It wasn’t long before the sun lowered below the skyline, casting the city into a grey dusk. The street lights came on one at a time, pools of light driving back the shadows. The streets remained quiet and desolate. There was no official curfew, but only a fool would be caught outdoors after dark where those monsters could still see as clearly as if it were high noon. Monty was by the window, looking through the accumulated grime for any sign of movement. This close to the dwindling edge of the green zone made everyone in the room tense.

He turned back and came to sit with the group he had gathered. Ted watched him out of the corner of his eye, still unsure of Monty’s motivation. Nothing waited for him on Tirastir but he seemed more eager than anyone else to get there. Ted trusted Monty with his life after all but living with him and the girls for months, but there was still that seed of doubt that was planted six months ago when the voyacs came from beyond the stars. Doubt and fear became the centerpieces of Stoneforge, making everyone anxious, a finger always near the trigger. The voyacs were still a mystery, a riddle of biology and astronomy that had yet to be solved, and no one was willing to take on the challenge anymore. Ted knew firsthand how those feelings could change a person.

The group remained silent, waiting for the last of the sun’s light to vanish. Darkness offered no cover from the voyacs, but it left the General’s remaining watchmen blind. No one had tried for the quarries and its buried spacecraft in weeks but the road leading out of the green zone was still well guarded.

The building they were in had once been a home, now abandoned and converted into a safe house. The only people to use it were those trying for the quarries. The news of the spacecraft had sparked interest in Stoneforge for a variety of reasons. Now it was seen as the final beacon for a future where humanity could survive. The voyacs hadn’t left the moon so far as anyone was aware but they were a violent species. In the early weeks of their arrival, when the humans killed the monsters by the dozen, swarms of voyacs would journey to where their fellows had fallen and kill anything in sight. Great swarths of Stoneforge had been reduced to rubble as a result.

Ted twiddled his thumbs, waiting for the darkness. If the General had actually done something, asked for additional troops or told the truth to Tirastir instead of falsifying records to make them think all was fine on Karex, perhaps something would be different. Ted had never found out why she tried to keep the crisis a secret.

Monty took out his knife and began to carve symbols into the wooden table. Ted knew it was the semi-secret code detailing the patrol times of the voyacs. The information was known but could be forgotten. If Ted and the others weren’t successful tonight, the next group would need all the help they could get.

The sound of metal scraping wood turned to silence. The last of the light had vanished from the city and their room was wrapped in blackness. Ted’s eyes had adjusted and he could see almost as well in the dark as he could in the light. Monty sheathed his knife and stood. The rest followed, grabbing their packs from the floor and going to the window. All the street lights were on, casting islands of light in the growing ocean of Karex’s night. The closest voyac patrol came to within a block of the current edge of the green zone. Nevertheless, the four of them looked out the window, looking for deeper shadows amongst the night and listening for the voyacs’ constant clicking.

Clouds began to cover the sky, blocking most of the light from Tirastir. Lily was the first out the door with Monty taking their six. The door shut with a whisper of hinges and the near-constant wind of Karex lowered to a dull moan. Lily led the way through a predetermined path between the buildings. Each time they came to an intersection in the alleyways, Ted could faintly see the markings carved in the stone that showed the safest path.

There was no physical demarcation separating the green zone from the red but Ted still knew when they crossed the line. The streets were unlit, the darkness lodging itself into every available corner. The buildings were more derelict here. Chunks of debris were scattered across the streets and alleyways, invitations for a twisted ankle. The group’s progress was slow as a result. They kept to the deepest shadows, more out of a sense of instinct than any conviction of safety. Where the buildings were tightest, the wind grew to a whistle.

Lily came to an abrupt stop, her gun against a shoulder. Ted held up his twin pistols, his ears suddenly alert to the faint clicking almost hidden by the wind. His eyes scanned the area, looking for shapes that didn’t belong. With the wind whipping through the alley it was impossible to tell from which direction the clicking was coming. For a moment Ted thought about grabbing the flashlight that Monty had given to him when they had arrived at the first checkpoint. He knew the thought was ludicrous; there was no time.

A shadow removed itself from the side of a decrepit building. Ted and Lily fired, the night blooming with light for a heartbeat. The voyac was outlined in shadows of red and black, its eye a pale expanse. Ted dodged out of the way as a beam of energy sizzled the air where he had been standing. As he rolled, he saw Monty and Rachel firing at a voyac that had tried attacking from their rear. Ted took a wild shot, the plasma toroid burning the stone of the building.

Scrambling to his feet, Ted took shots at the lead voyac, wanting to clear a way through the alley. The wind tugged at his jacket, forcing him to lean into the gust. Lily had found cover behind a fallen stone, the lead voyac’s attention on her. Ted fired with both pistols, knowing it would diminish his accuracy but desperate for anything. He saw a toroid strike the voyac’s exoskeleton, a circle burning itself into the creatures irregular shell.

A chunk of stone half-seen in the night sailed overhead and struck the lead voyac on its burn. Ted whipped around to see Monty pushing Rachel into cover, another rock in his hand. The rear voyac lay dead at their feet.

“Run!” Monty shouted and threw his stone.

The voyac dipped out of the way before rushing towards Monty, its pupil disappearing as it prepared to release its energy beam. Ted emptied his pistols at the voyac and the monster spun, its beam raking across a building, raining more debris onto the alley. An electrical bolt struck it from behind and its attention was back on Monty.

“Go! Run!” he shouted again and he took off running, back the way they came. The voyac followed in pursuit, ignoring its easier prey.

Ted was almost too stunned to move. He inched further up the alley before Rachel took him by the arm and got him moving at a decent clip. Lily vaulted over her cover and the three of them went running down the alley, heedless now of the debris littering the ground.

Ted looked behind him just as another, smaller bolt of electricity shot towards the clouded sky, its source unseen. Rachel and Lily were in front of him, Monty somewhere behind, possibly dying even now. Ted knew he wouldn’t have a better chance. Holstering a pistol and unsheathing his knife, Ted slashed at his own leg, parting cloth and skin. It burned. He sheathed the knife and let out a yelp that wasn’t faked.

The girls turned at the sound and Ted leaned against the nearest wall. He thought he may have cut himself worse than he had intended. Without a word, Lily draped Ted’s arm over her shoulder and he let her take some of his weight. Rachel took point as Ted hobbled towards the next checkpoint with Lily’s help, hoping he would be able to come back alive.

To be continued…