The ravine river raged on below, oblivious to the gunfire above. The suspension bridge dipped and shook from the blasts of detonation thrown by unknown enemies returning fire to the dodging guerrilla-fighters.
A boy was seen caught in the middle of the battle. Where he came out no one knew exactly. A grey-haired man was crying out, beckoning to the frightened boy, but was himself held back by masked beings in camouflaged alloid armors.
"Father!" The boy desperately clung onto the shaking metal I-beams connecting the cables to the bridge. The interlaced ropes shook once again, making the bridge dance in the damp, moist air.
A Stranger was watching close by in the air, hovering dangerously near the combatants.
One woman grabbed the boy's collar and yanked him toward her and another older woman made a signal and all five of them leaped into the roaring river the instant before the bridge exploded and crashed under the water.
---
In the dark night, the city was lit in an unforgivingly cold, iridescent light and underground in the water sewage tunnels, busy mobilcarts carrying refuse ran intermittently on lighted convey-routes overlaid on abandoned train tracks from a bygone era. There were people walking about on the concrete gangways, some waiting on platforms and others chating inaudibly about mundane daily news, but none noticed the two women in combat suits hiding in the overhangs.
The boy was wriggling fiercely and nearly got away but the younger from the pair of women caught him just in time. "Are you trying to get us killed, kid?" She said in an angry voice and the boy despaired and allowed himself to be wedged in between the women.
"Enough, sister, the longer we stay in the city the greater the risk. We need to rendevous with them soon and take him back to his real parents. It doesn't matter now that he is confused and scared. If you can't keep him quiet then sedate him."
The younger woman glared at her compatriot and scrowled, "No way, he is not as light as he looks. Besides, he can't run away unless he wants to be blown to bits, the liquid-grenades in..."
The boy blanched and covered his ears. He could not take this any longer. They have been running non-stop ever since the encounter in the mountains. Three women had died and the commander pursued them with a relentlessness that made him question the sanity of the government. Had he known better, he would have stayed in the cabin that day and spent the rest of his vacation couped up reading.
"Hey, snap out of it, kid!" The young woman slapped him on the back and brought him out of his rocking.
They crawled in the cramped space, the women discussing about their bounty and were about to reach an agreement when suddenly a shot hit the trestle beneath their feet and a white flash revealed their location. The boy swiveled his head and saw his horrified expression reflected on the helmet-screens of their pursuers. "After them!" The commander shouted.
"Time to go." The guerilla-fighter reached at him.
"What, wait just a-" But he never finished his sentence. The woman grabbed him on the waist and hurled themselves on top of a moving cart.
The Stranger went with them.
---
Emerging onto a passage besdie a narrow mountain way, the Stranger followed them in a filmy form. By this point in time the boy had become sullen and grown used to the rough-and-tumble. They were half walking, half jogging and a group of unaware tourists passed them without much of a single glance. The glinting chips on their temples were navigating them back into the city.
The Stranger turned its head to look at these blissfully subdued creatures and thought of fading to its realm.
"Go, there is not much time! Protect them." A man's ghost mouthed the words to it as the toursits passed through him. The ghost's eyes were wide and hollow and implored the Stranger to join the compatriots ahead.
It solidified and jogged to catch up with them. The compatriots cried out in alarm and raised their weapons as it wordlessly ran pass them . "If you want to live and complete your mission, then keep up." The Stranger said without mirth and an internal fear of capture drove it to quicken its pace.
The Stranger knew they know the "it" here and without another protest, they followed. The boy was speechless and in his pupils filled with wonder, it saw its present form.
Bending around the next corner, the hanging station rose to view. The gates swung open and they jumped onto the helipad.
As it approached the solitary convoy-jet parked on the helipad, a landing platform lowered automatically and the Stranger scrambled onto it. When it peered its head into the cockpit, it was pleased with the interior of the convoy-jet and motioned for the compatriots and the boy. When it turned its head back into the jet, it was stunned to see dirty refugees and royally-clad passengers all staring at it from the stairwell connecting to the second level of the jet.
They were not alone.
They were not alone.
It quickly put the mesmerized boy beside it on the pilot seat and drawing from the compartment cabinets, distributed thick blankets to all . There were more than thirty people in total, all trying to escape from the government. It did not inquire about their history or how they knew to rendezvous here and instead pressed a button and the loading platform clamped shut against the outside world.
Testing the engines, feeling more than satisfied from the revving sounds of life, it looked at the monitor screen and spoke into the intercom: "Buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride and keep away from the windows." Their trusting eyes were wide with incredibility and it wondered just what its role was as they obediently did all it asked.
Gusts of jet-streams and pulses of light from the four revolvable turbine-engines sprang into action and the jet rolled forward and glided down toward the smooth surface of a pristine lake. The lake was surrounded by snow-capped mountains and forests of red and yellow. It sucked in its breath as the jet took to the air at the last moment before hitting the water.
