As she walked further into the city, the smell of fire, burning rubber and, even, the smell of blood filled her nose. Her skin was soon sprinkled with ash as she began to walk between buildings to keep herself as hidden as possible from the decepticons. Saphira knew that she had quite a way to go before she could reach her destination. Trump Tower was in the middle of the city after all, so it could take a few hours to reach it. But she was willing to be patient. As much as time was of the essence, she knew rushing could get her killed. She was not going to be stupid.
She stopped the end of the alley between the two buildings, looking peering from around the corner and looking around cautiously. She could not see any decepticon straight away, but she knew that with the ships flying around, they could easily drop down at any time. She looked to the sky and ducked back a little when she spotted Starscream flying around. She knew the one thing that he had was a keen eye. Almost nothing would get past him, and if he was watching the city carefully, he will most definitely see her.
The other decepticon she would even need to be looking out for was Laserbeak. Given his size, he could literally hide in plain sight. That was more of a concern, especially if he was not hanging with Soundwave. She did not know if they were expecting her to come here. It actually would be rather unsettling if they did expect her to be here right now. But there was little she could do.
She grabbed her handgun and checked to make sure she had enough bullets. She didn't have any extra bullets with her that she could use when needed, so she knew she could not waste any. She kept the weapon hidden as she waited for Starscream to be out of her sight before she began to move around the building. With piles of rubble and vehicles around everywhere, she took advantage of those so she could use them as cover for herself. She doubted the decepticons would be paying close attention to that.
She knew that because she was not from Chicago, it would also take sometime to get her bearings. And with no signal, she could not use her phone as a guide through the city. She could only follow the street further in as much as she could. If she got lost, she would at least simply try to follow a decepticon without being spotted, or she would try to anyway.
She crouched by an overturned car as she reached the end of the first street, peering out and looking around. She could not see anything straight away. Though the sound of a decepticon speaking behind her made her jump and made her lay herself on the ground. She looked through the windows of the car to see the feet over a decepticon walking by the vehicle. It did not see her and she was glad that it did not. But she watched it intently to see what it was doing.
She gasped when the decepticon suddenly shoved a piece of metal that was leaning against the wall of a building opposite her, and there were several people hiding there. They began to scatter, and she widened her eyes as the decepticon began to shoot them. And she did not know what kind of blast the decepticon was using, but as soon as the blasts hit the people, it disintegrated them to their bones. And their bones looked burnt.
Saphira covered her mouth with her hands as she almost let out a shriek when she first saw it. Watching the black skulls and bones fall to the ground from the blast was horrible. There was no sign of any kind of flesh on those bones. Saphira felt tears well in her eyes again as she waited. The decepticon let out a chuckle before he continued walking, most likely looking for other humans to kill.
I don't remember them having those kinds of weapons…at least the deaths are quick. Hopefully, but I doubt, the deaths are painless. That's the only thing I can hope for people.
Saphira waited on the ground several more minutes after the decepticon had left. She did not know if she would even receive mercy from the decepticons, though she did not know if Megatron had given them specific orders just yet. But she honestly would prefer to not be given mercy, because she would most likely go through something a whole lot worse than being turned to nothing but dust and bones.
When she was certain the decepticon was far enough, she carefully pushed herself up from the ground and tiptoed away. She knew that tiptoeing was probably pointless, but she was able to move slowly by the car and stopped by the edge of the building, and looking all around. She could not see the decepticon that killed those people, and she did not know if she should be concerned or not.
There were a few buses by her, a couple were overturned and the other had been cut in half. She glanced around again before crouching down and cautiously walking over to the buses. She remained as close as possible to the buses as she walked next to them cautiously. She kept looking around her surroundings, though so far she has been lucky. She could see a shop she could duck into, and thankfully, the building wasn't collapsed in like some of the shops she has already walked by. But she knew not to get too comfortable.
She glanced up at the sky and she ducked behind a tyre when she spotted Starscream again in the sky. She was glad that she knew what vehicle mode the decepticons had chosen to be, so she wouldn't get it wrong. And as the decepticons did not really scan other vehicles often, she didn't have to worry about other vehicle modes. She did know that Soundwave could potentially hide in the city as the AMG, but she did doubt he would unless ordered to.
She waited again for Starscream to fly away, though she heard heavy footsteps again. She glanced around for a moment before she slowly slipped inside the bus and made sure to remain hidden in the seat. She was alarmed when she spotted human bodies in the bus itself, but she tried to not look at them of think too hard about them. She really did not want to be distracted right now.
She was able to look through a hole in the bus though. She could see the decepticon casually looking around, and speaking in their language with another decepticon. She could not tell if this was the same decepticon as she had seen before, but it was hard to tell. And she truthfully did not care. As long as he would move on as quickly as possible, she did not care who he was.
