The Luigi Story

Chapter 5: The start of a journey part 2

We walked back to the others, who had seemingly not prepared for anything. They were holding shopping bags filled with random assortments of clothes, decoration, and bathing supplies. Of course the attack came swift while they were shopping, but to be carrying these bags while on the run from the enemy was dangerous.

'Please, people, you cannot be carrying your shopping goods during our escape!', I told them. 'We only need to take the essential supplies like food and water with us and perhaps a blanket for the children. Leave all other stuff here. You will get it back when the enemy has been defeated.'

The people reluctantly put their stuff back in a corner and then went back in the group. The group had formed a line of people standing two by two. James had formed the group with strong people in the front and back, with the children and elders in the middle. This in case the robots attacked us or someone needed help.

'Luigi', James said. 'You and Captain Toad are in front. Take the Yoshi with you. You two can be our scouts.'

'That is a good plan, James', I replied. 'Where will you be?'

'I will be in the back of the group, helping those who fall behind', James responded. 'Now let's get a move on.'

I went to the front of the group and jumped on the back of Yoshi. Captain Toad was walking besides me as we went downstairs, followed by the others. As we reached the door, Captain Toad opened it gently and peeked through. We all held our breaths in the wait for his answer.

'It is clear', he finally said. 'Let's go.'

I was the first one to get out and the Yoshi walked quietly onto the street. I could see the backside of the airship out west in the distance, as it was slowly turning around again.

The group looked scared to go outside into the rain, but they knew that they couldn't stay here for much longer.

We started heading east towards the fire, to get the cover off smoke. It took us only a couple of streets to get there. The fire was hot, the smoke was thick and the rain was heavy. It was difficult to breathe and James told the group to use the blankets as an air filter for the children. Even if it was difficult to walk here, the plan seemed to work. No robots were in sight and we hadn't been detected yet. The only thing that was here was the horrible scene that we had seen earlier. Here Toads and Koopa's lay on the ground, scattered in groups, with big fire trucks on the middle of the street, their lights still blinking and the water still running out of the hoses. The people here were most likely residents of the building, watching their houses burn while the fire department tried to put out the flames. Unknowingly to them, the red mist had snuck up behind them and took them out while they were watching the fire. Their bodies were now covered in the wet ashes of the fires.

It was a horrible thing to watch and the parents tried their best not to show any of it to their children. We had been walking for half an hour or more till we reached the point, we had to start going south. The fire here had burned itself out and only a thin plume of smoke remained, that was too little to cover our tracks. As we were walking south, I scouted ahead every junction and corner and then waited for Captain Toad and the front of the group to arrive.

All was clear, but the further we went south, the more it felt that something was not right. After a couple of more corners, I stopped and waited for Captain Toad again. While I was waiting, I looked around carefully. I could feel the rain soaking my already drenched clothes and I started to feel the cold creeping up.

'We have to find shelter soon', I thought to myself. The children and the elders will catch a cold if they remain out in this weather.

Captain Toad arrived, breaking my train of thought