Night 63: Road to/from Doyleton

[dividedby]

[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.]

Comments

[brokensmolder]

Eugene was beginning to tire, every step sending a jolt of pain through his leg, but he didn't let up. They had to get as far away from the buses as they could. The woods, at least, would get them out open, provide cover away from the screeching birds that dogged them. One came perilously close but held back for some inexplicable reason. He didn't think he would be that lucky a second time.

But his strength was flagging. He began to slow, just a little, and Rapunzel noticed. He shook his head and pulled her along, closer to an embankment. The trees were just a few feet beyond. "I can, and I will," he told her, gritting his teeth as they left the smooth, paved road in favor of the less forgiving gravel on the side of the highway. Man, that hurt. "At least until we find somewhere to hide." A cave or a tree or something away from the road and the birds who were circling ever closer.

He shot her a quick, pale grin. "Listen to Red over there if you're not going to listen to me."

Just then, he stepped on a large rock he hadn't seen in the darkness. Eugene's ankle turned, he overbalanced, and then he fell.

[hairraising]

As they veered off the road, it soon became Rapunzel pulling Eugene along rather than the other way around. "Can't and won't," Rapunzel insisted. Turning her head toward the other man, and nodded at him again as they ran. "Thanks, Kratos. Hiding in forests — yeeeeah, that's worked pretty well for me up 'til now. Let's go!"

However, the "going" part hit a snag at that point. Literally.

Rapunzel yelped as Eugene pitched down and took her tumbling with him. She skidded across the side of her leg across the rocky ground, scraping skin below the hem of her skirt. "Aahhh..." Rapunzel sucked air in through her teeth as she pushed herself out of the dirt.

It was right about then that something circling the area decided that Blonde Virgin sounded like a good item for tonight's menu. An inhuman scream tore through the air, diving from the black sky above as the aquila unfurled its claws.

[forsworn]

Kratos winced as both Eugene and Rapunzel went down. If he were further ahead, he might have been able to catch at least one of them, but as it was, he could only watch and rush over after the fact. "Here." He reached down and offered a hand to both of them, praying that they would be able to recover quickly enough to still escape properly and not attract anything's attention.

His efforts would be for naught, though. Before either one could take his hand, there was a piercing scream, and Kratos stiffened and turned away to find the dark shape in the sky plunging toward them. It would not be aiming for him, but that was a mere technicality. His hand reached first for the sword that would not be there--Damn it!--and then second for Rapunzel, pushing her back down to the ground before he stepped in front of her so that the aquila smashed into him instead, outstretched talons ripping through fabric and flesh, sending him flying backwards into the dirt.

"Gghk!" He gritted his teeth against the pain and propped himself up on one arm. The aquila was circling again for another try. They would not be able to run, not with Eugene's foot. They needed a way to fight it somehow...one hand closed around a rock nearby. It would have to do. "Retreat into the forest," Kratos ordered, pushing himself back up to his feet. "I'll cover you both."

[brokensmolder]

That was not the most graceful thing that Flynn Rider, Master Thief, had ever done. He groaned and tried to assemble his limbs back into some semblance of order. His boot was slippery with blood, but his leg hurt less now. Or maybe he just couldn't feel it anymore.

"Thanks," Eugene told the man--Kratos, apparently (fit him better than Ginger, sadly)--and steadied himself before he prepared to take the offered hand. He glanced over to Rapunzel. "Sorry about that. Are you hurt--"

Then a shriek shattered what little peace they had. Eugene looked up long enough to see something clawed and feathery hurtle towards them before Kratos was pushing Rapunzel out of the way and taking an attack obviously meant for her.

Kratos was calling for them both to run away, but he didn't look like he could take many more of these attacks, not when the huge bird was already circling for another go. Eugene scrambled to his feet, grabbing at the gravel before pulling Rapunzel up out of the dirt. "Get to the trees," he told her. "We'll be right behind--GET DOWN!" He tackled her back to the ground, shielding her with his body.

