Frank was gasping for air as he was trying to keep up with the drone. It had been over a day since the drone had led him and the girls to the shelter they had been staying in, and the drone had made multiple disappearances in that time. Frank hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the stranger who had saved them, but over the course of the last day he surmised that the man and the odd drone had been travelling together for quite some time. The girls were happy to have a safe place to stay, and Frank could tell that the rest had done them well.

Frank was even happier that there was a functional kitchen, and he was able to feed his granddaughters some warm food after weeks of dried grains and meats. Frank had been taking what he’d surmised was a well-deserved nap when the drone came flying in a couple hours ago, asking for assistance. Well, asking was probably too strong of a word.

The drone threatened to report him as unlicensed personnel using the kitchen, and while Frank wasn’t sure if that was actually a criminal violation he didn’t want to push his luck. They’d made it this far – if the stranger and his drone were part of the Central Authority Frank didn’t want to hurt their odds in Nierburg because of something like this.

So, he found himself chasing the small drone all the way across the city until they reached a train yard. The entire crane structure had twisted and toppled over, and it looked like a shipping container had smashed into one of the other small structures, completely burying it. The sight of the destroyed equipment was hard to see. He’d spent years in his youth working loading and unloading containers in ship yards and knew how important this kind of infrastructure was.

Even for a town like this that was relatively close to larger cities, he knew the impact of having direct shipping couldn’t be understated. The dirty white drone had stopped moving, floating motionlessly in place past a fallen container.

“My metallic friend, I see a lot of scrap here but all of it’s too heavy for an old man like me to move. If your friend is here, he’s…” Frank’s voice trailed off as he took in the view behind the container. He saw the scattered and crushed bodies of over a dozen of the beetles scattered across the ground, and not too far away he saw the motionless body of the young man he’d seen before. He was lying in a pool of dark fluid, and as Frank ran toward his side he saw it was a mix of both blood and ichor from the destroyed remains of an insect that was nearby.

The drone floated alongside him, and wasted no time giving instructions.

[DR. MAYHEW’S MANA SIGNATURES ARE FLUCTUATING BUT VITALS APPEAR STABLE ENOUGH. SCANS DO NOT INDICATE SPINAL TRAUMA. INTERNAL BLEEDING IS STILL POSSIBLE, ANOMOLIES PRESENT THROUGHOUT THE BODY. ASSESMENT – SAFE FOR TRANSPORT.]

C.H.A.D.D. floated expectantly near the body, waiting for a response. Frank coughed, uncomfortable at the response.

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“Robot, I don’t know what you’re expecting from me, but there’s no way I can carry him all the way back. I’m exhausted from making it this far. I’ll do what I can – I’m thankful to both of you – but we need to be realistic here.”

[THAT WON’T BE AN ISSUE, YOU HAVE ASSISTANCE.]

Frank was about to comment that the small drone hardly counted as assistance, but before he could it floated over to some nearby rubble. A very sheepish looking Arianna and a happily smiling Amalia stepped out from behind the fallen scaffolding they were hiding behind.

“Arianna, what are you two doing out here?” Frank admonished, worry clear in his voice.

“I asked you to stay back, it could be dangerous out here.” Fierce brown eyes met his as she responded.

“It’s dangerous everywhere, Grandpa. We’ve already lost too much. We’re not going to sit back and lose you too.” Her determination took Frank off guard, and he found his eyes misting, not finding the words to respond. He smiled at his granddaughter, pride welling in his chest at the impressive young woman she was becoming. Frank lifted the young man, startled by the condition of his dry, cracked skin. It almost felt like it was flaking away, and he adjusted the man’s arm over his shoulder, Arianna taking his other arm in a similar fashion.

He was a mess. If it weren’t for the gentle breathing telling them he was alive, he wouldn’t have believed it. It was slow going, but they made it back to the shelter before sundown and without incident. Amalia, not wanting to be left out, was happily chatting away with C.H.A.D.D. who obliged, answering the endless questions coming from the young mind. When they’d gotten back, Amalia sprang into action, having asked C.H.A.D.D. how she could help.

She got cool water and gently poured it into his mouth on a regular rotation, while Arianna and Frank took some old but relatively clean rags to wipe the blood, grime, and ash off of him. Cleaned and more hydrated, they settled him into the makeshift bed in the corner.

With nothing else left to do, Frank took his Escrima sticks out and began to work through flow drills, practicing the motions he’d been training since he was a little boy. The flow of the weapon movements put him at ease, and his granddaughters watched as they had so often over the past several months. An hour later, he took a break and passed the sticks off to Arianna as he walked her through the techniques and the flowing movements, just like his father had done for him.

Amalia watched with excitement as she always did, though she had no interest in learning the martial art. He watched with pride as Arianna continued to work on the motions, but found himself troubled as he thought about the next steps. The young man who had saved them was back, but still unconscious. Even more troubling, if there were more swarms like the one that had been killed at the train yard, he didn’t hold much hope for them being able to make it to Nierburg safely.

That left him with two choices, each with their own problems. He could either leave and risk the beetles, or stay and be at the mercy of a random awakened. While he was incredibly thankful for the help, this Kyle Mayhew was also the devil he didn’t know.

All Frank really knew about him was that he had enough power to handle an army of mutated insects, and power like that was either connected to the Central Authority or in opposition to it. Given the condition of the ramshackle shelter, Frank had to assume the latter. His contemplation was broken by a rustling sound from the corner – and then the young man started screaming.