The Shadow of Death

[Switch]

Alex knew they were in trouble.
The sun was setting fast and evening's precious light was rapidly fading away. Roaming the streets during the day was dangerous enough but Alex knew that being out after nightfall meant certain death.
Now, as he crouched down at the edge of a narrow alleyway, he peered out into the clearing beyond, watching for any sign of danger. The dim light made it difficult to see much of anything.
He looked back over his shoulder to see Annabelle not far behind. Leaning against the wall of what appeared to be an old burned out church, she watched him. By her side, seemingly indifferent to the world around him, stood Virgil.
Alex sighed and shifted his focus back out to the plaza ahead.
Several streets joined in this one place. The circle that they formed looped around a large statue in the plaza's center. The carving had faded with time but Alex recognized the name chiseled into the statue's base.
St. Christopher
He knew the name from the stories he was told as a child. The people of old, before the great war, had many gods. This one, this Christopher, supposedly watched over and protected travelers. Alex didn't know if they was any truth to the old myths but he knew that right now they needed all the help they could get.
"If you can hear me, mate, give us a hand." he whispered; more to himself than to the statue.
This would be the most dangerous part of the journey. Though his hideout was only a few miles away, Kohl's men frequently used these streets. Alex knew that if they were captured, death would be the most merciful part of what they would endure. Kohl, however, wasn't known for his mercy. Their deaths would only come at the end of weeks if not months of slow, excruciating torture.
That thought brought forth memories of the tales he'd heard of Kohl's torture chambers. Rooms said to be filled with machines of such hideous brutality that even looking on them, it was told, was enough to drive a person mad.
Stop. Alex thought. Night is falling and you don't have time to sit here and worry about what might be.
Alex sighed and turned back to Anna and Virgil.
"All right," he said, "let's move."

[skye]

Anna pushed off the wall and came towards him, peering around the bend he was looking around. She chewed her lip, nervous to be going in this direction as she could clearly feel that Kohl's men frequented this area, and besides, this was their domain out here in the darkness and shadows of the ruins. She brushed her hair back, but it fell in front off her face again anyway. She was tired and wounded and she really just wanted to get there quickly.

Ignoring the pain and the weariness and the fear of going down this dark street, Anna straightened and steeled herself. She pushed her shoulders back. "Do you think we can run that far and not get caught? It's dark enough that the Seekers might be out searching for me already." She looked back down the street, touching Alex's arm to steady herself against a sudden wave of dizziness. "If we're caught...." She trailed off, knowing Alex had heard the rumors. "If only we could find a working hunk of metal among all the other hunks of metal..." She sighed and shook her head. "Whatever you want to do Alex..." She said, not sure what they should do and feeling too bad to care at the moment.

[Switch]

Alex could tell she was exhausted. Realizing that moving on foot wouldn't be an option, he began to look at the old machines that still littered the streets.
There was no shortage of the antiques, the trouble was finding one that actually worked. Alex had long ago given up on them. They were far more trouble than they were worth. Now however, he knew that they would have to find a diamond in the rough if they were going to survive.
Many of the vehicles were overturned or in pieces. Kohl's men often salvaged parts from these scrap piles to maintain their own transports.
Across the square, though, Alex spotted a jeep that was still upright. It didn't appear too badly beat up and, he knew, it would be their best chance.
"If we can't run, we'll have to drive." he said.
Taking her hand, he ran as quickly as he could to the jeep's side. Pausing briefly to listen for any shouts or any sound of pursuit, he quickly opened to the door and helped Anna inside, Virgil followed right behind her. Taking his place behind the wheel, Alex found that the keys were still in the ignition. Not wasting any time, he turned the keys and hoped for the best.
The old jeep's engine sputtered and finally roared to life.
Alex leaned back in the seat and laughed. Just as he began to think their luck was changing, gunfire rang out into the night air.

[skye]

Anna almost screamed but had the sense to hold it in. She ducked down into the seat of the jeep and waited to hear if there was going to be any more gunfire. When there wasn't any immediately, Anna poked her head up around the back of the seat and looked behind them, laying a hand on Alex's thigh as she did so. She was ready to go and she knew he was. They were lucky to have even found this piece of crap. It would be their only hope. One last desperate run.

Anna shook her head. She sighed a little, relieved that it seemed like the demons would stay around the bend. "Alright." She said, turning her head back to look at Alex. "It looks like we--" Halfway through her sentence, a gunshot echoed from the stone around her, the bullet ricocheting off the wall nearby.

"Shit." Anna jumped out of the car, running around to Alex's side. "Get out of the f*ckin' car and go to my side. I drive, you shoot." She pushed him until he slid to her seat and got in, settling behind the wheel. She was a little too short and cursed as she had to adjust the seat. She looked over her shoulder and stopped, momentarily stunned at the sight.

Demons, the men who had tormented Anna for her entire life, ran around the corner, improvised guns in their hands and vicious snarls on their faces. She sat there for a moment then slammed the Jeep into drive and hit the gas, hoping that whatever gods might still care would look down and give the Jeep the gas to last until the demons were killed or they got to a place they could defend.

"I hope you can shoot on the run Alex cause you better start shootin' your damn gun!"

[Switch]

As the old Jeep tore through the streets, Alex shot at anything that moved. Steadying his rifle against the Jeep's open frame, he tried to bring down their pursuers as quickly as he could but for every one he killed, ten took its place. Their numbers grew with each passing second. Alex couldn't believe what he was seeing but it seemed as though Kohl had sent nearly all of his forces to recapture Anna. As he shot down another of the demonic horrors that drew too close, Alex began to wonder who, or what, Anna really was.

[OOC: Sorry for the delay and the short post. Writer's block as well as real world stuff are just killing me right now.]