( closed ) the sewers strike back

[figureitout]

CHARACTERS: stiles & the skywalkers
DATE: idk some time after padmé's arrival
WARNINGS: the sewers, possible zombos, who knows
SUMMARY: Local Teenager Forced To Put Up With A Couple Disgustingly In Love, Would Like A Refund

[ it all came down to the scales. finding them in the sewers had been weird (and frankly alarming) enough, but after Anakin had shared his news about the hospital, the connection between the two places was clear as day. of course, they'd already known that "Dr. Percy" had been using the sewers, but this cleared all lingering doubts... as well as posed some new questions. what were the scales? how had they ended up in both the hospital and the sewers?

it seemed like another trip down the sewers was necessary. ]

Comments

[figureitout]

[ Anakin's words earn a short ha, ha from him, Padmé's smile an answering one, almost despite himself — it's impossible not to be charmed by her, really. for a while, the three travel in silence, until the sharp warning comes; for it's definitely a warning, acute and to be taken seriously.

he has no blaster to reach for, no weapon of any kind. instead, what he does is close his eyes, imagining a shield, pushing it out to cover them from all sides, to protect them from any attacks. he won't be able to maintain it for long, not like this... but perhaps that's just a testament to how much he trusts Anakin to be correct.

the next few minutes pass in more silence, all three as alert as can be — Stiles jumps when Padmé speaks, trying to crane his neck to see what she's talking about.

the instant he does, though, when the flashlight illuminates what's ahead of them, he wishes he hadn't. ]

Oh my god.

[ danger or no danger — he turns around, leans his hands on his knees, tries to breathe and stop breathing at once, the smell making his stomach turn. he has to swallow back the bile in his throat; his eyes remain open, because he knows if he closes them, all he'll see are bodies, countless of bodies, distorted, pieces of them missing, bite-marks all over. ]

[apoptotic]

[ anakin's mouth settles into a grim line. the furrow of his brow grows more pronounced. he traces the light slowly over their macabre finding. it only shines that which the force has already told him: they're dead.

he looks over his shoulder, eyes taking in stiles' state and padmé's horror. he shouldn't have brought either, but it's too late now and neither would have listened. the reasoning does nothing to make him feel better. ]

Stay with him — [ stay here is what he implores, but he couches it in a request that will make it more likely she will listen. anakin tips his chin in stiles' direction. ] I'll be right back.

[ anakin holsters the gun and removes his lightsaber instead. the weight of it is a familiar comfort. these are all dead, but the marks he can see prove that the living were here too. anakin approaches with caution, one arm thrown over the bottom half of his face, his nose buried in the crook of his elbow. his eyes want to tear from the smell. even with years of training, his stomach threatens to turn.

he crouches by one who bore no signs of infection. perhaps he had been in the early stages; maybe he was never infected. either option is horrifying for their implication: they were killed. this, none of this, is natural. the bodies are organized in piles with more stretching away into the darkness. the ill sensation in the force only gets worse as he comes closer and closer to the realization that the infected could not do this. they lack the capacity.

anakin hears her footsteps, but he does not rise nor turn until after he feels her hand on his shoulder. ]

Percy. [ his voice is low and black as the tunnels. it rumbles from within him born of an older indignation, a blacker rage. ] Percy had to have done this.