Well, I actually managed another chapter. Let's hope it doesn't suck.
Once Yang had finished dismembering Tock's corpse, she and the rest of the gang continued on their way. "How big is this fucking prison? We must have walked miles and there's still no sign of Pyrrha." Coco asked after a while. They all knew the prison complex was big, but they hadn't expected it to be as big as it now seemed to be.
"Yeah, what are the chances that we actually find her again. She could be anywhere and that's assuming she's still alive." Nebula added. It did seem unlikely that they would find Pyrrha, and her chances of survival probably weren't good with everything that was going on.
"She's definitely alive and we will find her, even if I have to search this whole place. We need her and she needs us, so we aren't leaving until she's with us." Yang snarled. Pyrrha was a fighter and she would make her way to them no matter what she had to fight through, Yang knew that for certain. With that in mind, there was no way she would leave without her favourite redhead.
"Yang's right, Pyrrha's alive and we'll find her soon. When we do, she'll find us a way out of here. As long as we stick together and keep our eyes open, everything will be fine." Ruby assured everyone. Not only did she understand how useful Pyrrha could be to them, but she had also grown to care about the officer. As far as she was concerned, Pyrrha was one of the few decent people in the justice system and a good friend.
Just then another inmate came running at them, they were engulfed in flames and screaming in agony as they ran. It was unclear whether they knew they were running at people or not, but that didn't matter. "I've got this one," May said, before putting a round between the burning inmate's eyes. They went down hard, skidding to a halt just in front of the group.
"Great, either she set herself on fire or there's someone setting people on fire in that direction. I won't miss this place when we get out." Coco commented. The rest of the group shared her sentiment even if they didn't show it. The sooner they could get through the insanity, find Pyrrha, and escape, the better. Burning people and pyromaniacs were the last thing they needed.
"If she id it herself, that probably means the riot has reached the asylum," Weiss said. The people they had previously encountered all seemed like regular violent inmates, now it was starting to seem like the really crazy ones were on the loose. Unfortunately, that probably meant that their progress would slow, as they'd have to contend with the unpredictability of the most unstable inmates.
"If that's true, then I bet that Neopolitan bitch is around here somewhere. She better hope we don't find her before we find Pyrrha." Yang added. Though really wanted to find and interrogate Neo, her main priority was finding Pyrrha and getting as far away from the prison as possible. They could work out how to take out the rest of their enemies, once they were away from all the chaos.
Before anyone could respond to Yang, a noise from up ahead grabbed their attention. Someone was shouting the same thing over and over again as they gradually got closer. They prepared to open fire on whoever came around the corner, but then they heard what the person was shouting "Yang?!". It was unmistakably Pyrrha's voice, she was on her way and she was looking for them.
"We're here Pyrrha! We're all here!" Yang shouted back. She considered running to Pyrrha, but there was a chance that she'd be running into a trap. So she shouted back, wanting the redhead to come to her. Although she couldn't yet see Pyrrha and visually confirm that she was okay, she still felt a great sense of relief. Her feelings for the guard had grown to the point, where she hated the idea of losing her.
Hearing Yang's voice was a great comfort to Pyrrha, and she started sprinting in the direction it came from. "I'm coming Yang!" she shouted, making sure the blonde knew it was definitely her. She was so desperate to get to Yang and the Huntresses, that Ren and Nora had a hard time keeping up with her. She was using all of her athletic ability, to reach Yang in the shortest time possible.
The three guards ran around the corner, finding Yang and the Huntresses waiting for them. It was quite surprising to find that the gang was fully armed and armoured up, but it was a nice surprise which instantly made Pyrrha feel safer. Nora and Ren didn't feel the same way, they just felt like they'd run into a heavily armed gang of killers. They stopped in their tracks, while Pyrrha ran straight to Yang.
Yang quickly closed the distance between her and Pyrrha, throwing her arms around her when they met. "I knew you'd make it, you're too tough to be beaten by a little riot," she whispered. It wasn't the most tender of moments, but she still didn't want the others to overhear. She would allow them to listen to and watch most of the things she did with Pyrrha, but this was different. Despite everything she'd been through, she was starting to fall for her.
"Same to you. But I was still worried when I saw what was happening out here." Pyrrha whispered back. She knew that Yang was a fighter and a survivor, but she had been extremely worried for her safety having watched what was happening throughout the prison. With that in mind, she wanted her moment with Yang to last forever. Unfortunately, they still had the small matter of escaping to attend to.
When Yang and Pyrrha separated, Ruby spoke. "It's good to see you again Pyrrha. Now, how do we get out of here?" she asked. She was glad to see Pyrrha and the others alive, and she was pleased to see Yang happy. But there were more pressing matters to deal with. Their window of opportunity was closing, as police would no doubt be arriving to lock the prison down. Until they were out and safe, pleasantries would have to wait.
