Tripped up by a Lurker, the Scry crashes headfirst to the ground. The creatures begin to pull her back into the swarming horde.
Vaulting back over the wall, James rushes towards Matilda even as the lurkers continue to haul her away. In his headset, a voice yells at him, “James, what the hell are you doing?!” He ignores it.
He becomes aware of Jeong, rushing alongside him. Before them, all is chaos and darkness rent by gunfire, splattered with milky ropes of lurker gore as the barrage of rounds mows their writhing, skittering ranks down. Beyond the first-wave carnage of fallen lurkers, their monstrous numbers continue to clamber and swell. Jeong’s next burst finds its mark, and the creature holding Matilda lets go as its head explodes. James scoops Matilda up in his arms, not willing or daring to count the creatures clambering towards them.
“Jeong, James, double time!” The distorted yell over the comms comes from either Tor or Sean, he cannot tell which. The flash and roar of their combined covering fire tears the Deep around them. James lurches for the fountain with Matilda in his arms, waiting for the unseen hand or claw to pull them both back to a swarming, trampling death. His teammate’s bullets rip and whine past his head, far too uncomfortably close, and he hears the wet sounds of impact after impact into the mass of shrieking Lurkers immediately behind him.
James gets them over the stone wall and sets Matilda down, scanning for any wounds. Matilda holds an unsteady hand up and points to the fountain above them.
“I made it,” she manages, her voice hoarse and weak.
James grabs his rifle, ready to make his stand. A scream cuts through the comms. Jolting up, James looks in time to see Jeong being dragged back into the growing swarm. Twisted appendages reach out to pull the goggles off her face, while others throw her weapons away into the ravening horde. They grope and strain, pulling her, screaming, farther into the sea of pale flesh.
Sean fires wildly into the swarm, but Tor yells at him.
“There’s nothing we can do now! James, grab the girl and run! Sean, prep the antimatter bomb for 30 seconds.”
Tor turns to an immobilized Taciturn. “James, get off your fucking ass and RUN!”
The Taciturn feels a smaller hand grab his own and finds himself running with Matilda at his side. They dash from the fountain for what might be thirty seconds, or three. James braces for a detonation.
When the A-MAT goes off, James and Matilda are thrown to the ground. A wet, pulpy hail patters all around him. Picking himself up shakily, his ears still ringing, James turns to see a crater where the fountain once stood. Violently-disassembled lurker-parts are everywhere.
Tor is already on his feet.
“Anyone hit?”
James notices Sean stagger slightly.
“Yeah, shrapnel got me – but I’ll be all right.”
Tor points to the Pyramid. “That only woke more of them up. We have to go.”
The Taciturn is checking his weapon’s magazine when he notices Matilda staring in the direction of the fountain. He places a hand on her shoulder.
“Come on. We’re almost out of here.”
She doesn’t say anything, but beneath her goggles, her blood red eyes now seem ablaze.
They run as quickly as they can across the open square towards the Deep’s Pyramid, but more Lurkers emerge from the shadows all around them. Tor makes a noise that is more desperation than fear. “Fuck, man, can we get a break? Sean, we get the girl there, you understand?”
Sean’s voice comes back over the intercoms. “Yeah, no, I get it.”
Amid the chaotic din, James hears the distinct sound of knives unsheathing as Matilda moves to the front of the group.
“No, everyone makes it! Stay behind me.”
The three men pause in silence as Matilda races towards the steps. Finally, Tor lets out a laugh. “You heard the lady. Everyone up the stairs.”
The lurkers tighten their approach around the Pyramid, massing closer, moving in. With each step, more rounds roar from the team’s rifles. With each step, the Pyramid looms over them. With each step, the horde of lurkers draws nearer.
Matilda carves a swath through the Lurkers barring their path. Limbs fly as her blades sever them. Any creatures Matilda doesn’t stab, cut, or decapitate are quickly gunned down by Sean, Tor, or James. Reaching the bottom steps, they tackle the flight of stairs two at a time, the creatures climbing and skittering along the sides of the structure itself. James shoots, kicks and rifle-butts as many as he can back down to the ground.
Sean’s voice breaks through the chaos.
“Oh, bugger.”
Already knowing he will regret it, James turns around to see a smaller lurker, crawling on Sean’s back. Sean reaches up for a grenade clipped to his vest, but the creature pulls him backwards. He tumbles backwards down the steps and into the growing mass of creatures. The lurkers below scatter out of the way as Sean hits the ground, and then the horde closes in tight from all sides.
An instant later, Sean’s grenade goes off.
Hoping Sean’s sacrifice has bought them some time, James pushes himself up the stairs. Near the top, a lurker right on Tor’s heels suddenly lunges for him. Too late, James cries out a warning. Tor turns to find the monster in mid leap, throwing out his hands to ward off the impact.
The impact never comes. Tor’s eyes widen as a hail of barbed, metallic stingers streaks through the air behind him, riddling the creature’s body and sending it sprawling and shrieking over the side. Mouth agape, Tor tracks the already-fading trails of light back to their source. Matilda’s hair still floats in the air about her head, each strand extending into a steel-spearheaded tendril crackling with energy.
Tor’s mouth is still hanging open as the Taciturn closes the gap between them.
“Did you see that? What the hell is she?!”
James piles into Tor from behind, shoving him onward, driving him up the stairs.
“I don’t know. Keeping moving!”
At the top, they find the doors leading to the Deep’s version of the Pyramid. James sees the fire in Matilda’s eyes burning hotter. The energy around her head surges with a growing intensity. James tears his gaze away, unable to process what he is seeing. He turns to Tor, gesturing to the doors.
“Okay. Let’s open the portal, quick.”
Barely able to take his eyes off Matilda, Tor steps around the Taciturn, willing himself back into focus.
“We can’t. There’d be too many Enclave guards waiting for us when we switch back. We have to get farther inside, before we—”
Tor stops and the eyes behind his goggles widen. James turns to follow his gaze. Something stands in the gloom before them, blocking the entrance to the Pyramid. It advances on them, a monstrous creature with scaly skin, bulging arms, and hideous sharp teeth arrayed like skeletal daggers.
Tor lets out a defeated groan.
“Oh, fuck me. A Howler.”
As if responding to being named, the creature lets out a deafening scream that shakes the cavity of the Taciturn’s very skull. His vision blurs and his knees buckle. Tor falls to the ground but rolls a grenade at the beast’s feet.
The blast does no visible damage – but the awful, brain-rattling shriek stops. Tor gets to his feet and charges the howler.
“Don’t let it yell again!”
Tor shoots the Howler in the face, four rounds in rapid succession, but they have little effect. With terrible speed, the monster dashes forward and smashes Tor aside with a single sweep of its massive arm, sending him flying into a nearby pillar. James empties the last of his magazine into the creature and drops the spent rifle. Unholstering his pistol, James fires at the creature’s eyes, but the Howler only beats its chest, filling its monstrous lungs for another scream. James fires until his pistol finally clicks on empty chambers.