The ground shook with the weight of blood suckers as if a stampede of elephants were quaking the earth.

Sagan and Kyle led in front. “This way!”

They ran past the gym and made for the exit down a narrow corridor. The lights of the back-up generator flashed red across their faces.

“Come on! Just a little further!” The corridor twisted and turned as they ran in a single file line to the exit. Riot gates blocked the entrances into the auxiliary gym. Why would those be closed? The only thing in there was—

They came to the exit. It was chained shut with a massive lock.

Kyle shouted, “Fuck!”

The only other exits were through the aux gym, blocked by the gates. Smoke billowed into Sagan’s lungs, and huge aliens were on their way to butcher them in the school’s rectum.

“Sagan, how do we get out of here?” Tameka asked when she turned the last corner and saw the door. Her words came a little too sharp and fast. Tameka couldn’t panic. If she felt like panicking, then they really were screwed.

John stared at the doors as the rumbling came closer. He whispered, “We’re gonna die here.”

Sagan turned to him. “No, we’re not—”

A loud crash brought her attention back to the door. Kyle rammed into it with his shoulder. Andrew and John joined him.

“Shit!” Kyle sank to the floor. The wound on his arm gushed from his efforts. “It’s no good. We can’t get through here, and the gym is closed off.”

Andrew and John didn’t give up.

Sagan glanced back to the corridor. Shadows moved in a stealth formation amid the red lights. “Oh, fuck! Move! Clear the door!”

They backed off. She swung her axe on the chain. Sparks flew. The strike point of the blade went red and smoldered. The chains smoked.

Silently, Sagan thanked Korac for the weapon. Only then did she realize she’d lost the other one in the cafeteria. She almost pouted.

“Damn,” Pablo said with feeling.

“Come on. We gotta get out of here!” Tameka kicked the doors open.

That’s when they realized they weren’t safe from the Icari outside at all. Where was the sun? Sagan cursed, “Fucking underground school.”

Several of her friends grunted their agreement.

Andrew said, “Yeah no offense guys, but your school is so jacked.”

Plumes of smoke billowed from the technology hall across the way. It was beyond jacked now.

Students were scattered across the parking lot, looking like a cat had jumped into a jigsaw puzzle. When they noticed everyone escaping from the building, they cheered in celebration and relief.

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“No! Run!” Sagan and Tameka screamed. No one moved. They didn’t understand. They were still overjoyed to see them alive. “No!” The girls ran into the gathering crowd.

Sagan pointed the axe at the school. “They’re coming. We have to leave.”

Kyle shook his head. “There are fifteen of them and like a few hundred of us. We can take ‘em.”

Andrew protested, “We can’t just hand weapons to civilians and expect them to survive.”

John threw down his bag of weapons and opened it. Sagan rummaged through it. She reserved any Icarean swords for her immediate team.

Tameka muttered only loud enough for their group to hear, “I’m not even expecting the students to survive, but I am expecting them to take one or two Icari with them.”

Andrew stared at her, open-mouthed.

Sagan addressed the surviving students, “The bastards who attacked our school brought reinforcements. Look at us.” She swept her hands at her crew. “We’re bloody, bruised, and tired. We’ve killed at least thirty of these things already and one of their leaders. Look at you.”

Students glanced at one another.

“There are at least three hundred of you. We fight more than any school in Little Rock because we never back down. We will not back down today. Are you with me?!”

The crowd cheered. Each student straightened, stood taller. Every one of them proud of their misguided reputation. Not so misguided right now.

“Fifteen. We only have to kill fifteen. Run away, back to the football field if you have to. I won’t ask you to fight if you’re afraid, but if you think you can do anything to help, grab a stake, a knife, or a sword, and hold the line.”

Only three students walked back to the football field. Surprisingly, one of them was Matt. Sagan was sure he’d be up for the fight. It was a misjudgment on her part. The crew passed out make-shift stakes and unclaimed swords to the crowd.

Kyle walked over to Lucy and asked, “Are you all right?”

She glanced at him with little recognition in her eyes.

“Take this.” He put a sword in her hand and touched her shoulder.

Some people grabbed materials for weapons out of the dumpsters. When everyone was armed, they formed a line. An organized mass of people. A small army.

The fifteen super warriors emerged from the building at a casual pace, serrated swords unsheathed. A few laughed, mocking the school’s pitiful resistance, but several took a fighting stance with serious, cautious expressions.

What were they thinking? What’s the best method for julienne Fair student?

Sagan stood at the front line. No fear. She’d fought stronger and killed worse not even thirty minutes ago. Kyle was unafraid next to her. Andrew stood amongst the mass of students like a great, unwavering statue. He did not look happy. Tameka nodded at Sagan from the throng.

Their strength helped the others gain confidence, and a wave of defiance surged through the crowd. They would win. Or so they thought.

Thirty or more of Colita’s warriors emerged from behind the fifteen super soldiers. Each of them were armed with a shining sword.

The army of students took a collective, hesitant step back. Sagan and the rest stayed put.

Tameka growled, “That bitch! How many models did Colita collect?”

Two Icari pressed forward, and the tension surged in Sagan’s gut. Before she called for the attack, a loud horn blared through the battleground.

“What the fuck?” Kyle called out.

A white Chevy Malibu barreled down the hill from the football field. The mass of students rushed out of the way, but the Icari stood there. Had they never seen a car before?

John muttered, “No way.”

Sagan peered into the driver’s seat and grinned.

Matt smashed his car right into the crowd of bewildered Icarean soldiers. The impact wasn’t pretty. Two warriors went under the car, four rolled over the top, and two went flying back into the school. While one of them made a fine hood ornament, the others had survived.

Not messing around, Matt threw his car in reverse and backed over a few of them. Sagan startled when he jumped out of the car and decapitated six on the ground with a machete.

Now was as good a time as any.

Sagan screamed, “You fucked with the wrong school!” And charged into the line of Icari.

The mass of students surged around her like water parting around a stone, and the Icarean forces charged forward. The two masses collided with Machete Matt in the center.