Angel of the Damned

AotD - 13

Leneath parked the rover underneath the collapsed roof of a building and removed the keys from the ignition.  She grabbed the radio from the console and stuck it on her belt beside the arc cutter.  Drake pulled himself from rover and leaned against it as she removed two duffels from the sled and Nathan clambered out.  He passed Drake his pack and the rifle.  Nathan held the remaining two packs and looked around.

Underneath the collapsed roof top were various vehicles of differing backgrounds.  Alliance rovers, Alliance 2-wheelers, Lyrakk rovers, Lyrakk 2-wheelers, and chopshop models beyond naming or determining their original form.  The vehicles were all powered down and locked to something.

A clang caught Drakes attention and he looked around to see Leneath running a chain through the front chassis of her rover.  She jumped onto the roof and locked the chain together through a rebar loop extending from the concrete section of roof.  She jumped down from the roof of the rover.

“We walk from here. It’s not far, but we can’t be bringing our rovers to the tunnel entrance.  The local covenants would attack and we wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight.  Do you need help walking?” Leneath asked.

"I'll be fine," Drake said.

"Okay," Leneath said.  She tilted her head to the left and turned with it, “Come on, entrance is this way.  We are going to stick to the buildings and alleyways.  We have scouts sitting out on the path, they’ll be watching our backs.”

“How many scouts are we talking about?” Drake asked as they left the vehicles behind.  The trail through the building was well worn and easily determinable.

“I don’t know how many exactly, but I know they are there,” Leneath answered.  She lead them through the building and stopped at a slightly ajar door.  She pulled the radio off her hip and held it up to her lips.

“Hey, whomever’s got the 4th street alley, is it clear?” she asked.

“Yeah, its clear,” a voice responded.

Leneath motioned for them followed her and they left the building behind and exited to the alleyway.  She removed a flashlight from her belt and turned it on. “We don’t string lights up for anything, protect the homestead.  You’re going to need a flashlight.”

“Your nanosuit should have worklights,” Drake said.  He flicked his on and the two beams cut through the fading light.  As they walked pain shot up his leg as his knee buckled and he grabbed the wall to steady himself.

“Drake!” Nathan cried and grabbed his pseudo father.

Drake took Nathan’s shoulder and glanced up at him.  He gave a pained smile, despite Nathan being unable to see it, as he straightened up.  Nathan’s red eyes filled with concern as he held Drake by the shoulder.

“You should get weight off of that,” Nathan said.

Leneath turned and looked at them.  She removed the plasma pistol from her hip and spun around. “Come on, we can’t stay here long, we will attract attention!”

“Let me help you walk,” Nathan said.

“No, no, I’ll be fine,” Drake shook him off.  He took another step and his leg gave out completely.  Nathan slid up under his shoulder and catching him, lowering him slowly to the ground.

“Drake, listen to me.  You will have your time when you can walk again but right now, I need to carry you.  Leneath is too small and your leg won’t support you.  Please, no matter how destroying it is to your ego, let me carry you,” Nathan begged.

“I will walk,” Drake said and grabbed a rebar jutting from the concrete and pulled himself up.

“Come on, Drake, this is your ego talking!  You cannot walk without someone’s help and Leneath cannot carry you.  Let me help you!  Please!” Nathan begged. “Please, Drake, before the leg is completely useless to you for the rest of your life.”