Would the babies give more Energy than the sacs did in the stairwell? After all, they were birthed already and crawling about. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Her body was falling apart, she had to be very nearly without blood. Her heartbeat felt faint, and the gurgling babies wouldn't stop staring at her. What if she ate them?

She looked down at the first one and shuddered from that intrusive thought. Its eyes searched her own as it sucked on its bloody thumb. The sucking sound reminded her of the Wretched Angel earlier with stripes, its lips fastened to her crushed nose, and she grimaced. She raised the rod, swaying on her feet. She held it as though she was fishing. She could plunge it into the little creature's tummy, and it would be over.

Do it... just kill it. Take the Energy. You're going to need so much to heal yourself. And it's going to turn into a Tarnished Angel anyways. It would just mean more enemies to fight later.

But still, her arm shook. The baby blinked back, completely unphased by the steel rod. It didn't have the empty eyes of the angels she'd fought already, and even though these things liked blood... no, she couldn't do it. They seemed much more alive and innocent. She'd wait. She'd wait for it to turn into a Tarnished Angel and then she'd shove the rod through their throats. Besides, that way, she'd get more Energy. Guilt-free.

Blood gushed from the gaping wound in her side. She tasted blood in her mouth, and it dribbled down her chin. She stepped around the kids, using the rod as a crude walking stick to rest her weight on. Her right foot was nearly useless. She couldn't put too much weight on it without her knee buckling, and it was irritating her despite the lack of pain. She had to hurry.

Two of the babies crawled after the bloody trail she was leaving in her wake. She scanned the bodies on the floor, trying to find Oliver or the girl or any of the others who'd been up there. It bothered her that they'd all been unconscious or nearly dead. What had the angels done to them?

Jenny inspected her surroundings. The tables of the physics lab weren't as large, and they didn't have sinks or ventilating stations. But the tables from the chem lab were strewn about. Some were nearly vertical, crushing things underneath their weight. Some upside down. But everything was covered in chunks of the ceiling and tons of dust. Bodies were crushed all around her, and between them, were more sacs. Each one glistened like a giant grape; most of them were torn open and flat.

She stepped over mangled bodies. Naked angels and clothed corpses alike. She stepped on fingers accidentally. Crushed limbs. She grimaced whenever something squished. She wondered if anyone was down here when the explosion collapsed everything. If anyone was hiding or dying here.

More babies joined the parade behind her, and she felt like a mother duck, hobbling, falling apart, and leading little blood-thirsty ducklings. Why were they so adamant about following her?

Her head felt heavy. Like it was about to roll off her shoulders any moment now. She almost wanted to remove her helmet and let her sweaty hair cool down, but if anything else fell from above, she didn't want her skull cracked open.

She knew her body couldn't take much more, but she couldn't turn off Severed Spirit without ensuring she could heal. Oliver or one of the others could make something. Or she just had to hurry up and find him and get back to the library. People there had Energy to spare. She focused on that thought, of getting back to Susan. Then she could figure out what to do next. She was sure that once she was back with her, it would be alright.

Even though she felt like a zombie, her cheeks still flushed with a strange warmth at the thought of Susan. Jenny licked her ruined gums wondering how her best friend would react to this messed-up body.

Feeling warmer and more alive, Jenny surveyed the exposed pipes, bodies, and rubble, squinting hard at everything, blinking dust from her eyelashes. She imagined other angels were on their way, attracted to all the noise of the explosion. And where was that Desecrated Angel? What was it doing? Was it stalking her through the dust-ridden gloom?

Then she heard coughing and froze, ready to fight. Something bumped into the back of her boots. Jenny whirled around, stumbling as she raised her shield, ready to plunge the rod into whatever it was.

But it was only one of the babies, touching her feet and staring up at her, drooling spittle, as though it wanted to be picked up.

She fought the urge to kick it away. There was another cough, and something shifted and clattered. A large chunk of cement jostled loose off a table and crashed to the floor, and the girl from before emerged through the cloud of rising dust. Fresh blood dripped from her knife. Dust caked her face and her ruined helmet.

The girl paused, her other hand resting on that chunk of cement, staring at Jenny. Her eyes went wide. She glanced down at the babies and then back at Jenny, as though putting 2 and 2 together.

But before Jenny could say anything, the girl lunged forward with a blood-curdling scream, kicking up loose rocks and debris in her wake.

Jenny blocked the knife with her shield. The impact drew up sparks, and she knocked the girl's arm away. She didn't attack with the rod, even though it would've been easy to jam it into the girl's exposed chest. Instead, she stepped back, shouting, "Wait!"

The girl wasn't listening. She yowled, a throaty angry cry, as she circled Jenny, not caring about the limbs crushed beneath her feet. Her armor looked a lot like a knight's, with layers of metal. But it was thinner and didn't clink and didn’t seem stiffly uncomfortable like traditional knight's armor. Her helmet was cracked and broken, and the dark gray metal of her suit was scuffed and crumpled in several places, but Jenny thought it still looked very badass.

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"Look," Jenny tried again, painfully aware of how stupid she sounded without enough front teeth. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I don't want to fight." Her words felt bubbly and too soft, consonants not forming properly, but she spoke slowly.

The girl spat and said something too, but just like Jenny's words, her voice seemed oddly shaped. A mixture of yowling and groaning, the syllables only somewhat recognizable. And as she spoke, her free hand went up, fingers forming shapes and patterns that Jenny recognized as American Sign Language. The girl was deaf.

