Hailey had brought Alex and Caleb up to a platform resting between the five pillars in the city. Alex did her best not to look down. She failed. The ground below her stretched out an infinite distance, roads breaking the landscape into a checkerboard of green and brown. She had to brace herself on the edge of the pillar to keep from falling.

"I thought I'd be better with heights than this." She said.

"I mean, this is kinda a unique situation," Caleb commented. "Flying cities, empires chasing us, the world ending. We're breaking new ground here."

"Focus Caleb," Hailey commanded. "Do either of you see anything to shake these guys?"

Alex looked out, wobbling a bit. She saw trees, mountains in the distance, a lake, and the pursuing aircraft. The paintbrush shaped spacecraft were joined by another group. These ships reminded Alex of modern jets, triangular and sleek. The aircraft buzzed around the city like bees, preparing to strafe by in attack runs.

The city lurched and Alex wheeled her arms out for support. Suddenly, the bombers were losing ground.

"Nathan did it," She realized.

"Oh thank god," Hailey sighed. That meant they could worry about hiding from the Varnoss. "Now we can focus on where to go other than New York."

"Could we hide in the Appalachians somewhere?" Alex asked. "Under the tree cover?"

"We might be outrunning them, but we shouldn't rule out they're not following us with a scanner of some sort," Hailey said. "It'd be better to find our own countermeasures."

"Just get the forgers to build some fighters or something," Caleb said.

"And who'd fly them? No one in the city mentioned having flight or pilot skills." Hailey shot back.

"Well get homing missiles then," Caleb argued.

"With what material?" Hailey said.

"I don't know. Get some dungeon essence and do it." Caleb answered.

"Guys! Stop with the catfight!" Alex yelled. "It's not helping."

The two stopped their argument and turned to her. "What?"

"You said catfight," Hailey answered.

"Yeah, it was really more like bickering." Caleb inserted.

Alex blushed and turned away. "Shut up."

Hailey and Caleb looked at each other and laughed. The relief from escaping another bombing run and not having to fight again escaping through each breath.

"Oh god," Hailey said after a few seconds. "I needed that." She looked over at her brother. "Sorry."

"Glad to know you know your place," Caleb joked.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Hailey hit him in the arm. "Jerk."

Jim-Jam walked up next to Alex, letting her rest and hide her face. "Alpha, food?" the Palug said.

"In a bit Sweetie," Alex answered. "We need to make sure things are safe first."

"Alpha I want food too!" Rocket said from her satchel. The other cats all meowed in agreement.

"Later," Alex hissed. "There might be -- wait, do you hear that?"

She tilted her head. There was music. "Someone's singing." She told the others. Hailey and Caleb turned to look at her. Alex turned towards the sound, her cat senses helping pick up the music.

"It sounds like a sea shanty." She said.

The others strained to hear as well. After another second or two Caleb point over to the north. "There."

In the distance were flying cars. At least, Alex assumed they were flying cars. They were blocky like cars. And she saw tires as they grew closer. Each seemed to have what looked like biplane wings bolted on. Accompanying them was music. Alex strained to listen:

Oh I went to town on racing day~

Went to town with my chinny chin chin

Found out that a wolf did stay~

He asked about my chinny chin chin

Oh that there wolf he was pure evil~

He wanted to steal my chinny chin chin

I built a house to keep out that devil~

Keep him away from my chinny chin chin

Oh the wolf he wanted in~

And I said~

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!

"What the hell?" Alex said. The group of cars flew overhead, some performing stunts as they went past. Alex caught a glimpse of a body inside the car.

"Were they singing a sea shanty, in the air, about the Three Little Pigs?" Hailey said, puzzled.

Caleb's answer was laughter.

The flying cars circled around again, a convertible opened its hatch and Alex saw flags in the pilot's hands. He gestured them erratically.

"He's trying to signal us," Alex told Hailey.

Nodding, the woman jogged to the steps and yelled down. "Get someone to signal those flyers!. Let them in through the West entrance! That's the spot with the most space!"

Alex heard and answer of "Got it!" and saw a runner dash off.

"Right, let's get down to the fields and see who our new friends are shall we?" Hailey said.

The three arrived at the bottom of the pillars in time to meet June who had recovered and was on their way to meet them.

"June! My best bud! My best pal!" Caleb said, moving in for a hug.

"Don't. Touch. Me." She said, moving to avoid him.

Caleb sagged. "Even after all we've been through together you still won't open up."

"We're heading to the West gate to meet with some pilots with flying cars," Alex interrupted. She wasn't about to wait however long it took for Caleb to stop bothering June.

Hailey brought the others through the city and out to the open area in the West end of Three Cities. Since the lake wasn't anything close to circular in shape, the city had followed suit. Three Cities was oblong, which isn't very good for a dome. So the city took some of the surrounding areas with it when it left. Currently, Alex and the others were standing on green grass. At least Alex thought it was grass. Maybe it was wild grass, considering how long it was. A few stalks were so long that there were tiny leaves at the top.

The flying cars had arrived first, but not all had landed yet. It was a tricky bit of maneuvering for the pilots to get the cars into the city through the double doors. Someone had the foresight to make the entrances wide enough for large amounts of people but it was still a tight squeeze to fly through. But each car made it, landing with the grace of a butterfly.

Each car looked to be vintage, something Alex only saw when rich people showed off their collections on TV. Old Mercedes, Fords, and other cars rested on the grass in an impromptu car show. Each car had a set of biplane wings on each side, held together by something Alex couldn't see. The car doors opened and the pilots stepped out. Alex noticed the wings were solely stuck to the front doors. So when opened it looked like the wings snapped forward in attack.

Men and women stepped out of the cars, dressed in brown leather jackets and scarves. Some of the pilots were checking their cars where others were walking over to a car that hadn't opened just yet. This car was by far the most unique. An antique among antiques.

It was something Alex had only seen in period dramas. The car was more like a carriage than the aerodynamic chassis of the newer models. The windows had been tinted black and the wings on this car were closer to a fighter jet. Alex wondered how anyone would get out of it.

She didn't wonder for long. The top of the antique car opened up and a shadow jumped out and landed, posing in victory.

Alex stared, June stared, even Caleb stared. The man who jumped out was by far the fattest person any of them had seen since the apocalypse. He was definitely obese. Yet he jumped out of his car like… like a cat. His skin was a soft pink and it was easy to see he was losing his hair on top. All that was left were wispy threads of blond that flitted around with even the slightest wind. But the most distracting thing was the nose. It was large and the nostrils flared outward, giving the man a piggish appearance.

"Good afternoon!" The man from the car bellowed as he landed. "I am David Porkins, leader of this grand troupe. We were flying along and noticed your fair city in the sky and we just had to come and see for ourselves."