The New Zodiac: Arisen Anew

Chapter 31: We learn rock-parkour

(Hey, Meg here. Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter, but them's the breaks. Let's keep this moving.)

The bus driver drops us off at a bend in the road, and we file off one by one.
"The lab's up this road. It's got some pretty tight security though, which is why I couldn't drop you off further up," he explains, starting up the bus again, waving at us before turning around and driving off. I turn around and face the road ahead, watching it wind up a cliff until a security gate blocks the way, manned by guards. Beyond it, perched on the top of a cliff, sits the hulking figure of the BIO-CORP lab, its white walls illuminated by the light of the moon. Unseen waves pound against the base of the cliff.
"There's no way we'll be able to just walk straight in," Arus points out, frowning.
"Pretty sure that was obvious," I reply, examining the surroundings. "We'll need to come at it another way."
Serena pauses for a moment, then walks towards the very edge of the road.
"I can't quite see it clearly, but I'm pretty sure there's a beach nearby. We could walk along there until we hit the cliff, then scale it. Flint, Terran and I could make some handholds or something."
I consider this for a moment, then turn to the others, shrugging. 
"It's the best bet we've got at the moment." 

We find a path and walk down to the beach, the bushes lining the path scratching at our arms. The dirt beneath our feet slowly turns to sand, and the path widens, spilling out into a long stretch of coastline, waves pounding against the sand. We turn right and trudge towards the base of the cliff, the sand filling our shoes and slowing our pace.
"I hate sand," Tori mutters. "It always gets into places it shouldn't."
"Hey, focus," I say. "We've got bigger problems here. Focus on getting the others back."
Tori nods and keeps walking, muttering occasionally. The waves grow closer and closer, soon lapping at our ankles as we walk. The beach seems to stretch on forever, the base of the cliff inching closer ever so slowly. The moon grows high in the sky and slowly begins its descent as we grow closer to the edge of the cliff, before Flint stops in his tracks. A collection of sharp, jagged-looking rocks blocks our path, reaching all the way to where the BIO-CORP lab sits. Any hope of reaching the lab slowly dwindles away, until Terran strides forward and thrusts his hands out. Slowly and shakily, one of the boulders moves from where it sits and floats over to the edge of the water. Terran drops it and goes to lift another one, but Serena places a hand on his arm.
"It'll take hours to move all those. Save your strength for the cliff." 
He nods and steps onto the first rock, wobbling a little, then continues onwards, picking his way across. The rest of us follow him, crossing the first stretch of boulders on unsteady legs. The tide creeps inwards, covering some of the boulders, but I grit my teeth and outstretch my arms, pushing it back. Arus does the same, and we keep going, slowly and carefully. Some of the rocks are slippery and covered with algae and seaweed, while others are pockmarked and unstable, leading to me almost spraining my ankle a few times. About halfway across the rocks, Flint slips on a particularly green one, careening into me. I fall forwards, quickly stepping onto another rock to regain my balance, but lose focus in the process, and the tide creeps slowly forward. I curse and concentrate, pouring my will into keeping the water back. It recedes, and I sigh, stepping onto another rock and picking my way across.

A pink tinge creeps onto the horizon as we finally stand at the base of the cliff. Flint cranes his neck upwards, examining the sides, then turns to Terran and Serena. They whisper amongst themselves for a minute or so, before Flint turns back to us.
"Okay, listen up. There's a fair amount of handholds in the cliff further up, so we're going to try stack up some of the rocks to get started. Don't move or say anything, or you might get squashed. Okay?"
We all nod and step back. Flint, Serena and Terran stand side by side, then slowly begin to raise their arms in unison. A faint glow surrounds them, and the rocks around us begin to float forwards, slowly creating a pile that reaches halfway up the cliff. The trio make a pulling motion with their hands, and a large mound of sand detaches itself from the beach beside us and floats upwards, filling in the gaps and compacting the entire structure together. The last of the sand falls into place, and the trio drop their arms. 
"That was amazing," Tori breathes, here face awestruck. Flint acknowledges her comment with a nod and begins climbing, picking his way up the structure. The rest of us follow cautiously, making our way up with the same careful pace that we did on the rock structure. A quarter of the way up, Arus's foot dislodges a clump of sand, causing it to rain down on the heads of those below. 
"Watch where you're putting your feet!" I growl, scraping the sand out of my hair. He shrugs apologetically and keeps climbing. I grit my teeth and follow, eager to leave this journey behind.