"Old men declare war, but it is the youth that must fight and die"
Herbert Hoover
Chapter Eleven—The Cost of Complacency
The next day everything went to hell.
Jaune woke early to a navy-blue sky, tinged with pale yellow light spilling over the horizon. The air was a frisky cold, the ground was firm and supportive, and Cat's manic face was shaking Jaune awake by the collar.
"Wuh… Cat? Wha… what're you doing?" he mumbled. For the first time he noticed the rifle in her grip and the dark bags under her eyes. "Have you been on sentry duty all night?"
"Doesn't matter," she snapped. "Listen."
Jaune listened. What was Cat playing at? What was this about? Why did she insist on waking him at this ungodly ho—?
A howl pierced the dawn. Jaune's blood froze. The howl was answered by a screech. And then the screech was answered by a growl. And then the growl was answered by a roar. And soon the entire forest was bursting with sounds that grated Jaune's ears and caused his heart to miss several beats.
Grimm.
Jaune was on his feet in an instant, his rifle snatched up into his hands. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening.
"Get the others up," he ordered. Cat nodded once, then was off.
Jaune took a moment to throw the sling of his rifle over his shoulder. They had, a couple of minutes max before all hell would befall this camp. They had to leave. They needed to run right now.
Jaune started sprinting towards his section's tents. As he ran, his brain kicked into overdrive. Why were the Grimm attacking? One or two stray Grimm falling across their camp, he could understand. But from the sounds emanating from the woods it seemed like a whole host of hell had discovered the clearing. How? Grimm were supposed to be attracted to negativity, weren't they? They hadn't been that disheartened last night. In fact, Jaune would have sworn they were all in higher spirits than they'd been since the whole fiasco began, even with Bounty and Finn's little stunt. So what was attracting the Grimm?
The realisation slammed into Jaune like a truck, making him stumble. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Jaune picked up the pace again, but now in a different direction. Cat would have to get the others up. He had his own mission to complete.
Jaune dashed towards the command centre-turned-prison. He reached the door, seeing a sturdy padlock keeping it shut. He didn't have time to find the key. Instead, he drew Crocea Mors, the blade singing as it was unsheathed. Jaune swung the ancestral blade down onto the wood holding the lock in place: once, twice, three times. On the third time the wood erupted outwards, showering Jaune with arrow-like splinters, all of which his aura easily deflected. The door flew open, no longer held shut, revealing the inhabitants to Jaune, and Jaune to the inhabitants.
Jaune realised he'd been right in his guess. Even without being a Grimm, he was immediately hit with a wall of frustration, fear and hatred emanating from the Atlas prisoners like waves of negativity.
Jaune didn't have time for subtlety. These people were attracting the Grimm, and Jaune didn't have the manpower to protect them. If the Grimm got through, they'd slaughter the defenceless prisoners like pigs.
"GRIMM," he yelled. "RUN!" The prisoners didn't need to be told twice.
Jaune sidestepped as a cascade of Atlas soldiers barrelled past him out the door and broke for the forest. Suddenly, a chorus of hissing and spitting rose from Jaune's side. He spun around, watching with horror as the first wave of Grimm burst out of the forest. Jaune recognized them from the rare lessons of Professor Port he hadn't fallen asleep in. They were a pack of Creeps; disgusting, two legged lizards bounding into the clearing with their awkward gait. There were at least two dozen of them, all with black skin, white bone armour and hateful red eyes. And all were running straight for the defenceless Atlas soldiers.
Jaune didn't think. He simply opened up with his rifle, desperate to give the soldiers a head start. Jaune realised with a sickening feeling that he shouldn't be wasting his ammo like this. They were enemies, and if the soldiers did survive this, then in all likelihood they would just return to fight Vale again. Every Atlesian life he saved here might be one more Valesian life lost.
Jaune's finger almost, almost, came of the trigger, but then with a flush of disgust he renewed his firing. Jaune couldn't just let the Atlas soldiers die in cold blood. First and foremost, they were humans, and when Jaune had signed up to be a huntsman, and then later a soldier, he'd done so to protect people. All people. He couldn't very well give the Atlas soldiers their guns back, but he wouldn't let them die like this either. So he kept shooting.
The front few Grunts fell under his fire, but more just kept coming, crawling over their dissolving brethren and bearing down on the fleeing soldiers. One gun couldn't possibly hold them all back.
