People gathered in clumps in one of the small underground shelters. They sat on blankets thrown at random across the hard stone floor. Several guildsmen were there, handing out food and water while the security forces stood against the side wall, looking restless and edgy. The soldiers held their weapons in the nook of their arms, staring up the steep ramp that led to the street outside.
This particular shelter was more of an underground silo that had originally been built to hold supplies and food stocks in a time when the Orange Zone had been able to produce more food than its citizens could consume. Those golden days were long since gone. For the last hundred years, the population had been growing much faster than the guilds could refine their cultivation of the Orange Zone's toxic soil.
In more recent times, the shelters had been used as informal gathering places, somewhere to hold meetings or work on small manufacturing tasks that didn't require much power or light. Now the silo was doubling up as a shelter, but nobody had used it for long time. There was no water supply, and there had been no power until the guilds had brought fuel cells for cooking and lighting. The floor was covered in dirt, littered with old empty boxes, and pieces of broken droids.
The people were cold and uncomfortable, and yet this was a place of paradise compared to the scenes outside. The Kamari had entered the city with a huge army. Many people had been killed without a chance to fight. Those who gathered under the pale yellow light of the makeshift lamps were silent for the most part, relieved to have found any place to shelter at all.
'What's happening daddy?' a young girl said, holding on tight to her father's arm as she watched the people passing back and forth.
Her father had shadows beneath his eyes and streaks of blood down one side of his face. He spoke in quiet words and his hands shook each time there was a noise outside. 'It's okay, honey. We just have to stay here for a little while longer.'
'When can we go home?'
'I don't know. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after that. See if you can sleep for a while.'
The girl started crying, covering her face with both hands.
Guildmaster Gumptor stood nearby. He glanced down when he heard the little girl crying, and placed his spade-like hand gently on top of her head. The girl tilted her head back, staring between his wide fingers with tears in her eyes. When she saw him looking at her, her crying stopped at once.
'Better,' Gumptor said with a nod before turning and walking up the steep ramp towards Commander Erin Foster, who was standing near the shelter's entrance.
'Bring them in,' Foster said to a group of soldiers.
'There's too many of them,' a trooper said. 'A hundred more at least.'
'Bring them in anyway. It's safer in here than out there.'
The trooper nodded, ushering the people down the ramp into the shelter below before running back into the street, holding his impact repeater in front of him.
Gumptor didn't like the security forces, but he was happy to have them around on this occasion. They were serving a useful purpose for once, standing guard over the people. He approached Commander Foster and folded his arms, appraising him with an even gaze.
'What can I do for you, Guildmaster?' Foster said with dirt from the street on his face.
'Commander, I know you mean well, but I want you to let me handle the people.'
Foster frowned. 'Why?'
'This is guild business. We have food and medical supplies. We have power and we know how to take care for our own people.'
'We're just trying to keep you all from getting killed.'
Gumptor nodded slowly. 'I understand that, Commander. We appreciate your help so far, but we can handle things from here on.'
'What are you saying? Do you want us to leave?'
'You and your men can do more good outside, I'm sure. Your soldiers are restless, huddled on the ramp below. They are wasting their time hanging around here and taking up space that could be used for more women and children.'
Foster frowned, looking torn.
'Go outside,' Gumptor said. 'Find more people and bring them back here. We'll do the rest.'
Foster reached for his jacket collar. 'I'll need to get authorisation for that.'
Gumptor stood waiting, letting his eyes roam across the shelter below. Faces watched him from every corner. Many had hope in their eyes. He would not let the people down.
'Okay,' Foster said. 'We're clear to pull out.' He waved a hand over his head and fifty soldiers gathered their equipment below and then headed up the exit ramp. Most looked eager to be returning to the fighting.
'Thank you, Commander,' Gumptor said.
Foster turned in the entrance with his plasma arc rifle resting across his shoulders.
'If you can keep the Kamari away from the shelters,' Gumptor said, 'we will care for everyone that you can save.'
Foster nodded. 'I'll leave a few men at the top of the ramp, just in case anything unsavoury comes along. I wasn't intending on abandoning you completely.'
'Thank you. You have done well here. Now go and help the others. The people who are still wandering the streets need you far more than we do.'