CHAPTER TWO

Her head was throbbing and for a second she had no idea where she was. But then, it all came back to her. Liana forced herself up and looked around. Everything was still fuzzy but she was able to recognize the door she had come in through...it was also blocked by rubble by now. “Great.” She groaned.

At that moment, she noticed she wasn’t alone. It was a woman and by the looks of her armor, she was an Alliance soldier. She was dead. She hesitated at first but when she approached her, she could tell she was clutching something in her hand. Liana slowly reached down to see what it was that she had been holding on to so tightly before she met her unfortunate fate. A locket. Liana blinked a few times as she imagined the last few moments of this woman’s life. What had been the last thing on her mind? Liana opened the locket to reveal a small photo of a woman with red hair, smiling up at her. Obviously she had been someone very special to her.

Liana checked the soldier’s dog tags.

Lt. Rebecca Kerr

Age 24

78652381

She looked at her face. It was bruised but it was still clear that she had been crying before her death. She had chocolate brown hair and tanned skin. She was beautiful. 

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess." She closed Rebecca’s eyes gently and stared at her armor, then looked at her own “protection”...or more like, lack there of. She frowned. The fashionable dress she was wearing was very fitting on her but it wouldn’t benefit her in anyway up against a laser blast. She thought for a moment and looked back at Rebecca. She was an Alliance soldier. She put the well being of everybody else before hers and now, she had no use of her armor. Liana did. “I’ll take good care of it.”

She carefully removed her armor and put it on. It was a good fit. She also noticed a visor on the floor. She wasn’t sure if it had been Rebecca’s or if it had belonged to someone else but she picked it up anyways. It wasn’t in the best shape but with a few tweaks, it was manageable. Plus, it would help her listen to any orders being given by the Alliance. When she switched it on she cursed. “Nothing but static.”  Maybe it was the location that was blocking the signal.

She turned to leave but then stopped. She looked back at the soldier and slipped her dog tags off. “You don’t deserve to be forgotten. And this...” She also took the locket from her hand. “I’ll get it to her.” If she’s still alive, she told herself.

Before she could leave though, she needed to find a weapon. She may have some protection now but it would be pointless when coming face to face with one of those monsters. It didn’t take her long before she found a heavy pistol that still looked in good shape. She checked the thermo clips. Five shots left. Better than nothing. “As long as you make them count,” she mumbled to herself.

Trying to get rid of the rubble blocking the door was pointless. She analyzed the area for a second. Even if she used her biotics to remove the rubble, it would take a good amount of time and effort. It would be pointless to waste her energy on that when there were more life threatening things to worry about. She spotted some light leaking in through one of the cracks in the rubble. She squinted and peaked through it, hoping she could get an assessment of the situation outside before she found a way out. She didn’t see any more monsters or people but she could hear the distant echoes of gunfire, explosions, and those horrible moans that sent shivers down her spine. And of course, the unsettling THUMP THUMP of the Reapers moving around out there. How much damage had they caused by now?

She didn’t want to stop to think so instead she made her way to the back of the building and came across a staircase leading up to the roof. Probably her best bet at getting out of here. Luck was definitely on her side because half way up, she found a backpack with supplies. It contained water, some chocolate bars, and a data disk. This looked promising. She scanned the data disk with her Omni-tool. It was a map of Vancouver. “This could help,” she switched it off and continued up.

She hadn’t noticed how dark it had been inside until she opened the door to the roof. The light that came in from outside burned her eyes, forcing her to close them for a second. When they adjusted, she stepped out and found herself starring down at a war zone. Buildings had been turned to rubble and the ones that were left standing had gaping holes in them. And in the streets, there were dozens of husks. She swallowed. How would she get passed them. She couldn’t take them all on, there were too many of them. 

"Do....read me...." A static voice came from the visor.

Liana jumped at the sudden voice but quickly replied. "Hello, can you hear me?"

Nothing. Her heart began to sink in the silence but then the voice returned. "Head to...49°15′40″N 123°07′23″W. I repeat, any survivor's head to 49°15′40″N 123°07....Anderson is here," then the voice cut out completely.

She quickly brought up the map on her Omni-tool again and entered the coordinates. “Vancouver General Hospital...Well, better start running.”