Good thing it wasn't just one gun then.
Jaune heard eight rifles begin booming behind him, and this finally seemed to have the desired effect. More and more Grimm fell. The bodies began to pile up, slowing the survivors and revealing them to the humans' firing for longer. Finally, the last Creep fell to the onslaught, and Beta section's guns fell silent at last.
"Thanks guys," said Jaune as his section, led by Cat, caught up to him.
"The prisoners are running away," noted Naomi.
"I'll take care of that," grinned Bounty, raising his rifle again.
"Stop!" yelled Jaune. "Let them go. They're no threat to us now." Bounty shot Jaune an inquisitive look, before he started to chuckle.
"Ah, I see. Send them away so they'll attract the Grimm from us. Very clever Jaune." Wait, what? That wasn't what Jaune had intended at all. He wasn't using them as bait. He wasn't sending them out to die. Was he?
Before Jaune could refute Bounty, Phillip butted in. "Hey, guys. Catching up is great and all, but we've got Grimm inbound. Can we, y'know, do something?"
"Yes," said Jaune, snapping his focus back on the task at hand. "I need suggestions people."
"We need to leave this outpost now," stated Cat breathlessly.
"Go into the woods with them?" squeaked Terry.
"Nu-uh, bad idea," said Phil. "We'd be chased down, no question. We can't outrun them."
"So we're trapped?" panted Buzz, eyes wide.
"Shit," gasped Cat. "Shit, shit, shit."
"We should stay here," argued Naomi. "We can take up defensive positions and hold the clearing. At least here we have cover."
"We'll be sitting ducks," countered Finn. "They'll overwhelm us. At least running will give us a fighting chance."
"Let them come," challenged Bounty. "We can take them."
"Jaune," said Aiden, "you need to make a decision now. Stay and fight or run."
Jaune ran through the options in his head rapidly. If they stayed, they'd have to face the full force of the Grimm. But could they survive that? They had rifles, and cover, not to mention plenty of ammo, but would that be enough? On the other hand, if they did run the Grimm might come after them anyway. And however bad fighting from preselected, defensive positions would be, fighting in the woods whilst running would be a sure way of getting them all killed.
"We stay," decided Jaune, ignoring the frustrated glares from half his squad. "Naomi, Buzz, Terry, Aiden, you're with me. We'll protect half the clearing. Phil, take Bounty, Finn and Cat and protect that side of the clearing," commanded Jaune, indicating with his rifle.
"No," said Cat, her face ashen. Jaune started. "No, no, no, please don't make me face them," she begged. Jaune stared at her. Cat's legs were wobbling so bad it looked like she was about to collapse, and her eyes were wide with fear. No, not fear.
Terror.
For the first time since Jaune had known her, Cat was terrified of something. Not even the ambush by Atlas had inspired such an immobilizing dread in her. Jaune knew this kind of fear. This was the kind that would paralyse the muscles and stun the brain. The kind that would render someone useless in a fight. The kind Jaune had experienced far too many times recently.
He gripped Cat's arm tightly, hoping the pain would anchor her in the moment and force her to focus on him completely. "You can do this Cat. Grimm may look scary, but they're little more than dumb animals. You're stronger than this fear. You can overcome it. We need you to. You've never let anything hold you down before. Don't start now." Close. Cat was close to responding to his words. He just needed something to push her that little bit more. "Besides, Terry thinks you're a terrible shot. I've got 5o Lien going that you kill more Grimm than him." Cat's lip finally stopped trembling long enough for her to shoot a poisonous stare at the betrayed Terry. When she turned back to Jaune he could see the fear was still there in her eyes, but that it had been shoved behind a wall of steely determination. Cat would fight. Good.
"Let's move people!" he shouted, and the squad dispersed, scrambling to their positions.
The clearing was mostly circular, but one side was blocked by the outcropping of rock which Aiden had climbed the night before. That meant there were three sides left to protect. Beta section didn't have enough men to protect the outpost right up to the treeline, so Jaune quickly organised his troops in a smaller semicircle closer to the centre of camp, leaving a wide area of ground which the Grimm would have to cover to get to them, all the while being shot at by Beta section. Thanks to the chaos of last night, there were all kinds of collapsed metal and wooden structures which they could use for cover, and it was these which Jaune and his men hid behind now with sweaty palms and racing heartbeats. Jaune doubted they would be much use if a Beowolf got close enough, but it felt natural to hide behind something.
