Participants:
Scene Title | Exodus, Part II |
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Synopsis | When a pick up point for Ferry evacuation is already compromised, a small group of Evolved use their talents to fight their way through to freedom. |
Date | November 8, 2010 |
Before annexation into the 12th Ward of Brooklyn, Red Hook was a separate village. It is named for the red clay soil and the point of land projecting into the East River. The village was settled by the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam in 1636. Red Hook is part of the area known as South Brooklyn, though it is northwest of the geographic center of the modern borough. It is a peninsula between Buttermilk Channel, Gowanus Bay and Gowanus Canal at the southern edge of Downtown Brooklyn.
Red Hook is connected to Manhattan by the vehicles-only Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, whose toll plaza and approaches separate it from Carroll Gardens to the north. Subway service in the area was cut off after the bomb de to flooding and collapse of the connecting Manhattan tunnels, and no present plans to reinstate them are yet under effect. The B61 bus, formerly a trolley line, runs as a 24-hour service from Erie Basin Red Hook through Downtown Brooklyn, Clinton Hill, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint, terminating at Long Island City, Queens.
Through the 1980s and 1990s Red Hook began a steady decline from an industrial complex like Long Island City, to a notorious neighborhood known for being rife with drug trade, specifically cocaine and crack. Following the bomb, the drug problem in Red Hook became progressively worse, with a recent influx of Chinese Mafia institutions in the very low income neighborhood muscling in on territory formerly belonging to the Civella crime family.
With the only full-frontal view of the Statue of Liberty, Red Hook has the dubious honor of being so close to the shadow of lady Liberty, while being a haven of criminals and crime activity. Private ferries operate out of the Red Hook ports going to and from Staten Island while operating under the Coast Guard's radar. Some residents have even gone as far as to dub Red Hook "Little Staten Island."
Through the hole in the diamond-link fencing, and into the abandoned construction site that feels more like a graveyard beneath a nighttime sky. Inexplicable hills of gravel create decent little hiding spots as the group cuts across the landscape, with construction machinery lying like the skeletons of monsters and scattered through land that might have one day become a warehouse or a parking complex, but never got to be. It's cold and the sky is clear, and a pushy wind foretells a choppy boat ride to come — if they can at least get to the pier, with the motorised boat waiting for them, that is.
But there's trouble ahead, that much they can see.
The water shifts uneasily to the left of them beyond fencing, leaden looking and empty. Straight ahead, the movements and sounds of soldiers begin to factor in, the shapes of armored vehicles parked, with men in uniform patrolling the place like ants over their territory. The bone-white shape of a yacht is tied at the pier, and soldiers wielding rifles and dressed like it's a war— and it may as well be— patrol up and down the strip of wood, a couple making black silhouettes against the hoziron as they roam the boat that was meant to be their getaway.
More disturbing, would be one of the men speaking into a walkie-talkie, pacing past the shapes of three men lying belly down on the pavement. Moonlight glints off the cuffs at their hands, and their features are hidden with black hoods covering their heads. Bystanders? The men that's meant to be seeing them to the island? From this distance, the group of five can't make out words, but they hear voices, the crackle of radio.
In the distance, the remnants of firelight glow on the horizon from where Queens is burning. The growls of armored tanks and trucks make up an unusual traffic, an hour and a half passed curfew.
Kendall is exhausted. Therefore, as soon as he got in the car, he fell asleep, trying to get back what he lost in the way of energy after escaping from the safehouse with half a dozen people. It's pretty draining to make everyone invisible while also making video game dinosaurs appear. However, now that they're beyond the point where the car can take them, he's awake again and trying his best to stay that way.
November eighth is clearly the busiest day of the year, at least for Melissa. Shot, nearly executed, and she even became a mom. And now she's with the Ferry, trying to help save more people, including her brother/kid. She's favoring her right arm a little, but if she's in any pain, she's hiding it. Then again, with her assortment of pain pills, it's very likely that she's not feeling any pain.
She hides behind a piece of machinery, looking out over the men between them and the boat, then towards Kendall, then to the others, her mind working as fast as she can manage, trying to figure out some way of getting people out safely.
