Dealix shuffled past the room. Chandra, on the other side of the door, pounded her fist up against the window. However, the banging was unnoticed by the sleepwalking Dealix.

"Dealix! - Dealix!, " Chandra cried out. Meir gets up from the bed to aid her.

"I'll help you out." he tries to gather Dealix's attention by pounding on the walls near them, leading to empty rooms, as he slowly shifts away.

Chandra knew she had to act quickly. Something about his movements and the way things have been, makes her feel uneasy.

She goes prone on the floor, sliding her backpack out from under the bed - zips it open, and rummages through it.

Grabbing anything that could potentially help in this situation.

Meir, having to continue as Chandra looks through her belongings, glimpses at Dealix going down a hallway, turning right.

"Better hurry. Your buddy just left our sights. " he points with his thumb out the window in the general location with an alarming expression, sensing that their time is limited.

"Thanks for the heads up." She gets back up, grabbing what she needs from the bag.

"It's a good thing I stashed this."

"What is that...?"

"Don't worry about it." Chandra smiles at Meir, then smashes the tool she got from the hospital up against the window, but nothing.

She does it once more - nothing again. She inhales deeply, then gives it everything she's got.

The window breaks with a crash, pieces of glass shatter to the ground. Causing enough ruckus to startle nearby walkers, the muffling of voices speaks to another unintelligible voice.

They both look at the bedroom wall where the voices can be heard from. Meir reacts quickly -

He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his thin arm, placing it through the window.

"I got the handle!"

Chandra turns around to a shirtless Meir. The pattern on his back resembles that of a moon.

"What's that..?" She asks, and Meir pulls up on the handle.

Making the door swing open from the weight, Meir tumbles with it, hitting a neighboring room.

Chandra compresses a laugh, knowing it's not the time. Her goal is to find Dealix. She grabs Meir, yanking him up on his feet.

"Let's go." She says, running in the direction Meir pointed.

"Down the hall!" He shouts before they miss it.

Their shoes skid, echoing throughout the corridors, faint voices stir in the distance. Chandra and Meir stumble into the wall, and without hesitation, they continue their prowl.

"I think he went this way..-"

"Before you go, we can't get caught by ~anyone~." Saying it with an emphasis, grabbing Meier's arm before they both dart into the hallway.

They both nod and continue. They run until Chandra stops, thinking about how much noise they're causing. It's drowning out his footsteps, along with drawing people closer to them at the same time.

"What is it..?" Mier asks, as he halts, expressing his concern.

"We're drowning out his footsteps by running like this..plus we should have caught up to him at this point."

"You're right, plus..this is all in your head anyways..." Mier's expression changes to a lifeless gaze, his stance mirroring the mannerisms.

"What?" Leaving Chandra puzzled for a moment before Meir's skin starts to slowly peel off, floating away like a piece of ash.

Her heart shakes, her stomach is slowly tightening.

"You're infected too.." Meir's voice changes from his original to a chappy, distorted, garbled tone.

"What- What do you -" taking steps backward, her tongue tripping on itself, as she hits the wall behind her.

"Chandra!" Meir yells. Pulling Chandra back into focus, reality slingshotting back to her.

Meir, down the hallway, tells her to hurry with exaggerated gestures.

"I've found him! it's not good!"

Chandra feels her legs come back. The moment they do, she bolts to Meir, turns the corner, and Dealix is hitting his head against a patient's room window.

The faint voices creeping their way towards them.

"Whao, whao, whao!" Chandra repeats, Meir just standing there not knowing what to do in this certain situation.

Chandra hurries to Dealix to stop him, grabbing him with a yank -

"Stop!" She tries to speak quietly. The force of his determination doesn't go unnoticed by Chandra, barely keeping him from hitting his head against the cracked bloodied window.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Meir slowly walks over and takes a peek inside the stained glass window, squinting his vision to see what could be the determination to get in.

"Stop~!" She says again, Dealix's hazed eyes roll back into his head. Chandra pretends not to notice and tries to keep focus on stopping Dealix from making his brain into minced meat.

"Will-you-cut-it-out-...Already!" Chandra snaps, grabs him tight, then trips him. Both of them tumble down, and Meir turns his head from looking at the window.

Squeaking of distant boots breach their eardrums, signaling that they'll have company in a manner of moments.

"Alrighty then," he simply states, not bothering to help. Then he goes back to looking, and he finally sees something that could potentially be a reason for this.

"Not to bother you from your work there, but we might have company soon." He looks back seeing them wrestle.

"Oh? Well, that's nice - to know!" She struggles to say while keeping Dealix stationary.

Mier looks back inside the room, placing his hands on the window. "Yeah, there’s a boy in here with a patient, one doesn't look like a patient, and...it looks like he's escaping through a makeshift hole they made. Mier tries to say informatively.

"Well shit, that- is good to know - but... Can you help me?!"

"Oh, I thought you were handling it quite well. "

"Gee, thanks." she replies," Mier holds Dealix's arms and legs, stopping any future struggle from happening. Chandra takes this moment to get on top for more strength, keeping him down.

"Alright, buddy, you need to wake up!" Chandra says, slight urgency piquing her face, charging up a swift slap to the face. It cracks against his face, making it echo through the corridors.