"Do-don't forget t-to ripple your f-fire," Terry reminded them, his teeth chatting so bad he barely got the words out. Jaune nodded his understanding. Sarge had taught them to fire one at a time in sequence to prevent them from all running out of ammunition at the same time. If they wanted to survive, they'd have to make sure they weren't all reloading simultaneously.
Jaune took a quick inventory check of the men he had under his command. Buzz behind the same barricade as him, Naomi and Terry behind another, and Aiden on his own. Jaune barely had time to register this when a roar exploded from the forest.
"Ursa!" screamed Jaune, recognising the distinct sound of the bear-like Grimm. The roar was quickly accompanied by the crunching of snapping wood and the groaning of collapsing trees. An instant later, the trees before Jaune bowed to either side and between them, revealed in all its fearful glory, was a very big, and very angry, Ursa. It charged out of the forest, an unstoppable truckload of claws, teeth, and unbridled hate.
Five guns blasted away at the monster that bore down on them, but the beast stubbornly refused to die.
"Shoot it!" screeched Terry, rather unnecessarily, considering everyone was already depressing their triggers with a vigour only terror could produce. The Ursa kept coming, each step sending a seismic thunder rippling through the ground. Flashes of light collided with the monster every step of the way. It roared again, the Ursa's rage echoing around the clearing.
Finally, finally, the tank slowed, the sheer weight of dust slamming into it causing it to lose speed. It stumbled briefly, its front paw momentarily collapsing under its weight. The humans kept firing, refusing to allow it even a moment to recover. The beast roared again but couldn't get it's paw back under it. Finally, the monster gave one last, baleful bellow, before collapsing onto its side and began to fade away.
It had been brought down not five meters from where Jaune and Buzz sheltered.
Jaune lowered his weapon shakily as he watched the Ursa disappear. It had taken all five of them to kill a single Ursa, and judging by the howls coming from the forest, more were on their way. Lots more. They couldn't last like this.
What could they do?
On the other side of the clearing, Phillip, Bounty, Cat and Finnegan waited for the nightmares to try to kill them. When they'd first reached their laughably inadequate defences, they'd managed to fight off the first few stragglers to come rushing out of the undergrowth and straight into their bullets, but Lightning had warned them that they were only the first Grimm to the party, and that the real battle was about to commence.
"Good," thought Bounty. "Let the buggers come." He'd needed to blow off some steam ever since the night before, and this seemed like the ideal time to do so.
He glanced at his fellow soldiers to his right. Lightning was fiddling with his armour straps, but considering the situation, was remarkably calm for… well… Lightning. The same could not be said of Cat, who was just about managing not to hyperventilate. He felt bad for her. He really did. Maybe if he hadn't said what he'd said the night before when his blood had been boiling, he would have even been able to offer her some words of comfort. But… well, you couldn't change the past. Bounty had learnt that lesson more than enough times. Maybe one day he'd make it up to her.
Bounty's attention fell onto the last member of their half of the squad. The rat of a man, Flea. He was practically shitting himself, and was glancing around frantically, probably looking for an escape route. Well let him flee. They didn't need him.
Bounty turned back to the trees and hefted his gun, his blood singing for the battle to come. The others thought he was insane for his love of the fight, or that he didn't feel fear. Ridiculous! Of course he felt fear. He was human as much as anyone else in Beta section (well, except for Aiden, of course). It was just that the thrill of the battle, that rush of adrenaline like a drug to his brain, was more intoxicating than the fear of what he faced was intimidating. The battlefield was the only place he could escape his miserable, shitty life, with all its disappointments and let-downs and just be… free.
That was why, when a hoard of Beowolves and Boarbatusks came crashing out of the shadow of the forest, Bounty's mouth was fixed in a wide grin beneath his shaggy beard.
"Come at me you bastards!" he roared, and the Grimm came.
Jaune knew what they could do. Or rather, what he could do.
"Guys," called Jaune, drawing their attention away from reloading. "If another Ursa like that comes and he's not alone, focus on the other Grimm. Leave the Ursa to me."
"Are you sure about that?" questioned Aiden. God no.
"Yes," he replied.
"Do you have a plan?" enthused Buzz. Not really.
