Andrea Höst - And All the Stars

"Is he–?" With a frantic glance at the star cluster, she grabbed Shaun’s arm and tried to lift.

"I think shield paralysis," Nash said. "On two."

With desperate energy they lifted, Nash doing most of the work until Gavin dashed back and helped.

"Can you shield again when they come?" Nash asked, gasping with effort.

"I don’t know! I’ll try!" Their speed carrying Shaun meant she would have to.

But the stars swooped past them to settle on runners on the ramp. As each runner was embraced they stopped short, and the way was quickly becoming blocked.

"Go back past the lifeguard tower," Gavin panted. "Up the wide stairs."

It was longer to run, but Emily was already standing at the head of the lifeguard tower stair, signalling wildly and pointing east, so they dog-legged back. And the stars passed them.

"They’re avoiding us!" Gavin said.

"They might be – tack left."

People were running toward them, some moving slow and hesitant, but others picking up speed. Shaun’s rigidity abruptly lapsed, and he groaned and flinched in their hold, sending them stumbling.

"C’n r’n," he groaned, thrashing and gulping.

Remembering the agonies of the pins and needles, Madeleine sincerely doubted it, but he surprised her, managing to at least make it easier for Gavin and Nash to haul him.

Two women ahead were on an intercept course – they wouldn’t make it past them.

"Go straight through!" Nash ordered.

Madeleine shuddered, but knew they couldn’t risk the delay of a collision and held up one hand. Trying not to think of twisted metal, of tumbled cars, she pushed some of the energy inside her into a punch at the two women.

Their shields were just visible, a protective glimmer which appeared as the punch struck them and sent one tumbling backward. The other was only knocked a little off course, spun onto her knees, but this was enough to get them past and in sight of the stairs. Emily was running along the level above, Fisher trailing behind her, and they met in a group and dashed up the next set of stairs to where Nick was waiting in the white hatchback, Pan and a couple of other boys already crammed into the back seat.

"Noi’s…coming…" Emily gasped, and clutched Madeleine, trying to catch her breath as Nash and Gavin helped Shaun into the car.

"Go!" Nash told Nick. "Meet you at Rushies."

"Keep moving," Gavin added, as Nick obediently tore off, narrowly missing a small van trying to get past.

They ran all-out alongside the one-way road in front of Bondi Pavilion, and Madeleine’s legs were jelly, rubber bands, not forgiving the energy cost of shields and punches, nor her general disinclination to run long distances. She was falling behind, her breath burning in her throat, but then there was a newly-familiar growl of expensive engine and she straight-out dived into the rear seat of Tyler’s car as Noi slowed, then surged forward to collect the others, the car soon over-crammed with panting, gasping escapees.

The undersized rear seat was not a good fit for Madeleine, Fisher and Nash, particularly with Madeleine at the bottom. She wriggled out as Noi came to the end of the long one-way street and slewed right onto the main road.

"Hook a left at Blair," Gavin recommended, balancing Emily on his lap. "Are they coming after us?"

Fisher stared back, his expression closed. "They don’t seem able to move as fast as a car," he said slowly. He looked at Madeleine, currently sitting mostly on Nash’s lap. "Did you do that on purpose?"

She shook her head.

"I think you hurt it," Gavin said. "They weren’t keen to come near you after."

"What do we do now?" Emily’s voice was high.

"I don’t see any other option than to get out of the city," Noi said. "Even though everyone’s going to be totally paranoid about Blues and Greens, and there’s a huge chance of getting locked up if we’re found. But better locked up than possessed. Did anyone from your school get taken?"

"Chris." Nash glanced at Fisher, but didn’t find any answer in Fisher’s puzzled expression. "Hammad and Ryan were there as well, but I didn’t see what happened to them."

"We’ve no way of knowing how much they can learn from the people they take over. Language, obviously, but they might know about your school from your friend."

Nash nodded. "We need to warn everyone there – if they don’t know already – then grab what we can and go."

"This car has about a quarter of a tank left." Noi pushed down on the accelerator. "But we’ve been collecting car keys back at Finger Wharf. And boats, though they’re probably not much advantage for getting away from flying balls of light."

Emily distracted them then by pulling a bag of coconut ice from the glove box and passing it around. In a car full of Blues this was an immediate silencer, and Madeleine was particularly grateful, shaking as she grabbed a handful of pink and white squares and worked her way through them.

At Noi’s speed and with clear roads it was a short trip to Rushcutters Bay, and Gavin directed them through a wide-open iron gate to a small car park surrounded by clipped hedges and many-windowed buildings. The white hatchback was there waiting for them, its occupants clustered around Pan as he stood arguing with a dozen boys holding cricket bats.

"I’m going to turn the car for a quick getaway," Noi said, after a brief survey.

She was speaking to empty seats, as Gavin and Nash were already out and bounding forward. Fisher was slower to move, glancing up into the sky before following.

"What the hell’s this, Matt?" Gavin said, striding up to confront a tall, tanned boy with brown hair. "We’ve got to move, not argue."

" You’ve got to move," the boy, Matt, replied. "All you Blues. We won’t stop you going, but there’s no way you’re staying here when any of you could have one of those things inside you."

"All us Blues?!" Gavin exploded. "What shit are you pulling now?"

"They’re not interested in Greens, Gav," a different boy said apologetically. "We were watching on TV, and they ignored all the Greens. They only went for Blues. Matt’s right – even if none of you are…whatever, there’s too much chance you’ll draw them here."

"And in what way are the cricket bats going to help?" Nash asked, his beautiful voice mild yet commanding. "We are only here to warn you – unnecessary as that is – and to get our bags and be gone. I would suggest you do the same."

He walked straight at the heart of the crowd, head high and stride scornful, and they wavered, wilted, and stepped aside.

"Tossers," Pan muttered, following.

"Oh, eat it Rickard." The boy called Matt threw the cricket bat after Pan, which was a mistake since Pan had been waiting for it, and the thick wooden bat bounced spectacularly off his shield and through a window.

Nash whirled protectively to stand by Pan, and the two groups tensed, but further words or action were cut short by Noi, leaning on the horn of Tyler’s car.

"Can we save the dick swinging until after we’ve escaped from the aliens?" she shouted into the silence the horn left behind. "Seriously, Blue, Green, Purple, whatever – now is the time for running and hiding. You think just because those things are only possessing Blues they’re going to happily ignore Greens? Go get your stuff, all of you, get into cars, and get the hell out of the city!"

They listened. Within moments only Noi, Madeleine and Emily remained in the car park.

"What were they thinking?" Emily asked, close to tears. "A Blue could turn a Green into a smear without even trying."

"They’re afraid." Noi sighed, and ran a hand over her eyes. "When you’re afraid, sometimes it’s easier to be angry."

Madeleine, suffering a raging thirst after her handful of coconut ice, spotted a tap on one side of the car park and fished an empty, dented water bottle out from her well-mashed shoulder bag. She was drinking thirstily when a thin, oscillating sound made her gulp and then desperately try not to cough. Noi pulled Emily behind the nearest hedge and ducked down and Madeleine followed suit, though the hedges near the tap were half the height, forcing her to lie full-length between bush and building to have any hope of concealment.