Walsh ran outside after Riggs, followed by Richard Campbell and Cyrus Legoria, with Mutio rushing up behind them on all fours. There was an explosion behind them; Cyrus' room was hit by a missile, launched from one of the Riptide helicopters.

"Bastards!" yelled Cyrus, turning just in time to watch as his fridge was sent flying into the hallway.

The five made it to the fire escape, when a Riptide helicopter circled over, and fired bullets and missiles at the roof. One of Walsh's other men jumped off the roof just in time, and landed in the water with a big splash. Unfortunately, the flaming tail of Walsh's helicopter fell on top of him, killing him instantly.

"Tori!" Riggs hollered at the dead soldier.

"Jackson!" Walsh yelled up the fire escape.

"It's too late." said Cyrus. "They're gone. Come on, I have my own way out of here."

"Hurry, before we're overrun!" yelled Campbell.

The five went down the fire escape to the ramp that lead to the roof of the pawn shop. There, Cyrus' police boat was docked. They all got in, and Campbell started the motor. They sped away just in time to see the Ocean's Rest go up in flames.

"They'll pay for this!" said Cyrus. "Rick, get us downtown! We need to evacuate the others."

"Right!"

"Riggs and I will provide covering fire." said Walsh.

He took out his assault rifle, and Riggs took out his. They both opened fire on the chopper, Riggs yelling incoherently as he did so. Suddenly, there was an explosion of gunfire from beside them; a gunboat closed in on them, with its entire crew discharging their weapons. A single .50 caliber bullet from the gunboat's turret struck Walsh's Remington ACR, breaking it cleanly in two.

"Hit the deck!" Walsh hollered, as he ducked.

Riggs swung around, cocked his HK416, and shot the gunner and pilot, as well as two other men aboard the enemy vessel. This gave their boat enough time to swerve away. The boat sped through the flooded ruins of Miami Beach, and across the bay, until it reached downtown. Downtown, like the other parts of the city, was heavily flooded. However, there were still people living there, in the few buildings that remained intact from the floods and previous Riptide and Chimeran attacks. The buildings were all connected by makeshift ramps and bridges, mostly built on roofs and balconies. Several people were on the walkways, looking down at them.

"It's the Riptides!" yelled Cyrus. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Several more men ran outside, carrying rifles and shotguns of their own, and started spraying the air with bullets.

"Get to the boats!" Campbell yelled at them. "There's too many to fight!"

The sounds of helicopters and gunfire filled the air, as the Riptides swarmed them. The townspeople were all running along the gangplanks and bridges, panicking, or shooting their guns back at them. Some were dropping into the water, dead or alive. Walsh and Riggs started pulling people onto the boat, while Cyrus and Campbell jumped out to lead people to other boats. Mutio followed them.

"Good idea. You should stay with us." said Cyrus. "The other people here won't know you."

Mutio nodded. She looked around, and saw the carnage. She whimpered at the wanton destruction, but nobody heard her over the agonizing screams and gunshots. Nor did they see her or even care to look at her, since they were either running or fighting to stay alive or getting their limbs shot off by enemy weaponry.

"We need to find Trey and Rockefeller." said Campbell. "Last I heard, they were a couple buildings North of here. Maybe if we used the walkways-"

"Hind!" exclaimed Riggs.

A helicopter swooped down at them, discharging bullets at the townspeople. Several people were blown apart and mowed down by the gunfire.

"We won't live long enough to get that far!" said Cyrus. "Just get who we can, and then go!"

He led a few more people to a nearby barge, and then more of them to a pontoon boat that was docked beside it. When both vessels left, a Latino man ran screaming after them, waving a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

"Hey, pendejo! that's my pontoon!" he hollered, shaking his fist in anger. "Get back here, you sons of-"

"Get down!" Cyrus tackled the boat owner to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand.

Just in time, since the helicopter circled around again to shoot the jetty.

"You need to come with us, Alex!" said Campbell, getting Cyrus and the boat owner to their feet. "It's too dangerous here."

"You think, Chico?!"

Cyrus and Campbell led Alex back to their boat, to find that Riggs and Walsh had already gotten six other people aboard.

"I think that's enough!" said Campbell. "We need to leave. Fast!"

"Where's Mutio?" asked Cyrus.

"Ah, shoot!" Campbell looked around for the chimera.

"Let's go! Now!" yelled one of the survivors on the boat. "We're as good as boned if we stay here!"

"Look out!" yelled another.

The Riptides' gunboats had now caught up with them, and were now pursuing the escaping boats. Some of their bullets hit the police boat, even hitting one of the survivors in the head. The man dropped into the water, his blood staining it red as he sank.

"Hank! No!" yelled his friend, who was reaching in vain for him, before Alex pulled him back.

Cyrus and Campbell jumped into the boat, and started the motor. Riggs fired his assault rifle at a nearby gunboat, managing to hit his mark on a gunner's leg. Walsh took out a grenade from his vest, pulled the pin, and tossed it at another gunboat. The vessel exploded, and the bodies of the men aboard scattered into the water. The boat sped on through downtown. As they went, they saw more people with firearms in the buildings, blasting at the Riptides' helicopters. Walsh felt his jaw drop when he saw an elderly man up above, dropping his cane to pick up a Colt AR-15 assault rifle with a bump-fire stock, and open fire on the nearest Hind.

