[b]Broken[/b] Part Six "They haven't left," Marcy whimpered at the sight. "No," I agreed, "We'll have to leave." "But it's our home," Marcy sobbed. "And they burnt it," I told her sadly, "Others probably escaped. We need to find them and build a new home somewhere else." "Others?" Marcy looked doubtful. "Yes, there's no way we are the only survivors," I assured her, "They just got a head start on us last night." Marcy just let her head hang down, and I watched the Cabal ship sink to the ground and crash next to a broken shard of the Traveler. A few of the shards could be seen from here, towering above buildings even when broken into small pieces and resting on top of beds of crushed steel and earth. There were still a few strips of pristine white left across the marred surface, just like how I still felt some hope of survival despite the Darkness around me. Humanity would hang on, at least for a little longer, and we would nurture what little Light we had left. "I promised myself and Fehri I would keep you safe Marcy, and that's what I'll do." All she did in response was tilt her head up towards me, but she seemed a little heartened by my words and gripped my hand tighter. Together we looked back towards the firefight raging near the center of the City, and I decided that we should head out of the City and pair up with any other survivors we could. Remaining in the City wasn't the best idea with a war still raging inside. I looked at Marcy again. She was slouched against me, barely standing on her own feet and fighting to keep her eyes open. "You must be exhausted," I told her, "It can't be easy to babysit a handful like me. Let me carry you." Marcy tried pushing my arms away a bit as I wrapped them around her, but she gave in after a moment when she realized I wasn't asking for permission. I hoisted her up and held her against my chest plate, letting her wrap her arms around my neck and rest her head against mine. With Marcy secure in my arms, I began walking again, now in the opposite direction of the battle between the Cabal and the Vex. What I estimated to be about an hour passed. The Sun had reached its pinnacle and begun drifting down to the opposite horizon. My arms protested the weight of Marcy after carrying her so long, but I wouldn't stop to set her down for a minute or wake her up before she was ready. She needed the rest more than I did, and the sooner we got out of this maze of death, the better. I had found an avenue I recognized vaguely from my previous ventures into the City, but I mostly relied on the position of the Sun and the Cabal ships to find out which direction I was going. Honestly, it was looking better than I had hoped. There were many people of the City amongst the dead, but in numbers that suggested many had escaped death. Had to hand it to the Cabal for concentrating on enemy soldiers rather than civilians, and to the Vex for concentrating on the Cabal more than the fleeing humans. I had expected the City to be swarming with patrols of Vex and Cabal pushing for territory, but it soon became clear that the Vex had completely boxed in the Cabal at the City's heart and not cared to keep sweeping ground they had already captured. Despite this, occasional Cabal fighters and small transports did manage to escape the battle and shoot by overhead on rare occasions, causing me to keep to the shadows more often than not, but none of them ever seemed to notice or care about us. There was one Cabal that I found alive in the streets, struggling to push itself up on an injured leg. It saw me and reached for a gun laying nearby, but before it could reach I rushed up and kicked it down, then slammed my foot down in its head until it stopped moving. It wasn't until after its arms finally fell limp that I realized I hadn't had the time to put down Marcy and that just the one Cabal could have been the end for both of us. I was careful to observe streets more closely before turning down them after that. But now that incident was a distant memory, lost to what was happening here and now as I picked my way carefully through the smoldering remains of the City. Marcy's breathing had grown quiet and steady after only a few minutes in my arms, and she had remained asleep ever since despite the jostling. The burn in my leg had come back pretty strong, but at least it could still take the weight of my body combined with the girl's. I took a moment to look at her, tilting my shoulder so her head would lull back but supporting her with my hand so she wouldn't wake up from the sensation of falling. Her face was still filthy and scuffed, but a bit of color had returned to her cheeks with rest. Her breathing was still raspy, and I knew she would need water when she woke up, but that wouldn't be much of a problem with so many shops and homes around. Careful not to disturb her, I brushed some hair away from her slack mouth and out of her face. She looked peaceful now, as if just a kid who had fallen asleep after a day playing out in a field rather than one who had been through war. My attention snapped back to the road with the sound of metal footsteps pounding across the concrete. It was faint, so at first I hoped they would be somewhere where they couldn't see us and give us time to hide, but then I spotted them far down the same wide street we were on. They were Vex, and that meant they already saw us. All I could think to do was continue forward. If I went down a side street they would just follow if their intent was to kill, and if they didn't attack then going down a different street would just waste time. The only logical path was straight past them. They grew closer, and I identified two Goblins and one Hobgoblin, nothing more. Their weapons were pointed upwards in the typical way Vex had them when not planning to use them, but I knew that could change in a split second. Holding Marcy up with just my left arm, I rested my right hand on the hilt of my cannon. The message was unnecessary but clear: I will fight back. The fact that the Hobgoblin hadn't decided to pick me off before I could even see it was good, but with the Vex you never could be sure what their plan was. We came within ten meters of each other without incident, so I was feeling pretty sure we would make it through, but then a few glowing white particles drifted in front of my face and a much heavier metal footstep rang out on my left. I stopped in my tracks and drew my hand cannon, but kept it lowered as I tuned to find a Minotaur had teleported only a couple meters to my left. It's eye was turned down on me as it settled into the new scenery, meeting my gaze with its single red eye, holding no compassion or mercy. After a moment the three smaller Vex passed on my right side, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that only one Goblin even bothered to look at me in passing. As they moved on, the Minotaur walked around on my other side and joined up with them, taking the lead as they moved through the abandoned City at their leisure. I watched them go, not daring to take my eyes off of them until I was sure they wouldn't turn back around. The shaky whisper of held breath being released brushed my ear and I turned my head to find Marcy awake and staring after the Vex. She must have woken and lifted her head while I was too focused on the potential threat to notice. "Why didn't they shoot?" she rasped. "Because we aren't a threat," I turned away from the Vex and began walking down the street again. Marcy didn't respond, just rested her head back on my shoulder and kept her eyes on the reflective chassises of the Vex, even after I was sure she could no longer see them. A shop came up on our left, and I spotted some intact coolers inside, along with some shelves that looked like they might still have some good food left on them. Carrying Marcy up to the glass doors, I glanced down at the metal lock and then gave Marcy a little shake to get her attention. "I think we deserve a treat," I tapped my boot against the glass to test it. "Treat?" a little bit of life seemed to spark up in her eyes. "Yeah. But I want you to know, breaking and entering is wrong, and so is stealing. But what I'm about to do is okay since this is abandoned," I turned to shield Marcy with my body and raised my leg in preparation to kick, but paused for a moment, "And broken glass is dangerous. Never mess with sharp glass or try to break any unless you have to." With that, I struck out with my foot, shattering the door with ease and sending a cascade of glittering shards to the ground. _______________________________ Link to part 5: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229945772/0/0 Link to part 7: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229945886/0/0 Link to Archive: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0