What in six galaxies was that?! It’s supposed to be difficult to prove they’re breaking the rules. Are they not even making an effort to pretend compliance?

  -Intercepted transmission from Voices for Non-Citizens

  “Here?!” I asked. “Then… they’re coming for me. There’s no way we can stop five more.”

  “Maybe we…” Marie said, then stopped, frowning.

  I turned to Flip. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me we didn’t just use up our entire gunpowder stockpile.”

  “There’s some left, but we just lost three-quarters of it dealing with one of those things. Even if the ones headed for us are a little smaller, it’d be a struggle to take down one more. Five?” She laughed.

  “Can we stop them before they get to us?” Vince asked. “Adhesive and rubble?”

  “No.” Pointy spoke before I could. “The Adhesive ability isn’t a common one, and it doesn’t last indefinitely. It showed promise in slowing our first attacker, but it wouldn’t have stopped it completely. The wreckage below shows tooth marks. That Threat could bite through stone. If it had to, it could chew away anything we glued to it. The only reason it didn't is that doing so would have slowed it down further.”

  Micah tugged my elbow. “Are they coming for you? Are they allowed to do that? That seems against the rules.”

  “Good question. Ariel, care to weigh in?”

  

  “So… if they are targeting me - or this location - that would be against the rules?”

  

  Ariel’s blunt answer surprised me.

  “No waffling? No caveats? Just… yes? What about the, um, drama rules or whatever that let them make things worse at specific locations?”

  

  “So… what they’re doing is just flat-out illegal?”

  

  “Can you think of any such ‘alternative explanation?’”

  

  Vince slipped an arm around my waist and peered at me questioningly. I shook my head and he squeezed me to his side. His voice was gentle as he spoke. “Sounds like we’re going to have to leave, then.”

  I was surprised how strong my emotional reaction was to his words. Rejection rose like bile in my throat and I forced it down. He was right. How could I argue?

  “We will,” said Flip. “The real question is: can anyone stay?”

  “Why-” I started to ask, then cut myself off. “No, that’s an Alexandra discussion. There she is, in the courtyard. Can you grab her?”

  “Will do,” said Flip.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  It took us only moments to fill Alexandra in, to her steadily deepening frown. “And these new Threats that close in on us? How long do we have before they get here?”

  “Uhh… fifteen minutes, maybe, for the closest?” Marie said.

  Alexandra leaned over the edge of the Tower. “Keep the evacuation going! There are more on the way!”

  The end of her shout was drowned out by the sharp retort of the Boys rifle, sniping a snakeropod Titan that lumbered toward us, an unpleasant reminder of all the other dangers we had to deal with.

  “And you’re sure you don’t want to stay? The walls are still good protection from the Titans. If the new Threats are following me…” I said.

  Alexandra shook her head. “No. I’m not sure. But we only got about 2,000 people out of the Quarry before the first of those… things arrived. Having everyone on the surface is dangerous, but if they go below again and we need to evacuate, we’ll never get them all out in time. What are we naming these? I can’t keep calling them ‘things.’”

  “No official word yet, but my contact at the Arsenal has been calling them ‘legoliaths’,” Marie offered. “I’m guessing that name will probably stick.”

  “That works,” Alexandra responded. She looked down for a moment. “Still… if the rest of us are to have a chance at staying, you need to leave. Now. I am… so sorry. If we could defend you…”

  “No,” I said. “I get it. It’s not like I can stay safely anyway. I don’t know where I’ll go, but I guess we can figure it out on the move if we just stay ahead of these things. There’s… there’s no point in waiting, I guess.”

  Alexandra threw her arms around me. “Stay safe!”

  I hugged her back, surprised but touched. “Keep everyone else safe.”

  She nodded.

  I turned to the rest of the people in the tower. “How… how do we do this?”

  Flip was shaking one hand rhythmically as she paced, clearly stressed. “I could fly you out of here, but the twotwos go for anyone in the air.”

  “I’ll carry her,” said Vince. “I’m fast enough, and we’ve got a few other speedsters who can take the kids. You can carry Marie and fly overhead to help give us directions and warn us about dangers ahead. It’ll be risky for you two, but…”

  “But Meghan is what matters,” Marie said, voice wobbling. “Okay. Let’s go, Flip.”

  “Hang on a sec,” said Flip. “The exit to the Quarry is still packed tight. If you leave through the ladder, you’ll get stuck in that traffic jam. Let me ferry everyone down to the courtyard, and then we’ll go.”

  “Right,” Marie said.

  Flip started by grabbing some of my other bodyguards in an undignified group hug, Andy springing onto her back and whooping like a cowboy. As she carried them down, I turned to Marie, the wheels in my head turning slowly. “Have you reached out to the Arsenal to tell them? Whether the legoliaths are coming for me or just this location, I’m sure the other linked users are in danger too.”

  Marie stared at me blankly. “I… what? Oh. Oh. Yeah. I mean, no. I mean, I will. Sorry. I… this is all…” She waved a hand at the grisly remnants of our first attacker, inarticulate.

  “You’ve got to stay focused,” I told her.

  “Easy for you to say! You’re not going to… I mean…” her indignant reaction petered out. I was sure she was terrified about becoming a flying decoy, but she hadn’t quite lost her senses enough to want to trade places with me. She looked away. “Sorry.”

  I reached out and squeezed her hand. “I totally get it. This isn’t how I wanted today to go either. Flip will keep you safe.”

  “Of course she will,” Marie said, her voice brittle.

  Then Flip returned and snatched up both Marie and myself to take us below.

  It took less than another minute before the top of the Tower was empty and we all stood in the increasingly-crowded walls of Fort Autumn.

  Vince leaned close to me to be heard over the roar of the crowd and the fire of guns and abilities as people continued to fend off monsters and Titans. “Want a piggy-back ride?” he asked, his voice dropping to a seductive growl.

  We were losing our home - again - and I honestly had no idea how we would make it through the next hour, let alone the rest of the day. Vince had still noticed how upset I was. He was still trying to make me smile.

  “Didn’t want to let you ride anyone else,” he continued. “Might be a hard ride, if you know what I’m saying.”

  A laugh bubbled out of me. “I literally don’t know what you’re saying. I think you’re just dropping double entendres and hoping it implies something. You’re just trying to distract me!”

  “And is it working?” Vince asked, his voice still voice low and sensual.

  I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. “Yeah.”

  (Up to Bk. 5, Ch. 11) * * * * * * *