And Lynette, having dressed so nicely this morning, is now in a burned, bloodstained, torn version of that dress, as she had to use that ride over to the rendezvous to rip off a strip of her dress to use as a bandage around her leg. She's really never been shot before, so this has been a fun experience to tuck under her belt. Sort of.
But at least she's not bleeding as she ducks down behind their cover with the others. "So basically… we have to go through the military to get to our boat. Fantastic." She doesn't want to ask Kendall to do more than he already has, not to that extent, so there comes a frown to her face as she tries to think of another way. "I don't suppose anyone has any bright ideas for a diversion?"
Run. That's what the voice of the devil on her sinister side tells Daphne Millbrook as she peers at the men investigating the yacht, peers at the men on the ground belly down. She could just run, and be long gone down the stretch of water before any of these soldiers could even lift a gun to get a shot off at her. The black clad speedster fidgets, feet blurring as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. The most she could take with her, though, are two people.
"Couple choices," she whispers. "I can try and take you two by two but leave the boat, and then we'd still be without transport unless I do the equivalent to wind sprints coming back and forth for you all, all the way to the rendezvous," she says, wrinkling her nose at the idea. "Or I can dart out and try to get their weapons while someone covers me — but there's a lot of 'em, and if I get gassed… well, I'm dead weight." She reaches up to tuck her dark-dyed hair behind her ears; her face is pale but for the garish black and blue bruise across one eye and cheek.
Nelly seems to be one of the luckier people in the group, looking like she could do with about ten long naps and a set of clothes not covered in dirt and dust, but otherwise fine. She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her sweaters as she presses up against their cover, chewing at her lip as she listens. "Well, I can grab what weapons I can see, but I expect shots from the ones I can't comin' pretty quick after that. I could get you all on the boat soon as I can see it too, but that one leaves me kinda screwed." She rolls her shoulders slightly. "I'm open to suggestions though…I'm not sure what all you can do, 'sides for speedy here I guess."
There is time for plot and treason, at the very least. There's a clatter of heavy things spilling on concrete ahead of them. The two soldiers on the pier stepping up onto the asphalt and upending what seems to be a small cache of munition that had been hidden on the boat, assault rifles and clips and handguns and whatever assorted war material debris that the Ferrymen are forced to bring together and take with them in their evacuation. The three Ferrymen are lying very still, compliant, which doesn't mean they aren't being stared down by three rifles kept trained on their backs.
At the very least, most seem to be at ease, rifles black and a few soldiers pacing around where the two vehicles are idling, looking like what might happen if you mashed a car with a tank, all angled sides to glance off missiles and mounted weaponry. The warehouses makes a looming backdrop directly opposite the site, although for now, the rooftop doesn't seem to be patrolled.
Two soldiers break off the scattered unit and head into the construction site, but blessedly, it does not seem to be with intent, a standard kind of scoping around, their eyes watchful within their bored expressions and rifles in hand. The crunch of their booted feet on gravel and dirt becomes louder and louder, ticking away the amount of time they have to remain hidden.
Hey, Kendall and Daphne are twins, sort of! Kendall's hair is naturally darkish though, but he does have a black eye as well. "I can help…" he volunteers. "I can make a diversion. Maybe, like…. a bunch of people rioting out of nowhere…" well, maybe limit it to just a few. "Or… or, uh, I could make monsters." he does have a few cards in his pocket for just this sort of thing. He just wants to be helpful! At this point, the prisoners are noticed, and he squints. "Hey, think they'd be distracted if the prisoners suddenly… disappeared?"
Everyone is studied by Melissa, before she nods at Kendall. "Distraction would be good. But not the prisoners. They may shoot there anyway if the prisoners just disappear, and we don't want them shot. Rioters, coming that direction, that'd be good," she says, pointing in the direction opposite the pier, more towards the far end of the warehouse.
"Daph, girl who's name I unfortunately don't know…Split up the weapons. You said you can get those you can see? Daph can get the ones you can't." She pauses a moment and looks to Daph. "If you can get the prisoners out of there, get them to the boat, go for it. They start looking at you…"
She looks to Lynette then, and is quiet for a moment. "Lynette, you'n me are backup. They start paying attention to Daph and her," she nods towards Nelly, "or anywhere but Kendall's distraction, then you and me step in. I'll move that way, you go that way, so we can split attention of the soldiers." And silently she starts praying. She never did get those tactics lessons from Sasha. Dammit.
