Ruby - Transformers: Dark of the Moon fanfic

Me Against the World

Darkness fell, and with it came ships. Hundreds of alien invaders. The streets of Chicago rang with terror. Screams and gunfire. Carly sat in the same room as before, and Dylan paced in front of her. She remained calm and collected, her eyes often wandering back to the telescope lying on the desk. She wished that she could pick it up and see what was going on outside, but she didn't dare. 

The building shook as a low-flying ship squealed past, firing at the street below. Dylan stopped and massaged his chin, as if he wanted to block out the noise. Carly could see the veins in his neck pulsating rapidly, and perspiration trickled from his forehead.

"They didn't tell you about this part, did they?" she asked.

Dylan stopped rubbing his chin and started on his temples, "Do you think I'm at every meeting?" he said irritably.

He resumed his pacing and began to chant, "They said I'm safe, they said I'm safe..."

Carly tuned him out and went back to staring out of the window. Even though it was the middle of the night, the city was bright; alight with fire, explosions and all the space ships.

****

The Chicago skyline rose up ahead, and Ruby felt fresh determination surge through her body. After another hour of driving, it didn't seem any closer. But she had noticed changes. Her side of the road was empty, whereas the other side was becoming increasingly full of traffic. Every now and then she saw accidents, cars clipping the bumpers of those in front, cars spinning off the road where they'd cornered too fast. Her nerves tingled and dread began to rear up in her like a snake as she drew closer to the city limits. 

She rounded the last corner of the suburbs and slammed on the brakes. She threw it into reverse and backed into shadow. A big pickup truck had been coming towards her from quite away off on the bridge, gunning its engine in a desperate attempt to flee Chicago. And then a ship, definitely an alien ship, had swooped down on the truck and vaporized it in an instant. 

Ruby waited for her heart to slow down and got her breathing under control before she thought what to do next.

"Mearing," she whispered into her shirt collar,

"Yes? Have you reached the city?" a cold voice barked back.

"I'm here," replied Ruby, "But getting inside the city, I'll try. It's going to be difficult."

"We know," said Mearing crossly, "We've been trying to get eyes in there all night, all our drones keep getting shot down. What do you see?"

Ruby took a deep breath, "One moment,"

She got out the car and cautiously approached the corner, poking her head around.

"Ruby, are you still there?" Mearing's voice snapped her out of her initial shock.

"Yes." Her own voice sounded annoyingly loud in the deserted street.

"It's... impossible," breathed Ruby, "There's so many,"

"So many what?" snapped Mearing impatiently.

"Ships," said Ruby, "Decepticon ships. They look like they're patrolling the city perimeter."

As she stared, another ship started shooting further away, and Ruby watched a fleet of fighter jets fall out of the sky.

"Oh god, we don't have a chance," said Ruby, the snake of dread constricting around her torso.

"What's going on? Ruby you are only live feed, we need you!" Mearing cried.

"Our forces are just being swatted away like flies," she replied, "I need to get in there."