After several minutes had passed, and you found yourselves pushing forward ever so slightly, Ben swung back around and started setting up tripwires and snares to slow the horde down.

That gave you all some more room to breathe, and things got a lot easier when the man himself joined you on the ground, with shield and plasma pistol in hand.

“Did ya miss me?” Ben asked before throwing the shield into the face of an approaching zombie.

It ricocheted into the heads of several more before Ben reeled it back in with a webline. He was surprisingly good at using that thing.

“Of course. We've been needing a vanguard.” you said with a smirk.

Louise put away her transforming weapon, replaced it with the Atlantean steel sword and slashed out with it so fast that her form blurred. She repeated the arcing slash, carving through a row of zombies each time. This unfortunately did nothing to stop the next row of zombies from coming at her, but she was quick enough to get out of the way in time for Ben to intercept them with a wide sweep from his shield.

Whichever ones he didn't kill from blunt trauma, Ana would step in to finish them with a precise stab from her spear. Your arms never stopped moving as you leaned into your training and allowed Mercy to watch your back. You've never worked with a partner this closely before, but you were starting to realize that this was something you never knew you needed. It was like an instant early warning signal.

Whichever part of you the enemy was aiming at, would vibrate as per Mercy’s command, giving you enough time to properly react to it. Was this how Ben felt all the time?

“Gimme some room!” Deadhead demanded, stepping forward to mow this horde straight down the middle.

Taking the cue, you and Louise took to one side, while Ben and Ana took to the other. For a short while, you and your partner were nothing more than a blur of flashing steel, white hair and black fabric. There wasn’t a thing, dead or alive, that could get close enough to touch you without being eviscerated in short order.

Every now and again, Louise would give you some room to release more foxfire, but you were starting to get comfortable enough to the point where you could disperse the ghostly material by flicking your tails at them.

“Fall back! Fall back!” Shaggy called out, having jumped down from his place on Mekara’s shoulder at some point. James was standing beside him, wildly swinging his claws at anything that managed to get past you guys.

They were both standing by a swirling blue portal. Shaggy's work. You didn’t know where it led, but you trusted Shaggy enough to take his advice.

“Everyone! Fall back!” you supported.

(Cont.)