The sound of the echo ringing in Dealix's ears, waking him up, he jumps up, knocking Chandra onto Mier. Grunting as they hit each other.

"Where am I?!" Dealix panics, looking around. Shifting his legs, noticing some weight.

"Chandra...? - Stranger...?" He says, confused but relieved he's with someone he knows. They look up from the bundled mess, both relieved as well. While informing him of what happened.

"I smacked my He-?" Before he finishes, he groans, placing his hand on his forehead, flinching his hand away as he touches the damaged area.

"Yeah.. you're bleeding pretty bad too, let me take care of that," Meir says, shuffling into his bag, quickly grabbing some gauze along with a med kit he magically pulled from his bag.

"Sense when..?" Chandra questions him, and he applies it to Dealix.

"A while ago, when you were daydreaming" he gives a short answer as there is little time to explain, hearing the squeak become gradually louder.

"Well, I wasn't daydreaming. It was more of a...daymare..?" She tries to explain, but Mier puts his hand up, stopping the explanation, and finishes up the first aid.

"Yeah, okay. You do that, " Chandra snarls at him, pulling herself up to shake off.

"And so I will," he grabs a blade from the kit, Cutting the bandage and putting a clip to neatly finish the task.

Chandra walks over to the window again, feeling the cracks with her fingertips. Examining it further, his blood in a darkened pallet. She rubs it between her finger and thumb, zoning out the approaching guards.

"Almost like earlier today.." Chandra murmurs to herself, the voice's making her bring up a hand to the handle and giving it a good yank.

"Figures nothing would happen." her voice rippled with urgency.

"Here.. let me do it" Dealix wraps his hand with his shirt. Giving it a few more punches before it finally breaks into the room. He brings his hand back and unwraps it, feeling a pluck of pain.

Mier takes over quickly and puts his thin arm into the window seal, unlocking the door. Then he takes a step back as it creeps open.

A clear echo of stampeding footsteps accompanying shouts shatters the group, leaving them with little room to breathe.

They bolt into the room, Mier shuffling everything back into his bag, as the resounding footsteps gradually get closer, he gets up and meets the two in the hole the boy and the other patient made.

“Hey!” a shout rifts through the corridor, their pursuers in sight.

Mier enters the room, closing it off with anything he can.

The footsteps are coming closer and more rapidly.

He tussles some more, and then Dealix rushes him, making him give up and continue to run down the makeshift hole.

they enter an opening outside, similar footprints echoed across the opening leading off the Towers facilities.

"This way!" A voice behind them makes it through, bringing an eagerness to get out of there. Following the tracks - Dealix doing his best to cover up what he could to save them time.

He halts his attempts, scurrying to catch up with the others, Dealix catches up with them, they sprint to any type of safety they could manage, losing the previous pair of tracks.

"These guys know - know how to." Chandra gasped for air as they stopped in a denser part of the forest within a few miles from the Tower.

"Yeah -" She stops, using any strength left to pull herself up into a tree to rest. The group does the same, finding spots to hide. Just in case the guards didn't stop pursuing.

"We- might have to spend the night here.." Dealix speaks up, making the realization hit the group.

"Then we must," Mier says. Lifting his legs, finding a nice cubby hole to sleep in, passing out quickly. Leaving the two alone as they lay awake, their hearts still racing from earlier.

-

"Do you recall anything?" Chandra speaks up between the ambiance of nature and the awkward silence between them.

"No.."

"Not even when we were on the carrier..?"

"I do remember that.." He chuckles softly.

"How was the weed..?" Chandra says in a joking inquiry.

"It was..okay," he jokes back with her, making a gesture with his hand as if they could see it.

"Okay!?" She says aloud but catches herself. Looking at the sleeping Mier. Stuffed into a cubby hole of a tree.

"I wonder what his story is." Chandra wonders.

"Yeah, he seems like a strange - but nice guy."

"He's definitely different.." They continue the conversation, subconsciously taking in a whiff of rain.

Dark hidden clouds roll in, floating above them. Ready to pour down on the group.

"What do you remember..?"

"Well. I remember passing out because of the weed.."

"Ahuh..?" She says smirkingly.

"Then waking up in a hospital-like bed...I had these..tubes connected to me," Dealix tries to explain, but the memory is still fuzzy.

"They were doing tests on you.." she speculates, remembering the first conversation she and Sam had.

"Think you might be right about that - I vaguely remember them taking a blood sample with a needle, I don't like needles very much so I must've passed out"

"Neither do I." They make a connection between the conversation. Getting closer to becoming actual friends.

Clouds build up, emerging a larger portion of the skies. However, keeping a stationary watch over the group as it collects into larger clouds. Slowly blocking the moon above.

"Alright. I'm going to head to bed..best you should do the same," Chandra says, switching over to her side, still keeping an eye out. Just in case Dealix "sleepwalks" again. The image of his face flashes within her mind.

Giving Goose-flesh at the nape of the neck, fading as quickly as it came. Having her stomach unsettled, keeping her up while Dealix drifted off to sleep himself. Turning away from Chandra.

Her eyes slowly close as exhaustion catches up to her.