The group's prisoners, ones that they had just captured from the Order's forces, had just blown themselves up rather than be taken for interrogation. Of course, they waited until the most opportune time to do it, when they could inflict the heaviest casualties on the fledgling community. The blasts had went off like a line of fire-crackers, except instead of 'pops', the sounds they emitted were deep, booming, and thunderous - matched by the wake of devastation left over.

Small fires and smoke where everywhere. Cries on screams from the injured and dying filled the air. A few moments after the devastating suicide attack, the smoke began to clear. The less injured survivors started picking themselves up. They had been thrown onto the grass and asphalt from the force of the multiple blasts.

Reece was shaking as he looked around and saw people running and yelling in all directions. Everything was silent except for a ringing in his ears. He looked down at himself after he had stood back up and saw numerous bloody gashes across his body. Rivulets of blood trickled from each wound and snaked their way down his body to the pavement, pooling together at his feet.

"Well, that’s not good..." he said out loud to no one in particular before the world went dark.

Darkness. Then fiery red lightning crashed across a blue-black sky, illuminating a desolate plain of blackened dirt and melted rock for a moment before things went dark again. Thunder rumbled through the darkness and Reece took a step forward as he beheld a gleaming light ahead of him. The light fed the darkness and the darkness, in turn, removed its inky cloak from Reece’s vision.

He could again see his surroundings, and the first thing he saw was his friends and fellow community members all standing in the scorched field. He approached the light, but he couldn’t make out what it was. He kept walking, waiting for it to come into focus, but it never quite seemed to reveal itself to him. It wasn’t until the screams from behind him began that he finally saw the light for what it was.

Sora stood there and blew him a kiss before plunging a dagger into his gut. His knees gave out and he fell into a sitting position, looking up at her in horror. She only laughed in his face, so he turned his head before passing out and saw a writhing mass of undead beasts carving up his family. Sora continued to laugh as she knelt in front of him and jabbed her hand into his wound. Reece’s former crewmate brought her bloody fingers to her lips and licked his blood from the digits.

Watching his reaction for a moment, she leaned in and kissed him with blood-stained lips. Her tongue, still coated in his blood, snaked its way into his mouth. The intruding tongue and the coppery taste of his blood were the last things he knew before the nightmare vanished.

He opened his eyes to see Karina kissing him. No, not kissing...forcing her blood down his throat with her mouth. Blazing agony flowed to his brain from dozens of places over the entire front of his body where he had taken the brunt of the deadly blasts. She had a look of fear, or maybe it was worry on her face as she waited for him to respond to the gift of her blood. Reece concentrated on the soft warmth of Karina’s kiss to keep his mind off the agony of his multiple wounds.

Slowly, they began to heal, and the pain finally began to subside as the lilitu’s blood did its work. As his body pushed bits of shrapnel out and his burns and cuts started to close, he gingerly sat up and looked around. Some orders had been made from the chaos by Angel, who looked to be in rough shape with scorched hair and skin and many small bloody wounds covering his right half.

Despite his appearance, the man was pulling the wounded away from small fires created by the explosions while directing others to help where they could. The less wounded community members were ripping strips of cloth from their clothing and making field bandages for the more injured folks.

Reece noticed a lot more people not moving at all though. Of the rakshasas, Angel was one of only two survivors. The white-haired girl’s timidity had ended up saving her life, though she sat against a barrier as she fought to recover from several grievous wounds. In addition to the terrible loss of the brave rakshasas, only ten of their fellow human fighters were still alive. The last gasp of the enemy had been devastating to the community.

Suddenly, the images in the dream snuck into Reece’s conscious thoughts and he had the feeling that it may have been a sort of dire warning. Still addled from the attack, Reece tried to speak.

"Karina? Did you *cough* just baby-bird...me *cough* your...blood?" he managed to croak.

Karina nodded, a haunted look shadowing her brilliant red eyes.

"I think this...entire force *cough* was a diversion...for something else," explained Reece, his wits starting to return to him as he fought for breath through the fiery pain in his lungs. "We need...to take...stock of...our...situation. I’ve got a *cough, cough* really bad...feeling...that this...wasn’t...the worst...of it."

Karina looked down at him with a miserable look on her face.

"You’re right, Reece," she whispered, with deep sadness in her soft voice. "It was a diversion. After the blasts, we got one last transmission from the caravan of transports. They were ambushed by an entire second division of monsters. By the transport’s last account, the force sounded even larger than this one. Instead of being captured or killed, they decided to blow all the rollers in a suicide attack to take out as many of the monsters as they could."

"No, it can’t be. They can’t all be gone!" wailed Reece, still shaking off his injuries.

"I’m so sorry, baby." But...you need to remember this. They sacrificed themselves, yes. However, they were very brave and went out on their terms. They knew what they were doing and took most of the larger force out along with them. And what’s more, they didn’t suffer. Hold onto those truths and it will lessen the blow. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?"

