Jonathan watched as the metal door started to lower, the electric door he was holding open clicking and trying to close once more. Jonathan gripped the door and pulled back, the gears trying to close it groaning in protest as it tried to shut. Jonathan moved in front of it and leaned his entire weight into it, which with his body size wasn't that much. He propped his foot against the frame of the door, his hands flat on the door as he pushed it away from keeping it from closing.
"HURRY UP!" He yelled, his back and knees hurting from the force of the electronic door. The metal moved down quicker than it went up, and it hit the top of the door, groaning a moment before it started pushing down on the open door. Jonathan looked up at it as a zombie came through the yard, running full tilt at him. He couldn't hold the door open and fight it off at the same time. If he let go of the door it would slam shut. But if he didn't let go the zombie would get him.
He could hear the groaning of metal as the barrier crushed the top of the door, cutting through the door, the metal shuddering in his hands he felt the strain of it lessen as the door broke from the top, catching on the barrier.
As Edward leapt through the door, a wave of shocked disbelief rolled over him. Crane hadn't let it close. Crane had exerted actual effort fighting to keep it open. Crane had actually been able to keep it open.
Edward saw the zombie running at them across the yard, and swung his cane at the creature's head with enough force to knock it clean from its body. Well, not clean, in the strictest sense of the word. He glanced around then, watching to see if any more were approaching.
Jonathan let go and it closed a bit more though remained open due to the metal barrier now crushing it. It was half way closed. He heard the wood inside the asylum that was keeping the inner doors closed shatter, and zombies came filling out into the main entrance rushing to the door. The crushed door jammed the security walls and Jonathan looked at Nigma. They should have just risked shutting the door. It was open three inches and would most likely slow them down, but not stop them.
Jonathan didn't bother waiting for Nigma as he ran through the yard, not knowing what had happened to his baton. It was gone now, that much he knew.
Edward glared at the door as if it were the sole cause of this entire disaster. All of that? For nothing? Really? Then he ran off after Crane. There was no help for it now.
He noticed that Crane was now carrying both duffle bags, and had somehow lost his baton. Which, admittedly, would probably not have happened if Edward hadn't been so set on reactivating the security system.
He caught up and motioned for Crane to hand him one of the bags. The man may have held a door for him, but there was only so long one could expect the Master of Fear to remain in an alliance that designated him the pack mule.
When Edward went to take the bag he practically shoved it at the Riddler. It wasn't as if the man had anything of use in there anyway, and he's risking his neck lugging it around. Then again, the same thing could be said about his own bag. He didn't bother watching Nigma as they made their way towards the gate. Jonathan wasn't sure how they could get through the locked gate, but currently even climbing over the barbed wire at the top seemed like a good idea. It wasn't as if he hadn't done it before.
Jonathan prayed that the bridges around the island weren't up. There were so many things keeping them inside the asylum, which he supposed was the point, but in their current situation - the asylum was the last place he wanted to be.
Edward took the bag and, as he ran, dug into it until he found the mallet he'd stolen from Confiscated Items. It was solid enough for a suitable bludgeoning weapon. He held it out to Crane. It wasn't exactly either of their weapons of choice, but then, neither was that guard's baton, and Crane had made good enough use of that. Anyway, it was better than nothing, and Crane could take it or leave it.
In any case, Edward didn't need it at the moment. He was already armed with his cane. And, after the way Crane had stayed to hold that door, the chances he would turn on him in the foreseeable future seemed pretty slim. Neither of them would have made it this far without the other. The only practical option was to keep each other alive.
Assuming that they could make it off the island, where would they go next? They'd need a defensible position for the night, somewhere to regroup and plan. The Riddler had a few good lairs that had remained hidden, one or two of which might be reachable. They could further arm themselves and gather necessary supplies. Crane too might have a stash of supplies somewhere that they could access. But he doubted it would be wise to stay there long. Better to get out of Gotham entirely.
