Emma struggled to get her footing as the soldiers dragged her across the runway in a hurry. Her head was pounding and her legs felt like they were jelly. Her ears continued to ring even though the emitters tearing her aura apart had been shut off. She slumped to her knees and coughed, her hands bound in front of her, tasting something metallic in her mouth. Blood.

“WE’VE GOT INCOMING!”

Rebecca’s skull throbbed as she started to come back to consciousness. But the moment she fought to open her eyes she knew the worst was yet to come.

The day dragged on as everyone busied themselves with distractions. They weren’t used to waiting in one spot for so long.

They had one more hour before the scheduled check in with the base, so Hanson took the opportunity to familiarise himself with the equipment the mortals gave him. He eyed the submachine gun inquisitively, until Henry gave him a crash course on how to handle it safely. It was much more crude than a wand, but far more dangerous. “Try not to blow off your own hand” Henry advised, passing the weapon back to him.

The mages reeled from the whiplash of their attackers switching from trying to kill them to bringing them to their campsite in the middle of the forest and saving them from starvation. They freely shared their supplies of food and helped treat their injuries, a few of them apologising while others watched them warily. Brunhilde in particular found the situation confusing, and a little suspicious, but Hanson reminded her all these mortals had the same thing in common; they wer

Clark stared at Shaw as she repeated the message over and over desperately. “What are you doing?” he cried, grabbing her wrist.

The mortals, however, found themselves caught in the same gunfire as the mages. The handful who had stepped outside at the wrong moment were met with a battery of lead before they dove for the nearest cover.

The High-King didn’t sleep. He spent the whole night in Emma’s room watching over her has she finally passed out. He sat on the bed beside her in the dark room, stroking her head as she snored restlessly.

The scream woke Shade up instantly.

Everyone retired for the night pretty early. The plan was to wake up at the crack of dawn and start moving again, so the mortals suggested they get as much sleep as they could. And with nearly all of the rooms here in good condition, a good night’s sleep actually appeared possible.

With the highway no longer an option, it forced them to divert their journey back the way they came in order to take a longer and more scenic route. Which nobody was happy about. It extended their journey to twice the length they should’ve taken to reach their destination.

“Analysis?”

Scarlett remembered being scared. So scared she couldn’t breathe. The monsters were out there and they were getting closer. There were so many people around her she couldn’t move. They were shouting and screaming, and finally she was shoved to the floor grazing her hands. She dropped the toy she was carrying and it was crushed under a dozen stomping feet. She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. She was too scared.

The sky darkened as the combined group journeyed deeper into the mainland, away from the coastline onto a stretch of concrete. They followed the roads onto a highway littered with vehicles that cluttered all five lanes. Emma remembered seeing a lot of roads like these on her last visit, vast roads used for transportation. It made her think of home, how they never had anything like these connecting their cities or kingdoms.

As soon as they saw the smoke, the mages knew something was wrong. Brunhilde immediately sprinted up the hill and Hanson ran to catch up with her. The other mages followed behind with the mortals bringing up the rear, all of them rushing up the hill as fast as they could. They crested the hill rise and looked down into the cove they had hidden away in, only to freeze in horror at the sight that awaited them.

They peered down at the ghouls and hounds roaming the streets below, using their scopes and binoculars to scan the area around the Space Needle. The hordes had moved on, leaving a manageable cluster remaining by the entrance. “We’ll wait five more minutes and then move out” Clark said, passing the binoculars to Hanson to examine the terrain.

With the threat of the mutations averted, the monsters safely locked downstairs with no knowledge of their location, the survivors found little need for one of them to keep watch. This allowed all of them to rest after wearing themselves out on dancing and laughing. Each of them ended up falling asleep the moment their eyes closed, the soundproof room casting a gentle silence over them all. It was one of the more peaceful night’s sleep the mortals had experienced in some time