[2] Leaving the Abandoned Town

[Kazuya]

Kazuya watched with baited breath as the foolish teen exploded in a fury of light and whatever else it was that gave her an ethereal aura. Suddenly, the entire slew of surviving creatures went from ravenous, bloodthirsty beasts to carcasses canvassing the asphalt. Her gaze darted from the bodies to the young woman, who collapsed into a pale heap just yards away from the bloody ravages of the creatures.

“Rose!” Ashe cried from across the street, rushing over to the fallen body of her fledgling friend.

Kaz didn’t let it distract her, she knew without guessing that they were dead, but the girl, she was unsure of. She’d never seen such a display before, and was curious how that was achieved. Was it merely a trick of light, or did she have some kind of weapon she didn’t know about? To wield that much power…

Licking her lips with hungry inquisitiveness, Kazuya edged closer to the girl, her body tense as she crouched down on her haunches to check for a pulse. “Still alive,” Kaz announced to the other girl, who cradled the pink haired teenager’s head in her lap. “What the hell was that she did, I wonder?”

Locking eyes for a moment, Kazuya and Ashe said with their glances what words would not say, something not quite understood, but not quite ready to talk about. There was no time to ponder about what had happened, who knew what else had followed these creatures that was just merely laying in wait for them to let down their guard long enough for them to act.

“Take her away from here, there’s a sewer not fifty yards away from here, its lid is ajar, just kick it out of the way and go inside. I’ll be right behind you,” Kaz instructed. There was no room for arguing in her tone, but Ashe nonetheless questioned it.

“They’re all dead, aren’t they? Why are we still running?”

It was a single pulsebeat that affirmed her fears. Kazuya felt it like a pounding of a drum against the ground, very faint, but there. Her eyes widened just a little more, the whites just a little too much. “Just get her out of here, I’ll hold these guys off long enough for you to-“ She didn’t have time to complete that sentence before the most guttural, hellish roar filled the night air. “Go! Now!”

Uzumaki didn’t look back as she unsheathed her sword and dove into the pile of bodies as one by one, they sprung up like mighty phoenix from their deceased brethren, claws and blood and sharp, feral sneers filled with rows of jagged teeth.

Swinging her blade in a wide arc, she sliced the tops of at least five heads clean from their little black necks, the skulls rolling off like bloody olives. It didn’t take long before their numbers replenished themselves enough for her to realize there was too many for her to handle alone. She was injured, and collectively down a man, and the one person still in decent shape was a damn pussy.

Cursing beneath her breath, Kazuya gave a few more swipes before bounding off in the opposite direction, towards the sanctuary of the sewer, where her two team mates hopefully awaited her, safe from the ravages of these creatures.

Holding the blade at a more comfortable angle to her side, Kaz ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Spotting the sewer cap ahead, she noticed it was completely off the manhole, and sighing in a mixture of relief and annoyance, jumped into the hole.

Dropping her sword onto the brick beneath her, she reached up and slid the cover back over the hole just as the slew of creatures rushed overhead. They may have been resilient motherfuckers, but they sure were stupid.

“Score one for the A-team,” she sighed breathlessly before sliding down the wall and onto the ground.