AC: I also want to thank my Beta-reader FollowerOfAnhamirak for his time on this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.


At lunch time, everyone watched the scanner of Tom. The boy spoke with the Codemaster.

"Crellan. You're serious. The M'arrillians are here?" Tom gulped at the thought.

"Indeed. It took too long to warn you. You have no time to evacuate. They block any exit and with their ability to fly, they will get you eventually. We already warned the military and are currently planning a rescue mission with your father taking the lead Tom."

Donald watched the window. He looked outside and saw nothing suspicious for now.

Agitos grunted, "We are trapped."

Arias agreed, "You are certain we can't get out of here? Your intel might be wrong."

"No. We are seeing directly where they are. They pretty much surrounded you without realising you are here. Some are still progressing south. They are quite dispersed, but they are many of them. Expect most of them to be warriors."

"And I am low on fuel," Annie admitted.

"I don't think we can pull up another stun to escape them," Kaz sighed as he already thought of something they could do.

Donald sighed, "Guess we have to hold on until the army comes," he then turned towards them.

The Codemaster finished explaining everything they had about the M'arrillians, "I'll contact Sarah and Peyton now," he then ended communication.

"You seriously think we can hold on long enough human?" Rothar doubtfully asked.

"You think you can't fight them?" the old man replied.

That shut the minotaur mouth as he crossed his arms and huffed. He couldn't accept defeat like that.

Intress asked, "Do you have anything to defend yourself? Any battlegears?"

"Yes," Donald replied. He looked at the creatures, "You have to barricade the windows and the doors. Tom, Kaz. Come with me. We will take out old Garand and the others."

"Garand?" Kaz asked.

"His father's M1 Garand from World War two," his best friend replied.

A bit of knowledge the creatures were curious for, but now was not the time for questions.

The three women prepared everything they could to hold on as long as possible. They went to get any medical equipment they had and also anything that could help them in the upcoming fight.


Chapter 93: Barricades

The two teenagers followed the old man in the basement. When the light came, the two were impressed.

"It's been so long since I've came down there," Tom commented as he looked at the large shelves at the back.

Donald chuckled, "Yes. Last time was with your father and we went hunting together," he opened the shelf and revealed a few guns in there. There was the M1 Garand with ammos near it.

"You have that many ammos?" Kaz adjusted his glasses as he watched the many boxes.

"Yes. George cannot stop himself to bring more of those even if I barely use it," Tom's grandfather laughed as he grabbed the weapon and held it, "Dad. You're watching us as always, right?" He then opened the others, "Grab everything you can. We need every weapon to fight back against those M'arrillians."

"That's a lot of them," they commented.

Tom grabbed a rifle with a scope on it. He gazed at it. A few memories came back as he used it in the past, "Today's the second time I'll shot a M'arrillian," he commented.

"Y-yeah. Do… Do you know how to use one of those?" Kaz asked unsure. He heard Donald saying that his best friend hunted before.

"Yeah. I got a dear with this two years ago. When dad is home, he showed me how to use it to defend myself and my future family," he admitted. He then checked if the weapon was working correctly. He used everything in instinct. Once it was done, he loaded it.

"Kaz. Can you load these? We might need every gun loaded. It will be faster than reloading."

"S-sure," the red-haired boy replied. He then began to load them.

"Make sure the security is still on," the old man warned him.

Tom helped Kaz and checked them before he gave it to his friend. Once all guns were secured, he helped him loading it.

Once they were done, they searched for other weapons. They took out three baseball bats, a metal pipe covered with rust.

"Why do you have a metal pipe here?" Tom asked his grandfather.

"That? Well… Forgot it was there. Don't go often down there," he chuckled a little nervously.

The three finished searching for the weapons. Next, they had to bring those up. Kaz grabbed the close-range weapons they found in hope it might be of some use. He grabbed an axe and the bat first and climbed the stairs.

The two Major's brought the guns up before they returned for the ammos.


Arias and Rothar went to cover the windows of the ground floor while Agitos and Intress did the same in the first floor. It wasn't long before everything had been blocked with any furniture's they could find. Also, the ones the humans let them use.

They joined in the living room as the woman brought anything that could be use for first aid.

"I hope they will pass the farm," Annie commented. She knew it wouldn't be the case.

"Knowing our luck, they won't pass it. They will come right here," her son replied, knowing full well they always ended up in trouble in Perim.

They put the weapons on the ground.

"That one looks bigger than the one you used to shoot me," Arias gazed at the woman.

"This one is more powerful," Donald replied.

"It can make heads blow off," Kaz commented. His friend and him saw enough movies to know that a shot from a rifle can do that to a human. As for a creature, that was a good question.

Tom grabbed the rifle and checked it again.

"Do you even know how to use one of those things?" Agitos asked suspiciously the human.

"Yes. I used it to hunt with dad a few times. He showed me how," the black-haired boy replied.

"And he has good aim. He got a dear right between his eyes," his grandfather commented.

Tom nervously nodded.

"You know how to use a battlegear?" Arias asked surprised. He wasn't expecting Tom to have such knowledge.

