Hours had passed.

Columns of smoke from the flames rose to the tip of the towering skyscrapers. The rancid fumes surrounded Florence, suffocating her.

Half of her face swelled, burned, and paralyzed. Her eyebrow, eyelid, and the corner of her mouth drooped. Even though her eye bags grew heavier, her burnt ankle still ached with the nerves screaming under it.

Along with Aisling, Yuze, Stella, Sam, and Basilisk, Florence limped down the pavement in growing heavy footsteps. As they got closer to the harbor, balls of fire erupted not once but twenty times every second.

The shockwaves pushed Florence over. Her hair rustled. The wind whistled next to her ears. She landed on the ground with the rough surface poking her bottom.

She pressed her palms against the pavement, forcing herself to stand up. But another shockwave blasted down the street, knocking her down.

Aisling grabbed onto Florence, pulling her to her feet.

Aisling smiled. “Are you alright?”

Florence shook her head, her lips numbed. “I really have to go to the hospital after I return home… and check up on my sister’s well-being.”

“Gonna be honest here, what did you just say?”

“Just give me giggle juice after this.”

Basilisk clenched on the bloodied metal rod stabbed through his stomach. “What did you want to say to me?”

“We weren’t talking about you,” Aisling said.

Yuze snored amidst this conversation between Aisling and Basilisk.

“So, you’re talking about me,” Basilisk said.

Aisling furrowed her brow. “Nope, we weren’t.”

Stella looked at the glass panel walls of the skyscrapers with her puffy eyes. She straightened upright, stiffening her arms around herself. But her face crumpled with every step she took, supporting Aisling and dragging Yuze forward.

Florence tapped Stella on the shoulder.

Stella yelped, jumping off the pavement.

A tickle lingered inside Florence as her heart danced. She then gave Stella a double thumbs up.

Stella smiled without reaching the corner of her eyes. “I… I mean… I’m fine. Please, believe me… that you don’t have to… worry.”

An explosion erupted around the corner of this street, and a shockwave vibrated the ground. Florence lost her footing and fell to her knees, but again, she picked herself up.

Aisling closed her eyes. She dug her nails deep into Florence’s skin.

“Aisling?” Florence asked.

An eerie silence followed with the crackling of fire running along the street.

Aisling stuffed and rubbed her face on Yuze’s neck. Still, Aisling trembled from head to toe.

Basilisk halted. The wires on his scalp extended outward, blocking Florence, Aisling, Stella, Yuze, and Sam from advancing.

Florence raised her eyebrows. From the corner of her eye, a silhouette of a humanoid clad in armor reflected on one of the glass panel walls. She blinked. However, that mirror image vanished instantly.

Basilisk gulped air down his throat. “Did any of you see that?”

Florence nodded. “I know you can’t hear me properly,” she said. “So, I am going to say no, even though I agreed with you through nodding.”

“I’m going to assume you agreed with me.”

“This is incredibly far from the truth but yet so close.”

The wires retraced back to Basilisk. Then he waved his hand, limping around a corner of the street.

Yuze’s feet dragged across the pavement as Stella and Aisling carried her.

Florence, Aisling, Stella, and Sam followed Basilisk. A salty wind contaminated with rancid smoke slapped their faces.

In front of them, the yard covered in an inferno melted the crates. The clouds above reflected in a metallic orange. The cargo ships set in a sea of flames towered over the port.

The NPCs, with skins to the bone, hid behind crates and trucks. They peaked at the edge of their cover, aiming down the sights of their guns and pulling the trigger.

Bullets whizzed through the air.

A clang reverberated on the pink androids.

The crackle sparked within the rifle of those pink androids. A burst of electricity zapped out of the muzzle, melting through the trucks and crates. The power riddled the NPCs with holes, electrocuting them into the cinders.

The pink android charged with thudding footsteps. They ripped the Natural EXP Crystal from the chest of those NPCs.

Basilisk grunted. The wire flailed on his scalp. He extended the end towards the pink androids in the yard down the street.

Florence gripped Basilisk’s wrist, drawing his attention. She gritted her teeth, shaking her head at him. She did want to save those NPCs over there, but those NPCs with those injuries spread across their bodies…

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The ground tremored. Those pink androids spun around. Their rifles charged with electric energy, aiming towards the street through the rear and front sight.

Basilisk wrapped the wires around Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Sam. Then Basilisk whirled his head around, throwing them into a nearby alley.

Florence rolled into this narrow path between two towering skyscrapers. Her skin scratched and scraped across the rough surface. Bang. Her skull slammed against the side of a dumpster, rattling the decomposing material inside. A sulfuric stench stung her nostrils.

She blinked, rubbing her head.

Rays of electricity zapped through the street.

Basilisk attached the wire to the buildings, swinging into the air, and disappeared from Florence’s line of view.

Florence struggled onto her feet. Her ankle shrieked. She groaned, leaning onto the glass panel wall, pushing her palm on her knees.

The dumpster rattled as Aisling gripped onto its side. She pulled herself up with additional support from Stella.

Yuze rested face-first on the ground. She snored amidst the explosion and zapping of electricity. Her limbs stiffened like a tree bark.

Florence pointed down the alley where the rotten food poured out of the garbage bags.

“If we’re gonna go down there, I think we’ll not get closer to the harbor,” Aisling said, winking at Stella.

Stella nodded. She brushed her hazel bangs, hiding her puffy eyes behind them, and then faced the ground.

“Pardon me, this is not what I meant.” Florence waved her hands above her head.

