Dakū -The Dark One

Because We Lost

"Best guess, about 7 hours." "That's more than enough time." Replies Sam.
"Keepers, when we get out of here, you know what Ford will do to you. Are you sure you want to do this?" Keepers looks at him. "All my life I've been trying to better mankind. I never knew I was really endangering it. This is my one shot at redemption. Lets go." Tyler nods. I turn to lily, who sleeps in the corner of the snack isle. "Hey, wake up." I say, gently shaking her. She jumps slightly when she sees me. "What time is it?" She yawns. It's 5." "In the afternoon?" "In the morning." Says Rone over my shoulder. "Saddle up. We're moving now." I help her up. "Aw gosh. I don't want to go anywhere." She groans. " well if we don't were going to get blown up." I say. She looks at me. "Donnie, what happens if we lose? Is that it?" I take her hand and lead her outside and over the rubble before releasing it. "Am I going to die?" She asks in the most serious voice. "No. I won't let that happen." She stares at me, her gaze lingering in my eyes. "We would protect you." We move slowly into the darkness, taking each step carefully, so to not make a sound. We can hear them growling in the distance. They stomp around, above they fly, below they run through tunnels both man made, and ones they dug themselves. They're nesting all around. Who knows what else they brought through the portal with them.
I only know what I can see, and shoot. Sam flinches as he nearly falls over. Tyler raises a fist, holding us where we stand. With two fingers he points Rone and Kree into two separate buildings. The cracks and groans of the buildings echo through the empty city streets. Dust cloudy my vision, I can only see about 12 yards ahead of me. The only light comes from a few stoplights that flicker on the brink of death. I power them as we walk by, but it's draining me slowly. I have a feeling if we don't get out soon, I'll collapse and my life will depend on whoever catches me. It's a grim sight. The once popular small town, now lays in ruins. As we walk, we pass the town homes, neighborhoods, schools and parks were children once played. Most of them, are torn apart. Cars lay flipped over with doors hanging open from when the people inside tried to escape. It seems so long ago. But a week is plenty of time to destroy everything. I only wish I could have been here when it happened. I could have made a difference. I could've saved so many of them. At the time I was in Florida. Fighting them on the front lines. I was there when they made landfall. And we failed. We lost that day. And we lost this one too. And now we're going to be imprisoned for our failure. I turn to Lily, who senses my sadness. A small hand clenches my own. Through the armor I feel the warmth in her. That energy. That's enough to power me. "I loved this town." She says. "I used to go there and take pictures." Se says, looking at an empty park. It's got only one tree, with a single swing hanging from it. Even in the dim morning lighting, I can tell its a peaceful place. I can see why she liked it. "No one really went there so I would go and, enjoy the quiet." I smile at it. "Sounds peaceful." She hums a second. "It really was. I had my first date there." I keep staring at the small clearing, trying to imagine what it would've been like if Alice and I had done that here. Although I wouldn't count the park date we had back in Anchorage.
She chuckles. "It was awful." I smile. "What made it awful? Park dates are awesome." She smiles with glee that she got me to smile. "Well, I had never been on a date before because I've never been much of a flirt. So I was a nervous wreck. I thought that by, being weird I could test my boundaries, and I guess I pushed them." I admit, that's pretty bad. Actually that's terrible. I've never been a flirt but one thing you never want to do is test your boundaries with a person, any person, especially one you intend on dating. "So yeah, I guess you could say I was one of those 'crazy girls'."
"Honestly, we're all a bit crazy. That's not really a bad thing either. It's okay to totally geek out about something if you really love it enough." She grins in that way people do when they make a connection. "Oh my God!" She says. I look at her. "What?" She looks at me with a wide smile. "Your like this, perfect person who just, gets it." She locks eyes with me. Than I feel it again. That opposite energy. It's warm, and bright. If I could touch it, I'm sure I would never want to let go. Yet I have no idea what it is. My mind floats to Alice. I'm loyal to her. I have to be. That's what love is. I gently pull my hand away. "Guys, that's not good." Says Sam. My eyes float up. A bomber soars overhead, dropping bullet shells upon us. I deflect as many as I can. It flies by and begins dropping its explosive cargo. Buildings go up in flames a few seconds before crumbling to the ground. Another bomber joins in in heading towards us. One of Tyler's men screams. We all turn to him with our guns at the ready. Sam grips him by the arm, attempting to pull him out of the sewer. Kree walks over and puts a bullet into the creatures head. It releases him. I look up. "That's not good either guys." I say. G'hunawae fly from all around, crashing into the airships and attacking them. One of them breaks in half as they rip the pilot from his chair. Just before it hits the ground they fly off. Helicopters fly in attempt to save the lone bomber. "Guys we have to go." We run in unison. I can easily outrun anyone here, but I don't. I'm not going to leave them behind. They're the only shot we have for survival. More and more the helicopters and jets pour in. And more and more the G'hunawae respond, throwing gliders at them. It won't be long before ground troops show up. Something roars behind us. "We don't have time for this." Growls Keepers.
Tyler looks at me, than to Keepers. "Go. We'll hold it here." He says. Keepers looks to him. "You can't take this thing by yourself." "We don't have time for this, go, the world needs you." He rips the tag from his neck, and hands it to him. "We all have an end to our stories, I can't think of a better one than this." I nod to him. Felix Tyler. Cassie drives up in a hot wired Dodge. "Get in!" She yells. "You couldn't have done this sooner?" Asks Sam. "There were armed men who stand for justice earlier. I wasn't about to steal a car in front of them." "Just drive!" Shouts Rone. Sam, Rone, Vex, Kree and I sit in the back. Jackie Keepers and Lily take the cab. I draw back into the mist. Tyler bravely fights the creature, spending every round he has on it. His men are killed one by one. Than it goes after him. He drops his empty pistol and pulls his combat knife. They run towards each other, he leaps into he air with his knife poised to strike. I don't see the outcome.
Keepers looks down at the tag in his hands. "Where will we go?" Asks Sam. "I know somewhere we can go." Says Rone. "It's the only place I've ever really called home."