That camp was attacked, and they were forced to rush away from the ice cap, and then the supply routes collapsed. The Martians had to scramble into endlessly more cramped tents until their numbers were thinned out by bombing, starvation and sickness, which was rife when everyone was packed together so closely. But at least Xander had known life before the bombs – his sister had been born, screaming, as they rained down on the underground city, as if she was trying to match their volume with her cries in a form of rebellion.
‘It’s falling in!’ Someone cried.
Xander looked up, and saw a stray ray of light, accented by billows of thick, orange-red smoke, striking down the cavern and dividing the city choked in misery. The bombs were now puncturing holes in the ceiling, ripping massive tears into their sanctuary, and it wouldn’t be long before the weaponry made its way inside. Not just stalactites would rain down on the Martians tonight – Xander, Kia and Aunt Brenda had to get out now.
The crowd surged past an old bartering district, where stalls were overturned, their contents scattered onto the ground. Xander stumbled over the smoothed topside Mars rocks that people were still trying to trade with each other, alongside hunks of debris from old Martian structures – from back when they could all live peacefully above the ground, under the watchful gaze of Mars’ twin moons, Phobos and Deimus. He couldn’t remember the sight, but he’d visualized it from his mother’s stories.
Now she was gone, but the hope of returning to the topside burned brightly within him. They wouldn’t let the Humans win; Mars was the Martians’ home, now and forever.
‘Evacuation! Evacuation!’ Voices screamed out above the ear-splitting whistles and explosions, becoming an amalgamation of noise, barely discernible as words. It was an animalistic cacophony, dripping with desperation.
‘We’re nearly at the wall,’ Kia called to Xander; despite their closeness, she had to nearly shout to be heard. ‘That’s the way out, right?’
Truthfully, Xander didn’t know. The trio ran forward with the rest of the panicking crowd, getting closer to a large wall that everyone seemed to be trying to get through, but it was maroon rock. There was no door or gate of any kind to another area. Martians were running up to it and beating on it with their bare hands, screaming with frustration, terror and agony as they bruised and bloodied their knuckles on the futile escape attempt. Xander squinted his eyes, looking up at the destination in dismay.
‘This can’t be right,’ he muttered to his sister. ‘There’s nothing here. Why’s everyone coming this way?’
‘Doesn’t matter why,’ she responded, before erupting into a coughing fit. He winced as blood splattered down from her throat onto the dusty ground. ‘We need to get out.’
He nodded firmly, turning them around and trying to walk against the flow of the crowd. Rather than sprinting, they kept a consistent marching pace, sneaking right by the tents rather than trying to force their way through the swarm of Martians. It was difficult, but they were only interrupted a couple of times by families bursting out of their tents, late to the evacuation. Xander felt a pang of sympathy in his heart for them – they’d gotten a head start, and already knew the crowd’s destination was hopeless.
The Blue and White 