NOVEL FROG «| Episode 9: Crossfire |»
Chapter 111: In The Dark
The explosion at Rysemery Bridge and its subsequent collapse were the catalysts for the omens' retreat. However, they remained on the offensive as they fell back to safe ground, where some continued shooting at Crisis for a while. Indie stepped forward, leaving her cover to return fire and help her teammates get inside, but her presence seemed to scare the army off as the enemy stopped attacking and left the city's perimeter. Crisis was left confused, but Frost and Tricky recovered and immediately approached the edge of the broken bridge to look for any signs of Nitro. While it looked like everyone had died in the explosion or drowned in the moat as a result, some movement could be seen in the water, below some of the omen corpses and debris that covered the surface. It looked like just another person drowning, but as they took a closer look, they spotted their teammate seemingly unscathed.
–I’m alive! I made it!... I actually did it!– Nitro exclaimed in disbelief and exhilaration as he floated up, poking his head out of the water to look up at the rest of the team. They all ignored him at first as Indie, Groovy, and Bones pushed forward to shoot back at the omens while they retreated to make sure the coast was clear. But even when Frost and Tricky saw Nitro resurface, they only looked at him with mild annoyance while he gloated over his successful plan.
–Shut up and stay low before you get shot…– Frost ordered with his usual stern and cold tone. Nitro appeared to play deaf and kept cheering for himself, but he started swimming away from the enemy side to make his way to the gate. And as he saw them dispersing in a hurry and circling each side of the moat to escape, his cockiness was only validated, driving him to taunt the floating omen corpses as he swam to Frost and Tricky.
–Oh come on, I just blew up th-... Ahhh! Help!!– Nitro replied playfully before being caught off guard by a living omen hanging onto his back and trying to pull him under the water. Nitro began drowning and couldn’t turn around to hit or shove him, but after a bit of struggling and screaming, Frost decided to help, though he was quite reluctant as he waited until Nitro began sinking and couldn’t make another sound to take action.
Once Nitro shut up, Frost stepped to the ledge of the broken bridge, and without aiming for longer than a second, he shot his grappling hook directly into the omen’s head, killing him instantly. He almost took Nitro out with him as the hook brushed past him, though Frost seemed more disappointed by the fact that he missed than relieved to have saved his life. Regardless, Nitro quickly pushed the dead omen away and then held on to Frost’s grappling hook to be lifted from the water. With the help of Tricky, Frost prepared to pull Nitro out, who seemed impressed by the strength of the string as it held his weight, but the longer he took to check it out, the more impatient Frost became.
–Get your ass here quick. You are lucky you didn’t end up like them…– Frost hollered fiercely, pressuring Nitro to hurry up despite remaining somewhat unconcerned and smug to deliberately irritate both Frost and Tricky.
–It doesn’t matter, it’s not like he has any use now…– Tricky muttered, getting Frost to crack up before they both let go of the grappling hook to let Nitro fall. He was right below the ledge, so he was able to hang on to it just in time while his teammates mocked him.
–A little more respect, I just saved the entire city with my masterful plan…– Nitro replied with a lighthearted, indignant tone as he pulled himself up, only to be greeted by his squad’s indifference since they were all retreating to go back to the safety inside the city’s walls.
–You just tried to blow yourself up... again…– Frost said scornfully but without paying much attention to Nitro, who just scoffed at his comment and looked back at the broken bridge to admire the destruction his plan brought.
–But did it work, huh?– Nitro argued teasingly, but Frost wasn’t going to entertain his jokes and ignored him while he climbed up the pile of rubble at the gate to regroup with the guards and the rest of Crisis. The only ones who stayed outside were Frost and Indie, who kept a close eye on the omens as they continued retreating. They were not coming back despite still being able to surround the city, so their sudden departure made the rest of Crisis curious.
–Why are they retreating so soon? Where are they going?– Candy asked in confusion as she, Tricky, and Kiwy took a peek to see where the enemy was heading. They were growing more worried and dubious than relieved, unlike Frost and Indie, who appeared to relax for the first time in the past hour, though they kept a straight face and didn’t pay attention to the rest of the team, prompting more questions.
–Are they trying to flank us?– Tricky asked with equal concern but became paranoid as she looked at the walls on the sides of the city to search for any sign of forced entry. The guards were on the lookout as well, trying to spot more enemies around as they climbed up the two towers next to the destroyed gate to get a better view from a higher point. But as no other enemy showed up, Frost and Indie returned to the gate unbothered but skeptical as they tried to process what they had just gone through, like the rest of the squad.
