Behold A White Horse - Log 5
Jul. 7th, 2023 11:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThey fight a running retreat back to the place with hordes of the creatures now descending on them.
The formerly silent city was now a staccato cascade of inhuman howls as the creatures closed singular and in packs on anything moving. Even as the mutants headed towards the landing zones, the swarms of what could only be described as zombies began to close.
Kevin pushed the rest of the data and hard drives to Kitty to free his hands. "With your powers, Pryde, they cut us off, you go right through and get that info to the Blackbird. Hardy and I will find another way out if needed." His hands now free, he brought up the MP5 and pushed forward on the sling. He fired in short three shot bursts, walking backwards, and zombie after zombie fell in quick succession.
"We're about three minutes out. Grey, Lewis, where are your teams?"
"Pushing, Boss. Bird's in sight -" Whatever Darcy had been saying was cut off with a soft grunt of pain and scuffling, followed by a loudly annoyed "Oh, fuck OFF," and the sound of gunshots. Her voice was a little breathless as they continued moving towards the Blackbird. "We're a little swarmed but we're pushing through."
Thump! Thump! Thump! Came over the radio from Jean and her team's side of the city before Jean spoke up. "Did we just stop using codenames? Okay---We're 5 minutes away, coming from the hospital fast. By the way we have a guest, and a LOT of company."
"We're kind of flexible on the code names," Amanda's voice added, punctuated by the sound of gunshots. "Someone get the engines running, we're coming in hot."
"Working on it - can't phase with these hard drives or I'll fry 'em all -" Kitty huffed, shoving the drives into the backpack she carried. There was some chance that the leather would offer some protection if she phased only herself but she couldn't count on it. She ran for the Blackbird, breathing hard as she lept toward the plane, hoping the sound of gunfire wouldn't force her to phase before she could drop the hard drives. "Oh, shit--"
The crack of a bullet penetrated the air and she dropped to the ground, heart thumping. There wasn't time to check if she'd been hit but she didn't feel any pain, so Kitty got up and kept going, hoping she could make it to the plane and swing herself inside before the swarm consumed them all.
Felicia watched Kitty scramble, letting loose a second flurry of bullets at the swarm grasping for her heels. Three dropped, the fourth she was nearly on as she ran. An old fallen tree gave her just the ramp she needed to run up and pounce from about, claws raking deep through it's throat until it's head lolled back, held on only by muscle and skin, the invertebrate neatly separated. Shoving the body aside, Felicia took partial cover at the lead up to the plane, shoving her comm more securely in her ear where it'd come loose in the humidity. "On cover. Get to the tree line and I promise not to miss."
"Don't let these things grab you," Sarah's voice came over the comm with an unfamiliar edge, "I just kicked one off of me and the damn thing nearly took my arm off with it." The mic picked up a sharp crack and a thick gurgling sound as she swung a bone at the throat of a creature that tried blocking her path. "God, what I wouldn't give for a blowtorch."
"Fuck, fuck — Amanda!" Gabriel's gun was now firing blanks. "Out of ammo." He could see the Blackbird, and a part of him was tempted to make a break for it. But that was the antithesis of teamwork, and he was feeling particularly drained. Behind them, the sea of bodies that had been headed to the hospital had pivoted and was now coming after them. He could only assume that the others were in similar—
"Oh fucking hell." It dawned on him. "We're leading an entire army of these things to the same fucking place."
"Get ready, Phoenix," Angelo said, then broke off to audibly kick something away from him. "To knock all these away from the plane when we're close."
"Up, you two," Darcy demanded of Angelo and Sarah as they reached the Blackbird, taking aim at the horde once she'd scrambled up as well. Gabriel being out of ammo had her more concerned than she was willing to let on, and she locked everything down to focus with the cool practicality that'd gotten her compared to Laurie at least once before. She saw Kitty in the mix, and focused on cover fire for the woman. "You're almost here, Shadowcat, we've got you. Syd, what's the plan here? I've got thirty-" she broke off, squeezing two shots into a zombie. "Thirty-six rounds left for cover."
"Get on the plane." Despite the grey horde closing on him, Kevin's voice was calm and controlled. He'd angled himself towards the witch, as they both retreated towards the Blackbird. His weapon barked constantly; quick double taps that dropped creature after creature. "Last clip for me." He muttered, looking at the distance between the place and their position. "Start the VTOL. Get it starting in the air. Sefton, can you buy us... " He calculated quickly. "-an extra fifteen seconds?"
"On it," was Amanda's brief reply. "Gabe, take this." She handed him her gun. "Doc, shield anyone who's not on the plane yet, I'll hold back the bulk of the uglies."