"Where do you people get these guns?!" Walsh shouted in surprise.

As they passed the destroyed police station, Cyrus stopped the boat. He could see a glimmering shape in the water.

"What is that?" asked Alex the boat owner.

Suddenly, there was a splash, and Mutio threw herself onto the motorboat. But she wasn't alone; A fourteen-year-old Black boy was on her back, sputtering and choking. She gently let him slide off of her and onto the floor of the boat.

"What the hell is that thing?" one of the survivors yelled.

"What did it do to that kid?" said another.

"It's one of those sea monsters! Let's kill it!" said a third, cocking his Beretta 92FS.

"Pete! No!" Cyrus yelled.

Walsh grabbed Pete, before he could pull the trigger.

"Don't shoot." he told him, taking the pistol from him. "It's with us. Now give me that before you hurt yourself."

Cyrus recognized the boy. It was Matt, Trey's kid brother. He presumed that Trey's place, which was nearby, had been attacked and Matt tried to swim away.

"Stand back!" said Cyrus. "Give the kid some air. Rick, get us-!"

He stooped over Matt, but Mutio already clamped her mouth around Matt's and started making sucking noises. Water started spurting out of her gills. Then she bent her head back up. Matt started breathing slowly, and opened his eyes.

"Are…are you a mermaid?" he asked Mutio, groggily. "You're beautiful."

Mutio blushed.

"Look out!" yelled Pete.

Just then, several armed men in leather armor, undoubtedly Riptides, jumped onto the boat while shouting fanatically. They were about to discharge their weapons, but Walsh shot one of them with Pete's Beretta, knocking his attacker off the boat. Riggs took out a Bowie knife, rushed towards the second man, and stabbed him in the chest. Then he twisted the knife out and punched the man's corpse into the water. Cyrus blasted a third off the boat with his shotgun, while Pete tackled the fourth, punched him in the face repeatedly, grabbed his IWI Jericho 941, and shot him with it.

A fifth man, who stayed on the pier, aimed at them with a Cobray Terminator. He attempted to open fire on the boat, but the gun jammed on him...repeatedly. Dropping the malfunctioning weapon, he then pulled out a suppressed Rogak P18 from his belt. However, the pistol got caught on the laces of his jackboot. There was a snap, and the suppressor and the tip of the pistol's barrel were broken off. He pointed the damaged gun at Cyrus, and pulled the trigger repeatedly. There were several clicks, but the gun didn't fire. Looking at the pistol, he winced in fear.

"Por que?!" he shrieked, turning to run into the building behind him.

Pete fired after the unlucky gunman, until he was out of ammo. Fortunately, the last bullet hit him in the head.

"Never call me 'Porky'!" he hollered, throwing the empty handgun after him.

"Campbell, why in God's name aren't we going anywhere?!" Walsh asked, breathlessly.

"Because the motor's been shot!" Campbell yelled. "The Riptides must've hit it when they made the last pass!"

"Then we'll have to gun it!" said Cyrus. "Everybody, follow me! We need to find another way out of here."

He handed his SPAS-12 to Alex, picked Matt up, and carried him on his back. Then he grabbed a rope hanging from the jetty, and pulled the boat towards it. The others jumped onto the platform, and helped Cyrus off the boat. As soon as Cyrus was off the boat, he brandished his Browning HP, and cocked it. They could hear gunfire and explosions in the distance. The closer the sounds were, the more intense and rapid they became. Time was running out.

"If we can get to the top of that building up there, we can signal Rockefeller to pick us up." said Campbell. "Now let's get up there. Don't let the Riptides get you!"

They all went up the walkway into the destroyed office building. They ran down the corridors and up and down different stairwells until they reached the fire escape on the far side. By this point, the Riptides had surrounded the building with their watercraft. One of them was carrying a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. He opened fire, and two members of Cyrus' group were hit by the sweeping stream of bullets that issued from the gun's barrel; One man collapsed to the floor, his ribs and stomach riddled with bullet holes, and the other was struck in the hip, lost his balance, and tumbled down the fire escape's stairs. Everyone else had to retreat back into the building. One by one, they all crept out of the line of fire until they reached the stairwell on the far side of the building.

After getting up to the next level, Cyrus and the other survivors exchanged gunfire with the men below, but they were relentless; another of their group had taken a face-full of hot lead during a crossfire. Now the Riptides were entering the complex through the walkways. A group of them followed the survivors up the stairs in secret, and were already gathering behind them, loading their firearms to blast them all at once.

Mutio jumped out in the middle of the two groups of humans, facing the hostiles. The sight of her surprised the attackers. What surprised them even more came when she opened her mouth. She made a loud siren-like shriek that made the attackers all stagger and drop their weapons in shock. Cyrus, recognizing the sound, turned around, and gunned down all of the Riptides before they could recover. The sound of the gunshots made Mutio wince and cover her ears.

"Good work." he said to her.

Mutio put her hands down, and frowned at him.

