Chương 51: The horde

A low growl etched itself into the air, causing every one of them to freeze. Grim tightened her hold on her sword as she held her breath." Do we-," Orion tried to whisper before Solomon grabbed his jaw. He shook his head as Orion tensed up at the physical contact. A second growl turned into a shriek at the hint of noise they'd left. The door swung closed again as the sound of bare feet bounced off the concrete floor. Alyn signalled something to Solomon, and his face went sour as he urged them forward.

She peered down the stairwell and saw that they were still six or so flights of stairs until they got to the bottom. They moved forward, and Grim was very cognizant of the sounds everyone was making. There was only so quiet someone could be on metal stairs, and while Carrion and SongJae seemed to be nearly silent, the rest of them were like elephants in comparison. Orion stumbled onto the floor, causing a crash of noise that cascaded through the echoing walls.

As if in reply, there was a guttural clicking from above that bounced off the metal walls until it was all they could hear below." We need to go," Orion whispered. Solomon turned around in rage, but smothered it enough that his voice came through pursed lips, "Shut the fuck up, I know." Another screech ripped from above, accompanied by the door slamming open a second later. From her angle, she could only see a sliver of the door from her position.

Orion looked to be tearing apart at the seams, the fear clear in his every movement. She almost wished she could grab him and hold him still before he cracked. As it was, they were on a sinking ship, and he was the leak. They pushed forward, taking the stairs as fast as they could. From above, the door had gained a steady rhythm as it crashed open and swung closed as if it were on a timer to make sure they could never relax. The petals were up there, and more were coming in.

She'd catch glimpses of a shoulder or of the growth coming out of their heads as they darted up stairs." I'm running out of blood," Carrion said. Solomon frowned, "How long?"" Reached my limit about a minute ago," Carrion said.

"I don't…" Grim went to catch him, but SongJae beat her to it, his body flowing like water as he adjusted himself so that Carrion seemed to slide into the optimal position to be carried, with SongJae never missing a step as they continued their hurry walk downstairs. She tried to glare at him, but he stuck his tongue out at her, "You too small." A part of her wanted to fume at that, but she wouldn't waste the energy, not when he'd done something objectively good. She just frowned instead.

Natalie clung to her back, refusing to let go of her handhold on her cloak. She didn't blame her. The building shook, down to its roots, as something big happened outside. Dust was thrown up into the air and into her lungs as she tried everything she could not to cough. The stairwell rumbled and set off the petals above, who shrieked at the sudden onset of noise. They stopped moving once again, barely gone down a flight from the last time they'd had to stop.

The rumbling slowed and settled down, but the door from above brought a new horde of petals into the stairwell above. She watched as one was shoved against the railing of the stairwell. It tried to push its way forward, but the influx of petals coming in was too much for it to push against." We need to go," Orion begged." Not. yet." Another petal slammed into the one on the railing, and it fell backwards, its back now leaning over the edge as it windmilled its arms trying to keep its balance.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The building shook again, and it felt like a bomb had gone off somewhere inside. She lost her balance and clung to the railing so that she wouldn't fall. When she looked up, she made eye contact with the Petal that had been trapped above but was now falling. A horrible shriek erupted from its mouth half a second before it hit the ground below her and turned into paste.

The stairwell changed from single, solitary sources of unnerving growls to an orchestra as they became enraged above them. The stairwell shook as masses of them threw themselves down the stairs trying to get to them faster. Orion didn't say another word as he hopped over the edge and dropped himself down, his hands and feet sticking to the metal." Go!" Grim yelled as she pushed the people in front of her faster." What do we do?" Natalie asked as she clung to her.

Grim pulled her hands off her, "First off, don't grab me like that. Second, don't trip." A petal flew by them, and she heard Orion scream in pain, followed by several thuds." Go! I'll give us some time," Solomon shouted as he let them pass him, only giving Grim a nod as they made eye contact. His rifle was unslung and aimed upwards." We can make it! You don't have to die here," Grim said. He cocked his rifle.

"I don't plan to. Go, I'll be right behind." They made good speed as they shuffled down the stairs, but the Petals made better. Solomon's rifle cracked, deafening her as they got close enough for him to shoot. SongJae stopped his forward press and hopped over the edge with Carrion draped over his shoulder. Grim almost didn't want to look over the edge, but when she did, she was surprised to see that he was falling - but a lot slower than he should have been.

Alyn dashed past everyone up the stairs and shoved Grim out of the way. Before she could retaliate, the concrete behind Solomon exploded into a spike. She shoved his head out of the way and screamed silently through her stitches as the concrete went through her forearm. Grim slashed the concrete with her sword, shattering it and freeing her to move. She gasped as another spike sprang from the wall and slammed into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and slamming her back onto the railing.

The only thing stopping it from piercing her gut was her armour. There was a flash of a face in the concrete, almost imperceptible, but she knew she wasn't just imagining it." It's in the walls!" She shouted. Solomon turned and drew his pistol in one motion, firing a shot to break the spike pinning Grim and another into the wall, but it only sheared off concrete." No! Alyn, don't! Not yet." Alyn glared as her hand hung uselessly, her fingers twitching as blood trailed down her forearm.

The nails on the end of her fingernails had grown into claws, and she used that to thrust her good hand into the wall. She pulled backward and ripped the Petal out of the wall, concrete and dust shattering into chunks behind it. Grim thrust her sword into its spine just as the faster members of the horde reached them. Solomon shot the first two, while a third tackled him down the stairs. Grim stepped forward and hacked into an older man who tried to jump on Alyn while she was distracted.

His body fell against the wall and was too weak to pose any more of a threat. A rain of localized paper balls fell onto her and did… nothing? It was just paper, but while she was distracted another group of petals ran at her. The first one tripped and slipped past her while the next she impaled on her sword. She readied herself to drop the blade but the other ones just ran past her. Towards the rest of the group. They were almost to the bottom now, while the three of them were still about two stories up.

She couldn't let them get down there, not with the wounded." Hrrgh," Alyn grunted." Go! I'll stop them," Grim replied. Alyn was already gone before she'd finished, giving her the time to focus on the new approaching Petals. She tried to think of a strategy or something to help her, but there was nothing, only brute force would help her here. It was too narrow, and she didn't have any boons that would help here.

The only sounds in the air were the sound of footsteps and screeching coming down for them, more than she'd have any hope of fighting. Still, she would. She slashed the first one in the gut, disemboweling it as she walked up the stairs, a step at a time. The next one swung a large shard of glass, and she ducked underneath it and destroyed their shins with a chop. She fell to her knees and sheathed her sword in one motion. Her boot knife was more useful here.

She stood up and punched a woman in her face, her teeth breaking on her gloves. As she stumbled back, Grim stabbed her in the neck and walked past, only for a larger Petal to fall on her, its mass too heavy for her to hold back. She took a step back for more leverage, only to misjudge the distance and fall backwards with it on top of her. The concrete smashed into her back, battering her through her armour.

The momentum continued to carry them down the stairs as they started rolling, her blade flickering in and out of it's stomach as she turned the two of them into a bloody yo-yo." Get the fuck off me," Grim yelled as she used the momentum and kicked him off her, sending him flailing down the stairs as blood trailed behind him. She rolled farther but timed it right to grab the railing, only for it to snap.

Her arm waved as she tried to catch her balance, with the railing gone, the only thing stopping her from a story-long fall was herself. A petal with long hair hanging off the growth was in her face, a crack of a rifle below blew half of it off, but its fist still smashed into Grim. Her face went numb as she fell backwards and off the staircase, falling down below.