William
Making their way out of Greendown in the skycraft had taken longer then either of them had thought it would, but finally the maze of buildings they had navigated began to give way to more space.
Will was nervous. Thoughts of the crashed craft would fill his head when the pain from his should would subside before flaring up again. He feared missiles or other long range weapons would target them if they got to rise. It hadn’t just been the one craft at the Park N Pay. They had passed by at least a dozen more in various states of destruction.
The protection of the buildings proved their own challenge. They crawled through the streets of Greendowns, nearly hitting objects several times. More then one tree had been knocked down as Sam got too close. Several times they were forced back because of damaged buildings engulfed in flames, or even partial knocked down.
He had tried to remain quiet to allow Sam to concentrate. She was doing her best, he knew. Better then what he could have managed. It was like a dense jungle maze. The buildings weren’t the only thing Sam had to worry about. Signs of all sizes hung or floated in the streets. Parked or damaged crafted covered the ground which meant they couldn’t go too low. Alarms went off non stop as one object or another came too close. Trees rose up like mini spires between the large structures of the buildings, connected to one another with walk ways at all sort of levels.
They had once forced to flee the way they came once when the craft came under small arms fire. Lucky for them the cold steel of the craft seemed to withstand them, and their attacks either had no heavy weapons or time to bring them to bear.
Bodies continued to litter the streets wherever they went. Anytime they thought maybe they were nearing the edge of it all, more would be spotted. Whatever was happening, it was clear now to him, that the whole city was affected, maybe even the continent as a whole, or even on the whole planet. He had no clue what was going on. At first he considered Furse raiders from off world, but it had been decades since Karthmere was last raided. His father and other lords had built a fleet to protect the world for hostile threats. It didn’t make sense that raiders could attack without warning.
The Furse might have been known for their lightning quick speeds in which they used to attack, but never without warning, a fleet would have been picked up days in advance by any number of systems used to guard the system.
The bodies though. Kids dead along side their parents. Cafes and other spots filled with people going about their life, which ended in a moment.
The whine of the craft picking up speed brought Will back to the moment. He winched in pain, and blooded at the bloody shirt in his hand against the gunshot wound. He said up straight in the chair, before standing. He tried not to grunt as he took the few steps towards where Sam sat piloting the craft.
It was hard to make out what was in front now. Other then the lights of the craft which remained off, only the moonlight lite up the landscape. The lights of the city which remained on were now pass them. Will watched as Sam looked from one panel to the next to read the different inputs from the craft’s scanners. Slowly the craft rose as it sped it. Couple meters off the ground, 5.3 meters one of the displays showed. 6 meters, 9 meters, 10 meters.
“You are getting too high,” Will said, which seemed to do little to her as she continued her task.
“Just a little more,” Sam replied. “I can’t see anything out here. I don’t want to crash through some house out in the country with it’s lights off. Some tree tree or hill I don’t see until it’s too late.” The craft continued to climb. Fifteen meters, twenty meters, and then it stopped. “There,” she said, still not looking to him.
Will nodded. They were still well under the safe allowable height, and they would have no choice but to climb higher as they got closer to the mountains. Maybe height wouldn’t even matter. Maybe they were already on someones radar, or a missile was heading from them already. They just had to reach Lakehall. His father would know what to do.
“How’s the shoulder?” Sam asked.
Will managed a half sigh half smile. “Hurts,” was all he said before taking a seat next to her. “How long?”
“Hour or less at this speed,” Sam replied.
“Still nothing on Comm channels?” he asked, as his hand moved to the screen in front of him, and he brought up a list of Comm links, and radio channels. Everything was silent as he flicked through them. It wasn’t the first time, or even the second. Everything was dead.
“Haven’t had any signals. We’ve already passed a couple homesteads, other then landmarks, no signs of anything. Power, communication, it’s quiet.”
Will closed his eyes for a moment before Anders flashed in his minds eyes, and his eyes shot open. Everytime he closed his eyes he saw him, saw Zoe, the soldier. He feared shutting his eyes as much as he feared keeping them open to see the death of it all.
The feel of Sam’s hand on his made him jump before he realized it was Sam. “Stay awake,” she told him. “You lost alot of blood. You likely have a concussion. Soon as we touch down we can get you to a med Bot, but you got stay with me.”
Will nodded again. The ping brought both their eyes to the front, as the Craft gave warnings about the rise in ground elevation as they approached the mountain range. Sam moved her hand back to the controls and guide the craft as shadows danced in front of them. Lakehall rested in the shadow of the mountains on the otherside. They were getting closer.
Slowly the crafted made it’s way over the mountain range. As the craft crested to reveal the large valley where Lakehall was nestled against the lake, Will could make out the familiar lights coming from the estate in the distance. Spot lights lite up the night sky .
