Brown-rusted blood soaked the cotton. It brought a smile to her face. She spun on Mensha and grasped his shoulders she shook him firmly. “We did it!”

“Yes, now please stop shaking me.” He said voice clipped with nausea. She did and took a calming breath, to pull the smile straining her cheeks. Maybe this was another disappointment in the making, but she wanted, no she choose to be happy.

She spun around to face the now brightly lit room, with a sobered if giddy expression. She noted bloody smears in the sink, she turned the faucet and a rush of clear water greeted her. “Okay, that’s one more mystery,” did all the lit buildings have amenities because the apartment they’d crashed in certainly hadn’t.

She shook the thought from her head but froze as she caught the beautiful sight of the shower head. Every half-healed bruised and ache rushed to her attention as the promise of a shower’s serenade tempted her. She pried her gaze back to Mensha, “Where next,” she said.

He tapped a finger against his lip, “Can you follow me? There’s something I need to check.” She nodded, and he led her outside. He circled the small cluster of functional buildings with an increasingly flat look. “I think they’re being hinted,” he intoned.

Her heart dropped.“Context please.”

“Sorry, remember the woman we saw on our way here,” he glanced at her and she nodded with a sigh. “Well, I’m smelling the same thing on her around here.”

“Goddammit,” she hissed.

“What really concerning is what this implies, because all the ones we met so have been very dumb and I don’t see them chasing someone for miles.” He continued in a flat faintly curious tone.

“Well, this couldn’t get worse.” Mensha opened his mouth and she shot a finger ip, “Is it relevant to our survival or current goals,” he blinked, then shook his head, “Then can we focus on finding them before something kills them.”

“We can,” he said and walked into the dark, she sighed and hurried after his swaying steps. She glanced up at the faint light brightening the distant sky, it was a shame it couldn’t fill the streets.

The buildings gradually grew, not reaching the height of the commercial district but mixing into the two and three stories of a mixed development area. The skittering vigilant crowd thinned replaced by new gangs that patrolled the streets. Every step dozen steps put her in conflict, in silent staring contests she only understood through the mutual threat of violence.

On the however many eth contest, the lead shade postured before her as the other five shadows circled. The few lurkers on the street’s edge cleared. Emptying the space in moments. Its, his shoulders rolled with the clenching of his indistinct fingers. If it had eyes she imagined them absent anything but anger.

Her gaze swept the other figures and she was struck by how human they were. The dancer and child had felt unique like exceptions amidst the dark faceless crowd. Here however every shadow walked with a hint of personality, whether in the form of fear or aggression. Blending into a distinct crowd. All the more reason she couldn’t understand why the shade lunged at her.

A sharp blade shinnied in his dark hand and through her mind rattled her hand was relentless. Her bat snapped forward meeting his arm in a soundless crunch and explosion of ink. The knife clattered to the ground but her eyes were already roving for the next threat.

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Mensha had her left knife held tightly, no sign of nausea on his hard features.

A shade charged her right and she swung for its head, it ducked and lunged at her butcher knife flashing in its hand. Did all of them have knives? She jumped back and a hasty downswing impacted its shoulder and dropped it to the ground. She lifted her bat but a punch in the head interrupted her and answered her question in the negative.

She stumbled and swung blindly at her assailant, she met air. She braced but reprisal never came. She glanced behind her, Mensha stood wielding his knife to ward off the two shades behind, he whipped the blade at their approach, paying close attention to the one showing metal.

She looked back at the three before her, the leader nursed his broken arm, glaring at her without the need for a face. The second one scrambled back to his leader, and the third went for his discarded knife. She couldn’t have that.

She pounced at the only armed shade, they dodged the swing, but their stumbled retreat left them unprepared for the upswing that dug into its chin and sent them reeling. She turned keeping her feet planted and saw the third shade swiping at her with their new knife. She set her feet and swung down with everything she had, curling her body around the blow. Light bloomed along the street as her muscles strained.

The bat cratered into his head and dragged it along its arc into the ground. the skull split open and her bat crunched into the pavement. Its soundless flesh caught the sound that rang up her arms and thundered louder in the brawl.

She lurched upright, arms aching from the blow’s force, and scanned the frozen shades. She reared up to her full height and raised her dented bat, “Fuck off!” maybe it was the set of her shoulders, or her sheer luminosity, perhaps the cool stains that smeared her chest and face.

They ran, circling around the pair, to bolt leaving them free to continue. She glared at the their fleeing back then her gaze fell to the body they abandoned that dyed the road with spilt life. It was such a waste, whether they were really human or not.

She glanced at Mensha, a deep weeping tear in his upper arm stole her attention. She jumped to him and grabbed his uninjured arm she flinched away as a breath caught in his throat.

“Are you okay!” she said her gaze scanning the rest of him.”Are you hurt anywhere else,” What did she know about stabs, it was on his arm which was good, but it looked deep and there weren’t any hospitals and she had no medical training. What if-

“Summer let’s get somewhere safe first.” His voice was light almost airy in quiet detachment.

“Okay,” she said and fighting every breath against the adrenaline that urged her to sweep him off his feet and run. She pulled Mensha until he found his feet and walked with her.

Her heart rose into her throat and she swallowed everything she wanted to say. Pitter-pattering drops accompanied their walk which never seemed to end. Summer brandished her bat and the explosion of black that coated it to any shades that closed. Black stained her skin but light roiled her skin, in an uneven glow.

She saw a spear glowing through a secondary window and pulled Mensha to the building as his steps faltered. She kicked the door down and rushed him up the stairs ignoring the shop’s disarray. She threw the door to the room with light and swept one glance over the bedroom and the body nailed to the bed, before easing him into a chair in the room’s corner.

She almost tore her bag open as she scrambled in search of the bandages. She breathed but every inhale sapped her fraying nerves.

“It’s not that bad.” He whispered as she whiled on him with bandages in hand. He slouched in the chair, his firm hand over the cut didn’t stop blood from pouring between his fingers. There was so much blood suddenly she felt cold again.“I think,” he paused and blinked as his eyes dipped in and out of focus. “We’ve just been spoiled by good luck.”

She unspooled the bandages and tentatively wrapped them around the long wound that ran up his bicep. She cursed every second her trembling fingers wasted.

“I’ll be fine Summer” his bloody hand landing gently in her messy locks, “It’s just a cut, just bad luck”

She stared into his smiling eyes. It didn’t stop the anger burning her eyes.