When Alex came to, the only thing he could feel was his head, it was pounding. It took him a few seconds to fully regain awareness. Tried to look around but the pain in his head intensified like someone was hammering inside his skull.

Taking a deep breath he tried to get up, but as soon as he moved his arms he felt an intense sharp pain shooting up his left arm, he faltered and went back down getting another dose of the pain in his head.

Ok, another pain to be aware of. He was never a martial artist, but the few fights he has been through in his life have all taught him one lesson: Fight through the pain.

Taking another deep breath to calm down, he gritted his teeth and proceeded to sit-up in one full motion.

The pain had come even stronger but at least he was already sitting. looking at his left arm he saw the cut and remembered what had happened in the last moments before blacking out, it seems he had lost a lot of blood which was now painting the ground red. His Lantean healing have probably stopped him from dying of blood loss, but the process still hadn't finished.

Looking around he saw Paul slumped against a wall unmoving. Instead of getting up he decided to crawl assuming it would be easier. Well, it probably was even if he could only use one hand in the process.

Paul's chest indicated that he was still breathing, so, Alex sat beside him and tried to shake him awake.  When he didn't wake he decided to give him a light slap since he didn't have any cold water to try the other method.

Paul abruptly sat up clutching his chest  "What happened?"

"We got our asses kicked" Alex answered, then looking around "And they took the girls"

Paul's face went through a series of expressions on a very short amount of time finally settling in an odd mix between terrified and determined.

"We need to find a way to get them" he said, breathing hard trying hard to remain calm.

Alex remembered about the wrist-comms and ignoring the pain on his arm and his guilt over what happened, checked it trying to get the girls distance from him. What he saw there made the situation even worse.

"There is no connection to their wrist-comms" Alex explained to Paul trying to remain calm.

"What does that mean?" Paul asked, a hint of desperation in his voice

Alex swallowed his guilt and answered "Either its off or out of range, either way the shuttle has a record of where it's been"

With that both of them got up, they needed to support each other because it was obvious that they were both hiding whatever pain they were feeling.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"We should also try the guards" Paul said "They might help"

Alex hoped it was true because he didn't see any alternatives.

They made their way back to the city's gate. It took them about fifteen minutes to get there and during that time they probably looked like a live post card for evolution, going from crouched down to more or less fully erect by the time they arrived.

By the time they got near the gate the sun had fully set. At the gate there were a lot of men coming in, based on what they were carrying Alex assumed they were hunters but they didn't have time to check them out. Before they could pass through they were stopped by the guards, probably because of the way they looked.

When they reached the gate the guards stopped them, probably because of the way they looked.

«What happened» One of the guards asked. Alex remembered the guard, it was the same one who greeted him the first time he entered the city.

Hoping that they might give extra information or help they needed Alex decided to explain what happened

«We were just attacked by a group of men» he answered and they looked concerned

«Where was this? Can you describe them» The guard asked, the other guards came closer to hear it as well.

«We can take you there» Alex answered «There were ten of them, one had a really big hammer with him» Alex said, and proceeded to describe the other ones, the ones he remembered, the guard in front of him gasped, he clearly recognized the men but before he said anything the older man grabbed his arm and pulled him

«We'll send out a search party» The man said, the first guard was looking at the older one with a look of surprise but the older man didn't react he simply cast his eyes low

«Do you know them?» Alex asked

«No, we don't, too many people come to the city it's hard to remember them all. but don't worry, we'll send out a search party. If you come back tomorrow we might have new information»

He was clearly lying, even Alex saw that, deciding not to waste time they turned to leave the city.

«Where are you going?» The older guard asked, with a strange tone in his voice

«Home, we'll come back tomorrow» Alex answered, with that they left the city.

Both moved south with the guards were watching their progress, but luckily they could go back to the ship by going southward first.

What happened in the city put a lot of things into perspective for him, the only thing his people shared with this world was the language and the engineered environment.

He had to change his world view, people here kidnapped women for reasons he doesn't want to even think about, and even worse, the authorities somehow cover for them.

The idea of a corrupt officer would be laughable in his world, but here he has just experienced it on the very first notable encounter with the law.

After he and Paul were a little away they started running, but after fifteen minutes Paul was very tired.

"Look, we'll go faster if I carry you" Alex proposed

"What?" Paul asked, his voice rising an octave in surprise

"I can run a lot faster and for longer than you, even with you on my back" Alex said, ignoring the fact that his arm was still killing him and that the headache still hadn't fully subsided. But it was good enough to function

Paul thought for a few seconds and nodded, and they awkwardly ran to the shuttle with Paul on piggy back.

Alex's night vision helped him navigate the forest, but he was moving a lot slower than usual and it was probably because of the blood loss rather than Paul.

When they finally got to the shuttle Alex detached the ropes, since it was harder to detach from the tree he simply detached it from the shuttle's end, and left it hanging.

As soon as they got into the shuttle Alex told the shuttle out loud to silently ping the wrist-coms and held his breath. When the shuttle displayed their locations both of them let out their breath in relief.