[Erick Sanders]

Bullets slammed into the cracking concrete above my head. I ducked down behind the burnt-out husk of an air car and tapped my finders on against the charred metal, humming loudly. “Would you do something? There are seven of them” Jack shouted from beside me. His rifle barking as he fired back at the soldiers.

“You said that you would handle anyone more than ten meters away. What else did you say? That my swords were worth fuck all?” I responded, before continuing to hum. Jacks rifle click empty, and he dropped down, flicking the magazine free and sliding a fresh one into place.

“Don’t be a dick. You have your little pea shooter. At least do something.” He hissed.

I looked over at him, “Just say that my swords aren’t useless. Just say it” My helmet hid my half-grin.

“Okay, your swords are not useless” Jack sighed.

“That’s all I wanted to hear. You can cover me now.” I drew Havars swords from my back and sprinted out from cover. Jacks rifle exploded into a burst of bullets, the soldiers ducking behind the low wall of a destroyed building.

I sprinted through the open space between us, then leapt, soaring through the air. I crashed down in the centre of a group of soldiers, my swords sweeping out as they yelled in shock. Blood spattered the crumbling wall and drained down to mix with the dust. Two more strikes and the men collapsed.

“Okay, okay. You made your point, now grab their shit” Jack called as he walked through the street. I ignored him, pulling the weapons from the men. I stripped them of their ammunition and supplies, tossing them into a large bin that trailed behind him. “Is that everything?” Jack said, leaning against the wall.

“You can always come over here and check?” I tossed an empty magazine at him.

“Nah, I think you’ve got it,” He said, rubbing his nose. “Let’s take this stuff back.”

We moved through the destroyed streets, the cart hovering over the cracked and debris-stricken pavement. Jacks rifle scanning the doorways. “You can relax. We’re far enough from the front,” I said. I couldn’t feel anyone, my electromagnetic sense stretching out in a fifteen-meter radius.

“So were those guys back there, I don’t want to get shot in the back,” Jack said, not lowering his rifle.

“It's not like it will kill you” I muttered, stepping over a fallen lamp post. Jackson didn’t respond. Tapping on his scanner he spoke into his neck mic. “Two friendlies, coming up on the twenty-second street gate ” He paused with his finger to his ear, “Copy.”

As we rounded the street corner, a steel wall loomed twelve feet above us. Spanning the width of the city and creating the dividing line between the warzone and the safe zone. Though no one thought it was actually safe. Most dreamers and AI NPCs had vacated the city creating small towns in the countryside.

The Safe zone now acted as a staging area for assault preparation. Stores of weapons and munitions were freely distributed to anyone wanting to join the Oceanic marines in the fight that had raged for two weeks.

I had been bound to a bed for a quarter of the time, healing from my wounds after getting Rose and the others out of the city. Jack and Rose had refused to kill me, refused to let me just respawn. Jack and I moved to the side and let a group of Dreamers past as they walked through the open gate. The men and women laughed together and adjusting their weapons. “You guys have grenades?” Jack asked as they passed. “I have two,” a tall woman responded, raising her hand.

“Here, we have a few more” Jack dug into the cart and pulled a belt of explosives, handing it to an eager man. “Share them and use them well. Don’t blow yourselves up.” Jack nodded to the gang, before following me through the gate.

“We could have gotten a few credits for those” I said as Jack caught up.

“They need them more than we need the credits. The enemy is starting to group up a bit more. We need to make more progress.” Jack huffed. I nodded in understanding. After a joint force of marines and dreamers had taken control of the hall of life and pushed the invading forces back there had been a stalemate.

We hadn’t lost or gained any ground in the last two weeks. The ground shook as a missile was blasted from the air over our heads. “At least the anti-air is doing its job” I commented. The installations had gone up on the remaining skyscrapers after the first night and had been protecting the safe zone from periodic attacks ever since. “Hey Timmy. Another cartload for you?” Jack said. Jack was a bearded stock assistant, assigned by the navy to oversee assault supplies.

“Cheers, Lieutenant. We’re running low. I’m still waiting for a shipment and to make matters worse, some bastards have been buying up as much as they can get from the supply runs.” Timmy said, tapping away on his scanner.

“I’ll see if I can get a couple of our guys to have a look. Be in our best interest to dissuade anyone limiting our supplies” Jack said with a serious nod.

“You can’t play policeman,” I said, shaking my head and pulling a wrapped bundle from the cart and hoisting it onto my shoulder.

“I’m not going to play policeman” Jack cracked a grin “I’ll get someone else to. I have to get back to work”

“Have it your way. Let’s not worry about the credits Timmy” I said to the bearded man. He nodded in thanks.

The cart full would only net us five thousand credits or less anyway. I turned and pushed through a crowd of dreamers prepping to get back onto the battlefield, some grabbing full kits of gear, still wearing their white shirts, fresh from respawn.“How many times do you think the average person here has died?” I asked Jack.

“At least two or three” Jack responded, hopping aside to let a woman carrying a large rifle past.

“When are you going to get yourself a sword?” I asked him as we left the buzzing staging area and walked further into the safe zone.

“When you want to teach me how to use one,” He said, checking his rifle over as he walked.

“I don’t think I can. Technique isn’t my forte. But I’m sure if you ask Tomas, he will be willing to give you some lessons, he already started teaching Cam and Rose.” I said.

“I’ll stop in tomorrow morning” Jack agreed when we reached a set of hoverbikes parked up beside the abandoned skeleton of a building, the fire stained walls casting a long shadow.

