Alternate

Chapter 11

The escape from Siver was a hellish one. How they even got off the walls safely was a blur for Rand. The rush through the narrow streets while facing off lizard men coming from side streets seemed like a nightmare. In their haste to flee they forgot all about their own belongings that had been stashed away near the wall.

The panicked soldiers and the even more panicked general populace was a hindrance. More than once Rand and his friends had to run away and leave a group of helpless civilians to be slaughtered just to buy more time for their own escape.

Most surprisingly, captain Trez somehow ended up making the escape with them.

"How did we end up with this guy?" demanded Seth while gasping for breath. He jogged along with the rest, just as covered in blood as everyone else. The abuse of the previous days was slowing him down, but not by much. Adrenaline could do wonderful things.

"I don't know," admitted Rand and glanced over at the captain. The man had made himself a nuisance at times. He wanted to stay and fight the monsters every time innocents were in danger. Which was all the time seeing as the main defences had folded and many civilians had not had time to escape through the southern gate.

On the other hand, he had been a great help in gathering soldiers from time to time to help make progress. Conversely, he often ended up sending them away as soon as things quieted down, leaving the group to face the next hot spot all on their own.

"He has been useful," reminded Carl. He looked pale underneath all the dried blood. Rand wondered if he looked the same. None of them had been seriously injured so far, but the horrors they had seen would have been enough to make even the most hardened psychopath feel sick.

"Keep him until we're safe from the city then ditch him?" suggested Jen. Out all of them she looked the least affected by the running and the strain of fighting. She didn't look phased by the horrors they'd witnesses. Rand knew she had done worse things herself so she had grown a thicker skin than the rest. She was a soldier after all. The rest were simple working men who were witnessing a true massacre for the first time.

Seth laughed. "I'm starting to like her."

"Just don't get any funny ideas," replied Jen and gave the long haired man a grin.

Trez was trailing behind the rest of them, looking over his shoulder from time to time. He heard none of the conversation. What he heard were the distant cries of people and the roars of the monsters. Seeing no smoke or fires made it an odd battle. The smell of burning flesh and wood was something he'd come to expect of battles, but the lizards didn't use fire.

They didn't need to.

"There's the gate!" shouted Rand and pointed forward. They'd rounded a corner and gotten to a street with a straight line of sight to the gate. The street was also filled with people trying to escape. Children were crying as their parents carried them and tried to push their way forward. A few soldier could be seen in the mix, but they were not trying to uphold order. They were just as desperate to get out and they had weapons to use.

The group stopped.

"We'll never get through that in time," said Jen and frowned at a soldier who was swinging his sword to cut his way through. He seemed to use the blunt side of his blade for the most part, but there were some people left in his wake with bleeding wounds. He wasn't the only one cutting a bloody path to safety. There were civilians with weapons as well and they were using them just as much as the soldier.

"We have to try," said Rand, though he didn't sound very hopeful. It was no small stretch they'd need to cover and the monsters chasing them weren't that far off. Once they appeared the crowd would panic even further. How the people would react was impossible to predict.