They'd reached the open area where the Blackbird was parked and Amanda waved Jean, Gabriel, and the former patient onwards even as she pulled her wych out of its inner pocket in her jacket. It tingled in her hands with the pent-up magical energy she'd charged it with before leaving New York - she'd had a feeling she'd need everything she could get. She dropped to one knee, driving the end of the short elm stick in her hand hard into the ground.
A flare of magical energy erupted from the spot, spreading outwards in a circle like the ripples on a pond. Unlike Amanda's usual neon-city signature, this energy was a sickly green, echoing the glow in the eyes of the zombies and when Amanda raised her head, her eyes had taken on the same glow. The energy reached the outer edges of the cleared area and became a circular wall, grey-green and transparent but enough to hold back the masses.
As the remaining team got on the aircraft, a handful of straggler zombies that had been trying to grab the fleeing teammates were telekinetically yanked into the air one after the other, bouncing off of Amanda's shield and slamming into the remaining wave behind the magic wall, knocking a few down like a bowling ball into pins in an attempt to slow them down.
"Not interested in the Walking Dead as our in-flight entertainment," Jean said as she climbed on board, hopping into the pilot seat before quickly starting it up.
A faint thudding on the roof drew her attention, and she waited until she saw a bloody hand smack against the windshield from above before yeeting the zombie that came with it.
"How the hell did you get up there? Nevermind."
"Here's the drives." Kitty set them on the ground with a relieved sigh. "Someone else better watch these so I don't accidentally fry them all." She'd almost phased when she saw that hand - these were all the zombies she could handle for one day.
Kitty watched another zombie slap the window, then spin away into the darkness as it was flung away from the plane. She grinned as she looked toward the cockpit. "Can we go home now?"
"That's a very good idea." Kevin said, standing by the rear opening, having already abandoned the empty MP-5 and switching back to his pistol. "Sefton, it's time to-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as a pair of hands shot up from the corner of the ramp and rear opening. The creature had crawled beneath the plane and unseen gripped Kevin by the ankle and pulled him clear of the plane and on the ground. He hit awkwardly, his pistol bouncing away, and just barely caught the double fisted blow that threatened to crush his chest, struggling on his back to keep it at arms length and a handful of others closed in hungrily.
In a split-second, the zombie on top of Kevin was thrown to the side, with Gabriel appearing as if out of nowhere to tackle it off his mentor’s body. Almost casually - as if time were no object - he fired the gun that he’d taken from Amanda at the other beings closing on them, then punched the creature underneath him in the jaw. “Plane,” he grunted. “Plane now.”
"Plane." Kevin scrambled up and pulled himself back on to the ramp and extended his hand, pulling Gabe up after him as the VTOL kicked in and the plane was rising in the air. "Wait-" The plane was being swarmed by the creatures and they needed height but Amanda was still at the base of the ramp, with the plane leaving her behind. He swiped at her but she was already out of reach with her back to him. "Wait-!" His head whipped back as he watched the creatures falling past the cockpit windows and putting Jean in an impossible position. Either they left now, or they didn't leave at all.
Angelo was already dashing forward, reaching behind him with one hand's worth of skin to anchor himself as he balanced on the end of the ramp, and forwards with the other to wrap around Amanda's shoulders and waist. "Got her!"
The wall of energy had been shrinking smaller and smaller, until it was only a small patch of clear space around her. The witch herself was hunched in on herself, drowning in the echoes of the dead city and the effort of holding the barrier up. Then she felt something snaking around her waist and shoulders. A rope? No, it was warm, pliant, familiar... "Ange," she murmured with relief, and went limp, the barrier dissipating. She was dimly aware of tugging upwards and grasping hands on her legs and feet slipping away.
He retreated back up the ramp, pulling Amanda to safety as he went, and passed her carefully into Kevin's waiting arms. "She's out. Over-extended herself, I guess."
Darcy's gun clicked as she ran out of ammo. Shit. She turned the safety on, stashing it in her holster and doing a quick head count as Angelo passed Amanda into Kevin's arms. "Everyone's here, let's get the fuck out while we can." Food sounded good. Lots of it. A warm bath. Sleep. "I've got some energy bars in my backpack, if anyone wants one."
Breathing heavily, Sarah slid down the side of the plane to a seated position on the floor. Covered in sweat and gore, she squinted up at their extra passenger in a biohazard suit. "Look, I know this is going to sound rude", she sighed, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead and smearing the grime there, "But I'm blaming it on the adrenaline. Did we really just barely escape a town turned into a mindless horde, and think it was a good idea to take on a passenger from said town?"
"She's the only survivor from the hospital," Jean said, adjusting some of the controls as she took a grim glance down at what remained of the City, disappearing in the distance. "She was in quarantine...and somehow she didn't get impacted. It'd be good to know why. We're taking her to Muir. And if anything happens in the interim I'm sure there's an entire plane full of people who would be able to help."
"Oooh," Felicia murmured from her seat, still trying to figure out how things like buckles worked. She gave up, eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Lucky me, I've never been to Scotland before."
