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Integration

Part 13

Kira's blue eyes slowly tracked the small, fluttering insect as it lazily darted around the glow of the light wedged in between the shrubbery. It was a stupid little thing, smacking against the light again and again, hypnotized by it. It had been going at it for the past several minutes, and Kira watched every second of it. Sometimes it came a little closer to her, drawn to her black nose for whatever reason its little mind settled on. She blew out a puff of air through her nostrils, blowing it back toward the lantern where it immediately forgot her again in lieu of smacking itself against it.

Laying on this bedroll, at the foot of her and Dylan's bench, in the middle of the moonlit night, there wasn't much else to do. She didn't listen to any music or fiddle with her yutri. Instead, she simply laid there on her side, her muzzle resting on her forearm, watching an insect passionately act like an insect.

A small touch on her fluffy cheek fur made her ears perk and turn aside. Her charge was just outside her vision, but she didn't move to look at him, simply letting his little fingers brush at her fur.

“They do the same thing on Earth." The sound of his chuckle turned the edges of her black lips into a tiny smile. “They're just not so… big. That thing's the size of a cat."

“One of the great truths of the universe; insects love light." She tilted her head slightly towards him, letting her see him now with one big, blue eye, glinting with amusement. “You know, when we first encountered your species, one of the big questions was 'Will they be attracted to our porch lights?'"

“Really?"

“No."

“Oh. That would have been hilarious."

Kira was taken aback by that. “Really?"

“No." She blinked at him, and he shrugged. “Well, maybe a little."

The lupari's eyes went back to the insect as her charge settled down onto his knees next to her cheek. She felt his insignificant weight press against her fur, sinking partially into it as he leaned against. Together, they watched.

The silence saw Kira's ears slowly begin to relax, until they sagged down the sides of her head. One was just above, within his reach. The little human reached up, and batted the tip of her ear, making it flick as if the flying insect flew into it. “Thanks for doing this."

The ear went straight up again, teasingly staying out of the human's reach, so long as he stayed there on his knees. “You're welcome, Dylan."

These sorts of permissions and privileges sometimes made Kira wonder about this program. They were allowed to spend the night here instead of in the barracks, at their favorite little spot away from others, with only the odd guard checking in on them. This was only hours after Dylan turned into a shaking, upset mess of a human. Any other medic likely would be facing more serious action, even removal from the unit, with all of the problems her charge had. Perhaps it was simply the training status of the unit, and their superiors were hoping time would mend Dylan. But sometimes, Kira simply felt like there was more to why the program was so much more 'loose' with standard military behavior.

Either way Kira couldn't complain; spending this kind of time with her charge made her heart throb and her stomach twist. Leave it to a lupari to become so debilitated with care for someone they only met a month ago. The thought of being an overtly clingy stereotype made her laugh softly to herself.

Dylan was jostled a little from the movement as her cheeks moved. “What's so funny?"

“Just thinking about how I'm becoming like every lupari stereotype, as if this is some kind of bad romance movie."

“Extremely affectionate, read emotions like a book, extra fluffy?" Kira grinned, and used her free hand to lightly push against his side, smothering him with her cheek fur. His laughter was musical after hours of him barely saying more than a few words at a time. He squirmed out from between her hand and cheek, and fell onto the bedroll. “Yeah… you're a big stereotype and I look like a guy without a shred of masculinity when dealing with it." He jabbed the side of her muzzle, between the some whiskers, with his fist. “But… I appreciate it. You being a stereotype, I mean."

“Should I carry you around with the scruff of your uniform between my front teeth?"

He laughed again, his body moving through several of her whiskers, making the side of her muzzle twitch. “I mean, it… helps, you know? I'm a… I'm a mess, Kira. I feel like I want to cry again and curl up into a pathetic ball. But you… I don't know. You make me feel like it'll be okay." The lupari started to smile, but it suddenly vanished when he choked on a sob. “Ah, but, heh, I wish it never happened."

He held the bridge of his nose between his finger and his thumb, looking down, his breath ragged. “I wish it never happened," he said again, his head shaking side to side.

Kira propped herself up on one elbow, looking down at him, and used her other hand to wrap her fingers around his front, her thumb across his back, and she pulled him to his feet to hold him against her stomach. He deflated in her grip, leaning against her hand, threatening to fall over if she let go of him. “They're gone. Home is gone. Friends are gone. My mom, my brother, even my dog… they're all gone."

The lupari's thumb stroked at his back, her only response, she didn't know what to say. He never spoke of his family, she only knew he had a brother and a mother, his father having passed years ago. “I miss them. I miss them so much." He chuckled bitterly. “My brother and I were even talking about the stories of 'good' aliens showing up to save us all." Kira's fingers tensed, her hand stopping against him. “We we're going to be ship captains exploring the universe once we got out of that shitfest."

Kira swallowed nervously, her hand resuming its slow affections, but now with a tremble, the gravity of this hitting her like a neishor. “They… they didn't perish in the bombardment?"

He shook his head, still looking down. “There was a blizzard. Almost no rynar patrols. The unit was near home. So I got a friend, we stole a truck and we went out. Went looking for them."

The lupari's ears slowly wilted as he looked down, his face contorting into agony. “Are you certain you can tell me?" she gently asked; voice a whisper and her heart throbbing painfully. It didn't take a lupari to realize something bad happened. Something that made him just want to try to forget.

The human pushed her hand away and got to his feet to start pacing along the edge of the bed roll, his fingers wringing together. Kira kept her hand nearby if he needed it, but let him work it all out himself. Her gently flaring nostrils picked out an array of changing scents – fear, anxiety, sorrow, and even anger and confusion. It made her tense in her own way, on guard for something that she couldn't control. For all their heightened empathy, not even a lupari could always know just what to do in the face of grief.

But she knew her friend. Whatever he was feeling, she knew he'd talk. Some things just needed to be said. The big lupari laid her head down and turned it slightly aside, presenting the plush fur of her neck. Her charge stopped his pacing to look toward it, his hands clenching and unclenching until they finally went slack. He stepped over to her, and fell backwards into the fur, sitting on his haunches. The fur was thick enough to conceal much of his upper form, but she could still feel the deep breath he took in.

“I found them. At home. My home. I hugged my brother. Almost dropped the fucking gun I had behind my back, my hands were shaking so bad. Mom was down in the basement, by the fire…"

–

In these chaotic dark days, a month after the invasion started, it made one's heart quiver to find comforting familiarity after nothing but fear, doubt, uncertainty, and frothing rage. When Washington burned, ash from what used to be the city, what used to be people, fell like snow. It was an agonizing thought when word got around that Annapolis suffered a similar fate. Smoke from that devastated city still rose into the sky only kilometers away

Finding the outermost reaches of the south and west side still intact brought a twinge of hope to Dylan. It was a welcome feeling after all of this. Welcome enough to come out here, looking, but still doubting. Despite all the stubborn nature of men he ran into, even in himself as he still carried a gun and wore the Army's pattern, he still underestimated how tightly people could cling to their homes.

Here they were, under the same roof he left them. As he clung to his brother in a tight embrace, Dylan saw the most comforting thing he'd likely ever feel – the sight of his own mother. She was looking up the stairs to the basement at him, her hands over her mouth, half of her face illuminated by the small glow of the weak fire within the cast iron stove of a fireplace. A smile turned up the edges of his mouth, his lower lip shaking with the relief of seeing her, both of them. He pulled out of the hug with his sibling, their arms still interlaced.

“So you were finally getting ready to shoot me, huh?" his brother joked, his figure dark but Dylan knew he had a ridiculous grin on his face. Dylan glanced at his hand, forgetting he even had the service pistol clutched in it as he hugged his brother.

“Yeah, but mom's here so I gotta do it later."

Ryan snorted and stepped aside for his brother to head downstairs, then gave him a shove on the shoulder to get him moving. “Get down there and say hello before I throw you down. It's cold up here."