"Sounds about as good as any plan I've heard today," Lynette says, which may be glowing praise, or might not be. But she's not being specific. "Don't worry girls, Melissa and I know how to hit them hard, if they start targeting you." She does not, however… add of what her ability is, for those who don't know. Or if she even has one. Although, considering she's otherwise unarmed, it's an easy guess.
"Can you cover me too — and can you make it so I can still see the prisoners? I can get them out, if you can," Daphne says to Kendall, moving forward a couple steps in a blur and then back, the equivalent to pacing as she notices the men coming into the site. But then those two soldiers heading into the construction site garner her attention.
"We got company," she whispers, nodding her head in their direction. "Hold that thought, just be a jiffy!" she tells Melissa — apparently the speedster doesn't take directions well, and is already speeding, displaced air ruffling the hair and clothing in her wake.
Nothing more than a black and white blur, the speedster approaches the two soldiers, a gloved hand grabbing for their rifles to make sure they don't suddenly wield them on her mid-streak, as she plans to take them on a quick little jaunt — leaving them abandoned and disoriented without weapons a mile away before they can even blink. By the time they can tell which way up is, she'll be back.
Or that's the plan.
"Nelly. If I get shot or something, I rather not end up a nameless tombstone." A nod is given at that before Nelly looks toward Melissa, "Right, got it. I'll grab what I can and then at least we'll have some weapons and speedy can-" She pauses as Daphne speaks up and would try to say something like 'wait' if she actually had time to form the word before the girl is gone in a flash. She mumbles faintly to herself as she slides to the edge of their cover and leans out slightly, peeking out towards the soldiers. She doesn't grab any weapons just yet though, she wouldn't want to alert the whole camp while Daphne is out in the middle of them of course. Not to mention she has absolutely no clue just where the speedster has gone in the first place.
Daphne wins. In that, the two soldiers that were patrolling are now gone in a streaking blur that sends up a plume of dust and grit — but it doesn't go unnoticed. A last name is shouted out, and suddenly they're all moving, scraping boots over concrete and gravel, rifles horizontal and militant — the only ones not moving are the three soldiers holding their weapons over the prisoners as if about to execute them. Two soldiers break off and disappear around the corner of the warehouse, and the two that Daphne disappeared are replaced by two more, only these ones are looking.
"The site been cleared?"
"Negative."
"Then clear it, goddamn."
One more after them, three shapes in total suddenly sharking through the construction site with one of them climbing a hill of gravel in charging, trench-making steps and pointing weapon over the top of it, before lifting the muzzle to sweep around from his vantage point. Though shadow falls conveniently over where the group are hidden behind the compacting vehicle, it's only a matter of time before he merely needs to glance their way.
"Right. Put this o—hold still, damnit!" Kendall complains to Daphne as she zips about in her fast-forwarded pacing, pulling out yet another One Ring that he had provided people with earlier. He must've grabbed a handful from the comic book store he works at, bad Kendall. Hopefully he was able to hand it to Daphne right before she zipped away, but if not, she'll be back, right? And just like the One Ring, you can still see while wearing it. And from this point of view, the prisoners just happen to look like Ringwraiths, with those hoods on. Oh well, easier to see, no?
"Dammit," Melissa murmurs, but without heat, as Daphne takes off. By now she's used to her friend being unable to sit still for any length of time. She has the ultimate case of ADHD, really. Without looking at the others she nods. "Kendall, go. Nelly, go. Lynette?" No words really need spoken now, and Mel shifts towards the right, letting Lynette go left, watching. "Kendall, if you gotta, put on the ring and GO." Uh oh, mom voice.
She doesn't use her ability yet. Instead she waits, watching, and the moment that any of the soldiers look too closely at any of the others, it's pain time baby.
"On it." Lynette moves off to the left, putting herself in her won little space for watching over things. Her power is just a touch more conspicuous than Melissa's but she's ready to use it all the same. She, too, is waiting for the need before she starts throwing bolts around.
A mile away, Daphne jerks rifles out of two hands and conks them both over the head at the same time. "Take two aspirin and don't call me in the morning, boys!" she says cheerily before throwing both rifles over her shoulder, holding the other in and streaking back toward where the others wait. She sees the other soldiers sweeping the site, but it's too far away to shoot or yell to warn the others — hopefully they will take care of him as silently as they can without alerting even more.