"Yes," he said again. The others nodded, condemning Jaune to his crazy idea. Maybe he'd be lucky. Maybe he'd misheard the Grimm noises, and there weren't any more Ursas out th-
A massive Ursa burst out of the wood, followed by a pack of hissing, spitting Creeps. Jaune whimpered.
"Open fire," shouted Naomi, and as one, the guns began to clatter and crack. The team focused on the Creeps like Jaune had asked. That was the smarter move. Creeps took much fewer shots to go down than an Ursa, and it was better to face one strong but slow enemy than ten weaker but faster ones. That just meant Jaune's task was going to be a pain.
Jaune placed his rifle carefully against the barricade. It wasn't going to be much help with what Jaune had to do. Instead, he pulled out Crocea Mors and expanded his sheath into a shield. Then he stepped into the open.
"Hey!" he yelled. The stampeding Ursa stopped and tilted its head to look at him, as if to say, "Why aren't you running away screaming, puny human?" Jaune was forced to ask himself the same question.
Then the Ursa roared, lowered its head and barrelled towards Jaune. Jaune's stomach sank, kept sinking, then fell out his body and onto the ground somewhere behind him.
Jaune couldn't do this. What had he been thinking? He'd never fought an Ursa before, let alone beaten one. Heck, he'd been kicked out of a school where that was taught. How was he supposed to win this? He wasn't sure.
But he was sure of one thing as the Ursa ploughed towards him. He didn't want to be standing still when that thing hit. So he did the only thing he could think of.
He charged.
Buzz yelped in surprise. Naomi screamed his name. He barely even noticed them. Jaune's vision had narrowed, the world going dark around him. He droned out the hissing from the Creeps and the shooting from the humans. There was only him and the Ursa.
And only one of them would be walking away from this fight.
The Ursa and Jaune collided mid-way. Actually, saying they both collided was a bit misleading. More like Jaune collided with the Ursa's paw and went flying, whilst the Ursa shrugged off Jaune's pitiful swipe with his sword like a particularly annoying stick. Jaune rolled to a stop and struggled to get his feet under him again. Damn, Ursas sucked.
Before Jaune had even fully risen the Ursa was upon him again. Jaune yelped and dropped to the ground again. The Ursa's arm flew over Jaune's head, close enough for Jaune to feel the passing wind brush his hair. He rolled to the side as a rear paw flattened the ground Jaune had previously been lying on. Jaune struck out with his sword and, more by luck than skill, grazed the Grimm's flank. The Ursa bellowed, but it seemed more angry than hurt. Great.
Jaune decided to go on the offensive, rushing the bear with an almighty war cry. The Ursa took a full half step backwards in shock, before seeming to remember that it was Jaune the Ursa was facing. It brought a mighty fist down, and Jaune just managed to raise his shield in time. Regardless, the blow did its very best to crush him underneath it. Jaune's arm buckled, and his legs almost gave out, but somehow, he managed to halt the beast's paw. Jaune ground his teeth together and strained against the Grimm. With an almighty yell Jaune knocked the Ursa's paw off his shield and swiped at the Grimm with a viscous backslash. Jaune had been aiming for the thing's throat, but at the last second the Ursa jerked its head back. Crocea Mors narrowly fell short of its mark, slicing across the Grimm's chest instead.
Nevertheless, the Ursa roared in pain, and Jaune felt a moment of pure elation. Then the Grimm backhanded him, and the feeling turned to dust in his mouth.
Jaune flew backwards again, and this time when he hit the ground the unforgiving earth punched the air out of his chest. Jaune lost his grip on his shield but managed to retain his sword. He groaned from the heap where he lay on the ground.
Somehow this was proving even harder than Jaune had originally thought. Jaune knew he couldn't keep this up. There was no way his stamina would allow him to last long enough to wear an Ursa out. That meant Jaune needed to end this quickly. Its neck seemed to be the weakest point, but the Ursa seemed even bigger than usual, and at its full height its neck was well out of Jaune's pitiful range. So how did he kill it?
Jaune glanced up, and his half-formed plans dissolved in his mind as he saw the Ursa bearing down on him yet again. A shriek forced its way out of Jaune's mouth and he dived to the side. The Ursa went past him, but immediately spun with an agility that was frankly impossible for a creature that big. It prepared to go for another run.
