Page 32 of Protected by the Alien Warrior Triad

Perhaps they can keep themin; even if just temporarily.

The periphery states, like Barl, are the poorest on the planet – and the poorest areas of Barl itself are on the edges of the city. I never thought I’d be so glad to be living in the poor outer sections of the city, but it’s a twist of fate that might have just saved our lives. Miraculously, we’re only three blocks away from those towering city walls; and the potential safety that lies beyond them.

I turn back to the devastated city and I feel a pang of guilt as I stare down at the streets below. I look in the direction of the chop-shop – watching a wave of Scorp warriors methodically scuttling towards it. I know Edgar is still holed up inside, clutching his rifle – but he’ll have no chance against that wave of deadly, monstrous warriors.

My heart tightens in my chest, but I know there’s nothing I can do. The man made his choice – and he did so knowing that this might be the end result.

I ask myself the same question he’d repeated so many times:

Where are the damn reinforcements from the Capital?

Leaving that mystery unsolved, our small group starts to make our way from building to building – climbing over the rooftops as fast as we can, before the Scorp can finally clamber up to the higher stories and corner us.

It’s a terrifying trip. At one point, Tod shrieks as a rotting piece of wood snaps beneath his nimble feet, but Darok snatches out his huge hand and grabs Tod’s arm before the boy can plummet to the streets below. Darok swings Tod to the safety of the next rooftop, while below us even more Scorp warriors flood the streets.

We’re trying to move fast, but also quietly – knowing that if the Scorp hear us, or look up, they’ll know where we are. Then the sheer mass of their numbers would overwhelm us, as they start clambering up towards the rooftops in all directions.

Ahead of us, a Scorp warriorhasmade its way to the rooftops – but before it can let out the terrifying scream and alert the others of its kind, Forn throws both of his twin daggers through the air – right into the Scorp’s glowing, red eyes.

The scuttling creature falls instantly, and Forn yanks his deadly weapons from its shattered skull. If nothing else, the Aurelians can certainly make short work of even these monstrous creatures.

But, once again, where the hell did they come from?

Don’t they know that Aurelians are banished from this sector? And have been for three decades? Don’t they know that if the Capital’s troops catch them, they’ll be executed, shot on sight, or worse?

Even if wedomake it out of Barl, I realize it’s going to be just the start of our problems.

We approach the towering walls. The city gates are supposed to have guards stationed there, with rifles – but they were either taken by the Scorp already, or abandoned their posts and fled the moment they saw the huge, organic ships plummeting down across the city.

I have the sickening suspicion it was the second option. Who could stand to defend themselves against such vicious creatures, when the freedom and safety of the empty plains beckoned just steps beyond the walls?

The Aurelians would stand and fight – that much they’ve proven to me already.

The walls of Barl are where the poorest of the poor live – who dwell in miserable shanty towns erected from scrap, right up against the city walls. Every few months the government comes and bulldozes the structures, but they’re generally rebuilt by the very next day.

There’s a certain irony to it. The poorest of the poor were treated like scum in Barl, and yet they were the only ones close enough to the city gates to escape the city.

As we reach the walls, I clamber down the side of the lopsided buildings, helping the four children as we descend.

They’re even more nimble than I am, but we still have to be careful to avoid falls and injuries. I still have my med pack, but supplies are dangerously low – and we’re running out of time.

Where do we even go once we escape? Aurelians are lucky if they aren’t killed on sight.

My gut is telling me to head towards the Capital. It’ll be the safest place for the children – but the most dangerous for the Aurelians. If a Capital patrol saw us as we approached…

…would the patrol wait long enough to let me explain that these Aurelians saved my life? The lives of the kids?

Or would they kill us all on sight?

The city walls now stand before us, eerily empty. I point through the southern gateway, not knowing where else to send us, and together our little group walks through the empty, swinging, totally unguarded city gates.

As we step outside the city limits, I think about what strange company we make: The burly, tattooed Aurelians – who can’t even speak their own damned language and are clad in loincloths, like a bunch of savages.

Then there are four dirty children, with scrapes on their knees and determination in their eyes.

Finally, there’s me – just a girl trying to keep my sanity in a world gone increasingly mad.

I take one last look behind me, nervous that Scorp warriors are in hot pursuit. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to the godsforsaken city – but it’s not just the Gods that have forsaken it now.

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