Shit, this is probably her fault, Daphne realizes — once more — too late.
Nelly doesn't need to be told twice. With a nod she sets to work clearing what she can, starting first with the three guns pointed at the hostages. If they were the boat operators the group would probably be better off without them full of bullet holes. The weapons appear in a small pile at her feet along with those from the patrolling military that she can see. The one crunching on the gravel hill is left alone for the moment however and Nelly motions towards his position as she looks to Melissa and Lynette, whispering to the pair, "If I grab him, can either of you shut him up before he lets everyone know right where we are?" She then thumbs in the direction of the hostages. "I can grab them too, couldn't hurt to have more help if this goes bad."
Shouts echo up amongst the soldiers, because— their fucking guns are disappearing. Handguns are drawn in favour of the fully automatic rifles that can so easily rip people to shreds, but a pistol will still carve a fist of of damage through your torso, at the right angle. A sudden blam echoes up from the site, when inexplicably— or at least, the logic might not be clear to them— the third of the trio is shot between the shoulder blades, and then a second blam as his skull is cracked open within the cover of his hood. A muffled scream comes from one of the Ferry operators, rolling on his back with an attempt to blindly kick up at his captive—
He doesn't get killed, but a bullet knifes through his thigh, causing him to twitch and still, even as he bleeds too rapidly for that to be any kind of mercy shot.
It at least distracts the guy on the hill, twisting towards the sound of gunfire and awaiting an order, his back towards the group and rifle pointed away. The game board shifts a little, when the hidden group might spy a plume of yellow gas going up near the pier, creating a stinking haze of negation gas near the boat. Their position maintains — but time is running out before things get too hot for even this little superpowered group to handle.
Kendall eyes Melissa, and puts on the ring, but doesn't go. He's got distractions to make! Now's the time for his YuGiOh cards, so he starts summoning big, scary…. kinda awesome looking monsters that appear out of nowhere in front of the guards. Although, they appear in a direction other than where Kendall's group is, because likely at least one guard will open fire, right? So no point in having any of the bullets heading their way. It's a good thing Kendall is invisible right now, because no one can see how pale he is with this. At the very least, they'll empty some of their ammunition at them instead of OHGODTHEHOSTAGES.
There's a wince when she spots a hostage getting shot, and Melissa shakes her head. "Don't worry about it now. Just work," she tells Nelly, before starting in on a distraction of her own. They can't let the prisoners get killed, and this scene seems too familiar to one she saw just a short while before.
She moves as close as she dares while remaining behind cover, and lets her ability focus on the trio guarding the prisoners, pumping it up as high as she can while targetting more than one person. It's still painful, yes, but she's done better.
The negation gas makes Daphne pause — she's been through that before, and it's not something she wants to repeat. That and it will mean the rest of the team has to help her. "Shit, gas," she hisses now that she's closer to the others once more. She turns toward the soldier on the hill, but Lynette's heading that way.
She takes a deep breath and rushes toward the other hostages, aiming to grab two and rush them to safety — whichever way seems most clear. Her path is one of zigs and zags to avoid any gunfire not aimed at Kendall's creatures.
Christ. What Nelly wouldn't give for a pair of supermans eyes to go along with her power. Her eyes go wide as she hears those first shots and she clenches her fist, visibly trembling as the bullets rip through the hostages. There isn't a moments hesitation, despite conflicting orders, before Nelly goes back to work. The handguns are taken and join the pile of weapons already amassed with the hostages following an instant later, even those already shot. She tears off her sweater as she falls to her knees, pressing it to the wounded thigh of the hostage, even if the blood loss does make it seem like a vain effort.
Sudden pain is a scary thing, no matter what. Your own body betraying you, in a way. A sidearm clatters to the ground as a soldier shudders back, hands reaching for his own head without particular ability to stem it, and the other two react in much the same way, though they're schooled enough to keep a grip on their pistols for all that they're too distracted to make use of them— especially as they vanish much the same way their rifles had disappeared. Daphne's path through the cluster of warm bodies has one of the soldiers staggering back as the hostage is dragged away, while the one with the fast bleeding leg wound simply vanishes.
