《FLARE》 LOST: PROLOGUE August 12, 2029, 14:29 14:29: [Kiki] Hello? 14:32: [Kiki] I just woke up here, in a ruined city, I think. It¡¯s all kind of flat around me, but I can see a tall pointy skyscraper nearby. I don¡¯t know how I got here. Does anyone know where I am or what happened? Is there someone who can help me get home? 15:08: [Gaunt] who are you guys 15:08: [Gaunt] who made this group i dont remember any of you 15:10: [Gaunt] shit i cant call anyone. can one of you call someone to the old train station, im in a bad state 15:11: [Kiki] I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t think this is even my phone. I just found it here. 15:11: [Kiki] There¡¯s no cell service. Can you tell me where you are? If you¡¯re nearby I can try to help. I know a little first aid. 15:12: [Kiki] I can¡¯t see a train station so I need you to direct me. 15:18: [Gaunt] okay its not really a train station. its all completely wrecked. im on the edge of a forest tho. 15:19: [Gaunt] i think i can see the skyscraper actually its not far at all. maybe 20-30 km away. dunno which way. 15:19: [Lyre] Hello 15:21: [Kiki] I can¡¯t see any forest. I¡¯m a lot closer than you. Some stuff¡¯s overgrown near me. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! 15:22: [Kiki] I think I¡¯m too far away to get there quickly. 15:22: [Kiki] Hi there, do you know anything? 15:23: [Gaunt] thats ok, nothing urgent. can meet you halfway. 15:24: [Lyre] I can¡¯t wait to meet you guys! 15:24: [Kiki] Okay, go towards the skyscraper. Tell me what things look like. If it¡¯s familiar to me I will go find you. 15:26: [Gaunt] on my way. might get there in a week or so 15:28: [Kiki] Nice to meet you, Lyre. Do you know how we got here or how to leave? Where are you? 15:29: [Lyre] I¡¯m going to meet up with Spike. See you soon! 15:29: [Spike] How do you know where i am 15:29: [Gaunt] what the hell 15:30: [Gaunt] what does that even mean?? did you make this group or something??? 15:30: [Kiki] I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll tell us anything. 15:30: [Gaunt] weird but ok. spike i guess doesnt want to tell us where they are right 15:30: [Gaunt] but anyway seems like lyre might know already. 15:31: [Kiki] Yeah. They seem friendly. Hopefully they¡¯ll help us. 15:31: [Kiki] A week¡¯s a long time to travel. Are you badly hurt? I planned to meet you there. If you can¡¯t make it we can change things. 15:33: [Gaunt] i can deal 15:34: [Gaunt] okay im off. wont have a connection. we can talk at the next signal tower. 15:35: [Kiki] Bye. Good luck! 15:35: [Gaunt] thx. dont die. 15:35: [Kiki] Haha, hopefully I won¡¯t. See you soon (fingers crossed!). 15:37: [Spike] Lyre how do you know this 15:37: [Spike] What do you want 15:40: [Spike] Answer me LOST I: KIKI Her feet hurt. She didn¡¯t usually walk this long or far. At least the road was still in reasonably good condition. When she¡¯d woken up, it had been cloudy, but now it was sunny, and the city around her was slowly heating up. She held her phone up, compulsively checking it for the third time in two minutes. Nothing. She didn¡¯t have a connection, so it was kind of stupid to check, but it was her only possible source of help or comfort. Everything was so much harder when you were alone. All around was nothing, empty streets and ruined foundations, horizon broken only by the skyscraper in the distance. She¡¯d hardly made any progress. It would take her this day and the next to get there. She hated walking. Was there a signal tower nearby? Was anything nearby? The asphalt was hot from the sun, radiating up to her. She¡¯d need water eventually. Food too. Anything worthwhile in these ruins had long since been destroyed. Gaunt said they were in a forest. Hopefully it was cooler there. She¡¯s always loved her time in the forest with her family. She checked her phone. She didn¡¯t want to keep looking up and seeing how far she had to go, so she kept her gaze lowered to the streets around her. She blinked as her eyes landed on¡­ pills, scattered in the street. The kind with those capsules you could pull apart. A nondescript sort of yellow. How did these get here? The capsules should have dissolved with the first rainfall, meaning they¡¯re fresh. The bottle could have been knocked over, or damaged, in which case it would be nearby. ¡­Or not. She didn¡¯t see it anywhere. Which makes it more likely that someone placed them here, or spilled them, and took the bottle with them. But if they did, they left no trace, and she had no way to find them. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll never know,¡± she muttered. She originally intended to leave them, but paused and decided to grab the pills and stick them in her pocket. She may not know what they are, but someone else might. She¡¯d send a picture in the chat once she reached the next tower. She kept walking. God, this was boring. She was alone, in a strange location, with no memory of how she got there. That was really scary. But she was really bored at the same time. She heard a growl, and her head snapped up. A stray dog. It looked like it hadn¡¯t eaten in a while. Could she scare it off, or would it be better for her to retreat? She held eye contact with it for a moment, and the growling increased in volume. Crouching, she reached down without taking her eyes off it, grabbing a loose chunk of asphalt. ¡°Hey! Go away! Get outta here!¡± She sprung up, waving her arms in the air. ¡°If you attack, I will throw this at you!¡± She gestured with the chunk. ¡°I¡¯m not messing around! Rah!¡± The dog flinched back momentarily, before tucking its ears back and charging, growl opening up into a snarl. She inhaled, wound up, and flung the asphalt at its head. It hit the dog on its shoulder, leaving a bleeding cut. The dog stopped, yelping, and nosed at its shoulder for a moment. She held her breath. Please go away¡­ It turned back to her, murder in its eyes. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Shit.¡± She scrabbled at the ground for another stone. Again. A smaller one this time. Instead of the overhead throw she¡¯d done before, she whipped the stone at it in a more sideways motion. This one hit it between the eyes. Another yelp. Probably less damage, but still painful. No visible injury this time. