I was the first to get out over the wreckage of the bridge to the steep bank and began to help the girls up. At some point, I even had to go down and drag the stretcher with the wounded Lisa up the slope. And then I heard from above the surprised and frightened cries. Is there an alien spaceship? In two big jumps I was at the top. However, the alien hunter turned out to be nothing to do with it, the reason for the unrest was completely different ...

***

Somehow I didn't think about that. To the left of the road stood the old city church. And now several girls at once ran not to high-rise buildings, behind which it was possible to hide from flying death, but in fact in the opposite direction to the church. Among the fugitives, with some surprise, I recognized a plump girl with a doctor's case. Did Mila also disobey my order? Strangely, the doctor girl seemed quite adequate to me. I looked around. In front of the church stretched a wide, completely open area, where there was absolutely no place to hide from danger. Very bad place. I cursed sweetly.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the girls did not lose their heads and had already disappeared around the corner of the high-rise building, finding themselves in a yard closed on all sides in relative safety. After making sure that everything was in order with them, I rushed after the fugitives. Even from a distance I noticed that the fleeing girls, one after another, for some reason, stop at the gate to the church territory, not daring for some reason to come closer to the church building. Coming up with the stopped schoolgirls, I saw with my own eyes the cause of their confusion. The entire churchyard was a continuous hodgepodge of charred corpses and fragments of human bodies. Especially many bodies were piled in front of the very door to the church. It seems that over the past 24 hours, many residents of the city have sought refuge in the temple. And they didn't find it.

- It's closed. Let's go to the others! I said to the fugitives as calmly as possible.

I didn't seem to be heard. Then I reassuringly touched the shoulder of one of the girls, offering to turn around and leave. But the girl abruptly pulled away and rushed forward. She ran to the locked door and started pounding on it, screaming hysterically and begging to be let inside the church.

The black ship is back! - came from afar the frightened cry of Gali, who continued to regularly perform her duties as a sentinel.

I turned to the frightened girls standing nearby and said:

- You can stay here. And then you will die like Kotova Masha. But I'm going to live. And if you want to live too, run with me!

Mila and another girl obediently nodded and rushed across the road after me. The third girl stood in indecision for another five seconds, then shouted something to her friend, who was stubbornly knocking on the door of the church, and also hurried after the others. I didn't look back anymore, as I had already noticed a dark triangle descending in the night sky. Hope now was only on the speed of the legs. Managed! Only after hiding behind the corner of the building and making sure that the three girls who had obeyed me had also escaped, I caught my breath a little and decided to find out the fate of the last fugitive. He crept up to the corner of the house and cautiously peered out.

I noticed a girl who almost ran to the shelter, and a hunter who had already descended, hovering in the same place near the hotel. The girl still had twenty meters to run to the shelter in the open space. My heart sank, too vividly I imagined what was about to happen. But the seconds ticked by, and for some reason the hunter did not shoot at the running target. Can't see in the dark? Too far for his weapons? And then I realized that the girl at the very last section was covered by the high dome of the clothing market, blocking the view of the alien ship. This fool is just lucky to be alive.

When the out of breath fugitive caught up with me and was safe, I could not restrain myself and gave her a slap in the face. Actually, even at school, I never raised my hand to the girls, but now, from the emotions that overwhelmed me, I didn’t hit so much that the girl even flew off and rolled head over heels on the asphalt.

- Idiot! Stupid chicken! The fact that you are still breathing is a miracle. You want to die, to hell with you! But you could bring danger here. Because of you, our entire group almost died!

Several girls, although they were noticeably afraid of me - an angry, barely familiar man, nevertheless stepped forward and blocked their fallen friend. I got embarrassed and dropped my fists. And he was already very sorry that he could not restrain himself.

Victor, calm down. Zina Krylova will be severely punished, - Liza Svyatova intervened and added that all four girls who disobeyed the order would be punished.

Zina silently stood up and ran her hand over her face, checking to see if blood was flowing. The girl's palm was indeed covered in blood. All my anger vanished in an instant.

Zina, I'm sorry! I couldn't resist, I was too worried about you. It seemed to me that you have no chance of surviving. I was afraid that the story with Masha Kotova would repeat itself.

“It’s all right,” the girl smiled slightly from the very corners of her lips. But I didn't want to die at all. Vice versa. It seemed to me that I saw a way to salvation. Easier than the road to our distant boarding school. Yes, I was wrong and I admit it. But I'm the only one to blame, the rest of my friends just ran after me. There is nothing to punish them for.

“No one will be punished,” I announced. “I think that this case has served as a sufficient lesson for all of us.

***

The rest of the journey went without complications, soon the whole group safely reached the entrance. Lisa had to be carried to the apartment on the eighth floor. Although there was light in the building, but for some reason the elevator did not work, and the long stretcher did not turn around well in the flight of stairs. So I took the wounded girl in my arms and carried it myself. Climbing eight floors with a heavy backpack, a tent and a girl in my arms was difficult, but I managed without even stopping for a breather. For some reason, it seemed important to me to cope with a difficult task in front of two dozen wards. Perhaps I wanted to strengthen my authority and impress the girls, or maybe I myself needed it in order to believe in myself.