The Altered.

Chapter XLVIII.

"Why are we helping them?" Miles asked. He was searching for his knife.

"Because they're people, Miles!" Lia snapped, all of her usual patience absent now.

After Eira had called for Aaron and Miles from the roof, the two had descended in a scramble, the desperation in her tone managing to distract Miles from his attempt at processing what wild stunt he had just pulled on the roof.

Outside, Angelina, Bates, and Spike were struggling to hold their own against four Altered. Aaron was moving like lightning, repeating over and over that if he'd been unable to save the girl earlier, he would definitely save the three Unaltered currently in danger before they found themselves gravely wounded.

Miles finally found his knife and raced for the escalator, where Percy and Lia were waiting impatiently for him. Eira and Aaron were already jumping through the library doorframe.

And then Miles was running, Percy and Lia racing behind him noisily down the clunky escalator. It was a difficult dance to avoid letting any of the shattered glass on the floor pierce the soles of his shoes as he launched himself outside, managing to very nearly slip on a puddle of rain dangerously close to the entrance. The rain had stopped for now, but Miles doubted it would last long.

As Miles ran, his mind felt a little foggy, head still in the clouds. The constant scuffling and yelling from wherever the fight was happening kept him moving, though, turning corners and following the sound. He'd never been both unaware and most aware of his surroundings all at once - he knew they were in incredible danger, in such clear sight, but he didn't care.

Miles rounded the corner and found himself staggering into a brutal scene of knives and flailing limbs and blood.

Everybody was up and alive, though, so that was a plus.

"Hurry the hell up!" screeched Eira to Miles as she helped her brother fend off an Altered.

Miles took that advice and lunged to the assistance - reluctantly - of Angelina. There were only four Altered currently present, but it was too dangerous to fight one alone as Angelina had been. All four of the Altered were adults, which made the whole thing a lot more frightening than it already was.

"I thought we weren't going to be allies," Angelina panted, spitting blood onto the pavement and wiping her mouth on her sleeve with a wince.

Miles didn't reply - he was too busy narrowly dodging a knife swung for his neck. The Altered fought like tireless beasts, always on the offence, hitting and hitting and hitting.

Percy and Lia joined the fight, separating almost at once to cover two different attackers. Angelina joined Miles back in, swinging a knife that looked more designed for some fantasy novel character than a street fight.

Angelina lifted her foot and Miles had hardly a second to scramble out of the way before she slammed her knee into their attacker's groin. It was hard to follow what Angelina was doing, for she moved too quickly, but as Miles was trying to catch up with her movements, blood spattered his face and the Altered crumpled into a heap on the ground.

"You killed him?" Miles gasped in a panic, the bile rising in his throat as he eyed the body, blood leaking from the neck of it.

"What else did you want me to do?" Angelina snapped, backing away from Miles to subtly drift in the direction of Bates and Spike.

When Miles glanced around to see what else was happening around him, he noted that the other three Altered were still alive and fighting. Lia and Eira were fighting one together, now, and Percy and Aaron were fighting an attacker each. Aaron somehow managed to remain graceful as he swung his bat over and over in every direction, trying not to let the Altered grab a hold of him or the weapon.