Jaune pushed himself to his feet with his sword and readied himself. He couldn't do this for much longer. The Ursa lowered its head—
—and suddenly a shot slammed into the Ursa's face. The bullet skimmed its bone face plate and burrowed into the Ursa's left eye. The Ursa hollered in pain, thrashing its body from side to side. Another bullet hit its face, but this one ricocheted off bone.
Jaune's tunnel vision finally faded, and he spun around to see Aiden, his gun barrel raised and smoking. The others were still fighting off the Creeps, but Aiden must have seen Jaune struggling.
Jaune was about to utter his thanks when the Ursa finally shook off its pain and charged again. But this time it wasn't coming for Jaune. The thing had just been half-blinded by an attacker, so it did the same thing Grimm always did when they were attacked. It attacked back.
Straight towards Aiden.
Jaune yelped and ran at the bear, waving his hands and desperately trying to pull its attention, but it couldn't see him. Jaune was on the side of its blind eye.
Wait. It couldn't see him.
A memory lanced through Jaune's mind back from Beacon initiation. Jaune had been hanging upside down from a tree at that point, so he remembered it clearly. Something to do with Nora and an Ursa like this one…
Somehow, Jaune managed to increase his speed even more, running almost perpendicular to the Grimm. It was a stupid plan, but then again, points for consistency, he guessed. He had to time this perfectly. Too late and he'd miss his chance. Too early and he'd be trampled. The Ursa came closer, and Jaune closed the gap between them.
At the last second, the Ursa seemed to finally sense him, rotating its massive head toward Jaune. But by then it was too late.
Jaune leapt into the air just as the beast came thundering past. For a horrifying second, Jaune's fingers grasped nothing but air, but then they finally found something solid and hauled the rest of Jaune's body onto the Ursa's back.
The Ursa roared, suddenly finding a troublesome human clinging onto one of its back spikes. The monster halted and reared onto its hind legs, twisting and swinging its claws as if swatting a swarm of flies. It was all Jaune could do to wrap his arms, one still holding his sword, around the white lance and try not to fall off. His body thudded repeatedly against the Ursa, but its arms weren't long enough to reach behind and grab Jaune. Another shot rang out, hitting the Ursa squarely in its exposed stomach. The bear folded over and was forced to go back to all fours, momentarily stabilising the roiling, tossing, black sea that was its back.
It was now or never. Jaune dragged himself unsteadily to his feet. The Ursa trembled underneath him. It was getting back to its hindlegs! There was no more time for caution. Then again, he was balancing himself on an Ursa's back, so had that ever really been a thing? Jaune raised Crocea Mors, leapt towards the head of the Grimm…
…and drove his sword through the back of the Ursa's neck.
The Ursa gurgled wetly, before its legs gave out underneath it, and it collapsed onto the ground with an almighty crash, bringing Jaune down with him. It lay like that for a second, fixing Jaune, Aiden and every other living thing with a gaze that promised a long and bloody death someday, before the light in its eyes finally faded, and it began to decay.
"I've done it," Jaune thought weakly as he lay starring into the sky. "I killed an Ursa." He smiled.
Then a Creep poked its maw into Jaune's field of vision, and Jaune screamed again.
Barks, growls, squeals, grunts, bangs and laughter all rang out as Bounty blasted into the oncoming tide of creatures of the night. Beowolves toppled over each other as they were hit with rounds of dust. Boarbatusks tried to go into their death roll but were held back by the other Grimm in their way. It turned out that the larger group was actually advantageous to the members of Beta section. But then again, they had more Grimm, so fair's fair he supposed.
The Beowolves were easy to take down; made the most noise, died the quickest. The Boarbatusks were trickier, with small bodies and thick armour. So it was these which Bounty went for.
His rifle clattered as he unloaded round after round into the ranks of Grimm. There were a lot of the buggers, sure, but Bounty wasn't too worried. They fell just as quickly as they came. He was confident they could hold them back, even with Flea being worth less than dead weight. Bounty could have done this all day if he wanted t—
His rifle clicked emptily in his hands. No bullets came out. To his side Bounty heard the same dreaded sound echo from his companions.
They were out of ammo.
All of them.
