Awakening The Warriors Read Online Free PDF

stopped just inside the doorway, blocking the exit.
    I whacked the closest on her shoulder with the butt of my gun. “What are you doing? Don’t stop.”
    â€œHurry,” Jerrell shouted. I turned round. He was standing to the side, peering down the corridor where we had just travelled.
    My spine turned into glue. Were we being followed? If so, we would be trapped in the crossfire from behind and above.
    I shrieked, “Stuff this, if you’re not going to move, we’ll go round you. Come on, Margaret.” Using my elbows like a battering ram, I propelled us forward, tugging the young girl behind me. “Jerrell, move your arse and get over here.”
    At the doorway, I cast a swift look outside. A sob strangled my throat as I took in the huddled bodies dotted here and there on the sandy ground. In the centre of the courtyard, Quain crouched, both hands firing weapons and aimed towards the courtyard walls. Doing what he could to protect the people racing for freedom.
    Sunlight glowed over his burnished skin and highlighted his rippling muscles as he twisted and turned, laying down a spread of covering fire. He reminded me of a bronzed effigy of a war-time hero and the sight seared into my heart for all time.
    I glanced over my shoulder at the four people bunched together, terror staring out of white rimmed eyes and I tried again. “If you stay here you’ll die. You must follow us.”
    One whimpered, another shook her head.
    Jerrell bounded across the room and touched my arm, leaning close. “We leave now.”
    Turning away from the group of four, I muttered, “Right, let’s do it.” I flexed my fingers and re-positioned my sweaty hand over the gun. Beside me, Margaret trembled and I tightened my grip. I sucked in a breath to steady my shaky nerves and said, “Now.”
    We burst out the doorway, running like mad things. Around us, the world exploded into a contortion of sound. Smoke haze obscured my vision; I kept my eyes on where I had last seen Quain and ran, aiming my weapon upwards to where flashes of light signalled the discharge of the enemy’s fire. Behind me, Jerrell’s voice urged me on.
    And I knew without looking he ran backwards, guarding us.
    â€œKeep running,” I shouted to Margaret when she faltered, no doubt terrified out of her mind. I wasn’t doing that well myself thinking how easy a target we presented to the guards.
    Miraculously, upright, still breathing, we reached Quain’s side. My swift glance behind, took in the last of our group still dithering inside the doorway and Jerrell, as I had suspected, charging backwards towards us.
    I felt Quain’s hard fingers gripping my arm and he jerked me around to meet his gaze. He said, “Move.”
    We moved.
    The gun in my hand whined, its metallic surface cooled under my vice-like grip. Empty. I tucked the weapon into the waistband of my pants, pulled Margaret in front of me and bent over her shorter body, urging her to run faster. The glare of the sunlight searing back off the rocks beneath our boots softened as we crossed into the shadows cast by the walls. My breath scorched my lungs as I gasped for air and my heart pounded a furious rhythm.
    We had crossed the courtyard.
    Not waiting for us to catch our breath, Quain planted his hand on my back and pushed me onwards. I stumbled, aware my joints were rapidly turning into jelly but I didn’t stop.
    Now that the smoke had dissipated, the winding streets of the outpost settlement lay clear before me. All around were grey rock walls, some crumbling from age and weather, some shattered by explosions. A maze of flat roofed buildings of various shapes and sizes with no discernable pattern or plan filled my vision.
    I was thankful I didn’t have to rely on my memory in order to locate the shuttle port. Quain had ditched one of his weapons and now had his free arm looped about my waist, as ever hurrying us faster than my