"Don't let it crush the platform!", Paduk warned. "You need to fight it."

"No!", you screamed, your voice shaking in terror while your fingers dug into the edge of the table. "You need to get back to safety!"

"If they leave now, the satellites are lost."

"And if they stay, they'll die!"

"They'll manage."

Gritting your teeth, you grabbed him by the collar with all the strength you could gather and forced him down to your level.

"I hope you have something up your sleeve, old fuck.", you hissed in such a threading manner that he seemed surprised by it. "Because if not, I'll host your funeral."

You grabbed the headset and tried to connect another signal with the ones of the group. But the fighting made it hard to calibrate the devices.

Your hands started trembling as you spotted JD on the screen, jumping around and squatting behind corners to avoid his body getting crushed by the huge monster.

At least four tentacles were messing up the area. It was only a matter of time before the satellites would get damaged.

Your hands started shaking.

"No...", you gasped and typed some codes into the computer, in hopes that the old defence mechanisms were still working. "Come on... come on! Do something!"

Frustrated, you hit the table with such force that the surface bend into the shape of your fist.

But despite the anger outburst, nothing worked.

Your eyes jumped across the screens, just in time to see Fahz crashing through a roof and falling into the level below. He twisted in pain but managed to get up on his feet just in time to jump away before a tentacle could bury him.

A whimper escaped you.

"Paduk.", you clenched your hands into fists. "There are rockets here, no?"

Confused, Paduk frowned and eyed you.

"Yes, many.", he tilted his head. "Why?"

"Show me."

"They are too old."

"Just-!", you took a deep breath to calm your nerves. "Just show me where."

Paduk's gaze wandered down on you.

"Your legs.", he pointed at them.

"I'll manage."

"You can't walk. I'm too old to carry you."

"I said, I will be fine.", with a dedicated gleam in your eyes, you slid off the chair. "Show me."

For a moment, he just started at you and the way your legs were bend to the inside, almost like shaking twigs that were about to break any second.

Huffing, you pulled yourself along the edge of the table as he started walking. Every step felt like a lot more than just a step. It felt like ten, exhausting and torturing. One wrong breath and a sharp pain chased through your body. It felt like claws were digging into your scars.

But as you reached the end of the desks and Paduk kept walking, you felt hesitation rise in you. Your legs stopped on their own, refusing to make another step without support to lean on.

With trembling fingers, you dared to set one foot in front of the other. You had not made three steps and your body already stumbled. Struck by a wave of weakness, you let out a soft gasp. You lost footing, your feet tried to find their balance again. But you managed to catch yourself before hitting the ground.

Paduk threw a glance over his shoulder.

"I'm fine.", you gasped with your hand pressed to your aching side. "Just go on."

Sweat was running over your back while every cell of your being started to burn. You trembled as if it was cold while the heat of the world crushed down on you.

You managed to push through the heavy doors before your feet slipped once again. This time, you did not manage to stay standing. With a painful groan, you hit the ground. Sand and stones dug into your clothes as you slid down the stairs and remained motionless at the edge of the last step.

A cough made your chest tremble. Everything hurt.

Paduk stopped. He wanted to bend down and offer you a hand.

But you slapped it away.

"Don't pity me...", you growled and managed to pop yourself up on both arms. "I am not weak."

"You're hurt.", Paduk said.

"I'm fine."

"You can't walk."

"I am not useless!", you screamed and forced your body to get back up.

Every single cell inside of you was shaking as you managed to get back on your knees. As your torso stretched, a sharp pain chased through it. It felt as if bones were breaking and skin tore.

Tears filled your eyes, but you refused to cry.

All of a sudden, the feeling of warm blood running down your side crawled over your skin. A thick, dark stain appeared on your shirt.

Paduk's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You're bleeding.", he noted and wanted to grab you by the shoulders.

But again, you pushed him away. With a wave of adrenaline, you got back on your feet and walked on.

"I'm fine!", you pressed out between clenched teeth. "Where... where do we go? Show me... I- I need to... help."

For a moment, he looked at you. His eyes followed the thick trail of blood as it ran down your side, out of the shirt and over your pants to mix with the red sand into dusty orbs.

Baird watched the scene from afar. With a deep sigh, he shook his head and walked away to grab some of the missiles he had collected in the last few hours.

"I got some!", he said and placed them on a flat surface. "But the igniter and coordinations must be put in manually."

Breathing heavily, you limped over to him while a trail of blood was left behind.

"Good...", you almost sunk to the ground again. "Let me do this. Just... open this... put those together... Connect some cables. Can... can someone tell me the coordinates."

Baird showed you a small screen.

The numbers danced before your eyes, faded as you blinked and reappeared as you blinked again. For a moment, the world was spinning.

Your fingers typed in the coordinations one by one, leaving red marks of fingerprints, before closing the cap again.

"Just... bring them in position...", you groaned in pain. "And... start them..."

With a sigh, you collapsed.