Jere gasped as he awoke. He dreamt of Malefica again, as he had every night since her exile. Her crooked visage remained even as he transitioned to wakefulness. It was morning now, and the light of the dawn was overbearing. Even though a thin mist obscured much of the sun from view, its light felt like daggers to his eyes. He would have to get used to seeing again.

“You dream of her too?” Across the rooftop, Eevi sat against her crates. She had not moved. She continued to grip her crossbow. Her face was tired. If she had gotten any sleep it wasn’t much. “You’re not alone. I see her ugly mug every time I close my eyes. Can’t say I’ve gotten used to it.”

Unlike her, Jere had. The few times he managed to sleep, he would see the witch hovering above the bars. Occasionally, it was a welcome distraction from the incessant screaming, even if it was far from comforting.

“Eat.” Eevi gestured with her crossbow. Next to him were a few small bowls of seeds, nuts, and water. “Pace yourself. Have too much and your stomach will burst. Give your body time to adjust.” Jere expected to be ravenous by this point, but hunger remained a distant friend. He took the seeds and plucked them in his mouth, satisfied with the meager handful.

“Nervous?” Jere asked, seeing that Eevi had clung to her crossbow since his arrival. “Hard to eat peacefully under a bolt.”

“I didn’t get this far by trusting men in desperate situations,” replied Eevi. Jere could tell she still questioned the truth about his story of survival. He didn’t blame her. He himself long doubted she was ever a raider, after all. But seeing her clad in armor lent her stories some truth. The top left side of her breastplate was cracked and charred, perfectly matching her facial scar that began down her neck. Her varied weaponry only added to her intimidating appearance. Jere wondered how many men had fallen to her own arrows in recent moons.

“I’ll stay here,” Jere mumbled. He finished his handful of flavorless seeds.

“I planned to kill you, you know?” Eevi said. “I only brought you up here to keep them from staying inside the tavern. Maybe frisk you for supplies. Fortunately for you, I happen to know and like you.”

“How close were you?”

“You don’t want to know. I’m not sure you realize how different you look.”

Jere figured he looked like shit. He felt like shit. Still, Eevi was able to recognize something in her former patron, as suspicious as she was. He had to appreciate that, at least. “Good to see my long-standing generosity is paying off,” he said with a grin.

“What generosity? You never tipped, asshole.”

“My company not enough?”

“Hardly.” Eevi smiled, but it was muted.

“Can you at least tell me what happened? Where did they all come from?”

“Hmph.” Eevi whispered, trying to lower the volume of the conversation. “No one really knew. But it spread during the Holiday. Some became sick near the end of the first moon. On the second, screaming started popping up over town. By the third, it all went to shit. The regulars tried to take refuge here, but we were overrun. Thankfully, I prepared beforehand and stashed supplies up here.”

“Quite the foresight.”

“Actually, I have your friend to thank for that.” Eevi frowned at the remembrance. “Appo and I had a discussion before the holiday began, I assumed he had told you. But that was before you two disappeared… What’s become of him?”

Jere sighed. “I don’t know. We were separated before I was taken to the cells. Shaddon Law.”

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Eevi shook her head. “So he is dead then… Perhaps if we listened we could have avoided all this. He seemed so certain when he spoke to me.”

“It was Boah. He confronted us. We told him our thoughts, and he passed the sentence.”

“Cursed Heads. Bastards, the lot of them.”

Jere frowned. “You speak as if they still draw breath.”

“We’re not the only ones trapped, Jere. When the screaming began, many fled to their homes. Most were overtaken quickly. But the Manor shut its doors early and has remained alight for many moons now. Who knows how many are still inside?”

Jere felt a sudden anger surge through his body. He could see the Heads behind closed doors, surrounded by coin and laughing at the plight of the Ashfolk. Of course they would live. Of course they would be the first to close the gates despite all their proclamations that the plague was but a curse that would vanish with the witch. The anger that kept him sane within the cells was creeping forth yet again.

Jere’s thoughts were not lost on Eevi. “Whatever Boah has done to you will not serve you well here.”

“The Big Man is far from my thoughts,” Jere lied. “I only wish to get as far away as possible.”

“And go where? I’m not exactly staying of my own accord, you know. Been waiting for my chance to flee as well. They’re not as random as you may think?”

“Meaning?”

“Look.” Eevi pondered her words for a moment. “Once the screamers outnumbered the rest of us, I assumed they would all make their way to the desert. Many did. At one point I thought I had waited long enough and made my way towards the gates, but…”

“You passed the temple,” Jere said. He recalled hundreds of gaping mouths and piles upon piles of bodies.

Eevi nodded. “Something is keeping them here. I waited an entire day to see if they’d move, but they never did. I watched them, Jere… They buzz about like flies to rot flower. I saw them huddle near temple walls, rubbing their faces against it. They stuck their hands in the dirt and filled their bellies. They refuse to move. I was forced to return.”

If his fortnight with the screamers taught Jere anything it was that they were more than simple mindless beings. He listened to them babble and mope and cry. He dared not think of what was at the temple that they were so attracted to. “But why would you go there? Would going south not be better?”

“To make it to the gates you have to pass the temple or the Manor. Not as easy a choice as you might think.”

Jere laughed. “And what’s worse than hundreds of screamers?”

“Survivors,” Eevi spoke with a grim tone. “Most likely more than a few Heads. Before I travelled to the temple I scouted the path near the Manor. I saw corpses there, hanging from the rooftops. Charred bodies on all sides of the palace, some of them missing their skin. I’m not the most familiar with Okkan's beliefs but I know that there are some more fanatical than others. I’ve heard tales of men and women turning to ancient customs with the god of fertility in times of crisis. And the screams I heard from behind their walls… those sounded human to me.”

Although Jere hadn’t judged Eevi for her caution before, he completely understood her caution. “Where does that leave us?” Jere asked. “If we are safe we should wait.”

Eevi shook her head. “Impossible. I was already low on food before I had to care for a starving man. Your arrival hastens things. It was awfully sweet of you to think of me during your time of crisis but it really does put me in a bad position.” Eevi grimaced, albeit in a friendly way.

Jere shrugged. He wasn’t about to apologize for surviving.

“I have some water, but hardly any food. I had about three moons left before you showed up. You’ll be back to starving again if we stay here, and I doubt you’ll be able to go through that again... Have any ideas?”

“Hmm.” Jere was tired of being surrounded on all sides with limited options. “The gates have food. The Corps always kept enough grain to keep Ash supplied for a month-long siege. If the Manor isn’t an option that should be our destination.”

“I wondered as such, but I had no way of knowing myself.” Eevi lowered her bow slightly. Her good eye appeared to light up, intrigued by the possibilities.

“If we can’t go past the Manor or the temple, then we must travel between them. Have you been to Main Street?”

“I believe there are screamers, but far less than the temple. I have plenty of explosives and enough bolts to fend off anyone between us and the gates, but not enough to fight off a horde. There are many shops there. We could travel through them.”

“Or over them. Provided we find a ladder.”

“Now that’s an idea…” Eevi eyed Jere, though he wasn’t sure how to interpret it. “Seems saving your life wasn’t a complete waste of time.”

Jere couldn’t help but agree. He took another handful of the seeds. Regardless of what happened from here on out, he wasn’t going to starve again.