Our soldiers were doing their best fighting back from behind the repulser barriers, but there really wasn’t much they could do with enemy fire coming from both sides. We had a solid shield around us with the two repulser barriers locking us in, problem was we were pinned in once more, same as back down in the tunnel.

  The worst part in fighting the assimilated soldiers was how we’d never be able to win a battle of attrition; they didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, didn’t need any rest or resources, and since everything was fucking lasers out here in the Empire, no one even needed to worry about running out of ammo or anything.

  For us, we needed to either achieve a quick, decisive victory, or get the hell out of there fast, and considering we were in the heart of enemy territory with who even knew how many assimilated soldiers with just our couple dozen left, all we could ever do was run now.

  “You think we can help break things up real quick?” I asked Eve beside me, laying down suppressing fire from the safety of the repulser barrier.

  Eve shook her head quickly, “If we start making noise now we’ll just attract every assimilated soldier around to our location; we need to get out of here.”

  I was about to ask Eve how the hell we could do that while being pinned in when a sudden flash of light and smoke exploded in front of the assimilated soldiers.

  “Come on, this way!” Lobae called out from a few storefronts over, while Vinnago beside her threw out a few more flash and smoke bombs to help cover our escape.

  There was a brief pause in the enemy’s fire while they were blinded by the smoke, and the power armor soldiers took that window to open the repulser barrier shell around us, and as we filed on through after Lobae, Vinnago and their resistance escort, the soldiers angled the barriers to block the way behind us.

  Stealth was abandoned then as everyone started running through the mall in a chaotic line, turning back occasionally to fire behind us almost blindly or throwing out a few more smoke bombs to shield us from view.

  “Through that doorway, that leads to the stock warehouse!” Almana announced.

  Without missing a beat, Bryx, the surprising large mammoth-man, straight-up shoulder checked the metal door, knocking it clear off its hinges and opening the way for us.

  Gryme waved everyone on through, and when the last of our line rushed past, he threw down another repulser barrier to completely block the doorway just in time to catch a few stray laser bolts.

  The warehouse area of the mall looked same as anything you might find on Earth, with long rows of shelves and boxes, although it was a mess everywhere as stuff had either been destroyed or thrown around and looted.

  As we rushed through the long rows of the alien Ikea, people started pushing down shelves to help block the way behind us, doing everything we could to slow our pursuers down. The repulser barrier would hold them back for a while, but once they made it through, we needed to make following us as difficult as possible.

  Bryx continued leading us, taking our line down some metal stairs and getting us back to the ground floor, and we saw at the far end of the warehouse there was some loading dock around with a large open bay door.

  “Through there!” Almana directed.

  We raced along the hard floor, barreling through boxes and shoving upended shelves out of our way. Suddenly, a laser bolt ripped through a soldier’s head only 10 feet ahead of me. Everyone in the line scattered quickly and looked back to see a handful of assimilated soldiers at the back of the warehouse, looking like they’d just been waiting around there for something to cross into their domain.

  “Contact rear!” A soldier announced.

  Everyone turned to fire at the few assimilated soldiers, but continued with the retreat, carefully walking backwards towards the open bay door. There wasn’t much cover around all the scattered and fallen shelves, so people just tried to keep low and serpentine a little as they moved. We were lucky there were only a few enemies down here, and were actually able to kill them all by the time we made it to the bay door.

  Gryme stuck his head out to look around the damaged doorway, making sure it was all clear on the other side. He held up a hand in the affirmative for vyranes, and everyone started filing on through as quickly as we could.

  Outside was the loading dock, though much fancier than anything on Earth, with the remains of small cranes and conveyer belts scattered around. Once everyone was clear of the warehouse, a few soldiers turned back and threw explosives at the doorway, causing it to collapse so we couldn’t be followed.

  “Continue along the parking lot, then make for that building up there.” Almana ordered.

  Clear of immediate danger, we formed up in our line again and reverted back to stealthy haste, keeping low as we ducked around the destroyed vehicles in the parking lot. We couldn’t see any assimilated soldiers around, but I knew they were all connected through Beta-09’s hivemind and would be sharing their perception, so we needed to get totally clear so we wouldn’t be caught by any nearby assimilated soldiers that might be sent after us. For all we knew, Beta-09 could send the whole city our way, so we needed to get lost and out of sight as soon as possible.

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

  As we got closer to the next building, I was able to see it was some kind of church, a large, fancy dome building that looked like it served a more ceremonial purpose. It was in surprisingly good shape, and when we made it to the large double doors, we squeezed on through and inside quickly, watching in all directions for anything that might have eyes on us.

  We continued past the main hall and into a large sanctuary, and once we were safely in the room by ourselves, everyone let out sighs and groans of relief and started sitting down anywhere with a flat surface.

  “Take a breather and recharge, but we need to keep moving quickly—put the distance between us and the assimilated soldiers; 10 minutes and we’re wheels up.” Seash announced, then finally sat down on a broken pew himself.