Will reached out and brought up the Comm’s again, and tried to home up a channel to Lakehall. “Can anyone hear us?” he asked, not for the first time. He waited in silence but once again nothing came through. “Fuck.”
“Unidentified craft, you are entering a restricted zone. You will be fired upon if you continue,” a voice came over the speaker finally. and Will’s eyes shot up, and he leaned forward.
“It’s Will!” he shouted, hope in his voice. ‘My father’s security,’ Will thought to himself.
There was silence as Will and Sam held their breath.
“William Stout?” the voice came back through the comms.
“Yes!” Will responded. “That’s me.”
“Unidentififed craft, continue on current course. Land at the main estate.” The voice said.
Will laughed, and looked to Sam who held tears in her eyes.
“We did it,” Sam said, a bittersweet smile on her face, her eyes still forward.
Will smiled.
“What’s that?” Sam asked, and will looked forward.
A large ball of light left the ground near the estate. A second ball quickly followed it. Will was confused as they travelled forward towards them. His eyes widened. ‘Missiles’ Will thought to himself, and turned to Sam.
“Hold on!” Sam said before Will could speak, and the craft quickly banked.
“What the fuck,” Will said as the first ball of light trailed pass them and out of view. Will looked down at the sensors and watched as the bleep sped past them.
He looked back up as Sam banked the craft again. He had a moment to see the second ball of light bear down on them, and then go out of view before he felt the rock of the craft and bang of explosion as the missile slammed into their side.
Will was rocked side to side as the Craft lost control. He grunted in pain as he held onto his seat.
“I got it, I got it,” Sam kept saying as she tried to keep the craft from crashing.
The view kept swinging from side to side, up and down. It was all over the place, but clearly under somewhat control. He could see Sam try to fight the craft to keep it upright. A third ball of flames left the ground, and Will shouted.
“Hold on,” Sam shouted, and the craft surged forward under more power.
Will reached for the belts, whatever good that would do. The blood on his hands were sticky by now, and he didn’t fumble with them, and felt the clip as it locked him into his chair. The craft continued to speed up towards the missile, and Will braced for attack.
The craft dropped in a moment, and Will felt his guts twist, and wanted to puke. The missile flew towards them, and Will watched as it came straight at them, only for his head to follow it fly over them. “Fuck,” Will said. How close had that been. Feet, meters, centimeters?
“Hold on!” Sam shouted again as the ground came up on them and warnings rang through the craft.
The loud thud, threw them around, and Will felt the wind leave him. Dirt and other debris covered the front port, and could be heard raining down on the craft as it skidded off the surface of the ground. Quickly empty fields turned to shrubs and trees as the craft plowed it’s own path through the forest.
As the Craft came to a rest, Will realized that if anything didn’t hurt before, it now did. Will looked over to Sam who limp body rested in her seat. He fumbled to free himself from his belt, and then freed himself from his seat, yelling in pain.
Will stepped to Sam, and dropped to his knees to grab her face in his hands. Her eyes moved, as she moaned.
“Thank the Faith,” Will muttered as he kissed her forward again again. “Are you okay?” he asked her.
“Yeah,” she told him, her hands freeing herself from her belt. She tried to stand, but Will had to tell her to sit.
“No, I’m okay. We got to go,” she told him, and pushed herself up. “Come on.”
Will nodded. He didn’t know what else to do. They helped each other over the broken remains of the inside of the craft. Wires, and panels broken about. Surprising it wasn’t worse. They reached the hatched before Sam turned to him.
“Pistol?” Sam asked.
‘Fuck’ Will thought, and remembered where it was. He looked back over the mess, and his eyes looked over the back, but couldn’t see it. “It’s somewhere here.”
“We need to find it,” she told him, and started to move objects in search.
Will followed suit. Clothes and other trash covered the ground. Broken parts. He coudn’t see it anywhere. He made his way back to the front, where he breathed a sigh of relief. It had slide up to the front, thank the faith it didn’t go off by chance.
“I got it,” Will said and bent down to reach it under the front consoles. It was just out of reach, and it was hard to get his body in a position to reach it.
“Come on,” Sam called out, and Will heard the whine of the hatch opening.
He grunted out in pain, and heard again. He could feel the wrapped handle with the tips of his fingers. A little more. He stretched with all his might. “Arrrg,” he grunted. His fingers just slipped over the handle, and he retracted his arm in pain and victory.
The filling was short lived as the sounds of gunfire ricketed through the craft. He could almost feel the rounds hit as they hit the inside of the craft above him. “Sam!” he yelled as he tried to pull his body in tight. He tried to pull his body tight behind the chair, and looked to the back of the craft.
