Thomas had been gone for nearly ten minutes. He left me alone in the truck we stole in the middle of the night. I had hoped he wasn’t captured or killed by the beastmen or worse killed by the gangers that lurked in the ruins of these once mighty and economically important factories that surrounded us. The titan sized structures were once producing tonnes of canned and packaged food, cars and even processed waste as the factories now left to rot by the sands of time slowly stood tall in the night.

The light in the cabin suddenly turned on which caused me to panic when the driver side door opened up, I was relieved to see it was Thomas who sat down next to me.

I felt frustrated at the time it took for him to return. “Where the hell have you been? It doesn’t take ten minutes for you to take a piss!”

He shot a glare at me, his face told me he wasn’t in the mood to deal with what I gave him.

“Maybe I have my own reasons why I didn’t return in a timely manner. Perhaps somebody was coming and I had to hide so they didn’t see me.”

“Why didn’t you just go behind the truck and do it there?” I said, jerking my thumb behind us. “At least I would’ve known where you are.”

“I am not taking a piss on the tyres. ‘Sides, I don’t wanna fill my lungs with exhaust.”

Neither of us spoke next. We both sat in the truck and it's hot engine in silence. I pondered to myself, asking myself if what we were doing was worth it. If we pull this off then what happens next? Do we abandon the clinic to go on our journey? Our quest into another world. I brought up my doubts to Thomas. He sat in silence while listening to me verbalise my thoughts. He then stroked his chin before letting out a sigh.

“Thing is, I am not sure myself. But it is always worth having a backup plan if we don’t make it far enough to get to the Dragon Lord’s lair. I suppose we could always continue providing support and maintenance as long as our supplies last. But then what do we do next, what happens if they subjugate all of us?” Thomas turned to face me, even in the darkness I could see he was looking towards me.

He was right, we had no certainty left about anything. No guarantees on the success of our plans, the situation we found ourselves in. sadness slowly crept into my mind as the weight of everything finally settled on me. Between the two hemispheres of my brain I felt an ache, it pressed hard until it forced my eyes to become watery. I fought hard against the tears but it was a losing battle. I was glad Thomas couldn’t see me cry, I didn’t want him to know. I tried to breathe in but it came in the form of a short gasp. I tried to stop it but Thomas turned to face me. “What’s wrong, Michael?” He asked sympathetically.

The jig was up, he knew something was amiss “Nothing” I lied. The sadness in my voice however, betrayed me.

“Doesn’t sound like nothing, c’mon, spit it out; what’s bothering you?”

“It's… everything. This journey we committed ourselves to. This war, this invasion. I’m scared. I don’t know how to deal with this… I just want mum back and I want this nightmare to be over.” I said softly in-between sniffling. “I don’t know how to handle this.”

I started sniffling which quickly phased into quiet sobbing. I felt my tears drop from my cheeks and fall onto my lap. I jumped a little when I felt Thomas’ hand rub my shoulder. It helped soothe my mind and alleviate the ache I felt in my brain. I tried to focus on something else. Anything at all. Favourite sports, recently watched movies, reliving childhood memories? I had to pick something so I blurted out “Do you remember Dad, much?”

Even in the all-encompassing darkness in the cabin I heard Thomas turn to face me. I could imagine the look of confusion on his face, but instead he spoke softly and compassionately. It was probable he knew I needed to discuss something and the topic of our father rarely came up.

“Well, let’s see,” He began. “I was about six when dad died, I have a few vivid memories of him. Let me think. Oh yes, I remember he once let me have a sip of his beer. Yeah, we were at a friend’s place, they were having a party, I think. Dad had this glass bottle of alcohol, cannot really remember what it was called. Anyway, dad looked at me and sat me on his lap before giving me a small sip of it and he laughed when he saw the look of disgust I made, heh.”

Despite the futility of it, I still turned to face the direction of his voice. Even if it made no difference if he could see me or not. One corner of my lips curled upward after hearing that story.

“Do you mind telling me more?”