Intress lightly smiled, "Anyway. We need to defend the house the best way possible. We don't know where they are or when they are going to show up. We need to defend any vulnerable part of the house and taking into account where most of them will strike form."

"We also need to be flexible. M'arrillians will likely change their plan depending on our defense," Agitos added.

"I'll defend from the first floor," Tom decided. He pointed at the rifle, "It's best to use it on a higher floor."

"I'll come with you, just in case they are trying to get to you," Intress told him.

Annie grabbed one baseball bat and her pistol, fully loaded, "And I'll come with you."

Justine brought some first aid kit and brought it to them.

The others prepared the defence on the ground floor.

"We need to see everywhere," Agitos said as he looked at the house. He observed the windows. A few had holes where they could look outside and others less barricaded, where they could defend themselves. He knew that everything was placed well enough to minimalized the blind spot. It was the best they could do in a small amount of time.

"I'll watch the front," Rothar decided. He decided to try the axe they brought. It was a little too small for his grip and left it there. He decided to pick the rusty old pipe. It was a large one and it fit in his grasp.

The blue Underworlder grabbed it. His hands were smaller and he didn't hurt himself while holding it, "I'll watch the back."

"Me too. I have a feeling they will try the back first," Arias followed him.

Donald grabbed his rifles, "I'll come with you."

Once Justice climbed, down, she followed them with her first aid kit.

Kaz and his mother gazed at each other's.

"Looks like we are helping Rothar," that pissed the teenager off a little. He knew what Rothar might try to do before the M'arrillians showed up.

"I cannot use any guns well," she still grabbed a revolver for self defense.

"Me too," he grabbed a baseball bat. He brought the other one just in case they needed it.

"All we can do is wait now," Rothar told them.

Everyone where at the positions. It was now the waiting game. They needed to be patient and checked if there was any M'arrillians around.

They gave a few glances outside, checking if the creatures showed up. So far, none of them appeared. Tom and Kaz had put their scanners on the ground, making sure they could hear it if anyone contacted them.

Tom looked outside. He sweated a little.

"Nervous Tom?" Intress asked.

"Yeah. No idea how many will show up and if we can fight back all of them," the boy admitted.

"I won't let any of them take you away from me," his mother reassured him.

The boy wasn't certain his mother could do as much as him. He had many adventures in Perim. He had time to tell a few of them with his family. After explaining again that it was their code and not their real self in Perim.

Despite that, Tom put his faith in his mother. If she could shoot a tall buffed ram creature without hesitation, she wouldn't let those M'arrillians get her that easily. She flattened the leg of Aval'par. He gulped at the thought of that M'arrillian. If the purple creature was there, he would want revenge.

The boy shook his head and looked farther away with the scope of his rifle, "Dad will be here in time. I know it."

Annie smiled, "George is never late when someone need his help. We all need his help."

Intress chuckled, "You both look out to him. Don't worry. We will hold on longer than needed."

The boy smiled and nodded. He continued to check if they would show up. They were ready to meet them.


Arias and Agitos looked outside and saw nothing standing out.

"I hate waiting," Agitos grumbled as the tension raised in the house. He could feel it under his scales.

"You are not the only one. When nothing is going on, everything could happen," the ram replied.

Donald checked his rifle, "It's the waiting game. Maybe they won't show up. Who knows? We will be ready."

"Can't we use those accursed chickens against them? They can peck those M'arrillians eyes as long as they want," the blue Underworlder grumbled.

The Overworlder chuckled, "Still not over that?"

"Of course not. They tried to murder me!"

Justice chuckled, "You are arguing like my children when they were young. Are you siblings?"

No one was sure if she joked or not.

"Euh…No," they replied together with uncertainty.

Donald sighed, "Honey. Do they even have a bit of similarity?"

"No, but you can never be sure. We never went to this Perim," she replied.

The creatures weren't sure how to respond to her misunderstanding of their world. They pushed it aside and focused on watching outside. Still, a bit of the tension dropped in the air.


"You're okay Kaz?" Cassandra asked as she held the picture of her passed husband in her arms.

"Y-yeah," the boy was sweating nervously. He wasn't okay. They had no way to port out if they showed up. The only good thing was that Rothar didn't try to hit on his mother.

"I hate waiting. I rather go outside and fight them," the minotaur saw the gaze the two were giving him. A very judgemental one, "I said rather, not going outside myself. I'm not stupid to charge alone against an army."

None of them could argue about it.

Kaz checked outside, "I see something," he whispered.

His scanner rang at the same time as Tom, "What is it?" he asked.

"Beware. A few M'arrillians are going at your directions. We estimated around twenty of them will show up soon," Codemaster Crellan warned them, "The army will take half an hour to reach the farm."

"Twenty," Rothar grumbled. It wasn't as big as he expected. He thought it would be the entire army. He let out a small smirk. They had their chances.

"More will probably come the moment they see us," Kaz commented.

"We are ready," Cassandra replied.

"Good. If they are more coming, I'll contact you," the codemaster ended communication.

They were on their own for half an hour.


AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: Siege.

The family must resist the attacks of the M'arrillians in any means necessary.