"Reloading!" screamed Bounty, Cat and Flea, almost simultaneously. Six hands scrambled at their pouches and weapons, frantically trying to fit new magazines to their rifles. Lightning shrieked, now the only one still firing thanks to his special whatchamadoodee weapon with a larger ammo capacity. Bounty cursed as the Grimm seemed to smile victoriously at the stupid humans, before falling upon the soldiers with a renewed vigour, fighting for the right to tear the humans apart first.
Bounty growled in frustration. What had he been thinking? All that time Sergeant Cole had tried to drill into them to stagger their fire, and the moment it had actually mattered they'd utterly forgotten it.
Bounty glanced right. Lightning was desperately raking his fire left and right with his yellow weapon, slowing the monsters down but not enough. Cat finally rammed a new clip into her weapon, swearing colourfully all the way before finally opening up, spraying the fast-approaching Grimm with some good old death. Flea was still fumbling with his magazine, his sweat-drenched hands slipping on his weapon.
"We need to fall back!" Flea screamed. Bounty ignored him. It wasn't the first time the Flea had tried to run instead of facing his enemies head on.
"Finn's right!" yelled Lightning manically. "We can't hold them off. We need to go. Now!"
Bounty growled again and finally slammed a fresh magazine into his rifle. He snapped his weapon up and was immediately greeted with the hideous snout of a Beowolf. Bounty's eyes widened in horror as the beast lunged for him. He fell backwards, narrowly avoiding the Grimm's razor-sharp talons as they swiped towards him and unloaded a short burst into its chest. The creature was tossed backwards, dead before it hit the ground. When had they gotten so close?
"Bounty, you great pug of a brute," shrieked Cat, terror turning her voice shrill. "Fall back!" Even her?
Bounty ignored them all. If they wanted to flee with their tails between their legs, let them. He'd hold these sons-of-bitches back by himself if he had to. He'd be damned before he ran from a fight.
Bounty kept firing into the mass of darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the others pulling back under the sheer weight of howling, squealing savages. Cowards. Bounty didn't need th—
A Boarbatusk suddenly skidded towards him, impossibly fast. Bounty cried out and fell back, tripping over his own feet. Somehow the thing had found enough room to go into a death roll. It collided with Bounty's cover, decimating his measly protection, but also halting its spin. Bounty desperately scrambled backwards, but the Grimm noticed and fell upon him. Six razor sharp extensions of bone bore down on the defenceless human. Two jutted upwards from its snout, for what purpose Bounty couldn't even begin to comprehend. Two of them came from its chin and were curved like an elephant's tusks, which, all things considered, were pretty useless. The other two, however were more like fangs and protruded directly from its upper jaw. It was these which angled towards Bounty's exposed stomach, and which did their very best to gut him.
Bounty screamed and raised his rifle horizontally. The Boarbatusk's curved tusks locked against the weapon and stuck there, holding back its ginormous canines. Four luminous eyes regarded Bounty balefully.
Shit.
Bounty heaved against the Grimm with all his strength, but he was lying in an awkward position that made it almost impossible to push against his foe; on his back with the Grimm practically above him. Slowly, inexorably, the white spears were pushed closer and closer to impaling Bounty. Bounty strained against his doom despairingly. His arms shook. His teeth ground together. He barely even registered that he'd stopped drawing in breath. The oversized heap of bacon, sensing its imminent victory, squealed in gleeful delight and continued its unyielding push. Bounty closed his eyes and felt the hot, sticky breath wash over his sweating face. The putrid stench of death flowed from the Boarbatusk's sabre lined maw and into his nostrils, clogging his throat. He opened his eyes again, determined to watch his death with his own eyes.
"Death by pig," he thought grumpily. "No less than I deserve." Bounty's arms were seconds from giving out. The deadly fangs came within an inch of his exposed torso. The Grimm screeched again directly into his face—
—and a rifle was shoved into its open mouth and a round discharged.
The thing's head exploded, bits of mangled flesh and shattered bone flying out the back of its skull. Black blood spattered Bounty. The Boarbatusk collapsed forward, even as Bounty was dragged away from it, narrowly avoiding getting his feet crushed under the mountain of pork.
Bounty chocked on his collar as it was used to haul his body away from the oncoming Grimm. He finally managed to twist his torso to get a look at his saviour. He expected to see Cat's cocky grin, or even Lightning's frantic gaze.
What he didn't expect to see was Flea's face, a merge somewhere between fury, disbelief and terror. The two enemies locked eyes. For once, Bounty was at a loss for words.