Dylan slipped his handgun back into his pocket as he hastily descended the stairs. They made their familiar creak under his boots, almost their own 'welcome home' as if the sight of his own mother wasn't enough. Once he reached the bottom, she didn't say a word. She merely stepped close, and leaned her head forward to rest it against his chest. He slipped his arm around her dainty form and slowly rocked her side to side. “Told you I wouldn't get killed, mom."

Elizabeth chuckled weakly against him and lifted her head up, eyes glistening and cheeks flushed but a humored smile on her lips. “Smartass. Why'd it take you so long to get here?"

Dylan's gaze flicked downward, shame suddenly throttling him. “Thought you were dead."

His attention went back up as his brother strode passed, and dropped himself down onto the blanket covered sofa in front of the fire. “Almost. We were at Ogelton, trying to catch a boat out of the lake and across the bay when the bombardment happened. Wiped out most of Annapolis." He shook his head and gestured toward the fire. “The bay started to boil. Shoulda been there. Lovely swim, great for the skin."

Dylan chuckled and Elizabeth snapped at her younger son, “People died, Ryan."

“Lucky we didn't." Ryan looked towards the fire again. “Other side of the lake burst into flames, it wasn't even hit. The heat that hit us? Burned. Second degree maybe? Fucking hurt."

Dylan squinted at his brother in the firelight, trying to look for such damage. “Got blisters?"

Ryan met his look and shook his head. “Nah."

“First, then," Dylan confirmed. “Some of our guys got second when they hit DC. Practically rashes after Norfolk."

Dylan felt a squeezing on his arm as his mother gripped it tighter. “You made it out of Washington? You were IN Washington?" Her voice rose, sounding accusing, as if he did wrong by her by finding himself in a war zone like that.

“On the beltway, actually. Moving to try to cut off the lizards as they retreated from the city." Dylan ran his hand through his hair, and took a deep, shaky breath. “Got a good look at why they were running."

“Damn." Ryan muttered then gestured to the other end of the couch. “We don't get a lot of news. What happened at Norfolk? You went all the way from there to DC?"

Dylan looked longingly at the other end of the sofa, covered in blankets and pillows, the seat by a fire in his old home, with his own family. It was a painfully tempting thing to just stay and rest. “Just barely." He shook his head and turned to his mother, and grabbed one of her lithe hands in his gloved one. “I'll tell you two everything. Later. We need to go while we have darkness and the storm is still going."

Elizabeth squeezed his hand in both of hers, the gloves damp from melted snow, trying to keep him there, but Ryan spat out his protest first. "No goddamn way. We're not leaving here."

Their mother nodded rapidly, casting a thankful look back at her younger son. "We're safe here, Dylan. We'll stay here."

Ryan got back to his feet and came close with his fists clenched, as if he were ready to physically keep his sibling here. "If we keep to ourselves, those giants leave us alone." He pointed to Dylan's ACU patterned pants, the camouflage slightly faded. "And just wearing those makes you a threat to them. You're not still fighting them, are you?"

Dylan had to fight himself to keep his lips from turning up into an angry sneer. His brother spoke as if that was wrong, despicable even. "Fighting them? No. We lost that. Some units still try. We try to help people."

"By bringing them to people with tanks and cannons?!" Ryan shouted angrily. "Don't be so stupid! We all know what happens to anyone that even looks like a threat!"

Dylan let go of his mother and stepped up to his brother, that scowl finally breaking across his face as his arms spread apart, as if welcoming the spat. "Crushed, vaporized, torn apart and even fucking eaten!" he snarled, inches away from Ryan's face. "And they're starting to do it for fun! We know what's happening! So just shut the fuck up and let me explain this shit to you!"

The younger brother's mouth hung slightly open, a few rapid blinks his only response. His older sibling was always so much more level headed, rarely jumping to his posturing. Elizabeth slipped in between them, and pushed Ryan back. "Let him explain, Ryan."

Ryan looked down at her, shocked that she would even entertain the prospect of them leaving the safety of their home. He glowered for a few moments, before sighing and stepping away, waving his hand dismissively as he backed down. "Fine."

Dylan quietly watched him as he stomped back over to the sofa, and dropped down heavily onto the cushions, staring at the fire. "We've not disarmed, no. We try to fight if we have to, but only to protect because it's getting worse." He turned to face his mother and placed both hands on her shoulders, shaking his head desperately. "Ever since those other aliens landed, the lizards have been struggling. Taking heavy losses. Getting worn out. Then there's the guerillas here, trying to blow them up as they return with their wounded. They're starting to..." he hesitated, looking aside, desperately trying to dispel the thoughts of what he's been seeing, happening to his own mother.

Elizabeth finished for him. "Hurt people? They're taking it out on us." Ryan scoffed, seeming disbelieving, and drew his mother's ire. "Now you're being stupid," she scolded. "You know what happened on Tiller Street."

Ryan's head snapped around to look at her, but only made it halfway before he stopped, and slowly shook his head as he turned back around, his gaze wandering down to the floor. Dylan stared at his back, watching as defiant anger turned into the slumping shoulders of someone remembering something awful. He'd seen it all too much lately.

"Yeah..." he slowly confirmed. "And it seems to be getting worse. We've started taking people out of the larger population centers. Bring them to the more isolated towns, camps in the forests. Places out of the way of the lizard deployment zones, outposts, and regular patrol areas. We can't keep them away if they wanted to come through, but some mines, a few missiles..." He shrugged, knowing it was a weak assurance, "we can deter them at least. I'd take you out of here, but... they watch for people trying to get out. Traps, sensors, drones... there's no way out. But you'll be safer somewhere other than here."

Elizabeth pulled at one of Dylan's hands, taking it from her shoulder to squeeze it possessively once more. "And what will you do then?"

Dylan frowned, looking down, barely able to look her in the eye. "I'd have to go back and help, mom. I'm a medic. I just have to. I'm sometimes with the teams that make the rounds through the settlements with aid. I'd make sure to come and see you and Ryan."

There was a stinging silence in the air, Dylan sure his mother didn't like that at all. "I'm so proud of you," finally broke through, a little choked, but when Dylan looked back up at her, he saw her smiling. "Look at you. I've never seen so much drive. So much determination. So much confidence. You know what you need to do, Dylan. Just promise you'll visit, and we'll come with you."

She pulled him into another hug, and he rested his chin on top of her head, her dark hair tickling at his face. He gently rocked her, needing this as much as she did. He watched Ryan, their gazes meeting. His younger brother's eyes were furrowed, a slight frown at the edges of his mouth. He'd seen it countless times, and worn such a look of fear just as many times.

"I promise, mom. We're not going to lose each other."

--

Dylan fell silent, and Kira let it be, the both of them quietly thinking. The lupari's large ear was turned downward toward her charge, still tucked against her neck, listening for any kind of change. But he kept his utter silence, and only by lightly sniffing at the air, Kira could sense an overwhelming sadness. He was too caught up in his own thoughts, she knew she had to wait to say anything, or until he said something himself.

It was a chance for the guardian to sort through her own thoughts, at least. She knew this story wasn't going to end well. She couldn't tell what happened, but all of her guesses terrified her. But anguish aside, she knew it had to be told and so she waited, and listened, letting him lead. The wait turned to minutes before she finally felt him move. He leaned forward, his minute weight lifting from the fur on her neck. A hand started to brush at the white fur, slowly, steadily.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" he finally asked.

Kira swallowed, her throat muscles shifting and letting him know she was about to speak. He scooted back on his haunches, into her view, looking up at her with his arms on his knees. The lupari picked her head up, gazing down at him with her blue eyes. She could see his breathing was a little ragged and his eyes were glistening, but the way he leaned forward, and he almost seemed to be pleading with her with his wide eyes. He wasn't asking her to stop him; he was hoping she'd encourage him to keep going.

