"The horde has arrived. The horde has arrived."
The warning repeated over the emergency speakers, the automated voice hollow and distorted as it echoed through the cavernous depths.
A blue-grade titan was bad enough on its own. Against a single massive titan, the defense forces could at least fortify their positions, form a battle line, and play a defensive game. But a titan followed directly by a full horde changed everything.
Axel gripped his bruised ribs, his breath coming in jagged gasps as the speakers blared overhead. The math was simple, and the reality was brutal: the odds of the soldiers holding the line were astronomically small. He knew it. The terrified awakeners around him knew it.
Panic tore through the settlement like an infection, breaking down whatever order was left. Driven by pure terror, awakeners sprinted toward the packed shelters, throwing themselves blindly on top of the crowds already stuffed inside the doorways.
"Let us in! Move over!" someone shrieked, bodily hurtling into a dense cluster of bodies jammed in a frame.
Others lunged for the open windows, scrambling through the sills and tumbling headfirst into the cramped rooms. The occupants inside reacted instantly, slamming the heavy metal shutters closed and latching them shut from within.
Axel stopped short, his chest heaving as he watched a window slam shut on a boy's reaching fingers. He was genuinely shocked. Was this really happening? Wasn't this all just too much?
He shook his head, clearing the stun. There was no time to worry about the people locking themselves away or the ones battering on closed doors; he could only focus on what was right in front of him. Spotting a couple of awakeners doubled over nearby, clutching their torsos as their faces contorted in agony from the building energy, Axel rushed to their side, grabbing one by the shoulder to keep him upright.
"Stay on your feet! Don't drop now!" Axel gritted out, his own voice strained.
For the ones further down the path, out of his reach, he swung his arm forward, shouting over the din of the sirens: "Keep moving deeper! Don't stop!"
Up ahead, a wide, two-story building cut through the haze. Its structure was heavily reinforced, standing thick and solid compared to the flimsy residential houses around it—definitely not built for normal living.
Standing right by the entrance were two awakeners holding the massive reinforced door wide open, actively waving the fleeing crowd inside. One was a dark-skinned girl with natural braids pinned back. Beside her stood a pale-skinned boy with shock-red hair, who looked a full foot shorter than the girl, his face pale with exertion as he braced himself against the opposite latch.
"In here! Move, move!" the red-haired boy shouted, his voice cracking against the siren's blare.
"Don't bunch up at the door! Get inside!" the braided girl called out over the din, reaching out to catch a stumbling runner by the arm and pulling them across the threshold. "There's room inside! Hurry up!"
Axel's eyes locked onto the open doorway as a wave of relief cut through the chaos. They were actually holding it open.
Axel stumbled across the threshold into the wide, reinforced building. A dark, primal part of him desperately wanted them to slam the heavy gate shut right now to secure the interior, but he immediately shoved the thought down. Looking back out into the chaotic street, he knew every single one of those awakeners sprinting through the dust was just like him, fighting for another breath.
Unable to bring himself to abandon them, Axel took up a position right beside the open gate to help the second they needed to close it.
"Keep moving! Inside, quickly!" the short, red-haired boy yelled from the other side of the entrance, his arms straining against the heavy door as more runners tumbled in.
Suddenly, the dim interior flickered and flooded with harsh, warm light. Someone had found the breaker switch on the wall and flipped it on.
Standing by the electrical panel was a short, light-skinned girl with glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, with a soft, round face. Her jaw was clamped shut, her teeth gritted so tight her jaw muscles trembled.
Inside the brightly lit building, the heavy air was thick with ragged breaths and suppressed groans. Somehow, amidst the absolute chaos and blinding terror, every single one of the awakeners had completely forgotten they were supposed to let the energy go the moment holding it became too difficult.
In the pure panic of the stampede, the instruction had simply evaporated from their minds.
Axel leaned his back against the wall near the door, his heart hammering against his ribs as he clutched his torso. Beside him, other awakeners collapsed onto the hard floor or stumbled into corners, their bodies trembling.
Quickly, the reinforced interior filled up to capacity.
"Look!" someone near the back corridor shouted, their voice tight with shock as they stumbled onto a heavy set of security doors. "It's a gateway building! This place leads straight into the military barracks!"
The revelation rippled through the crowded hall, but panic still reigned. Several awakeners turned away from the interior doors, their heads snapping toward the outer entrance. They stared at the open threshold where the dark-skinned girl with braids and the short, red-haired boy still held the heavy gate open.
Desire burned raw and unvarnished in their eyes as they tracked every shadow moving past the doorway outside.
"We need to shut it," a man near the front whispered.
Distant, faint screams pierced the air, followed almost instantly by the faint, frantic fluttering of wings.
_____
High up at the first layer of the city, the soldiers were throwing everything they had into the defense, but there was only so much they could do to hold back the titan from accessing the lower city. Containing the gargantuan beast alone was more than difficult enough; with the massive horde sweeping in behind it, the battle became impossible.
"Hold the line! Don't let them breach!" a commander bellowed over the deafening roar of gunfire.
"There's too many of them!" a soldier screamed back, reloading with trembling hands as the sky darkened. "We can't stop them!"
The circular wall of defensive fire roared continuously, but the swarm simply surged through the hail of fire and enchanted strikes, plummeting down into the cavern below.