damned_institute | Night 63: Road to/from Doyleton

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Night 63: Road to/from Doyleton

[From here.]

But being outside was probably just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than it was being trapped inside the bus with that nurse.

Besides the many other deformed nurses that were roaming around here, Zero caught sight of numerous forms flying overhead, casting large shadows on the ground as they passed by. They looked like...eagles. But deformed and horrific-looking, just like the nurses. At first, they seemed content to simply circle overhead, screeching, like vultures swarming above a carcass. But then many of them suddenly swooped down and headed straight for some of the prisoners running in the street.

Kind of like the one flying at Zero right now.

"Kh--!" The once-Reploid barely managed to dodge the monster as it dived for him by falling to the ground and rolling back onto his feet. The bird flew upwards again, slowly flapping its wings, then circled around as if to try again, another eagle joining it. To avoid them, Zero quickly moved out of the open, where he was obviously a target, and circled around one of the buses, keeping his back to it for cover. But he knew he wasn't going to be safe here...not when there were nurses on the ground and so many eagles above.

Not since the night he had become temporarily stronger had there been so much visible chaos... And if that one prisoner hadn't started a riot, this wouldn't be happening right now...!

As he stood contemplating the best route for escape, Zero glanced around quickly, searching the fleeing prisoners for anyone familiar or anyone who might need help. He was defenseless, so protecting someone else would only get him so far (and he certainly didn't want a repeat of two nights ago), but they all might have a better chance of survival if they grouped up...

[Leanne, Lana, and Harvey, WHERE YOU AT.]

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Loki nodded. "There's one in the medical wing as well. I acquired a pharmacopoeia from there, as well as some books on anatomy and first aid. I've studied them a bit so I know how to use the supplies I took. And one might hope I won't be utterly useless if there's an injury."

He shrugged. "I think you understand the situation here better than I, but it seems to me that at least one of the sets of runes should be dispersed to those who are trustworthy and can be relied upon to keep them secret and disseminate any information."

The other set, he was just as happy keeping it private between Soma and himself.

"It's fairly simple," Loki told Castiel. "I can show you on the morrorw, if you like, or I'm sure Soma can as well. She's quite good at the method." He glanced back at the man as he made a sound, but decided to say nothing for now.

"I would appreciate that... perhaps we can prove them wrong." He laughed softly. "I'd certainly like to try. Life could get very interesting for them if we can even bend those devices a bit."

Soma inclined her head. "I'll bring a copy of one of the sets tomorrow. It's very simple to use."

Castiel almost stumbled, and she put a hand out instinctively. It looked like he'd managed to catch himself, though. Her lips thinned slightly, though not at him. If Lingormr was the only one in good health tonight, it was only that much more important that they get back to the institute as soon as possible.

Aloud, she said, "That's what I was thinking. The sooner we can use their own weapons against them, the better. And if they're hiding our weapons around here somewhere, too..."

They had to be, didn't they? There were plenty of Special Counseling patients who'd gotten swords and guns and whatever back, and there had been that incident with the old man and his mobile armor. If that wasn't proof they had room to store a mobile suit or two, she wasn't sure what was.

With both of them insisting that the code would be simple to use, Castiel felt that he wouldn't have any trouble with it. He was nothing if not a fast learner in most cases. Pop culture and other such things didn't count, but something like communicating -- that he should be good at. Angels were multilingual in the broadest sense of the term, after all.

While it seemed that Lingormr and Soma had hope that studying the device could lead to a proper breakthrough, Castiel wasn't willing to rely on it. He knew not to dismiss it, as it might be their only key out of this place, but assuming it would get them far would be naive.

"I'll meet with one of you tomorrow, then," he said. That was provided that they made it through the night in one piece, of course, and Castiel paused when he realized they were approaching a clearing. He tried to take another path around it, but there were two birds who were lingering overhead, clearly looking for an opening to get to them.

He avoided eye contact -- most creatures felt threatened by such a thing -- and took a sharp right into a denser set of trees. "We're not going to have this cover for much longer," he said grimly.

Loki nodded. "Whichever you like, then." He liked Castiel well enough, and wouldn't mind attempting to teach him the code. The man would likely figure it out without too much difficulty. He didn't seem stupid, just not exactly up on his social graces.

