#84

The foursome of You, Susie, Klaus, and Mark is now at street level. The sound of alert beacons hasn't stopped. Nor has the rain of falling fire or building-chunks. This was a pretty nice place before everything exploded. Now the streets are empty—even of corpses. Which, You has to admit, is quite the good thing.

Susie is standing at the back of the group with Mark. You watches the two of them; they seem to be chatting. About what, You doesn't know; but Susie does seem to mention the title of a few books that she's read, and Mark seems to recognize them. They're obscure books, You knows. What You doesn't know is if You's jealous about the two suddenly bonding. But that's because You is starting to see Susie in a different light; after such a long journey, You's idealized her a lot. And that's not a good thing, You realizes.

It doesn't matter now.

Much of the streets ahead are walled off by fallen buildings, so the routes you'll have to take will be limited. The foursome wanders around for a good span of time, trying to find an exit from the city. The side with the White Tower on it is walled off, so that won't do you any good.

You, at the head of the group, keeps an eye open for any enemies that might cross your path. However, it's Susie who suddenly yanks you all down into one of the ditches now cut open in the street. She says nothing, but in moments You sees what she was referring to. Two of those Ultramarine Guards run out, with a soldier behind them. Only one of them is armed, and that's one of the Guards.

“...see it? Did you see it?!” the soldier is saying.

“Calm down,” one of the Guards replies. “I think the coast is clear.”

Did they see Your party?

There's silence as they look about. No one among you dares to breathe. They're all thinking what You thought.

The three continue to look about, but You observes something in the soldier's face. It looks like...panic? Why would they be panicked, if they're the ones in charge of all this? And why would he look so concerned over just You?

“Look out!”

Suddenly, over a pile of rubble, another Guard, this one clad in maroon, lunges over. Unlike the Ultramarine set, this one has no skin exposed. And, as someone else has discovered recently, it has no visor on its helmet. Armed with a bladed spear, it looks intimidating—even to the Guards. But it's an Imperial unit, right...?

The armed Guard goes for his gun, but he doesn't get to fire a shot before that spear knocks it out of his hands. He gives a short cry before the spear twirls around, slashing across his face—and cutting his throat. He chokes and gags on his own blood before a flying kick knocks him backwards. Blood splashes everywhere, and You hears Mark cry out; fortunately, this goes unheard.

The second Guard pulls out an official-looking dagger and tries to go after his red counterpart. However, as he swings his knife hand, the spear goes for it, and...the hand flies off. The Guard begins screaming as blood sprays in a crimson arc out into the air, and now the soldier is screaming as well. With one horribly graceful movement, the red guard stabs outward and impales the blue one, lifting him into the air. He immediately goes into a bizarre pirouette, flinging the body of the blue-garbed man down the road, while also bringing another arc around; the back blade slashes through the soldier's side. His screams stop as he crumples to the pavement, and with a hand briefly going towards his open wound, he collapses and exhales sharply.

You tries Your best to stifle Your now-harsh breathing, as do the others. The red-garbed figure raises his pike vertically and lets it slip through his fingers. It makes a distinct clanging sound as the tip raps against the street's surface. Just then, You swears You hears a similar sound rising from other parts of the city. A signal of some kind?

The guard then freezes, standing there, gazing off into the distance as if awaiting further orders.

Needless to say, this is incredibly bad for Your group. You can't go out there with him—or it—in the way. And You doesn't know if Your laser pike or any of Your other weapons will do any good. That's when You remembers, however—back at the airport, there were those crates of Tommy guns that the Fennec Gang was using. If You could make it there, then You could use them against this thing—or these things, if there are more than one, which You has reason to believe. But there's nowhere to sneak away—You's stuck here, for now.

Hours pass, then, and the guard doesn't move.

You looks over at Your group. They look severely concerned, and none of you have stopped sweating since this thing appeared. You leans into them and tries to speak as quietly as You can.

“Try getting some sleep.”

They look at You as if You's the world's dumbest idiot, and speaking frankly, for an idea like that, You kind of is. “I'll keep watch over him.”

Susie quietly nods, and when he observes this, Mark nods as well. They lean back into the ditch and try not to make a sound, and Klaus does likewise. Which is odd for You; Klaus doesn't really need to sleep, You figured. But You wouldn't trust him to keep watch. Still, he'll be the first person You'll wake up in case of an emergency.

Above You, through the thick layer of fuel-smoke settling over the city, the sun sets; and as it does, the guard still doesn't move an inch.