"Why are we helping them?" Miles asked. He was searching for his knife.
"Because they're people, Miles!" Lia snapped, all of her usual patience absent now.
After Eira had called for Aaron and Miles from the roof, the two had descended in a scramble, the desperation in her tone managing to distract Miles from his attempt at processing what wild stunt he had just pulled on the roof.
Outside, Angelina, Bates, and Spike were struggling to hold their own against four Altered. Aaron was moving like lightning, repeating over and over that if he'd been unable to save the girl earlier, he would definitely save the three Unaltered currently in danger before they found themselves gravely wounded.
Miles finally found his knife and raced for the escalator, where Percy and Lia were waiting impatiently for him. Eira and Aaron were already jumping through the library doorframe.
And then Miles was running, Percy and Lia racing behind him noisily down the clunky escalator. It was a difficult dance to avoid letting any of the shattered glass on the floor pierce the soles of his shoes as he launched himself outside, managing to very nearly slip on a puddle of rain dangerously close to the entrance. The rain had stopped for now, but Miles doubted it would last long.
As Miles ran, his mind felt a little foggy, head still in the clouds. The constant scuffling and yelling from wherever the fight was happening kept him moving, though, turning corners and following the sound. He'd never been both unaware and most aware of his surroundings all at once - he knew they were in incredible danger, in such clear sight, but he didn't care.
Miles rounded the corner and found himself staggering into a brutal scene of knives and flailing limbs and blood.
Everybody was up and alive, though, so that was a plus.
"Hurry the hell up!" screeched Eira to Miles as she helped her brother fend off an Altered.
Miles took that advice and lunged to the assistance - reluctantly - of Angelina. There were only four Altered currently present, but it was too dangerous to fight one alone as Angelina had been. All four of the Altered were adults, which made the whole thing a lot more frightening than it already was.
"I thought we weren't going to be allies," Angelina panted, spitting blood onto the pavement and wiping her mouth on her sleeve with a wince.
Miles didn't reply - he was too busy narrowly dodging a knife swung for his neck. The Altered fought like tireless beasts, always on the offence, hitting and hitting and hitting.
Percy and Lia joined the fight, separating almost at once to cover two different attackers. Angelina joined Miles back in, swinging a knife that looked more designed for some fantasy novel character than a street fight.
Angelina lifted her foot and Miles had hardly a second to scramble out of the way before she slammed her knee into their attacker's groin. It was hard to follow what Angelina was doing, for she moved too quickly, but as Miles was trying to catch up with her movements, blood spattered his face and the Altered crumpled into a heap on the ground.
"You killed him?" Miles gasped in a panic, the bile rising in his throat as he eyed the body, blood leaking from the neck of it.
"What else did you want me to do?" Angelina snapped, backing away from Miles to subtly drift in the direction of Bates and Spike.
When Miles glanced around to see what else was happening around him, he noted that the other three Altered were still alive and fighting. Lia and Eira were fighting one together, now, and Percy and Aaron were fighting an attacker each. Aaron somehow managed to remain graceful as he swung his bat over and over in every direction, trying not to let the Altered grab a hold of him or the weapon.
What Miles realised in this short second was that Bates and Spike were no longer part of this battle. When Miles whirled back around, he saw where those boys were - they were running away, Angelina racing to catch up.
They were leaving.
"Cowards!" Percy yelled after them, but was distracted quickly by the Altered that was trying to kill him.
Miles felt fury bubbling inside him - his group should have just left Angelina's group to fight on their own. If Miles had known that they'd only run away, there would be no chance he'd have decided to help them.
"Miles!" Aaron warned, but Miles didn't turn around quick enough.
A cool blade swiftly scathed Miles' cheek and with a yelp, he clapped a hand to the bleeding, painful wound that had been left in the knife's wake.
Aaron cried, "Look out!"
This time, Miles swung around fast enough just to avoid being hit over the head with the hilt of the Altered's knife. He realised in that short second that this had previously been the Altered that Aaron had been fighting, and Aaron was now attempting to reach Miles so he could assist with the fight.
The Altered that Miles was now faced with reminded him, quite frankly, of an animal. Probably one that hadn't eaten in a long time, for their attacks were savage and aggressive. Miles knew he could only duck under the Altered's arms and dodge its punches for so long before he grew tired.
Speaking of which, it was then that Miles slipped in a puddle on the ground - water or blood, he didn't know and didn't check - and only just managed to keep himself on his feet, but consequently sacrificing that one second he'd needed to avoid receiving a painful punch to his nose. Even though Miles made his best attempt at staggering away, the Altered's fist met his face with agonising force that reminded Miles vividly of the countless fights he'd gotten into in school. Not a pleasant feeling, that was for sure.
Miles tripped backwards into Aaron, who wasn't prepared enough to catch him. Both boys were sent tumbling backwards onto the ground, Aaron with a groan and Miles spitting coppery-tasting blood from his mouth, coughing. The pair met the concrete with a discomforting thud and rolled away from each other almost at once to get back to their feet. Miles gently lifted a hand and touch his fingers tenderly to his split lip, which was already starting to swell and turn an ugly purple. His jaw ached.
Miles fumbled for his knife, blinking back the tears that had involuntarily sprung to his eyes when he'd received the punch. Aaron was already on his feet again, swooping up his bat and keeping an eye on the Altered blundering towards him.
With a grunt, Miles snatched up his knife, used his sleeve to wipe the blood from his mouth, and then got to his feet. By this point, the Altered had reached Aaron, and Aaron had his bat back. The Altered had left their knife on the path behind them for any reason, and this would have struck Miles as an opportunity to overpower the Altered if he didn't know the Altered was a lot stronger than Miles and Aaron combined even when the knife wasn't in the equation.
Miles looked around; Percy, Lia, and Eira were still working together to fend off the other two Altered, who looked to be starting to tire. When Miles looked back to Aaron, the boy's bat had just glanced over the Altered's heads, rustling their hair but missing making any damage by hardly an inch.
Aaron's face was panicked; he was backing into the corner of the street where two walls met and had no option to move elsewhere, with the Altered stalking towards him. As if noticing Aaron's visible exasperation, the Altered person used this opportunity to lift their hands for the bat and snatch it right from Aaron's hands. Though Miles could see that Aaron tried to cling to it, he wasn't even half as strong as his opponent and had been taken by surprise.
Miles shook his head to clear the dizziness from it and then he broke off at a run, launching himself onto the Altered's back right as they lifted the bat to land a blow on Aaron. Miles honestly hadn't expected he'd make the jump but as soon as he could, he scrabbled to get a hold of anything on the Altered's back which was, in this case, their hair, until he managed to latch onto them properly and attempt to yank them backwards. Aaron's face was a mixture of relief and utter horror.
The Altered dropped the bat and stumbled, toppling dangerously to the side. Miles did the one thing he could - he dropped his knife and jabbed his fingers into the Altered's eyes. This earned him a wail and the simultaneously satisfying and horrifying sense of feeling the Altered falling backwards.
The Altered hit the ground. Or, they would have, had Miles not been on their back. Miles was the one who hit the concrete from beneath the Altered, and the weight of the Altered on top of him didn't do anything to make the fall any better. The sound as both of them hit the concrete was a sickening thing, and with Miles receiving the full impact of the fall, it was painful.
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