# ALIEN EXODUS: THE PORTAL WAR
## Chapter 4: The Roof
The wood cracked.
It was a loud sound. Like a bone breaking. The door shook in its frame. Dust fell from the top. The scratches on the surface became deeper. Something was hitting it from the other side. Hard.
"Move," Kael said.
He did not shout. He did not need to. The fear in the room was already loud. The doctor stood up. He grabbed the arm of the injured man with the bandaged leg.
"Can you walk?" the doctor asked.
"I think so," the man said. His face was pale. He stood up. He put weight on his leg. He winced. But he did not fall.
"Help him," Kael said to Mark.
Mark nodded. He went to the man's other side. They put his arms over their shoulders. They lifted him.
"Tom," Kael said. "Help the woman."
Tom looked at the door. He was frozen. The scratching was faster now. It sounded like rain. Hard rain on a tin roof.
"Tom," Kael said. He put his hand on Tom's shoulder. He shook him. "Your brother is gone. But these people are here. Save them."
Tom looked at Kael. His eyes were wet. He blinked. He nodded. He went to the woman. She was holding her arm. It was bent at a wrong angle. She did not cry. She just looked at the door.
"Go," Kael said.
They moved to the hallway. The light was dim. The shadows were long. Kael walked backward. He faced the door. He held the knife in front of him. His hands were steady. But his heart beat fast.
The door bulged. A crack appeared in the wood. Black fluid seeped through. It dripped on the floor. It smoked where it touched the tile.
"Stairs," Kael said. "To the roof. Go."
They turned the corner. The stairs were concrete. They were steep. The light here was darker. The emergency lights were red. They flashed on and off.
They started to climb.
The injured man limped. Every step was pain. He咬 his lip. He did not make a sound. But Kael could feel his pain. It was like a heat wave coming off him.
" Faster," Kael said. But he did not push them. He knew they could not go faster. If they fell, they would be done.
Behind them, a crash echoed through the building. The door had broken. Something was in the hallway.
Kael stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He listened. He felt the presence. It was cold. It was moving fast. It was not climbing like a human. It was sliding. Like oil on glass.
"It is coming," Kael said. "Do not stop."
They climbed higher. First floor. Second floor. Third floor. Their breathing was loud. It echoed in the stairwell. Kael hated the noise. It was like a dinner bell.
"Almost there," the doctor said. He was out of breath. He was old. His face was red.
"Keep going," Kael said.
They reached the top. A metal door blocked the way to the roof. It had a bar across it. Kael pushed the bar. It was locked.
"Key?" Kael asked the doctor.
"In my pocket," the doctor said. He shook. He tried to reach into his coat. His hands were too cold. He could not grip the fabric.
Kael put the knife in his belt. He reached into the doctor's pocket. He found a small ring of keys. He pulled them out. He tried the first one. It did not fit. He tried the second. It turned.
The lock clicked.
Kael pushed the door open. Cold air hit them. Wind. It was stronger up here. They stepped out onto the roof.
It was flat. Covered in black tar. There were vents and pipes sticking up. They cast long shadows in the orange light.
"Close it," Kael said.
Mark let go of the injured man. He ran to the door. He pulled it shut. He locked it. He leaned against it. He breathed hard.
Kael walked to the edge of the roof. He looked down. The street was far below. They were four stories up. It was a long fall.
He looked at the city. It was not quiet anymore. Sirens wailed everywhere. Lights flashed in the distance. Not police lights. Fire. Buildings were burning. Smoke rose in thick columns. It blocked the stars.
Above it all, the sky glowed purple. The Gate was still open. It pulsed like a heart. Every time it pulsed, the light got brighter.
"It is getting bigger," Tom said. He stood next to Kael. He looked at the sky.
"Yes," Kael said.
"What is happening?" the doctor asked. He sat on the ground. He held his head. "Is it the end?"
Kael did not answer. He did not know. He looked at the streets below. He saw movement. Shadows. They were everywhere. Not just one. Many.
"They are spreading," Kael said.
"Who?" Tom asked.
"The aliens," Kael said. "They are not just in the buildings. They are in the streets. They are hunting."
Kael closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind. He tried to feel the city. It was hard. There was too much noise. Too much fear. Too much death.
But he found them. The cold spots. There were dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. They were moving toward the center. Toward the Gate.
But some were moving away. Toward the edges. Toward where people were hiding.
"We are not safe here," Kael said.
"We cannot go down," Mark said. He was still at the door. He held the bar. "It is out there."
"I know," Kael said.
"Then what?" the doctor asked. "We stay on the roof? We starve?"
Kael looked at the next building. It was close. Maybe ten feet away. It was a warehouse. It was lower than the clinic.
"We jump," Kael said.
"Are you crazy?" Mark said. "The injured cannot jump."
"Then we carry them," Kael said.
"It is too far," the doctor said. "We will fall."
Kael looked at the gap. He measured it with his eyes. He could make it. He knew he could. His body felt light. His muscles felt strong. Since the portal opened, he felt different. Faster. Stronger.
"I can make it," Kael said. "And I can help them. But we cannot stay here. The thing in the building will find a way up. It will climb the walls. Like the one in the kitchen."
Tom shivered. "It can climb?"
"Yes," Kael said. "I felt it. It does not need stairs."
Kael walked to the edge. He looked down. The street was dark. He saw a shadow move near the clinic entrance. It was long. Thin. It looked up.
It saw them.
"It knows we are here," Kael said.
"Then we are dead," the woman said. Her voice was quiet. She had not spoken much. She looked at her broken arm. She looked at the sky.
