Sway's Demise

by Jess Harpley

  Eli’s retort was swift, and powerful. His punch sent spittles of Richard’s blood across Leandra, and the cab window. “Don’t you fucking lose your shit, Richard. We’re getting home, and that’s all we need to focus on right now.”

  “We wouldn’t fucking be here if it weren’t for her! She’s the one who wanted to go!” Leandra pointed to Sway with assertion.

  River defended her, “Yes, and now we know the Priyon are here to kill us! All the more reason for us to get home and kill them first.”

  “We would have discovered that in a matter of hours if we’d just stayed there!” Richard wiped the red from his lips.

  Sway stood, fed up with him. “No, we would have been presented with the same option that lured the Kelownans out!” Screaming, the heat in her voice couldn’t be tamed.

  “The naked, pale ambassador we saw in the forest this morning would have walked right up to our door, told us they forgave us for defending ourselves, protecting our territory, and then convinced us to pack up our shit and come out!”

  Her mind went on, painting gruesome images, “We would have died without a peep in the night. And Xander’s baby, Reese’s dad, your sister,” she pointed to Richard, “they would have been dead by dawn, eaten alive if they were unlucky.”

  “Fucking shut it, Sway!” He shoved her down to the hard metal, her helmet knocking on the gate of the truck bed.

  A brawl broke out, Eli swinging wildly as Reese attempted to keep the peace. “Enough! All of you! We’re a team, goddammit, not a squabbling pack of animals!”

  They separated as Reese helped Sway to her feet. The window to the cab opened and Fabel poked through, “What the fuck is going on back here!”

  “Not shit,” Richard grumbled, rubbing his face as Eli licked a swollen lip.

  “ETA seventy five minutes! Keep it together guys!”

  Tom was right. They were too young, too inexperienced, too scared, too… too helpless. They were lost in a vast abyss of emotion they didn’t have the depth to handle. Sway missed Isla, Dmytre, her family, and Reese when they were alone. The taste of his lips on hers played out like a dance in her woozy brain, seducing her into a comatose state.

  She lived out a daydream where nothing had gone wrong during initiation. The Priyon never invaded their area. Reese and Sway married, had two or three children of their own, grew a greenhouse with herbs like basil and rosemary, and he cooked because lord knew she couldn’t. Eli never worried about technology again, they were the best of friends, like they should be. Dymtre grew into a strong young man, joined Beacon, excelled in communication and history, met a girl of his own—maybe the one he’d chased with a worm. It was beautiful. Serene. Perfect.

  The truck bumped, jolting her from euphoria, and she wiped at the cold on the back of her neck. Wet fingers came away smeared with red, and she realized the smack to her head was harder than she’d guessed.

  “Reese—” Vision blurred as she stared at the blood trickling down her palm.

  He grabbed her fingers, then, in a panic, unsnapped the helmet. “Are you ok? Sway, look at me!” Reese held her chin, turning wandering eyes to his.

  “I’m tired,” her eyelids drooped, and she fought back a yawn.

  Eli knelt before them, “What’s going on?”

  “She’s bleeding, I think it’s a concussion. The damn helmet didn’t do shit.” Reese tossed it aside as black began swirling its way around her peripherals.

  Eli lifted her face. “No, no. Don’t fall asleep.” He looked to Reese. “She could go into a coma.”

  “But I can’t.” Sway’s eyes shut, the comforting ether of dreams trying to steal her away, then her head jostled about.

  “No,” she looked to Reese who was trying desperately to keep her awake.

  Sway’s lips fumbled with the words, so quiet they had to lean in, “I’m not brain damaged. I’m tired.” Darkness came for her once again, and that time, nothing would pull her from it.

  A hard dip ripped Sway from the comforts of the void, and she inhaled sharply as she pulled away from Reese’s shoulder.

  “Where are we?” She grabbed at her M4, verifying it was still there.

  “Another ten minutes until we’re home. We just passed our territory marker.” He looked into her eyes, “You look ok. I think you were just exhausted.”

  She rubbed at her neck, the trickle of blood dry and rough, “What happened while I was out?”

