Zero (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dividedby) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
damned_institute2012-05-07 02:53 pm
dividedby) wrote in damned_institute2012-05-07 02:53 pm
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.]
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.]
no subject
Like a mother bat, Badd could hear Byrne screaming for him even in a crowd of terrified patients. Damndamndamn where was he where was he THERE!
"Here! Over here!" Badd shouldered his way through the crowd, practically tackling Byrne when he finally got close enough to touch him. His large arm wrapped protectively around his smaller partner. "We need to get inside," he said, as if that wasn't blatantly obvious. "Buses aren't safe. I don't suppose you've got a weapon?"
The nurses had a lot of targets but that didn't make Badd and Byrne immune. He was programmed to fight back, not run, and being so defenseless made Badd crave even a two-by-for with a nail in it for support.
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Now that they were together again, they needed to run like hell, away from all these monsters. So far, none of the flying terrors above their heads seemed to notice them, but it was probably only a matter of time before they did. Just--just look at those things! Where the hell did they come from?! And even if they weren't attacking them yet, they still had those nurses - or, what were once nurses - to deal with.
"No, I don't have anything!" The only thing Byrne had on him before this mess happened was that box of Swiss rolls he'd deserted on the bus, and right now he wasn't even thinking about those. At this point he felt like it was wiser to just sprint for whatever place with a goddamn roof was closer than bother with trying to find weapons. "The Institute shouldn't be that far away, right?" Byrne tried to look down the road to see if the Institute was in sight, but it was too dark and there were too many other things going on in front of him.
Too many other people running around in panic...oh, he hoped his other friends were okay!
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There was a distinct deviation in the targets the birds were going for, and Renamon idly and somewhat dryly gave the likely possibility of the moniker "virgin-eating" as the targets more often than not were the younger patients, children and otherwise (where was Leanne and Nigredo?), and at the least she had confirmation--
It was about then in her thoughts that one circled above seemed to hone in on her, and the Digimon nearly stopped in confusion for a moment--instead, dove under the next bus and scrambled out the other side as the bird flung itself ground after her. She couldn't possibly be counted as-- She was a Digimon--
She snarled to herself and picked herself out to run forward, nearly full-out, when she caught the sound of a yell. A very familiar yell, at this point. Byrne, panicked, with a slightly more calm companion, who was indeed the one she had met earlier. There was no time for that, however, and with a quick darting look at the sky, Renamon skidded to a stop in front of them. "It's far enough," she answered, sparing no time for pleasantries. "And the road's not safe either. No choice, though; start moving now!"
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"We stay out here, we're dead. Move!" Badd didn't wait for Byrne to make a counterpoint argument, simply grabbed him by the arm and dragged him along. He expected Byrne to follow along, but wanted to make sure he kept physical contact. In all this chaos his partner could easily be torn away from him.
As to the other one, she could come if she pleased. He recognized her from the grocery store but she was no this concern.
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... Not that the Institute was that much of a safer place, but--but Renamon was right. It wasn't like they had any other options right now.
Admittedly, though? It made the prosecutor feel a little more ill thinking about how eager he and others were willing to run back to a place they were actively trying to escape from. Landel was probably having a field day watching this, that bastard. But then, this also wasn't the time for thoughts like that. They all needed to focus on running, first and foremost. So Byrne let his partner lead him by the arm and tried to keep up with him as best as he could, glancing back at Renamon in the meantime to make sure she was following.
no subject
...So this was how it had been like. All of the tales she had heard she now gave to truth. With the screams, blood, and chaos, it was more like a warzone than anything else. She kept pace easily, then after glancing at the sky warily, sped up to ask evenly, "Are you both uninjured?" A practical concern rather than anything else; they were surrounded by creatures and going into the woods--any predator that wasn't honing in on pure individuals would very likely do the same for blood.
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The birds...he'd heard about them, some piece of gossip or scuttlebutt that he couldn't remember the origin of. He'd dismissed it as ridiculous until the entire world started becoming ridiculous.
"Weird question, but are you a virgin?"