"No," Kael said. "We are not dead."
He turned to them. He looked at each of them. He saw fear. But he also saw hope. They were looking at him. They were waiting for him to tell them what to do.
He was just a cook. He washed dishes. He followed orders. He did not give them. But now, no one else was here. The police were gone. The army was gone. The adults were scared.
So he had to be the adult.
"Mark," Kael said. "You are strong. You carry the man. I will carry the woman. Tom, you help the doctor. We jump together. On three."
"If we fall..." Mark started.
"We will not fall," Kael said. "I will not let you fall."
He did not know if it was true. But he had to say it. They needed to believe it.
Mark nodded. He lifted the injured man. The man groaned. But he held on to Mark's neck.
Kael went to the woman. He lifted her. She was light. She smelled of antiseptic and blood. She did not look at him. She closed her eyes.
"Ready," Kael said.
They stood at the edge. The wind blew their clothes. The drop was deep. The darkness below was waiting.
"One," Kael said.
He bent his knees. He felt the power in his legs. It was like a spring coiled tight.
"Two," Kael said.
He looked at the other roof. It was close. But it was far enough to kill them if they missed.
"Three," Kael said.
They jumped.
Kael pushed off hard. The world lifted. For a second, they were in the air. Nothing below them. Nothing above them. Just the jump.
He reached out. His hands grabbed the edge of the warehouse roof. It was rough. Brick. It dug into his palms. He held on. He pulled.
He heard a thud next to him. Mark had landed. He rolled. He held the man tight. They were safe.
Tom and the doctor landed behind them. They fell hard. But they were on the roof.
Kael let go of the woman. He set her down. She opened her eyes. She looked at the gap. She looked at Kael.
"You did it," she whispered.
Kael stood up. He shook his hands. His palms were bleeding. But he did not feel pain. He felt alive.
He looked back at the clinic. The door to the roof opened. The alien stepped out. It stood on the edge. It looked at them.
It did not jump. It just stood there. It raised a hand. It pointed at Kael.
*You,* the voice said in his head. *You cannot run forever.*
Kael did not answer. He turned his back. He did not let it see his fear.
"We move," Kael said. "Through the building. Down the other side. Into the street."
"Into the street?" Tom said. "But you said..."
"The street is open," Kael said. "We can hide in the shadows. In the building, we are trapped. Out there, we have choices."
He started walking. He did not wait for them to agree. He knew they would follow. They had no one else.
They crossed the warehouse roof. It was large. There were skylights. They could see inside. It was dark. Empty.
"Here," Kael said. He found a hatch. It was locked. He broke it with the handle of his knife. He lifted the hatch.
A ladder went down into the dark.
"Down," Kael said.
They climbed down. One by one. Into the unknown.
Kael was the last. He paused at the edge. He looked back at the clinic roof. The alien was gone. But he could still feel it. It was watching.
He climbed down. He pulled the hatch shut.
They stood in the dark warehouse. Dust floated in the air. It smelled of old wood and rust.
"Flashlight," Kael said.
Mark turned it on. The beam cut the dark. It showed rows of shelves. They were empty. Someone had taken everything.
"Where do we go?" the doctor asked.
"To the street," Kael said. "There is a loading dock. Around the corner."
They walked through the warehouse. Their footsteps echoed. It sounded like they were not alone. But Kael felt nothing. No cold spots. No presence.
They reached the loading dock. Large metal doors were closed. Kael pushed one. It was heavy. But it opened.
They stepped out into the alley. It was darker here. The buildings blocked the sky.
Kael stopped. He listened.
He heard a sound. Engines. Far away. But coming closer.
"Helicopter," Mark said. He looked up. "Do you hear that?"
Kael listened. It was not a helicopter. It was too smooth. Too quiet.
"No," Kael said. "Not a helicopter."
"Then what?"
Kael looked up. Above the buildings, a light appeared. It was white. Bright. It swept across the sky. It was searching.
"Ship," Kael said. "Alien ship."
The light passed over them. They froze. They stood in the shadows. The light did not stop. It moved on. Toward the center of the city.
"It is looking for something," Tom said.
"Yes," Kael said. "It is looking for us."
"How do you know?"
"Because I can feel it," Kael said. "It is scanning. It is looking for heat. For life."
"Then we need to hide," the doctor said.
"No," Kael said. "We need to move. If we stay, we die. If we move, we might live."
He looked at the street. It was empty. But the ship was coming back. It would scan this area again.
"We need to get underground," Kael said. "The subway."
"The subway stations are closed," Mark said. "They locked them down."
"Not all of them," Kael said. "I know a way in. Through the maintenance tunnels. Near the old station."
"Do you know the way?" Tom asked.
"I know where it is," Kael said. "I used to deliver food there. To the workers."
"Okay," Mark said. "We follow you."
Kael nodded. He started walking. He kept to the shadows. He kept his head down. He felt the ship above them. It was circling. Like a hawk.
He felt the aliens in the buildings. They were waking up. They were coming out.
The city was not theirs anymore. It belonged to the things in the dark.
But Kael was still here. He was still breathing. He still had the knife.
And he had the feeling. The sense. It was getting stronger. He could feel the ship's path. He could feel the aliens' steps.
He was not just prey. He was something else.
He did not know what yet. But he would learn.
"Keep moving," Kael said. "Do not stop. No matter what you hear."
They walked into the dark. The ship light swept over the building behind them. It missed them by seconds.
They disappeared into the shadows. They were gone.
But the city was watching. And the Gate was still open.