Frenzied shouts of agony and triumph sang through the air, prompting Justin to pop his head out from behind the mound of sandbags just a few feet away from the entrance to command. 
"Faaantastic." He mumbled a string of curses to himself as Jes's squad continued to unload their scant ammunition on the attackers, Justin fully aware that they were going to run out soon. It wasn't as if they had an arms factory to produce bullets and weapons en mass; in fact, if his memory served him correctly, the armory had been rather bare when Justin had secured a pistol. There was no way they could last in hand to hand combat, no wa-

"Justin." Ryken's gravely voice floated next to Justin, the scout turning his head to find the older man decked out in ebony colored knee pads and body armor that covered most of his upper trunk, a silver pistol in his right hand. 
"Ryk, you shouldn't be out here."
"I won't let our people go down without making sure I make an impact first." He got down on one knee and handed Justin a bronze key as he told him:
"Get to the bunker just outside the city and I'll send a squadron to accompany you both. We'll make our stand here and send our survivors when we have a chance."
"Ryk..."
"No, Justin. I won't try to make a poetic stand and get us all killed. We'll have a better chance of sending some of us out now in the chaos instead of trying to wait this assault out." Ryken raised his pistol and fired over the sandbags, four bullets connecting with two targets that were attempting to flank Jessica's position. 
"ALL OUT!" One of Jessica's men shouted, the same sentiment shared by another, then finally Jes herself,  who followed that up with a string of curses loud enough to ensure that those who had fallen in the conflict would hear. Thankfully 
"Jessica! Get your men back inside, recover whatever supplies you can find and accompany Justin and Cameron!" 
"Sir?!"
"That's an order, Jessica!" The muscles in her neck visibly tensed as she waved her squad back into command to comply with the order, the wafting scents of blood and sweat seeming to coat the entire settlement. Smoke was billowing from the southern and eastern part of Omega, gunshots and screams dotting the night.

The squadron returned with duffel bags slung across their backs, faces attempting to mask their anger at leaving their fellow Omega citizens behind.
"Sir, I think this is a huge mistake." Ryken nodded in agreement.
"In any other situation, I would agree with you, but we're overrun, bleeding from every direction...we need to send our survivors out now before our attackers swallow us all whole. Now go." With that, Ryken left, gun held out in front of him. Justin looked to Cam, his gaze lingering for a few moments, indecision rooting him to the ground. 
"Do I..." He looked to Ryken's shrinking form, then to Cam.
"I need to..."
"You need to respect that man's wishes." Jessica's hand shot out and grabbed Justin's arm. 
"We move out just like he said. You know as well as I do that the bunker can hold almost all of us. There's still hope. We just have to keep moving." She smiled gently as she told him:
"All things work together for good, right?" He snorted. 

They wormed their way out of the settlement through the shattered north wall, barely avoiding death several times from stragglers or wounded that felt like they needed to inflict one last kill before they went to their death. Jes took the lead as they forged north of the settlement. About twenty blocks of street were between them and the settlement when Justin pointed at stone steps that led to a thick wooden door.
"Right." Jes descended, Justin handing her the key as his eyes scanned the darkness as thoroughly as he could. Something just seemed...off.
"Cam." He walked to her before lowering his voice:
"The past five blocks I've just this weird feeling...don't know if someone's watching us or following us or if I'm spooked. Am I nuts or you feel the same way?"