Not that Loki himself was an expert on modern human society. Oh, but they were daft and puzzling creatures, to go along with being short-lived and largely beneath notice. But it was what he had to work with.

He glanced at Soma, giving her a sly smile that indicated she was in on the joke. "Weapons seem unnecessary to me, at times."

Loki looked at the thinning of the trees, the way the creatures were circling, waiting. He frowned. "Hm... please, both of you wait here. I will go scout the last leg and find the closest approach to the prison. It would be best if you take a moment to gather your strength because it seems we will have to run all out."

Though really, if it came to that he could just pick Soma up and carry her. He'd rather not, though, because he had a feeling that would hurt her pride rather badly and leave him with some serious explaining to do. Still, better than allowing his only friend to get eaten by some kind of horribly mutated bird.

Loki set down all but one of his rocks and then disappeared silently into the trees.

Despite how out of breath she felt (and that was a new feeling in and of itself), she couldn't help a small, return smile. At least Lingormr felt confident enough to joke about his abilities with her. That, as far as she was concerned, was a step in the right direction.

The smile faded a little when he told them to stay back while he scouted ahead. She didn't want to admit she needed to gather her strength, but neither she nor Castiel had really been subtle about just how weak they felt. As much as she wanted to protest, she knew Lingormr was right. She'd only slow him down.

Still, it didn't mean she had to be happy about it. With a faint huff of annoyance, she rested her branch against a tree and settled in for the wait.

"What do you think this is?" she murmured to Castiel. "This sickness, I mean. Is it just another attempt to scare us, or does Landel really intend to turn us all into mindless creatures?"

When it came to who he would rather learn the code from, Castiel didn't have a particular preference. He owed more to Lingormr, so the idea of asking for more made Soma seemed like a slightly more appealing target, but that was the only criteria by which he was choosing.

The comment Lingormr made about not needing weapons stood out, especially with the pointed way he said it to Soma. Castiel could understand the sentiment, as he often didn't need his angel blade when he was at full power, but he didn't know what business a human from centuries ago had saying such a thing. On the other hand, Castiel had his doubts about Lingormr regarding his origins. He was about to ask about it, but then was when Lingormr remarked that he was going to scout ahead.

Normally, Castiel would have argued. In fact, he would have made the same offer about fifty feet back. But in this case, he couldn't fill that role, and so he forced himself to bite back and agree.

Soma spoke up soon after Lingormr took off, and Castiel glanced toward her with a slight frown on his features. "It's impossible to say for certain, but... in general, it's best to assume and prepare for the worst." Which meant that both of them might be turning into something else, might end up losing all sense of reason, and that was what unsettled him the most.

Loki moved quickly through the trees, breaking in to a near-silent run once he was out of sight. He looped through the thinner part of the trees, the birds still ignoring him in favor of circling nearer to where he'd left Soma and Castiel. He paused at the edge of the forest, catching sight of the Institute.

Carefully, he picked his way around the edge of the forest until he found the point that was closest to the front entrance. He'd be able to shatter the glass of the doors with a rock, so getting in would be simple. He surveyed the terrain, deciding how best to direct the others to run. It seemed as if he could safely bring up the rear, since the birds seemed so uninterested in him. So if he picked up a few rocks, he might be able to fend them off long enough.

It worked in theory. It depended upon how fast Soma and Castiel would be able to run, really.

He made note of the place and picked his way back to where he'd left his companions, mapping the easiest route there that still kept them as covered as possible.

Soma couldn't help the worried frown that spread across her features. The last time anything like this transformation had happened, it had taken place over the course of a few minutes, not a few days. Was there a particular reason they were spreading out the symptoms this time? Besides inciting paranoia in the general population, anyway, because that was definitely one. It wouldn't have been Landel otherwise.

Still, she couldn't help but think the symptoms were a little different. She didn't like the thought; itt just made things more difficult to adjust to. She shivered a little. And the colonel had thought the experiments the HEA had been running were inhumane.

"At least a slow-burning infection gives us time to try and figure out a cure," she said without much hope in her voice. As if the labs upstairs were well-stocked enough to provide comfort for anything more severe than a mild head cold.

Lingormr was doubling back. She noticed with a dull sort of fascination that the creatures were still focused on her and Castiel. They could probably sense which ones were sick, she thought. Of course Landel wouldn't have bred giant monster birds to be stupid.