****

"I...cant...cant run...anymore!" Serenity said, breathing heavily. 

Sarina had set her down after destroying the Reaper, the ordeal had drained her considerably. Taking Serenity's advice, she led the both of them to an ally, slamming her back to the wall and sliding down to the ground.

Sarina sat next to her and forced a smile.

"We're gonna be fine...we're just gonna take a small rest." She said as she shot her pistol over the child's head, nailing a human husk in the head. 

Serenity cowered into Sarina's side, protecting her face and covering her ears.

As she cradled the child, Sarina knew they had to find help. Fast. The Reaper had severely weakened her, and she now did not have the energy to use her katana. It was even becoming more and more difficult for her to concentrate when trying to control her biotics. 

But, even at the cost of her own life, the Code dictated that Sarina save as many people as possible. Slowly, she got up and held her hand out to Serenity to help her up.  Creeping up to a corner, pistol in one hand and Serenity's hand in the other, Sarina took a slow peek. Husks. Luckily, there were only a few of them. After taking them out, she realized that she had arrived too late to save two security personnel. "Stay here ok sweetie?" she told Serenity and carefully approached the bodies. They were an Asari and a Human. "By the Goddess." Sarina shook her head. She knelt down and took the ear piece from the Asari, placing it into her own ear. Someone was giving instructions. Most likely the security task force. 

"Calling all security, law enforcement, and anyone else with military background! Report to Admiral Anderson for immediate defense orders!”

Of course! It made sense. She had helped as many people as she could in the immediate vicinity. Now she had to take Serenity to safety. They would be safe...at least safer than out here. Plus, she could do more good there. Grabbing Serenity by the hand, they slowly made their way, hopefully, towards help.

****

Len cursed and looked around. He could only see crowds of civilians, scattering like frightened chickens. Not far from where he was, he could hear moaning. It wasn’t coming from any living creature though. It was those damn husks. He frowned and pressed his back against the wall, glancing around the corner. He was safe for now. He took advantage of whatever time he had to try to get someone on the radio. He needed instructions. Directions. Anything. He brought his hand up to his ear. “Command, this is Captain Len Tonrik, do you copy, over.” He waited. Static. “This is Captain Len Tonrik, is anybody getting this, over.” Again, nothing. “Damnit.” He turned the corner and made his way through the narrow streets.

There were husks every where. By the time he finally reached what used to be the city’s Library, he lost count of how many husks he had killed. He stopped running and caught his breath. He had never seen anything like this. War after war, he had seen so many pointless deaths. Horrific scenes...the kind that stuck with you for the rest of your life, but this. This surpassed it all. What used to be an endless row of tall buildings in a thriving city was now nothing more than rubble in a lifeless burial ground. And those things. Those damn Reapers just crushed on through, with no respect...no regard. They had come to do just one thing. Destroy everything in there path.

For a second, Len felt completely useless. So much so that he almost felt winded. This was it. This was the end. And it was all their fault. They hadn’t listened. They didn’t want to believe. Almost on cue, he jumped when he heard a crackle in his ear piece. Then, “...Anderson is here."

“Anderson,” He repeated to himself, “Admiral Anderson?” He pressed his finger to his ear again, closing his eyes to try to make out the words that were being said. Then he heard the coordinates. His eyes shot open as if he had just been shocked back to life. 

“49°15′40″N--”

Before he could finish hearing the rest of the coordinates, he felt something hit him hard in the back of the head. He stumbled forward but was able to quickly turn around only to find himself face to face with a husk. It was thrashing at him frantically. Len was hit in the face a few more times before he was able to bring up his foot and kick it in the chest, sending it stumbling backward. It flailed it’s arms and only shrieked louder. Len felt his blood go cold. This thing wouldn’t give up until it beat Len to death. For it to have previously been a human, it packed a hell of a punch. He had been punched by a few humans in his life time but none of them ever walked away with anything less then a few broken fingers. While the Husk quickly got up to its feet, Len brought up his riffle and put four rounds in its chest. It finally went silent. He let out the breath he had been holding and touched the back of his head and grimaced. “Ugly piece of shit.” He kicked the husk and checked his riffle. He was running out of ammo. There were more moans coming just around the corner.