He's breathing hard, a damp spot in the black sack on his head where his gasping mouth is, shaking and blind in his hood, disabled with thigh wound and handcuffed hands. "M-mother-fuckers— " It's a young guy, by the sounds of it, if not as young as Kendall, or some of the people getting fucked over by the 8th.
The woman Daphne is gripping is breathing hard as well, disoriented. "Who died! Who died!" She at least has enough sense to realise a rescue mission, despite herself.
A storm of bullets goes thundering, and blessedly, it's in the direction of impossible monsters, a couple of surprised shouts from the otherwise professional men in camo. Yellow vapour goes spilling up to shroud a hissing dragon-like creature. "Stop! Stop!" is a command made loud enough for the group to hear. "You waste any more material and I swear to Christ— "
The once coordinated group is scattered, but not disarmed. Six more men are still armed and on their feet, two disappearing behind one of the armored vehicles, one getting those crippled with pain out of the way in rough dragging and shoving. "Martins!" yells one of the soldiers scoping the site, even as 'Martins' is tumbling back after a fair dose of electricity frying his body. Gravel suddenly explodes all around Lynette as someone opens fire, and something sharp scrapes through her side, almost too much pain at once to totally register at first, knocking the wind from her before that dull, throbbing ache of damage begins to signal to her she's been shot.
The other monsters fade away, leaving the one dragon looking monster to 'play' with the soldiers. It screams, then lifts its head, charging some kind of attack. Then it shoots a fireball at the group of armed soldiers. They'd feel heat and a vertigo-like feeling of being knocked off their feet, and mainly just one big zap from said attack. And then… yeah, Kendall's kinda losing consciousness right now. Hopefully someone will trip over him at some point because his illusions don't disappear when he faints.
Some of the soldiers are gone, good. Melissa turns her attention to the rest of the soldiers. Six people isn't out of the question for her ability, so long as they're close enough, so she keeps it up, full blast. She'd help the injured, but she has yet to learn how to give and take pain at the same time. Sorry guys. "Daph, can you get the prisoners to the boat? And Kendall?" she asks without looking away, her voice distracted. Seems she hasn't noticed the gas yet.
Lynette let's out a cry as she's shot, and it sends her back down to the base of that hill of gravel. Ow ow ow. She's not going to be the one tripping over Kendall just yet. She's sort of… huddled in on herself right now, her hand pressing against her side.
It's the speedster who tumbles over Kendall, wincing as she hits the ground. "The one's already down the river. I don't think I can get to the boat… not with the gas. I can take people around though," she gasps, coming back to her feet and tugging Kendall up to lean against her shoulder, one hand wrapped around his waist. "What d'you wanna do— shit, Lynette…" she says, her head blurring as she looks in that direction.
"If you can get to the boat, I'll catch up with you on the water and get the others on the boat. Let me get the kid outta here first, and I can come back for Lynette if you need it." Once more she throws herself into motion — unless anyone yells for her to wait.
Nelly ties the sweater off around the hostages thigh, not able to do much more than that to help keep him breathing until they get to safety. Nelly then shifts her attention to his bindings, reaching up to carefully remove the hood by hand before porting the handcuffs, which end up looped through one of her belt buckles, from his hands. When she hears the cry from a familiar voice she quickly looks toward the gravel hill, "Shit shit shit." She moves Lynette to safety, relative safety at least, beside the hostage. After that, Nelly looks fairly unsure of what to do, shifting her attention between grabbing what other weapons she can from the soldiers and Melissa. She was the one with the plans!
There's a shriek from near the pier, one of the soldiers breaking into a run that shudders head footsteps down the pier, with fanning illusionary flames flagging off his limbs in flicks and tongues of bright light. Negation gas is disturbed by his presence, the wind spread it, but also dispersing it as the cannister runs out of gas to expel. The allegedly burning soldiers makes a clumsy dive for cold water at the end of the pier, disappearing with a splash and a conspicuous lack of steam, bubbles coming up after him. This all, presumably to exstinguish flames that don't exist.
"Ohthankgod," is breathed with a rush as hood and handcuffs are removed, young man gone deathly pale, hair plastered too his forehead and hands reaching for his injured leg.