The formerly silent city was now a staccato cascade of inhuman howls as the creatures closed singular and in packs on anything moving. Even as the mutants headed towards the landing zones, the swarms of what could only be described as zombies began to close.
Kevin pushed the rest of the data and hard drives to Kitty to free his hands. "With your powers, Pryde, they cut us off, you go right through and get that info to the Blackbird. Hardy and I will find another way out if needed." His hands now free, he brought up the MP5 and pushed forward on the sling. He fired in short three shot bursts, walking backwards, and zombie after zombie fell in quick succession.
"We're about three minutes out. Grey, Lewis, where are your teams?"
"Pushing, Boss. Bird's in sight -" Whatever Darcy had been saying was cut off with a soft grunt of pain and scuffling, followed by a loudly annoyed "Oh, fuck OFF," and the sound of gunshots. Her voice was a little breathless as they continued moving towards the Blackbird. "We're a little swarmed but we're pushing through."
Thump! Thump! Thump! Came over the radio from Jean and her team's side of the city before Jean spoke up. "Did we just stop using codenames? Okay---We're 5 minutes away, coming from the hospital fast. By the way we have a guest, and a LOT of company."
"We're kind of flexible on the code names," Amanda's voice added, punctuated by the sound of gunshots. "Someone get the engines running, we're coming in hot."
"Working on it - can't phase with these hard drives or I'll fry 'em all -" Kitty huffed, shoving the drives into the backpack she carried. There was some chance that the leather would offer some protection if she phased only herself but she couldn't count on it. She ran for the Blackbird, breathing hard as she lept toward the plane, hoping the sound of gunfire wouldn't force her to phase before she could drop the hard drives. "Oh, shit--"
The crack of a bullet penetrated the air and she dropped to the ground, heart thumping. There wasn't time to check if she'd been hit but she didn't feel any pain, so Kitty got up and kept going, hoping she could make it to the plane and swing herself inside before the swarm consumed them all.
Felicia watched Kitty scramble, letting loose a second flurry of bullets at the swarm grasping for her heels. Three dropped, the fourth she was nearly on as she ran. An old fallen tree gave her just the ramp she needed to run up and pounce from about, claws raking deep through it's throat until it's head lolled back, held on only by muscle and skin, the invertebrate neatly separated. Shoving the body aside, Felicia took partial cover at the lead up to the plane, shoving her comm more securely in her ear where it'd come loose in the humidity. "On cover. Get to the tree line and I promise not to miss."
"Don't let these things grab you," Sarah's voice came over the comm with an unfamiliar edge, "I just kicked one off of me and the damn thing nearly took my arm off with it." The mic picked up a sharp crack and a thick gurgling sound as she swung a bone at the throat of a creature that tried blocking her path. "God, what I wouldn't give for a blowtorch."
"Fuck, fuck — Amanda!" Gabriel's gun was now firing blanks. "Out of ammo." He could see the Blackbird, and a part of him was tempted to make a break for it. But that was the antithesis of teamwork, and he was feeling particularly drained. Behind them, the sea of bodies that had been headed to the hospital had pivoted and was now coming after them. He could only assume that the others were in similar—
"Oh fucking hell." It dawned on him. "We're leading an entire army of these things to the same fucking place."
"Get ready, Phoenix," Angelo said, then broke off to audibly kick something away from him. "To knock all these away from the plane when we're close."
"Up, you two," Darcy demanded of Angelo and Sarah as they reached the Blackbird, taking aim at the horde once she'd scrambled up as well. Gabriel being out of ammo had her more concerned than she was willing to let on, and she locked everything down to focus with the cool practicality that'd gotten her compared to Laurie at least once before. She saw Kitty in the mix, and focused on cover fire for the woman. "You're almost here, Shadowcat, we've got you. Syd, what's the plan here? I've got thirty-" she broke off, squeezing two shots into a zombie. "Thirty-six rounds left for cover."
"Get on the plane." Despite the grey horde closing on him, Kevin's voice was calm and controlled. He'd angled himself towards the witch, as they both retreated towards the Blackbird. His weapon barked constantly; quick double taps that dropped creature after creature. "Last clip for me." He muttered, looking at the distance between the place and their position. "Start the VTOL. Get it starting in the air. Sefton, can you buy us... " He calculated quickly. "-an extra fifteen seconds?"
"On it," was Amanda's brief reply. "Gabe, take this." She handed him her gun. "Doc, shield anyone who's not on the plane yet, I'll hold back the bulk of the uglies."
They'd reached the open area where the Blackbird was parked and Amanda waved Jean, Gabriel, and the former patient onwards even as she pulled her wych out of its inner pocket in her jacket. It tingled in her hands with the pent-up magical energy she'd charged it with before leaving New York - she'd had a feeling she'd need everything she could get. She dropped to one knee, driving the end of the short elm stick in her hand hard into the ground.
