CBvsLotU - Ch.57: Path to Survival (Patreon)

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Path to Survival

The large group of survivors didn’t trust the apparent safety of the building they’d taken refuge in, but they’d needed someplace to rest and regroup from the frantic battle. They’d barely been out of the Bunker and had already lost a chunk of their numbers. Azula hoped that the group that had been split away and chased off by the Man-Horse and Hell Flyers would find a way to survive, but she doubted it. The only solace she took from the event was that it had given her enough time to get the bulk of the others away. It wasn’t much of a victory, and it wouldn’t mean anything if she didn’t come up with a plan to escape the horrors of the Necropolis.

Letting the others rest – or at least attempt to – Azula pulled aside the Baroness and several others she trusted. She needed a sounding board, but not one that would potential raise the level of panic in the general masses. She was the only Bunker Commander left. The others were looking to her for leadership. Given the stakes, she didn’t much care for the responsibility, but she wasn’t about to pass it off to someone else. Still, she needed some help in figuring out what to do next. One wrong move could get a lot of people killed. Maybe all of them.

“Well, we’ve successfully escaped the frying pan,” Baroness pointed out. “Now we just have to douse the fire we find ourselves in.”

Azula wasn’t familiar with the expression, but she got the gist of it. “Going back to the Bunker isn’t an option. Alice’s team found a bridge, but there was something keeping them from crossing it. Staying here is suicide. And there’s too many of use to rely on staying hidden for every long. If at all. Am I missing anything?”

“Supplies and weaponry,” Peggy Carter pointed out. “Specifically, we’re low on both. We’ve also got wounded. Nothing life threatening, but it’s enough to slow us down.”

“We’ll be slow enough as it is with such a large group,” Balalaika muttered.

No one disagreed.

There were close to fifty survivors in their party. Even if everyone had been in perfect health, organizing and moving with speed would not have been possible. “We need a way out of the city,” Azula said, knowing they needed a plan of action before she could focus on the problems. “Something Alice’s team overlooked, or something we dismissed.”

“What about the airport?” Baroness suggested. “It was ruled out before because there were too many of us, but now.” She looked over the remaining survivors. “This many could fit on a single plane. Take to the skies, try to fly out. The worst monsters we’ve seen capable of flight are the Hell Flyers. And I doubt they can fly high enough to catch us if we get up to a decent altitude.”

There’d been a general map of the Necropolis in the Bunker. In the panic, no one had thought to copy it before evacuating the place, but Azula had examined it enough times to have a decent memory of the layout. She asked her small group of advisors for a bit of paper and something to write with. Crouching, she sketched out a crude map, filling out as much as she could recall. “Alright,” she said, looking it over. “The airport’s not exactly close, but from where we are, we can take a fairly direct path to it. Can anyone fly a plane, though?”

“I can,” Baroness volunteered.

“As can I,” Peggy nodded.

“We should see if anyone else can,” Azula said. “Just in case.” She didn’t need to expand on her reasoning. They all knew just how likely it was that there would be losses during the trip. “But it sounds like our best option.” She indicated where they were on her scrawled map, drawing her finger from that point to the airport. “The next problem is, the most direct path. It’ll be the fastest way to get there, but Alice’s team never made it out that way. We don’t know what’s waiting for us.”

“Perhaps we could take a better scouted route,” Peggy offered. “It would be slower, but we’d have the benefit of intelligence on our side.”

Balalaika shook her head. “A slower route would only give those monsters more time to catch up to us.”

“Perhaps,” Peggy conceded. “But a less direct route would also prevent them from predicting our destination. It would hardly matter if we kept them from nipping at our heels if we arrived to find the airport crawling with enemy forces.”

“It might be crawling with enemy forces regardless,” Baroness pointed out. She looked to Azula. “You’re in charge,” she said. She even managed to keep the condescending tone of her voice mostly at bay. “Ultimately, it’s your call.”