let her finish; I grab her arm and harshly pull her forwards, ignoring her cry of pain as I drag her with me. The air sizzles, and I know a Claw is right on our tails, its saliva causing the ground to hiss behind us.
Ahead, a building collapses under the force of hinemas charging our way. They’re coming for the Claws, not us. It’s still intimidating to run at the violent machines. These ones, unlike the ones we had seen earlier, have the modification that we changed to attack Earth. I hear the familiar laser-like gunfire propelling through the air and several Claws are either hit by the bullets and go down, or are thrown by the shock wave.
Ival drops and rolls ahead, finding a small broken wall to shield him. The hinemas might not be aiming at us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be hit by accident.
As I push us harder to get to where Ival is, the Claws overtake us, their main focus shifting onto the hinemas instead of us. Unfortunately, the Claw that is directly behind us hasn’t been distracted by the hinemas. One of its claws closes around Mattie, lifting her off the ground. I only just duck out of the way of its tail swinging around and taking a snap at me.
Mattie screams in shock as the Claw lifts her up high into the air.
“No!” I scream, fearing I’m about to lose her and Riley.
I kick and punch the Claw’s legs, however I have to duck and jump out of the way when its tail again comes back out attacking. I then hear sizzling as saliva dribbles down by my feet. If that touches me, it will melt through my skin and bones.
I search for a weapon, finding a large boulder-sized piece of debris from a collapsed building. I barely take a step towards it before I see Mattie flung through the air. She lands on the ground several feet away, sliding along until she collides with the building on the other side of where we are. She doesn’t get back up.
I glance at the Claw, noticing it is bleeding from one of its claws as a bullet makes impact with it. It takes a step backwards from the force of the bullet aimed by the hinema, but the shot doesn’t take it down. It charges at the hinema, thankfully forgetting about me and Mattie.
Finding no immediate threat focused on me, I weave through the Claws, which are now actively being attacked by the hinema. I have many close calls as I edge closer to Mattie, and when I reach her, I discover she is unconscious. Blood oozes from her head and she has scrapes along her exposed arms since the Aeepla has been torn.
I pick her up, holding her close to me in my arms and then find Ival scurrying out of the warzone that has appeared around us.
I follow him, dodging between Claws and hinema as they attack each other. Fortunately, none of them pay us any further attention and we are soon free from the chaos.
I follow Ival as we make our way towards the outskirts of the small city. There is just a small parkland area here with small, low to the ground bushes. Farther out is the ocean. If we get into trouble, we can always attempt the long and gruelling swim to Jyin. I would take the slim chance of not drowning over risking Mattie and Riley’s life captured by Jeprow where there is no other outcome other than a painful death.
He moves us into the middle and stays low to the ground. I don’t have as much freedom while holding Mattie, therefore I simply hope no one is watching who means us harm.
When Ival finally stops, I lose sight of him. He’s hugging the ground, blending in with the shadow of the small shrub. There is one just next to him, so I sit and settle Mattie down carefully across my lap. The sky is darkening and taking any heat the sun provided with it.
Her eyes are still closed and blood is smeared over her forehead and my t-shirt.
“She dead?” Ival asks quietly, not appearing all that interested in my answer.
“No,” I snap, the anger in my voice a contradiction to the gentle touch of my hand moving over her face. I check her argu, making sure the claw
Ahead, a building collapses under the force of hinemas charging our way. They’re coming for the Claws, not us. It’s still intimidating to run at the violent machines. These ones, unlike the ones we had seen earlier, have the modification that we changed to attack Earth. I hear the familiar laser-like gunfire propelling through the air and several Claws are either hit by the bullets and go down, or are thrown by the shock wave.
Ival drops and rolls ahead, finding a small broken wall to shield him. The hinemas might not be aiming at us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be hit by accident.
As I push us harder to get to where Ival is, the Claws overtake us, their main focus shifting onto the hinemas instead of us. Unfortunately, the Claw that is directly behind us hasn’t been distracted by the hinemas. One of its claws closes around Mattie, lifting her off the ground. I only just duck out of the way of its tail swinging around and taking a snap at me.
Mattie screams in shock as the Claw lifts her up high into the air.
“No!” I scream, fearing I’m about to lose her and Riley.
I kick and punch the Claw’s legs, however I have to duck and jump out of the way when its tail again comes back out attacking. I then hear sizzling as saliva dribbles down by my feet. If that touches me, it will melt through my skin and bones.
I search for a weapon, finding a large boulder-sized piece of debris from a collapsed building. I barely take a step towards it before I see Mattie flung through the air. She lands on the ground several feet away, sliding along until she collides with the building on the other side of where we are. She doesn’t get back up.
I glance at the Claw, noticing it is bleeding from one of its claws as a bullet makes impact with it. It takes a step backwards from the force of the bullet aimed by the hinema, but the shot doesn’t take it down. It charges at the hinema, thankfully forgetting about me and Mattie.
Finding no immediate threat focused on me, I weave through the Claws, which are now actively being attacked by the hinema. I have many close calls as I edge closer to Mattie, and when I reach her, I discover she is unconscious. Blood oozes from her head and she has scrapes along her exposed arms since the Aeepla has been torn.
I pick her up, holding her close to me in my arms and then find Ival scurrying out of the warzone that has appeared around us.
I follow him, dodging between Claws and hinema as they attack each other. Fortunately, none of them pay us any further attention and we are soon free from the chaos.
I follow Ival as we make our way towards the outskirts of the small city. There is just a small parkland area here with small, low to the ground bushes. Farther out is the ocean. If we get into trouble, we can always attempt the long and gruelling swim to Jyin. I would take the slim chance of not drowning over risking Mattie and Riley’s life captured by Jeprow where there is no other outcome other than a painful death.
He moves us into the middle and stays low to the ground. I don’t have as much freedom while holding Mattie, therefore I simply hope no one is watching who means us harm.
When Ival finally stops, I lose sight of him. He’s hugging the ground, blending in with the shadow of the small shrub. There is one just next to him, so I sit and settle Mattie down carefully across my lap. The sky is darkening and taking any heat the sun provided with it.
Her eyes are still closed and blood is smeared over her forehead and my t-shirt.
“She dead?” Ival asks quietly, not appearing all that interested in my answer.
“No,” I snap, the anger in my voice a contradiction to the gentle touch of my hand moving over her face. I check her argu, making sure the claw
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