[hairraising]

Rapunzel didn't even have enough time to shake her head at Eugene before the creature's scream tore through the air between them. She tensed up and clutched at him tight, and didn't protest when Kratos shoved her to the ground, mostly because her mouth ended up too full of dirt to do otherwise.

She sputtered and coughed, practically clawing at the ground, pushing herself up onto her knees as the sounds of shredding cloth and inhuman cries reached her ears. "Khgh— Kratos!" she called to him as Eugene pulled her up the rest of the way. "No! We're not leaving you!"

Eugene told her something about the trees that she could barely hear through the beating of wings above their heads. And for the second time in less than a minute, Rapunzel crashed into the dirt, this time with Eugene on top of her. She could barely breathe, barely see. This wasn't helping anyone, she thought as her heart raced and her eyes whipped between what she could see of Kratos, Eugene, and the giant bird. If Kratos and Eugene were both taken out while trying to shield her, then they were all dead. They had to hamper this thing somehow, before it tore them to pieces.

"Let me up!" Rapunzel struggled under Eugene, her breathing erratic as the thing dove at them. Somehow she got an arm out to her hair. Without the time to think or aim, she lobbed the end upward.

It wasn't precise, but part of the prehensile end caught around the bird's legs, tangling and twisting them up just enough. It shrieked as its balance was thrown off, crashing into the gravel beside them. The thing wouldn't be seriously damaged from that alone, but it bought them precious time.

[forsworn]

As he prepared to take on the aquila for only the second time, Kratos was well aware that this was perhaps one of the more stupid things he'd done in a while, and not just because it meant that he would be waking up sore and in utter misery for the umpteenth time in the morning. If Rapunzel and her friend Eugene could escape safely, though, he was willing to risk falling victim to stupidity.

Unfortunately, he was still a little disoriented from the impact, and by the time he'd managed to clear his vision and regain a proper sense of where he was exactly, it was too late to intercept the aquila. Eugene had already done him the favor of sending Rapunzel face-first into the dirt again, but that wouldn't do much more than make him the one to get taken down. Kratos sprinted forward toward the two anyway; he had to try, since there wasn't much more to lose at this point. If he could just, by some miracle, get there first...

And then the aquila slammed into the ground with a strangled cry as something gold and shimmery looped itself around its legs. His first thought was that someone else had come to their rescue, but then he realized that it was actually Rapunzel's hair. That was...it was...well, at the moment, it was useful. He would have to stare at it later, though; defeating the aquila came first. Without any further hesitation, Kratos followed up by smashing the rock in his hand into the aquila's eye.

[brokensmolder]

One thing Eugene learned after he tackled Rapunzel to the ground: she had very sharp elbows. And knees. And...wrists. (How could a human being have wrists that pointy? How?) Her struggle to extricate herself was far, far more painful than the gashes on his calf. He would have bruises to show for it in the morning.

Thankfully, the bird did not contribute to his hurts. As soon as his body was covering Rapunzel's, it almost seemed to lose interest. It changed course abruptly, talons tearing a little at his puffy vest but otherwise missing him entirely.

It only wants Rapunzel.

Which couldn't be right. It must have been something else.

Once again, Eugene had great cause to be grateful for Rapunzel's magic hair. Even while he was still kind of on top of her--ow very very pointy elbow to the solar plexus--she managed to lasso the bird-thing and get it on the ground. Kratos had already taken the initiative and was doing his best to make sure that it would never bother any really long-haired girls again. Eugene finally let Rapunzel up the rest of the way and went to join him.

There was no shortage of good-sized rocks around with which he could bash Birdie's brains in. Scrambling around in the dark, Eugene found one that seemed heavy enough and then started pounding. And pounding. And pounding. The blood covering his hand was foul and black, but he didn't care.

Because soon the bird wouldn't be moving very much anymore.