Two soldiers charging into the construction site are felled as soon as they come into range of Melissa. Three more soldiers out there, but they've retracted — either from dragon or to lie in wait. However, the figure of a silhouette is creeping long it's side, levering open the hatch to climb into the mounted vehicle, trying to move swiftly.
Gas? Melissa blinks, glances to Daphne, then towards the gas and she grimaces, before her expression clears. "Nelly, can you get to where you can see the canister for the gas, and move it away so we can get to the boat? Away from us, I mean? It's negation gas." But wait, the canister is empty. HMM! "Can you move gas, if so, do it. Get that gas away so we can get people the fuck out of here." Then her full focus is on the soldiers. So far she has yet to notice the sneaky person trying to get into the vehicle. Hopefully Lynette is more observant!
"Thanks, Nell," Lynette is saying as she's moved. And as if taking her cue from the hostage next to her, she levers herself up to have a look at the situation. …Dragon. Okay. At least this one isn't so… cute and green. "That kid," she says, her voice raw from pain, but affectionate as well. And she does spot the guy with the vehicle. "People move fast. They're about to know exactly where we are." Because she can't move very well on her own just now. So she lifts a hand, pointing her palm toward him as she lets loose a streak of white lightning from her hand to his body. At this point, she doesn't seem far from Kendall's fate. But she's trying to hold on, pumping what strength she has left into it, even.
Having deposited the unconscious teenager with the other woman hostage, Daphne once more circles around to avoid the yellow gas, coming up to find Lynette already gone from her position. She notices too the man making his way for the armored vehicle, and wrinkles her nose — still on the move, still a zigzagging blur, she aims and fires one of the two rifles for the man even as Lynette strobes out lightning.
Nelly gives a quick nod to Lynette before looking towards Melissa, quirking a brow at her request. Move a gas cloud? That was something new. She's momentarily distracted by a sudden flash of lightning pretty damn close to her, but luckily it's aimed for a less friendly target. "Never tried it before, but shit, can't hurt to try." Nelly takes a deep breath before rising back to her feet and moving to the edge of their cover, crouching as she slips out as far as she needs to see the gas. Her brows furrow as she stares at the cloud, the transfer not instantaneous like the others, but the bulk of the gas does disappear with only small pockets remaining after a few moments, while the rest reappears at the far end of the warehouse far from the group.
Electricity spiders out and hits the man square in the back just as brutal bullet holes tear through the backs of his legs and beats blunt trauma against his armored back — and armor or no, the assault is enough for him to pitch foward into the vehicle, and merely slump there, booted feet visible even if the hatch bounces off his calves, juddering open again as he unconsciously— or maybe deadly— spills back out of it to land in a heap on the asphalt.
With a blink of disbelief, the dragon fizzles out, suspension of belief finally snapping and leaving behind useless, hovering yellow gas dispersing where the illusion once was, mingling with the other cloud that Nelly displaces, negating no one.
It's quiet. If there are any remaining soldiers, they're currently out of range of Melissa's power as well as hidden, and unmoving. Those in pain lie shivering on construction site ground, two electrified and partially shot up bodies lying still. The body of the executed Ferrymen remains on his stomach, hands bound and head covered save for where the bullet pierced through his wood and roostertailed a dark red on the asphalt. The choppy waves nudge at the boat, making the vessel seem restless.
Melissa relaxes, letting the ability fade as she listens, as she looks around, then she's looking back to Daphne. "She cleared the gas. Can you start taking people to the boats? I'll move closer, help Lynette, to run interferrence if you need it. Wounded and Kendall first, please," she says, before moving towards Lynette and sliding an arm around the other woman to help support her.
When Lynette lets that lightning cut out, she needs that support as she slumps back into Melissa, barely keeping herself up at all, just now. But she'll be trying. There is an awful lot of blood, though, from her side. "Boats?" She asks a little dazedly, but she's moving as soon as Melissa is.
"Kendall's down the river a bit, I'll grab him once we're in the boat. He's safe, with the other Ferry woman," Daphne says, exhaling, face pale as she flings that rifle back over her shoulder — she'd throw it to the ground, but they need weaponry. "Grab the ammo and supplies."
She glances around, moving closer at normal speed to wrap an arm around Lynette before zipping her toward the yacht, hoping the gas is clear, and no errant molecule negates her.
A moment later she returns to get the man with the wounded thigh, blur moving back and forth to get them all on the boat.