Reece wasn’t sure if she was trying to console him or herself, but he slowly nodded nonetheless. He decided she was probably trying to console the both of them as he continued to listen to her.

"I don’t know what else to say right now, but you need to try and stay calm. You’ve lost a lot of blood and it’ll take some more time to heal, even with my blood. It is time that we have precious little of right now. The remnants of that second division are still on their way here. We need to get ready to leave immediately so that all of the sacrifices at least meant something."

Reece tasted something coppery. Realizing he had blood in his mouth, he spat it out as he shakily got to his feet. He was too emotionally numb to do anything other than to take stock of the situation and try to make some sense of it. He took some small comfort that Angel and Karina were still there, as were some members of the community. He saw the dark-haired female rakshasa--Yosana, and Ciera running back towards them with medical supplies.

They had a human woman in tow, a tall woman with alabaster skin dressed in a lose-fitting white top and olive-green pants. She was the community’s resident doctor and was carrying a medical kit with her. She had light freckles and long curly red hair. Her sparkling green eyes were filled with grief as she took in the devastation that had just happened and the terrible death toll.

Despite being caught wearing beach sandals, she managed to keep pace with the other two women. She had opted to stay behind in case the fighters needed medical assistance but hadn’t fathomed how quickly things could spin out of control. She was urgently needed now.

"Stephanie, we need to get these people stabilized and ready to move," said Angel. "We’ve got more monsters on the way and need to be gone from here within the hour."

"Alright, I’ll do what I can," replied the doctor. "Ciera, Yosana...can you assist me?"

"Of course, Dr. Firth," replied the dark-haired woman, her voice filled with the same empathy that showed on her face.

Ciera merely nodded. Reece thought she looked like she was about to cry and probably couldn’t speak through the pain and guilt that was flowing through her mind.

Despite the emotional toll, the two women and Dr. Stephanie Firth tended to the injured as best they could. Reece racked his brain for a solution, but he was still rattled.

He remembered Thato’s teachings and calmed his mind by closing his eyes and shutting out everything. It wasn’t easy after the trauma they had all just endured, but he finally found a way. Slowly opening his eyes, they shone with a new level of concentration and determination.

Looking first at Angel and then to Karina, he had a thought, "Karina, can you heal them?" he asked, indicating the wounded human fighters lying all around them.

"I did. I healed all of them, in addition to you," replied the lilitu, looking more pale than usual. "Unfortunately, spreading my blood that thin, I could only staunch the most life-threatening wounds. They still need medical attention, and I’m dangerously low on blood. We all are."

"In that case, we need to get all of us out of here. And unless someone has a better idea, I say we pay a little visit to the base of operations this first horde of assholes came from," stated Reece coldly to both her and Angel, who was still standing nearby.

"We’ve got too many injured. We need to get to safety before we even start thinking about anything else," rebutted Angel.

"You’re right, of course," replied Reece as he took a breath to try a different tact with the rakshasa engineer. "Stay in contact and get somewhere safe. Karina and I will handle the base once we have some time to heal. There shouldn’t be many of the bastards left to guard it."

"For some reason, it seems like they sent almost their entire force against us," he continued. "This might be our best chance at taking it out before it’s reinforced. Don’t worry. If it looks like it’s more than we can handle, we’ll back off and meet back up with you."

Angel started to argue but Karina just shook her head at him. Reece felt a wave of relief flow through him when Karina backed his plan. He was about to continue when Ciera walked up to the three of them and cut into their debate.

"I’m coming too," she stated. "I waited in reserve here and did nothing while many in this community lost their lives. I owe them some payback, at the very least. Anyway, I’m a better fighter than a doctor, and besides...I know much of the layout of the base."

"They kept me there for months," explained Ciera, justifying her being included on the mission. "And I feel like all of this is partly my fault. Please, I can’t bring any of these people back, but at least let me start making amends," she pleaded, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Can Karina suck some of your blood?" Reece abruptly asked the inhuman beauty.

"I don’t know what’ll happen," came her honest reply. "But she can try if she wants."

"I’m good," stated Karina. "I’ve only heard conflicting rumors about drinking the blood of other non-human intelligent beings, and they range from a temporary boost in power greater than that received from human blood to excruciating pain followed by a horrible death. I’ll need to be in a much more dire situation before I roll the dice on that pot."

"Understood Karina. I’m trying to assess our options. Fine Ciera, you can come," said Reece.

"Thank you," replied the young woman in obvious relief.

"But daggers probably won’t do in this kind of fight," added Reece. "Do you know how to use guns?"

Ciera narrowed her eyes in determination and nodded, resolute in her decision to atone for her role in the atrocity that had just befallen the fledgling community.

