As quick as he did that, they all heard a slight disturbance behind them and looked round to see an object in the air that seemed to twist from one shape to another, before settling on the one it decided was most aerodynamic, a slender rocket looking structure with a wing that circled all around it. They all turned back to run and reach the safety of the tunnel, when all of a sudden, the slender-thing discharged a tiny white beam that struck one of the cavalry straight in the back. The rest of them heard the whoosh and instinctively dived for cover. They crashed to the ground to look back in fright and repulsion to see that the white beam had punched a hole straight through their friend, a hole that seemed to froth and all of a sudden spread outward. Within a few seconds the hole had gurgled and foamed outwards, fizzling away all of his body as if it was being dissolved from the inside out by some kind of chemical reaction. They were lying there for what seemed like forever in complete panic, watching their friend chemically breakdown and vanish.
They had to quickly shake themselves out of this stunned stupor; otherwise they knew they were going to be the next ones melted into the ether. They all started to jump up, just as they heard another whoosh, and just as swiftly threw themselves back down again. The beam missed Haziq's ear by millimetres and it hit the top of the entrance to the tunnels. The tunnel entrance flashed, a hole was cut through the ground above it, a deep gorge that sank itself deep into the hillside. This was followed by the mound around the tunnel entrance fizzling and bubbling, the soil and surroundings melting and dripping down completely sealing off their escape. The three of them looked around, desperate to find where the shape-shifting drone had gone. They saw it swinging round in the distance, taunting them, with its aerial display of apparent superiority. Haziq pulled his missile throwing weapon out deciding enough was enough and stood there defiantly, carefully locking into his target. With a quick pull of the trigger, a missile cut its way through the air, too quick for the drone to react. The shape-shifting drone exploded into a shape it couldn't change back from, the whole craft engulfed in super-hot white flames, setting the grass around it alight. They turned back to the entrance. It was completely sealed; they tried removing the soil but had to pull their hands away, as some of it was still bubbling with some unknown chemical reaction.
“Okay Ed, now what do we do?” Jacob said turning to the other resistance fighter.
Ed picked up his encrypted phone and sent a quick message back to their base. A couple of seconds later a reply buzzed through.
“There's a rebel camp on the outskirts we need to get to, someone will pick us up there and get us back to safety” He told them, pointing in the direction the camp was.
“How far?” Haziq asked him.
“It's a couple of miles, we'll try and get some transport” Ed replied typing a new message back to base.
They set off on foot, carefully trying to avoid any people, irregular gun shots ringing in the air every so often. It was going to be a difficult few miles trying to avoid anyone, they had to try and find another way of getting there. They darted from one corner, crossing the road and hiding behind another corner, a handful of cars passing by, as if there was no fighting going on at all. People were just going about their business as if they weren't walking or driving through a war zone. Up ahead they saw an automated taxi and Ed typed something into his phone, a couple of seconds a reply pinging back again.
“Alright, they're going to hack into the automated taxi over there and get it to take us straight to the camp, come on” Ed said, starting to make a run for the vehicle ahead of them.
They reached the taxi and the door slid open to allow them inside, when Jacob shouted in pain. He looked down to see a dagger had been thrown and had sliced through his left arm, piercing through his triceps and protruding out the other side. They looked behind them to see a gang of youths, all with the same emotionless stare, and more daggers being flung towards them. Haziq and Ed jumped into the taxi avoiding the knives. The rest of them soared towards Jacob who jumped to the floor, another dagger slicing into his calf.
“Ahhh, damn it” He screamed, blood spurting from each wound as the taxi sped away, leaving him stranded.
He turned to face them, releasing the contents of his weapon in their direction, bullets chopping their way through flesh and bone. They cried in agony, squirming on the floor, trying to pull themselves back up, but collapsing at each attempt. Jacob managed to drag himself up and limp towards a motorcycle parked a few feet away. He pressed a few buttons, trying to get it started. He was a little rusty on how to get these working manually, a far cry from his youth where he could steal a motorcycle in seconds. He continued pressing a few buttons, pulled out some wires and fused them together. The motorcycle sprung to life with a clean hum, making Jacob smile through his wincing pain. These newly designed bikes were just as easy to steal as any older ones; the security systems were as flawed as ever. The makers spent all their energy on making them look great, but had spent little on replacing the outdated security measures. Jacob jumped on as quickly as he could, the pain from the daggers now excruciating, and followed the taxi. Inside the taxi, Ed was in contact with the base and whoever was operating their getaway vehicle to swing back