He did not bother to look in the buses as he kept walking. He hummed loudly as he peered into a building before he kept walking down the street away from Saphira. She watched him cautiously in case he happened to look back in her direction. He never did, and she was able to relax a little, even though her heart was beating very fast right now.
She peered out the window, looking up at the sky. She could not see Starscream right now, but she knew that the roof of the bus was somewhat blocking her view. Regardless, she cautiously stepped out of the bus, looking at the sky. Starscream was out of sight again, and she continued walking cautiously, looking around to make sure no decepticon would see her as she made her way to the little shop.
She did jump just as she entered the shop as she heard a ship flying by. She hide behind some shelves, though she not see the ship descend and hover around the ship. It was simply flying by. She was relieved, and she had to really think about how she was going to proceed. She was lucky so far. But Starscream was hanging around the center of the city. The closer she got, the more likely he was going to see her.
This is so crazy…but someone has to do something. If the military is struggling to get through, at least the decepticons will not be watching the ground as much. As long Starscream and Laserbeak do not find me, I should be able to get close.
Saphira took a deep breath before walking back to the broken door of the shop, looking out and around. No decepticons. She walked out and walked briskly over to a line of ruined cars to crouch by and walk along awkwardly. She was still feeling a strong determination to get to Sentinel's control pillar. It was the one thing driving her forward, not just the need to ensure that her future was safe for her and her sparkling.
She remained in her crouched position as she walked slowly alongside the vehicles. She jumped back when a burst of flame combusted right in front her, but she was thankfully unharmed. It just surprised her, and when the flame died down quickly, she walked back it as quickly as possible. She did not want to stop simply because of something like that. She might if she had been injured, but she was thankfully uninjured.
She reached the end of the street, and hid inside a telephone booth, glancing around and looking ahead. She really did not know where she was going, but she knew she had to just keep going. She huffed and she glanced around and up at the sky. When she looked up, she was alarmed when she noticed the decepticon ships sitting on the sides of some of the high rise buildings. She was not expecting that, and they were sitting there like flies on a wall.
She did not know if they would even see her. But as she remained crouched, and walked over quickly to some more vehicles, she hoped that they were not paying attention. She kept looking up at them as she walked quickly to the next street. She was very relieved when none of them started flying towards her, and she could no longer see them. A leaning building above her did make her shiver. The building was leaning on another building, but it could give way at any time.
Saphira made sure to not stick around underneath the building as she definitely did not want to be crushed by a building. At least it gave her a little bit of cover in case Starscream was flying around at that moment, and the building would prevent him from seeing her. So it was a small amount of grace as she walked along the street quickly.
She only stopped and hid behind and overturned dumpster when she heard the sound of people screaming. She hid under the open lid of the dumpster, ignoring the stench coming from inside the bin, as she peered out. She widened her eyes as she watched a group of teenagers try sprinting down the street with one of the ships following them. It fired blasts at them, and she grimaced as the blasts hit several of the teenagers, turning them into nothing but burnt skeletons. Though it flew over them before lowering and unleashing a pulse, which did the same thing at the blasts.
Aside from the group of teenagers that were just killed, a few people tried running on their own, weaving between cars and buildings in the hope of not being killed, but the decepticons were not showing them any mercy. Even some kids that she saw trying to run were shot at. She grimaced as she hated this already. She didn't want to watch, but she had to know where it was safe to cross.
She let out a few tears as she waited patiently for the decepticons to finish their sport and move on. She watched as several decepticons walk down the street checking for any other humans that might be hiding in the street as they walk. Saphira glanced up as a large ship flew overhead, and she began to wonder how she was going to even get across the road. She figured she could only be patient and wait.
She remained underneath the dumpster lid for at least fifteen minutes until it was clear. She did not crawl out straight away as she glanced around for any sign of the decepticons. When she tiptoed onto the street, she saw no one. No sign of the decepticons. She was a little relieved and glanced up for a moment. No Starscream. She could see an alley from where she was, and she crouched low, walking over to a bus to walk close by before moving around a pile of rubble. She wiped some sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand before she walked briskly over to the alley and began to walk quickly.
The one advantage she hoped to have was the fact that alleyways were skinny. And with buildings close together, they would provide temporary cover for her from anything that was flying…except for Laserbeak of course. He would be the only one to be able to chase her. So far, they haven't found her, nor have they seemed to try to find her. She was hoping that it was a good thing since she did not want to be found at all.
She was still moving cautiously through the alleyway. There was debris, and bodies through the alleyway that she had to avoid, so it wasn't a simple stroll in the park. She found a lot of sharp items along here that she had to step over carefully as well. She wasn't exactly thrilled, as one wrong step and she could trip, and fall on them. And she would most definitely have an injury.
