Descent into the Abyss

Chapter 47

Even as the duo of Marcus and Blake traveled closer to the evacuated shelter, the thunderous explosions continued back at the Tower.

"He's really destroying all of it, isn't he?" Marcus asked, throwing a look back towards the haze growing above the rooftops.

"Yeah," Blake replied with a frown, turning towards Marcus. "He's hunting you too, if you didn't realize by now."

"I figured. Ever since I saw the boats while we were in the Tower, I knew he had came for me," Marcus acknowledged, looking back ahead to the shelter standing empty. "I'm sorry."

Blake grabbed his shoulder, stopping him, "Don't apologize."

"But---"

"Chicago attacked Detroit before you killed Kyle. Hell, it was my mission to destabilize Kyle and destroy their armory. I failed and because of my failure, you ended up fighting him," Blake explained, trying to alleviate some of the guilt he could see in the young man's eyes. "Michael would've retaliated regardless of Kyle's death. The only difference is the time frame, because honestly, there's no telling whether or not he would still be burning down the colony even with his brother alive."

Marcus broke eye contact, glancing down to the asphalt and the ash laying around them.

"He's right, Marcus," Kou chimed in.

With a nod, he turned back towards the shelter, "Any idea where they fled to?"

"There's a rendezvous point, couple miles outside city limits, in case something like this happened," Blake answered.

"Does Nathaniel know the location?"

Blake stopped cold, "Yes."

The unspoken question lingered in the ash filled air between the duo.

"We need to hurry," Blake stated, breaking into a jog with Marcus on his heels.

"If Nathaniel knows the location of the evacuated and is working with Detroit, then it's possible the Detroit forces have already engaged them at the secondary location," Kou speculated, a sense of dread creeping into Marcus's mind.

"The boats from earlier," Marcus recalled as they continued jogging through the streets. "They were heading west through the city, instead of towards the Tower."

"You think they planned this from the start? To go after the majority of the colonists rather than the soldiers?" Kou inquired.

"My question," Blake called out, "is where did the boats go? The river cuts north by northwest, before it reconnects to the lake. They'd have to offload their troops somewhere along the way."

"Where's the rendezvous point?" Marcus asked, staring ahead at the barren streets. "Looks like we're coming up on the edge of the colony walls."

"Yeah, they only go for a couple miles around the Tower," Blake replied, slowing his stride. "Except for the eastern side with the lake. Didn't want to block the aesthetics of the water, I suppose."

"You weren't here when they built it? Thought you've been here for awhile, judging from your relationship with General Roderick," Marcus commented, slowing down to match his partner's pace.

Blake shook his head, stopping suddenly as he grabbed his neck and tilted his head.

"You alright?" Marcus asked, puzzled by the movement.

"Yeah," Blake answered, tilting his neck a bit more before straightening up. "Had a tightness in my neck that needed popped. But no, I was on my own for awhile. After the fall of society, I left Detroit and wandered around, just surviving. Visited a lot of the smaller cities and towns. Met some good people... Met some not so good people. Heard of Chicago starting to come together and decided to check it out."