Red turned to Vizim as they ran, "You need to grab everything you can from the engineering room and fast."
"You want me to stop for resources now?" Vizim panted between breaths.
"Of course. This fight is only just beginning. We don't want to end up like we did last time in the jungle. We need to be prepared for anything and everything that gets thrown at us."
Vizim began weaving off towards the engineering room as Red sprinted towards the edge of the fort. Smoke was rising, making it hard to see, and he could hear shouting. Beyond the smoke rose a glowing teal barrier. Pulses flashed beyond as attacks rained down, endlessly threatening their extinction.
Pushing through a cloud of dust and debris, Red finally spotted people. Silas stood with his glowing spear as he attempted to cut a massive boulder off a fallen man. Derrin was to the side, trying to help another soldier stand. The soldier had blood pouring down his side, and Red realized in horror that the man was missing an arm.
Everything on this end of the fort seemed to be in disarray, and it was no wonder. The whole wall had simply ceased to exist. Beyond that, all of the buildings had fallen and shattered. Red couldn't help but grimace at the destruction of the place that had been his home for weeks now.
As he approached, he heard one of the soldiers panting, "...they were near the wall. Watching the gearborn as you said…only…"
She never finished her sentence, or at least, Red didn't hear the end, as a cry of agony suddenly echoed across the area. It was one of the sailors cradling the body of another.
Red felt a tightness building in his chest. Just how many people had died in the first attack? He didn't know, but his fists clenched at his sides.
Shaking himself, Red coughed as he tried to approach. His chest ached from the previous fight, and he was certain that it was only his mist that was keeping him standing.
Derrin noticed him first. "Red, you got the shield up?"
He shook himself. "There is no time, Derrin. It's draining too fast. We need to get out of here."
Silas turned to him. "You wish for us to abandon the fort?"
Red glared at him. "The shield is already failing. We have minutes at the most before the bubble collapses, and this entire wave of attacks flattens us instead."
Derrin raised his voice, "Everyone, we need to evacuate at once. With us."
Silas scowled at this and, clearly not wanting to be outdone, yelled, "We'll take the underground passage. We must go at once. Gather anything you can."
A group of Silas's soldiers appeared from the cloud of smoke and debris. That made six, including the two who were already with them. The others seemed to have perished in the attack along with one of the sailors.
He immediately began shouting orders to his men, and they vanished again. The injured were helped along as they all retreated deeper into the fort. Derrin had been forced to haul the weeping sailor, so they weren't left behind.
Red glanced back at the shield bubble. Its bright exterior was already beginning to grow ominously faint. They had only a minute or so before they were out of time. Thankfully, he spotted Vizim approaching with a massive sack around his shoulder. His friend seemed to be struggling under the weight of all the materials, and Red was forced to help him haul it towards the crumbling shed.
Everyone who remained arrived over the next minute. Silas had taken full into his duties as leader in the absence of Zara and had begun helping the sailors enter the tunnel. Vizim clambered down with the sack of items in tow. Behind him went a large collection of other supplies.
Silas hadn't panicked as they all fled towards safety. He had made his soldiers gather as many essential items as they could. Red could see the numerous supplies of dried biscuits that they had been eating over the last few weeks. They were stale and hard as rock, but better than nothing.
Red took a moment to glance across the fort and at the failing barrier. It felt like the end of the era for him, even though only a few weeks had passed. Despite all that had happened, this was his home, and it was falling.
"Are you entering or not?" Silas scowled.
He didn't need to be asked twice, as he clambered down into the tunnel as well. He paused for a moment before snatching the lighting device from its hiding place. One never knew what they might need in the future.
Derrin and Silas followed a moment later, with the latter slamming the trapdoor behind them. They were in darkness then, except for the glow coming from Silas's spear.
The sounds of tired sobbing echoed from the sailors while the remaining soldiers tried to remain stalwart. Silas pushed to the front and began rushing them down the tunnel. When the fort began to get bombarded, the tunnel was likely to collapse, so they needed to move fast.
Despite the anxiety and melancholy in the group, none of them slowed or lagged behind. They all knew what would happen if they weren't fast enough. Red slowed a step and turned to Derrin.
"Why's he taking us down here? Wouldn't it make more sense to just flee into the jungle?" He kept his voice low so as not to disturb the others.
Derrin shook his head in the low teal light. "Maybe, but it is also just as likely that the pirates are waiting around the jungle. They are working together, even if we don't know how much."
As he finished that comment, the entire ground rocked. Pebbles and dirt drifted down from the ceiling as the bombardment shattered the shield above.
"Faster, all of you!" Silas said as he began to jog.
A light jog for him was enough to make the rest of them run to just keep up. Behind them, the explosions seemed to grow quieter as they trekked further downwards. In the distance, the sounds of shattering wood and crumbling rock echoed towards them. The first section of the tunnel had given way.
After that, everyone increased their speed even further until eventually the collapsing tunnel also faded into the background. Red knew just how long and deep the tunnel went. He had traveled it twice thus far and hated it both times.
This time was worse. It wasn't because of the darkness that seemed to act as an illusion. Instead, it was the thoughts that collided with him. The thoughts of everything crashing down around them. Any chance of victory they had seemed to have collapsed in that moment.
The fort was shattered, and many had fallen. Zara was captured, and humanity's biggest enemy was hunting them. Everything seemed to be stacked against them, and Red didn't know how they were going to get out of this. He wasn't even sure if Derrin or Silas knew what they could do.
Where would they go? Red had one idea. That was to return to the cave that they had found when they first arrived. It was big enough for everyone, and it was far larger than they had investigated. They could turn it into a secret hideout, but then what?
Were they to hide there for the rest of their lives, hoping and praying that they weren't discovered?
Red didn't know. What he did know was that there was going to be a fight. The Pirate King had shown himself once, and he didn't seem like he would rest until the Valencians were crushed. After this failure, he was also unlikely to come alone, although Red wasn't fully certain on that part. The man still seemed oddly cocky.
Silas stopped and reached out to where Red knew the secret door to be. He didn't bother to check the other side. It wouldn't have done them any good anyhow. The entire group was far from silent. With a click, the door slid open, revealing the cave beyond. The battered group stumbled their way out into the cave.
Exhaustion bit at them all.
Exhaustion wasn't the only thing, either.
Hopelessness and despair were also heavy in the air.
Red refused to let himself sink into these thoughts. Even with everything crumbling around them, there was always the chance of victory. This was the time when people like him shone the most.
Engineering was all about creating workable solutions for impossible problems. They were faced with quite the impossible problem, and there seemed to be no easy solution in sight. That didn't discourage him, though. Sometimes the best solutions came with a little bit of thought and consideration. If they could survive long enough, Red was certain that a plan of some sort would come to fruition.
They just needed to survive what was to come first.