Skye City: The Darkness of Emmilyn

And When I Thought Things Could Not Get Any Worse...

Someone is banging on the double-doors of our squat which have been kept securely locked since the outbreak of the plague. The gang seem disinterested in our possibly infected visitor as we slouch on our tattered couches, barely awake. We have all been constantly subdued since the day Lel... died. As the banging gets heavier, I drag myself from my seat to find out what could be so damn urgent.

'Hurry up,' a familiar voice yells.

'I'm coming,' I yell back, plodding into a vast L-shaped room which is filled with stinking junk – and a dormant combat mechanoid called Ivor. Kicking a ball to one side, I detour around a few boxes and head into what my weird brother calls 'the vestibule' which is basically the entrance area where we park our rusty van.

My brother Arturo left in the van with Smig and Myla to meet his mysterious boss Jardine and I assume they have finally returned from Underworld. I grab the key from the shelf to unlock the padlock then release the bolts and slide the door open. I am greeted by the scarred and unshaven face of Smig who is looking rather flushed.

'Shit, Emmi, we're in trouble. The STG chased us and started shooting. I lost Arturo and Myla.' Smig frantically spins his head, scanning the derelict industrial estate. 'I d... Ah crap, run!'

'What do you mean – run?' I spot a jet-black transport zooming down the road, but Smig runs into the squat without answering my question. Freezing, I stare into the transport's glaring windscreen and glimpse a girl, who could be Myla, sitting between masked men.

'Ivor, wake up. We need your help.' I slide the doors shut and run into the junk room, wishing I had bolted up and bought us a few seconds.

'Guys! Guys!' Smig yells. 'Follow me. The STG's coming!'

With furious strength, Smig tears off the planks of wood that we nailed over the fire escape, and the gang, who are suddenly not so sleepy, scramble into the junk room to help. I hear what sounds like a transport door sliding open, doubting we have time to escape the law. Oscar places his foot against the door frame and tears off the final plank, then Smig kicks open the fire escape. The gang spill out the building and daylight is just yards away, but my foot catches something and I slam onto concrete, barely able to breathe.

'InterVentional Optimised Robotics activated. How can I help?' Ivor finally says as footsteps thunder at the front of the squat. About bloody time.

'Ivor, kill those bastards as they enter the building!' I scramble to my feet, looking back to the combat mechanoid as the double-doors rattle. The hunk of yellow metal unloads his machine-gun-arm and the deafening roar stops me in my tracks. I gawp as chunks of flesh and severed limbs tumble from the entrance area, followed by streaming blood and mangled torsos.

A grenade clanks on the concrete, among the dead bodies, and flashes, then sparks engulf Ivor, causing our mechanoid to freeze. A man emerges and he must be a San Terian Guard, judging by the body armour which covers him from head to toe. The intruder points a gun straight at my face and I shake uncontrollably, considering whether I could run through obstacles and out the fire escape before he blows my brains out.

'Don't move!' he roars, rushing over and wrapping his arm around my neck. Tears flood my eyes, and through blurry vision I see dark figures storming past us. The San Terian Guard drags me towards the sparking mechanoid and the body parts, and I so desperately want to fight back, but I fear this bastard will shoot so I do not resist.

As I am dragged through gore, a clattering noise comes from the direction of the fire escape, then a bang, maybe a gunshot – and the target can only be one of my squat-mates. Another sickening bang. 'Noooo,' I sob, trying not to imagine who the victim will be.

'Emmi! Emmi!' a voice yells and it sounds like my brother. Why the fuck is he not running?

'Arturo!' I yell back.

My brother emerges into view, breathing heavily as he points a handgun at the San Terian Guard who is using my body as a shield. I feel the tip of his rifle press against my temple – and I know the slightest twitch could make my head explode.

'Let her go! Let her go now!' Arturo roars.

'What do you think you can do? I'm a trained soldier,' the San Terian Guard yells.

'Just ask your friends who are lying in a pool of blood,' Arturo yells back; his gun-holding hand trembling with rage.

With just my worthless life to lose, I stamp on the guard's foot and tilt my head to the side and BANG! Blood and shards of plastic spray onto my face and I gasp for breath as the guard's forearm releases from my neck. Arturo runs over and kicks the collapsing guard against the wall, then rips his helmet off to reveal a forehead with a bullet hole above the eyebrow.

'Where is she?' Arturo yells, punching the bloodied guard in his lifeless face.

'Arturo, I saw Myla in the transport outside,' I say.

'Myla, she was here?' Arturo shrieks, letting go of the guard, and he unhesitantly runs through the sliding doors – straight into the line of fire.

Gunshots are followed by a horrible silence, then a swishing, and I cannot bear to move or even call my brother's name, but I cannot abandon him, even if I must die. No further enemies appear to be coming so I summon the courage to poke my head through the doorway. The transport vanishes into the derelict industrial estate and I run outside to see the only family member I have left, lying against the building wall – his upper-body full of holes and his t-shirt torn to shreds.

Leaning over Arturo, I grab his soaking shirt and just sob because there is nothing I can do, and no ambulance I can call. My brother coughs blood which dribbles down his chin as I stare into his helpless, red-tinged eyes. Every cough gets weaker until soon he is not coughing at all and his eyes roll into the back of his head.

'Noooo!' I scream at the grey sky, shaking Arturo's limp body. 'Help! Help! Please!'