"I am," Kira said, nodding and flicking her ear. "It will help both of us. So please, continue."

He bit at his lower lip, then weakly nodded. "Could you..." he gestured for her to come back down to his level.

Kira gently lowered herself back down onto the bedroll, her head resting only a short distance away from her charge. She turned to present her neck again, but a little tug had her flatten back out. She watched him approach her muzzle, then get down on his knees. He jostled some of her whiskers as he moved and draped an arm over the top of her snout. His small hand brushed at the thin fur on top, and he stared into her blue eyes as he continued. "I got them to pack some of their things. We took the guns, blankets, any food and first aid supplies we could carry, and loaded them all into the truck, and we headed out into the storm..."

--

In a storm like this, it was incredibly hard to see in the dark, and the aliens seemed to be averse to the frigid conditions. The civilian pickup truck had all but its headlights and rear reverse lights disabled, and even those had hoods on them to be a little less visible from above. Purely to avoid the lizards, it was the safest time to travel in a vehicle. But the roads were unplowed, and destroyed vehicles, most of them torn apart and smashed by the lizards, were a hazard on the highways, but the back roads were typically clear enough to easily navigate around wrecks. Even so, without the giants being an overbearing threat, a good set of tires and chains on a large truck that could move the wrecks aside didn't make it an easy time to travel.

Dylan was at the wheel, hunched forward close to the wheel to better see through the blowing snow and dark with the dampened lights of the truck as they steadily made their way down a long road, several miles of mostly clear road through rolling hills and winding turns. Corporal Tobias Sampson, was in the passenger seat with a shotgun and assault rifle resting against the dash in front of him, haplessly tinkering with their one set of beaten night vision goggles in his lap. The device had given out on their way to his home. His brother was in the back, holding a red light flashlight up for him to see, while their mother watched from under a blanket.

"So let me get this straight. We were actually WINNING at DC?" Ryan asked, surprised.

"I don't know." Dylan shook his head, not looking away from the road. "I said they were fleeing the city when we arrived. We might have been winning, but they had to be running because they knew the bombardment was coming."

"Fuck!" Tobias cursed and tossed the goggles up on the dash. "Sorry man, I can't fix these."

Dylan glanced at the goggles. "Hope they send some more in the next supply run."

Tobias leaned back in his seat, watching the road with Dylan. "If it makes it, anyway."

Ryan turned the flashlight off and passed it up to the corporal, but lingered between the two front seats. "Supply run? You guys are getting supplies from the outside?" Hunger was becoming an ever increasing problem for both civilians and guerilla forces. The dead of winter offered little sustenance, and the lizards seemed to take advantage of it. Occasionally, they would provide food, much more than the guerillas could offer, and at times that had been enough to turn civilians against the military remnants.

"Sometimes," Tobias answered. "We can't get much past the lizards, small teams with a few bikes sometimes can. We're only able to get some critical supplies, and not much of it. Sometimes the biggest thing feels like the news."

The prospect of news even perked up Elizabeth, who shifted to get closer and ask, "Is it true then? About the other aliens?"

Dylan and Tobias exchanged looks, the low light of the dash making their faces barely visible. The prospect of the other aliens was the only shred of hope they'd had through this whole thing, and it was just a rumor for most. With radio signals as jammed as they were, it was impossible to learn much. "Yeah," Dylan said. "It's true. They're fighting the lizards, but nobody's really sure what they want, other than to 'help.'"

Tobias scoffed, incredulous at the idea. "Just fucking help, my ass."

Ryan looked rather crestfallen. "Why? Have they been fighting you too?"

Tobias shrugged. "Never even seen 'em. So never fought 'em."

Dylan was quick to reassure his brother. "Supposedly there was some fighting at the start, before anyone realized they weren't lizard reinforcements. With their help, the military further out west and north was able to recuperate and stop retreating. It's just nobody is sure what they really want until we can talk to each other better."

"I-I don't understand," Elizabeth murmured. "Didn't they use their spaceships to destroy the military? How can there be any left to recuperate?"

That was some good news to share, at least. Many of the civilians trapped here believed the military had ceased to exist after the bombardments. More believed the rumors of 'friendly' aliens than the rumors of the Army and Marines still fighting on the ground. When their enemies were some dozens of feet tall, all of them with rifles that could decimate an Abrams tank with some focused fire, it was difficult to believe otherwise. Especially when so many thought the bombardments destroyed all of the gathered military forces, leaving only shambles too small to be worth decimating the landscape again.

"Only what they could," Dylan said. "Nobody knows for certain but we think they were hoping we'd surrender before they had to start destroying everything with the big guns. You know, keep the infrastructure and populace intact for... I don't know, occupation. Enslavement."

Ryan scowled. "How kind of them."

"Very benevolent, naturally." They shared a few strained chuckles. "But no, they only managed to bombard a few places on the planet before these other aliens reached orbit with their fleet. Now neither one of them can't bomb the surface, it seems like."

"Just a few?" Elizabeth's voice raised, spurred on by that news. "We thought they at least destroyed the cities. Boston? New York? Pittsburg-"

"Far as we know, all still standing," Tobias interrupted. "They're not telling us who's in control though, or if they're still being fought over. Except for New York, which they say is mostly occupied, except for Manhattan. The lizards can't get on it without getting blown away."

Ryan laughed, a smug, pleased smile on his face. "That's gotta be embarrassing."

Dylan smirked halfheartedly, his brother unable to see it as he focused on the dangerous road. He was certain they were only really telling the stuff that might boost morale, and some thought a holdout in Manhattan was incredible. Dylan just thought it was awful that they couldn't even keep a city as big and important as New York from falling into lizard hands. "Yeah." Dylan spared a glance back at his brother in the dark. "Hey, let's say the new guys are the good guys. They help us win. Wanna go to fuckin' space?"

Ryan scoffed. "We forgot our space helmets."

Dylan's grin wavered. That's true, they did. Their old, plastic toys from when they were kids. They didn't exactly grab much in the way of mementos, and that thought suddenly gnawed at him. "Ah well," he said, brushing it off, "Mine had that huge crack in it anyway. No way I'd survive with it."

Elizabeth sighed, a small chuckle breaking it up. "I'll have to get you another for your birthday."

"Gee, thanks ma." Dylan shook his head, laughing.

"Whoah hold on," Ryan said. "Those were Christmas gifts. If he gets one, I get one too."

Their mother bumped the younger brother with her knee. "Hah! And here I thought you grew out of that. Fine, you'll both get one. Send me pictures when you make it to Mars."

"Oh no." Dylan waved a slow hand above him toward the windshield, gesturing at the sky. "We're going way further than Mars. We're gonna go to... to... Ryan, what was the planet with the furry mushrooms with vampire teeth?"

"Planet Blorzax in the Heletica system," Ryan answered confidently.

"No no." Dylan shook his head. "Helexica system. We had an 'x' in every- whoa shit, Tobias." Dylan eased the truck to a slow stop, a smashed, green car just ahead, as well as a tree that seemed to have fallen across the road. Their old tire tracks were just barely visible, passing through where the tree was lying.

The two soldiers exchanged wary looks, and without a word Dylan killed the lights, casting them and the road in complete darkness, while Dylan pulled his service pistol from his thigh holster. Ryan and Elizabeth didn't say a word as the both of them hunkered down in the back seat. The medic passed his handgun to his brother in the back, while Tobias picked up the shotgun and M4 between his legs. He slipped the shotgun onto the dash with a heavy thump and clatter, then rested the barrel of the M4 on the dash, muzzle pointing towards the windshield.

"Need those fucking goggles," Tobias whispered. "Turn on the flood light." The corporal rolled down his window. The soft whir of the motor was suddenly drowned out by the howling wind of the storm, and frigid air and snow swept into the truck cab. Tobias flinched from the cold, but he slipped the gun outside, to rest the front end on the truck's wing mirror, himself leaning out slightly to hold it.

