Death Itself continued (Crow11/CaiusWickersham)

[CaiusWickersham]

Death spent the night and day hunting the super soldiers. He saw small bands of rovers, but nothing near the concentrations he was expecting. This was supposed to be where they grouped before any sort of attack. Where could they have gone? Did something else gather their attention?

Night approached, and nothing but stragglers appeared, he considered searching another place he knew the super soldiers often gathered when he heard it very faintly on the wind. It was Lex and she needed help.

"Shadow, come." He mounted his horse, and rode quickly back to the compound, urging her on to make good time as the shadow mare moved swifter than any earthly beast could ever hope to match. Coming to the compound, Death saw why Lex called for his aid. He had not anticipated these beasts evolving their tactics . . . or making bigger versions of themselves.

Coming close enough to engage, he dismounted Shadow, instructing her to get Lex back to the compound while he handled this. He looked up at the gargantuan soldier. "You're big. Fought bigger."

As the monster brought its fist down to squash the new irritating bug, Death deftly dodged the impact and shockwave, leaping into the air and landing on the fist. Seeing Lex's handiwork on the brute's limbs, he was impressed at her abilities thus far. She would need more training before she could handle something like this on her own. He ran along the forearm and leaped up to the beast's shoulder, narrowly missing a swat intended for him. From the shoulder, Death leaped for its head, bringing his scythes into the skull and breaking through the bone. Blood and cranial fluid poured out, drenching Death as he clung to his weapons. The loss of fluids stunned the monster long enough for Death to finish the job, breaking a hole through the thick bone and allowing him to strike the brain of the beast. With a loud groan, the soldier keeled forward to the ground, crushing several of its smaller brethren with its mass.

The disoriented and demoralized super soldiers beat a hasty retreat as Death pursued stragglers, slicing down swathes of them as they fled past him. Seeing the last run off from the compound walls, Death headed that way to check on Shadow and Lex.

 

[Crow11]

She couldn't have been happier as she saw the large dark figure of a horse charging towards her. Shadow didn't stop but meerly expected the young women to grab a hold as she passed by and thats what Lexie did. In a leap she took hold of Shadow's mane and slipped onto her back where she clung for dear life. They left many soldiers in their wake as they soon reached the compound which had also become under seige but looked to be in a better situation then once before. The spikes were working well, warding off and killing any that ventured to close while the men positioned on the walls used whatever weapons they had to take out the rest.

They quickly turned and left, one following another untill all that remained were the actual remains of those killed during their attempt. Lexie remained on the back of Shadow who walked to the front of the compound where she could enter. By this point Lexie had come to rest on the mare's back as they strode inside. She was beaten and battered, brusied and sore all over as she kicked her legs over one side of the horse and slid back down to the ground only to fall straight on her ass. Her legs giving way at the exhaustion of everything.

 

[CaiusWickersham]

Once the soldiers had disappeared beyond the horizon, the doors of the compound opened and people streamed out, descending on the bodies like vultures on carrion. They were scavengers, searching the bodies of the soldiers for any useful weapons or patches of armor and leaving the rest for the wasteland. Amidst the chaos, two medics came out and scooped up Lexie while others tended to the wounded on the walls. They rushed her to the infirmary, marvelling at the amount of trauma her body withstood and yet she was still alive.

Once the doctors established IV drips and took her vitals, they departed to allow her to recover. Death then dropped his shroud of invisibility and came to Lexie in the room.

"You're alive, thankfully. How are you feeling, Lex?" He removed his mask as he spoke, looking down on her tenderly as she lay on the bed amid the beeping machines and plastic tubes