The journey back to the outpost Rani mentioned is largely uneventful. She leads the group through the winding alleyways of the city, devoid of all life other than their presence. Deserted cars litter the streets, abandoned shops and other buildings collect dust within their walls, and broken traffic signals sway pitifully in the breeze.
The emptiness of the place unnerves Sira. As with the dead forest, the actual memories aren't there, but there remains an inscrutable certainty that something terrible has happened. Something that brought the red fog and its twisted monsters.
For all they know, it's happened everywhere.
Sira's body whines from the day's continued exertion. Pieces of debris and other things that are strewn on the ground dig into their bare feet, already raw after sprinting for their life. They begrudgingly endure it, keeping their head down and their arms wrapped around themselves, except for when they need to lean onto or grab something for balance at certain points. It will be worth it, they think. They hope. The 'safe' place they're supposedly being led to surely means they will have some time to rest when they get there.
Besides, Sira desperately does not want to appear weak. Weak enough to need one of them to aid them in walking - or worse, physically haul them - to their destination. They're unsure why, and the effort is likely futile with how disheveled and unwell they must look from an outside perspective. The insecurity about it is present nonetheless.
Mikael's stare burns into the back of their head the entire time, but they do their best to ignore it. Lionel glances back at Sira every once in a while, almost like he still expects them to mutate into one of the monsters at any second, but the look in his eyes has turned into one of curiosity rather than fearful anticipation.
They aren't sure how to feel about that.
"Aw man," he says at one point, quiet enough that they think he's only talking to himself, "I cannot wait to see the look on Karim's face."
Sira is about to ask who Karim is when a red blur in the corner of their eye catches their attention. They whip their head around to spot a figure standing in the street a fair distance away, unmoving and just barely visible from their position in one of the alleyways. They freeze up immediately, feeling panic rising in their throat, and impulsively start to back away from the sight.
A firm hand on their back stops them.
Mikael's monotonous voice comes from behind them, a lot closer than they're comfortable thinking about: "Relax. It can't detect us from this far away."
He removes his hand. Sira assumes that it wasn't meant as a comfort, but to prevent them from backing straight into him. Embarrassing. They deliberately avoid looking at MIkael and keep their eyes locked on the creature. It's statuesque, aside from the mist that continuously wafts off its body.
"Why not?"
"Phantoms' strongest sense is based on perception of heat, but it has a limited range," he answers tersely, "now keep moving."
Phantom. With the way the creatures 'shift' while giving chase and how the mist seems to go in and out of their bodies, as if not entirely solid, the name is fitting.
Rani and Lionel have stopped ahead - in a direction that thankfully doesn't go towards the phantom - looking back at the two of them expectantly. Sira staggers forward to catch up with them, the oddly quiet sound of Mikael's combat boots close behind.
"Did you see something?" Rani asks Mikael. She tightens her grip on her gun.
"Phantom over that way." Sira hears the faint shuffle of fabric and assumes he's gestured in its direction. "Not a problem for us."
"Good. This needs to go as smoothly as possible."
Sira mentally agrees. The last thing they need is another chase. They wouldn't make it through a second one. Of course, the people they're with are armed and experienced in dealing with these matters, but with things the way they are now, Sira is not going to let themselves believe they're out of the woods just yet.
Rani leans down to their eye level. It would come off as infantilizing if Sira wasn't aware of how much they've been keeping their eyes lowered this whole time. "We're basically around the corner. How are you holding up?"
"Yeah, uh, no offense," Lionel adds, "you may not be infected, but you kinda look like you shouldn't even be capable of standing right now."
They squeeze where their hands are clasped around their upper arms. Infantilizing or not, this level of attentiveness is quickly becoming uncomfortable. "I'll make it."
Rani hesitates, probably doubting their words, but then turns away. "If you say so."
The group continues onward. True to Rani's word, not long after, she directs them across a barren intersection and into a large building, five stories tall. The rusted, dark metal of a fire escape crawls up to frame the center row of windows, set in a grid pattern on its facade. Pale residue covers a good portion of the brick exterior, making the building itself look like it has its own sickness in the midst of the fog.
Mikael leaves his place at the back of the group and wordlessly elects himself to hold open one half of the pair of battered glass doors at the entrance. Rani and Lionel enter the building. Sira quickly ducks inside behind them. Mikael's stare remains focused on them as they pass him by, but it's decreased in intensity, for whatever reason.
When the doors fall shut, some of the tension leaks out of Sira's body. The walls around them show the wear and tear of countless years of neglect, but look solid and sturdy enough that they are very much still walls. Walls that are between them and more of the 'phantoms.' It's not a definitive promise of safety - walls only did so much when they initially ran from the two that pursued them - but the illusion is enough to help them feel more relaxed.
