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Chapter 3: Nowhere to Run
The feeling of raw terror and helplessness was almost palpable in the predawn mountain air. Children clung to one another in tight clusters along the street, their horrified faces pointed skyward, their mouths agape but unable to scream. Above them, the looming alien spaceship with cannons aimed square at the nearest group had just finished charging the ominous weapon. Finally, a brilliantly bright ball of powerful energy exploded out of the twin cannons with a thunderous crack that shook the sky, traveling at an incredible speed towards the clutch of terrified juveniles.
Just as Stan saw the cannons fire, just as the fearsome crack tore through the air and rattled his very bones, time seemed to suddenly slow to a crawl. The neon projectiles that had been traveling near the speed of sound were now inching through the sky, their high pitched whistling becoming a low and menacing rumble of untamed energy radiating from their cores as they slowly neared their target. The kids around him were almost as still as statues; the strange electronics surrounding them now spinning slow enough that Stan could see their individual blades. It was as if he had somehow broken loose from times tight grip , even if only momentarily.
In that fraction of a second, with his senses still heightened, Stan's madly darting eyes discovered a weakness in the barrier that surrounded them. A few of the blade wielding orbs that made up the circle were hovering noticeably higher than the rest. It hadn't left the biggest opening, but it was Stan's only chance at escaping the incoming cannon fire.
Not even taking a moment to think, Stan threw himself forward, diving onto the pavement and sliding just underneath the whirling razors. Despite his odds, he managed to escape without a scratch, save for the small amount of fuzz that had been shaved off the puff ball of his hat. But what would become of the others? Of his friends? In a frenzy of panicked gasps, he frantically scrambled to his feet and whipped back around.
Time roared back to normal speed in an instant, and Stan watched in absolute horror as the ball of unfathomable energy impacted the ground with a deafening blast. There was a sudden flash followed by a beastly rumble, as the spherical projectile suddenly ballooned into a sizable and semi transparent dome, its diameter the same size as the buzz saw barrier. The kids caught in the impact site, who thankfully appeared unharmed, now floated freely in the crackling dome, struggling and writhing in the air as they tried their hardest to return to Terra Firma. But the interior of the energy shield was completely unaffected by gravity. They were trapped, hanging effortlessly above the ground with no way back down.
Stan stared wide eyed at the five children now encased in this force field. Kyle, who had been nearest to Stan, gaped back in awe and bewilderment, his mind too riddled with questions to think clearly. Ike hovered just beside him, still crying and waving his arms frantically in an effort to move even slightly. Behind the two Broflovski children, Stan could just barely see Clyde, who had managed to flip upside down and whom he could hear fearfully sobbing for help. Next to Clyde was Jimmy, whom Stan had barely realized had been present in the circle, his crutches offering no help from his position above the ground. The only other child inside was Cartman, whos terrified face instantly twisted into an expression of anger when he locked eyes with Stan.
"Stan, you asshole!" He furiously shouted, his voice slightly muted as though he had been sealed in plastic. "You can't leave us here!"
"Please, Stan!" Kyle quickly added, still trying to move in the bubble of anti gravity. "You have to save us! You have to let us out!"
With the guilt of his own escape crashing over him like a tidal wave, Stan cautiously stepped closer to the electrified energy dome. "But I... How? What do I do?"
A rumbling overhead suddenly stole Stan's attention, and he turned his face skyward. The colossal space ship above had brought its engines to life, and the vehicle began to slowly creep across the night sky. It's twin cannons, which now seemed to point more in Stan's direction, once again began to glow, charging another shot.
"Stan!"
A hand tightly gripped the child's shoulder, startling a scream from Stan's throat. He quickly turned, more than a little surprised to see Kenny's mostly orange draped form standing just behind him, his dark brown glove holding firm. Somehow, in all the chaos, he too had found the opening and managed to escape the bladed barrier before the shot collided. He glared back through his hood with an intense expression and an aura of urgency.
"Stan!" He repeated, gesturing beyond their captive colleagues. "We'll have to come back for them! But we need to run! Now!"
The darker haired child followed his friends signal and quickly found that a new wall of those screeching, weaponized orbs was now sweeping their way down the street, only breaking formation to avoid the shield and all the captives within. Though they wanted only to rescue their closest companions, they knew that lingering here was no longer an option.
The duo whom had avoided the weightless trap gave one last solemn look at their comrades, the deepest feelings of guilt, shame, and hopelessness clearly visible upon their faces. Though it pained them to the very core, the two turned and bolted down the street at top speed, leaving the others behind amid a chorus of their desperate cries for help.
Stan and Kenny didn't have to run far before they passed another terrified huddle of kids herded together by a ring of flying buzz saws. A quick glance revealed that they, too, were all children that they recognized. Bebe hid her defeated sobs behind her petite hands. Tweek shrieked at a volume rivaling the electronic squeals, pressed back to back against Craig, who found he was too frightened to offer any words of comfort. Kevin spun in place loudly uttering a sci-fi mantra to himself, desperately looking for a way out.
"Guys! You have to run!" Stan screamed as he and Kenny sped by. "The space ship! It's shooting weird force fields! You'll be trapped!"