–No… They would have already done it if they wanted to. I think they just wanted to distract us…– Indie finally replied without much doubt but slightly absentminded. She started to look for answers in a state of deep reflection by staring at the sky while the sun disappeared and the moon slowly took over its place. Frost began thinking as well, but he was interrupted by Candy, who found comfort in standing right next to him.
–Where is Spook? D-did you…?– Candy asked timidly and scared, trying to look around and growing nervous to even speak to Frost. But it appeared that she didn’t need to worry as Frost remained composed and didn’t hesitate to respond despite the outcome not being the brightest.
–They ran off somehow, don’t know where they are heading…– Frost replied with some subtle disappointment but overall showed little to no concern. He seemed more frustrated by the fact he couldn't catch the main omen squad, and while his response garnered some negative reactions from his teammates, they all stayed silent to not interrupt Indie’s train of thought.
–So they just wanted to scare us? Or where they…?– Nitro asked doubtfully after growing impatient at the pervasive silence that had encompassed the squad. Everyone looked annoyed by not being able to fully assimilate their situation without Nitro opening his mouth, but after standing still in the middle of her teammates, Indie appeared to form an idea of what they should do next.
–Maybe… I have to report this immediately…– Indie replied quietly, a little uncertain of her answer and halting her step as she tried to look for a place to make a call. She pulled out her radio to contact the base and inform them of the attack that took place in Rysemery, and while her teammates waited for her to be done, they caught their breath and collected their thoughts after the surprise attack the omens delivered. But as much as they tried to wrap their heads around it, they all remained clueless, left in the dark as the evening gave way to the night.
The Heartaches were also taking their time to recover after running for their lives and taking cover behind a small crack in one of the mountains surrounding the factory. They ran north, where there seemed to be a wide, rocky passage for them to escape, but it was too open for them to run without being seen. Instead, they hid in a crevice right next to it, which was big enough for them to take shelter momentarily as well as dark enough to prevent the enemy from spotting them.
While they waited for the rest at a safe distance, they were on edge as the antipunks were still near. They became wary of the enemy coming for them, but as all the Heartaches stayed well hidden, Ryu got curious and tried to take a peek at the situation back at the factory. It looked like they were in the clear since the enemy’s main focus was now on Ace, Chappy, and Cookie, who were running past their hiding spot to head toward the open passage despite getting close to the antipunks’ direct line of sight.
–Psst… Hey, over here!– Ryu whispered to the three, trying to draw their attention and guide them to the hiding spot. They didn’t hesitate to change direction and went straight to the fissure in the mountain without looking back, unlike Ryu, who continued peeking to see if Panda and Saint showed up or even if they made it out.
Zoey appeared to be pondering the same thing but couldn’t bring herself to look. She showed signs of great distress but also disassociation as she trembled in fear, scratching the back of her head frantically while thinking of her boyfriend’s fate. She was unable to form a coherent sentence as she kept stammering while Shade tried to talk to her, who was adamant about following Panda’s order and restrained her without being too harsh to not let her make any risky moves. However, Zoey didn’t have the strength to resist, but the more she tried to get his hands off her and get some answers for herself, the more she was overwhelmed by the suspenseful uncertainty. And it was only when she saw Ace and Chappy come back that she was able to focus and show some hope.
–What happened? Where’s Scott??– Zoey asked in a panic, crawling rapidly to the entrance and not giving Ace and Chappy a chance to stop and take a breath. Her question only stressed them more, and somehow, they seemed more frightened by her than the army chasing after them.
Zoey got right up to their faces to question them, even turning hostile as they kept quiet and continuously refused to answer. They only mumbled for a few moments while trying to come up with some sort of response, and even when Cookie tried to step in, Zoey became more agitated until she could see for herself what had happened to Saint and Panda.
While Ace and Chappy were being questioned, the Heartaches’ attention was drawn to Ryu, who was zoned out as he watched out of the crevice with an anxious expression that didn’t inspire much hope. It looked like only Cookie, Ace, and Chappy had made it out alive, but before the rest could accept the worst, Panda squeezed his way through the crack of the mountain. It wasn’t easy for him, especially while carrying his machine gun, so he ended up getting stuck at the entrance, blocking the small amount of light that came in until he made it through with the help of Cookie and Ryu.