"Fall. Back." hissed Flea. Bounty stumbled to his feet, and for the first time since meeting, he did was Finnegan said.
Naomi's arms ached as the rifle bucked in her hands once more, felling yet another Creep. She yanked the rifle around again only to find that there were no more targets to track. The last one fell to Jaune, now with both sword and shield back in hand.
Naomi fell to her knees in exhaustion, her relieved gasp echoed by the rest of Jaune's half of Beta section. They'd done it. They'd actually done it. There were only so many Grimm in any one part of a forest, Naomi knew. That meant if they killed all the Grimm within earshot, there wouldn't be any left to attack them. There wasn't an endless supply of Grimm. Just a metric fuck tonne of them. But judging from the silence coming from the forest, the squad had succeeded in reaching the turning point.
"Uh, Jaune…" said Buzz. Tiredly, Naomi turned to see what her brother wanted Jaune for. She just had time to see Jaune leap back to his feet and sprint across the clearing.
"Oh for heaven's sake…" How Jaune found the energy to start running after what they'd just been through, Naomi had no idea. She turned to see what Jaune was racing so frantically towards—
—and the next instant she was thudding after him, desperation lending her speed as she fought through the veil of exhaustion that tried to engulf her. After a brief moment of hesitation, the others followed.
Naomi raced towards the other side of the clearing where Aiden, Cat, Finn and Bounty were hurtling towards them. Behind them came a horde of stampeding Grimm intent on tearing them apart limb from limb. There must have been more Grimm from that side of the forest, or maybe tougher ones.
"A little help here!" screeched Cat as she blind fired madly behind her. Jaune reached them first, then kept running, taking several extra strides beyond them before stopping and adopting a battle stance. His sword resembled little more than a toothpick and his shield a serving platter, but nonetheless he stood and faced down the demon host before him.
Naomi grounded her teeth together. Jaune could trick Buzz and maybe some of the others, but he couldn't fool her. She noticed the way his knees wobbled slightly, how his breathing increased rapidly, how his sword wouldn't quite stay still. He was petrified of those monsters. The living embodiment of everything that was evil in the world was bearing down on him, and he knew exactly what they'd do to him. They wouldn't rest until he was shredded into bloody ribbons. Wouldn't relent until there was nothing left of Jaune but a red stain in the dirt. All this and more, these nightmares would do if they got their hands on Jaune.
Well she'd be damned if she let her sergeant face that fate alone.
Naomi roared and ploughed after Jaune.
/-/
"Naomi!" screamed Buzz as he watched his sister sprint after Jaune, straight towards the mass of Grimm. He went to follow her, only to have his arm yank back harshly. He gasped in pain, turning to see Cat holding his limb in an uncompromising grip.
"Where are you going?" she hissed. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"My sister's out there," he tried to argue. Cat looked up, then cursed.
"Nuke! Get back!" she screamed, but Naomi either didn't hear or didn't listen.
Buzz watched in horror as Naomi finally reached Jaune's side. An instant later, the tsunami of blackness collided with the lone humans, breaking on the rocks that were Jaune and his sister. Jaune bore the brunt of their frontal assault, swinging his weapon madly and bashing his shield into approaching Grimm, while Naomi blasted the Grimm that tried to flank around them. Somehow, together, they were holding back the flood of monsters. But they couldn't last forever.
"We need to help them!" pleaded Buzz to Cat, who still held him back from sprinting into the fray after his sister.
"B-b-baseline!" screamed Terry to the regrouping members of Beta section. "W-we should from a baseline. We need to lay down some fire."
The soldiers of Beta section complied and hurriedly slipped into a flat line. They finally added their blaster fire to Jaune and Naomi's efforts. Naomi spared a furtive glance back at them and shouted something to Jaune. He nodded, and together the two began to back up towards the line of soldiers. They were slow. Painstakingly slow. But their movement was persistent, and the gap between them was gradually closing. They just had to keep moving. Just a few more steps. Just a few mo—
Naomi tripped.
/-/
Naomi knew what was happening with the surety of a condemned woman with the noose already around her neck. Worse, she was just as helpless to prevent her fate. She flailed uselessly, knowing it was pointless but having to try anyway. She hit the ground, jarring her entire body. The monsters fell upon her instantly. Naomi screamed as she was drowned in a sea of darkness. She shot indiscriminately, not caring where the bullets went so long as it was into the ocean of black. Bodies fell all around her. The air was alive with a monstrous cacophony of deafening Grimm noises.
