Page 32 of Guardian's Heart

I grabbed Nova's hand and pulled her toward the others with me.

"I'm perfectly able to run by myself," she scorned, shaking her hand free, and despite being mad at her, her rejection stung. Part of me wanted to lift her into my arms and run, carrying her to the ship. Only the thought of the others and my ingrained sense of responsibility stopped me from doing so.

"Fine, that way." I pointed forward and to my right. To the rest of the group, I commanded, "Stay right behind us."

We made it three houses further before a group of Mmuhr'Rhongs rushed us from the right. Nova had already opened fire when I instructed Nock to take the humans forward to the next house and wait there.

NOVA

TheseMorlocks, as I called them, because they looked exactly like the creatures from the oldTime Machinemovie, were as bountiful here as they had been in my nightmares. I watched the movie one night at a friend's house and that had been enough to fuel my imagination for a long time. Nights in the Louisiana swamps could be terrifying enough without adding fuel from nightmares. But as petrifying as the monsters had been in my dreams and imagination, the reality was so much worse, even with a powerful blaster and Zaarek at my side. Just the thought of those teeth getting a hold of me made me pull the trigger faster. There were so many of them that missing wasn't a worry, and that made it all the more frightening.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Nock leading the other humans to a house ahead of us while Zaarek and I cleaned up as many threats as possible, keeping our rear clear. I thanked Daddy for the relentless shooting lessons in the swamp. Never had I thought I would ever get to use them against anythingother than a gator. Maybe a cottontail or coral snake, but not monsters from a movie or aliens.

As soon as Nock and his group advanced to the next house ahead of us, Zaarek and I followed, but theMorlockswere unending; their screeches echoed through the narrow alleyways as they closed in on us.

House by house, we kept moving toward the spaceport, where we would be out in the open, and I hoped Zaarek had a plan because I had no idea. No lights came from the egg houses around us, not even a sound. I was sure the people inside had to know we were fighting for our lives out here. But none made a move to help us.

I wasn't sure why Zaarek kept us moving instead of finding refuge in one or why we had left the hotel or whatever that place was. But for once, I decided to trust him. This was his home turf, not mine.

We kept on blasting the damnMorlocks,who seemed to multiply, emerging from hidden corners and dark crevices. Their glowing, bright eyes illuminated their terrifying faces and bored into mine with a ferocity that sent shivers down my spine. Everything was happening so fast that I wasn't even that scared, too focused on taking another one down and another.

The alleyway felt like a never-ending labyrinth of danger and death, but stubbornly, we kept forging forward.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we emerged from the dark alleyway into the open expanse of the spaceport.

The chaotic bustle of ships coming and going illuminated the tarmac. Had I been able to think about anything other than the manyMorlocksstill coming, I might have admired the incredible sight of actual freaking spaceships, one looking different from the other.

"Which one?" Nock called.

"To the left!" Zaarek yelled, blasting anotherMorlock.Thankfully, they weren't very fast, and far enough from us to spare us being rained on by their bits and pieces, at least for the most part.

In the light, theMorlockslooked even more chilling. No matter how many we killed, their numbers never seemed to diminish, and I was beginning to fear we wouldn't make it.

"Promise me something," I yelled at Zaarek.

He threw me a quick, incredulous look, as if to say,I can't believe you're talking right now, but I had to get it out of me.

"Don't let them eat me; shoot me first," I pleaded.

"Oh, for the love of the stars," Zaarek cursed. "Nock, the black ship." Zaarek pointed, shooting anotherMorlocks."Focus on what you're doing, and don't talk foolish nonsense, female."

Focus on what you're doing, and don't talk foolish nonsense, female.I replayed his words in my mind in falsetto. I would have rolled my eyes, but I needed them trained on theMorlocks.

Zaarek yelled into his tablet, phone, whatever it was and a narrow gap opened from the spaceship, extending an also narrow gangway.

By now, more people at the spaceport had noticed theMorlocks.Cries rang out, and several aliens were pushing forward, blasters leveled, taking the monsters out. Hope flared inside my chest.

As if from a distance, I heard the stomping of naked feet on metal as my fellow ex-prisoners made their way up the plank. Just as I was ready to believe we would get away, the biggestMorlockI had seen so far separated himself from the others. Roaring, he charged straight for me.

"Nova!" Zaarek shouted in warning, firing his blaster, but instead of evaporating in a cloud of gore, that one kept barreling forward.

"Down!" Zaarek shouted at me.

I wasn't going to do that though. I would look death right in the eyes. I shot my blaster again and again, just like Zaarek. The beast was bleeding profusely, with thick, black blood that reminded me of oil or slime. Had he not been bleeding, I was sure he would have looked like a sieve.

With a curse and a cry of pain, Zaarek tackled me to the ground just as theMorlockreached me, clawing his back instead of me. Still, I could have sworn I felt a stinging pain down my shoulder blades.

With him lying on top of me, we were both unable to do anything, but it was Zaarek who was taking the brunt of theMorlock'sanger as it tried to get to me.

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