Last, she returns for the dead Ferryman. He died to protect them. Daphne isn't going to leave him here, but do what she can to make sure he's remembered and given a proper resting place — not here on the docks like a dead fish.
Nelly moves back to cover after the gas is displaced, looking back and forth between the others as they make final plans for getting the hell out. "Take a weapon to use if you want, I'll move the rest so you can just worry about covering speedy and getting to the boat an' I'll try to watch your back while you watch hers too." And there /are/ small patches of gas still about, but nothing that should be too hard to dodge.
The path of Daphne's zooming is too quick for human comprehension, but it's a blur of movement that isn't invisible. It doesn't take long for more gunfire to kick up, easy enough for her and those she runs to the boat to avoid. The soldier is crouched just out of sight of the construction site but within view of the boat, automatic rifle in his hands that tears up the concrete and chasing the blur that Daphne makes. A bullet zips by Lynette's ear like an angry bee but doesn't hit this time as she's tumbled onto the deck of the yacht, the man with the injured leg teleported onboard as well.
He rolls onto his stomach and fires off some shots towards where the soldier is, but it's the least of his worries. "Help me," he says of Lynette, reaching to her, giving a mildly crooked smile. "Get me to the cabin and I can get us all moving. Might need to teach you to drive. In— in case I pass out. It's— " He swallows. "It's gonna be two hours if we go fast, so…"
"I'm not…" But Daphne's already gone so Melissa doesn't bother finishing that thought. Instead she looks to Nelly. "I'm not going. So I'll bring up the rear, so to speak. We just gotta keep them safe while they're traveling." And with that said, she starts moving again, radiating pain once more, careful to keep it away from those who are on her side. But she does her best to move closer, so she can cover more area and keep Daphne and co safer.
It's a little like the blind leading the blind, the wounded helping the wounded. But Lynette braces herself against part of the boat to help him to his feet. "Don't worry, darling," she says, tried, worn, but still able to muster a crooked smile, "I'm from California. My father used to take me boating every weekend in the summer. Just a quick… rundown and we'll be right as rain." Because she's totally not on the verge of passing out. Not a stubborn gal like her. Hobbling their way to the cabin, Lynette props herself up, and then helps steady him, too, a firm hand on his back. No matter how bloody it is after today.
Coming back from the last sprint from the dock, the blurred form of Daphne fires off a few more rounds toward the soldier firing at Lynette, though she doesn't wait to see if anything connects. She comes up and grabs Nelly and Melissa, her quick query getting a positive and an affirmative from the two.
She gives Mel a quick hug — is there any other kind? "I've got Kendall. We'll be okay," she assures the other woman, before speeding back to the yacht one last time. "Cover them," she tells Nelly, then takes off to gather Kendall and the other Ferrywoman a mile down the river.
Nelly follows after Melissa and gives her an incredulous look as she announces her intent to stay. "You came all this way to not get on the boat?" She asks, though her gaze has already shifted out towards the rest of the area to watch for more soldiers. "Well, anyway, I'm glad you were here. Mighta been a lot worse otherwise." As Daphne arrives to run her to the boat she turns to Melissa, "Good luck getting wherever you're going, be careful yeah?." Zoom! Once on the boat Nelly gives a quick nod to Daphne and takes cover, if there is any, where she can still see out to the field to watch the wounded pairs backs.
A bullet from Dapne's gun spins the young soldier, catching him in the throat if not so much that it kills him right away. He slumps like a ragdoll, before going on a retreat that's too belated to be wise, disappearing through the lingering yellow smog that hangs in the air.
The yacht retreats too, drifting back with a purr of its engine to navigate across the black river. By the time Daphne has both an unconsciously invisible Kendall stashed where no one will step on him, and the second captive Ferrymen who moves to assist the boat-driver and Lynette both, they're nosing for freedom through rippling river. It does take two hours for them to get there. It takes far, far less time for the young man with the bleeding leg wound to succumb to blood loss and flop pale with his head in the woman's lap.
Melissa is left to her own devices, coursing back through the construction site, passed where Lynette's electricity scorched rock and metal, casings glittering on the ground and a dead man unbleeding at the base of a gravel hill. It's gained territory for the side of the oppressed — but there's a lot of city left to fight for.