Narrow Escape
He risked peering down and saw that the first floor was engulfed in flames, with flames licking upwards along the wooden stairs!
"Oh no! That Sauron mongrels is going to set the building on fire!" Roderick's heart sank, and his face turned extremely grim.
The building is mostly made of wood and stone. Once the fire spreads fully, all of them will be burned alive or suffocated upstairs!
However, attempting to break through the main gate would be tantamount to walking into a trap, as the area below would undoubtedly be completely surrounded by Sauron archers.
"Mark! Get everyone down here! Quick! The building is collapsing!" Roderick roared hoarsely upstairs, his voice hoarse from inhaling thick smoke.
Soon, Mark, along with the few remaining Musketeers and archers on the third floor, covered their mouths and noses and staggered down to the second floor.
At this time, thick smoke was billowing from the second floor, and the heat was oppressive; the windows were illuminated by the firelight and glowed red.
"Cough cough... Listen! There's no way out!" Roderick glanced around at the dozen or so faces around him, blackened by smoke and filled with despair, and gritted his teeth, "The only way to survive is to jump out of the second-floor back window! Then forget everything else and run as fast as you can towards the inner city! Every one of us who can live is a life saved!"
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, a hint of fear flashing in their eyes.
Jumping from the second floor, which is nearly five or six meters high, is extremely risky, and the situation below is unclear. But looking back at the increasingly fierce fire behind them and the shouts of the Sauron below, they knew that this was the only option.
"Good luck!" Roderick didn't hesitate any longer. He let out a low growl and rushed towards a back window that faced away from the main street.
He smashed the window frame with the back of his axe, glanced at the narrow alley below and the direction of the inner city in the distance, took a deep breath of the scorching air, and jumped down!
"Thump!" He landed heavily, then rolled over to absorb most of the impact. Although his internal organs churned from the shock, he was fortunate to escape injury.
Without stopping, he got up and sprinted towards the inner city like an arrow released from a bow!
"Over there! They jumped out of the window and ran! Fire arrows! Chase them!" The Soren Battle Group, with his sharp eyes, immediately spotted the fleeing defenders and angrily gave the order.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" A dense barrage of arrows shot towards the direction Roderick was fleeing, but most of them struck the ground and walls behind him.
Seeing their captain successfully break through, the soldiers upstairs followed suit.
Mark was the second to jump. After landing, he quickly got up and ran towards the inner city. Once he reached a safe street, he immediately turned around, knelt down, raised his gun, and fired a shot at the pursuing Sauron soldier, trying to cover his comrades behind him.
"Ah!" A soldier who had just jumped down was hit by an arrow in mid-air, screamed and fell to the ground, and was instantly hacked to death by Sauron who rushed up from behind.
Another soldier twisted his ankle as he landed, making a crisp cracking sound as he clutched his broken leg and let out a piercing wail. He was quickly overwhelmed by the pursuing Sauron soldier.
People kept jumping down; some were shot and killed, some were injured and captured, and some were caught and killed while fleeing... The scene was chaotic and tragic.
Mark fired two more shots, taking down one of the pursuers. Seeing that only three or four of his comrades were following behind, and with Sauron's battalion closing in, he had no choice but to put away his gun and retreat.
In the end, only Roderick, Mark, and two other soldiers who were lucky enough to survive managed to rush into a narrow alley leading to the inner city. Using the complex terrain, they shook off their pursuers and disappeared into the ruins and smoke.
The three-story building let out its final groan amidst the towering flames, collapsing partially and burying the bodies of the remaining defenders and Sauron soldier in the inferno.
Roderick, Mark, and the last two surviving soldiers frantically ran through the labyrinthine ruins of the outer city.
Their lungs burned, and every breath they took carried thick smoke and the smell of blood.
Their survival instinct drove them forward, but the chaotic street layout left them completely disoriented.
Concentrating on dodging potential pursuers behind them and hidden arrows from the houses on either side, they were completely unaware that after a series of turns, they were not approaching the inner city, but instead heading deeper into the outer city, into the heart of the Sauron -controlled territory.
"Huff... huff... Boss, no... something's not right!" A new recruit Elton gasped for breath, his face filled with panic. "We've been running for so long, how come... how come we still hear shouts of battle all around us, but we haven't gotten close to the inner city?"
Roderick abruptly stopped, leaning on his knees and breathing heavily, his heart pounding.
Elton's words jolted him awake. Logically, they should have seen the inner city walls by now, but all they could see were those dilapidated, unfamiliar, burning semi-subterranean houses, and the sounds of fighting in the distance seemed to be coming from all directions.
"Damn it!" Roderick cursed under his breath, forcing himself to calm down. He had to figure out where he was.
"Mark! Crouch down!" Roderick shouted urgently.
Mark immediately understood and squatted down against a relatively intact mud wall.
Roderick stepped onto his shoulder, and Mark gritted his teeth and pushed upwards! Using the momentum, Roderick grabbed the edge of the low roof with both hands, his arm veins bulging, and struggled to climb up.
He lay prone on the roof, cautiously looking up and around. The thick smoke obscured his vision to some extent, but when he made out the familiar landmarks in the distance, especially the outline of the towering stone wall that marked the inner city boundary, a chill instantly ran up his spine and to the top of his head!
They'd gone the wrong way! The inner city wall was on the opposite side of the direction they were running, and it was farther away than when they started! They were now deep in the dangerous outer city!
He quickly memorized the locations of the main alleyways he needed to pass through to return to the inner city, and without a moment's delay, he immediately slid off the roof.
"How's it going, boss?" Mark and the other two men nervously surrounded them.
Roderick's face was ashen, and he spoke rapidly, "We've gone the wrong way! The inner city is over there!" He pointed in the exact opposite direction from where they had come from. "We're now deep in the outer city; we must turn back immediately!"
He hadn't finished speaking.
A creaking sound that made your teeth ache came from behind what appeared to be an abandoned, dilapidated wooden door beside them!
Immediately afterwards, the wooden door was violently kicked open from the inside! Several figures stumbled out, nearly bumping into Roderick!
The two sides met face to face at extremely close range and were instantly stunned!
Five Sauron soldier charged out! They seemed to have just finished clearing out a house, their bodies covered in blood, and the one in the lead was carrying a short-handled axe that was dripping blood!
Although Roderick and his three companions were disheveled, their Carnford military uniform were still clearly visible!
When two armies meet on a narrow path, it's a fight to the death!