Chapter 73: From the ground
Ryan stepped out, followed by Mia. Miles trailed closely behind.
The moment his foot touched the ’ground’, it sank deeper into it, only stopping at his ankle. The snow engulfed his foot completely; its chill pierced through his shoes, numbing his toes directly.
[Cold Resistance] was working in full force, its warmth pushing against the invading cold. Ignoring the battle going on there, he took a second step, plunging both his feet into the snow and fully stepping outside.
The storm greeted him with a slap, slamming into his side with full force. He’d already expected it, though, so it didn’t affect his balance much.
The roar of the storm was all he could hear now. Cold, howling winds sliced painfully across his face, making it a struggle to even keep his eyes open.
It did no favors for the already poor visibility.
Placing a hand over his eyes made things a little better, and at least allowed him to focus on Ryan.
He moved towards the boy, one step after the other; the heavy snow cover made him feel like he was wading through mud.
The others slowly filed out into the storm after him. Each struggled initially but still managed to gather up around Ryan.
The boy shouted, bursts of mist coming out of his mouth. Even then, his voice was barely audible over the wind.
"We need to go there."
He pointed to the nearby canopy. Its roof could protect them from the snow falling overhead at least.
Following the plan they’d already laid out, Miles positioned himself at the center of the group, as the rest shifted into formation.
It was nothing complex. Just built upon the lessons they’d learned in the hallways.
Grimm and Brandon stayed behind. Miles and Sarah took up the center, while Ryan, Chloe, and Mia took point.
There was no single section left as an obvious weak link. Though if anyone were to say which row was weakest, it would certainly be Miles’s.
Even he would’ve said the same thing.
He glanced at the shivering girl beside him. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere in the world but here.
It wasn’t just because of fear either. She was the only one without [Cold Resistance], so they couldn’t make her stay outside too long. If not, she’d meet the same fate as Kyle.
They moved quickly and were ready to move again within a minute.
Ryan led the way, and they followed, beginning a slow, cold, and bitter trudge towards the canopy. Sarah stopped walking.
"-re those!?"
He heard terror in the fragments of her voice that reached him over the storm, turning in the direction she was facing.
Her gaze was on the basketball court beyond the canopy. Or where it should’ve been; the snow had buried it completely.
At first, he struggled to identify what had gotten her so spooked. It was only after focusing a bit longer that he finally realized what was wrong.
The snow kept moving strangely at a few locations on the court. Twisting and bouncing off something, creating a barely visible silhouette.
’A figure.’
Roughly the size of a human, it stood there frozen like a statue. It wasn’t just that either; there were more of them.
At least three on the basketball court, and after a careful scan of his surroundings, ten more scattered around him.
The thought of running back to the kitchen suddenly felt rather appealing in his mind. Her terror was completely understandable now.
Still, he grabbed her by the arm, urging her forward. Now wasn’t the time to stop. They could check them better when they were under the canopy.
Besides, if they retreated just because of things like this, then there was no hope of even trying to leave the school.
’We might as well just crawl into the store and die there.’
Sarah stumbled a bit from the sudden motion. Fortunately, his grip on her was firm, so she was able to catch herself in time.
Glancing at him, she grimaced but nodded as though she understood his message. Right as they both took the next step, Miles felt the snow shift below him.
His instincts screamed at him to dodge. He didn’t question them.
He threw himself to the side, dragging a shocked Sarah down with him. In that instant, the snow right next to her exploded, a pale figure lunging out of it.
He’d only dragged her out of the trajectory of its dark, clawed hand; its shoulder still crashed into her as it flew by, sending her and, by association, Miles sprawling out of the formation and onto the snowy floor.
In his disorientation, he barely registered similar bursts of snow occurring both in the front and back rows.
Mia moved away just in time to dodge the one targeting her, while something dragged Brandon down behind him.
Pushing himself off the ground, he tightened his grip on the bat, then glanced at Sarah still struggling to push herself off the ground before releasing her arm.
The figure was already moving again, getting ready for another lunge. He could see it properly this time: a ghoul.
He rolled away just in time to escape being pounced on. The ghoul landed right where he’d been lying down, sending a plume of snow upwards.
Instead of turning its focus back to him, it shifted to Sarah, the prey much closer to it. She was just regaining her bearings when it crashed into her. Her hastily raised wooden stick was the only thing keeping its blackened teeth from her, as she slammed back into the ground.
It pressed down on her, pushing her deeper and deeper into the snow. Her arms buckled beneath its weight, yet before they collapsed, Miles slammed his foot into the monster’s side, pushing it off her and onto the side.
Not wanting to even give it the slightest chance to recover, he stepped forward and slammed his bat down. Two hits cracked its skull, staining the snow with its black blood.
A notification told him it was dead. Behind him, Sarah slowly pushed herself back up again, her shivering even worse than before.
The others were just about done dealing with their ambushers as well.