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And anyway, it could be worse. He could be turning into one of them right now. Or--wait. No. Not good thoughts. Stop thinking about that right now, Faraday. Not the time.
So then, was Renamon okay? Before Byrne could ask her that, however, his partner suddenly came out with perhaps the most unusual and out of place question that he had ever heard, prompting a disbelieving stare toward the older detective. "W-What!?" Did he--did Badd seriously just ask if Renamon was a virgin? What kind of question was THAT?! And at a time like this?!
...Okay, fine, maybe Badd usually had a good reason for the questions he asked (and Byrne knew him well enough to know he wasn't that kind of guy), but c'mon! If this was a joke, then he had some horrible sense of timing.
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A thought that fled as soon as the other man spoke again. Instead of Byrne's surprise, Renamon only grimaced. "...Unfortunately, it seems I'm labeled as such," she answered dryly, an awkward beat spreading between them. Her conscience pulled at her, and out of habit she explained briefly to Byrne. "The creatures are drawn to... pure... existences." She glanced at Badd. More than the other, he seemed set on survival, and would possibly view her presence as a risk. However, she had no intention of leaving, and would rather be around to protect in case of any other threats.
[ and good to be skipped! she'll likely just prioritize getting inside. ]
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As if hearing her response, there was a loud shriek from near the buses. Badd frantically checked over his shoulder to make sure the giant bird was focused on another target, then forced himself to put his focus back on the road ahead of him.
Freaking great. "She's a target," he said to Byrne, keeping pace beside his partner. "Birds are magic or something. They hunt virgins." He didn't dare say that she was a liability and that they should split from her to better maximize the survival of the herd. Byrne would never go along with the idea and to be honest, neither would Badd. He considered himself a hard man making hard choices but even he had his lines. So far the birds were leaving them alone.
(But that meant Anise was a target too. God willing she'd have someone strong backing her up, those birds could so easily pick her up and take her away.)
His lungs were already hurting. This was far different from the nightly runs he'd done before his arrest, this was adrenaline revving him up as fast as possible with no thought of how quick he might burn out later down the line.
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This had to be the strangest thing Byrne had ever heard in all the forty years of his life.
But denying it as truth (as utterly ridiculous as it sounded) would mean he denied the truth that Renamon was a Digimon, or that other worlds existed, or that they were even here in the first place. So despite what his wide-eyed appearance suggested otherwise, Byrne believed every word he was hearing. Did he have a choice?
Of course, this also meant Renamon was in danger, unlike himself and Badd. Would the uh...magic virgin-eating birds ignore her if she hung around with 'unclean' people? (God, this situation was taking a sharp turn for the bizarre.) Hopefully so; Byrne didn't want her to be eaten by those things, even if he knew how capable she was at protecting herself. Nothing was attacking them so far, so maybe it was good that she was tagging along, then! One could only hope at this point.
The prosecutor silently kept running, starting to feel a bit exhausted but forcing himself to keep going anyway. It shouldn't be much farther now, right? It wasn't like they had been that far from the Institute when the buses stopped.
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But even Badd was starting to flag. If they could just make it inside they'd be fine but the dark shadows over their heads were making that a faint possibility.
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"You okay?" the prosecutor yelled, pausing briefly to gasp for breath. He looked back at Renamon, who was still following silently behind them, to show that his concern extended to her. "Hang in there! We--we're almost there!"
However far 'almost' was. Sure, they'd probably reach the Institute's front door within the next few minutes, but it felt like they'd never get there at this rate! And would they make it without being attacked? Hopefully those magic bird whatevers would leave all three of them alone.
...Wait. Oh god. Thought. What if the front door was locked? The prosecutor's face went pale as he thought of this. Would Landel do that? Ohh, that bastard, he probably would. Leaving everyone out here to fend for themselves against all these flying monsters. Damnit, it better not be locked! Please be open, please!
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Lies, of course, but if lies got his body to keep pounding the pavement just a little longer he'd tell himself all the lies in the world.
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Now get in there! Run! Run, damnit!
[To here.]