Nobody Gives a Courier the Right of Way

Sirens, waves, metal, footsteps - all of it became colored lines in the air, threaded into patterns only he could see. He reached for a little girl who had fallen, and the instant his hand touched her shoulder, the world seemed to pause. He saw rings of fine patterns floating in the air. Vibrations. Blue fractures. A map drawn in motion. The truck hit the crane base. Boom. The crane arm above him snapped loose. Noah only had time to shove the girl clear before something invisible tore through his chest and hurled him upward. It felt as if a hundred drumsticks had slammed into his ribs at once. His hearing vanished behind a white-hot buzz, and his vision shattered. When he opened his eyes again, the world was terrifyingly quiet.