The moment Austin stepped outside, he felt it đ No, he sensed it, is more accurate: A cold presence that was definitely coming from the Oakhouse. It was familiar, as well; so much so, that Austin knew it belonged to that Scarleteye girl, but the sheer pressure of the the presence was much too unfamiliarly great that Austin had a sickening gut-feeling that she wasn't alone, and, that whoever was with her, held an even greater presence than she did. And the fact that he could sense and single out the girl's presence scared the crap out of him.
"Hey, Aaroon? Can you⊠feel that?" Austin asked, perplexed. He couldn't have been the only one to feel such a massive presence, could he?
"You mean the pressure? The cold?" Aaroon asked. "I'd have to be blind not to, Newbie."
"It's scary," Zether observed out loud. "Like really scary."
"Well, not all of us can feel it," Atlanna pointed to the few Meadowers who couldn't, excluding herself and Cleo, who evidently could, based on the sweat dripping down the side of their faces. There were at least 8 or 9 who didn't seem to have a clue as of what everyone else was feeling.
"Um, why?" Austin asked, confused.
"Honestly, I don't know, bro," Zether answered with a shrug. "Maybe it's because they don't have a special ability?"
Austin made an attempt to think about that, but a screech caught everyone's attention and when they turned in the direction of the abrupt noise, what they saw were a large group of Scavengers - may 50, give or take - heading sluggishly, but steadily, towards them, almost full charge - Or as 'full-charge' zombie-like cannibals could go given how sluggish their movements are, which was surprising swift.
"Looks like we ain't got the time ter be thinkin' this over as is," Aaroon hefted his weapon, urging everyone else to do the same. "We'll charge n' then when we win here, we'll think of what to do next. Got it, y'all."
"Right," agreed Austin.
"Yeah," shouted Atlanna and Cleo.
"Let's get this over with," chimed Zackery.
Following Aaroon into battle, full-charge forward, Austin and the rest of his friends ran towards the Oakhouse, weapons drawn, clashing with the cannibals that stood in their way. As Austin charged, his body pain became somewhat bearable - liveable, even - for the moment. He drew his crossbow, loading an arrow, aiming it at the nearest armed Scavenger. Exhaling, Austin fired, and, with a THUNK, an arrow found its way through the machine gun-wielding Scavenger.
Releasing a second arrow into another Scavenger's chest just as the first one fell, Austin heard a THUNK right before he leaped, pulling out his hunting knife and crash landing into the chest of said Scavenger, planning the arrow deeper into its chest, before getting off of it and chucking his hunting knife into the head of another cannibal.
As Austin retrieved his hunter's knife, he saw that everyone else had their own battles going on. Zach, though still pretty badly beaten up, was fighting alongside Atlanna, against 3 Scavengers. Every time one brought a Scavenger down, the other finished it with their wooden spears or a large chunk of stone. Cleo and Zether were the sibling powerhouse of the field; they fought in such sync, no Scavenger that was in their way stood a chance. Zether would tackle one down with surprising ease, and then Cleo would use her knife to stab it dead. Aaroon was perhaps the most interesting; he'd taunt them until they got angry before ending them with his spear he held in one hand or the arrow he held in the other.
From his peripheral, Austin saw 4 other Scavengers heading for Zether and Cleo, and his own body moved on its own. He tackled one, stabbing an arrow to its eye repeatedly before chucking said arrow through the leg of another, making it howl in pain as it staggered backwards. Austin kneed another in it's back, the sound of bones breaking sharp as he leaped to the one he chucked the arrow through it's leg and stabbed his dagger though it's heart.
Zether and Cleo handled the last 2 by tackling one, and Cleo stabbing another to death as Zether used his huge stone and beat the thing's face in. "Zether! Cleo!" Austin cried. "Go to the Oakhouse and heal our friends there."
"But Austin-," Cleo protested.
"I'll be fine," Austin said, slicing through the leg of another Scavenger. "I'm right behind you. Reya and the others are gonna need you." Austin ordered. "GO!"
"Come, sis, we're needed inside," Zether grabbed his sister's hand, pulling her to run with her. "He'll be right behind us."
But, as they fled inside, Austin began to follow when 3 Scavengers tackled him. Struggling to get them off of him, trying to get up, the Scavengers clawed at his face and legs and his injuries. Suddenly, multiple gunshots were sounded and then the cannibals stopped moving, suddenly dead. When Austin finally got free, he saw Zackery's smoking gun lowering in the boy's hand, as Aaroon helped him to his feet.
"Go." Zackery said. "We got this."
With a quick look around, Austin nodded and rushed off towards the Oakhouse, full-sprint after Cleo and Zether, towards the cold pressure that radiated itself from the treehouse. A few Savages had tried to get in his way, but Austin threw daggers with such pinpoint accuracy they were dead on the ground before he even ran up to them.