"Good, we need to get moving quickly. Angel, we need to grab the heavy vehicles and drive them over here. Load up the injured and go," shouted Reece as he started jogging off in the direction of the troop transports that they had prepped for this very contingency.

"Right," agreed Angel as he ran to catch up with him.

As the two men jogged side-by-side, Angel had something to say. "I know you’re angry and forlorn right now. Please understand, we all are. I want nothing more than to avenge our community, but we have an obligation to those who are still alive."

"I know," responded Reece. "I just need to make sure they stay that way. It seems that a live and let live philosophy isn’t going to work. These people want to wipe us out. All of us. Men, women, and children alike. They can’t be reasoned with. We need to do the one thing they won’t expect. We need to take the fight to them and remove their ability to harm us, at least as much as we can."

"Okay," nodded Angel with reservations. "I do see your point. Just make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons. We can’t afford to lose you. Your charisma and natural leadership are what has made this community work."

"You don’t give yourself enough credit," said Reece as he slapped his friend on the back. "You’re the one who started all of this. I’m just here to help. I don’t want to lead anybody. I’m a doer, not someone who tells others what to do."

"Sure you are," said Angel in return.

They jogged the rest of the way in silence. The vehicles were about a kilometer away. Reece cursed himself for not thinking about staging them closer. Each man jumped into the driver’s seat of an idling transport and immediately shifted into gear and headed back towards the injured defenders.

It took a few minutes, but Reece and Angel returned with the promised vehicles. They quickly loaded up the wounded and prepared to go. Angel and the doctor took the wheels of the two trucks and immediately prepared to head out.

Once they were ready, Reece hopped on his cycle that had luckily been parked behind a parking barrier that had provided cover from the shrapnel of the blasts. Starting up the solar cycle, he looked over at Ciera who looked on the verge of shutting down.

"Hop on," he told her, hoping to get her mind off her guilt.

She gave him a sad little smile that didn’t quite make it to her eyes. Still, she glided over to him and slid smoothly onto the cycle behind him. Karina cocked her head as she gave Reece a questioning look, before shrugging and nodding, indicating she was ready to disembark. Her chain-scythe was strapped to her back for easy retrieval and she simply carried her spear in her hand.

"Ciera, you can shoot while I drive. There’s a grenade launcher on your right and a Spear rifle on your left. Use them at your discretion. Sorry, but I don’t have a helmet for you. I’d let you use this one, but it’s linked to the bike and I need it for driving," Reece explained to the young woman, but also for Karina’s sake.

He didn’t want her thinking he was getting too cozy with the sexy woman sitting behind him and wrapping her slender arms around his waist. He was a little surprised that he cared as much as he did about what the lilitu thought of his developing relationship with the beautiful young lilin.

"See you in a couple of days, right?" prompted Angel rhetorically.

"Exactly. Take care of yourselves in the meantime," replied Reece before dropping the visor of his helmet and nodding his readiness to his friend.

"Ready?" he asked the woman sitting closely behind him.

"Ready," came her response.

Reece started slowly with the bike, allowing Ciera to get used to the momentum before accelerating more quickly. She pressed herself into him as close as possible as they gained speed, squeezing her large breasts into his back and her arms holding tight around his waist, a little lower than what he thought was polite.

The position of her arms didn’t get past Karina either and her eyes flashed red in irritation as she ran along beside them, but the emotion on her face was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

As the trio crossed the bridge, each battling their own personal demons, Angel and Dr. Firth rolled along behind them. Once they reached the other end of the bridge, the two groups stopped a moment before parting ways.

"Be careful," came Angel’s voice over the intercom in Reece’s helmet. The intercom was a function that Angel, a communications guru, had shown him early on at Kennedy. His knowledge allowed him to activate the long-range radio module in the highly sophisticated piece of headwear. Reece hoped he and the ladies wouldn’t need to be gone too long. He’d miss Angel for his friendship and his expertise.

"You too," Reece replied before returning to his tormented thoughts about the families, children, elderly, and everyone who had just lost their lives to this senseless assault.

He wondered too, as he rode, about the dreams that seemed too often to be premonitions or warnings, giving him some clue about what was happening or what was to come. Why was he having them and where were they coming from? And what had happened to ground control.

They’d been on the Earth for over two months and hadn’t heard a peep from them. Were they okay and just out to sea and out of range of the radios, or had they been murdered by the same group of elitist assholes that seemed bent on killing Reece and his companions? And what were they after? Just killing them or taking them as slaves seemed like an insignificant reward for sacrificing so many of their servants and monstrous tools.

Reece had a sneaking suspicion that it was the nightcore that they were after, the nightcore that he kept in Naeva’s satchel that itself was packed into his solar cycle. If it was what they were after, he knew he had to do everything in his power to keep it out of their hands. And the other major nagging question on his mind was what exactly the thing did, other than attract bad guys and monsters.