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

[ham_fisted]

[from here]

After he had made it outside, Gumshoe took off. His heart was pounding in his ears and his throat was dry, but he didn't stop running! He couldn't see very far in front of him, and he wouldn't be able to hear people calling out for help over the deafening screeches of those monsters, but he tried to keep an eye out for stragglers and anyone who might be hurt as he jogged over to the other two buses.

The detective was breathing hard by the time he got to the last bus--the one that had crashed. He turned around and looked up in horror at the giant shadows circling overhead.

That was when he noticed someone standing really close to him. Was that...? "What are you doing, pal!?" he shouted at Mr. Taylor. "Don't just stand there! Get outta here!"

[toxicspiderman]

"Pick a bus. Not the broken one. Go back to the Institute in style." It had worked last time. Grab a vehicle, go zombie-smashing. Win-win situation. They could go down to town, too, but the Institute was more interesting. If the Head Bastard had wanted them out of the way, they could at least do him the favor of completely fucking up his plans.

"They're not attacking us, man." The birds weren't. He'd almost pissed himself the first time he'd seen them. "They only want kiddie meals." Some of the people running screaming from the birds were old enough to know better. He was tempted to shout out an explanation, but amateur porn sounded even worse than an open mic.

"So much for clean living." Sex was pretty all-natural, as pastimes went, but apparently Landel disagreed.

[ham_fisted]

Gumshoe kept glaring at the guy, but his eyes widened at the suggestion and he had to blink in confusion. "What!?" he got out, scowling in disbelief. "Are you insane!? Haven't you noticed there are nurses on all three of them?"

"Huh!?" That stunned him silent for a second. "You mean they only go after kids?" B-But that doesn't make sense!, was the first thought to cross his mind, but as it did, a disturbingly familiar feeling of dread crept up his spine. If there was something he'd learned about Landel's Institute in the month he'd been here, it was this: if something sounded weird or impossible, odds were that it was probably true. The detective tried to look skeptical, but it was hard to be convincing. "Wh-What makes you so sure, pal?" And if it was true, what was Mr. Taylor going to do, then? Did he plan on getting people on to a bus and driving them to safety?

[toxicspiderman]

One of the nurses had gone flying out and was next to the bus, actually. S.T. didn't point it out, because she was close enough to the doors that it didn't make a huge difference. People were running more than they were fighting. Mob mentality. This time it had flipped to flight. Maybe it was the birds.

"Not kids. Not specifically. Virgins," he said, and waved at the sky. "Tainted Meat to Delta Force, I repeat, do you want a piece of me, over." No reply. Good. Those would have been terrible last words. "See. No interest."

He looked back at the buses. "One nurse, or a hike through the woods where the bears are probably bigger than the buses." He shrugged. His opinion was obvious, but it was useless without at least another set of hands.

[ham_fisted]

[Sorry for the long wait!]

Gumshoe's face colored at that, but before he could splutter anything, Mr. Taylor called to the things. The older man ground his teeth and turned back to his roommate. "C-Cut it out, pal! This is serious!"

Then he went white. "B-Bears?" He shot a nervous glance at the woods. There were bears in there!? "Wait, who says we have to do either of those things!? Listen, pal," he went on, edging closer to the other man. "We don't have weapons or anything else that we can defend ourselves with! What if one of them attacks us, huh!? What would we do then?"

[toxicspiderman]

Sangamon Taylor could do serious. He could do three piece suit serious and even skip the toxic green sneakers, if and when the situation would be improved by him being a wet blanket. He just couldn't remember a single situation that qualified.

"Die?" He shrugged. Time to turn off the heat and let Detective Detective Detective splutter to a standstill. "Fine. What do you suggest?" The birds were still shrieking down, going after a few stragglers, but nothing else. They seemed to be keeping the rest of the wildlife at bay.