Chương 64: Dead Men Still Walk

The pain she was feeling had not lessened since the first time she'd been shoved into her body, causing her to contort in agony like she had before. It was like being stabbed on both sides and choosing which way to move. A familiar hand touched her neck as a soothing energy coursed through her. Roiling waves of gloam coated her and melted into her body, almost entirely clearing her head of pain.

"There. Is that better?" Hazel asked as she sat with Grim's head in her hands. Grim pushed herself up, almost in disbelief that she wasn't in pain. At all. She'd been running around for so long with so many different injuries it felt… weird to not feel anything. Physically at least. Something deeper felt wrong, as if her potential had shrunk. She didn't think Hazel could fix that.

"Yeah, thank you. I don't think my body liked dying," Grim said.

"I don't like you dying," Hazel said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Saints, that was way too close." Grim turned away and watched the battlefield, she wasn't sure exactly, but she couldn't have been "gone" for over ten minutes. In that time, things seemed to have only gotten worse. The stragglers that were on the outskirts had either died out, gone back into hiding or found a way through. Her heart dropped as she saw the Giant still standing, albeit injured. It was walking towards Solomon when she heard a large CRACK.

She felt warm liquid drop down the sides of her ears as her eardrums blew. It sounded like a mixture between a rushing river and a lightning strike as something blew a large hole straight through the Giant. Blood and viscera flew forward from the impact and coated the clock tower in a mural of blood and guts. It was the single largest and most effective strike she'd seen hit the Giant and she had no idea where it'd come from. She scanned the battlefield but didn't see anyone responsible for it.

The Petals in the area seemed to be confused too, but the ones that were still alive and in the area rushed towards the creature, massing together as if to protect it as it fell to its knees.

"Do you think it's dead?" Hazel asked.

"WHAT?" Grim replied.

"I said!" Hazel flexed her powers and fixed Grim's damaged hearing.

"Do you think it's dead?" Grim shook her head, "I'm not sure. I hope so." Hazel lifted her eyebrows, "I'm still mad at you for dying, but I can maybe understand it if that's what you were fighting. Just how strong is that thing?

"I have no clue, but while its hurt we need to regroup with everyone. You go see if you can find Maya and if she's still alive bring her back here. I'm gonna look for Alyn."

"Maya? Like from the Boon store?"

"Believe it or not, yeah."

"Just call me back if you run into trouble!" Hazel said as she jogged off, careful to conserve her energy. Grim pointed in the general direction she'd last seen her, so it shouldn't be too hard to find her if she was still in the area. It was hard to find someone lying on the ground just because there were so many bodies lying everywhere. The majority were petals, but she'd see one every now and again that had clearly been another applicant. Those she didn't let her eyes linger on, she'd already seen enough today.

A circle of pigeon corpses was the landmark she needed to find where she'd… died. Also where she'd last seen Alyn. It only took another couple of seconds, and then she was in the middle of it. There was one body she avoided looking at until she was past it and could focus on Alyn. The woman was looking a lot better than the last time she'd seen her, before she'd been almost unrecognizable as human, and now she was almost fully intact. Besides a still broken leg and a missing arm.

There was a pile of crippled petals around her, most were dead, but there were one or two that were still alive but unable to move because of their limbs being broken. Alyn flinched as Grim walked into her vision, "I have enough! I don't need any more."

"Have enough of what? Are you okay?"

"Grim?" She looked around, looking for someone else she could be talking to, but there was no one, "Yeah. What does it look like?" Alyn swore and sat up, "It's actually you? What about that… thing? You kept saying it wasn't you." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Well, it wasn't, but I'm back now. Long story. Come on, someone hurt the Giant and this might be our only chance to get inside."

"Help me up," Alyn said as she looked down.

"My Boon's burnt out, I can't heal anymore and my legs still broken." Grim helped her balance as she stood up, together the two of them could move. It wouldn't be fast, but any progress at this stage would be great. Once standing, Grim felt Alyn look towards Natalie and freeze.

"Is that?"

"Yeah. Saved us, actually. You especially, I wouldn't have been able to stabilize you without her help."

"Should we?"

"Yeah. Can you stand on your own for a moment?"

"Of course, do what you've gotta do." Grim untangled herself from Alyn and, after making sure she wouldn't fall over as soon as she let her go, she knelt down beside Natalie's body.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you," Grim said before closing her still-lidded and lifeless eyes.

"I'll make sure these get to your family." Her fingers hovered over the wound on her neck. It was the wound that had killed her and where her Boon's would gravitate to. After only a few seconds she felt a light pull and two dull grey Boon die appeared near the top of her flesh, along with a D-Rank die. She picked up the trio of dice and shoved them in her bag. It would have been easy for her to take the D-rank Die and absorb it into her body for a boost, but the thought was downright repulsive.