  He shook his head, “Not a thing. Silence from home and Vancouver, but we could be out of LOS.”

  She was the one who wanted to leave. Leandra was right. It was all Sway’s fault. She cupped her hands to cradle her face, and inhaled shallowly. Command squad recommended the trip. It wasn’t all her fault, she nodded to herself.

  Sway felt the truck sputter as they veered off onto exit 369, following the road around to Summit Drive, to the Overlanders bridge; Home Bridge, they called it.

  The sun was low against the towering hills, reflecting orange light from the water as they crossed. Fabel’s voice was excited as the radio crackled to life. Sway was unable to make out the shouts from the other end, but it seemed dire.

  Pop, pop, pop! The distinct sound of high caliber rifle fire was barely audible over the truck’s roar, but she heard it. Her fingers trembled, mouth growing dry. She didn’t want to believe it was truly happening. The beginning of the end.

  The cab window slid back. Fabel’s face was anxious as he said, “Load up. Just got Command on the horn. The city is under attack from the east and south.”

  South, exactly where they were coming in from.

  Eli asked, “Have the walls been breached?”

  He shook his head no, and Richard panicked. “How are we supposed to get in?”

  “We have to ram through the Priyon first. Fight our way in,” Eli said, his voice calm and steady.

  In a flurry, Sway reached for her side pack. The grenade! She pulled it out, showing it off to the other occupants of the truck.

  “I’ll never say you over-prepare, but damn, Sway, you know how to pack.” River held her hand out for a high five, and they slapped palms excitedly. It wasn’t much to celebrate about, but celebration was exactly what they needed to stay positive for what was coming.

  Leandra flustered, “How do we light it? Fabel’s flint lighter is gone.”

  Sojin rotated, pushing Fabel out of the window. She folded in all fingers except her middle, getting a tense grumble from the rest of them, but it wasn’t her intention. The tip of her metal digit flicked back, and a small stream of forceful fire erupted from the end. She held the other hand out for the grenade, “Give it here.”

  The truck picked up speed as Sway passed the bottled gunpowder along to her, hoping her aim was true. She was a Mew, she wouldn’t miss, she convinced herself as they all readied their weapons.

  “Brace for impact!” Fabel shouted as he strapped on his seatbelt. They crammed to the front of the truck, pressing against each other and the benches, doing everything they could to reduce the potential for injury. The engine whined as it accelerated in protest. They held their breath; it couldn’t be long off.

  Crack! They shuddered, but held tight as a Priyon went reeling over the top of the truck, its mangled limbs spraying blood over the canvas covering. Another, and another, their cries dousing the sounds of the truck as they snapped legs and crushed shells.

  Sway had only known the sound of the sea once, on a visit to Vancouver with her parents, but she was reminded of it. The trampling of small feet was the wind, the Priyon cries, seagulls, the roar of the truck, a fishing boat, and the cracking of shells was the waves slapping against the rough rocky shore. She was calm in that moment, inhaling through her nose and imagining the salty scent of the ocean.

  The canvas back was torn off and the horde of Priyon exposed to them. Eli dove to his stomach, L96 pointed at the back gate as it, too, was jerked away. The truck fishtailed, and corrected, engine blaring in their ears. Leandra fell beside him, their shoul
ders pressed together.

  Reese and Sway dropped to a knee, maneuvering between the sniper’s legs. The bump of crushed aliens kept their aim from being accurate, and so they waited until it was absolutely necessary.

  A Priyon gripped the back of the bed, inadvertently sticking its mouth directly over Leandra’s barrel as she fired. Their ears rang from the volume, but they never blinked. The red life force of the foreign creature filled the inside of their vehicle, painting Leandra and her death machine.

  She pulled back on the bolt, chambering another round with ease. The truck slowed and Sway recognized the buildings around them. They were at the Tranquille Fortune gate.

  “Everyone down!” Sojin screamed from above as she mounted the cab, grenade in hand. They jumped belly first, piling on top of one another and covering each other’s heads. Was one grenade going to be enough?

  The bottle sailed through the air, landing in a group of advancing Priyon. They all knew not to look, but did anyway as flaming cotton balls, bits of concrete, and charred glass shards rocketed away from the mass of enemies. Limbs and mandibles splattered against the bed, some of them still wriggling.