  People dug in their packs and grabbed some food and their hydration pills, desperate for the little reprieve.

  I looked around the sanctuary to see how similar it was to an Earth church, although there were metallic framework statues on the walls that seemed to represent their sky goddesses, and I was surprised to see they almost looked more like demons from human mythology, with large horns and draconian accents like wings and tails and all; they certainly didn’t look like angelic or heavenly beings from what I knew.

  “Adam, this way.” Eve said, directing me to sit down at the altar and getting out a protein bar and shoving it in my hands.

  I ate it without complaint, not really tasting anything, just looking around at the religious scenery.

  “Are you okay?” Eve asked, her tone quiet and concerned.

  I looked over and quirked up an eyebrow, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  Eve shrugged one shoulder, “That was a pretty tense situation back there, just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

  I was about to make a sharp remark about how I wasn’t that fragile, but stopped myself; compared to Eve, I was that fragile, and compared to my old life, this insanity was something I never thought I’d have to live through. Honestly, how was I maintaining so well? I was even starting to develop the sense of knowing when danger was nearby, although it clearly wasn’t that reliable yet.

  Shit, was this going to be one of those things where I could handle it while it was all happening, then have a major breakdown once the danger was over?

  I rubbed my eyes in a frustrated gesture and let out a long sigh, “I dunno Evie, it’s crazy to think how this has all become my new normal. I’m wondering if it’ll all catch up to me eventually.”

  “That is my concern as well.” Eve confirmed delicately.

  I looked back at her and smirked, “Is it fun for you to have to watch over a weak little human? Must get annoying after a while.”

  Eve rolled her eyes, “Adam, I’m not like some human girl who needs a protector or provider; I don’t need you to work and pay our bills, don’t need you to keep us safe and secure, don’t need you to chop wood to keep us warm for the winter.” She leaned forward and placed her hand on my chest, over my heart, “I just need you, and I’ll accept any responsibility, any role to keep you.”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “It really doesn’t get old for you?”

  Eve just smiled, “Not in the slightest, and in fact I actually enjoy taking care of you—I like being the provider and protector.”

  “Does that mean you’ll chop the wood to keep us warm for the winter?” I asked.

  Eve trilled a cute giggle, “If that’s what you desire, absolutely. However, I can think of several different, better ways to keep us warm.”

  I smiled then, “I like where your head’s at.”

  Eve’s smile was bright, but it fell away slowly, “That’s how life should be for us, but for now, you’re put in danger every day fulfilling your role as my handler. Having adventures is fine and all, but I don’t like how you’re forced into these dangerous situations, and I don’t know how much longer I can tolerate our compliance.”

  I looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone paying attention to us, and I could see we were well and clear while everyone was either relaxing or planning out our next move.

  I turned back to Eve, “Well, we need to worry about you and your void energy more than anything; we need to get you free from that inhibitor field, then we can worry about our lives in the Empire.” I reasoned.

  Eve eyed me flatly, “And despite being a weak little human, you still always find a way to turn things around so you worry over me.”

  I shrugged and smiled at that, “What can I say, part of me wants to be a protector and provider after all, even if my girl is some immortal, alien, Outsider god monster.”

  Eve rolled her eyes, “There’s those nice things you say.”

  I chuckled at her taking one of my phrases, then pulled her in by the collar of her armor to give her a tender kiss, and even with the inhibitor field between us, that kiss recharged me better than any rest or food in that moment.

  “I love you, sweet-thing.” I said quietly.

  Eve looked at me, appearing almost frustrated, maybe even a little annoyed, but it quickly melted away as her eyes shimmered with adoration for me, “And I love you, my protector and provider, my baby, my weak little human, my heart and my soul, my darling beloved.”

  Eve picked my hands up in hers and we just held them for a little while, looking at each other in the eyes, seeing into our souls. It was wild how expressive Eve’s eyes were, how much her thoughts and emotions showed through to me; it certainly wasn’t human, not really. I wasn’t sure if it was just a Predazoan thing, or if it was connected to my bond with Eve, but sometimes it almost seemed like I could see what she was thinking—hear what was on her mind, like reading the words through her eyes. Eve was so honest with me, so open, I think that’s why I could see so much in her eyes, and right now I could only see love, see how much she really adored me.

  I worried over a lot of things, like the Empire and our future of course, but I was still concerned about Eve’s humanity. But right then, looking in her eyes, I felt safe, and I couldn’t imagine anyone being more human in the way they loved me.

  And it gave me peace.

  “Alright everyone, breaktime’s over, time to move out.” Seash announced, standing up from his seat, breaking me out of the hypnotic trance looking in Eve’s eyes.

  And just like that, I was brought back to reality where I needed to fight for the love and peace Eve gave me.

  Still, it would be worth any fight, any sacrifice, even having a failsafe bomb planted in my neck. I would do it all, I would do anything, all for my Eve.