The clutch of kids turned to look at their fleeing companions, but most were unable to will their petrified bodies to move. Kevin, however, found the weakness in the wall he had been looking for, and Stan's warning served to give him that last bit of energy he needed to attempt his escape. He darted toward the lowest flying orb and, with surprising athleticism, leapt over the whirling barrier. At that same moment, a second crack exploded from the sky, and in less than a second the three remaining children were trapped within another alien dome of zero gravity. Kevin yelped in terror, and he joined Stan and Kenny on their mad dash through the street.
It wasn't long before they passed another group, and then another. One more child heeded their warnings and managed to find a gap large enough to escape before the canons fired, but the majority of those they past wound up trapped just like those before them. As the four free children continued on at top speed through the midnight mountain air, it seemed less and less likely that they would ever make it out of this alive.
Suddenly, Kenny came to a dead stop in the center of the street, completely oblivious to the others leaving him behind. Like Kyle before him, a cry had stolen every last ounce of his attention, and he whipped around to face the only sound that mattered to him now. In the group of huddled children nearest to him, he spotted the terrified face of his younger sister, crying hysterically as she desperately clung to the oldest of the McCormick kids.
"Karen!" He shouted, sprinting towards his frightened siblings.
Kenny's sudden exclamation took Stan by surprise, bringing his fleeing to a halt as he turned to investigate. He hadn't realized just how far Kenny had fallen behind. Though the wall of blades pressed forward and the ship above continued its attack, Kenny was no longer running from the danger, but rather choosing to go closer towards it.
"Kenny! We can't stop!" Stan screamed, jogging a few steps back, hoping perhaps to take hold of Kenny to drag him forward and keep him moving.
But the determined middle child was deaf to Stan's pleads. Stan simply couldn't understand the instinctive need to protect that Kenny and Kyle both possessed as older brothers. When their siblings cried out for them, it was as if nothing else in the world mattered.
Breathing in heavy pants, Kenny began scanning the nearby street for some sort of weapon or projectile. His eyes quickly fell upon a lifeless alien orb by his foot, one that had somehow managed to break and shut down, it's blades fully retracted. It was just what he needed. He nabbed the small electronic, sprinted the last few steps towards the barrier surrounding his family, and threw the metallic sphere with all his might.
The device impacted one of the active orbs dead center, and it immediately began to struggle. It sputtered a broken tone, its hovering beginning to fail and its blades beginning to spin randomly. As it shorted out, it managed to clip one of the other spheres just beside it, taking out one of its blades and gashing its core. The two injured orbs finally fell to the pavement, all their sound and movement finally ceasing.
Kenny's siblings quickly took notice of the break in the wall surrounding them. His older brother, the second boy named Kevin to be involved in the madness of this night, didn't hesitate in escaping, quickly dashing through the gap as one of the blades tore a thin slit in his already tattered shirt. He took his place beside his younger brother, only now realizing that Karen hadn't followed him and was still stuck in the cannons target.
Both of the McCormick boys called out to her, but to no avail. Karen was completely paralyzed with fear, especially since Kevin had only barely escaped being sliced in his side. She wasn't ready to attempt the same risky behavior. She backed into the kid behind her and frantically sobbed, at a loss for what to do.
Not waiting another second, Kenny bolted between the barriers gap and grabbed his tiny, frail sister by the shoulders. "Come on, Karen!" He pleaded, trying desperately to pull her forward; to make her move. "You need to run! We have to go!"
The loud crack that exploded from above indicated that it was too late.
"Kenny!" Stan and Kevin screamed in unison, watching the energy ball shoot through the air and encase Kenny and Karen in yet another gravity-less cage. They, too, were prisoners now. There was nothing left that could be done.
"Guys! Keep going!" Kenny gestured with one hand, his other tightly clutching Karen's quaking fingers. "You have to escape! Go! Find help!"
Stan opened his mouth to protest, but a gentle hand found his own and gripped him firmly. When he looked to its owner, he saw Kevin give him a worried yet empathetic nod before he turned and began to run, dragging Stan along with his surprising strength. Once they were moving fast enough, the older boy released his hold, trusting the younger to keep up the pace on his own.
Unfortunately, Stan fell victim to his own curiosity. He couldn't fight the temptation, and, as in the story of Lott and his wife, he turned to glance at the chaos behind him. With his attention diverted, he was unable to see the quickly approaching obstacle, a single disabled metal sphere laying motionless in the road. He stepped atop it, the orb quickly rolled, and Stan's foot flew out from beneath him, launching him backwards onto the pavement as his breath escaped him in a hollow wheeze.
He tried to stand, he tried to cry out, he tried so desperately just to breathe. But there would be no escaping this time. Struggling to take control of his paralyzed diaphragm, Stan gaped breathlessly towards the starry night sky, watching as it was slowly obscured by the monstrous shadow of the flying fortress above. Hope was lost. His friends had been captured. And now he, too, was at the mercy of the invading creatures.
The glowing barrel of the cannon was the last thing he saw before the weapon fired and Stan's vision faded to black.