  With the truck at a stop, and the Priyon pushed back, the gate began to open for them. Sway scrambled from the mobile coffin, her gun trained on their right flank.

  “Sway! Get back in here!” Eli screamed as Reese and River jumped down to join her.

  With her heart drumming away inside her chest, Sway fired on an advancing alien. The 5.56mm round pegged it in the sensory nerve, dropping it instantly.

  “We have to keep them away from the gate!” she shouted. Enemy after enemy came screaming towards them, the fire of their hate fueled with each kill.

  The truck clamored through, scraping the mirror on the left side of the makeshift wall and ripping it off. The gates were closing, and they stepped back, still firing as the Priyon became more courageous. Reese was the last one through as the metal locked tight around them.

  “Get up on the wall!” Xander yelled and they rushed up the ladders on either side of the thirty-foot barrier manned by only two remaining Beacon members.

  Xander addressed them with command, though the patch on one’s chest indicated she outranked him. “We’ll hold this point as long as possible, join back up with your squad.”

  The Priyon were climbing on everything they could to get over, including each other. Their clicks and screeches filled the air with palpable anger, turning Sway’s gut with fear.

  They took aim at the countless Priyon streaming in from the east side streets. The imminence of their destruction pressed on her like a weight. They sent a thousand Priyon or more for each one of the community. It was the final invasion.

  “Fire on them farther back! Don’t let the bodies pile at the gate!” Fabel stood shoulder to shoulder with her, whips of ammunition exploding from the end of his barrel.

  Sway looked back to Xander, who was on the radio with, she could only hope, command.

  “What’s the plan!” Her gun led a rather large beast, and with a short trigger pull, put an end to it.

  “Evacuation! We need to hold this entry point for another eight minutes! We’re taking the train out!” Xander flew up the ladder, his weapon poised faster than she could blink as he fired with them.

  “Changing mags!” Eli pulled away from the wall, his hands shaking as he reached for his pocket.

  Leandra knelt at the far edge, each shot pushing her stabilizing stand off the ledge. “Sir, this is insane! We can’t hold them here for two more minutes, let alone eight!”

  Xander fired on a growing crowd, dismembering many of them. They flailed about, their shrieks of terror filling the young Beacon members with dread. “Hale, if two men and a wall could hold the Priyon off for ten minutes while we came in, we can hold it eight more!” Xander swapped his magazine, dropping the empty to the ground.

  They seemed to be endless, but Sway couldn’t stand to feel the souls of her squad members surrendering, and bolstered her courage with a shout. “We’ve got this you guys!”

  Scrapes and whining metal turned her head. Sojin braced against the cracked concrete, holding a rusted sedan above her as she yelled, “Out of the way!”

  Sway shoved at Reese and River, pushing them to the sides of their perch as the vehicle soared past them. It nicked the top of the wall, putting it in a spin as it dropped onto the hapless Priyon below.

  Crunching deafened all other sounds as their shells broke apart with skin still attached, spewing unknown organs over the road. The car rolled to a stop twenty meters from the gate and the Priyon backed off. Sway pulled out her spotter’s scope, watching as they ducked down the next street heading west.

  “They’re moving!” She shouted.

  Xander asked for the scope, and then nodded. “Everyone to the truck. We’ll head them off at Singh, then get our asses to the train.”

  Reese patted his shoulder. “They’re going to make it out, just like we are.”

  “I know.” Xander’s eyes held no light of hope, yet he smiled in acknowledgement. What he was really acknowledging, what he truly knew, was their demise.

  Chapter 9: Escape

  The black and red blood spattered walnut heart rolled across the bed as they skidded to a halt around the corner of Singh Street. Reese caught the love project with his foot, gripping it, and his AUG, until his knuckles whitened. Before the truck was in park, they jumped out and clambered up the wall.

  Bangs and scratches echoed off the empty train cars that had been welded together, only confirming Sway’s worst fears. The Priyon knew where they were loading onto the train and wanted the direct avenue there. She looked back on the residents still evacuating, trying to carry too much. They’d only be able to hold the aliens another minute, if luck was on their side.