Len started running down the street. He had to try to avoid these things or else he was going to run out of ammo very soon. He had been lucky only one of those bastards attacked him. They usually swarmed in large numbers. He could now hear more instructions coming through his com. The frequency was getting better, that meant he was going the right way. He had an idea of where he had to go but he hadn’t been able to hear the complete coordinates. Since he had been running, pretty much focused on surviving, he hadn’t noticed how many bodies were around until he tripped over one. He looked down, it was a young woman...and there was a lot of blood. Len had never been bothered by the sight of blood but it was always a different experience when it wasn’t the enemy lying there covered in it.

“Hey! Turian!”

Len turned around and saw a Batarian waving at him. Len hated Batarians but now wasn’t the time for uncivilized behavior from his part.

“Where’s the Vancouver General Hospital?!”

Len frowned a bit confused. “The hospital? What’s at the hospital?”

“The message, didn’t you hear it!”

Why did Batarians always have to yell? Did they not know how to talk in normal voices. Len shook the thought from his mind and gave the Batarian the benefit of the doubt given the situation. “Obviously not.”

“That’s where they’re telling all the survivors to go! They’re calling in security and military personnel!”

If the bastard hadn’t been a Batarian he would have kissed him. He looked around, trying to get his bearings straight. Without the familiar landmarks it was almost impossible to figure out where he was. It didn’t help that he had only been on Earth a few times before. He checked his omni tool and based off the few coordinates he was able to hear before he had been slapped upside the head, he could pretty much calculate where the hospital was. “It should be in that direction. I don’t think we’re very--” 

He was cut short by a mix of terrified screams and those moans that were becoming all too familiar. He lifted up his riffle and when he turned to see if the Batarian had a weapon he was gone. “Coward!” When he saw the crowd of people running towards him and an even larger swarm of husks behind them, his mandible flared. He really hoped there were more soldiers behind him some where. “Get out of the way!” He yelled and opened fire, trying to avoid hitting any civilians. But, in this kind of situation, civilians were anything BUT eager to oblige. It was all instinct and his instinct was starting to tell him that he had to run too. He had killed a good amount already but there was only one of him and dozens of them. After he dropped the one’s closest to them, he turned and ran as well. He wasn’t fleeing though. He was trying to find a vantage point. His soldier mentality was feeding off of his adrenaline, forming strategies in his mind. He glanced over his shoulder, there were too many of them, but something inside him sent him in a furry. He faced the ugly things and continued galloping backwards, taking down as many as he could with his assault riffle. If this was it. If this was how he was going to die, he was going to go guns blazing.

****

It seemed as if hours had passed since the initial attack but in reality, it had all started about a half hour ago. Sarina was getting more and more worried. They had no idea where to go and she could tell Serenity was getting exhausted...as was she. All she was able to make out from the message that had come through the ear piece was that they had to reach Anderson for further instructions. With no coordinates and no directions, they would be wandering the streets for hours...and that was not an option. 

"How much further is it? I'm tired," Serenity said as she swung her hands back and forth, trying to keep herself busy. 

Sarina just smiled and gripped her hand. "It's not much,” she tried to sound as confident as she could. 

Suddenly, Sarina was on the ground and all she could hear was Serenity screaming. A husk had jumped out of no where and was now on top of Sarina. She struggled, trying to push it off of her. They were much stronger then they looked. It was almost as if it was mimicking her moves, keeping her pinned to the ground. The thing was moaning loudly in her ear, trying to claw its way through Sarina to finish her off. But, before things turned for the worse, Sarina was able to find an opening in its defense. She pulled its arm forward and wrapped one leg around its neck. She pulled harder and harder, and finally, with a tweak of her leg, she heard a definitive SNAP. The husk went limp. 

Serenity had stopped screaming, but there was still screaming, moaning, and gunfire all around them. It sounded close. Very close. She pulled herself off the ground, took Serenity’s hand into hers and began to run towards the screams. Probably not the best idea but if there were more people that needed help, she had to find them. 

Rounding a few corners, she finally came face to face with a mass of people running towards her, and an even BIGGER mass of husks running after them. "Stay behind me!" Sarina yelled with all the authority she could muster. 

Serenity quickly did as she was told, covering her face. 

