‘We survived. We actually survived!’

It was just passing through. But they had no idea how many more of those things existed and if it had caught them, then there was no way they could - then a terrifying thought came to Guila's mind. There was no way that thing could have caught a child, even if it was terrified, since it moved so slowly. Surely not…

Which meant, it was also possible that there were even worse variants.

Guila didn’t regret leaving that girl to her fate. ‘There was nothing we could do!’ Surely Ariel thought the same. What mattered, first and foremost was their survival. Everything else was secondary, or a means to that end. Rather, She was thankful that the thing showed up when it did, because now they understood just how badly everything has gone down.

They were now both dressed in oversized jumpsuits, with rope tied around the hems of their wrists and ankles. Tape would’ve been better, but they couldn’t risk the noise it’d have made. Together, hand in hand, they walked down the halls, or crouched when they needed to. But, never did they run, no matter how much they wanted to, nor did they risk going prone.

Thankfully, the damage to the tower was a lot less worse than Guila thought. Most of the stairs were still functional. However, the one that they had just arrived at, had collapsed, and she didn’t want Ariel to bet on a blind leap. It may have just been a 2 foot gap, but there was barely any of the landing left for them to reach. Missing meant that they'd fall 5 feet down onto the floor below.

Because they were able to find thicker cloth in the janitor’s room, they switched their masks for those. But, speaking properly would've made way too much noise because of it. So instead, Guila constantly had a hand on Ariel's shoulder. When she felt they needed to stop, she'd squeeze hard. Two quick squeezes were for slowing down. And three, meant ‘follow me’. It was imperfect, but also the simplest method they currently had access to.

Originally, Ariel wanted to also use her tail as her own visual signal. But, knowing that it would require cutting a hole into the suit, Guila convinced her to just stuff it inside. While Ariel would deal with any possible combat and scouted ahead with her hearing, Guila's job was to ensure that they avoided harmful terrain, like places littered with glass or other debris, but mostly to watch out for weak or missing areas of the building.

The two walked past room after room that had its doors pried, slammed or smashed open. Inside, Guila would see nauseating scenes of corpses which the smaller insects feasted on. They chewed the flesh, burrowed through it, and spilled out of their orifices, wounds and opened guts. But even when counting those, there were still too few corpses for the amount of blood and people that should've been inside when the attack occurred.

However, she couldn't ignore any of the sights. In fact, she had to look carefully into each room, at the ceiling and then floors; every surface on which an insect could be. Because if she didn't, she might not notice a big one lying in wait. Since Ariel's sensitive ears might not be able to notice stationary creatures.

Their feet had gone brown, drenched with the blood smeared across the floor and the damaged plumbing. But neither of them showed any complaints in their expression. The only times that changed was whenever Ariel took notice of the stench, of crying, or if Guila noticed the white fluids. They’d immediately turn away from that direction.

But every time they did, Guila couldn’t help but feel that we were being played.

It was a race against time. But they were forced to waste it backtracking. Even worse, was that the creatures were still in the process of nesting. Which meant the longer that they stayed, the harder it would be for them to leave. Thankfully, it wasn't long until they found a new set of stairs.

While Ariel needed to be careful not to overstep, Guila had to worry about slipping. Due to the declining angle, and the fact she had to tiptoe, the wet surface became increasingly more dangerous. But that was just another thing that they had to watch out for. They couldn't pass through areas that were too wet either, because it would cause too much noise. Unfortunately, the wide puddles made that more difficult the lower they got. The sound also hindered Ariel's hearing.

But again, They just needed to be careful.

Plus, the brass plating with a number 2 on the wall, was all the encouragement Guila needed. Soon, so very soon, they’d be out of this death trap.

Then it finally happened.

Several of the palm-sized insects, alerted by their presence, took flight. Whereas, like many times before, most flew around the two of them. One landed onto Ariel's ear, while another fell onto the back of Guila's neck.

The panic was immediate as they both let go of each other, to try and shake the heavy insects away. Because the cockroaches didn't just land, their barbed legs hooked into their flesh and fur. They both flailed desperately, trying to get them off, while barely avoiding a fall.

"...NMGH!!!!?!!" But Guila was the first to scream with her mouth tightly shut. Then Ariel noticed that it was going down her ear and she did the same. Knowing that the other person was panicking, only panicked them further.

As a result, even more insects on the walls and ceiling took flight, momentarily drowning out everything they could hear with their disgusting wingbeats, before landing on them too. Mostly on their jumpsuits. But also their hair, exposed hands and feet. It was a cycle that would only worsen the longer they continued.

So Guila did the only thing that she thought she could.

‘I'm sorry!’

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She didn't dare to voice it out, since one of the insects could fly into her mouth. Even with the mask, she didn't have enough trust in fate to be kind. Instead, without any warning, she grabbed the spear in Ariel's hand, held the covered blade away from the both of them, then tackled her down onto the landing below.

"Ahk-" The two groaned when they landed on top of each other, a half-second later, but Guila quickly covered both of their mouths. However, she'd fallen on her already wounded leg.

