[3] There Goes the Sun (Tail Escape)

[Albert Wesker]

His heavy boots slid and skittered unsteadily on the rain slick stone. He hovered barely a foot away from his stone ally, back to back, glaring coldly out at the undead clambering slowly forward. Unsteady of gait, shuffling in stride, and haphazardly jerking about in their movements, but resolute in their mindless advance.

"We won't be able to hold out here for much longer," Colonel spoke up, his tone neutral. "Not out here in the open, with weather like this." A bolt of lightning split the sky, striking the wreckage of the plain, producing a horrendous screeching as metal was sheared apart and sand and debris were left instantly melted into molten slag. "...we need to fall back. Now."

Granite briefly looked back, over his shoulder. "What about the others?"

"....I'm going to carve an opening. Break through, grab anyone within arm's reach and pass along the message: fall back into the trees." Colonel's saber was raised and held ready, his posture shifting forward. "Be ready to move." His stance shifted, spreading wider, hunkering down, ready to leap into action.

For a moment the man of stone said nothing, just slowly turned his head back to peer through the steadily-intensifying rain back at his surroundings, as if taking in the number of the undead remaining, and where any of their fellow survivors were. "...ready." he finally said, bringing both fists up to bear, looking ready to pounce into the fray himself.

A low hum began to build up, and the damp air sizzled and hissed as it hit the dimly-glowing blade of the soldier program's energy saber. Sparks went up, flashing wildly in bursts of emerald. "....now." It was the only warning he gave before he sprang forward, leaping directly at the most immediate obstacle. And without another sound, his saber arced out in a brilliant flare of green, trailing a sizzling, crackling blade of energy in its wake. The force of the Screen Divide tore through the zombies in his direct path, four bodies falling into a misshapen pile and several more staggering and tumbling down from the sudden force of the blow.

And then the machine and his stone ally were past, charging through the brief opening.

Colonel's over-large hand clamped down rather forcefully on the shoulder of a blue-haired youth wielding a large sword, clad in what appeared to be a school uniform. He seemed far too young to be involved in any of this -- but then again...so had Lan and his friends. Capability was not always measured by age. "The situation has turned poorly." His statement drew the gaze of the youth up toward his stern expression, already peering around for his next course of action. "Fall back to the trees."

And then he was off again, his saber shearing the limb off another of the persistent undead and a brutal hammer-blow from his opposite arm all but caving in its rib cage as it toppled to the wet sand. He bounded over it, and off across the beach toward the treeline, peering through the mist the rain had kicked up for any sign of Granite.

....ah, there he was. Lumbering away toward the treeline, fresh from passing on the word to another man, some type of rifle in his hands. Reasonably capable, at a glance. The two Institute associates reconvened, their path of retreat falling into line with each other.

"I could only reach one of the other survivors!" Granite spoke up as soon as they were alongside again.

"One is better than none," came the taciturn response. There was no sense wasting any more time to divert course and go after the others. With any luck, the ones they had managed to reach would pass on the memo to anyone else they came across, or the others would just get the message naturally.

But that was something for someone else to ponder. Colonel and Granite didn't have the luxury for turning back now, breaking through the edge of the treeline and disappearing into the mass of plant life.

687/2400 words

Passed along a message to retreat to Abner and Makoto (by sheer value of RNG), who are welcome to come along or do their own thing. Non-organic dudes, out.