She was on duty today, which is why Lila sat on her bunk at the barracks and not at home. Everything she was accustomed to was crumbling around her. Usually, that place brought stability to her life, but not this time. Now, everybody was just running hectically in all directions, not knowing what to do next. The orders they received were quite contradictory, and they couldn't even figure out the current chain of command.

Lila took a long breath and sighed. Questioning everything was her second nature and brought the ire of her superiors more than once on her. However, asking and speaking out her frustrations was, in her opinion, the only reasonable way to make change.

Not now, though. Now, she should lay low and just follow orders.

Garrick was one of their peers. Sworn to protect the peace and safety of the town. Like any other ranger. He rose to the town council level thanks to his achievements and spectacular service. But also, he always was that person who preferred violence over negotiation. If he thought punching a suspect would give him answers faster than talking, that was precisely what he did.

Still, Lila always hoped that his voice on the Council would improve security, not decrease it. An open revolt? Wasn't that a bit too much?

She sat in her quarters in the barracks, trying to analyze everything that happened in the past 48 hours. Lila was almost ready to blame herself for the violent outbreak that was happening right now. At least she felt she may have been an involuntary catalyst of these events.

For her, it started with what she still considered a betrayal of her community and maybe humankind as a whole. She knew that undead could be very dangerous, yet she allowed Aira to continue experimenting with the tablet.

Was she getting soft just because she saw a person behind those ethereal green and blue eyes? Maybe. But there was something else that pushed her to make that decision.

Elder's beard, she witnessed it herself. Aira had some weird powers. It was so much more than any of them expected from an undead.

Of course, they weren't supposed to know anything. The information was held tight, but people always talked and gossiped. The official version was that the undead were mindless creatures that survived only due to some mysterious ways. They gathered in groups in their cities, but nobody knew what was happening there. Were they organized as a society?

Before Lila met Aira, she was sure they, indeed, didn't have any survival skills. Not to mention mysterious ways to influence gadgets.

But all of that seemed to be another lie. Or at least a myth created by humans. She saw how intelligent Aira was. The woman... yes, she would never use the word "it" to talk about her. Aira was smart. She learned their language in just a few weeks!

And that was another thing that bugged Lila. Shouldn't Aira retain at least some memory? She couldn't have wandered from far away. She had to know the language. Or was it all a pretense to trick the humans? Trick her.

The undead definitely kept a lot of information to herself. But what could be her end goal? Just not telling anything to humans didn't seem like it.

Lila's thoughts returned to that damned tablet. She saw it with her own eyes. It reacted to Aira's touch. That was even more unexplainable than everything else that was strange about the undead captive.

"No, that can't be," said Lila. "There should be a reasonable explanation. I must have been imagining things!"

Still, the right thing was to report it to her superiors and let the Council decide. It was so far above her pay grade.

On the other hand, Lila felt sincerity behind Aira's behavior. She wholeheartedly wanted to help this woman. And wouldn't her report only make Garrick act earlier? He obviously was preparing for quite some time, considering how fast his cronies took control of all the most critical parts of the town and overturned the government.

It was so typical for Garrick. His habit was to cut first and decide who was right and who was wrong after. That was one of the things that made Lila consider keeping information about Aira to herself, at least for a couple of days, as she promised.

So, that's where they were two days later. The whole settlement was turned upside down. Garrick's loyal rangers overpowered any resistance and imprisoned most of the Elders. And some of them were even rumored dead.

"Lila, are you coming? Garrick calls for a muster of all us who are on duty." Korin peeked in her room for a moment. "Hurry up, he isn't known for his patience! Especially now."

Was it safe for Lila to show herself in front of Garrick today? Everybody knew she was spending a lot of time with the undead captive.

But then, she did that following the direct orders of her superiors. They can't blame her, right? Even if those superiors may already be dead.

Lila sighed, stood up slowly, and left the building to face her fate.

***

And here she was. With an undead lying unconscious in her bedroom. Could they even be unconscious? She never even thought she'd have to consider the semantics of the different mental states of the undead.

If hiding Aira, the bona fide enemy of the town and humanity wasn't enough, she also had two dead rangers in the other room.

Lila couldn't even begin explaining or rationalizing the events that led her to this moment. When Garrick ordered Aira's pyre to be ignited, the Elders were already dead on the other pyres. But she knew her life would never be the same when she saw them tied to the posts. She won't be able to serve under Garrick or whoever he put in charge of the rangers. Not after he killed the whole Council. Whatever the reasoning.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

What was even worse was that she saw the faces of her fellow townspeople. How they absorbed every Garrick's hateful word. How their faces lit up when the Elders started dying. Those people enjoyed this violence. So, in her mind, she formulated the first steps of her escape plan. Right there, on the spot. There was that Old World facility a few days away from Mountain View. She could camp there for a while and then figure out her options. The options that wouldn't include working under Garrick.

And she had to do that right away, with winter coming so soon.

But then, everything happened so fast.

Aira singled her out in the crowd with her gaze and smiled.

The fire started burning Aira's feet.

Aira stayed strong.

Her face changed as if she wasn't there anymore, in the middle of the square, in the center of this hateful crowd. It was as if she was searching for something within her.

What happened next? There was no logical explanation for that. The fires suddenly died out, and a murmur went over the crowd. Garrick and his accomplices fell to the ground without warning, sound, or evident attack.

Aira recovered from her reverie, tensed, and ripped away the bonds that tied her to the post. One jump, and she was near Garrick, growling something right into his face. It almost seemed they had a last chat before something like lightning fried the man at Aira's feet.