Aisling tilted her head. “So, you wanna risk your life… again?” she asked.

Florence shook her head, throwing up her palms into the air.

Aisling dropped her jaws open. “Gonna be honest, I almost believed that you were going to do some suicidal stuff. Wait… you aren’t going to do it?”

“I mean… I think… Florence wants to know which path we could take to get to the harbor,” Stella said. “Isn’t… that right?”

Florence nodded, putting her thumbs up.

Aisling limped deeper into the passageway, covering her swollen and blistering knee.

Florence and Stella hauled Yuze to her toes, placing her stiff arms over their shoulders. Their footsteps echoed on the concrete, catching up to Aisling.

Sam tailed behind them.

Stella wrapped her arm around Aisling, supporting her in moving forward.

Another passage revealed itself, diverging from the main alley. Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Sam entered these paths. Bodies with their skin scorched leaned down along the glass panel walls. Those faceless heads with red eyes tattooed on them stared right at Florence. Yet this charred smell choked her.

A clang reverberated, ringing behind her.

She wheeled around. But not a single scorched body moved a bit.

Aisling coughed, clenching her abdomen. “Hopefully, it’s nothing much.”

A shiver ran down Florence’s spine. Her stomach twisted. She refused to believe that she imagined a clang. So, where did the primary source come from?

Stella tugged Florence’s dress.

Florence turned towards Stella with the corners of her mouth downturned. Then Stella buried her face into Florence.

“Mai,” Stella said. “Where did you go?”

Florence pulled Stella closer, embracing her with a hug.

Their footsteps reverberated beneath them. Moments later, Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Sam emerged out of the passage filled with charred bodies.

A heat wave of salty and smoky air smacked them on the face. An inferno raged. The pore in Florence’s skin secreted sweats.

Spread across the ground, blackened bodies of NPCs rested next to melted lumps of metal. However, not a single pink android came into sight.

Florence fanned herself, wiping her wet face.

She, Aisling, and Stella limped into a gap between a stack of containers lit on fire.

A clang rang inches away from Florence.

She wheeled around.

But this time, a sea of flames blocked the path she used to enter.

Aisling trembled, inhaling and exhaling. She dug her nails into her skin, stopping the tremor.

“Aisling?” Florence asked. She tapped Aisling on the shoulder.

Aisling shook her head, clenching her abdomen. She scanned one container to another. “I’m sure. It’s here somewhere.”

“Pardon me, I know this is a bit late. But what are we looking for exactly?”

“Yup, it’s hopefully quite obvious.”

Aisling reached into the pocket of her hooded shirt, pulling out a photo. In this picture, a lady with red eyes and pale skin smiled at a harbor.

“You think that this gal is somewhere here?” Florence asked.

“Gonna be honest here, I’m not quite sure,” Aisling said. “I just need to find it or something.”

Florence, Aisling, and Stella looked at Sam.

“Hey, don’t look at me.” Sam licked his paws. “Do you seriously think I can sniff it out, pleb and Stella?”

“I guess he means he can not sniff it out,” Florence said. The corner of her mouth ached and numbed.

Aisling tilted her head. “What did you say again?”

“I mean… I think Sam can’t sniff it out here,” Stella said. “Isn’t… that right?”

Sam dilated his pupils, dipping his lower. “Unfortunately… yes.”

“This is what I just told you, Aisling.” Florence waved her arms, stomping the ground. The numbness on the corner of her mouth stung her nerves. “How is it this bad?”

The sea of fire blocking the path behind them flooded, inching closer.

“Wait a minute.” Sam pointed his nose up, sniffing the air.

“Explain it later,” Aisling said, her chest rising and falling. Her legs shivered. “We… should probably run… now.”

The inferno approached Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Sam. The stacks of containers collapsed, crashing onto the path.

Without another exchange of words, Florence limped rapidly towards the end of this gap. The clang and clank rang. The flames crept up on her from the right, left, and back.

The melted puddles bubbled and glowed orange.

Sweats covered her body.

Her muscles contracted. In one last push, she leaped, slamming face first on the floor. The inferno erupted behind her, scorching her back.

The blaze winded down. The ends of her hair singed. She extinguished it, turning her head to the right.

Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Sam somehow made it out alive, their bodies flat on the ground.

The back of Stella reddened and blistered near the scar on her shoulder blades.

Florence crawled over to Stella’s side. Stella rolled onto her side, breathing heavily. She stretched her arms out, creating space between her and Florence.

Aisling pressed her palm on the concrete from the edges of Florence’s eyes, pushing herself up. Droplets of sweat dripped down from her nose. She slouched, drawing her shoulders together. Her arm wrapped around her chest over the heart.

Florence pointed at Sam. She waved her finger at him, pointing to the burning ships and the containers on fire.

Sam hissed, flattening his ears. “How dare you threaten me like that, pleb,” he said. He tucked his tail into his body and lowered his head.

Florence shook her head, waving her hands around.

Sam growled, hiding under Stella’s skirt.

“I think… it’s too late,” Aisling said.

“But… there is still a chance that we could find some clues in this harbor,” Florence said. “I know we can do it.”

Stella raised her hand up. “I mean… so what now?”

“I… I’m kinda not sure,” Aisling said, crossing her legs and sitting on the ground. She sank her nails into Florence’s forearm, which was covered in scab.

Florence widened her eyes, turning towards Aisling.

“Look, I’m sorry… I… I can’t,” Aisling said. She clutched her chest, avoiding looking directly at Florence. “But… it’s kinda… no longer possible.”