Two hallways extend out from the central, open room they've just entered, lined with a series of wooden doors, some left ajar, while others are closed or missing entirely. A few mangled rugs lie in disorganized heaps on the wood flooring, stained with age. The place is quiet and empty, aside from their presence. Across the room from them is a winding stairwell leading to the upper floors, as well as down to what they assume is a basement.
Rani stops and scans the area, but nothing must be out of place, since she quickly motions for the group to head upstairs.
The next two floors don't differ much from the first, except for on the third floor, Sira catches the glimpse of someone - or something - peering out at them from one of the rooms towards the end of the hall.
Panic almost hits them again, but it fades as soon as the figure steps fully out into view, revealing another woman in the same mask and body armor as Sira's retinue. She bounces forward to meet the group as they approach.
"Thank goodness everyone's safe," the stranger says, likely beaming from behind the cover of her mask, "I started to get worried something went wrong when the phantoms' blips disappeared, but--"
She cuts herself off as she skids to a halt, staring directly at Sira.
They quickly put together that the woman - Therese, they assume - has noticed the 'problem.' They retreat further into the shelter of their raised shoulders. If this is going to happen with everyone they come across...well, they're not sure what to think about that, or how to handle it.
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Therese emits a series of bewildered sputtering noises. Rani raises a hand to stop her. "I know. Just roll with it. We're going to figure things out back at the base, so I need you to go ahead and call in a vehicle escort."
She hesitates a moment, glancing erratically between Sira and Rani, then nods and swiftly turns on her heel to dart back towards the room she came from. Everyone follows her down the hall in a much less urgent pursuit. There's still tension hanging in the air, but not anywhere close to the amount there was when they first left the department store.
Peering through some of the open doors as they passed, Sira notes that most of them are full of upturned furniture - beds, couches, and shelving. Some of it is broken or ripped to shreds. Some of the tears in the wallpaper and darker, larger stains on the walls and floors of the building may not only be from age like they first thought.
This was a residential building. Apartments. People once lived here.
Sira avoids dwelling on what might have happened to those people as they file into the room, Mikael still in tow. They spare him a half-glance as he turns around to secure a dark-colored metal bar over the door, barricading all of them inside.
Sira's bare feet press against a noisy floorboard as they stop in the entryway, with Rani and Lionel moving ahead. A trio of folding tables is set up against the walls of the room, supporting an array of electronic equipment displaying lights, colors, and patterns that they're in no state to attempt to make sense of. Therese is already bent over one of the devices, hitting a switch and leaning towards what looks like a microphone.
They look back towards the door, not making eye contact with Mikael, who has decided to lean himself back against it with his arms crossed.
"Is that all there is? It seems like it would be pretty easy for one of those things to break in here," Sira comments, turning back to the others.
A short row of lockers is arranged alongside one of the walls. Rani pops one open and rummages around inside. "This area isn't enough of a hot zone to justify expending more resources than what's here. There's never been an attack on this outpost, and when it comes to people breaking in, it's kind of meant to hide in plain sight. There hasn't been anyone who's not from our organization around here for a long time, though. Until now."
Lionel, standing by one of the windows, quirks an eyebrow at her. "Didn't expect you to be this talkative about our operations to a newcomer, lieutenant." His tone is facetious.
Lieutenant. Were they military? They didn't seem that official.
Rani retrieves something from the locker before shutting its door. "They're gonna learn soon enough anyways. No harm in filling them in a little in advance."
"I'm not even sure what your organization is yet," Sira says, with more exasperation in their voice than they intended to show.
Rani comes back towards them, holding the item she retrieved from a locker. Closer now, Sira sees that it's an extra respirator. She gives them another attempt at a disarming, hidden smile as she holds it out for them to take.
"We're the CPC. Simply put, we're trying to save the world. Someone else will probably have a whole spiel for you about it once we figure out what's going to happen," she says, "for now, put this on. It doesn't seem like you really need it, but I think we shouldn't attract attention for now."
Oh thank goodness. Sira eagerly takes the respirator out of Rani's hands, quicker than she expected from them, judging by the way she blinks in surprise. They place it over their face and try their best to secure the straps behind their head with their unsteady fingers.
"You got it?" Rani asks.
Sira offers her a small nod. The coordination of their fingers is slightly off, making it more difficult than it should be, but the mental image of having one of them secure the straps for them is far too awkward for them to risk mentioning it.
Therese straightens, done with whatever she was using the device for. Upon closer inspection through the lens of Sira's respirator, it looks to be radio equipment. They were too focused on getting the mask over their face to catch whatever she'd spoken into it.
"Rani, the captain wants to talk to you."
With a short sigh, Rani heads over to the radio. The straps of the respirator now secure and feeling unsure what else to do with themselves, Sira decides to go to an open space of wall closest to them and sit down. A relieved exhale escapes them, muffled by the mask, as they rest their back against the wall and hug their knees to their chest.
