Tightness starts to build in Sira's chest and their fingers clench around whatever they're grasping in the broken pieces of shelving they're situated on top of it. Hot pain from over-exerting their limbs radiates through them. Their head, once again, feels like it's on the verge of splitting open. They don't want to be here. They just want to be someplace safe, where they can lie down and rest, eat, and drink.

Mixed in with weakness that tugs at the edge of their consciousness and how these people that they first thought were coming to the rescue are instead gawking at them and talking about them as if they aren’t here, the fear inside of them sinks downward in favor of irritation bubbling up in their throat. The mental block keeping them from speaking finally releases some of its hold on them.

“What are you talking about?”

The trio all jerk in surprise, despite the neglected state of Sira’s throat making it come out as a pitiful rasp more than a fed-up demand for information. Mikael’s grip tightens on his gun slightly, but he doesn’t move to raise it.

Sira shuts up again, immediately thinking they’ve done something out of turn.

“You’re not wearing a mask,” the woman says, matter-of-factly.

The answer is so nebulous and unhelpful that Sira almost chokes. “Wh...what?”

All of the trio look at each other before looking back at them with wide eyes, like they’re some kind of freakshow. Sira curls in on themselves as means of protection from the sense of shame and embarrassment creeping up on them, but they’re still not sure what exactly they’re feeling shameful or embarrassed about.

“...did you crawl out from under a rock or something?” Lionel is the first to speak again, making broad, sweeping gestures to the area around them. “Breathing in this much mist? You should’ve become one of the monsters like, yesterday.”

“This can’t be because of a delayed onset, correct?” The woman asks him.

“That’s only if you inhale a tiny bit of the mist. It directly correlates with how much you inhale, so like you said–” He points at Sira with his thumb. “–this is supposed to be impossible.”

Gaining back more of their ability to move, Sira reaches a shaking hand up to clutch their head as a wave of nausea comes over them and their thoughts start to twist into a whirlwind. This is too much. Those things used to be people? That’s what the mist is?

"You know what guys," the woman says, raising a hand, "I'm officially saying that we'll figure it out later, and not while we're out in the middle of nowhere."

Sira drops their hand and stiffens as the woman moves to approach her. Her posture becomes more relaxed, non-threatening, though they can tell it's somewhat forced. Much like Lionel did, they crouch down in front of them, getting to their level. As confused and scared as Sira is, something about the way she carries herself seems solid. Real. It snaps some of their thoughts back into a place that resembles coherence, though it isn't fully there yet.

“Listen, you must be pretty freaked out right now, but you’re gonna be okay. We’re not here to hurt you, we’re here to help. This is just...new to us.” She places a hand over her chest. “My name is Rani, what’s yours?”

Her attempt at being cordial is forced, yes, but not out of deception. No, it seems more like trying to hide her discomfort for the sake of the situation they’re in, a practiced habit. At the very least, Sira wants to think the offer of help is an earnest one. It has to be. What else can they do? Where else can they go?

Their throat is tight, but they push the words out: “...Sira. I think.”

“You think?”

"I-I can't remember much, is the thing."

The gentle look in Rani’s eyes turns to concern. “What do you mean?”

They tuck their knees to their chest and timidly gaze at the floor. Aside from mostly being a blur, the events of the past few hours are too much for them to summarize. Especially not when they still struggle to think clearly. “I…it’s a lot to explain. I don’t really know how I got here, or what’s happened, or…who I am.”

“Well, shit.” Lionel clicks his tongue. “That can’t be good.”

Mikael remains silent. Sira avoids looking his way, but they still feel the intensity of his suspicious gaze, watching them like a hawk. They avoid affording him any visible acknowledgment of it. As far as they’re concerned, they have nothing to hide, but it still makes their skin crawl.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Maybe it's temporary and it'll come back to you. Like I said, we'll sort out the details later." Sira can't tell due to the mask over her face, but the way Rani's eyes wrinkle makes them think she's smiling beneath it. "You look like you're in pretty rough shape, so how about we work on getting you somewhere safe first?"

She extends her hand. Sira meets her eyes again.

Somewhere safe.

This is what they came here for, isn’t it? The city seemed abandoned at first, aside from the monsters, but it turns out there are still people around. These particular people did point a gun in their face, or at least one of them did, but the same one also saved their life. The longer time goes on, the more it feels like their body is going to give out on them, and now they’re being outright offered to be taken someplace safe.

