Ricky cleared a wide circle around them in seconds. However, the moment he spotted the entire machine army in the surrounding area, which turned towards them and began a grand charge, he knew their narrow window was closing.
The two ran without looking back, their boots thumping against the damp earth as they headed directly towards the safety of their outpost. They scrambled up the walls, lungs burning, while Elena felt a gnawing nervousness like never before.
"Will it work?" she softly whispered to herself, her grip tightening on her sledgehammers.
The answer came to her in the next heartbeat. Behind them, the vanguard of the machine army surged forward. Hundreds of units ventured into the thick, white veil of the fog, fanning out across a large area in an aggressive search, their sensors pulsing with a singular directive: find the two humans and kill them.