This was no place to talk strategy, however. For now, they needed to keep running and keep a sharp eye.
Jonathan slid on his feet to a halt. There was no way they were going to make it out of the gate. The entire gate was swarming with the infected. He stared at it and looked back to see three of them coming at them from around the building. Two more in the distance who hadn't noticed them yet.
"What do we do?" Jonathan asked, looking around for any possible ways of escape. The gates were completely surrounded. "We're fucked!" He said. He'd always hated swearing but ... he figured if there was a time for it, now would be it.
Edward swallowed. When the Scarecrow said "we're fucked," it was never a good sign.
What good was trying to plan ahead when they couldn't get past the zombies in their path now?
Edward glanced around. Three coming at them from around the building. They could deal with those if they had to, but what if noise drew the others? Then they really would be fucked. The two in the distance were not a problem... yet. And the gate... how were they possibly going to get past that?
"Take care of what we can first," whispered the Riddler.
He slammed his cane into first one of the approaching zombies, then the other, making no more sound than was absolutely necessary.
He hated this. He hated that he didn't have a plan, he hated that every time the situation seemed like it might start to become manageable, fate decided to keep flinging hordes of zombies at him. He hated that he didn't know how this was going to end.
But the Riddler knew one thing: these three particular zombies were not going to get them.
As for the others...
"If only there were some way to distract them from this area," he whispered. "To get them to move somewhere else..."
But how could they distract that many of them completely? It was impossible.
Jonathan noticed that the two zombies in the distance where guards. Not only that, but they were watch tower guards. Crane grinned. That could only mean one thing. "I have an idea. Come on!" He said running towards the three that were advancing on them. He took out the last one before running towards the other two. He ran towards the other two in the distance, but there were nearly on the other side of the building.
"We need to get those two!" He said as he ran forward to them. "Then get up to the watch towers!"
As Jonathan ran at the other two at the distance, Edward started to understand what he was thinking. Edward nodded, and ran alongside him. The man could certainly think on his feet; the Riddler had to give him that, at least.
If they could get access to the watch towers, that would give them an edge they could work with.
Keeping a careful eye out for anything else that might approach them, the Riddler sprinted at the ex-guards, cane ready to swing.
Jonathan took out one of the guards, grabbing its sniper rifle and running for the watch tower. The zombies around them scrambled up the gate behind them as they caught site of them. He grabbed onto the ladder and started climbing not bothering to see if Riddler was behind him. From the watch tower he would be able to see over the fence. If he could set something off, something that made a noise loud enough - perhaps it would lure them away from the gate enough for them to get through.
Edward took out the second guard, following Crane's lead and taking its sniper rifle as well. He scrambled up the ladder behind Crane; already, they had the attention of the zombies at the gate. If they could make this work, they might be able to make it to the other side.
Jonathan reached the top of the watch tower and saw the swarming zombies clambering up the wall. They were fucked ... They were truly fucked. He pulled the sniper up and looked through the scope, looking for anything that could make a big enough noise to draw them away from the gate.
"If we don't get out of here," Jonathan said to Nigma. "I just want you to know ... That I still find you annoying ... And that in the event that you turn into a zombie, I will kill you in a heartbeat if you try to bite me!" He said, not sure if that was an insult or an assurance.
Edward made it to the top of the watch tower just behind Crane, then immediately followed suit, looking through the scope of the other sniper, for something, anything they could work with.
He tried to fight back the rising panic as hordes of dead-eyed, soulless, mindless zombies swarmed up the wall. The two of them were trapped up here, with no plan, no readily available way out.
Cold, paralyzing terror struck the Riddler at the idea of ending up as one of those things, a gruesome shell, all of his intellect and personality just gone forever...
Jonathan's statement was... strangely comforting. Anyway, it snapped him back to the task at hand.
"That goes double for you, Scarecrow," Edward said grimly, still searching through the scope.
But the Riddler would be damned if it was going to end like this. They could still think of something...
