Earth Warriors (Undergoing Revision)

Chapter 35 - Reality Check

"Amira...please leave me here..." Rian's response is enough to make Amira crouch and hold him tightly, such words in the middle of battle, let alone something from a strong and unexpected foe would bring it out from him.

"What? Why?" Amira asks, looking on at the scene. "Why do you want me to leave you behind?"

"I'm not sure myself," he replies as his body shakes with tears, "but I can't fight like this." He points towards the dead bodies. "Just from this alone, I'm really useless and cowardly."

"You know that is not true," Amira says, "You are just here out of a request of the UEF, maybe wanting to see you grow for the sake of Humanity."

"I guess," he replies as he looks around him, "maybe this place is too dangerous for me..." He tenses up as he says that but it's only for a second, as he then continues to say, "I'm...I'm really sorry. I don't want to cause you trouble..."

"Rian, please stop, it's okay..." Amira says, "I'm not going to push you to do anything rash." She looks around her and sees what she can do. There are still a few of the Zlocan cyborgs, but they are far. "I think I have an idea," she says.

"You already have?"

"Follow me." She then drags him from the street as the Zlocan cyborgs emerge from the rubble. They spot both of them and race to chase them on the streets. The two of them run through the streets, dodging the debris, jumping over fallen cars and more. As they do so, Amira places her hand on her forehead to communicate with any nearby allies.

Logan, Tany, Seiner, can you hear me? We need to change the plan. 

The Zlocan cyborgs are still on the chase, trying to aim their lasers at the two of them. However, the two of them are just ahead, jumping over fallen pieces of cars. Amira then turns Rian to the left and they jump over an old wooden fence. They follow a paved path and end up in a park.

"Are you sure this place is safe to stay?" 

"It is the safest course we can take. All we need to do is to see if they arrive soon enough."

"Amira!" a voice shouts, she glances to see it belongs to none other than Logan, running alongside Seiner, Tany and Malak, as well as some refugee conscripts who managed to survive, if barely, based on their clothes stained in blood, some with drawn lips or pale skins or missing limbs.

"Logan!" she cries, "Thank the Guardians! We were attacked by a group of Zlocan cyborgs armed with microwaves. They were spotted near the church and Rian's group took the worst of it. What is your status?"

"They've been following us since we began the plan" he replies, "we're lucky we found a way out, but it seems that we have to improvise."

He then looks at Rian, who is standing behind Amira. "Is this man alright?"

"His name is Rian Aguila. He is, I think."

"Hello, Rian," Logan greets and extends his hand, which Rian takes.

"Hi," he replies, "thank you for helping us." He looks around and sees the conscripts, who are starting to come down from the adrenaline rush. "Are these guys okay?"

"They'll be okay," Logan says as he, along with Seiner and Logan all place their hands on the shoulders of the conscript. "They are not in the best of shape, but their will to survive and the sheer toughness of their minds and bodies will allow them to hold on for now."

"They're going to be okay?" Rian asks, eyes widening with a slight smile on his face.

"We can handle them for goodie good," Tany says, "but what about you? You look pretty badly bad!"