[hairraising]

The first thing Rapunzel had to worry about after Eugene let her up was getting her hair back. The lasso had hit, but hapharzardly; some thinner sections of hair were tangled around the thing's talons and liable to be shorn off if she wasn't careful. Not to mention that if the thing did get moving before Kratos or Eugene got a hit in, she was going for a wild and deadly ride.

Sure enough, the first thing she saw was the kicking and flailing of giant bird legs, as the thing fought to get itself upright. Rapunzel stayed back, gripping tight onto her hair and waiting for a moment of opportunity as the two men rushed in, rocks held high.

She wasn't prepared for what she saw then. Though the giant bird had tried to kill her, she couldn't help but see the face of a million jays and thrushes, like the ones that had flitted by her tower window every summer's day. This thing seemed more animal-like than monstrous, more dangerous than horrific. It was a bird's face she saw being bludgeoned by Eugene then, and a bird's eyes being gouged out by Kratos. Rapunzel's hands went to her mouth, hair pressed against her lips.

Unable to watch the front of the creature, where dark blood sprayed, her gazed turned to the legs again. She ought to have been thankful that the kicking had slowed down. Biting down hard on her bottom lip, Rapunzel forced herself to walk forward. She first bid the main section of hair to come loose and fall away from the bird's feet. Then came the sections she had been worried about. As the thing struggled less and less, she was able to get closer, unlooping the thinner sections by hand. By the time she had removed the last strands, she was almost close enough to touch rotting skin and molting feathers. Just what had happened to this creature to put it in such a sad state, she couldn't help wondering.

The boys weren't letting up, which again, she supposed was good. She ought to help them somehow, she thought. After a moment, she circled around the back of the bird, stopping where neck met body. Let's just finish this quick, she thought, slinging her hair out once more, this time around the giant, feathered throat. Shutting her eyes tight, she turned and yanked over her shoulder, aiming to snap the thing's hollow-boned neck in the grip of her hair.

[forsworn]

The aquila screeched in pain as his rock struck home, spattering the front of his jacket and his face with blood. Kratos cleared his vision with a quick swipe of his sleeve and then jumped out of the way as the giant bird thrashed around, trying to strike back at whatever had just blinded it, although with little enthusiasm. It did, admittedly, feel wrong to heap so much abuse on an enemy that couldn't do anything against him personally, but it was either the aquila or Rapunzel, and he knew exactly which one he would pick every time.

Eugene had joined him in whacking the bird with a rock, and their efforts combined were slowly taking its toll: the aquila was gradually putting up less of a fight. If it managed to get on its feet, though, it still stood a chance of escaping, so Kratos climbed onto the bird's back and went for the wings, narrowly missing a faceful of feathers. The smell of decaying flesh was stronger there, enough to make him gag, but he grimly set his jaw and began pounding away. The bird was large, but its bones were still hollow, and after several hits, he heard the tell-tale crack that denied any chance of the aquila gaining its second wind.

A flash of gold again caught his eye, and Kratos looked back to find that Rapunzel had decided to help again, this time trying to strangle the bird with her hair. He sighed; it would have been better if she could have been spared any involvement, but such was the nature of this place--and the world in general, actually. Something similar would have happened eventually.

[brokensmolder]

Eugene felt weirdly detached from himself as he continued to pound the life out of the rotting bird monster that had attacked them with a very large rock. Part of him continued to do so with single-minded intensity; this monster obviously wanted to hurt or kill them, so they had to hurt or kill it first. The other part looked with revulsion at the dark blood on his hands and the realization that he could be this violent when he needed to.

Then Rapunzel was there, squeezing the life out of it with her hair. The bird gave a final jerk and then lay still, so still that Eugene stared at it for a moment because he couldn't believe that it was dead. But it was. He rose, shakily, and wiped his hands on his pants. "You okay?" he asked Rapunzel but left the question open for Kratos too.

Eugene reached out and gently helped Rapunzel begin to untangle her hair from around the bird's neck. "Come on...we need to get into those trees. It's not safe out in the open."