"Can you throw us over?" Luke asked Eve without looking away from them. Eve nodded, not that he could see it. It didn't matter anyway. He knew she would obey.
Eve crouched and grabbed his legs, then hoisted him up and positioned her hands underneath his feet, holding him above her head. Luke was not unsettled, and he did not stumble or lose his balance.
She crouched, then leapt up, shoving him away from her and up, over the wire fence. Luke grabbed the top of the fence as he passed it, flipping his body around and slamming his back into the fence, thought the pain didn't bother him.
Eve turned to do the same for Michael, but he quickly shook his head.
"Um, no, I'm good. I'll just... go over myself," he said hurriedly, then he turned to regard the wall.
He began to climb up it, slowly, taking care to wedge his foot into each small gap before trusting it to hold his weight. Eve watched impassively for a while, then she hopped up and grab the fence, scaling it in a few seconds.
From the top, she looked down at Michael.
Luke waited impatiently, but she seemed to have no intention of helping him.
He sighed, then dropped down on the other side of the fence. As he landed, a shock of pain and protest ran through his body from the fall. When it reached his clenched fist, he remembered the object he had taken out back in the classroom. Unfortunately, he hadn't brought his backpack, though of course, Eve still carried hers, but he had no illusions about being able to use it.
She had her own stuff in there, and even if she didn't, she liked her backpack. It was a nice gentle crimson color, almost blending in with the liquid that coated her arms, face, and clothes, soaking everything red.
It was also, fortunately, waterproof, so no blood stuck to it. She had asked for that specifically.
Luke tucked the object into his pocket, then took out the crystal, turning it over in his hand and running his thumb over the flat planes as he walked over to join the other two figures.
It took nearly a minute for Michael to get up to Eve, and once he was in reach, she immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him up, then leapt down, toting him over her shoulders in a sloppy approximation of a fireman's carry.
The figures were two people, as Luke had seen, standing still and watching them. Unfortunately, Luke also recognized these figures.
"Took you long enough," Zoe said. Her arms were crossed, and she wrinkled her nose at Eve. Zoe didn't like Eve, because she had met her before she knew that it wasn't proper to ask to taste someone else's blood.
"You recovered her," Luke said to Kane.
He just nodded.
Zoe was scowling uselessly. Like a child. Unsurprising.
"I'm right here, you know," she said hotly, leaning forward. Her sword was sheathed at her side, and her hands were on her hips.
"Of course I know that," Luke said dismissively. "Well, how long should we wait?"
"Wait? For what?" Zoe said, nearly shouting. "Let's get out of here!"
"For other survivors, of course," Luke said shortly. He turned away from her, watching the gate.
That was partially because it was true, they were waiting for any other survivors. The other part was because he knew it would annoy her.
"There won't be anyone who survived past the first few minutes, most likely," Michael said. "The best thing we can do would be to get moving."
"Thank you!" Zoe huffed. "At least somebody here has some common sense! What good is waiting around to get killed?"
"We just might find someone who we need," Luke said calmly. Zoe wouldn't run off. She was far too anxious for that.
"We need as many people as we can find," Michael said, agreeing.
Luke nodded. Maybe he was right to pick him after all.
Luke would never admit to anyone that anything he did was spontaneous. Because the more people thought you knew, the more you would find out. And the more you found out, the better you could fake it.
Of course, he didn't have to. Because Luke did know something that no one else did.
And that something was a crucial piece of the puzzle.