Luke’s group advanced through the city in two carriages.

  Luke, Néstor, Italia, and Mabel rode in the first; Tobias, Iván, Dante, and Magnus in the second. On the flanks, Lix and Adriano rode on horseback.

  Suddenly, hostiles appeared, chasing them with ferocity.

  "Prepare for combat on the move!" Luke ordered. "Careful, hold on tight!" he added, glancing at Italia and Mabel.

  Two hostiles lunged straight at the group.

  "Adriano! Lix! They’re yours," Néstor shouted.

  The guardians reacted instantly.

  Lix fired with precision, dodging the hostile and taking it down. Adriano, with two accurate shots, eliminated the second just before it reached his horse.

  Both returned to formation. "Clear!" the two guardians shouted.

  "The shots will alert the others," Adriano warned.

  "First wave down," Néstor said with relief.

  "The second is about to begin…" Luke added grimly.

  The hostiles multiplied, fast and savage. The horses sped up, but were soon overtaken.

  "There are too many…" Dante warned. "Try not to waste ammunition."

  "Lock onto your targets!" Tobias ordered.

  "Target acquired, awaiting confirmation," Iván and Dante replied.

  Luke raised his voice. "Are you ready, boys? Adriano! Lix! I’ll cover you, keep moving forward."

  "Roger!" they both answered.

  A hostile leapt from a rooftop.

  "Fire!" Luke shouted.

  Gunfire echoed through the street.

  The guardians displayed their training—every bullet found its mark.

  Italia and Mabel watched in horror; it was their first time seeing the beasts. Néstor guided the horses through the labyrinthine streets, avoiding the most infested areas.

  It seemed they had control, until a hostile rammed Adriano, knocking him from his horse.

  "Adriano’s down, cover him!" Luke alerted.

  Adriano sprang up, firing at the nearest attackers.

  The guardians shielded him, but one hostile broke through the bullets and lunged at him.

  Just when escape seemed impossible, Lix appeared on horseback, grabbed him from behind, and pulled him up.

  "Hold on tight!" Lix shouted.

  "Thanks, friend! I thought I was done for…" Adriano said, climbing onto the horse.

  "That was close. I’ll get you back to the carriage—we’re carrying too much weight," Lix replied.

  Adriano jumped back into the carriage beside Luke and opened fire from there. "Don’t worry, I’m no pirate," he joked, trying to ease the tension.

  "I’m just glad you’re safe," Italia said with relief.

  "Too much humor for someone who almost became breakfast…" Néstor muttered.

  "Thanks, Néstor. I’m glad you cared," Adriano replied, still joking.

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  Luke leaned closer. "You were lucky, Adriano. Don’t lose focus; we’re still in the middle of combat."

  "I’m more focused than ever," Adriano assured, reloading his rifle.

  The carriages pressed forward, cutting down anything in their path.

  After an hour of tension, they finally neared the evacuation zone.

  "We should slow down, we’re almost there," Luke suggested.

  The group reduced their pace.

  The silence was so deep that only the wheels on the cobblestones and the horses’ hooves could be heard.

  "Too quiet…" Néstor murmured, suspicious.

  "Looks like there’s no one left here," Magnus added.

  Iván couldn’t hide his worry. "Could we be the last ones left to escape?"

  "Thinking of my family… I hope so," Tobias said, troubled.

  As they advanced, the corpses of people and hostiles lay before them, shocking images that revealed the hell the city had endured.

  "It must have been terrible to witness all this…" Italia said, disheartened, her gaze fixed on the destruction. "My father’s city became a battlefield."

  "Stop! Halt!" Luke ordered.

  The guardians dismounted to inspect the area.

  They had reached the evacuation zone, but the truth was devastating: no one remained.

  "There’s no one. Wait… the gate wasn’t closed," Luke reported, confused.

  "I don’t blame them, they probably just wanted to get out," Magnus said.

  Néstor reflected. "The good news is it looks like a large part of the city managed to evacuate."

  "There’s nothing left… There’s no way for us to get out," Dante said, stunned.

  "We could try to push forward with the carriages, but it would be suicide…" Lix warned.

  "Far too dangerous," Luke replied. "The horses need rest; they’re not built to run endlessly."

