That dock quickly turned into chaos with several gunshots coming from the guards' side. The first to fall was the rebel captain who was beside Marcus. One of the shots hit him squarely in the chest.
That made many of the men question whether that fight was worth it, and some decided to drop the pieces of metal and wood they had picked up to use as weapons.
The ship had begun to move as soon as the combat started. Some of the cowards managed to climb onto the ship while others lost their balance on the ramp and fell into the sea.
Marcus didn't let it shake him—he needed to make sure the soldiers didn't get on the ship, and there were other men thinking like him. They might have had fewer weapons than the guards, who wore protective uniforms and carried guns like pistols, but they had the advantage in numbers. In total, there was about fifty men, while there were only twelve guards armed with stun batons two with rifles and four flying drones.
Marcus fired his weapon at the drones. He missed a few shots, but managed to damage one enough for it to crash into another, making both fall into the water.
"Don't give up, men!" Marcus shouted as he tried to keep the remaining drones from reaching the ship, which was slowly pulling away from the port.
The guards were keeping their distance, with the ones with rifles shooting at the people they perceived as rebels and criminals.
Marcus shot a them with his gun, hitting one in the head, and the other was hit in his shoulder, making it hard for him to use his rifle again.
The guards feared the men advancing toward them with a powerful fury.
Humans might be weak and easily injured, but their willpower was incredible, and they were willing to sacrifice themselves if necessary to protect what was important to them.
Marcus led the group that managed to overpower the guards there. The group used the metal and wood pieces to hit the guards until they either fled or were left unconscious on the floor.
"I thought I was going to die," one of the men said, sitting on the ground exhausted after the fight was done, but he soon noticed something on the floor. He quickly stood up, realizing there was blood spread all around.
Because of the darkness, he hadn't seen it before, but now it was clear that many had died that night.
Marcus remained silent, watching the ship that had already vanished into the night's darkness. The ship's lights were all turned off to avoid being seen by other ships.
"More guards!" another man said, spotting lights in the distance and hearing the sound of sirens.
There was nothing more they could do. Marcus also knew he shouldn't stay there much longer and took a step, only to fall to the ground.
He felt a sharp pain in his belly.
In the heat of battle, he hadn't felt the pain, but he had also been hit in the abdomen by one of the shots.
And he had pushed himself hard to protect his family.
"Damn…" He was feeling weak now, but forced himself to keep going.
Everyone was now fleeing for their lives. They had secured the survival of their loved ones who were on the ship, but now they needed to take care of themselves.
Marcus stayed behind, and it didn't take long for the guards to reach where he was. The man was bleeding and weak.
Alice never told Renan that his father died, because even though she had seen him take the shot while she was safe on the ship, she was never able to confirm whether he escaped the docks or not, since by the time the fight ended, the ship had drifted far enough away and things had been very chaotic.
But she did tell him how brave his father was, and that he was the hero responsible for getting them to Ravenport and giving them a good life.