The panic that immediately blanketed the crowd was like nothing Lila had ever seen. People were trampling each other, trying to get further away from the dead bodies of Garrick and his cronies. Some of her still-alive colleagues did their best to organize the townsfolk, but it was utterly impossible.

That wasn't the end for Lila, though. Despite her doubts, she was sure she needed to remove Aira from the scene. Some part of her brain told her it may have been an even more significant betrayal than what she had already done. But it also felt like the right thing to do. Aira was an unwilling participant in their town's power struggle. And Lila knew she needed to learn more about her and her story.

Never before had she relied on chaos and confusion as much as this morning. She was able to grab a cart and pick up Aira's unconscious body along with the bodies of two Garrick's rangers, just to cover up her deed and move them away.

Doing her duties as a ranger. Nothing suspicious.

And that's how they ended up in her house near the edge of the town with two dead bodies.

***

The chaotic execution happened in the morning. Now, a whole day had passed, and Aira was still unconscious. Lila went to the kitchen to check the dishes she had already washed and sorted three times to kill time and distract herself from dark thoughts. Just to be sure they were clean. Occasionally, she peeked outside. No one was coming for her... yet.

There was no chance her deceit would stay unnoticed for long. As soon as the new command structure becomes operational, they'll begin to stitch together the events of the morning piece by piece. And the disappearance of the undead's body would raise many questions.

She heard Aira stirring in the next room. "By the Elders' breath, keep it down!" Lila whispered urgently, hurrying to her co-conspirator's side. "It's not like anybody would understand you, but your growls can be heard from outside!"

Aira nodded her understanding and pointed at a cup of water. "Ah... thirsty, huh?" asked Lila. "Hold tight, I'll fill it in the kitchen." Aira growled softly and looked around her with intent.

"How did you get here?" asked Lila. "It's a long story. Luckily, when you did that thing... whatever you did to Garrick and his goons, everyone else was spooked clean out of their wits and bolted home. And we're stretched thin as bark these days. First, Garrick's power grab, then you sweeping through his cronies. Still, we are lucky they didn't come for us yet."

Lila made a pause, taking a nervous breath.

"Anyway, this meant nobody was there to enforce order," she continued. "At least for some time. So, I volunteered for the cleanup. Managed to slip you away with a few other bodies before anyone caught on."

Lila still wasn't sure it was wise to share any information with an undead. Probably, it wasn't wise to be in the same house with an undead, either. However, it was too late to worry about that. She had no way back. But was there any way forward for her? For them?

"Thanks for not roasting me alive, by the way," Lila said, issuing an unsure laugh. "Had me rattled like a loose gear when they started dropping one by one. What was that?!?" She couldn't stop the stream of words. "I'm still not sure I did the right thing by not finishing you right there on the square while you were out of it. But Garrick… that was wrong, all of it."

She paused again. "Oh, it wasn't smart to tell you that I considered killing you," she said. "Bones and bark, I don't even know if you can be killed. What would that make you—twice dead? A dead undead?" Lila's short laughs were promptly turning into unstoppable giggling. She rested her back against the wall, closed her face with her hands, and allowed her body to slide to the floor.

Only to hear Aira slowly standing up from the bed and crouching closer to hug Lila. They sat like that in the corner for a few moments until Lila's nervous giggles fizzled out.

"Right," Lila finally managed, sniffling as she got up. "Guess we could both use some tea."

As soon as both of them were seated, with mugs of hot liquid on the table before them, Aira quickly checked her pockets, searching for the gadgets she had removed from Garrick's body.

"Looking for these?" asked Lila, pointing to a pile of stuff on the kitchen countertop. "Yeah, I also was surprised by the size of this stash. I suppose you got all of them off Garrick?"

Aira nodded.

"What a bastard! Not only did he kill his peers, but he looted them. Maybe I should check those bodies I still have in the back room for more valuables? I wouldn't put it past Garrick's people to follow his example."

Aira looked questioningly.

"I didn't have time to dispose of them or to think of an excuse for bringing them to the cemetery half a day later. I guess we can leave them here for now. We'll have to leave soon anyway. Well before they start to stink."

"So," she looked at Aira, "what should I do with you? I've burned my bridges for good, helping you. Can't see them letting me back in the fold. But honestly, I had so many questions before the coup. And I don't think I'll get any answers here in the town."

She paused as if considering her options. "Also, so much depends on the choice of the next Council. I have no idea who will be appointed with all the previous Elders killed by Garrick and, well... by you, if we count Garrick himself. They might go soft on me... or hang me outright."

Aira looked at her patiently. There was no fear or pleading in her eyes. Just a calm expectation of Lila's decision.

"You know? Damn it! I want to know you better. I need to learn more about you and your people. There is something about you that makes me feel that helping you is the right thing to do. And if I'm gonna be cast out, I might as well get some answers out of this mess. Doesn't feel right, just throwing you to the wolves."

Lila looked at the pile of gadgets and then at Aira. "Is it even safe to let you mess with the tablet?" Lila asked her. "Now I'm sure that I wasn't seeing things. You could influence it somehow, right? Not that you'd answered me if you wanted to kill me, huh?"

Aira nodded and spread her hands as if surrendering to Lila's judgment.

Lila threw her hands in the air and then messed up her hair with a quick motion as if that would help her make the decision.

"Ah, moss and mud!" she exclaimed, grabbing the tablet. "Fine.Take it. What happens, happens."