/-/
Buzz saw his sister go down and screamed her name, his heart wrenching in his chest. His voice was echoed by Cat next to him, who still had one hand holding his arm back.
"Cat, please," Buzz begged, not caring that he had tears streaming down his face. "She's going to die. We have to help her." Cat stared into his eyes. Buzz stared into hers. In them he saw worry, fear, frustration. She wanted to help Naomi and Jaune. She really did. "Please, Cat. Please."
But then Cat looked away and wouldn't meet his gaze again.
"I can't do it," she whispered.
/-/
Naomi caught a glimpse of Jaune through the murderous hoard around her. He was battling his way through the thick wall of black flesh towards her, oblivious to the claws and tusks that slid harmlessly off his aura-coated body. She just had to survive long enough for him to reach her. Just long enough to get up and away. She just had to keep firing—
Her rifle jammed.
/-/
Buzz's heart seemed to shatter as he looked to his sister, seemingly so close, and yet she might as well have been a million miles away from him. He couldn't get to her. Not while Cat held his arm. Not while Cat—
Wait…
His gaze fell onto the hand that pinned him in place.
/-/
A Beowolf grinned maliciously at Naomi, knowing she was trapped. Naomi still stupidly pulled the trigger of her rifle despite knowing it was useless. Her once sharp brain was paralysed in the frozen grip of terror. She was going to die.
/-/
"I'm sorry Cat," Buzz whispered. Then slammed the butt of his rifle onto Cat's knuckles. She yelled in pain, momentarily releasing her grip on his arm. In that instant Buzz moved.
/-/
Naomi saw Jaune's blade enter the underside of a Boarbatusk, and knew he'd never get it out in time to save her. It was over.
The Beowolf raised its murderous claws.
/-/
Buzz knew what he needed to do. He'd never been more sure of anything before in his life. He had to save his sister…
/-/
Naomi squeezed her eyes shut and looked away. She didn't want to see her death coming.
/-/
…no matter the cost.
/-/
Naomi felt a whoosh of movement and flinched, expecting to feel five knives slice into her body like butter. The Beowolf screeched in victory. She waited—
And felt nothing.
Naomi opened her eye a fraction, and her heart stopped beating.
The next instant Jaune was there, a viscous swipe decapitating the Beowolf that had tried to kill her. His next swing cleared a ring of safety between them and the Grimm.
A moment later Cat was there, followed closely by the others. Phillip was swinging his yellow weapon like a club, cracking bones and imploding skulls. The others were blasting the Grimm from close range, blowing bloody holes into the wall of Grimm. Six rifles discharged incessantly, too close to miss. The Grimm died ceaselessly. In what may have been a minute, or an hour, or a day, it was all over, and the last Grimm finally fell.
But Naomi didn't see any of this. She knelt on the ground, having no recollection of ever getting off her back, and cradled something in her arms. Inside her head, a sharp, ringing was emanating from every conceivable corner of her brain. It rose in pitch and volume, becoming impossibly loud, impossibly painful, blocking out every rational thought Naomi had ever had. Every atom of every molecule of every cell of her very being was being torn apart as a molten vat of acid opened inside her and dissolved everything she was as she looked down at what lay in her hands.
Because in her hands, bloody, bruised, broken, was Buzz.
Blood oozed from five, terrible, gaping holes in his chest, each the size of a jagged claw, but Buzz didn't cry out. He didn't make any noise at all. She heard a guttural, inhumane wail build up and up and up, and from miles away some part of her shattered brain registered that it was her that was making the awful cry. The most important person in Naomi's entire world simply looked up at her with big, brown, loving eyes and widened his mouth. Blood leaked from the corners, a dash of gruesome colour on his horrifyingly pale face, but what was on that face was unmistakable, and equally unforgettable.
It was a grin.
Then his body went slack, and his eyes fell from hers and his face grinned no more.
Jaune reached her a second later and desperately put his hands to Buzz's ruined chest, as if he could reverse the effects of death itself. His hands even seemed to glow slightly. But Buzz was gone. Gone. Gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone…
Her wail reached an ear-shattering crescendo…
And Naomi broke.