"What the hell was that?" asked Pete.

"We'll talk about it later." said Cyrus. "Now let's get upstairs."

Which they did, and it was a corridor-by-corridor battle to the rooftop: their only hope of escape.

They made it to the nineteenth and final floor. Unfortunately, the door was jammed shut, and the Riptides were closing in on them. Alex, using Cyrus' shotgun, blasted anyone that came around the corner.

BOOM-SHICK! BOOM-SHICK! BOOM-SHICK! BOOM-SHICK!

"How the hell do we get out of here?!" yelled Campbell over the gunshots.

Riggs re-loaded his assault rifle, and shot out the hinges on the door, then kicked it in. However, it was jammed by debris on the other side. Thinking quickly, he smashed open a glass case on the wall, which contained a fire axe. He swung the axe at the door, and hastily chopped it down, and kicked back the debris. They made past the door, and came into a large room which had a collapsed ceiling. A Hind was circling overhead, staring down at the group. Any moment now, it would launch a barrage of missiles.

"This is not good." whispered Riggs.

"Ay caramba, muchachos. We're all screwed." said Alex.

Suddenly, a loud BAM! was heard, and a glowing projectile hit the Hind in its engines at supersonic speed, causing it to explode and hurdle into the water below, presumably taking some gunboats with it. A familiar red-and-white helicopter hovered into view over them. In it was Trey holding Campbell's Mambi AMR in his hands.

"Trey, there you are!" Cyrus shouted, heartily.

The helicopter descended into the room, since there was a gaping hole large enough for it to sink into. Cyrus and the others got aboard, even Mutio.

"Trey, I can't believe you used my anti-tank rifle!" Campbell complained loudly. "Rockefeller, why the hell did you let him-"

Then they heard a burst of gunfire and some explosions in the distance.

"Never mind. Get us out of here! Now!" he frantically yelled to Rockefeller. "Take us north, and don't stop!"

"10-4!"

The helicopter ascended and flew away from Miami, with its precious few passengers looking back. The Riptides were now swarming around the other buildings, and their aircraft were gunning down whatever boats tried escaping. Fire and smoke filled the air, as did the rancid smell of gunpowder against the seawater. Trey was shaking all over as he handed the gun back to Campbell.

"Take the damn thing..." he moaned, trying to catch his breath. "I ain't firing it never again."

Cyrus let Matt off his back. Trey grabbed him and hugged him.

"Oh my god, Matt!" he exclaimed, then muttered: "I thought those sons of bitches gotcha!"

"The mermaid saved me, big brother!" said Matt. "Ain't she beautiful?"

Trey looked at Mutio, who looked back at him. Trey gazed intensely at her, but then he nodded with approval.

"You did good, fish-lady." said Trey.

Cyrus looked around at the other people on the helicopter: Campbell, Walsh, Riggs, Trey, Matt, Mutio, Rockefeller, Pete, Alex, and another man.

"No..." he said, solemnly. "My god…we're all that's left. Just eleven people."

"Yeah, if you count the sea monster." said Pete.

"I do count her, Pete." said Cyrus. "As of now, she's one of us. As of now, we're all in this together. As of now…I'm in charge. And what I say goes."

"No, I'm in charge." said Walsh. "As a member of the U.S. Special Forces-"

"Your so-called 'Special Forces' don't mean a damn thing." interrupted Campbell. "If it were up to you, we'd all be dead right now. At least Cyrus thought about evacuating us before the Riptides closed in. I say we listen to him."

"Besides, we outnumber you military meatheads nine-to-two." said Cyrus. "If anyone doesn't like it here, you can jump out and find your own way to safety. Now listen up, people."

He pointed at Mutio.

"Her name is Mutio." he said to the other men. "And none of you are to harm her, or allow anyone else to harm her."

"Why the hell not?" asked Pete.

"Isn't she one of those Zorndyke monstruos that attacked Miami during the war?" asked Alex the boat owner. "Why should we-"

"Because, Alex, she may be the key to our survival." said Cyrus. "She can breathe underwater, and swim to the deepest depths of the ocean. She can also catch fish like it's nobody's business. Meanwhile, we have no fishing rods, no nets, no bait, very limited food, no dry land for miles, and none of us can swim even remotely as good as her. You should be treating her like a goddess."

"And what if she just swims away and leaves us, huh?" asked Pete.

Mutio typed on her wrist device.

"Trust me. I won't leave you. Cyrus knows what he's doing." the electronic voice said.

Most of the men, predictably, were surprised by Mutio using the device to communicate with them. But they knew they had bigger priorities on their mind, so they didn't question it.

"So what's the plan now, gringo?" asked Alex.

"We're going to New York." said Cyrus. "Mutio came here on a Musuca that beached nearby recently. It was dead, and she was the only survivor. She was looking for someone. Walsh tells me that another Musuca washed up near New York. We need to find out what's been attacking them. It could come for us next."

"Great." Pete shouted, throwing his arms up in disbelief. "That's just great!"

"Like you've got anything better to do, tubby?" asked Campbell.

"As a matter of fact, I sure as hell don't." said Pete. "I think we could all use a nice change of scenery, anyway."