"You think we can make it?" she murmured as he came within earshot.

While it was definitely for the best that they had some time to find a solution, Castiel didn't know if it would do much in the end. Landel could have designed this infection to be incurable, after all. If anything, it might just be dragging out something that was already inevitable, purely for the sport of it.

Soma herself didn't seem that convinced that they would be able to do much, and in the end Castiel didn't have the presence of mind to offer any reassuring words. He would be lying if he did such a thing, after all, and that sort of thing didn't come easily to him, if it occurred to him in the first place.

He was going to ask her what sort of symptoms she was suffering from, but by that point Lingormr had returned. So he had managed to strike out on his own without getting targeted in the slightest. Castiel didn't know if that meant there was something strange about Lingormr or something wrong with him and Soma. He didn't understand why the birds would want to eat something diseased, but they were rotting themselves; maybe they were attracted to the same thing.

For the moment Castiel remained silent, waiting for Lingormr to give his assessment.

Loki bent to pick his rocks back up. He stowed one in the pocket of his coat. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it would allow him to carry another. "I've faith in you," he finally said. "But the distance from the treeline to the doors is quite long. I like it not."

He glanced toward the birds. "I know not why they seem to find me so unappetizing, but it seems best in that case that I bring up the rear." He picked up another rock, small enough to fit in his pocket, and tucked it away. He could throw it hard and accurately enough that the small size wouldn't lessen its value as a weapon too much. "I shall try to cover you and shout warning if I am unable to deter them. But it is best that we run with all haste."

Loki turned over another rock with the toe of his shoe and picked it up, rolling it with his fingers. It would do. "If you have both recovered as much as you can, I shall lead you to the best vantage. Better that we move quickly while the birds are still so scattered in hunting for our fellows."

"They're predators," said Soma flatly. "They can probably tell we're off our game tonight. I'm not surprised they're more interested in us."

And didn't that sting her pride. Still, she wasn't going down without a fight, and she didn't doubt Castiel could hit hard, too. "You're right. Let's get moving."

It wasn't far to the spot where she'd seen Lingormr first move out into the open. She halted for a moment at the edge of the trees, fingers curling around the heavy branch. Then, taking a deep breath, she glanced at Castiel, nodded once, and ran.

Soma definitely had a point. While their infected bodies likely wouldn't make the best meals, the monsters probably saw them as easy pickings. He resented that anything would look at him and assume that, but in this case all he could do was prove that point wrong.

He followed the others to the edge of the trees and held tight to the branch, ready to swing it wildly in the event that one of those creatures came too close. He could see the institute now, along with the rooftop from which the winged creatures were taking flight, and steeled himself. There wasn't much room for error.

Soma caught his gaze, and the second that she nodded, Castiel sprang into action. Truthfully, he was not used to running. Before now, he'd never had a reason to flee from a battle, had never had anything to be scared of, and so running had hardly ever been a tactic he'd employed. As for covering long distances, he was always able to use his wings for that.

In other words, the exertion was something that he wasn't quite prepared for, and it wasn't long before his body was gasping for breath and his legs were burning with pain. He gripped the branch tighter, realizing that he couldn't even think about stopping to rest. The fact that sprinting like this only made his head pound harder just added insult to injury.

But he pushed on, trying to keep aware of the cawing and shrieking overhead.

Loki lead the other two silently to the place he'd found, and let them start running first. He was quick on their heels, keeping up easily.

He caught movement from the corner of his eye. Not breaking stride, he snapped the first rock at the creature, was rewarded with a shriek from it as he got a square hit. Another bird received similar treatment, but there were too many even for his better than human reflexes.

A bird seemed to be heading for Castiel; he pitched a rock at it, but another was closing on Soma. "Soma! Duck!" he shouted, whipping another rock at that bird.

He had only two rocks left, and one needed to be saved for the doors. He didn't like this at all, not when there was more running to do.

Running burned.

It strained her muscles in a way that was almost foreign to her, as if she'd been running for fifty miles and not fifty meters. The branch in her hands felt a lot heavier than it had been just moments ago. She grit her teeth and focused on keeping her legs moving. Superior genes could only do so much.

It was just as well the other girl in her head could save her attention for the creatures circling above. The familiar quantum brainwaves were even duller than usual, more of a faint sense that something was wrong than anything resembling the sharp spike she knew back home, but they pinged just as Lingormr shouted something behind her and she felt the heavy rush of feathers above.