“More? Well let me think. I still have fond memories of dad tucking me into bed and reading me bedtime stories. I still remember the day we got the call he died. Mum was very upset, I don’t even remember if I went to his funeral or if he even had one.”

I closed my eyes shut, squeezing the last of my tears out of my eyes. I struggled to control my breathing as it grew more shallow and rapid. My voice quivered when I tried to speak. “What was he like?”

“I don’t remember much. I do remember he used to have these massive arms with which he used to carry me with. He had jet black hair. Blacker than oil. He used to be funny, but oddly enough I don’t remember him ever raising his voice.” Thomas said with intrigue in his voice.

“Really?” I replied dumbfounded.

“Yeah,” Thomas continued. “I don’t recall him ever raising his voice for any reason. Not to us whenever we misbehaved or to mum or to anyone. He always spoke softly. Certainly, you wouldn't think so when you look at him in the pictures.”

I chose to not say anything, the silence let me give time to process the thoughts. It was humorous to feel a sense of attachment to someone I never truly knew. I missed my father yet I have no memories of him. Why would I miss him? Perhaps the photos I saved of him in my wallet gave me the only connection to him and now I felt a sense of longing for his company.

I eventually blanked out, boredom became a power in the truck's cabin, both Thomas and I felt it. Making me hear my own brother’s hearing, I didn’t want to hear it. I heard a soft rumbling in the distance. At first I wrote it off as a truck applying its brakes before remembering that it shouldn’t be possible. I heard another rumble sound followed by a crackling sound ripping through the air. I heard Thomas’ hair brush against the jacket he wore, telling me he must have been looking for the source too. Our answer came faster than we expected when we saw a bright orange pillar billowing out into the sky. That must have been where the Vengativos were hiding, the attack must have commenced already.

“Let’s roll!” My brother declared as he started up the engine.

Suddenly the lights came on and the dashboard lit up in a vast array of colours before the radio crackled itself alive with static. The deep rumbling engine vibrated from underneath our seats; it grew louder when Thomas pressed down on the accelerator. Thomas took a sharp turn around which forced my head flat against the window, we must have sped down the road twice as fast as it would normally have been allowed. I was grateful that the roads in the industrial park were devoid of trucks and cars alike, I didn’t want to be swerving left and right when Thomas would steer us clear of wreckage. In the distance behind a row of warehouses we could see the orange glow and the thick billowing columns of smoke rise. We took a hard right at a T-intersection and drove parallel to the warehouses. The sounds of gunfire rippling through the air was easily heard inside, several thunderous booms of explosions sounded off occasionally but the one sound that chilled me to the bones was the guttural roar of the dragons that were circling above. It was difficult to try and suppress the thought of staring down the dragon's throat and seeing the fire rising, the heat escaping the rows of sword like teeth.

“There!” Thomas pointed toward a dark, abandoned warehouse ahead. Thomas showed no signs of applying the brakes as the chain link perimeter rapidly approached us, I didn’t have time to notice the gate was still locked until we heard the loud snap of the metal colliding with the front of our box truck. Still, I flinched and curled up into a ball the split second I saw it before we ran through it. Thomas thrusted his foot against the brake pedal with such force we skidded to a halt on the bitumen for nearly thirty metres, Thomas swung the door open and ran out of the truck to the warehouse. Suddenly the light of the three moons showed through the cloud layer above us allowing me to watch Thomas stare at the warehouse’s massive walls before running back to the truck.

He told me to get out before shutting off the engine and I complied. The sound of the thunderous battle happening nearby gave me a fright. In the sky I saw dragons flying above, I saw bullets cutting through the sky. I was glad that they did not notice us. Thomas approached from the side while holding up two different objects. In his left hand he held a long, slender cylinder. In his right hand he held a hammer with a bright yellow handle. “Take these,” He said, still holding them up. “Use the can on any locked doors you come across and then smash them with the hammer.” He then extended his arms forward, gesturing to me to take them.

After I took hold of the items, Thomas spoke once more. “Once you are inside look for a way to open the main doors,” Thomas instructed as he turned to face the aluminium wall.

