Broken Part 7

[b]Broken[/b] Part Seven Icy cold slipped over my tongue and down my throat as the setting Sun cast shadows stretched long to cover the lonely passageways of the City. My face was scrunched in pain at the torturous cold, my hand clutched to my head as I silently pleaded for the cruel attack to be over. I hoped Marcy wasn't suffering as I was. "Brain freeze?" Marcy's soft voice erupted in a giggle, the first sign of happiness she had shown since I found her. "How do you endure these?" I groaned miserably. "You've never had one?" Marcy seemed confused. My head shook in response, and I had to blink to clear my watering eyes. "Don't eat it so fast," she tugged my arm down, pulling the half-eaten popsicle away from my mouth, "Go slow and your brain won't freeze." "I've never had to eat before today," I muttered, fighting my stomach's urges to eat so I wouldn't make the discomfort worse, "Being hungry sucks. My stomach never growled at me and my brain never froze while eating ice cream when I had Light." "You were never hungry?!" Marcy exclaimed. "No, didn't have to sleep either," I rubbed my temple as the cold in the back of my head finally began to die down, "But they sure did feel nice." "Wow," the little girl's eyes were wide with wonder, "So you were like an Exo?" "Yeah," I agreed after a moment of thought, "Never tired, never needing anything to sustain myself, but still able to do everything a human can." "Wow..." she whispered, returning her attention to her popsicle and licking it merrily. I rubbed my stomach a bit before going back to eating my frozen treat, a bit frustrated that I had already eaten a feast at the store but was still hungry. Marcy had said that I ate like a starving bear. Looking down at her now as we walked through the streets, her face washed with some of the water we had found at the store, she looked less scared and young. If I had to guess I would say she was around ten years old, maybe a little younger. Whatever her age, she had surely gone through enough in these past twenty four hours to be treated as more than a sniveling toddler. Shouldering my bag of supplies into a better position on my back, I ran back over what we had put in. Enough food and water for a week or two if we rationed well, three flashlights, a lighter, and two boxes of matches. I also found a broken pipe that I had strapped to my belt for when a fight came. Not much, but better than nothing. "What's that?" Marcy called my attention away from survival statistics and back to the road before us. A single silhouetted figure stood a ways down, its bent down head and scrawny limbs apparent as it wandered towards us. I thought it might be a person; it certainly wasn't Vex or Cabal. Taking one last bite of my popsicle, I tossed what was left to the side, not wanting to be caught without a free hand. It drew closer and I put my hand on my cannon, put off a bit by the shambling gait that it had. If only the Sun weren't making it so hard to make out what the thing was. It collapsed. Rushing up to it with my hand cannon drawn now, I held my arm out to keep Marcy behind me. We stopped a few feet away and I recognized the creature as a Fallen Dreg, its lack of four arms explaining why it had seemed human. "Is th-that a…?" Marcy couldn't finish the question as she peeked under my arm. "Fallen," I confirmed, keeping my gun pointed at its head as I crouched next to it. Placing my hand on its back, I felt its body fill only twice with weak breaths before it went still. The Dreg had several deep cuts on its arms and back, but clearly not from a superior Fallen because the skin was not burnt. Maybe it had a run in with a Cabal War Beast? I pulled my hand away and looked at it to find a small sprinkling of ash smeared across a couple of my fingers. "Killed by Hive," I mumbled, now fearful that we wouldn't be able to make it out of the City. "What's it here for?" Marcy clutched my arm. There were a few bags tied to the Dreg, and I flipped their covers open to find human trinkets and materials. "They're digging trough the remains of the City, stealing whatever's left," I practically growled in my anger, "The Hive are probably here to eat the Traveler's remains and kill whatever's...left..." The fear of the Hive came back to my mind as I talked about them, and I shot to my feet then began dragging Marcy away at a hurried pace. "William, my arm!" Marcy whined as I gripped her wrist roughly. "We need to go, now!" I told her in a hushed tone, "The Fallen and Hive are in the City!" My mind raced, planning the most hidden and strategic routes to avoid the enemies and keep them where we would have the advantage if chased. The Dreg couldn't have come from far; judging by the cuts and its solitary appearance, it was probably the only survivor of a small battle and had only just escaped with its life. More Fallen and Hive would be near, without a doubt. "Willi-!" Marcy stumbled and I slowed to a stop with the drag of her weight. "What are-?!" Marcy kept trying to talk to me, but I swept her up and started jogging with her in my arms, squirming to get comfortable and wrap her arms around me for stability. "They will be everywhere, and they will kill us Marcy, without second thought," I answered the questions that she was clearly trying to articulate, "They will not pick off threats rather than the defenseless like the Cabal and Vex; anything and anyone is a target. We need to get as far away as we can before every street is filled with enemies." Marcy tucked her head down against my chest and curled up fearfully. Every child in the City knew the threat of Fallen attacks as well as the tales of the Hive used to scare children. I hoped she wouldn't meet all the nightmarish monsters she had grown up fearing. Feet pounding down the streets, the guttural calls of Fallen began drifting through the wind, giving me warning to turn down smaller streets leading away from the noise. Nothing stirred or followed us; they didn't know we were here, they were just communicating. We continued this way until my lungs and arms burnt, but my adrenaline was pumping and I knew I could keep going. But I didn't know for how long. The first call of the Hive reached my ears. A hungry, angry call from a Thrall that caused Marcy to yelp in surprise. As I skidded in a quick brake and turned my body to start running a different direction, the shriek was answered by several Fallen roars which grew into a chorus as a wave of other Hive voices joined in. The battle for the City was growing with the arrival of more aliens. "W-w-where are they?" Marcy choked out, pulling her face away from me just for a moment to look around with frightened eyes. "Too close," I answered, looking for a street that looked safe. There were plenty of buildings to hide in this far away from the destruction in the city's center, but I knew none of them would hide us long. The Fallen and Hive were thorough. "Can you watch my back?" I huffed as I continued to run. Marcy raised her head to peer over my shoulder, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck to hold on. Inhuman cries seemed to come from every direction. It was a miracle we went as long as we did without encountering anything, but eventually our luck had to run out. Turning around a corner from an alleyway, I found our path blocked by a line of Fallen clashing against a tide of Hive. Claws tore through Fallen banners and Shock Blades lobbed off entire limbs from the Thrall while Acolytes and Fallen gunmen alike unleashed burning projectiles upon their enemies. I slammed to a halt and winced in pain as my right leg protested, but began backing away carefully despite it. The Fallen were spread back pretty far towards us, only their front line engaging the Hive up close with their blades while the rest climbed up cars and buildings with their guns or stood in the middle of the streets to shoot into any gaps that formed in the line. One that stood only several meters in front of us, a Vandal with a Wire Rifle that had been sniping, perked up at the scuff of metal on asphalt and turned to find me there with Marcy. Before it could turn its gun or call to the others, I put a bullet in its head, sending it sprawling to the ground with hand up to try holding in the escaping rush of ether. Despite this, a Fallen cry sounded above me and I looked up to see another Vandal looking down from a window three stories up. ___________________________ Link to part 6: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229945844/0/0 Link to part 8: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229945990/0/0 Link to Archive: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0