"It's good to see you again too. Anyway, my plan is to steal a bus and use it to sneak past the response teams. With me driving and you dressed like that, they'll assume we're just evacuating. Given what's happening here, that shouldn't raise too many suspicions. At some point, we'll have to abandon it and find another mode of transport, but it should get us out of immediate danger." Pyrrha explained. The plan had its flaws and wasn't without risk, but it was the best option they had in the situation they found themselves in.
"Damn, that's actually a really great plan. Now I see why we're working with you." Coco exclaimed. Knowing that Weiss and the others trusted Pyrrha was enough for her, but she did have her doubts about her usefulness to them. After hearing the plan, all of those doubts immediately faded. Pyrrha was not only useful, she truly belonged with the Huntresses.
"Thank you. Now, everyone, follow me, I know how to reach the buses from here. Stay close and do exactly as I say, I don't want to lose anyone." Pyrrha said, before turning and heading in the direction she had come from. Ren, Nora and the Huntresses followed closely behind. This was the final push before freedom, and they weren't sticking around. Nothing was going to stop them from reaching those buses.
Fortunately for everyone, each room they passed through was pretty much devoid of life. There were corpses everywhere and anyone they found alive, wasn't alive for long. They were able to move quickly thanks to Pyrrha's knowledge of the prison's layout and the lack of opposition they encountered, the only issue was that they were starting to run low on ammunition.
Pyrrha eventually came to a stop and pointed at a set of thick metal doors. "The vehicle depot is just through here. The only problem is they're designed to lock in situations like this," she explained. The doors were the final barrier preventing them from reaching their getaway vehicle, a fact which was somewhat disheartening as they seemed pretty much impassable.
"Shit, even I couldn't get them open without explosives," Yang commented. She had breached many doors in her life, but those doors were built to take a beating. Getting through them in this condition wasn't impossible, but they sure as hell didn't have the equipment needed to do it. Unless someone else had a plan, they were stuck and they would have to abandon the bus plan.
"I can get these open, though it will take some time," Ciel said, after scouring the door and its immediate vicinity for weaknesses. To many people, the doors would seem impassable, but they lacked the technical knowledge of Ciel. All she had to do was some minor rewiring and the doors would open, it would just take a while as she didn't have any tools to hand.
Knowing how good Ciel was with that kind of thing, Weiss only had one question "How much time do you need?" If anyone could do it, Ciel could. They just needed to give her time to do it and keep any heat off her. Basically, they just needed to repel any attacks, until she could get them into the vehicle depot.
"Wait, you can get those doors open?" Ruby asked before Ciel could answer Weiss' question. She had learned from Weiss that Ciel was incredibly smart, but she didn't know she was any good with electronics. So she just wanted to make sure, that Ciel could actually do it and wasn't going to end up wasting their precious time. Ciel didn't seem like the type to overstate her own abilities, but there was always a slim chance.
Ciel nodded "With the correct tools I could open these doors in two minutes. Without them, it will take me twice as long. But yes, I can get them open." she responded, before immediately getting to work. Despite the fact she had never seen the doors or the systems controlling them before, she seemed to know them like the back of her hand. It was undeniable, she was a savant.
"Looks like we need to hold this position for the next four minutes, I doubt anyone will come after us but we should still be ready for them," Ruby ordered. With absolute faith in her leadership, the Huntresses prepared to hold off an assault like the one in the canteen. None of them expected to anyone to attack them in the time it would take Ciel to open the doors. But still, they would be ready for anything and anyone that was thrown at them.
Though the sounds of violence and death could still be heard coming from all over the prison, nobody else tried to attack them. The four minutes passed without incident and ended with the sound of metal doors sliding open. Ciel had done it in the exact amount of time she said, and now they could board their getaway vehicle ready for the final stage of their escape.
"Great job Ciel," Pyrrha said, as she led the group into the depot. It was very dark in the room, but Pyrrha knew exactly where the keys were kept. She quickly grabbed a set of bus keys, while the rest of the group waited by a bus. There was a real sense of excitement at how close they were to freedom, but they weren't out of the woods yet. The success of the escape attempt was now in Pyrrha's hands.
Once the bus was unlocked, everyone got on with the exception of Yang and Pyrrha. They still needed to open the main door, that would allow them to drive the bus out. Fortunately, it could be manually opened by pulling a chain. Pyrrha opened it while Yang provided cover in case there were any hostiles right outside. Sizing the opportunity of being alone together, Yang decided to get something off her chest "Listen Pyrrha. If this goes bad and we never see each other again, I just want you to know that I care about you. I'm not good with these feelings and shit, but fuck it. I love you Pyrrha. Even if you don't feel the same, I love you."
Pyrrha froze, it was the last thing she had expected from Yang. Yes, they were in a relationship, but she had never considered love. She was an engaged prison officer trying to avenge the love of her life, Yang was an unhinged killer with little self-control. It shouldn't have been possible for them to care that much about each other, it didn't make sense. But nothing made sense anymore, the truth was blindingly obvious. "I love you too."
So here we are, the point of no return. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Even I'm not entirely certain about what'll happen.