There must have been dozens of those monsters. What surprised her the most, was that there was a lone Turian firing his rifle off to her side. It was him, against the stampede of husks and people. They were too many for him, and for her. 

Her mind raced as she looked around her to find anything that could help the situation. Looking up, Sarina saw a building that had a hole in it left by the Reapers. Raising her hand, she started to force the building to crack with her biotics. 

Just as Len was starting to get overwhelmed-- even more than he already was-- something very strange happened. Not just strange, but almost miraculous. As if on cue, the building to his right started collapsing. He cursed and made a run for it, launching himself behind the nearest cover before he got crushed by the rubble.

The building barely missed the crowd of people that had thankfully been a few feet ahead of the monsters. If there were any husks left alive, they were effectively blocked on the other side of the fallen concrete.

After the dust and debris cleared, Len slowly poked his head out from behind the abandoned vehicle he had jumped behind. There was no more moaning. And no more husks. The building had crushed the husk mob completely. He froze. It took his brain a few seconds to comprehend what had just happened. He looked over to where the building had stood. Then stared at the rubble on the ground. 

Satisfied that it was safe, at least for the moment, Sarina made her way towards the Turian. Turian facial expressions were a bit confusing to read but it was plain to see that this turian was shocked by what had just happened.

Len quickly turned around, aiming his weapon when he heard footsteps behind him. It was an Asari...he looked down. And a little human girl. He blinked a few times and brought his weapon down to his side.

Sarina thought it best to introduce herself. After all, two warriors were better than one. "My name is Sarina, Justicar Sarina. This is Serenity," she pointed to the girl.

A Justicar? Len had never come in contact with a Justicar. He had heard about them and had been very intrigued by the little he knew about their “Code”, but he had never thought he would ever meet one. Wait. For her to be walking up to him like this. Introducing herself. So, nonchalant, as if some random building hadn’t just miraculously collapsed for no reason. Coincidentally crushing the bastards that were about to tear them into shreds...was beyond weird. It was almost as if she had done the deed and it all was just yesterday’s news to her. He opened his mouth to say something and then looked over at what used to be the building. He pointed at it, and then looked back at her. “Did you do this?”

"Indeed. I saw we both were out numbered, and my code required I provide you with aid. If you are amazed by that, you should have seen the Reaper ship I destroyed." 

He blinked a few times and looked back at the building. He had come in contact with powerful biotics before but not very often. He always felt awkward around a biotic. They could do an incredible amount of damage without even drawing their weapon. He was used to having a weapon in hand. It was more predictable. Biotics on the other hand were different...unfamiliar. 

"What is your name Turian? I would much rather call you by your name."

“Captain Len Tonrik.” He held his hand out to shake hers. It always caught him off guard how automatic a handshake had become for him. Handshakes weren’t something Turians did but he got into the habit of doing it. It usually kept the humans happy. It was the polite thing to do, he had been told...he never understood why.

She had a strong grip. That usually said a lot about a person. He probably would never had guessed she could collapse a building but, he could tell she was confident. “Wait...did you just say you destroyed a Reaper ship?” He had been so deep in his thoughts when she had said that. It almost felt like it had been a dream. His mandibles flared. “How--wha...”

A noise came from the rubble, causing them both to quickly turn around. 

Apparently, one of the husks had barely missed being crushed and was only pinned down by its legs. Even then, it didn’t refrain from trying to claw at them. 

Len automatically aimed his weapon, “Hold on,” he was about to tell her to back away and let him do the dirty work but she was too quick for him.

Sarina pulled her katana from the sheath on her back and approached the husk. She felt a bit of pity for the creature. Not the creature itself, but for what the creature used to be. "You shall be avenged. Now go. Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess," with that, Sarina swiped her katana down on the husk, decapitating it. She then swung it through the air letting the goo fling off it, in the traditions of the Samurai, and sheathed it. 

Len brought his gun down slowly and straightened up. 

"I take it you have the directions to Anderson?” she asked as she walked back over to them.

Len nodded. “Well, I believe I have a good idea of where we have to go.”

“We should stick together. Two warriors stand a better chance at making it than just one."

He nodded again. “No argument there.” He wanted to ask her about the Reaper ship she had destroyed but he knew this wasn’t the moment to stop and chat. He would ask her once they were safe...or at least safer than here.