Dylan rolled down his own window and clicked on the flood light just outside, bathing the tree and road ahead in strong, bright light. He grabbed the lamp, and steadily swiveled the beam across the tree, finding out which side was its base. Dylan squinted as it settled on the right side of the road, where he could see the base of the tree, cleanly cut, and a stump just up the hill.

Tobias noticed it too and muttered back into the vehicle, "Off off," and pulled himself in a bit to expose less of his body. "It's been cut. We're in a trap."

Dylan shifted the truck into reverse, flicked the flood light off, and hit the gas. The wheels spun for a few moments before he let up, giving them traction on the slick road to trundle backwards at what felt like a painfully slow pace for the danger they were in. Both soldiers sat low in their seats, Tobias with the rifle out the window, while Dylan watched his wing mirror.

Suddenly, a red light appeared not far behind them, up on one of the embankments on either side. Then another appeared, and then a third. All three of them hurtled down from the embankments onto snow covered pavement. "Flares," Dylan reported.

Tobias looked through the rear window at the red glow. What certainly looked like the silhouettes of armed men darted onto the road, but they didn't shoot as the truck picked up more speed in reverse. "Keep going, they want the truck!" Vehicles were precious. The military remnants had most of them, and the most fuel, but that was because they, too, took it when they could. This looked like a sorry version of the remnants' vehicle stops - nobody actually wanted to shoot up an intact vehicle.

Unfortunately, they were stuck in reverse without enough space to quickly turn around. All Dylan could do was push the pedal a little harder and watch those guns get closer. Dylan started hearing them shouting unintelligibly through his open window, over the sounds of the engine and the billowing storm. Not a shot rang out as they entered the glow of the flares, and the bandits were forced to jump away as the truck blew past them. Tobias retook his position with his rifle on the mirror, pointed ahead, watching the men as they looked on at the receding vehicle vanishing into the darkness. It almost looked like they were going to get away untouched.

A loud crack snapped passed Dylan's window, followed immediately by the thunder of gunshots, loud even in this weather. A few more cracks of bullets zipping by, and Tobias started firing, the front of the truck lighting up with rapid flashes from the muzzle of the rifle. His shots sent a few of them scattering, but it wasn't enough as someone's rounds found the truck in the darkness, a couple bullets smashed into the windshield.

Dylan gasped at the feeling of an impact near his neck. The vehicle lurched to the side from his flinch and he cried out, "Hit, hit!" with a desperate shriek in his voice. Tobias glanced inside at Dylan clutching his neck with one hand. "I think it was just a graze!"

"Just keep it steady!" Tobias demanded, sending a few more shots up the road.

The medic managed to steady the waver before it turned into a slide, then chanced a look into the back seat, praying one of the bullets didn't hit his family. The both of them were still hunkered down in their seats, a couple bullet holes in the back window, with Ryan muttering while his mother was silent. They locked gazes for a moment, reassuring Dylan she was okay.

Satisfied, Dylan looked up just in time to see the plundered gray minivan, just before the back of their truck smashed into it. The back left side struck it hard enough to force the passengers back into their seats, almost making Tobias drop his rifle outside. The impact forced the back of their vehicle to the side, the momentum carrying it into the shallow embankment at the side of the road. Their rear dropped down, while the front lurched upward just enough to take the front wheels into the air.

"What the fuck, Dylan?!" Tobias shouted angrily, the shotgun having slid off the dash and smacked into him from the sudden stop. He shoved it aside and dropped the magazine from his rifle. "Are we stuck?" The corporal slipped a new magazine in from the glove box, and chambered a new round.

Dylan fumbled with the shifter, the adrenaline and fear making him struggle to find the low range. At least the bullets stopped, giving him some calm to get the truck into gear. He hit the accelerator, but the front wheels spun helplessly in the air while the rear ones failed to find traction in the embankment. "Y-yeah we're not moving!" He hissed, trying again, only kicking up snow behind them and probably digging the truck in even deeper.

If they weren't being attacked, they could winch themselves out of this. Unfortunately, Dylan could see the silhouettes of the bandits down the road, their own flares giving them away as they trudged through the snow toward them.

Tobias shoved his door open. "Everyone out! Dylan grab your gun!" The medic started to clamber over the center console while his mother and brother went out through the back passenger side door. He suddenly stopped partway over, however, and reached back over his seat. He stuck his hand through the open window, grabbing at the flood light. He twisted it around to face down the road, then flicked it on, barely illuminating their ambushers through the billowing snowfall. Caught in the light, they scattered like roaches, diving off the side of the road into the low defilades they offered.

It was a mercy that they didn't start shooting again, Dylan thought. He climbed the rest of the way out of the truck, grabbing his shotgun on the way, and dropped down into the snowy embankment. He was immediately met by his mother, her hands reaching up to his neck. "You were holding your neck."

Dylan rubbed at the side of his neck, already forgotten a bullet almost buried itself in his throat. His coat was tattered, but when he reached inside to touch his skin, his glove came back without any blood. "Though I felt something," he said, pushing her hand away. Thankfully, it was too dark for her to see it. "I'm fine."

Tobias shoved a plate carrier against Dylan. "Put it on!" he ordered. The medic nodded, and his mother stepped away to hold the arm of his younger brother, wanting to make sure he didn't do anything stupid with that pistol. Dylan propped his gun against the truck and began to slip it over his head while Tobias started doing the same. "What's it looking like, Ryan?"

Elizabeth tugged at her son's arm to try to keep him from poking his head out from around their cover, but he gave her a light push away and looked out over the top of the bed, down the illuminated road. "I don't see them," he said loudly as the wind picked up.

Dylan fastened his straps, the carrier a bit tight on top of his winter clothing, but had no time to adjust. "I saw them take cover at the sides of the road." He patted himself down, making sure he still had extra shells in his pouches. He found his several extra handgun magazines, and ripped open the velcro to yank them out.

"Then why aren't they shooting?" Ryan asked, still looking over the bed as he bent down to start fishing around for one of the rifles.

"They want the truck, and everything inside it, intact" Dylan said, and tapped his brother's shoulder with the magazines. "Take these. You'll want a large capacity automatic more than an accurate rifle. You know where the magazine release is?"

Ryan took the extra magazines, stuffed them into his pocket then did a quick test of the release, sliding the magazine out partway, catching it in his hand, then slipping it back in. "Got it."

Dylan nodded and turned back around to find Tobias shoving a helmet into his hand. "You stay here with them. I'm going to take the other side of the road. Let me do the talking."

"Just don't say anything stupid." Dylan yanked his hat off, and plopped the helmet on in its place, not bothering to fasten it. "Covering. Ryan, stay in cover with mom." The medic propped his gun up on the bed of the truck, aiming down the road. He knew the gun was already loaded with a full tube and chambered with slugs, but he still pulled the action back just enough to feel for the chambered shell with his middle finger, finding the reassuring plastic of a loaded shell.

"You and your fucking shotguns," Tobias muttered then made for a quick dash across the road.

Ryan hunkered down low in the embankment with Elizabeth, by the back of the truck, bracing for some kind of exchange of gunfire. Dylan squinted into the blizzard, the flood light reflecting off the falling snow, making it difficult to make out much detail in the distance. He was just searching for movement, but saw none. The shallow curve of the road prevented both soldiers from being able to see straight down the embankments, giving covered to whoever lurked down the road. The silence had already gone on long enough that he was worried the bandits would be climbing the hills on either side of the road to get around their flank.

"Just walk away!" A shout broke through the silence. Dylan already could tell it wasn't Tobias' voice, even through the whirling winds. They had to have crept closer to be that audible. "Leave the truck, take what you can carry, and walk the hell away!"