  “Conserve ammunition, we’ll still need it for the train!” Xander flicked his gun to semi-auto, taking aim at their heads. “Only take a shot to kill, no more maiming!” He fired, blood spraying from the sensory nerve of the nearest Priyon.

  The Priyon must have known they’d abandoned their post at Tranquille-Fortune, and the horde would be coming their way, inside the walls. They all took aim with care, firing when they knew they could kill, and sometimes still missing the mark.

  Sojin patrolled on the streets, ushering the citizens to hurry to their salvation. Sway’s head snapped back to the oncoming mass of enemies, and she fired as a limb hooked on the edge of the wall. Eli screamed, “Watch it, Sway!”

  “Sorry!” She said in a panic, shooting again as another Priyon used the deceased to jump farther up the wall.

  Blood splashed over her face, and she reeled. Eyes blurry, she wiped away the salty red liquid. Hairs raised as her stomach floated inside her, and she gasped. Landing back first, she coughed as her ribs flexed. Her head swam, all sounds dampened as they sky rotated sickeningly. The helmet rolled away from her and she grasped at it desperately as she was ripped from the ground.

  Sojin steadied her, gazing at her abdomen. “You’re fine, just shock.” Her eyes lingered on the right side for far too long, and Sway knew, by the nagging sensation in her lung, something was wrong.

  “It’s dislocated?” She heaved.

  Sojin’s ocular sockets jerked up, “Broken.”

  “Fix it.” Sway demanded.

  “There’s nothing I can do.”

  The adrenaline kept her from doubling over, but the sharp sensation in her side let her know movement was not welcome. A scream, then silence, brought their attention back to the wall.

  “River!” Reese grabbed at her, but it was too late; a sharp, taloned leg back penetrated her back. They all shot downward to the offender. One final yelp and River disappeared from sight, her body flung over the edge.

  “Back up! Get down!” Xander screamed, pulling on Reese.

  Tears streamed down his cheeks, “She’s not dead! She can’t be!”

  “It’s time to go!” Leandra grabbed his vest, and Sway limped t
owards the ladder helplessly.

  Xander pointed to her, “Start the truck!”

  Taking a deep, agonizing breath, she jogged, holding the damaged side. Sojin swept her from the ground, ensuring she didn’t bounce as she laid Sway in the cab.

  “You’re only making it worse, harder on them.” She slammed the truck door, her acidic words searing Sway’s wounded heart. “Aim down Tranquille and stay out of the way.” She turned the key and the engine ignited into putts. A look at the gauge informed Sway it was nearly empty.

  The fuel can! She turned and opened the cab window to the bed, then with a single glance, remembered how the back—and the can—had been torn off.

  “Sojin!” Sway shouted, needles of torment wriggling up her esophagus as if the bone had splintered into her lungs.

  Sojin pointed to her eyes, then down Tranquille, and Sway jerked that way. It was sooner than she guessed, but the Priyon managed to get through their previous post and stampeded with conviction. She took aim, and shallow breaths, praying her cell would hurry.

  Richard scrambled into the back, tripping on organic debris as he held the open cab window. “Sway, get us out of here!”

  “I can’t.” The words gurgled, and she realized, in that moment, she couldn’t live past the day. Each shot felt like a punch to the gut as she fired on the closing enemies. If I can just make it to the train, she negotiated with herself, if we can just get there, Isla can fix me.

  Xander threw Reese in the bed, followed closely by Leandra, and Eli. Sojin charged at the approaching horde, her original design, her true nature, singing in the twilight of their last day. Speed beyond that of her enemy, and strength far surpassing, she yanked them apart at the legs, using the disoriented Priyon as weapons. Shells cracked mere meters from them, the sound sickening, and the sight even more so.

  “Sojin, time to go!” Fabel shouted as he shoved Sway into the center of the cab. She cried out uncontrollably, pushing back against the seat with her M4. Sojin tossed a final enemy, dashing for the truck and holding to the passenger door.

  Xander slammed on the gas, and the truck responded with a series of rough spits, then tore off down the street.