The banter between the two Helios agents reached Vivian's ears from a nearby drone as it ceased its firing protocol and left the still-twitching body of a soldier to bleed out. She watched from her hiding place, steeped in shadow, as the soldier reached out for her. He reached for help, but he would find none with her. What could she do except what she was doing? Her luminous, pale blue eyes stared out from the gloom, filled with tears and an expression of pain as she watched the life fade from him.
She saw the man, Tyler, clutch the child and chastise his compatriot for the violence that had ensued, and saw the Shadow, 57. She heard his reply and was struck sick to her stomach. 'Surrender', 'unintentional casualties', 'negotiate'. All words that came in too little and too late. Who was there left to negotiate with that was above the rank and file when they were all dead and slaughtered, like animals. As far as she knew, she was the only remaining, living member of some sort of rank, being in a sort of position of influence in the medical wing.
Her hands shook, clutching the handgun ever tighter. She wanted to bad to confront them. She burned to act. But to do so would be suicide. She only need to get to the exit and get the hell out of here, maybe hole up in an abandoned building and lay low for a while, maybe contact some fringe forces of the resistance in the mean time. Survival was all that mattered to her at that moment.
She moved with a fluidity and grace she didn't know she was capable of as she vaulted her cover and rounded a corner, away from the Helios operatives to circle around and reach an exit as quick as possible. Her spot of inky blackness followed her as she absorbed the ambient photons as she moved, filling her reserves to levels she wasn't even used to. Her veins burned with all this energy, and she felt as if at any moment she could just explode into light and heat, but she forged on, in her little spot of shade. The exit was close, and she would be free and safe if it weren't for one problem.
A whole retinue of drones guarded the exit.