Upon approaching the wall, I scanned for any doors or gaps to indicate passage. I took to the back of the factory for any fire exits and found one tucked away behind the transformers, it came as no surprise to me that it wouldn’t budge when I tried to open it which left me to use the spray can on the handle and lock. After pressing down I was amazed to watch as the atomised spray turned the dark grey handle and lock to bright white. I heard a cracking sound as I continued to spray the liquid oxygen on them. After easing my finger of the spray I then threw my hand back while holding the hammer only to swiftly bring it down on the lock which shattered into a thousand frozen pieces. It didn’t help my anxiety when I heard the clanking of shattered metal echo throughout the fire escape and the area around me.

After entering through the emergency exit I found myself inside the pitch black warehouse with only the flashlight from my phone to provide light. The towering stacks were lined up for what looked like hundreds of metres, the aisles went on further than the light could reach and were high enough I could barely see the light on the ceiling. Thomas followed in after me claiming he heard me smash the lock. He instructed me to follow him closely. We climbed up a set of stairs and unto a gantry that led to the manager’s office, once inside, Thomas looked around for the manifest. I looked at the massive filing cabinet and checked for the manifest but was left to no avail. Behind me I could hear Thomas shuffling through the contents of the desk before triumphantly saying “Got you!”

When I turned around to face him, I saw Thomas holding a clipboard that had frayed pages of paper. He flipped through them before pressing his finger.

“Oh this is perfect” He said. “Oh, this is better than I expected.”

“What is it?” I asked curiously as I approached him.

Thomas adjusted the clipboard to show me what he saw. All I saw was a few paragraphs of logistical information that made no sense to me, underneath it all was a table of five rows and eight pages of columns.

“Check this out; the warehouse got its last shipment nearly three weeks ago, the day the invasion occurred. Judging by the manager’s notes it looks like it was a slow month since this place is full of everything. Michael, we’ve hit the jackpot, we might even be able to top up the clinic and last us for another month, if not more.” He shouted proudly waving the clipboard around. I had to duck to avoid being smacked by the clipboard, I doubted Thomas being aware of that. He kept his eyes glued to the clipboard as he told me to follow him through the warehouse. The massive labyrinthine shelves of cardboard boxes had us turned around more than once, Thomas looked around, reading each aisle’s number before consulting his clipboard. Eventually we found a section of parts that were of high-end quality. Name brands that only five digit escudo’s could purchase, even a tool kit that was branded and packaged in high grade packing materials. Admittedly I felt a somewhat juvenile joy holding boxes of limbs, eyes, neural processors and canisters containing anaesthetic gas that was not only practical in a surgery but also heavily regulated for its recreational capabilities. The truck had almost run out of room, Thomas insisted we continue searching for anything of significant value that we could take, I hadn’t said anything yet, but as full as our load might have been I sensed that Thomas felt uneasy leaving so much behind. I attempted to cheer him up by saying that what we have might not necessarily fill the storeroom and that we would need to make more than one trip. He didn’t respond at first, but after a few seconds he agreed and we left.

I closed the fire escapes door behind me, the lock was busted but it would have given the impression it wasn’t. We walked towards the truck in the darkness, silence engulfing us and that was when I finally noticed the lack of gunshots, explosions and the sounds of people screaming. I stopped in my tracks to strain my hearing to hear anything. Thomas, who was in front of me, had turned around to check up on me and notice my lagging behind. He walked up to me and asked in such a casual tone “What’s wrong?”

I shuffled the boxes in my hands to hold up a finger to demonstrate what I said. “Listen… the fighting nearby stopped. There’s nothing.”

Thanks to the light of the three moons, I saw Thomas look around. He turned to face the row of warehouses and packaging facilities that once obstructed our view of the conflict only to now hide the ruins of a conflict we started.

“We need to get going.” My older brother said in such a deadpan expression.