That deal was a sight better than some people got, Dylan knew, if they kept their word. He was tempted to take that deal, if only to get his mother and brother out of here. But Tobias had a different idea. "This truck belongs to the US military! Fall back or we will be forced to open fire!"

“Military?" The voice shouted back. "You army guys blew up all those lizards on a shore patrol."

"Damn right!" The corporal put as much gusto as he could into it as he could through the storm, despite not having a clue what they were talking about.

Ryan suddenly jumped up and shoved passed Dylan. "No, wa-!"

"They killed everyone on Tiller Street for that!" bellowed down the road, and a beat later Dylan was forced down as gunfire erupted and pelted the side of the truck and bullets cracked overhead as they hurtled through the air. The medic grabbed his brother by the back of his jacket and pulled him back down into the cover of the embankment.

The report of Tobias' rifle erupted from across the street, thundering against Dylan's ears even through the storm. The rounds slamming against his cover tapered off, allowing Dylan the chance to peek over, scanning for targets. Once Tobias' fire let up, a couple of figures appeared from within the embankments. Dylan's shotgun boomed and kicked violently against him as he sent three shots toward them, sending them back down with no apparent hits.

Following his brother, Ryan poked himself over the bed, firing off several haphazard shots. Dylan grabbed a fistful of his coat and dragged him back down into covered. "Stay the fuck down!" he snarled at him. "Stay with mo-"

"You brought us out here!" Ryan shoved Dylan away, knocking him into the snow. "Now get us out of it! I'm not sitting on my ass!" The younger brother squeezed himself against the side of the truck, at least smart enough to know to hunker down as the return fire battered their cover. Dylan had to make sure his mother was okay, though, and crawled into the dip of the embankment, toward a dark figure he could barely see.

Dylan found Elizabeth lying in the snow. Terrified, he grabbed at her shoulder and shook her. To his relief, she moved, turning her head to look up at him. "Mom!" he shouted over the gunfire, "Stay down!" If it weren't for the darkness, he was certain she was giving him that flat look when she thought someone was toying with her. It made him smile in the dark, even as a few more bullets cracked overhead.

The medic pressed himself against the back of the truck, and chanced a small peek around the tailgate to see if anyone was crawling through the roadside ditch toward them, while the sound of Tobias' M4 across the street kept him assured of the other side. If the bandits were still bogged down, then they might be able to vanish into the storm and leave them to the truck. The random gunfire in their direction was another matter, however. Dylan couldn't see any movement in the ditch ahead, but he was only looking for a few seconds, before the return fire struck the floodlight, and the road fell into darkness.

The gunfire soon tapered off, leaving just the howling wind and ringing ears, and with it any hope of chasing off the bandits. "Shit, shit," Dylan cursed under his breath. "I got no visual!" He stood up and propped his gun up on the bed of the truck. "Get your ass back here, Tobias, we gotta get outta here!" He pointed back toward Elizabeth, and nudged Ryan. "Get her up, we're leaving." This time, the younger brother actually listened, while Dylan bent into the bed of the truck, grabbing at their stowed backpacks. He tossed a couple out onto the ground for his family, and shouldered his own.

Tobias came sliding down the embankment, and caught himself on the end of the truck. "They're coming. Who's got the food?"

"Right here," Ryan said, holding his mother by the arm. "Let's go. Thanks to Captain Dumbass here they'd like to try to kill us."

Tobias scowled and shoved the civilian. "Fuck off and move."

Ryan and Elizabeth headed off into the dark together, while the two soldiers waited to see if they were being followed. The blizzard only seemed to get worse, making it almost impossible to hear a thing, let alone see more than a few dark shapes in front of them. "Hear nothing," Dylan said.

"See nothin'," Tobias muttered. "Fuckin' goggles." Dylan smirked, and the corporal nudged him for them both to turn and run after the civilians. But red lights abruptly started to appear in quick sequence, three of them, two on one side of the road and the third on the other. Dylan raised his gun to fire, but Tobias pushed it back down. "Run!"

Both soldiers broke into a dash as the flares were tossed toward the truck, lighting it up in the darkness, and subsequently their fleeing backs. Dylan heard shouting, and then the shooting. Both men broke into a mad dash down the road, snow kicking ahead of them, Dylan praying the truck blocked their line of fire long enough for them to gain some kind of distance.

The only mercy was only a few of the bandits seemed to think shooting at the fleeing guardsmen was worth the effort and ammo. But all it would take was on lucky bullet. That thought seemed to push Dylan even harder, passing ahead of his friend, and quickly coming up behind his mother and brother. The older woman seemed to be struggling with the snow. Dylan grabbed her other arm, and together with his brother they practically carried their mother with them.

It almost seemed like they were going to get away, with incredible luck on their side. But that hope seemed to be dashed as a bullet slammed into Dylan's back, tearing into his backpack. It knocked him forward, tripping over his own feet. His hands braced out in front of him, dampening his fall along with the snow. Ahead, he saw the figure of his mother turning around to look at him, screaming about her struck son. The cry was cut short when she suddenly toppled over, crumpling sideways into the snow.

He didn't make a sound when he was shot, but he cried out for his mother, a shrill call in the storm of snow and fire, "Oh god no no no!" He dragged himself to his feet and stumbled toward her to grab her arm again, pulling it across his shoulder and hefting her up. "Mom! Mom I'm here! I'm okay!"

She muttered something incomprehensible as she looked at him with wide eyes, the adrenaline likely keeping her from feeling the worst of it just yet.

"Don't talk," Dylan pleaded. "Just breathe. We're getting out of here." He spared a few glances behind them, looking for anyone following, but he couldn't even see the glow of the road flares. The gunfire seemed to be tapering off, finishing off with what sounded like one man burning through a magazine as he madly fired into the darkness.

Soon the only sounds left were the storm, both brothers' panting, and the worryingly rapid breaths from their mother. Between them, with her arms across their shoulders, they made a fast pace, but still couldn't catch up to Tobias, wherever he was in the dark storm. Dylan was desperate to assess his mother and begin treatment, but they had to get more distance- he couldn't know if they were being followed.

Both men flinched at the sound of gunfire abruptly breaking out again, dull and muffled now at this distance in the storm. "Bastards!" Ryan cried, his head ducking.

"I don't think they're shooting at us," Dylan said, and spared a worried glance back down the road once more. There weren't any cracks of bullets, and it was a mad blast of what sounded like every one of the bandits firing off their weapons. That put a sinking feeling in his gut. He chanced a shout into the storm. "Tobias! Where are you?!" He squinted into the darkness, looking for any sign of the other soldier. The road appeared to sharply bend up ahead, with a guard rail along the side.

"Keep moving! Up ahead!" came the distant call back. He had to be close. The road started to curve, coming to a turn, and a guard rail took shape on the side. Tobias was barely visible on the other side of the barrier, beckoning them over. "Get over here! I think they drew lizards!"

The cacophony of gunfire started to slow its tempo, but there were no thumps or flashes of alien weaponry in the dark. It was a terrifying implication of what was happening. "Help us get her over the rail!" Dylan said once they reached the edge of the road.

"What happened?" Tobias asked. He reached under Elizabeth's arms, and hefted the petite woman up and over the guardrail while Dylan and Ryan helped from behind. She groaned out a pained, choking gasp, limbs weakly trying to grab at someone.

Tobias gently laid her down in the snow, on the incline of the embankment, while the two brothers vaulted over the rail. "Shot through the right side, still need to assess." Dylan said. He dropped down next to her, not caring a shred for what was happening just down the road. "Help me with her. Get her coat open!" He dropped his bag and tore open a pouch for his scissors, and passed his red light to Ryan. The other two worked to get her outerwear off, while he bent forward to listen for her breathing. Her gasps were short, and wet. It sounded like blood might be coming up, but she didn't seem to be drowning in it.

"She's bleeding here, under her armpit," Tobias said.

