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

[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."