She didn't think anyone would blame her, but she wouldn't do that to someone who'd tried to save her life. She'd died anyway, technically, but that wasn't Natalie's fault.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's go," Grim said as she resumed helping Alyn hobble. Together the two of them moved as fast as they could towards the amassing army of Petals. They were clustered beside the only entrance to the Clocktower, which was right around where the Giant was still kneeling. They didn't seem to be attacking at the moment, but they were holding their position, seemingly to defend the Giant if anyone else attacked it. The two of them walked towards them, getting as close as they were comfortable with.

Soon after, they were joined by scores of the other survivors. The rest of the aspirants who were still alive came to join her on their side of an imaginary line. There wasn't a lot left, and many seemed in even worse condition than they were. Altogether there were probably around fifteen that trickled out and moved to join her. The only people she recognized were the squad leader, who was now alone, and Rachel, the girl who'd been in that other group she'd tried to join.

The survivors seemed wary, not quite trusting each other, but everyone she made eye contact with gave her a nod of respect. They'd all seen the fight, and anyone who was still alive at this point was worthy of acknowledgement. There were two people she was waiting for, that she still hadn't seen show up. Before she could even open her mouth to ask Alyn, the pale woman was already shaking her head. Ah. Damn.

"Grim! I found her! She's still alive," Hazel shouted as she did a half skip, half jog towards her. She was panting when she finally reached her but she couldn't blame her. Maya was sprawled out across her shoulder, and she was not a small woman.

"I told you, you can put me down," Maya said, quite unhappy with the current situation.

"Oh sorry! I didn't know you woke up," Hazel apologized as she set her down. Maya seemed to still be struggling to breathe, but she could stand on her own.

"You weren't exactly gentle, why do you look like Grim and how did you even pick me up?" Hazel pouted, "I don't look like her, she looks like me, and that's simple. Ranger roll!"

"How are you feeling?" Grim asked, trying to change the subject. Maya frowned, "Like a sack of shit. Saint's I'm so mad at myself. I could've died! Stupid Boon forces me to take in a bunch of air when I go fast, and I nearly died choking on that dust. Not to mention I'm blind in one eye now."

"It's alright, at least you weren't splattered on the concrete," Alyn said as she looked around.

"What do we do now?" Grim stared ahead at the mass of Petals, they were unmoving as they stared back, daring them to get closer. They were so close, but still so far.

"Who can fight still?" Grim turned around and asked the group that had drifted in around her. No one spoke up, and an awkward silence drifted in. She couldn't blame anyone, but if no one was left, that could clear out this crowd, they were screwed. With Hazel and her Aura back, they could take on a couple by themselves, but there were at least eighty to one hundred Petals ahead of them, not to mention the Giant, although it still hadn't moved.

"What do you guys think?" Grim asked.

"Well, my Boon's burnt, my legs broken, I'm missing an arm and I don't have a weapon but Solomons on the other side of that horde. I'll kill them with my teeth if I have to." Alyn promised.

"Maya? You doing any better?" For the first time since Grim had known her, Maya hesitated, "With how damaged my lungs are? Five maybe. I can barely breathe and I don't think your little shadow trick is helping." Grim nodded when she heard a voice shout from behind her, "Two. No aura left, but I've still got some gear." The voice belonged to a young man who looked positively exhausted, his hair clung to his scalp and his chest heaved as he stood there.

"Nine! Enough energy for one last shot," a woman said as she flexed her aura. Scraps of purple energy fluttered around her forearms.

"One."

"Three."

"Five."

"None," Rachel said. Numbers were shouted at her as everyone gathered gave her their best estimate on how many they could take down. Grim kept a rough tally in her head, but by the end they were still short by nearly forty bodies. She didn't bother to say anything as she let them figure out the numbers for themselves. It didn't take a genius to figure out their chances of getting through the horde were slim to none, but to their credit, they seemed to take the idea well.

"Here's the plan! We're fucked," Grim said.

"There's too many of them and not enough of us so here's what we're gonna do. Use everything you've got and try to push through to the Giant. If one of us, can finish it off? The entrance to the clock tower opens, and we can finally leave this place. There's no more running here, there's nowhere to go. You either die here with us or run and die alone. Ready?"

"Are you sure, Grim?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Your speech sucked," Maya said as she drew her blade.

"I'll be sure to remember that when I die," Grim said as she pulled out her daggers and handed one to Hazel.

"Let's go." Grim took the first step forward and froze as lightning struck in front of her.