The Last Atonian

Chapter 17:

The force of the shot jerked Don's arm to the side. He grimaced, lowering the weapon slowly. A vague doomed notion fell over him. He waited with no breath, watching the ship as it got closer to him, seeing the shattered glass of the cockpit ...

"Move it, you idiot!" A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him off balanced. As he toppled to the ground, the ship flew past, crashing to the ground with a massive crunch. Don stared at it from the ground. Flames licked off the ship, adding to the smoke and fire from all around them.

Finally, he looked at his savior and his jaw dropped. "Veerna?!"

The Voldinian was battered and bruised, but it was definitely her. She blew a strand of white hair out of her eyes. "In the flesh," she answered. "That was a nice shot, Don."

A compliment was the last thing he'd been expecting from her. He had to stammer out a response. "Oh ... uh ... thanks."

Veerna blinked at him, looking—strangely enough—as awkward as he felt. "No problem," she said after a long moment. Yulia was behind her, obviously trying to appear as small as possible. For a long time, the two just looked at each other.

Finally, an explosion nearby shook them out of their reverie. It wasn't near enough to injure them, but it was certainly enough to give them a start. "I guess we'd better keep going," Don said finally.

"Probably," Veerna agreed.

Yulia stared at them. "Are you two okay?" she asked after another second of silence.

"Fine," they both said at the same time.

Veerna then turned and started walking purposefully back down the street. Don and Yulia hurried to keep up with her, trailing after her long strides and making themselves feel as if they had half the stride length she did. The Voldinian paid them little mind, as if her single compliment to Don had thrown her completely off-balance.

The streets were still in chaos, but Veerna now seemed to be better prepared to lead them around it. Maybe it was because she was paying more attention, but she was able to bring them around trouble, making sure she never left them in the dust again. She had yet to reclaim her gun from Don.

Ships buzzed overhead, but Veerna had determined that hiding among the corpses on the ground was a handy way of surviving, considering both she and Don looked like they'd been dragged through a war and back again. Still, they mostly walked in silence, occasionally sprinting to avoid explosions or gunfire.

At long last, after what felt like eons, Veerna seemed to bring them where they were supposed to go. She said nothing as she led them towards a tiny building, little more than a shed in the street. So far, it had been left practically untouched by the explosions and destruction of the rest of the city. Don frowned. "What is this place?"

"It's the security room," Veerna replied. "Well-hidden, isn't it? Nobody'd ever think to look here."

"It's ... not much, is it?" Don asked.

Veerna snorted. "It's underground, you nincompoop," she told him. "Safer that way. C'mon you two, we need to keep going." She grabbed Don's arm, dragging him along behind her. Yulia trailed along after them, pulling her indigo hair over her shoulder and running her fingers through it absently.

Veerna broke open the lock on the door with a single kick. Don's eyebrows shot up, but he made no comment. Yulia huddled close to him, not near enough that they were touching, though. He could only watch curiously as the Voldinian forced the door open and turned to them both with a smirk. "Door's open, if anybody's interested," she told him.