They assume that means away from the monsters, perhaps even away from the fog, regardless of its apparent lack of effect on them. They assume it means food, water, and a place to properly lie down and rest. There's a small chance that isn't the case, but Sira doesn't think they have much of a choice, or much to lose.

With a hard swallow, Sira places their bare hand in Rani’s gloved one. She tugs them upward to help them to their feet, but the tremble still in their limbs and the unstable collection of debris beneath their feet makes them stumble and almost fall. She catches them, grasping their shoulders tightly and holding them steady.

“Sorry,” Sira stammers out, heat rising in their cheeks.

“It’s alright.” Rani releases their shoulders and takes a careful step back to give them space, but she keeps her arms extended like she expects Sira to topple over. “Are you able to walk on your own?”

“I th-think so.”

It’s partially a lie. They did manage getting this far, even outrunning the monsters, which they aren’t sure how they accomplished outside of a pure flight response. They would rather not have to walk for much longer, but the thought of one of them carrying or physically supporting them makes them internally cringe.

“The outpost is just a little ways away. If you start feeling faint or like you can’t make it, then one of us will help you, okay?” She turns back to the two men. “Lionel, between me and Sira. Mikael, take up the rear.”

Mikael hasn't taken his eye off Sira throughout the exchange with Rani. Sira continues to avoid outwardly noticing it. "I don't like this."

“Tough. If something happens, you’re capable of handling it, aren’t you?”

Sira folds their arms around themselves, shoulders curling inward as they drop their eyes to the ground again. These people are still half-convinced that they’re going to transform into one of those horrible creatures at any second, but as far as Sira’s case is concerned, the only thing the mist does is make their lungs feel a bit odd. It’s begun to become unnoticeable, actually. At least Rani, the most insistent on bringing Sira with them, seems to be the one in charge.

Mikael seems to consider, before heaving a sigh. “Fine.”

However, he does not holster his gun.

“Great, now that that’s settled, can we start heading back now?” Lionel goes over to retrieve his own weapon from where he dropped it on the floor. “After all that I’m freaking starving, and no offense to our new friend, but you look like you’re in desperate need of a meal yourself.”

Sira slowly nods. The air suddenly feels cold. Rani gestures for them to follow as she and Lionel turn to leave, and they do so. They’re all too aware of Mikael’s presence looming behind them as he does as he was instructed. Sira hazards a half-glance back at him as Rani leads them towards the nearest exit - a side door with its window pane long since shattered - and immediately regrets it.

Sure enough, he’s still staring at them. His singular eye in their view narrows once their gazes meet. Sira turns their head away immediately. All they can picture is him drawing his gun again and aiming it at their back, like a hostage. Part of them feels like a hostage, even though that’s not how the situation is framed at all.

They choose to direct their attention to their feet as the group exits the building and re-enters daylight, carefully stepping around the broken bits of everything scattered across the ground.

“One second. Let me check in with Therese.”

They lift their head at the sound of Rani's voice to see her and Lionel both with their guns in their hands, the latter fitting fresh rounds into his rifle, both standing next to the cover provided by the husk of a rusted van. Rani unhooks a round, dark shape from her belt and turns a switch on the top.

“Lambda-9 Heron to Robin. We’re headed back. Zero casualties.”

The voice from the other side doesn’t hide a lilt of relief: “Roger that.”

A two-way radio, with call signs and everything. Coupled with that and their mostly uniform sets of body armor, whoever these people are, they’re official.

Rani turns to them and, again, does what they assume is a smile.

“We’re going to try to be quick, but we still need to move carefully,” she explains, “we want to avoid another fight with one of those things if we can, so I just need you to stick close to us and follow our lead, understand?”

Sira nods. Their legs are still unsteady, but they can manage, they think. They hope.

Rani continues forward, signaling as she directs the group from cover to cover, not too slow, but too methodical to be quick. The pain and exhaustion haven't left their body, and are bound to get worse before they've arrived wherever they're going, but Sira forces themselves to ignore it and fall into the rhythm of Rani's instructions.

Somewhere safe, they repeat to themselves inside their head. They recall the underground chamber they awoke in, with its vein-like growths and maddening disorientation. They recall the vague sense they still have of whatever place they were in before, somewhere dark, red, and endless. Starting to feel a bit sick, they push the memories out of their mind.

The further I am away from there, they think, the better.