Dylan glanced at it, then handed Tobias his scissors. "That should be the entry wound. I'm not seeing anything on the left for the exit, might be out the back. We're starting with the entry." He used the scissors to cut at the sweater, struggling some with the thick fabric.

"How bad is it?" Ryan asked, holding the light over the cutting area.

"Lung shot," the medic said. His hands trembled, his own breath picking up. A lung shot. Maybe even more. He didn't have the equipment to fully treat this, let alone the surgical skills. "Shooting stopped."

The realization that the gunfire completely stopped had all three of them looking up and over the embankment, peering into the darkness. "Think it was lizards?" Ryan asked.

"Has to be," Tobias said, and crawled up to look under the guard rail. "I'll keep an eye out. Help your mom."

Dylan ripped the rest of the shirt away, revealing the entirety of the small, sucking entry wound. "Ryan," he said as he grabbed a trauma pad from his kit. "Hold this pad against her wound while I roll her over."

Finally listening, his brother took the pad, and hastily pressed it into his mother's wound after Dylan rolled her over. He cast the flashlight across Elizabeth's bare back, her ruined sweater beneath her the only thing between her and the frigid ground.

"No exit..." Dylan said, shaking his head.

The flashlight quivered as Ryan held it. "That's... worse right?"

"J-just hold the pad," Dylan said, his voice starting to break. "Need to tape it." He hastily started laying down tape. The tremble in his hands didn't lessen, making him struggle to rip each strip. He felt it in his brother's too as they briefly touched on top of the rapidly reddening gauze, nudging him away to thoroughly cover the wound. He had to ensure air couldn't get through, or else risk a collapsed lung.

Finished, both brothers covered her back up with her coat, hoping it would be enough to relieve her of the storm without her sweater. Dylan felt the edge of his mouth quivering and tears building up in his eyes. Plugging the hole did nothing to stop blood flowing into her lung or elsewhere inside her. The internal trauma had to be immense. If he was lucky, maybe it was a .22 round. More than likely he feared for something large and slow - a .45 or .357, likely even a hollow point. The other lung might even be damaged and all he could do was treat her in anticipating of getting her to a proper facility. "Ah, blanket," he said, and grabbed Elizabeth's discarded backpack. He pulled a blanket out, and passed it to Ryan. "Wrap her up." While he did that, the medic slid down to his mother's feet, preparing to proper her legs up on her bag to start working to prevent shock. He took a slow, shaky breath, knocking his own, terrified stupidity for leaving her on an incline. "Let's move her to the bottom of the ditch, need flat ground."

"Can't. Lizards," Tobias whispered, crawling backwards further into the embankment. "They're coming."

Ryan grabbed Elizabeth's hand when she started feeling around in the snow, out from under the blanket. He clung to it with both of his own, looking as if he was desperately clinging to her. "We need to go."

Tobias moved behind one of the guard rail posts. "Can't. Too quick. Staying right here."

If it weren't for the storm, Dylan knew they would have heard the screaming, and Ryan would have wanted to find the deepest hole around. "We're not getting up these hills, especially with mom, before those lizards catch up. Our best bet is to hide." He shoved the bag under Elizabeth's feet anyway, and crawled back up next to her.

"Hide!" Ryan glanced up at the guard rail. "We're in a ditch on the side of the road!"

"Shut the fuck up," Tobias said, peeking around the strut. "They're coming."

Dylan dropped down onto his stomach against his mother's side, Ryan on the other, while Tobias tucked himself against one of the rail supports. He kept a hand against her wound, keeping the pressure on. From under the rail he saw a dark figure nearly seven stories high approaching down the road, bringing with it a seeming calm in the storm. The wind died down, bringing a sinking silence with it. He watched it from beneath the guard rail, his other hand in the snow, clenching into a trembling fist. He couldn't even care about the alien. Not now. He couldn't care that is was just one, that it's steps were making a gentle rumble beneath him with each footfall, and he couldn't care that it might see them through the calmed, falling snow. Maybe then, he wouldn't have to face this growing, sinking terror that there was nowhere he could take his mother for help in time.

Dylan brushed at the side of her head and muttered gently to her, "I'm so sorry mother. I'm here, I'm here. We're going to be okay. I'm so sorry." He could tell she was trying so hard to keep herself from gasping, to restrain her coughs. Her whimpers made him shake against her.

The alien stopped at the turn, seeming to debate whether to turn down towards it. It's visor likely offered night vision even through the storm. Dylan could see it over the rail, all it would take was a glance down and noticing them. However, before it could go on, someone started shouting.

"Fuck you! Fuck you fuck you fuck you! Fuckin' eat shit and choke you fuckin' fuck! Oh God!" The voice fell into babbling cries. It seemed to be coming from the lizard. The alien didn't react much to it, simply eyeing the road, assessing the blizzard, before finally reaching up to pull up its visor. A white glow appeared around its head, and it looked down toward its own hand. Dylan saw a human figure clutched in the creature's grip, desperately shoving at the fingers wrapped around him.

Dylan choked on his breath when the lizard looked at him and only remembered to breathe again when it didn't do anything; its slitted, golden eyes were only focused on the man in its armored grip. Its scales were a deep, dark reddish brown, with thicker, ridged scales running down the center of its face. Its head was covered in spiked ridges, along its jaw, on top of its eyes, and on its head. The monster smiled down at its catch, showing off rows of sinister, white teeth, its eyes maniacally wide with excitement. Over its shoulder, the bright glow of the moon shined through faintly through thinner storm clouds. It almost felt like a spotlight, casting more light onto the snow covered world at the worst possible time.

Dylan felt his heart throb in terror, the horrific, alien smile making him forget it all, even the suffering of his own mother, as he stared up at the smiling creature. He felt like its eyes lingered on him as is its fingers clenched. The crying human let out a curdling shout, but before it outright killed him the lizard opened its grip, letting the human roll into its palm.

A red, forked tongue slipped from the alien's mouth, like a snake tasting the air for prey. The lizard brought its other hand up, reaching into its palm, out of Dylan's sight. It tugged twice then tossed a tattered coat away. Then came more scraps of clothing, carelessly tossed aside. The lizard reached into its hand one last time, and plucked up the man by his leg. He dangled helplessly, clutching himself with trembling arms.

The lizard eyed its catch as if it were a piece of prime meat, its tongue slipping in and out, threatening to lick the man with each flick. Dylan's stomach churned. He'd heard stories, but never seen it happen and he didn't want to. He lowered his head down and buried it against his mother's shoulder. He held her close and muttered softly to her.

--

Kira felt Dylan trembling, the sensation tingled her whiskers. Her nostrils flared as she sensed his mood taking on a stronger air of fear, rather than the crushing sorrow she'd been sensing. She didn't need to hear this part, and he didn't need to tell it. The guardian pulled her head back, muzzle leaving Dylan and almost making him topple forward before she caught him with her wet, black nose. She bumped his chest, nostrils snuffling at his clothes. She lightly bumped her nose against his chin, the cool touch helping to fully pull him out of his memories.

The human blinked rapidly, and looked up at the lupari's big blue eyes. Kira could feel they were a bit wet, but she fixed him with the softest look she could manage. Her brow was turned up, the edges of her mouth in the slightest smile she could manage and her glistening eyes wide and warm. The way he described the rynar's expression, she knew this was it. This was how he broke earlier today, all from a smile from Yirshan.

Dylan lowered his head onto Kira's nose, eyes closing as he took a few, deep breaths. "I always feel like it saw me," he said, barely a whisper. "It felt like the purest, rawest evil I'd ever seen. I know it didn't shoot my mother, but that smile... it's like it knew. I never even saw the faces of those bandits, but I saw that lizard's. Smiling ear to ear, like it knew in its own little way, it caused all this. That it was why my mother was laying there bleeding and choking for air." He sighed and picked himself back up, idly petting Kira between her nostrils. "I know who shot my mother. They fucked it all up. They tore apart the most important thing in the world to me. But you know what?" He looked down, breathing heavily and falling silent. Kira gently pushed her nose against his petting hand, making him look back up. "It ate him. It ate him right there and I'll swear because it knew we were watching. It had to. But I barely even remember that. I... every time I think about it. About that night. Each, each time I see her gasping for breath. I see my brother crying. I remember watching her die... it always goes back to that... that smile. Just the smile. Nothing else from that lizard. Just its fucking smile."