In front of the crew, the windshields were soon pelted with sheets of freezing rain and hail as they flew pass the uneven ridges of the mountain peaks. The weather turned from calm to turbulent. Onslaughts of snowstorm and strong wind rocked the plane from side to side. The rolls of opaque clouds obscured its vision. Not completely reliant on the topographic panel, it was forced to fly by instinct and beads of cold sweat slid down its neck as it concentrated. The boy looked up at it and whispered reassuringly, "You can do it."
The Stranger rested its eyes briefly on his familiar face, but could not recall who he was. It matters not, it thought to itself, I just need to escort them home then I can leave in peace. The two women have joined rank with the passengers on the second deck once aboard the plane. The young woman had wanted to touch the Stranger, but the older one punched her on the arm and hastily bowed and dragged her away to make themselves useful to others.
It was quite unsettling when the jet sped out of the thundering clouds into the clear sky. Immediately the plane veered into a vast berth of heavy rainforest. The earth was covered with behemoth trees rising into the sky and thick canopies of overgrouth soon made the flying difficult. The beeping sounds from the disoriented topographic panel reached a whole new level of annoyance and it flipped them off to disintegrate the windshield protector to reveal the outside world.
It was quite unsettling when the jet sped out of the thundering clouds into the clear sky. Immediately the plane veered into a vast berth of heavy rainforest. The earth was covered with behemoth trees rising into the sky and thick canopies of overgrouth soon made the flying difficult. The beeping sounds from the disoriented topographic panel reached a whole new level of annoyance and it flipped them off to disintegrate the windshield protector to reveal the outside world.
Just when it was about to raise the jet, a display of blinking red lights flashed into focus. "We are being pursued." The boy turned the sirens' volume down and smiled at the Stranger. "But you can get us out, can't you?" It simply nodded and pushed the joy-stick forward.
Entering into the heart of the jungle, a chase of hide-and-seek started. Enemy fighter jets fired torpedos at the gracefully evading white convoy-jet as it performed impossible wheel-vaults in the dense jungle.
Probes were released into the forest. The white jet narrowly escaped the detonations as it dunked shoulder to shoulder to an enemy fighter-jet. The enemy pilot's mouth went agape as he saw to his amazement the opponent pilot of the white convoy-jet inside the windshield. The convoy-pilot swiped the glade function and released boomerang scythes to slit open the passing fighter-jet, causing it to explode seconds later.
It shot down the sensory probes on their heels and the smoke-bombs disentangle the pursuers to allow time for it to release the missiles to finish the job.
Straight ahead, the sun has risen, illuminating the forest with a warm glow.
It parked the convoy-jet into a clearing close to the reflector shield of the translucent-boundary. The patrols were nowhere in sight. "That suits us just fine, we certainly don't want the citizens to notice our operations." The older woman looked kindly at the Stranger. It did not return her smile but rumpled the boy's hair. He was very quiet now, as their journey together would soon come to a close.
The Stranger opened a crack of the gauze-like boundary wall and motioned them to walk single-filed onto a hilltop. As the sun continued to rise, little by little a golden city was revealed to sight.
The tufts of soft grass felt safe to the boy's feet. "This is our homeland and final destination, kid," the older woman put her arms around his shoulders then turned to thank the Stranger.
It has disappeared.
Entering into the heart of the jungle, a chase of hide-and-seek started. Enemy fighter jets fired torpedos at the gracefully evading white convoy-jet as it performed impossible wheel-vaults in the dense jungle.
Probes were released into the forest. The white jet narrowly escaped the detonations as it dunked shoulder to shoulder to an enemy fighter-jet. The enemy pilot's mouth went agape as he saw to his amazement the opponent pilot of the white convoy-jet inside the windshield. The convoy-pilot swiped the glade function and released boomerang scythes to slit open the passing fighter-jet, causing it to explode seconds later.
It shot down the sensory probes on their heels and the smoke-bombs disentangle the pursuers to allow time for it to release the missiles to finish the job.
Straight ahead, the sun has risen, illuminating the forest with a warm glow.
It parked the convoy-jet into a clearing close to the reflector shield of the translucent-boundary. The patrols were nowhere in sight. "That suits us just fine, we certainly don't want the citizens to notice our operations." The older woman looked kindly at the Stranger. It did not return her smile but rumpled the boy's hair. He was very quiet now, as their journey together would soon come to a close.
The Stranger opened a crack of the gauze-like boundary wall and motioned them to walk single-filed onto a hilltop. As the sun continued to rise, little by little a golden city was revealed to sight.
The tufts of soft grass felt safe to the boy's feet. "This is our homeland and final destination, kid," the older woman put her arms around his shoulders then turned to thank the Stranger.
It has disappeared.
"I know this place." Tears plodded down the boy's rosy cheeks, wetting a few spots on the grass. He looked at the now healed force-field and bravely trudged down a path. The others saluted at the empty space and one by one descended down the hillside.
A soft sheen of yellow sunlight spred over the city. "Home at last."
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