Ariel couldn't see the situation, but it seems like she understood that the insects flew off of her when they fell, and that something had gone wrong because Guila couldn’t stop groaning. So she fixed her mask back up, and quickly placed Guila's arms around her neck.

Realizing what she planned to do, Guila grabbed the spear off the floor, before locking her weakened legs around the smaller, but now much stronger Vulpina's waist.

"Can we talk now, Mistress?!" Ariel whisper-yelled with already exhausted gasps as she racewalked.

"Yes…!" Guila answered, trying to stifle the pain from her, once-more opened wound. "Slow down, there's glass. Now turn right."

They were so close. Yet still so far. The glass walls had already shattered, but that only meant they had less avenues of escape. So, with the spear's shaft held diagonally against Ariel's chest, Guila looked for anything that could be an auxiliary exit. Because those would be flanked by concrete.

"Turn left." She whispered again, and Ariel did so without question. There were even more roaches here. But being this close together actually made it easier to deal with the problem. Now, Guila's new job, as disgusting as it was, was to pry the roaches off of them both.

She swallowed whatever apprehension she felt, letting anger at their situation take over, because… she had no doubt that Ariel was more afraid than her. Such was perhaps the benefit of having so much adrenaline coursing through their veins. Had it been any other time, Guila may have just cried and screamed.

"Turn right again, then straight ahead."

"Yes! Please keep them out of my ears…!"

"I'm trying…!"

Tens of hundreds of cockroaches, like ink blotches, had covered the lobby's white interior motif. Only when they passed through them, did these insects disperse. Unlike their skittish behavior on the higher floors. Had Guila’s mind been more free, she might've deduced that it was because the things saw power in numbers.

Instead, she was far more focused on how difficult it was to keep prying the insects off, so she just pushed Ariel's ears down against her head. Then, she also pressed her face against the back of her head.

"There's a crash-bar door right up ahead. I'll use my legs to push it open."

"Yes!"

"On three. One… two… now!"

As if the door wasn't even there, it swung open and they stumbled onto a medium-sized path. The cockroaches were everywhere outside, too. Then the sound of something cracking beneath us reached Guila's ears, but was quickly drowned out by their buzzing wings.

They were finally outside. No longer did they have to… Guila immediately regretted looking up. There, just barely visible through her one remaining good eye and the haze of smaller insects, were dozens of the "Oozers" moving across the building's outside wall.

"Mistress... where do I go?!"

"- Run left. Into the shopping street. But be careful, it's a brick road. It might be uneven now."

"Unhf! I can handle it, Mistress."

"... I know you can."

But as she squeezed closer to Ariel, her gaze wandered to the upper half of a dark dome in the distance. That had to be the Opera House and most likely, there were people in there. Otherwise, why would it be so covered with insects, to the point that she couldn't see any other color than black? However, if the larger insects were already focused on the people inside, then they couldn’t let this opportunity pass. The two of them will reach the Loading Bays, and there they'd await their beloved.

"It's going to be a long journey though. So, I have an idea." Despite the constant assault of roaches upon their skin, hair and clothes; their thick masks, Ariel’s speed, and ironically, the insect's size were what gave Guila the necessary strength of will to converse.

Because at the very least, she didn't need to worry about one of them entering her own ears, and even though she couldn't reach those on her hair or suit, they could just work on getting them off, later. No longer feeling anything within arm's reach, Guila focused on the map that now replaced the scuffed parts of her vision, at least the overlays still worked. Then she zoomed in and decided on the quickest route.

"There's a Security Station near here. We'll be moving through much-smaller hallways and might need to break in, but I'm willing to bet there's combat armor inside. Like helmets, as well as guns."

"... Okay! I'm relying on you, Mistress."

"I know! I'm relying on you, too!"

Unfortunately, speed walking while carrying someone heavier than herself was exhausting. Even though she was strong thanks to her genetic makeup, Ariel had neither well-trained stamina nor muscle strength. Her lean, toned body was merely her natural state. Making it worse, was that she could only gasp through gritted teeth and breathe through thick cloth.

Ariel was getting lightheaded as a result, but she couldn't stop to rest. Not yet.

Because she knew something that Guila did not. They were surrounded by big ones. Not as big as the Oozers. But what was probably the adult insects. Since, they made the same chittering as the ones that attacked at the start and it was a louder version of the sound that little ones made.

Those things had to be watching them, or at the very least, must've noticed them from inside and on the roofs of the small shops and buildings that flanked them on either side.

Not to mention those from behind. She may not have had the chance to look, but Ariel realized that this path led directly into the central park, where hundreds of insects were still engorging themselves. Sure, they were going the opposite way but she didn't know if she could outrun them.

Not with Guila. Then slowly, while the chittering behind them seemed to strengthen, her grip around her thighs slackened.

"... no!"

"'What is it, Ariel?!"

"N-nothing, Mistress. I… how much farther?"

Although worried, Guila chose not to ask and just answered.

"700 meters, at least… wait, slow down. You'll trip on the corpses. Shift to the right."

Ariel didn't respond. Not immediately. But she gave a breathy grunt and did as told.