It was an almost incoherent ramble, but Kira understood all she had to. He will always associate the death of his mother with the twisted smile of a rynar, no matter if it wasn't the one that personally struck the killing blow. It explained a lot. She shifted her muzzle to his side, and gently nuzzled up against him. It was a show of reassuring affection, but it also kept her mouth out of his view as she she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

She felt him slouch against her muzzle, and his little hand idly pushed at a whisker. "Me too," he said. "It wouldn't have happened if I didn't bring them out there." The lupari fixed her charge with a sad look. Unfortunately, she agreed there, and she could hear it in his voice. It was a fact he'd come to accept. Dylan met her look, and his head curiously canted to one side. "What, no 'it's not your fault' or 'you did what you felt was right'?" He scoffed, and allowed a small smirk. "Thank you. I know what I did. Why I did it. It's on me." He sighed, eyes closing and his head shaking. "I don't know if I'll ever learn if it even mattered. My brother, he-" Dylan stopped himself. "Do you want to hear the rest? I'll skip snack time."

Kira flicked an ear for the affirmative. "If you wish to tell it."

"I think I do." She saw the edge of his mouth twitch, and he laid his head down on top of her muzzle once more. "We waited for a bit after the lizard left, just to be sure. But in that time, my mother started to go into shock."

--

Dylan could hear his brother's rapid, frantic, almost sobbing breaths on the other side of their mother. He kept his mouth shut through the whole thing, but looked like he was ready to vomit. Tobias was staring at the ground, still prone under the rail, a blank look on his face. With the threat of the giant alien seemingly gone, it was time to get back to work. He sat back up and placed a couple finger against his mother's neck while his other hand grabbed her hand. She didn't grab back, her hand limp, but he felt a pulse, though weak. Her eyes looked dreary, partly lidded like she was slipping into unconsciousness. "Oh, no," Dylan muttered, and dropped his head down to her chest, checking for the heartbeat.

His brother seemed to come back down from his trembling when he noticed Dylan scrambling with their mother, and hastily grabbed her other hand himself. "What's happening?"

Her heartbeat was terrifyingly fast. "Hyp-hypovolemic shock. I think. Tobias, get the saline!" The corporal crawled backward down the embankment and grabbed for the bag, while Dylan brushed gently at Elizabeth's forehead, looking her in the eyes. "Mom. Can you- can you still hear us?" She slowly opened her eyes, and turned her whole head slightly to look at him. The edges of her mouth weakly turned up, but she didn't say anything. Dylan felt the muscles in his face quiver as he smiled back. "Okay, we need to move you, get you flat on the ground. It's much better for you. Help me, Ryan." Together, the both of them carefully dragged her down the incline to the bottom of the embankment. Ryan grabbed her bag, and propped her legs up on it as his brother did, while Dylan wrapped her tight with the blanket.

"Oh fuck the saline's shot," Tobias said, sliding down with them. Dylan jerked his head around, and grabbed at the empty saline bag the corporal held up. A bullet went straight through it. He completely forgot he'd even been shot in the back after seeing his mother go down.

"There's another," Dylan said, and grabbed his bag. He reached into the now wet pouch, and grabbed the second one. He felt it flatten in his grip, and his heart sunk when he pulled it out. A small gash in the side, likely from the bullet fragmenting, had it dripping rapidly all over his arm. He gasped, realizing there was still liquid inside, and grabbed it with his other hand. "No no no!" He flipped it over, letting what little saline that was left inside to the other end. Only a miniscule eighth of the liquid was left in the bag. And the hole was on the end with the outlet port. "No!" He squeezed the top of the bag, hand shaking, his eyes wide. "Tape, we gotta tape it. Hold this." He shoved the bag into Tobias's arms and felt around his pockets for the tape.

Tobias held the bag up, looking at it, and slowly shook his head. "You know this won't be enough."

Dylan found his tape, and ripped a piece off. "We have to try." He carefully stuck the tape onto the hole, only for it to start to peel from the wet surface. He cursed and dabbed at it with a bit of extra gauze. A full bag wouldn't help. He knew. But he couldn't stop. He stacked one a few more extra layers of tape, making sure it was as stuck on as it could be. He took it and carefully turned it over. A trickle flowed from the tape, and then it started to peel away, letting out the weak flow. He grabbed at it, trying to plug it with his own shaking hand, but then slowly lowered it with crushing realization.

"O-okay," Ryan said, squeezing Elizabeth's hand tight, his other hand holding the flashlight for them. "What now?"

"Nothing," Dylan shook his head, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I need... s-saline. Or blood transfusion. I c-can't."

"What about- look at her!" Ryan dropped the light into the snow and gripped her hand with both of his. "She c-can't breathe. One of those tube things?"

Dylan helplessly dropped the bag into the snow. "She's in shock!" He gestured at their mother's weak state. "What the hell is an air tube gonna do?!"

"You're not even trying!" Ryan's voice started to crack.

The medic shook his head, not even looking up at his brother. "There's nothing I can try!"

"Nothing?" Ryan reached over Elizabeth and grabbed at Dylan's bag, dragging it over. "You're a medic! You have to have to do something! Help her! Morphine?"

Dylan grabbed Ryan's arm, shoving it away. "I don't even have any fucking morphine!"

"Boys," Elizabeth gasped, making both of them stop grappling at each other and look down. "Stop fighting." Dylan let go of his brother, anger instantly giving way to a choked sob. He never imagined hearing those familiar words while his mother lay dying in the snow. Both brothers deflated and bent down close to their mother. The weak glow of the moonlight even in this darkness made her look pale as the snow. "Good..."

"M-mom," Dylan said. "I-I don't know what to do."

"It's okay," she whispered, tired, so desperately fighting unconsciousness. She strained out a few wet coughs. "Keep an eye... keep an eye on Ryan. Love you both. So... so proud."

"Love you, too, mom," both boys muttered.

She seemed content, or might have just been the fading consciousness, to have the both of them so close. In a movie, this would be when her head lulled to the side as she took her last breath. But instead, her eyes closed, listening to the both of them as they spoke softly. They said how much they loved her over and over, until unconsciousness seemed to take her. But she still breathed weak, rapid breaths with her heart racing. Dylan rested his head gently on her chest, trying not to press down on it, his eyes wide open and wet with tears, as he listened to that racing heart. Ryan rested against her shoulder, silent as his brother. Tobias didn't say a word. He simply turned, and kept watch down the road.

Dylan didn't know how long he listened like that. It might have been a half hour. It might have been five minutes, it all felt the same. But it was long enough for the first glimpses of daylight to start peering through the storm clouds. He swam in his own thoughts; a flurry of memories of his mother, regret for his decision, and fear for what happens now, hatred for her killers. A repeating flash of that smiling monster, grinning down as if it knew. As if it wanted him to wait for his mother to die. As if it enjoyed it. His thoughts kept coming right back to flashing teeth. Soon, he started seeing saliva dripping from that wicked maw. It even started to chuckle.

He started to feel a desperate urge to start screaming building up within him. His quivering fingers curled in the blanket. But then, the heartbeat suddenly stopped, the rise and fall of her chest quit, and just like that, his mother was gone. His fingers untensed and his building scream turned into a wracking sob as he watched her unmoving face. His head dropped heavily onto her chest, tears streaming down onto the blanket. Eventually, he found the strength to lift himself back up, and finally pull the blanket up to cover her face, looking as if she were sleeping, not even contoured in pain. Both brothers sat on their knees, staring at the covered form, not saying a word to each other.

