Three gunshots thundered from just outside the old restaurant. The fire door flew open as the body of a Dreg fell through, propelled by the force of multiple impacts. It sprawled on the floor trying to rise. Two more shots louder, sharper and therefore closer than the previous stilled the alien before anyone could react. "They're right behind me. We have to run!" Mattaus shouted as he rushed inside and put one of his hand guns to the alien's head, firing one last time. He gestured wildly at them to come with him. "Now!" Survival in the wastes came from being able to push aside the indecision, immobility and momentary fear that came with shock and just act. Doing anything [i]might[/i] get you killed. Doing nothing [i]did [/i]get you killed. As one they hurled themselves at the door. Mattaus led them out, keeping close to the wall as they moved away from the car park to the other side of the building. With practiced ease he ejected empty magazines from his guns and reloaded as he moved. They barely made it. As Felicia rounded the far edge of the building she stole a nervous glance behind her and caught sight of the burnt orange metallic tip of a shank's side rotary engine. She ducked around the corner. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" she urged hoping that it had not seen her. "They were my lasts mags", Mattaus hissed. "That's it". Hausen simply nodded. The last ammunition they had found had been months ago. They were all running low. "There!" Mirim called pointing off to their right. A cross-country rail line bisected the road leading to the drive through and on it lay a partially derailed freight train. It's carcass stretched for hundreds of meters in each direction. A spear of light lanced by Mattaus and blew apart a street sign. He looked back and saw the shanks spreading out as they hunted them. "Scatter!" Hausen yelled, caution pointless now. They split and ran for the train. The Shanks twisted in the air as they each chose different targets to track. Blasts of white energy soared over and exploded against the train body as the merciless, unwavering machines tried to kill them. Felicia reached the carriages first and hurdled the linkages between two cars, loose gravel sliding under her feet as she landed. Turning, she ran parallel to the nearest freight car until she reached its other side then fell to a crouch and took aim. Her first shot was high. She cursed and reloaded. The second missed as the Shank she aimed at dipped. Both Hausen and Mattaus had made it to the other side of the train, the younger man firing from the hip as he ran. Felicia's third shot span the nearest Shank around as it clipped its body. The fourth took off an engine and the machine clattered to the ground. They were all on the other side of the train now, its body shaking as the Shanks tried to blast their way through to them. They all took similar positions to Felicia and returned fire. It was quickly over, three smoking metal bodies laying in the dirt. For a moment they waited. The sound of their gunfire receded, yet still they remained motionless until Hausen nodded his head and straightened, satisfied that they were safe. "Let's..." Hausen began. Mirim stood. A second Dreg jumped out from cover and shot her. Hauser could only watch in powerless, hopeless horror as the blast span her around, the back of her head smacking against the train car as she screamed. Mattaus fired multiple times and the Dreg fell with a howl. "No!" Hausen cried and ran to the woman, skidding to a crouch beside her. The blast had only just caught the edge of her body, but it's effect was brutal. The side of her jacket was ragged and smoking, dark blood flowing from amidst ragged burnt and blistered flesh underneath. She was gasping, unable to breath through the consuming pain, her skin visibly paling as they watched. Her eyes wide and pleading. "Mirim! Mirim!" Hausen pulled the woman to him and cradled her in his arms as he repeated her name over and over. His world collapsed until there was just her body shaking against him. "We have to get out of here!" Mattaus growled. Hausen looked incredulously at him. "She's hurt! We can't move her!" Mattaus waved his guns in the air. "I'm almost out and there might be others around. They might even have called for..." The air exploded above them, snapping their heads up. A Skiff suddenly appeared in the sky overhead, banking slowly as it circled the area. Mattaus pulled one of Mirim's arms over his shoulders. Hausen balled