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

[madeinthehrl]

"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.

[freewill]

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.

[complicatedliar]

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.

[madeinthehrl]

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.

[freewill]

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.

[complicatedliar]

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.

[madeinthehrl]

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!"

[freewill]

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.

[complicatedliar]

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]