It’s harder going as they plunge into the thicker snows. Out in the open, exposed, they angle through the freezing wind that buffets at them, numbing exposed flesh and throwing snow into unprotected eyes. They have to shout to be heard over the gale as they angle through it, toward the dark storm-shrouded humps of the buildings ahead. Turning to fire back, Furiosa and perhaps Palmer will glimpse the creatures spreading out in pursuit. Some seem to split right, or left, but in a minute or two a pack of them reappear, clearly on the team’s trail. The bigger ones fire a few rounds at them, but Furiosa and Palmer’s fire isn’t wasted. One of the smaller ones tearing for them jerks back- it might be a trick of the snows, but for a moment there’s a white blur of light above it before the creature falls. There’s a bellow from the mist behind, and the others seem to pause…
Then the wind drops, just a little, and the team besides Harley has the chance to realize they’ve made it to the streets. Empty and dark as they are, the streets offer a little shelter, a little more cover from the pursuers out there. There are side streets and shortcuts they can duck through, overhangs that hide them from hunting eyes. The pack on their tail has fallen behind, and the creatures seem to have trouble finding their quarry again. Sometimes there’s a scrabble of claws on rooftops, a flump of dislodged snow. The whiff of a strange, bitter scent when the wind shifts. Sometimes there are guttural shouts from the streets nearby, or a deep howl from another direction, forcing the team to veer their course aside. They pass smashed windows, gutted shops, a family restaurant where scorch marks and a stink of burned flesh and plastic are the only testament to the lightsaber duel that took place there in the last hour.
It feels like hours more before there’s a tinge of color ahead. A warm glow that resolves itself into two of the boundary torches. They stand sentinel at either side of the street, their light dancing over the walls as the team staggers past them, harried but victorious. Or at least, safe, as is the droid they’ve rescued. The moment they pass the torches the wind drops to a sharp breeze, the snow ceases to be a blinding swirl and drifts tamely down around them. There are voices down the street, and a couple of startled refugees who eye them warily until it’s obvious they aren’t monsters themselves.
They’ve made it.
Although they haven’t seen Dia herself, for better or worse…
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Then the wind drops, just a little, and the team besides Harley has the chance to realize they’ve made it to the streets. Empty and dark as they are, the streets offer a little shelter, a little more cover from the pursuers out there. There are side streets and shortcuts they can duck through, overhangs that hide them from hunting eyes. The pack on their tail has fallen behind, and the creatures seem to have trouble finding their quarry again. Sometimes there’s a scrabble of claws on rooftops, a flump of dislodged snow. The whiff of a strange, bitter scent when the wind shifts. Sometimes there are guttural shouts from the streets nearby, or a deep howl from another direction, forcing the team to veer their course aside. They pass smashed windows, gutted shops, a family restaurant where scorch marks and a stink of burned flesh and plastic are the only testament to the lightsaber duel that took place there in the last hour.
It feels like hours more before there’s a tinge of color ahead. A warm glow that resolves itself into two of the boundary torches. They stand sentinel at either side of the street, their light dancing over the walls as the team staggers past them, harried but victorious. Or at least, safe, as is the droid they’ve rescued. The moment they pass the torches the wind drops to a sharp breeze, the snow ceases to be a blinding swirl and drifts tamely down around them. There are voices down the street, and a couple of startled refugees who eye them warily until it’s obvious they aren’t monsters themselves.
They’ve made it.
Although they haven’t seen Dia herself, for better or worse…