[center]
[h1][color=palevioletred]Zoe Fletcher[/color][/h1]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/ytozL8X.png[/img][/center]
[hr][center][color=silver]𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕   / /   𝕃𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖   / /  ~𝟘𝟝𝟛𝟘[/color][/center][hr]

As sand whipped against her skin, Zoe squeezed her eyes shut, raising an arm to shield her face against the constant barrage of debris. It was vicious, constant, and she could practically feel it taking the skin off of her arm. Why the hell she didn't have the sense to wear a goddamn jacket now and then was a question for later, but it was a choice she was seriously regretting as her skin started to sting.

Still, enduring that wasn't even close to enough. Despite her best efforts, she could still feel the trees advancing, more targets springing up even as she tore them down as fast as she possibly could. Like heads on a hydra - you killed one, two came up to replace it.

[color=palevioletred][i]I can't hold them off forever.[/i][/color]

That was pretty much certain. There was strain involved in using her power to this extent, even before accounting for the increasing difficulty of keeping herself from hurting Kusari [i]even if just a little wouldn't be so bad[/i]. Gritting her teeth, she kept going, an unsteady laugh shaking her shoulders despite her best efforts to the contrary.

She wasn't quite losing it yet, at least. It was frustration, pride, and yeah, some level of denial that kept her from retreating even as Ernie's transmission came through. This was a losing battle. They were out-powered, outmanoeuvred, and didn't stand much of a chance. But this was where she belonged, this was where she was supposed to be useful-- if she couldn't even win here, then what the fuck was the [b]point[/b]?

If she wasn't strong, then she wasn't worth anything at all.

[color=palevioletred][i]There has to be something I can do.[/i][/color]

So many possibilities, so many opportunities, so much potential and she just couldn't [i]think[/i]. It wasn't like Wisford, or D.C., or even their first fight - this wasn't a challenge she could meet head on and win. But she didn't know how to deal with that, how to face things without beating them down and breaking them. The other ways didn't work. Caution, diplomacy, subtlety, she'd never known how to make them work.

But she could hold these things off, at least until the others made it indoors.

Just as she was about to resign herself to that fate, the next transmission caught her attention. Allison? So much for 'no more suicide missions'. That, and the mention of planning, brought a scowl to her face. She wasn't much for plans, and even less for plans that sounded like they were about to be incredibly fucking dumb. In the kind of situation they found themselves in, dumb plans were pretty much suicidal. Still, that being said...

Zoe [i]had[/i] to do this, not because she was forced into it, but because she wouldn't let herself turn away. There was always a choice, and running now - it'd mean quitting on the only thing she was good for. To tell the truth, she didn't believe that Angel was alive. This was, in all likelihood, just her classmates being in denial; people died. You couldn't wish that fact away or ignore it, even if you wanted to.

So it wasn't any promise of retrieval that motivated Zoe's response.

[color=palevioletred]"Transmit. If it means I get to kill the fuckers, count me in."[/color] Okay, so she sounded a little too enthusiastic about that prospect, but they'd have to be used to it at this point. [color=palevioletred]"Over."[/color]