A flare of magical energy erupted from the spot, spreading outwards in a circle like the ripples on a pond. Unlike Amanda's usual neon-city signature, this energy was a sickly green, echoing the glow in the eyes of the zombies and when Amanda raised her head, her eyes had taken on the same glow. The energy reached the outer edges of the cleared area and became a circular wall, grey-green and transparent but enough to hold back the masses.
As the remaining team got on the aircraft, a handful of straggler zombies that had been trying to grab the fleeing teammates were telekinetically yanked into the air one after the other, bouncing off of Amanda's shield and slamming into the remaining wave behind the magic wall, knocking a few down like a bowling ball into pins in an attempt to slow them down.
"Not interested in the Walking Dead as our in-flight entertainment," Jean said as she climbed on board, hopping into the pilot seat before quickly starting it up.
A faint thudding on the roof drew her attention, and she waited until she saw a bloody hand smack against the windshield from above before yeeting the zombie that came with it.
"How the hell did you get up there? Nevermind."
"Here's the drives." Kitty set them on the ground with a relieved sigh. "Someone else better watch these so I don't accidentally fry them all." She'd almost phased when she saw that hand - these were all the zombies she could handle for one day.
Kitty watched another zombie slap the window, then spin away into the darkness as it was flung away from the plane. She grinned as she looked toward the cockpit. "Can we go home now?"
"That's a very good idea." Kevin said, standing by the rear opening, having already abandoned the empty MP-5 and switching back to his pistol. "Sefton, it's time to-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as a pair of hands shot up from the corner of the ramp and rear opening. The creature had crawled beneath the plane and unseen gripped Kevin by the ankle and pulled him clear of the plane and on the ground. He hit awkwardly, his pistol bouncing away, and just barely caught the double fisted blow that threatened to crush his chest, struggling on his back to keep it at arms length and a handful of others closed in hungrily.
In a split-second, the zombie on top of Kevin was thrown to the side, with Gabriel appearing as if out of nowhere to tackle it off his mentor’s body. Almost casually - as if time were no object - he fired the gun that he’d taken from Amanda at the other beings closing on them, then punched the creature underneath him in the jaw. “Plane,” he grunted. “Plane now.”
"Plane." Kevin scrambled up and pulled himself back on to the ramp and extended his hand, pulling Gabe up after him as the VTOL kicked in and the plane was rising in the air. "Wait-" The plane was being swarmed by the creatures and they needed height but Amanda was still at the base of the ramp, with the plane leaving her behind. He swiped at her but she was already out of reach with her back to him. "Wait-!" His head whipped back as he watched the creatures falling past the cockpit windows and putting Jean in an impossible position. Either they left now, or they didn't leave at all.
Angelo was already dashing forward, reaching behind him with one hand's worth of skin to anchor himself as he balanced on the end of the ramp, and forwards with the other to wrap around Amanda's shoulders and waist. "Got her!"
The wall of energy had been shrinking smaller and smaller, until it was only a small patch of clear space around her. The witch herself was hunched in on herself, drowning in the echoes of the dead city and the effort of holding the barrier up. Then she felt something snaking around her waist and shoulders. A rope? No, it was warm, pliant, familiar... "Ange," she murmured with relief, and went limp, the barrier dissipating. She was dimly aware of tugging upwards and grasping hands on her legs and feet slipping away.
He retreated back up the ramp, pulling Amanda to safety as he went, and passed her carefully into Kevin's waiting arms. "She's out. Over-extended herself, I guess."
Darcy's gun clicked as she ran out of ammo. Shit. She turned the safety on, stashing it in her holster and doing a quick head count as Angelo passed Amanda into Kevin's arms. "Everyone's here, let's get the fuck out while we can." Food sounded good. Lots of it. A warm bath. Sleep. "I've got some energy bars in my backpack, if anyone wants one."
Breathing heavily, Sarah slid down the side of the plane to a seated position on the floor. Covered in sweat and gore, she squinted up at their extra passenger in a biohazard suit. "Look, I know this is going to sound rude", she sighed, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead and smearing the grime there, "But I'm blaming it on the adrenaline. Did we really just barely escape a town turned into a mindless horde, and think it was a good idea to take on a passenger from said town?"
"She's the only survivor from the hospital," Jean said, adjusting some of the controls as she took a grim glance down at what remained of the City, disappearing in the distance. "She was in quarantine...and somehow she didn't get impacted. It'd be good to know why. We're taking her to Muir. And if anything happens in the interim I'm sure there's an entire plane full of people who would be able to help."
"Oooh," Felicia murmured from her seat, still trying to figure out how things like buckles worked. She gave up, eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Lucky me, I've never been to Scotland before."
