in the basement carpark, that's where the explosion happened and they might still be buried under the rubble. The building might also be collapsing as well!"
He gave me a salute, "Thank you for the report, citizen! It's thanks to you that the world can be a safer place!"
Oh my god, so cringe… Just go…
He turned around and dashed towards the direction of the basement and I was just about to suggest that we should also help out in evacuating the others inside the building when I noticed one of the suit guys that had walked out with us reaching into his jacket to pull out a gun.
The world seemed to slow around me as I watched him point the gun towards me, the barrel of his gun aimed at my head.
I screamed at my body to move and the world returned to normal speed as I ducked my head right before he fired.
I felt the bullet pass above me and if I had just been a moment later, it might have pierced through my head.
Olivia reacted with surprising speed as she spun around and grabbed the guy with one hand before slamming him onto the ground with enough force to crack the pavement.
As though that was the cue, a few others of the suit guys also pulled out their guns and tried to aim at me.
The ones who did not saw this and quickly tackled their colleagues onto the ground, wrestling their weapons away from them.
One of them had been near me so I just went ahead to deliver an uppercut to his chin, knocking him up into the air before he fell back down in an unconscious heap.
What the fuck is going on here?!