(Links to previous chapters in comments). Head down, feet forward, moving onward. For a time they were able to focus on traveling as far and as fast as they could, determined to take advantage of their miraculous deliverance. However, as the world drifted from deep darkness to the dim washed-out hues of approaching dawn, their strength began to fail. Purposeful strides became tired footfalls and sure steps dwindled to monotonous shuffles. Felicia found her attention wandering as she tried to maintain watch on their surroundings. It was their salvation that bothered her. The Fallen had been killed by an expert marksman, of that she was certain. A sure shot herself, the skill that had kept her alive so far, she had instantly seen the precision of the kills. Not a single shot had been wasted. Yet when she had tried to find their source there had been nothing, no one but them as far as the eye could see. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes and worked her jaw. [i]So, so tired.[/i] She had to remain alert. She could wonder about it another time. Mattaus and Hausen just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, completely relying on Felicia to keep them safe. Mirim was a dead weight on them, barely breathing and muttering incomprehensible words between moans. Despite having bound her torso tightly, blood from her wound had soaked her top almost entirely and her pants in dark rivers stretching to her boots, but they could not afford to rest. They had to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the dead Fallen. Dawn came and went, the sun rose and the heat grew. The clothing that had kept them warm during the night was quickly discarded. They each had multiple layers that they had scavenged as they had traveled and were accustomed to sleeping in almost all of it, light sweaters, shirts, T-shirts and vests, even their jackets, whatever it took to keep warm in the bitterly cold nights. Hausen had been sleeping in his jacket the previous night, the girls had pulled on theirs before leaving the locker and Mattaus had been wearing his whilst patrolling. They were now all tied around their waists. As the heat continued to build, any clothing over what was needed to keep themselves covered was wrapped around their heads and faces to protect from the unforgiving sun. What they wore, their weapons and what ammo had been stuffed into pockets before they had fled was all that they had now. There were no tools, no supplies and no water. As they walked through the morning throats dried, lips cracked, sweat ran and they grew ever more tired. And then it got bad. Reality split with the sound of a god clapping its hands and suddenly three Skiffs were in the skies, their rumbling engines destroying the silence. Felicia dropped and rolled behind nearby succulents as the two men fell to the ground and pulled Mirim with them, scrambling to hide in the shadow of a small rocky outcrop. Two vessels flew off to the west, hovering over an unseen location. The other hung over the restaurant they had escaped from. Bright balls of energy burst from the vessel and smashed the building to ruins. More and more of the energy blasts pummelled the ground until the area was completely levelled, then the Fallen dropped to scour the area. No one needed to say anything. At the first sight of the slender figures falling from the alien ships they knew they had to keep moving. As soon as the Skiff departed, Felicia motioned the others onward, rifle at the ready as they crawled to the other side of the outcrop and began moving again, crouching low and being sure to keep the rock between them and what had been the drive through. The sun continued to rise as they walked and as it reached the centre of the cloudless sky things became unbearable. Even though they all had well weathered skin through years of living out in the open, this was one of the harshest conditions they had ever experienced. Whenever possible they had only roamed at night and found some sort of cover to rest during the day. Now their skin burned an ever darkening orange where it lay exposed to the desert sun and their eyes stung with sweat. Felicia found the cave almost by accident. She had been staring at it for a while without realising it. A thin ridge of rock had slowly risen around them and the ground had sloped downward as they had traveled, so that they now walked within a natural basin similar in shape to an upturned oyster shell. Barely able to talk, she rasped its existence to the others and they slowly moved to where it sat in one of their rocky borders. Holding her rifle by the end of its barrel, Felicia hesitantly, wearily entered the space and used her weapon as a stick to sweep the ground for snakes that used such cooler places as sanctuaries from the heat. Despite her eagerness for shelter, she meticulously swept the interior. None were found and they all moved inside. The cave was shallow, but large enough that they could all sit inside and rest against the shadowed, cool stone walls. Burnt, dehydrated and both mentally and physically tired, they swiftly and involuntarily collapsed. Hausen was the first to wake. When he realised that they had all fallen asleep he urgently pushed his way to the cave mouth and stared outside. It was night, the sky clear and full of countless stars surrounding a half-crescent moon that bathed the land in a silver sheen. Keeping still, he just moved his eyes, scanning the land for any movement, any sign that they had been found. Nothing moved. [i]I relaxed before and look what happened.[/i] When Mattaus awoke he found Hausen intently watching the world outside the cave. He crawled to sit beside him. "What is it?" He whispered as he too stared around them trying to find what the other man was so intent on. "Nothing". "Nothing?" Hausen just nodded, never looking away from the desert. Mattaus looked at Hausen for a moment and saw the anxiousness in his eyes. He nodded and turned away. He understood. Hausen was waiting, expecting for the calm, the quietude to be shattered and for them to be thrust into danger as they always were. Mattaus returned to the back of the cave. Mirim had fallen unconscious whilst they had slept. The young man put his ear to her chest. He could feel her heart beating, but barely. He could feel her breathing, but weakly. She was dying. Fast. He shook Felicia awake. The woman broke from sleep wide eyed and hands reaching for her rifle. Mattaus calmed her with soft words and a forced smile. "It's time to go". [i]No water.[/i] Felicia staggered forward and tried not to think of how much her body craved a sip of water. [i]Thats all, just a sip.[/i] She did not know when she had stopped caring about her surroundings and instead just stared blankly forward; or when her rifle had turned from a ready weapon to a walking pole helping her keep her feet. All she did know was that the buildings were growing taller, the settlement coming closer. Broken, derelict husks of every size rose in the distance before her. Single, double and triple story ruins sat around square towers with upper levels ripped open. Gaps between them indicated former roads and some sort of rail-line a few stories high wound between the structures. In its day it would have been a sizeable community. Not a city, but certainly a large town. Dimly she wondered why it was here, what it was doing in such a desolate place. Clouds. Felicia stared at the slow moving clouds and struggled to make sense of them. Where was the town? Where had the clouds come from? She turned her head to look around her and dirt met her lips. Slowly she realised that she was laying on her back on the ground. [i]Must get up. Must keep moving.[/i] It was like her body was no longer hers to control. No matter how hard she tried, nothing moved. [i]I should be scared[/i], she thought, but she was not. She did not feel anything. She was numb. She turned her eyes back to the sky. A white line was being drawn between the clouds as something flew high above. [i]That would be nice. To fly. To be up there and to leave here.[/i] The world became smaller as darkness crept forward from the edge of her vision to leave the smallest of holes through which to watch the vapour trail high above. "Can you hear me?" The voice was muffled as if from far away. She stared at the glinting shape making the white lines. The darkness edged further, her world got smaller. [i]Of course flying man, I can hear you.[/i] "Stay with me!" Felicia managed a weak smile. [i]No I can't, I can't fly.[/i] Darkness swallowed the world.