The awareness of how worn out and in pain they are starts to return. Their body burns much like it did when they first awoke, but rather than their muscles refusing to work properly, they're just hurting. It's all they can do to avoid groaning aloud. It truly is a miracle they've made it this far; adrenaline works wonders.
Sira lifts their head and watches their new companions. Therese steps out of the way as Rani bends forward to hold down a button on a microphone.
"Lambda-9 Heron here," she says.
"You can drop the radio protocol, Rani. I'm too worn out to care right now," a gravelly voice on the other end says through the radio static, "now, what is it that you need?"
"Transport to the operating base, sir. We have a...problem."
"What kind of problem can you all not resolve by yourselves? Last I checked, you're a pretty capable team."
Sira would think the words were chastising if the man's tone of voice wasn't so lighthearted. Nonetheless, there's a trace of nervousness in Rani's response.
"Of course we are, sir. But this is...er...beyond our pay grade," she explains, "you would have to come and see for yourself. I don't think it's something we should be discussing in detail over comms."
The man on the other end, the 'captain,' is quiet for a long moment. Then, he lets out a long, reluctant breath. "Fine. I trust your opinion, Rani, so this better be as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. Is it something that requires a lot of backup?"
"No. I think it'd be best if you brought as few people with you as possible, actually."
"...interesting. I'll get you that transport. ETA fifteen minutes. Over and out."
Rani releases the button on the microphone and stands up straight again, visibly relieved. She looks over to where Sira sits against the wall. "Still doing alright?"
"Yeah, but I almost feel like I'm...in trouble or something." The statement comes out a lot meeker than they intend it to, and they feel pathetic for it.
Something tells them that they're going to continue to feel pathetic for a while yet. At least until this situation blows over. If it ever does.
"Oh no, you haven't done anything wrong, as far as I know," Rani says with a soft chuckle. She spares a glance at Therese, who is hovering behind her, but staring warily at Sira. "This is just a...special case. Like we said before, immunity to the virus was thought to be impossible."
Sira tilts their head. "Virus?"
"That's what's in the mist," Lionel interjects, "a disease that turns people into phantoms. The more you inhale, the faster it happens. If you're actually immune to infection, that means we might be able to synthesize a cure or vaccine, or at least do something to combat it from a medical standpoint. So far, we've had nothing."
Rani looks at him curiously. "You're passionate about the subject."
He shrugs. "Guess I never told you guys that my old man's the head of that research team, so it's been drilled into me. Wasn't relevant until now."
Sira shrinks in on themselves a bit more. "Am I really the only one?"
"That we know of," Rani answers, leaning back against the edge of the table where the radio sits, "but the CPC's reach is so far, at least across North America, that it's unlikely there's anyone else that we haven't found yet. If there are others elsewhere, there's not a way to access them right now, let alone find out if they even exist."
They lower their eyes and fixate on the grooves and patterns of the aged wooden floor. They can't properly piece together the responsibility that might place on their shoulders, but it sounds like too much for Sira to manage. Far too much.
The pain in their head gets worse and they squeeze their eyes shut against it.
"...so, who are you?" Therese asks, finally adding to the conversation. Sira opens their eyes again as she steps out from behind the cover of Rani's shoulders. "Where did you come from? One of the independent settlements?"
Right. She wasn't here for the earlier conversation. They're sure she won't be the last to ask that question, and the process of answering it is becoming grating already. "My name is Sira, but I don't remember much of anything else. I woke up in...I don't know. A strange place. It's hard to describe."
Therese's shoulders slump, suddenly seeming sympathetic, but before she can say anything else, Rani holds up her hand to silence her again.
"Hey, I think we should let that be for now," she says quietly, though Sira can still hear it, "they've been through a lot and they're going to have a lot ahead of them. Just keep an eye on the tracker for when Karim shows up, okay?"
The words directed towards Therese come out softer than anything Sira has heard Rani say so far. Therese pauses, then nods slowly and makes her way to a more open area of the wall where one of the electronics - one that resembles a laptop, but with a much more 'heavy-duty' exterior - rests on the floor. She quietly sits down and pulls the device into her lap.
Karim must be the 'captain,' then.
"I would offer you food or water, but we don't have any here. This place isn't filtered," Rani tells them, "so...just try to make yourself as comfortable as possible while we wait. You look like you need the rest."
Sira slowly nods. The conversation stops at that point, a tense silence filling the room in replacement. Lionel takes a seat on the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. He continuously glances at Sira, before quickly averting his gaze, much like he was doing on their way here. It makes their skin prickle, but they don't acknowledge it.
They risk looking in the direction of the door. Unlike Lionel, Mikael's attention is now on the window across the room from where he stands, appearing to be deep in thought. It comes as only a small relief, but it's a relief nonetheless.
Sira rests the back of their head against the wall and closes their eyes again. In spite of the radiating pain that remains in their body, their consciousness slowly drifts away from them.
Considering the day's events, they take it as a mercy that they don't dream.