Saphira at least was happy this alley was long, and she was able to relax a little bit as she walked between the buildings. She wasn't sure if she was even going the right way, but she was getting somewhere. She only knew that going to the center of the city was her goal, as that was where Sentinel likely was. And she knew Trump Tower was there too, so that was her goal.
One step at a time, one step closer. Saphira repeated that in her mind as she walked through the alleyway. She grimaced at a few decapitated bodies around the alley. She jumped over a few in her path, gagging a little at the rotting smell already coming from the bodies. The bodies had been burnt smelt worse, and Saphira hoped that she would not get too sick, but that was hard to tell. Her stomach was already twisting uncomfortably.
Please don't be sick…I don't need to feel dehydrated while I try to get closer to the middle of the city.
She knew that if she had to relieve the nausea in her stomach, she would not exactly have a choice. It was just very uncomfortable, and annoying at the same time. Saphira rubbed her stomach gently as she continued walking. She was nearing the end of the alley at this time, and she could see it was leading onto another street. She hoped she could find another alleyway, as that would be a lot better than trying to walk through the streets. She felt like she made more progress this way.
As she reached the end of the street, Saphira jumped and hid behind another dumpster as she heard another decepticon blaster fire. She covered her mouth with her hands so she would not make any noise as she peered around the dumpster. She saw explosions of cars being shot at, followed by the sound of people screaming and pleading for their lives. Saphira did not know how many people were even still in the city. But there clearly was a lot more than she thought there were. She didn't know why people stayed, but maybe the decepticons made it difficult for people to leave if they made a perimeter around the city. Though it wasn't a tight enough formation to keep people from entering from the ground.
Saphira took the moment to take a breather as she hid behind the dumpster. However, as she sat there, her stomach twisted violently, and she knew she could not stop it. She looked around for a moment, and heaved into a nearby metal bucket. There was not anything in the bucket, aside from water, so she heaved her stomach contents into the bucket. She tried to keep her heaving as quiet as possible so she would not draw attention. It was very difficult as she had to cough a couple times. Though with the decepticons focused on the humans running through the street next to her, she was kind of glad they did not notice her.
Once she stopped, she was relieved that she was no longer throwing up. She felt awful though and she wiped her forehead as she took deep breaths. She made sure the C4 and handgun were still secure before glancing at her hands. She saw they were covered in dust and ash, making her grimace a little as that meant she had a mark on her face from covering her mouth before. She rolled her eyes as she knew a little dirt was not going to hurt, and she leaned a little to look around the dumpster again.
The decepticons that had been shooting up the street had finally left. They were checking the street and some of the buildings before they stomp away. Saphira stood up carefully, walking over to the wall to peer by it to watch the decepticons walk away. She waited and glanced around cautiously for any other sign of decepticons. She crouched down slowly as well, and she was glad she did as one of the decepticons that were walking away had turned around to look back. She flinched, but remained still as she knew any sudden movement would draw his gaze. He scanned the street before turning away and continued to walk away, turning right as he and the other decepticon continued their patrol.
She sighed in relief before glancing around again and crept forward slowly. She glanced up, and she did not see Starscream, which was good. She definitely seemed to have luck in that department as she crouched low by some more vehicles and making her way across the street. She saw another alleyway, and she was making a beeline for it. Though she was starting to notice the feeling of being watched. It was unsettling, and she glanced around for any sign of Laserbeak, as she believed he was watching her. She could not see him.
But he can probably see me…maybe he is hiding in a nearby building…shit!
Saphira walked briskly into the alley before she began to job down the alley. She knew now that she might have been spotted. Running into this alley, it was littered with more debris, bodies and even some vehicles. She stopped feeling the sense of being watched as she began to run through the alleyway, but it was short lived. She felt it once again, and she still could not see Laserbeak, no matter how much she ran. Saphira had to think quickly. There wasn't many placed she could hide right now.
Though she came to a stop when she passed by an open door, and she backed up immediately. Looking inside the door, she saw this was an office or something, and she ran inside. And this place had not been destroyed. The computers and files were everywhere, and some tables were overturned, and even destroyed, but the roof had not collapsed in on itself. She did not go up the nearby stairs, knowing that would be a disaster if she tried. She ran through the office, avoiding some of the office chairs that were in the way. And this office seemed to have multiple exits. And she had to pick one.
Laserbeak might expect me to go to the opposite side of this office…and I can get back out into the same alleyway in that corner…but as it is facing forward, he might not see me…that is if it is Laserbeak following me.
If it was Megatron, he was doing a rather impressive job keeping hidden. Though as she did not feel like she was being watched as she ran through the office spoke that whoever was watching her, were keeping their distance. She ran over to the door leading back into the alleyway, and opened it carefully before closing it slightly. She did not want to slam it, as the noise would alert the decepticon, so she kept running. And she saw she was nearing another street again.
