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Chapter 3 Still Jez did not answer. Quietly, he pushed himself upwards, curling his fingers over the box they were hiding behind. His chin moved up next, resting cautiously. His big blue eyes stared out, not up towards the sky where the attack had come from all those years ago, but instead down towards the grubby streets of the city. And sure enough there they were. The other-worlders had come. With a curse, he bowed down again. "They're here," he mouthed, barely able to breathe in fear of being caught. As if to confirm his dire thoughts, the ground floor of the building thumped open. Footsteps chimed loudly and then suddenly gunfire filled the still air. Jez cried out quietly and Ion grabbed for his friend before Ki had chance to react. "Shh," the elder man whispered. "They're downstairs. Not up here." "They're coming." It was Ki who spoke. His big brown eyes glared out over the box for a moment. A shadow was on the stairway. One had come looking for more humans. Ki's finger pointed daintily towards the open doorway. "There's one there," he whispered. Both Ion and Jez looked up. Surprising them all, Jez pulled a small gun from his pocket. Not one of his friends had known that he carried a loaded weapon to their meetings. Concealed safely in the layers of his thick clothing, he had never had need to produce it before tonight. But he had always known that this time would come eventually. Bravely, perhaps foolishly, the smaller man rose upwards. His hand came down atop the box, resting securely, eyeing his target down the dark barrel of his gun. The other-worlder stepped out onto the rooftop, shattered their private meeting. Its head was bald, its eyes were small, skin the dirty colour of a very sick man. Armour grew where only skin should be and a gun was in its hands, as if it too had been born to that place. There was something so very human and yet very inhuman about |
the creature. Jez shuddered. It was that shudder that cost him.
The other-worlder turned, saw him, raised its gun and, before Jez could fire, the alien blasted a shot out of his far-superior weapon. The shell flew through the air, an alien green colour that almost looked pretty. It sailed across the dark night, struck Jez's arm like fire and sent it jerking upwards in pain. He cried out and watched helplessly as his own gun fell from his hands. Now he was open and vulnerable and death stared down the alien gun at him. His time had come. "No!" he heard Ki roar behind him. Suddenly his arms were around Jez's waist, seeming to embrace him like a lover, hugging him back against his soft chest, toppling them backwards onto the rooftop floor. Jez cried out again. Pain leapt up his arm like poison and it rolled lifelessly out beside him. "Ion!" Ki roared and the elder man wished the youngest of their group would stop shouting so loudly. It was going to draw more other-worlders. One they might be able to contain but no more than that. "Take him!" "Ki, shut up," he hissed, gathering Jez into his embrace and cradling him in his arms like a baby. There was already sweat standing out on his friend's face and his arm was bleeding furiously. The green shell was poisoning his blood and Ion knew that time was of the essence. Ki reached out, grabbed for Jez's fallen gun and was quick enough to dodge the other-worlders gunfire. He lifted the uselessly small weapon and shot it three times. Each bullet seemed to scream and pierce the air, and visions of the other-worlders racing up the stairs to find the owner of the gun filled each of the boys' heads. Shutting down everything but his fighting instincts, Ki raised the gun once more, fired it twice and saw the other-worlder fall down. It hit the floor with a thud, its alien mouth gaping open in pain, mumbling words of a language that Ki had never heard before. |