  The feeling was bittersweet: relief that many had escaped, but despair at realizing they were trapped.

  In the carriage, the sisters clung to each other, trembling after the stress of arriving only to find no way out.

  "How much food do we have?" Luke asked.

  Dante checked the supplies. "Enough for about thirty days."

  "Counting dessert or not?" Adriano quipped.

  "Counting you, we’ve got two days left," Dante shot back sarcastically.

  Adriano let out a nervous laugh. "I wouldn’t recommend eating me; I’ve been constipated from all the stress."

  "Doesn’t matter, we’ll use you as bait then," Tobias added, patting his shoulder.

  "Come on, guys, if we’re stuck with hostiles, we’d better get along, right, Néstor?" Adriano joked, trying to lighten the mood.

  But Néstor didn’t answer. His gaze was fixed on a shadow moving stealthily.

  "Quiet, Adriano… shut your mouth."

  A hostile stalked them, but after watching, it retreated.

  "What? It fled?" Néstor murmured, baffled.

  "I doubt it… it went for reinforcements. Back to the carriages," Luke ordered.

  The group pulled back, but saw a horde heading straight for Italia and Mabel, still in the carriage.

  Lix reacted instantly, rushing in on horseback.

  "Quick, get on!" he shouted, helping them mount.

  Italia grabbed the reins and rode toward the others, while Lix stayed behind. With his knife, he freed the horses from the carriage and mounted one just as the horde toppled the vehicles, destroying all their supplies.

  "Bastards!" Luke exclaimed. "Everyone to positions!"

  The group opened fire, covering Italia, Mabel, and Lix.

  "Fall back to a safe position, we’re exposed here!" Luke shouted.

  The circle tightened.

  Surrounded, they realized returning to the carriages was impossible. Only two horses remained for quick movement.

  "We can hold them, but we can’t escape," Néstor said, worried.

  "The problem is we’re drawing too much attention. More will come until we’re out of ammo," Luke added.

  Luke looked at Lix.

  "Get back on your horse and take Italia and Mabel with you. We’ll cover you."

  Lix couldn’t believe what he was hearing. "You’re asking me to abandon them? I won’t!"

  "No way we’re doing that," Italia intervened firmly.

  Luke clenched his teeth. "We swore to protect the president and his family. They’re the priority. Go now!"

  "You were my father’s guardian, not mine," Italia replied, dismounting.

  With contained fury, she grabbed a weapon from Luke’s back and positioned herself at his side. "My father didn’t teach me to run from battles."

  "You also have to know which battles to choose…" Luke countered.

  "I choose this one. And if I fall, I’ll fall with my own," Italia said, loading the rifle.

  The group fired relentlessly.

  The hostiles drew closer, their growls and shrieks echoing everywhere.

  The defensive line retreated slowly, shooting without pause.

  "We’re being surrounded! We have to move now!" Tobias warned.

  "Fall back slowly, keep your eyes forward," Luke ordered.

  In the chaos, Mabel fell to the ground. Hostiles lunged at her, but Néstor jumped in, firing furiously.

  "Get up, Mabel! We can’t stop!"

  Luke turned to Tobias. "Use the explosives, take out as many as you can!"

  Tobias pulled dynamite from his bag, improvised with a nearby barrel, and filled it with powder.

  "Clear the front!" he shouted.

  "Everyone take cover!" Luke commanded.

  Tobias lit the dynamite, tied it with a rope around the barrel, and with all his strength rolled it down the slope toward the hostiles.

  BOOM!

  The explosion tore through the beasts, sending them flying in pieces.

  For a moment, calm seemed to return.

  But soon, through the flames and smoke, more hostiles emerged. Their charred bodies advanced with fury, enraged, as if the blast had only awakened their wrath.

  "They won’t stop coming… we’re finished," Iván said, fear in his eyes.

  Luke clenched his teeth, thinking: This doesn’t look good… they’ve got us corner

  Ammunition was running low.

  The group fell back, forming a desperate line of resistance. The tension was unbearable, and the end seemed inevitable.

  And then, in the midst of chaos and smoke, a solitary silhouette emerged. His voice dripped with irony.

  "Well, you certainly know how to draw attention…" said an unknown man.