“[color=gray][i]Breach! Breach! There’s a second singularity in the lake![/i][/color] Besca screamed over the comms. “[color=gray]Ghaust, Lucis, one of you—[/color]”

“[color=92278f]We’re a…little…[i]preoccupied![/i][/color]” Lucis grunted, and even through cockpit’s insulation Besca could hear the sounds of impact. A glance to the monitor gave him credence as well. 

Despite being outnumbered, the modir was on the offensive. It parried [i]Grauritter[/i]’s strikes, and in the same move, deflected [i]Magnifique[/i]’s chakrams, sending the ring’s flying off before they zipped back to the Savior’s hands. The giants’ speed made them harsh blurs in the darkness, illuminated dimly by moonlight, and starkly in bright flashes of their clashing weapons. 

God, it was so rare for these monsters to fight with expertise—why [i]now[/i]? 

But of course now. The modir weren’t mindless animals. They weren’t fighting a virus, they were fighting creatures as violent as they were intelligent. Sending a skilled soldier to keep them preoccupied, hiding a smaller singularity in the rising levels of the first—these weren’t just brazen assaults, these were tactical decisions. Besca couldn’t remember the last time the modir had employed [i]tactics.[/i]

Only, yes, she could. Westwel. Her throat tightened, she flagged the elevator.  

“[color=gray]Clear the platform for transport vehicles and send it back down [i]now![/i][/color]

“Ma’am,” one of the technicians came back, “St. Senn only just arrived, it’ll take her at least five minutes for prep, and another five to load.”

“[color=gray]We don’t have ten minutes, we need to start evacuating! Send her down on the next pass.[/color]”

“Yes ma’am.”

“[color=gray]Safie, status?[/color]”

There was static for a moment, then the popping of gunfire. “[color=green]They got in behind the second barricade! Lift went down, I’m—[/color]” More gunshots, and the rare, frustrated grunt from Safie. “[color=green]Scaling manually! Two or three minutes![/color]”

“[color=gray]As soon as you’re in, head for the tertiary barricade at the platform. Cover the evac.[/color]”

“[color=green]Yes ma’am![/color]”

Besca clutched the table, eye jumping wildly from screen to screen. The dark was crippling, but through infrared it was clear how quickly things were falling apart. In the back of her mind she saw Manedun collapse, saw the harbor burning as the ships sank into the bay. She saw the giants in the dark, standing over the corpse of Westwel. 

“[color=skyblue]B-Besca…[/color]”

Dahlia’s voice was so thin and quiet she hardly heard it. 

“[color=skyblue]What’s…what’s going on?[/color]”

She didn’t know what to say. 

[hr][hr]
With the only remaining foe from the first barricade being the modir swordsman, the primary and secondary barricades fell back into the town in time for the second wave of creatures to spew from the lake. There was no time to set up new defenses, no time to relocate artillery. Orders had come down to start shepherding civilians towards the elevator as quickly as possible. 

They moved in misshapen phalanxes, firing blindly into the dark wherever the overhead drones couldn’t light. Suddenly, Hovvi didn’t feel nearly as small anymore. Every bloody inch of road seemed to take so much longer to cross. 

Even for Quinn, already halfway there, the elevator might as well have been on the other side of the world. 

They passed through park, darkened by small copse. Across the street, dark, rabid shapes chased after the sounds of screams and gunfire. Behind them, rogue things emerged from the marina and scurried ravenously deeper into town. 

Daz brought her into the shadows. He looked around vigilantly, hunched, but it was hard for someone his size to really [i]hide[/i]. His hands took her by the shoulders, still as gentle as ever, and he stared at her through her mumbling, waiting, listening. 

“[color=darkorange]Quinnlash,[/color]” he said in the lull. “[color=darkorange]You’re doing well. A little farther, do you see those lights? There, just out of town. We’re getting closer.[/color]” He took one of her hands, squeezed it gently. “[color=darkorange]I won’t leave you behind. Quinnlash, I promise. I won’t leave you.[/color]”

With that he led them out of the park to the road, just in time for a large, armored transport to blow past them. He held his hand out for the next one, only to suddenly pull back as it drew closer. Not a transport, a truck, and when its headlights flashed off there was fire blazing from the cabin. It swerved sharply offroad, plowing through copse with a deafening metal [i]crunch[/i]. 

Something leapt from the wreckage. It was perhaps the size of a large dog, with many more limbs that curled like hooks. The firelight hardly touched it, the only feature was void. It made a stuttered, clicking sound. 

Then it skittered towards them.

“[color=darkorange]Move,[/color]” Daz hissed. Together they bolted across the road, through the broken glass doors of a blacked-out department store.

They stepped over a dead man. 

Daz brought her to one of the aisles and knelt low. A clattering at the entrance, staccato echoes as something moved further in. Clicking. Hunting sounds. 

Very slowly, he crept forward, pointing to the distant sign that read: [i]EXIT[/i]. The floor was slick with spilled liquids, broken containers. He did his best to brush glass and sharp plastics out of the way for her. 

It wasn’t until they were halfway down the aisle that he realized the clicking had stopped. He turned to her urgently. 

The aisle lurched and fell on top of him. Daz grunted to hold it up but it was too sudden, and in the next moment he was pinned beneath it.

The creature was perched on top. Its mass of legs splayed, its bulbous body lowered like a cat about to pounce. It had no eyes, but Quinn could feel its [i]hunger[/i] as clear as any gaze, directed right at her. It clicked, and from its belly an array of mandibles twitched eagerly. 

[color=black]QUINNLASH[/color]          “[color=darkorange]Quinnlash![/color]”[right][color=black]QUINNLASH[/color][/right]