You stare blankly at the campfire.

The attacker climbed back up the stairs as Riley and you sat down.

Since the occupant of this tower is creepy, you don’t feel sleepy anymore and Riley seems to be the same.

You haven’t seen her since then but you get this feeling you are being eyed at by the attacker, staying wary of any of your actions, even just the tiniest movement.

Not to mention, the dark unlit space outside the range of the campfire’s light creepily adds to the already weird atmosphere.

…

You try to get the thought of your mind through the familiar sounds of the crackling campfire.

It didn’t help, with your face just getting clear with the discomfort you feel.

Riley sees your unfortunate reaction.

Maybe she can help, “She’s looking at me, isn’t she?”

She subtly nods.

…

You can’t help but take a peek at her.

She has the half of her head upside down and peeking at us while staying on the second floor.

It just made the feeling all the more worse.

She swiftly raises her head and you hear fast stomping on top of you while dust starts falling with each new stomp.

The stomping stops, but the footsteps didn’t, now they’re coming from the stairs and then the ground of your floor.

…

She appears like a roadrunner, making a great smile but it doesn’t really compliment her odd look.

“Are you guys hungry?” She says while maintaining a grin.

You look at Riley and she returns with a shrug.

You answer, “Uh… well, do you have anything?”

She does a single loud clap that makes a small echo in the room, “Oh, I have plenty! Just follow me.”

…

She runs off.

You stand up and move away from the campfire.

Riley just stays in her spot, obviously showing that she doesn’t want to go.

You better thank me for this.

You look at the stairs, hoping there’s nothing terrible there.

…

You climb it up while holding on to some small loose bricks on the wall.

The stairs are stable but you aren’t taking any chances.

As you step into the room, it almost had no light in it with only the shines of the moon coming through holes of the walls.

How do you navigate through this?

Even then, she can still move around the room.

…

The room is a mess, but all of them are simply put on the side so anyone can walk through.

A makeshift bed similar to yours and Riley but with a pillow, is placed across the room and under another set of stairs right next to an unlit lantern.

The stairs lead to another floor, and based on the height of the tower, should be the top one.

It even looks darker than the floor you’re in.

You forcefully put your curiosity aside and stop minding it.

…

She shuffles around the room searching for food.

You can barely make out what’s happening when all you can see is the attacker running through the minimal light.

The noise is all you can rely on, and all you hear is the constant footsteps.

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There’s no items hitting the floor or being thrown around, so it’s safe to assume she’s aware of the surroundings.

“Aha!”

…

Holding a bag, she passes through the dark and gets out, appearing onto your face.

She smiles as she gives the bag to you.

You receive it and make a small thanks.

You go down while you examine the insides of the bag.

You hear something from the floor above, as miniscule amounts of dust falls off to accompany the sounds.

…

“What was that?” You stop to ask.

The attacker didn’t break away from her odd smile, “Nothing, probably some falling bricks.”

You try to believe her by continuing where you were.

As you get to the bottom floor, Riley is sitting the same but she is swaying side-to-side trying to stay awake.

You sigh, as you put the bag on your bed and position Riley to a sleeping formation.

…

Riley is sleeping while you aren’t.

You couldn’t trust the attacker, even after all she has done.

You examine the bag again.

It looks like real food and probably smells like it, but you haven’t taken a single bite if it’s safe or not.

You put it aside.

…

Something is up there.

You stand up and go to the stairs.

You slowly press your foot on each step to avoid making any creaking sound.

Finally, you reach the second floor once more and with the help of the moon, the attacker is sleeping soundly.

You tip-toe through the room, reaching the stairs for the third floor.

…

After the same process, you’re now on the third floor.

It was dark, way too dark compared to the previous 2 floors.

Not even a single source of light can be found in the room, the only one is coming from the second floor with moonshine barely spreading over the stairs.

However, despite all the blackness, you know something is here.

And it gets confirmed.

…

The silence stops with a young girl’s voice, “You’re not sister?”

You straighten up, making no response, and make a small step into the darkness.

“Are you a friend?” The voice continues, “or are you my f-”

The voice cuts out, which causes you to stop as if it is a cue.

You focus and try to find where the voice is coming from.

…

The voice returns, “I’ve been hungry.”

It’s followed by some footsteps, but it isn’t on the floor, it’s from the stairs.

You turn around and see light getting into the room.

It’s the attacker holding a lantern, “Hey, what’s with the voices? Big sister still doesn’t have anything for you.”

“Big sister!” The voice shouts, “Someone is in-in here with m-me!”

…

“Who- who’s in there!” She rushes through, lighting up the entire room.

You panic but you couldn’t do anything so you only look at her as she steps out of the stairs.

The attacker feels shocked, like she’s been betrayed.

However, since the opportunity came, you turn your head quickly to find where the voice is coming from.

You only find something similar and dreadful.

…

It was a kid in a cage, holding onto the bars and drooling.

With characteristics like that, it’s safe to assume that she’s… “A zombie?”

The attacker charges with the lantern in an attempt to hit you.

You instantly react by grabbing the hand going towards you.

You hold on from her attack while the infected girl struggles to say a proper sentence.

…

“Die!” The attacker says trying to land a hit but you simply outpower her.

You manage to grasp the situation, “Wait, hear me out! I’m not killing her.”

“And how do you think I’ll trust you for that?”

“You love her, do you?”

She swiftly pulls back her arm as you let go.

…

The attacker tells her backstory and how she and her zombie sister have been living on. Ever since the corruption has taken over the continent, she has been protecting her sister from Substance C until recently when she was bitten. She managed to contain her inside a cage but her sister is a completely different being, where the only remaining characteristic is the family relationship between the little girl and the attacker. Hoping that her sister might still be there, she kept her safe for a long time which led to her saying she’s hungry.

The attacker tried giving fruits or vegetables, she declined and begs for meaty ones. And so she did. The little sister consumes any kind of meat, fresh or rotten. To the point that she resorted to killing unsuspecting survivors just to feed her little sister. In fact, the room she’s in had an incredibly putrid smell filling up the entire space, it’s surprising that the smell hasn’t reached the bottom floor.

…

She finishes explaining to you on the floor below where the infected little sister is.

“Don’t attempt to kill me or Riley and we won’t do anything to you.”

She nods, though she does it half-heartedly.

Well, if she can resort to such, then so can you.

You stomp your way to the first floor while the little sister groans, asking for flesh, leaving the attacker standing in the dark.

…

The campsite in the forest was pretty much empty, with less than 10 soldiers just staying. A few were sitting near the campfire while the rest slept in preparation for what comes tomorrow. Tawa was looking at the map, marking down different parts of the paper where the infected were. Normand steps in to ask a question, “Where’s Gyrard?”

“I have no clue,” Tawa didn’t move his attention away from the map.

“Do you think those two did something to him?”

“I don’t know.”

Normand turns around to the bare light from the campfire and reminisces on the commands given to him back from the kingdom. Then it clicked to him, “We’ll be going back tomorrow.”

“We’re now going back?” Tawa says with a little irritated voice.

“Yes, is that a problem?”

“No.”

Normand informs Tawa his plan, “Gyrard might have disobeyed me and returned early but we also need reinforcements.”

“Very well,” Tawa goes back to working.

…