She slowed down as she did not want to rush out on the street, even though she was now in a panic because she was being followed. She ran over to a van and crouched to crawl into the open, back door and look out the side door. She was cautious as she gazed around the street. She gasped as several ships sped by her, making her step back carefully in case they would see her. But she did wonder if the decepticon who has seen her, if they had already informed the others. She felt like the other decepticons would be chasing her. But they were not.
As she gazed around, she glanced down as a shadow loomed over her and the van suddenly and she instantly felt goose bumps and her hair stand on her skin. She stepped back inside the van, hoping that whoever it was did not see her. She heard their light chatter and growling, making her shiver nervously and take deep breaths. She did not know who it was, but…she had a feeling they knew she was inside the van. Even though she was hidden, the shadow of this decepticon had not moved.
She glanced across the street and spotted a library. The entrance had been smashed through, but it was possible that she could make use of the bookshelves inside the building as cover. Especially as she knew that libraries in such big cities, like Chicago, had massive libraries with multiple floors. Maybe she wouldn't hide in there, but she might be able to fool the decepticon into think she was hiding in there, and they could waste their time trying to search for her while Saphira makes her escape.
That is if the decepticon who is standing over me is a dumb decepticon…and one who does not have such good eyesight…oh god…I don't know who this is. But this suspense is seriously killing me!
Saphira bit her lip as she trembled, staring at the shadow. It has not moved at all. She had expected that it would move in a way that the decepticon would be looking around, but they did not. They were just standing there, and she knew they were staring at the van she was hiding in. She really had hoped she had been smart. And maybe she had been, but the plan was not working like she had first hoped it would. She took a deep breath, swallowing nervously as she knew she would have to see who it was.
She clenched her eyes shut as she gathered what courage she had left before she slowly peered out of the van and turned to look upward slowly. The sun, at first, blinded her a little and blocked who was leering over her. But it would not be for very long. Saphira gasped and widened her eyes as she knew exactly who was staring at her with a devious grin. And she had thought she had outsmarted him by keeping hidden, but it seemed he has seen her.
"What a treat!" Saphira scurried out of the van, stumbling a little and catching her balance as she ran from the van. The decepticon jumped down with a chuckle, landing deliberately on the van, and the impact of the van and ground shook the ground a little and Saphira nearly stumbled over again. "You and me, alone!" He chuckled softly as Saphira ran from him. "Try not to fall down so hard, Saphira. You don't want to cause some unnecessary scabbing to your body." He chuckled again and jumped forward, landing right behind her and making her shriek. "I almost did not see you. You're a smart, little, human for using the debris and vehicles of this city to shield yourself, very impressive."
Saphira ignored him. She glanced at him as he was clearly toying with her. "Buzz off, Starscream!" Saphira snapped at him as she ran up the stairs towards the library. "Leave me alone!"
Starscream chuckled again as she watched her. "Oh…and miss out, perhaps, my one and only chance to find out why Megatron is so intrigued by you? I don't think so." Saphira grimaced as she quickly climbed over the rubble into the library, and Starscream began walking up the stairs slowly. "Especially since he does not know you are here in the city, right now. And maybe, I can it easier for you to get closer…only if you listen to me, little insect…" He watched her jump through the gap in the destroyed doorway, and he had lost sight of her. But he knew she was in the library, and he simply jumped to the doorway, and widened his optics slightly when he did not see her. Nor could he hear her. "Hmm, where could a little moth like you fly off to?"
Saphira had ran around some of the bookshelves, and she was now tiptoeing quickly through the library. She was alarmed that Starscream had grown an interest in her, but she knew he was simply interested because Megatron was interested. And it was obvious that Starscream would not care about her, even if he got to her. But she was not about to let Starscream reach her easily. This library was massive. Only some of the bookshelves were destroyed, and it had a second level as well.
Starscream grabbed a bookshelf and lifts it, throwing it into a wall and peered around before he smirked. "Ah, I see…this is the human game. Hide and Seek, if I remember correctly…well, if you wanted to play, all you had to do was ask, little insect." Saphira shivered, ducking and covered her ears as Starscream shot at several bookshelves. "When I find you, I win. That's the rules of the game, is it not? So I will play your game, and I will win."
Saphira shook her head as she huddled by a book trolley to remain hidden for the time being. She definitely did not want to play his twisted game of Hide and Seek. She would not allow him to find her. She still had some bookshelves covering her, so she took the opportunity to tiptoe quickly away towards the back area of the library, knowing she could try to hide among all the books that were sometimes stored in the back, along with any files and such there were here in the offices of the building. And buy time to find her way out of here.