Jonathan focused on his scope, ignoring the moans and groans of the zombies, A few of them coming up over the wall. He took a deep breath in to calm himself. There! He could barely make it out, but it was a gas truck. He could only see a bit of the back but if he hit it, it would make a big enough boom to hopefully draw them away.
"Don't make any noise Edward. Don't even move." He said though he could hear some of the zombies running across grass and gravel. He took another deep breath in, and slowly exhaled as he shot, the bullet shooting out of the gun and straight through the head of a zombie, in the front of its skull and out the back.
It continued on its way and struck its intended target piercing the metal. For a moment it was as if time stood still. Jonathan saw a zombie climb up the watch tower rail in front of him, before he butted it with his gun.
Why wasn't it- the tank exploded with a large bang, the truck going up in flames with its huge burst of noise. Not even a quarter of the zombies turned away and made for the noise.
"Great." Jonathan muttered as he pushed another one off. "Now wh-" another explosion sounded, hard enough that it knocked Jonathan back into the railing, his head hitting the cool metal hard enough his head swam. The gas station the truck was at must have blown as well.
Edward saw the truck and gas station at about the same time that Crane did. He rolled his eyes at Crane's insistence not to move, but kept quiet and let Crane have a shot at it without distractions.
Edward did, however, have to move to knock back a couple of zombies that were getting too close to the top.
As the truck exploded, Edward ducked and covered his ears, knowing the gas station had to inevitably follow.
"Crane," he hissed. "Get down!"
Too late. The second explosion went off, throwing Jonathan back into the railing, hitting his head so hard that Edward winced. Honestly. Gas station explosions had been caused by as little as a lit cigarette. Who didn't know that if a vehicle exploded, the station would go with it? He could only chalk it up to the stressful situation.
He cursed under his breath and went to help Crane up, and slung the strap of the other sniper rifle over his shoulder. The last thing he needed was a concussed Crane trying to wield a firearm. He watched over the side as the zombies cleared away from the gate, the whole herd now running off toward the source of the light and noise.
"Okay," he murmured. "I think we're safe to open the gate."
As safe as they'd ever be, anyway.
Helping Crane along, he headed for the controls.
Crane felt himself being pulled across the lawn, his head pounding, his vision spinning. He felt like he was going to be sick but he didn't dare, the forced his stomach to calm. The noise would attract more of them. His duffle bag felt heavier and heavier as they moved to the gate. He felt Nigma let him go and he felt like he was going to fall. He leaned heavily on the wall next to the gate, hearing it click open.
He didn't question how Nigma got it open, it didn't matter, they were out. He took deep breaths trying to calm himself. He had to get it together if he was to survive. Nigma wouldn't drag him around forever.
Edward let go of Crane just long enough to go back to the fallen security guards they'd taken the rifles from, locate their security clearance badge, and operate the control panel to open the gate. In that brief amount of time, it became very clear just how bad off Crane was.
The man looked positively ill, was unstable on his feet, and had to lean against the wall just to hold himself upright. And it was probably worse than he was letting on; Crane was not one to show weakness when he could avoid it. None of them were. No doubt he had a concussion at least; just how bad it was, Edward would have to wait and see... assuming they both lived long enough.
The Riddler cursed under his breath as he gave Crane his shoulder for support and dragged him along through the gate. Concussed or not, this was no time to slow down. Right now, he doubted Crane would be able to do much but keep himself conscious. So it was up to Edward.
He kept well away from the gas station; just being in hearing distance of that many zombies right now would make them sitting ducks. Eyes wide open, darting around, constantly aware of the peripheral, Edward navigated their way to the bridge. Of course, that would lead them toward Gotham. And they couldn't stay there long; who even knew how bad things had gotten. But he had at least one undiscovered lair, not far, in a fairly abandoned and quiet area, and with enough traps and defenses around it that it might still be left uninvaded. That was their best bet right now, for a place to rest and regroup, get supplies, and form a plan. If they could just get there safely, he could work the rest out from there.
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