Jenny lowered her shield in disbelief. A deaf girl had survived this long and was this strong? Though if Jenny hadn't arrived when she did, the girl would've been sacrificed for the cocoon. But still. Jenny had so many questions, wondering if the girl had a hearing aid. If her deafness was why Oliver was so protective of her. If she had a skill that would make up for it.

She dropped her rod. It clattered loudly on the rubble, and the babies crawled over to inspect it. Jenny didn't know ASL, but she knew the universal sign for I don't want to fight. She raised both hands, exposing her palms, showing the girl the missing fingers of her shield hand.

I'm not going to fight you, mouthed Jenny slowly, hoping the girl could read her lips.

It seemed to work. The girl lowered her knife, glancing at the rod and then back at Jenny. Her fingers moved in a fresh flurry of anger; the pointer thrust at Jenny as though accusing her of something.

But Jenny didn't care. She just wanted to pick the rod up and lean on it again. Slowly, she squatted down, wincing at how her insides gushed and splattered the floor with blood. That shut the girl up.

The girl made a new motion, slower this time and trying to voice her words. Each word was elongated, a guttural grunt between them. "Are... you... okay?"

Jenny shook her head, grimacing as her fingers curled around the rod. She thrust the end into the floor and pushed herself back to a standing position. The babies all gurgled excitedly at the new blood, and some of them began to lick the rubble. She almost told them off. It was dangerous for babies to lick random things, especially covered in dust and grime. But then she remembered what they were.

The girl was still trying to talk to her. "Why...are.. you..." she paused to take a breath, her hand curling in frustration. She pointed her fingers at her own eyes and then at Jenny's. "Tar...nished...Human."

A chill spread across Jenny's chest that had nothing to do with the sensation of cold. It was like her heart had turned to cement. Tarnished Human? She blinked several times, desperately trying to contact the Guidance System or Eve.

What the fuck? If she'd become a Tarnished Human... was she just like the angels? But how? Why?

Did severing herself from her body change... she had the sudden desire to check her eyes. The girl had pointed to her eyes. Had Jenny's become empty and white? Her heart pounded hard and fast, increasing the amount of blood flowing down her leg to the babies' delight.

But before Jenny could ruminate on that horrible thought more, the floor shook. Debris rattled. Sounds came from behind the girl, but she didn't notice. She stepped closer to Jenny, cautiously, her knife hand trembling. Three figures emerged behind her, each one of them hissing and rushing toward them.

Jenny raised the rod, wishing she had her hatchet. There was no time to worry about her status. The girl saw the shift in Jenny's stance and raised her arms in a defensive stance as Jenny hurled the rod like a lance, mimicking Vital Throw.

The girl yelped. The rod rushed past her side and caught one of the angels in the chest. The creature was knocked backward off its feet, screaming as the rod burst through its body.

It collapsed on its back, the rod keeping its body raised off the ground as it struggled uselessly, its dark green covering cracked open. It screeched, and the babies responded to the sound, screaming in unison.

The girl had turned to face the other two. She threw her knife at the nearest one. The blade plunged into the creature's throat. It dropped to its knees, trying to grab the handle and wrench it out. But the girl was already on the move. She rushed over the rubble, moving light as a feather, and golden light flashed midleap as she jumped toward the third angel. The knife reappeared in her hands. She brought the angel to the floor, its head cracking loudly as she stabbed it over and over, making mincemeat of its silvery covering as blood spurted out.

Jenny kicked off an angel baby that had been screaming and clinging to her leg. It landed on its butt, surprise on its pudgy little face, but she didn't care. She limped over and grabbed the rod, staring down at the Wretched Angel impaled on it.

It hissed faintly; its hands wrapped around the rod protruding from its chest. Yeah, she thought, stepping on its face, its teeth clacking uselessly against her heel. Try pulling yourself out of it. Then, using the rod to support her weight, she stomped down, and the creature’s face crunched underneath.

When she was satisfied it was dead, she yanked the rod out of its chest. The babies had followed her, and they got to work on the angel's corpse as though Jenny really was their mother and had led them to a meal. She watched in twisted horror as they chewed through the dark green covering and bit into flesh. They had teeth now, she realized. They were growing rapidly.

One crawled over to the crushed skull and began eating. The bones of the creature's face cracked and snapped between the baby's teeth. It slurped up brain matter, and that was all Jenny could bear to watch.

The other girl seemed repulsed as well. Her fingers formed words. She shook her head but didn't try to speak again. A sense of comradery had blossomed between Jenny and the girl now that they'd fought off angels together. And she even had a similar recalling skill for her weapon. Though Jenny couldn't help but wonder what the girl's other Skills might be since she was also a human (stage ii).

Then Jenny heard a shout. A clearly human shout, strained with desperation. "Help!"

Jenny perked up, trying to discern the direction it came from. It sounded like a boy, but she couldn't be sure if it was Oliver or not. The girl sensed Jenny had heard something, and she turned this way and that, probably assuming more enemies were approaching.

The babies wriggled. Another tried to crawl up Jenny's leg, but she shook it off. Then the shout came again.

"Is anyone there? Please, we need-"

It ended abruptly, like someone was in excruciating pain. But Jenny's hopes faltered. It wasn't Oliver. But the voice was full of desperation. Whoever they were, they needed serious help and were willing to risk drawing the attention of angels to do so.

Either that or angels were already upon them.