The sound of footsteps rang out behind her and she quickly turned. In the corner of the room, peeking out from behind one of the Humvees, two children in gas masks and fatigues that were far too large for them were staring at her. She hardly noticed the oversized assault rifles they were pointing in her direction.

“You’re too late,” one of the children said, stepping forward but keeping the weapon leveled at her. “The ship took off right after the monsters came.”

Sophie pushed herself off the ground, staring at the two figures. Behind her a volley of shots rang out, and the high-pitched shriek of another Spider bounced off the hangar walls.

The children hardly moved, unfazed by the terrifying sounds.

“Who are you?” the smaller one asked. “Are you here to rescue us?”

“Shut up, stupid!” the bigger child replied, smacking the other one on the back of the head. “If she was here to rescue us, she wouldn’t be crying.”

Sophie stopped sniffling and reached for her helmet, but halted as the larger boy pointed his weapon at her again.

“Watch it, lady! No sudden moves.”

The children sounded like boys, and judging by their frames she assumed the smaller one was about seven years old, the larger one no older than ten. But with the oversized fatigues, it was hard to tell.

“Listen,” Sophie managed to say. “I’m not here to hurt you. We came for the ship. That’s all.”

“Don’t you listen? The ship’s gone!” the larger boy shouted.

“We need to get out of here, they’re coming,” the other boy insisted, pulling on his friend’s arm.

“Do you want to live or what, lady?”

Sophie wasn’t sure how to respond. Finally she blinked the tears out of her eyes and managed to reply. “My friend’s outside, I need to get to him.”

The older boy tilted his head, listening to the gunfire, before checking the magazine in his own rifle. “He’s not going to last long. Follow me,” he said, taking off toward a ladder hanging on the wall behind the Humvee.

She hesitated before scooping up her rifle. Throwing the strap across her back, she opened the com link. “Overton, do you read?”

“Roger. Things are getting dicey. Not sure how much longer I can hold these bastards off. It looks like their shields are starting to regenerate. Did you find the package?”

Sophie closed her eyes against the pain. “No,” she said. “It’s gone.”

“Gone? What the fuck do you mean, it’s gone? You said it would be here!”

Sophie could picture Overton’s nostrils flaring and his eyes widening with anger. She couldn’t blame him.

“Hold tight, Sergeant. I found some survivors,” she said.

Silence filled the channel, followed by another volley of gunfire. “Survivors?”

“Just sit tight.”