They all instinctively put their hands to their ears to block out it's voice. Their hearts sank and mouths went dry. Inyanga, unconsciously, began to initialize the self-destructive feature of the shuttle. Patience attempted on several occasions to override the commands but to no avail. Just as he was about to finalize the command; Nike held his arm. Ayla slapped Inyanga across the face and he came to his senses after several blinks.
"Don't listen to it. It's voice, it must be some kind of mind control." Nike explained, still clutching onto Inyanga's arm for dear life. Inyanga dropped his arm and looked at it. He was seeing double. The world seemed like it had been submerged in water. He could only make out the echoes of sounds around him. Only the lukewarm water splashed on him by Ayla brought him back to reality.
"We need to get out of here. Regroup. Head back. Get Mwene and Ayla. Leave'' Nike pointed at the opposite window, away from it to the abandoned concrete metropolis. Inyanga thought for a moment and quickly made a decision. He began to aim the cannons back at it.
"We can beat it. We can win. Patience analysis."
"Cannons appear to be effective. I would advise using them." Patience stated.
"You sure?" Nike watched it on the monitor. Doubt was written all over his face.
"Trust me." Inyanga winked back at him. He paused for a moment as his thumb hovered over the trigger just as he pressed it, it knelt as if it were preparing to jump. Ayla shouted as she pointed to something to the side of it. Mwene had leaped at it as it leaped forward. He managed to grab it's ankle as he got hit on the chest. The cannon fire violently pushed both of them into the building. The entire floor exploded and all the floors above it began to crumble. The shuttle began to hover away as the entire building crumbled like a stack of cards.
Ayla screamed as she unfasted herself and beelined for the shuttle door. She opened it and leaned out looking for Mwene in the sea of dust, Nike held onto her to make sure she didn't fall out over and to console her. Inyanga frantically searched for Mwene through the monitors, but he couldn't find him. His mind began to race. Why didn't he wait for a second? Why didn't he listen to Ayla? Why? Why? Why? He clutched his head as his mind raced trying to process what just happened. Nike managed to close the door as Ayla cried on her knees. She was too saddened to move, to cry, to feel. Nike went straight to the cockpit and began to type into the central console.
"Patience landed the shuttle. We're going to find him."
The shuttle landed on a road close to the rubble and Nike ran straight to it and began to dig through the rubble with his one good arm. Ayla followed suit and began to look as well.
"You're still alive. You're still alive. You're still alive" Nike repeated the mantra to himself as if it were a prayer to the heavens. To the universe. To the gods. To the god that Ayla and Anan ancestors believed in. To any higher power. He just wanted his best friend to still be alive. He just wanted a happy ending for him. For himself. For all his friends. Sweat, tears and blood flowed from his face and arms as he dug. He found nothing but concrete and dead bodies.
Loud grunts distracted Nike as he looked at the shuttle. Inyanga, using a steel rod to prop himself up, dragged himself to the rubble. His legs were too damaged to support him. Random bits of bone stood out; it was an ugly sight. Ayla ran to him.
"Lemme help for fuck's sake!" he spurt out as a consistent stream of blood followed in his wake. He held out his arm to discourage Ayla from approached but only succeeded in falling over. Ayla reached him but Inyanga insisted on helping. Nike opened his mouth to discourage him when he noticed a white light underneath him. His heart skipped a beat for a moment before he leapt away just as an energy shot from the ground. Debris crashed all around Inyanga and Ayla who hugged each other, a feeble attempt to shield themselves. Nike landed hard on the rubble, on his shoulder. He felt a snap in it followed by a crippling pain. He got up and grabbed his arm and investigated the smoke. Once it cleared it stood in the middle of a small crater. It's flames were still burning but largely diminished. It's foot was facing the opposite direction. The chest was oozing a blue fluid.
It's attention was fixed on Nike. On one leg it began to limp to it. Nike crawled back with his feet and one good leg. He would throw the occasional rock, but they all missed. It eventually caught up to him. It's breathing was heavy. It raised it's fist ready to pummel Nike. Nike raised his arm to shield himself and just when he expected the worst. Then he heard a soft thud. Nike moved his arm away from his face and it with its head snapped back to the right. Nike looked to the left and saw a bloodied Mwene. He was depowered, boozed and vulnerable except for his hand engulfed white flame. Dust from the rock he threw fell through his fingers before he collapsed. It slowly began to stand upright again, revealing its jaw had been brutally dislocated. Nike began scrambling back on away fours whilst keeping an eye on it when the deafening hum of electricity stopped him in his tracks.
The top half of it's body began to inflate like a balloon. It's scream pierced through Nike's ear before it devolved into a sinister laughter before he exploded. Chunks of flesh and blue blood rained all over Nike. It's legs and a part of it's spine stood out awkwardly before it started to stagger its way to Nike. Nike, planted to the spot due to sheer horror watched as it approached before it fell a couple of inches in front of him. It twitched violently for a minute before finally ceasing. Nike looked around and saw a figure walk towards him. It held a smoking rifle in it's hands. Ass it got closer Nike smiled.
"In my book the only good God is a dead one." Anan planted the rifle in the ground and offered her hand.