“See you then” I mounted my bike.

Tomas had surprised us with them the day after I pulled myself from the sickbed, still wincing with the bruised and battered muscles. He had made them from a set of relic dirt bikes he found in a barn, converting them into exhilarating speed machines that zipped along, five feet off the ground.

The bikes thrusters kicked up patches of grass as it skidded to a halt in front of the previously abandoned forest house, shuddering as I shut it down. The place was nice, quiet. It reminded me of my parent’s place in the waking world. Nestled in the forest at the edge of the Urewera ranges, it was out of the way from the war. A Safe house.

A workshop stood beside the sizable six-bedroom house. Both buildings had needed some work, but Jasper and Brennan had stuck around long enough to lend a hand. Now it was teaming with life.

“Erick!” came the shout of a small girl. I dropped my helmet as Sofie sprinted from between the thin limbs of the totara trees. A smaller boy, Patrick, ran after her. His face flushed as he panted. He and his older sister Kate had become residents of our new house after we had saved them from the burning streets during the invasion. Since their father had lost his life.

“Hey, you two. How’s the hut coming along?” I asked as I pulled the bundle from the back of the bike.

“It’s good. You should come and see! We added a rope swing and a sunroom!” Sofie said as she reached me, unclipping my tank bag from the bike.

“After dinner, okay? Promise.” Sofie nodded and led the way into the house.

“What about you Pat? Sofie isn’t bossing you around too much?” Sofie scoffed at the comment.

The small boy looked up at my masked face silently. He only spoke to Sofie and Kate, and always shrank away from me. I guess I can’t blame him. The first time I met him, I had been drenched in blood.

I let Patrick go ahead of me as he trailed Sofie, then followed them into the house.

“Anyone else back yet?” I asked, as I dropped the bundle on the table. Tomas looked up from the kitchen's grill, “Yeah, they got back an hour ago” He said, reaching out and snagging a saltshaker off the counter. “Sort that onion or me?” I slid my helmet back up.

I moved to the sink, washing my hands before grabbing an onion from the basket and slicing into it. “Take it over there! Fucking things always make me tear up” he said. I shook my head and slid the board to the other side of the counter.

“Any word from Jasper and Brennan yet?” I asked, cutting into a second onion.

“Nah, they will still be at the edge of the system. Should be stopping by…” Tomas was cut short as Cam, Amy and Rose entered the room. “Anything we can help with Tomas?” Cam asked as he pulled a seat from the table, clearly not meaning to help.

“Nah I’m good, though can you buzz Saleen, Kate and the kids?” Tomas said as he tossed the chopped onions in a pan. Cam tapped on his scanner, “Done.”

“Erick why is your mask still on?” Rose asked as she slid into a chair beside Cam.

“I was chopping onions,” I said, hesitating, then dropping the helmet, looking down at the floor. “Where’s Trevor” Rose frowned. “He’s just upstairs” Rose responded. Kicking the chair opposite her out from the table and motioning for me to sit.

As if hearing his summons, Trevor strode into the kitchen, sitting beside Rose. “What’d for dinner chef?” He asked.

“Pork chops!” Tomas said triumphantly. The rest of the room groaned. Tomas had fallen in love with pork from his first night on earth. The main source of protein on Scaratous had been giant lizard. He had never experienced a fatty meat like pork before.

I approached the table and unwrapped the bundle. Inside were five high-grade blades Jack and I had taken from Chinese officers.

“Here guys, I thought these would be useful.” I passed one of the swords to Amy. She looked at the blade and nodded. They had all seen what I could do with a blade. As as they gained ranking, swords would become more and more useful. The others pulled the weapons from the sheaths. “Rose, you have your spear and Cam, you have your sword, but the rest of you might need these.”

Despite his dislike for me, Trevor spoke first. “Thanks,” he said. I nodded before pulling the empty canvas sheet off the table and bundling it away.

With the rest of the house crowding the table, we pressed shoulder to shoulder. Kates elbow bumping my side constantly as she cut into her chop. “How was the scouting?” Tomas asked as he bit into his second helping.

“Three enemy groups. All south of the city. They’re getting bolder” Amy said, sighing from a full stomach. “Ember spotted them, and we hunted them down” She finished, pushing her plate away

.

“How far from here?” Saleen asked, evidently worried about Sofie and now Patrick. She had been training with Tomas and the others as often as she could, determined to protect her daughter.

“More than 100 kilometres. They have to travel on foot, so they haven’t come this far. Though I’ll get Ember to do a sweep tonight and check the area again.” Amy said. Saleen nodded her thanks, running her hand over Sofie’s head.

I pressed the last of my dinner into my mouth and slid my seat back, grabbing mine and Kates empty plates and taking them to the sink. Kate stood up with me as I began doing the dishes. She took a tea towel and began drying. “How are you and Pat settling in?” I asked, handing her a clean pot.

“We’re doing okay. I would still like to go home… but I don’t think we will have one left” She said.

“I’m sorry” I muttered as I scrubbed.

“Don’t be. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, Pat and I might not be alive” Kate and Patrick were AI NPCs like Tomas. There would have been no respawning for them.

Kate brushed her dark hair from her face and kept drying. “I never said thank you for letting us stay.”

“You don’t have to. We have space, and you need a place. Besides, Sofie needed a friend.”

“Right now, we all need friends” Kate responded. Taking the plate from my hand.I excused myself, slapped Toma on the shoulder to thanking him for the meal then walked through the house to my first-floor bedroom.