Tobias was the one to finally break the silence. "We need to move soon."

Ryan slowly shook his head, tears dripping from his cheeks. "No. We're going back."

Dylan turned his head to look at him sidelong. "You know that's not safe."

"Safe!" Ryan shouted, whirling on his brother. "We were safe until you dragged us out here!"

The both of them jumped to their feet, Dylan holding his hands up. "But-"

"You fucking did this!" Ryan pointed down at the body. "You killed her!"

"Ryan, I-" Dylan tried to say, but his brother suddenly swung out, crashing a fist across his jaw. The blow made him stagger backwards, turning to see Tobias moving to intervene. He held his hand up, urging him to step back. Ryan grabbed Dylan by his shoulder, turning him around to drive his next fist into the side of his head.

The impact knocked him over onto his side, where his younger brother dropped down, rolling him over to smash him in the cheek. He cocked his fist back for a fourth blow, and Dylan tried to cover his face with his hands, but the next hit never came. He saw through his fingers Ryan's fist shakily hovering in the air, his face contoured into anguish as he let it drop. He got up off of his brother, and reached into one of the large pockets on his thighs. Dylan's heart skipped a beat when he pulled the M9 service pistol he gave him out of it.

He didn't raise it, however, as he stared at Tobias, with his M4 leveled squarely at Ryan's chest. Ryan shook his hand, fingers wrapped around the grip of the weapon. "I'm keeping this. Any extra ammo?"

"Ryan," Dylan said, and wiped blood from his split lip. "Wait. You heard mom-"

"Fuck you," Ryan said. "Is there more ammo?"

Dylan swallowed, his brow turned up sadly. He knew when his brother made up his mind, and there was no changing it, no matter what their mother's last wish was. "Left pouch on my bag."

Ryan turned and crouched down next to the bag, and slipped the gun back into his pocket. He found the full box of 9mm bullets, and slipped it into the opposite pocket. From that same pocket, he pulled out a revolver, a gun Dylan didn't even know he had, and carelessly tossed it behind him into the snow at Dylan's feet. "You can have that. Only four bullets left anyway." He grabbed his own bag, and started to toss out some of the food, heaping it next to the discarded revolver until he felt it was enough for the other two men before he shouldered the rest for himself.

"Listen," Dylan said as his brother turned to their mother. "We have to stick together. I'm going to need you, man."

Ryan hefted up the still, draped body in both of his arms. Her hand fell free and dangled before Dylan. "Mom needed you, too. Look what happened."

Dylan bit his tongue, and looked away. His brother turned to climb up the embankment, carefully vaulted over the rail with the body, then without even a look back he headed off down the road from where they came. The older brother sat there in the bottom of the ditch, silently staring at the gun as snow started to cover the cold metal. Tobias placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, and gave it a light squeeze.

It was enough to get him to finally move. He reached over to pick the gun up out of the snow, cradling it in both hands. It was a black, wooden rubber gripped, .357 magnum revolver. It was the very gun he bought for his brother for his 21st birthday. He squeezed it, his mouth twisting into a confused sneer of anguish and anger, before slipping it into his bag, and starting to pack their gear back up to find shelter for the day.

--

Kira's eyes were closed as she listened, fresh tears matting the fur under her eyes. It was truly sad, that she wished Dylan's brother and mother were simply killed in the bombardment as she was first lead to believe. The pain she felt coming from him was overwhelming. "It took us about a week and a half to finally reconnect with our unit," Dylan said, brushing absently at the top of her muzzle. "After liberation, I went home. Found it destroyed. I never did find him, if he survived."

The lupari's nostrils flared as she sniffled. "Do you think he did?" she asked, having to nudge him gently off to speak.

The medic shrugged. "I don't know. But everytime I think about it, I think about what happened, and then the lizard... well, I start to shake and, and, um, I cry... this is why I try not to remember. Or think about it."

She tilted her head and brushed the top of her muzzle against his side. "You're not shaking now."

Dylan wiped at his face. "Guess so. Not so many tears either."

Kira slid her hands out on either side of him, and gently scooped him up between them, making him fall over to rest in the crook between her palms and fingers. "What are you thinking about then?" she asked, her face close to him. She let her thumb curl into his reach, just in case he needed it.

But he didn't even seem to notice as he stared at her big blue eyes. "How much I miss them." She canted her head, giving him a little knowing look. He blinked several times then suddenly scoffed. "You..." He sighed, and reached up to rub at her black nose. "God damn lupari mind tricks."

The guardian giggled and pressed her nose forward to nudge at her charge's chest. "I didn't say anything."

His arms slipped around either side of her snout, hugging it against him as she nosed. "No. And thank you." He sighed and his head tilted back, bumping against her fingers. "You know Maduk has a point. I cling to you. That's not exactly healthy."

"Not normally, no," the lupari agreed, picking her head back up. "But he thinks I'd abuse it. And truly, I could. But I never will. I know it's going to take a lot longer to really help you out of this, but if me being here, being close to you, is what you need to silence your demons then I want to abuse that until you think you don't need me anymore."

He sat up in her cupping hands, arms draped over his knees. "I think I need that kind of abuse." They shared a chuckle, and shook his head side to side. "I didn't expect to find that here. I honestly thought I'd be taking a dive off a catwalk before I'd get comfortable with you. What a weird ass place. Getting nuzzles from my sergeant and watching her cry."

Kira made a little 'wrfing' sound and nudged him with her nose. "Tell anyone you saw me cry, I'll tie you to my tail. Lupari already get enough fur ruffling for cooing over you little guys."

Dylan laughed and pushed back against her nose. "That sound you made! That was the cutest thing I ever heard. Wrf."

The lupari's eyes crossed at the human. "Oh don't you start now."

"Fine, fine..." He waved his hand dismissively. "It was completely terrifying."

"That's better," she said with a snicker. "So, do you think you'll be alright tomorrow?"

"I think so." He patted one of her padded palms, as if reassuring her. "I'm not worried about the implant, never was afraid of doctors. But I'm really excited to get our power armor. We'll be getting into our mechs not long after, right?"

Kira flicked her ear. "That's my understanding of it, yes. You'll get some time to adapt to the armor's movements, but that's easy. Neural link armor is basically a second skin. Your real practice will come with the mechs - that kind of scale change I'm sure is going to take getting used to, neural or not."

"Oh man," the medic said, a big grin on his face. "If you find me shaking, it'll be from excitement, honest. I'll deal with being with Yirshan. I feel... I feel alright. Maduk will dive off a transfer pad before he sees me be break. I promise."

Since sounding as he was, Kira knew it wasn't entirely in his control if he could keep that promise. But it set her tail wagging anyway. "Good. Keep that promise. Think of your mech, if not me."

"I don't know." He shifted in her hands, pressing against her pads and fingers. "I doubt my mech will be as comfy as this and happy to keep me around."

Kira's tail kicked into overdrive, becoming a blur of motion. She gently whined as her head canted to the side. "Keep that up, and your sergeant is going to start licking you, too." The lupari was already fighting the urge to go at him like he were a pup, but that was hardly appropriate after the story he told.

He eyed her mouth, silently debating his next few words. "You know what?" He mirrored the tilt of her head. "I see how that story traumatized you. You're permitted some therapy licks."

Kira blinked, one brow lifting with uncertainty. "Are you sure?"

"Just do it."

The lupari 'wrfed' again and bowled him over with her nose. He was helpless to stop her as her broad tongue slipped out and licked over his lower body repeatedly, her eyes turned up with glee. The overwhelming licking had him break out into laughter, but through it he managed to blurt out, "Such, ah, cute sounds!"

The lupari growled cutely and had her tongue lap across his face, silencing any more slander from the human.