Seven Wonders|Transformers.

Chapter 38: When Everything Went Wrong.

[Title: When Everything Went Wrong - Fantastic Negrito.]

The group burst out the door to the building into an alleyway, the soldiers keeping an eye out for any decepticons as they followed Sam and Clara who were at the front. Clara could hear a loud warbling-like noise in the distance, that had to be the pillars charging up to activate a space bridge. While they made their way down the alley, Clara and Sam looked up and immediately spotted the building with the pillars sparking with energy. "Clara was right! It's starting! You see it?" Sam called to the others while they ran. However, they didn't make it far when explosions and gunfire went off several hundred feet away from them.

"Whoa! Look out!" Epps shouted as they moved to duck away from the blast fire as it got closer and closer. Epps and the soldiers veered off into a garage while Clara, Sam, and Carly sprinted ahead to flee, unknowingly separating themselves from Epps and the others. Clara glanced back for a moment while they were running and internally groaned at the lack of Epps and his team. Great, they got separated. Just their luck. But it didn't matter, they had to keep moving or risk being found.

"Keep moving! Keep moving!" Clara hissed at them when the two young adults glanced back at her and noticed a lack of Epps as well, not wanting them to slow down. "We'll find something to lay low in." She told them calmly. The three continued down the alleyway until they reached a courtyard between three buildings littered with burning or destroyed cars.

"We'll go this way," Sam said to them while gripping Carly's hand as Clara led the two of them. They moved themselves up close to a burnt school bus for cover as they got closer to the open street. That's when Clara heard it. The familiar whirring of a gunship and the hybrid's arm immediately shot out, forcing the two to stop.

"It's gunship, stay close to the bus, out of sight." Clara whispered to them and they quickly pressed themselves against the charred bus. She held up a hand, waiting for the sound to disappear. It was a few more minutes before she heard the sound of the ship fade and there was nothing. That was until she heard the familiar sound of a jet. Her gaze snapped up just in time to see Starscream transform and freefall right toward them. "Sam! Carly! Move! It's Starscream!" She yelled without hesitation, but they didn't make it far when Starscream landed in front of them with a loud thud.

"What a treat! You two and me, alone!" Starscream practically slobbered at the sight while Clara raised her hands slightly.

"Try me, you stiletto-heeled freak. You saw exactly what I did to Sentinel." Clara threatened and Starscream shifted with some fear but also grew with excitement. That he would like to see.

"That I would like to see, half-breed." He cackled, Clara sucking in a sharp breath and internally cursing. She had to focus on Sam and Carly's safety, there were too many variables to mess something up or hurt one of them. Starscream was a coward but he also basked in Megatron's praise, in the rare chance he received it.

"Carly!" Sam shouted as Carly screamed and the Witwicky boy grabbed Clara and dragged her away to flee before she could even try to hurt Starscream. The three made a run for it, Clara with some reluctance, despite the variables she'd rather deal with him head-on, while Starscream flipped the bus they hid near. The bus slammed right onto the ground in front of them on its roof, forcing them to stop. "Come on, come on! Run!" He called to Carly and Clara, they quickly moved and slid into cover behind the front of the overturned bus. ""Okay! He's after us, not you. Quick! Run!" Sam ordered Carly, shoving her forward to run for cover. The girl stumbled to her feet and rushed into the overturned bus, Clara pushed Sam forward to follow first as she ran last after him and Carly.

"Sam, we can't just stick around here. We have to move, let me deal with him. Get him out of the way." Clara insisted while they climbed through the bus and Sam shook his head.