At the head of the charge, Austin felt exhilarated, as he shot his crossbows' arrows through the heads of Scavengers and weaved through Annihilator attacks left and right.
He knew killing Annihilators alone every step would only serve to slow him down, so he opted for weaving away from their attacks when possible and kill only any Scavengers who stood in his way; that way he'd have a better chance at getting to the hidden chamber underneath the Alcove while making it somewhat easier for his friends to carry on with their fights.
As he charged towards his opening, knowing his friends would buy him the time he needed, Austin gave only a few glances around him; he sensed rather than saw Terrora and Cleo were close to his tail. Cleo, who was armed with a short knife, that, at first Austin wasn't too sure she knew how to use, but, as she effortlessly severed Savagers' heads with that same knife, Austin was certain he needn't worry too much about her. Austin was honestly worried more for the Savagers and Annihilators that dared to charge them. Though Terrora wasn't armed, the girl was a wild one who jumped onto the shoulders of any Savagers who evaded Austin and Cleo's dominating charge, using her electric ability to fry their brains, literally. Yeah, it was wild.
Zackery and Aaroon fought side-by-side; they ran out of bullets via somewhere between the ambush and the beginning of the fight but they still had machetties and daggers𑁋 And they knew how to use them, too, because they held their own just fine. They cut the limbs of Savagers, effectively immobilizing them, before severing their heads from their bodies. Aaroon would use his strength to go toe-to-toe with the Annihilators and, using his daggers, Zackery would inflict great damage onto the Annihilators. Their teamwork was flawless.
Reya and Scarleteye fought well for a couple of people who hated each other's guts. Back-to-back against a circle of Annihilators, with only a wooden spear[for Reya] and a long knife[Reya lent to Scarleteye sometime at the beginning of their fight], the two girls held their own against the half a dozen Annihilators and Savagers, fighting so insync, as if they were one. It was as if the fight was a dance floor and they were the dancers. At first, Austin was half-worried that Scarleteye might stab Reya in the back - both figuratively and literally, but he didn't have too much time to spare to think more on that, as he had his own battle to deal with.
And, as if on cue…
No! Focus! Austin heard the voice inside him yell as they charged forward, as if reading his mind. Then again, knowing the Voice, it probably had. Focus on the task at hand, Austin. Austin knew the Voice was right; he couldn't afford to worry about them𑁋 or any of his friend and Meadowers. He knew they could hold their own… Besides, he had his own task to deal with at the moment.
As he reached the entrance to the secret tunnel beneath the Alcove, Austin took one last look behind him, looking at his friends fighting the battle of their lives. He saw Reya and Scarleteye taking down two more Annihilators, looking exhausted and worse for wear, but okay. He saw Zackery and Aaroon, side-by-side, holding off at least a dozen Savagers on their end, looking full of scrapes, cuts and wounds and gashes, but still fighting. He looked to the 45 or so Meadowers battling their own fights, facing off Savagers and Annihilators and looking tired, exhausted and wounded but still kept on fighting. They seem to be slightly outnumbered and outmatched by the enemy but were holding their own, only Austi knew this progression wouldn't last, because they weren't just outnumbered nor just outmatched, but outmanned as well. He knew he needed to get to the console in the hidden room beyond this pathway𑁋 and that's when he started back in that direction, away from his friends and towards the console.
As he stepped towards the hidden chamber's enormous double doors, Austin quickly typed in the sections of the labrinth's sequence in the code dial device beside the door. And, as he stepped into the hidden chamber, his first thought, as he hesitated, fingers barely inches from its computer buttons, was that he hadn't thought up of how to start up the damn computer. There wasn't a power button nor a cable or a plugin nearby, and, despite it being against the wall of the chamber, there wasn't anything plugged into it. His frustration almost got the better of him, but, thankfully, Terrora acted, using her electric abilities to power on the device like a human battery and discharge.
"Thanks," Austin nodded to the little girl.
"Don't thank me yet," Terrora groaned out through her clenching teeth, visibly tiring; being a battery seems to be zapping at her strength even faster and even further than the fight behind them had. "I can't keep this up for long and if I stop releasing power, the computer shuts off and I won't have the energy reserve to power it on, so hurry the hell up."
"Right."
Despite being told𑁋 and cussed at𑁋 by a little girl, Austin did as he was told. He was pretty sure the girl wasn't lying, because she looked even tired than she sounded; Also, the fact that he sensed she wouldn't be able to maintain her thing and fight off anything that decided to attack them meant that only Cleo could defend them from any likely attacker𑁋 and despite the girl showing her ability as a fighter and healer, Austin didn't need someone else's life on his hands. He's already lost enough people as is. He didn't want to add to the list.
"How long?" Austin heard Cleo ask to his side, as he began typing the password on the computer.
"You've got seconds and I'm out of juice," Terrora rushed out, tiredly. "Hurry up!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going as fast as I can," Austin snapped back, typing faster. "This keyboard isn't normal… the letters aren't letters… They're symbols. It makes typing in the password far more difficult to do"
"Well, why don't you visualize where a letter should be on the thing and type the password via that way," Cleo suggested.
Gee, I hadn't thought of that, Austin wanted to say, but suddenly, an Annihilator appeared behind them and Cleo let out an Ah, shit! Before it slung Cleo across the room.
The annihilator leaped at Austin, its claws sharp and slashing and imposing canines like multiple rows of fangs along its predatory jaws. Austin just barely managed to put his long dagger in front of him, defending his face from the beast's relentless assault. But it snapped. And snapped. And snapped at Austin's face with it's canines, it took all he had to keep it from biting his face off.
Sometime between snapping at his face and not making much ground doing it, the annihilator seemed to remember it had toxic-laced claws at its disposal𑁋 and it knew how to used them, too.