She brought the branch up in an instinctive arc, grunting at the exertion. It connected with the creature with less force than she would have liked, but it was enough to send it off course for the moment. She didn't look back, only dragged the branch on and ran, trying to ignore the ragged breathing that filled her ears.

While Lingormr did a decent job of keeping the monsters off of their backs by hurling rocks at them, there was just too large of a number of these creatures that were out for their blood. They seemed just as interested in attacking him and Soma as before.

Around the same time that Lingormr yelled out an order to Soma, Castiel felt one of the creatures approaching dangerously close with powerfully flapping wings. Right at that moment Soma dealt with the one that was targeting her, and the bird staggered into the one that had been aiming for him, which led to a midair collision of sorts.

Unfortunately, it was all happening very close to Castiel, and before he could try to dodge or move out of the way, one of the bird's talons cut through his shoulder, and deep.

He let out a garbled noise of pain as he crouched to the ground, aiming to get out of the way. The two monsters disentangled themselves from each other and took to the sky again, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be more coming. Castiel stood up again and kept running, but with the blood loss added to everything else, he didn't know how easily he'd make it.

Loki had been ready to run in if Soma had been hurt, but thankfully she managed to fend the bird off. He was slightly less concerned about Castiel, though he did keep an eye on the man, and the blood. If they made it safely inside, he'd be able to sew him up quite quickly, at least. But trying to do something macho like picking Castiel up would strain deniability, and he had no intention of doing so unless the situation became truly desperate.

With only one rock left to throw, Loki waited, picking his shot carefully. Another bird dived at Soma; as his friend, she was his first priority. He whipped the rock at the bird's head, where it hit with a very satisfying crack, embedding itself in the creature's eye socket. The bird actually crashed to the ground, stunned or dead it was impossible to tell, and Loki had no intention of stopping to check.

"Give it all you have!" he shouted.

He rolled the last rock in his hand, ready to pitch it through the glass doors the moment they were in range. And also ready to leap to defend if it was absolutely necessary.

And wasn't that an odd feeling.

Behind her, Castiel made a strangled noise. Soma looked back instinctively--he was crouching but still moving, albeit slower than before. The birds that had been going for him a moment before had spiraled away, probably to collect themselves before going for round two. Lingormr was bringing up the rear, another rock in his hand.

Close as the building was, she wasn't about to run to safety if it meant leaving Castiel behind. She gripped the branch in both hands, turning just as another bird rushed at her--and promptly fell to earth, a rock sticking out of its skull.

Pale but determined, she nodded her thanks at Lingormr before turning her attention back to Castiel. "Come on!" she shouted from her spot near the doors. "We're almost there! I'll cover you!"

It sank in even in the midst of his headache, the thrill of being prey, and the need to get to the door as soon as possible: he was the weakest link in this group of three. The other two were holding their own, with Lingormr managing most of the attacks and fending the things off, while Castiel was only dragging them down.

He refused to cause any further problems, and forced himself forward, ignoring the stinging pain in his shoulder and the fact that his arm was beginning to feel more and more numb below the series of cuts.

Castiel didn't respond when Soma called out to him, instead racing past her for the doors. If he couldn't fight properly, then he would just make sure to get to the doors first. He'd walked out of them before, so heading back in would likely not be a problem unless it was locked. Not that they would have the time to pick it; now would be a time for brute force.

As he reached the doors, Castiel skidded to a stop, but he was surprised to find that it opened without any trouble. Had someone else reached it first? It didn't matter. He wrenched a door open, holding it for the other two. He would let them through first, if only so that he could feel as if he'd contributed somehow.

With Loki distracted by another bird, Castiel reached the doors before he could break the glass as he intended. But even more strange, the angel opened the door with no apparent trouble.

Loki didn't stop to puzzle over the doors being unlocked. Since the rock was unnecessary for that task, he whipped it at the bird he'd been keeping an eye on. It didn't hit solidly, but well enough to distract it.

That delay gave Soma time to get through the door before him, and then he turned. "Go, go!" he told Castiel. The birds weren't interested in eating Loki, after all. He had few concerns about being the last one inside.

[To here]

Edited 2012-05-22 02:41 (UTC)

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Night 63: Road to/from Doyleton

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