Both teams cleared some room for Panda, but as he crawled into the hiding spot, he obscured the figure of someone behind him. Ryu prepared to attack as he could hear antipunk growing near, but he backed away when he saw Saint following Panda mindlessly. He kept holding onto his shield tightly, even drawing his sword as he anticipated more combat. Instead, Panda dropped his guard as soon as he entered the crack and saw all of his friends waiting for him. He tried to sigh in relief, but he froze in shock as Zoey’s eyes met with his, prompting him to drop Dominion and Panda’s shield before extending his arms as his girlfriend came crawling at him.
–Scott! A-are you-...?– Zoey stammered as she quickly approached Scott, pushing Chappy and Ace to the side and quickly giving up on trying to speak as she couldn’t contain her emotions. She threw herself in his arms, and after he caught her with a slightly nervous frown, Scott smiled brightly as Zoey wrapped her arms around him and immediately leaned in for a kiss.
She poured out all of her feelings with an affectionate kiss, which Scott received with even more passion, even though he hesitated at first. But once they were both comfortable sharing this moment, they didn’t seem to mind making it last as long as possible. Their kiss might have lasted a couple more seconds than it should have, as it started making Ace and Chappy uncomfortable since they were right next to them. They didn’t know what to do, but they saw Cookie nodding approvingly and decided to let them enjoy the moment. But while they were glad for their friends, they exchanged an awkward look and turned their attention to Panda, who sat down next to Kayden and Faye to take a look at his wounded hand.
–Are you okay? When were you shot?– Cookie asked with intrigue but not too worried by Panda’s injury as he was already applying pressure with his thumb, stopping the bleeding before casually cleaning himself up.
–It’s alright, I’ll have Candy patch me up later…– Panda replied nonchalantly, not even paying attention to his wound as he had already bandaged it with a piece of cloth that Faye handed him. The gesture made him turn to the Heartaches, and it was then that he noticed that they might be in worse condition than him. They had suffered cuts and burns, and all of their exposed skin was covered in bruises, though it looked like none of them were struck by bullets, so there was no urgent care needed.
–Y’all good?– Panda asked casually to Agnus, who responded on behalf of her team with an affirmative nod while all of her teammates treated their wounds by themselves. He kept watching to make sure they could recover and maintain a stable condition, but he couldn’t ignore the rookies behind him, as they were already whining about their near-death experiences.
–I can’t believe we got out of there… We almost died like a hundred times! This was not what I thought it would be like!– Chappy exclaimed in frustration, with Ace agreeing silently but showing more concern about the Heartaches since they were clearly the ones that took the most damage. But since Chappy kept complaining about his discomfort while ignoring everyone else’s, Cookie eventually grew tired and punched him in the arm to shut him up, not even letting him cry in pain or react as he crawled to the middle of the small cave.
–Stop crying, we're only getting started…– Cookie said tauntingly but still slightly annoyed before taking a seat next to Panda. His punch left Chappy upset, but even his discomfort became meaningless after he became curious to hear his claim.
–How do you know that? Are they still coming for us?– Ace asked with skepticism and rapidly increasing paranoia. He looked back to check if the antipunks were after them, and while he got a few glimpses of the enemy troops marching through the passage next to them, none of them seemed to spot their hiding place, so he stayed quiet. Ryu remained still at the entrance to confirm that the antipunks had lost their trace, however, Panda didn’t put any of their doubts to rest when he turned around to respond to Ace directly.
–He’s right, this is only the beginning… I’m sure we have a long night ahead of us, so stay put. I gotta make a call…– Panda replied with a convinced tone, being diligent and treating their situation like a hardship that they would have to overcome. The rookies panicked, even cutting Scott and Zoey’s moment short as they all turned to Panda while he casually pulled out his radio to communicate with the rest of the team back in Rysemery.
The rookies and Heartaches were left in awe, trying to keep quiet, calm themselves down, and discern what was waiting for them past these mountains. But as hard as they thought about it, they could only wait in silence while Panda made his call, sparking more anxiety since the antipunks were retreating right next to them. The only sign of hope was the sliver of light coming through the small crack in the rock, but with more time passing by, they had not much to look for other than the darkness surrounding them, both in and out of their spot.