We were just about to get in the truck when we could hear the distinctive sound of wings beating in the air. The sound grew louder, each more powerful than the last. Thomas and I turned our gaze to the sky to catch a glimpse of the dragon. In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw it fly past the moon's light but I was too late. My lungs burned and ached as I held onto my breath as though it would give me away to the eyes of the apex predator. We stood still while not saying anything. For a moment we heard nothing and let out a sigh of relief, my lungs were relieved from holding it in for so long that it almost felt like I had forgotten to breathe.

CRUNCH!

An uncontrollable yelp escaped me, I couldn’t stop when the deafening silence was suddenly pierced by the sound of concrete forcefully fracturing. The spike in fear I felt was compounded by the tremors I felt shaking the very earth beneath me. Slowly turning to face the source of it, my heart began racing and my body perspired at a rapid pace when I heard the deep guttural growls of the beast in front of us. It hid behind the box truck but I could see its tail swaying far in the back and its wings hovered above the ground, the dragon arched its long neck upwards to show its head face high above us.

My hands shook and I saw Thomas take a step back, his body language told me he was getting ready to tell me to run. The dragon looked down on us with its deep green piercing eyes, It let out an ear piercing roar to intimidate us. Fear had a hold on the both of us with its iron grip, my legs wouldn’t obey me. I feared Thomas was the same. It lowered its head over the truck and bared its teeth, the rancid stench of its stomach hit me hard enough to break the spell of fear. Its chest emanated a deep rumbling sound before it spoke with a baritone voice.

“What are two lowly creatures such as yourselves skulking around in the night? You humans are far too opportunistic for your own good, for our planet's good. You loot, you steal and worst of all you destroy with no regard!” The dragon said, its voice carrying masculine tones.

“Listen, dragon. We have our own reasons, not that we owe you an explanation or anything.” Thomas quipped.

“My my, feeling confident, are we? Should I remind you I am stronger and more powerful than you ever could be, hmm? Give me one reason why I shouldn’t end your pathetic lives. Any reason at all.”

Thomas stuttered. He turned to face me as if I had any answers to give him.

“B-because we are not your enemy, Dragon. Look, I cannot give you a reason other than we don’t have any intention to harm you. We are just trying to survive and do what we can to stay alive as long as possible.”

“Do you really think you can tug at my heartstrings and I would let you leave?” The dragon huffed. “I think I should just eat you now.”

The dragon opened its mouth wide, baring its fangs to us. It was here that I realised diplomacy has failed, the dragon was not going to talk to us. It arched its head up before striking down at us before Thomas pushed me out of the way. I was transfixed on facing my impending doom I hadn’t considered Thomas’s survival in the least. The dragon's head collided with the ground with a crunch. Thomas pulled on me and I followed him as we ran, my fear made me throw my legs further than I ever had before. The adrenaline kept me going while Thomas somehow managed to sprint faster. I heard the sound of the suspension on the truck squeaking, the fear inducing roar of the dragon echoed through the night behind me. Despite the short sprint back into the fire exit, I felt my legs burn from exertion but my own sense of self preservation made me push the pain aside into numbness. A small part of my mind thought Thomas and I would be safe in the warehouse, yet, we were met with a hard dose of reality when the dragon crashed through the thin aluminium wall. I almost skidded to a halt when it saw us and opened its mouth to release a stream of fire. Both of us turned to the aisle next to us and ran when the dragon unleashed its fire breath which we had narrowly avoided; the intense heat of the flames made the skin on my neck blister and sizzle.

Thomas stayed a good three metres ahead of me while leading us through the labyrinthine maze of metal shelves and wooden crates. My lungs burned from intense exertion, adrenaline numbed the pain while the dragon we ran from had crashed and collided with the three-story high shelves. Clangs and pained roars were all that could be heard to drown out our heavy breathes, our panting. Thomas rounded a corner when we were forced to turn back after one of the heavy-duty shelves collapsed and blocked our path. The dragon was closing in on us fast, Thomas held me close to him and it was then I realised I had been holding onto a box containing a synthetic arm this entire time. I chuckled at it or perhaps the adrenaline flooding my system had made me so nervous that I would find just about anything hilarious. Slowly, the dragon crept out of the aisle and turned its head towards us, keeping its body crouched low like some kind of predatory animal ready to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. I gulped loudly watching the dragon’s wicked smile grow and its quivering lips exposing its sharp teeth. My grip on my older brother grew stronger as I faced the flame and fury of the dragon. It raised its head up high on its long neck, ready to strike us both down.