his fist and made to knock him aside. "Hey!" the young man shouted, leaning away. "We have to get out of here or we are dead!" He pulled Mirim's arm over his shoulders again. "Help me!" he yelled at Hausen. The older man glared at him for a moment, ground his teeth and then closed his eyes. When he opened them again they were hard with determination. He wrapped her other arm around his shoulders. "We have to move", he whispered to Mirim before turning a cold stare to Mattaus. "After three". Mirim screamed as they hauled her to her feet. Tears in his eyes, Hausen took a firm grip on her arm the two men began to half-drag, half-carry her. Mattaus felt totally in control as he led them away from the train. This was what he knew how to do. Fight. Inaction scared him, stressed him. When nothing was happening he was anxious, waiting and expecting something to happen. Now, his head was quiet. Centred, he was utterly calm and at peace. "How many shots left?" he demanded from Felicia as they moved. "Maybe four armour piecing, maybe less. A handful of standard issue" she added with a grimace. "They don't do anything though". Mattaus nodded. "Hausen, Felicia could use your piercing rounds. You can't use them whilst we carry Mirim". "Sure", the older man replied. He did not care about anything except Mirim and getting her away from here to somewhere safe. If there was such a place. He shook his head. He could not think of that now. "Front pockets" he said simply. Mattaus nodded. "Felicia, take it and load up. Need you covering our rear". Felicia watched the Skiff come to a stop over the drive through as she retrieved Hausen's ammo. "Matt" She gasped. "They are right on top of us!" Mattaus turned his head and watched disembarkation cradles lower from the sides of the craft. They were full of Vandals and Dregs. "Move!" Mattaus shouted to Hausen. "Cover, Felica. Now!" he shouted at the younger woman. The Fallen dropped from the Skiff, landing in crouches and immediately running forward. Felicia looked at the empty land before them. "We can't run! There is no where to hide!" she shouted, her voice near hysterical. The Fallen cleared the car park and surged towards the train. Mattaus stared wildly around them searching for cover as he hauled Mirim forward. There was nothing. Beyond the rail lines was sand and dust. There was nowhere to hide. Hausen just stared ahead, utterly focused on dragging the woman away from danger. Nothing entered his mind, nothing concerned him but her. One after the other the Fallen leapt up and over the freight cars, landing lightly on their feet. They threw their arms in the air and howled with joy seeing the wounded, fleeing humans immediately ahead. Felicia started shooting wildly at them. If any of them fired their weapons with their body-seeking charges it was all over. Shoot, reload. [i]It was all over. [/i]Felicia tried to ignore the panicked voice in her head. Shoot, reload. [i]No one survives a face to face with them.[/i] Shoot, reload. [i]Old barely useable rifle against latest alien tech? No hope.[/i] Shoot, reload. Shoot, reload. A Vandal took aim, its fingers tightening in the trigger. She swung her rifle towards it and shot as soon it appeared between her sight. She missed. [i]No hope...[/i] Its head exploded. A Dreg crumpled as a large hole punched through its chest. A Vandal span first one way then the other as each of its arms were removed in bursts of blood and sinew. The Fallen span around, aiming their weapons in every direction as they searched for the new threat. Felicia stared as bodies fell. A Vandal died. Two Dregs died. Alien bodies burst, flailed and exploded in flames until there were none standing. Mattaus stopped, turned and looked back at the dead. "What the hell happened?" Felicia just shook her head. Moments ago she had been drowning in hopelessness, looking at a certain death. Now it had suddenly been erased and she did not know how to react, what to think. In the new, startling quiet she slowly turned a full circle, searching for anything that could have delivered their salvation. Nothing. The land was empty. "We have to get there". Mattaus and Felicia looked at Hausen who pointed at the distant buildings ahead of them. Felicia licked her lips. "Maybe we should find some shelter to..." "WE HAVE TO GET THERE! WE HAVE TO GET HER THERE!" Hausen screamed. "NO DISCUSSION. MOVE!". He started walking and Mattaus was forced to move with him. As fast as they could, they left the battleground behind them.