Heart pounding in my chest, perspiration made my skin glisten from the nearby fires, my whole body shook and yet I lost my sense of fear. I felt oddly at ease. I saw its teeth part ways and I prayed to whichever deity would listen for a quick and painless demise. My eyelids closed gently, encapsulating myself in darkness as I mentally prepared for the inevitable.

Through my closed eyelids, I sensed a strong light nearby. Inside my mind I felt a comforting presence engulf me in safety and warmth. As though a loving creature had brought my brain into its warm embrace. I thought this was it, but my senses remained the same. The light grew brighter and I opened them only to be met with an unexpected outcome.

I found myself still standing in the dark warehouse, I turned to look at Thomas, failing to hide my surprise and intrigue. He glowed with soft green symbols and patterns all over his body. Thomas, likewise stared down at his hands as the light gently pulsed. He looked up to me with an expression of shock that was similar to my own before he looked back at himself. “What the fuck!?” He loudly exclaimed. It was then I looked down at my own arms and saw the same symbols and patterns glowing on my skin. The light gently hummed giving me a sense of safety which I could not explain rationally, then I remembered the dragon. My eyes shot to where the dragon stood and it looked at us with an expression I could only interpret as shock mixed with surprise. Its mouth hung open as it looked at us.

The adrenaline finally ceased its production and I found myself breaking down, laughing hysterically at the turn of events. As far as I or Thomas were aware we had no known magical abilities, did humans even have magical abilities? I couldn’t explain what was happening to us. But it seemed to have shocked the dragon enough to not eat us.

“B-but… How do you? Why do you have…” The dragon said, flabbergasted. “It can’t be!”

I was distracted by my own glowing skin patterns until the dragon spoke. Its face looked comical with its wide eyes and open jaw. It seemed to know what was going on, perhaps I should ask it.

“Hey, uhm, dragon. What is this glowing stuff? It feels warm and fuzzy. Did you do this?” I said.

“No, this isn’t me, this… Is the work of powerful magic even I cannot master. But how… Why do you humans have such spells casted on you? Who would do that for you?”

Thomas chuckled “Sounds to me like we got a guardian angel watching over us, Michael.”

“No! Y-you cannot…” The dragon shouted with heavy breaths.

The spell of confusion must have been too much for the dragon to cope with, it turned around fast enough for its tail to almost act like a whip, narrowly avoiding us. Soon after the dragon had put some distance between us, the glowing symbols on Thomas’s and my own body faded until there was nothing left to indicate they ever existed. Taking the good feeling of warmth and security along with it. I couldn’t believe what had happened and neither could my brother.

We exited the factory and approached the truck mildly relieved it was still standing. Thomas claimed he feared it was knocked over by the dragon. As he started the engine, Thomas and I took one last look at the warehouse and the gaping hole that the dragon had forced its way through and the collapsed shelves it had knocked over. The dying flicker of embers from the dragon's fire gained very little foothold in the factory.

The shadow of the warehouse soon blended in with the rest of the industrial area behind us as Thomas drove off. I couldn’t shake off what had happened back there. Those symbols, the timing, the reaction from the dragon. I really wanted to know what it all meant. Why did we have it? I know Thomas wasn’t ready to talk about it yet, I couldn’t blame him because I wasn’t ready to deal with it either. All I could do was be grateful that our return trip back into the dimly lit city centre was as uneventful as it could get.

After arriving into the parking lot, neither Thomas nor I spoke the entire time we unloaded the boxes up the service elevator and into the back of the clinic. We were half done and we were so tired. I could see it in Thomas’ eyes and his body language. We both agreed to deal with the rest in the morning or whenever we woke up. It had to have been early morning at this point.

So we both said our goodnights and went to our respective beds before eventually crashing into them, letting the restful slumber consume my tired form.