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s more where that came from.¡± The dog hesitated, considering for a moment. She reached down for another stone, and it ran. Once it was out of sight, she beelined away from it at a brisk walk. Not a run. Never flee from a wild animal unless you can quickly get somewhere they can¡¯t reach. She glanced back several times at the alley it had come from, until it was too small for her to see in the distance. Then she stopped, sitting down in the street. She checked her phone. No signal. She could really use someone to talk to. She could have died there. She could still die here. Tears pricked at her eyes. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It didn¡¯t really work, so she tried again. And again. She stood up, rubbing her eyes. She could cry on the walk. She had to go meet up with Gaunt, and she really wasn¡¯t safer here than anywhere else. She took her first few steps, sniffling. There was food and water here. Some sort of food, anyway. Not much, but enough that that dog was still alive. So she wouldn¡¯t die of thirst, at least. Contaminated water was still a risk, but there wasn¡¯t anything she could do about that now. Tears were running down her cheeks, now. She wiped at them, blinking to try and keep her vision clear. In, and out. She¡¯d keep going until she found somewhere safe to rest. Nothing much changed, aside from the skyscraper growing larger in her vision and the pain in her feet slowly increasing. More ruins. More empty streets. Thankfully, no more dogs. At one point, she found a piece of copper wire and picked it up. She fiddled with it as she walked, bending and coiling it into interesting shapes before straightening it again. Her tears had dried, leaving a faint sticky feeling on her face. She wasn¡¯t exactly calm. More like she¡¯d grown tired of crying. The rest of her skin was a little tacky as well, from sweat. This place was turning into an oven. She¡¯d need water soon. Still no service. Hopefully Gaunt was okay. And hopefully Lyre didn¡¯t mean them harm. She was pretty sure they did what they wanted and there wasn¡¯t really any way to stop them. She¡¯d check in on Spike next time, see if they were okay. They seemed freaked out, with good reason. And if they weren¡¯t, then maybe it would be time to worry. On her next step, her foot landed on the edge of a large hole, and as she put her weight on it, she slipped in. ¡°Ah!¡± There was a tangled mess of rebar and crumbling concrete at the bottom, and her feet lodged inside of it as she grabbed onto the lip of the crater. It was about four feet deep, with a footlong radius. It looked like something had struck the road hard enough to pulverize it, and damaged the foundations below. Dammit, she really should have been paying more attention. Not a big deal, though, she could just haul herself out. She braced her arms on the side of the crater, pushing down as she tried to swing a leg up. Her left foot was stuck. She tried to disentangle it, kicking, but only succeeded in scraping her ankle against the concrete. ¡°Fuck.¡± This was so dumb. ¡°Fuck!¡± Would she just be stuck here until someone dragged her out? No. Absolutely not. She would get out of this stupid hole, and she¡¯d do it herself somehow. She needed a lever to loosen the metal around her foot. Was there a loose piece of rebar or something she could use? There, sticking out by her hip, a piece of broken pipe. Bent in a J shape, broken off and jagged at both ends. She grabbed it, but didn¡¯t use it right away. Instead, she ground down the edges on the asphalt surface of the road, wearing it dull. It should give her enough reach and leverage to dig herself out. She leaned down, awkwardly, and snagged a couple pieces under the curve of the pipe. Pulling, she was rewarded as it was slowly freed, and then she could bring it up to her other hand and toss it out of the hole. This was going to take a while. After some work, only the secured pieces around her foot remained. Even these felt a little looser. The pipe was covered in dents and scratches, and bits of rubble surrounded the hole around it. She leaned down, one last time, and hooked the pipe around the rebar. ¡°Ghhhhhhh¡­.¡± Shoving the end to the side using her full body weight, she felt it lifting as the metal bent agonizingly slowly. The pipe was also bending, unfortunately much quicker. Hopefully it would last long enough. ¡°Ugh! Come on, please¡­¡± There was a scraping sound at her feet. Part of the pipe hit her foot, weight slowly increasing as the angle changed. She paused to readjust, then kept working. The bend in the pipe was becoming more and more pronounced. After just a few more seconds, it was too bent to be of use, but the rebar had loosened enough that she could move her foot around. Setting the pipe aside, she gripped the side of the hole, and pushed herself up. Her foot snagged, and she gently kicked around until she was able to squeeze it through the opening. She hauled herself out, brushed away some of the rubble, and flopped onto the ground. How much farther did she have to go? Oh. She was actually pretty close! Maybe a kilometer away? She stood, a renewed vigor in her step. The sun was just beginning to set once she found herself standing next to it. It was a lot of stone and broken windows. Looked like an old apartment building. She peeked into the entrance. Dark. Quiet. Empty. Smelled like dust. It would probably be okay to stay the night if she covered up the doors. She could maybe pry up some of the carpet for that, and use the wires, screws, and other shiny metal bits she¡¯d been collecting. The elevators were obviously nonfunctional. There was a door to the staircase leading up. She¡¯d barricade that with the furniture scattered about. She walked to the concierge desk. She rifled through the drawers and cupboards- the ones that were unlocked. Someone had left their water bottle. She shook it and it sloshed. Unscrewing the lid, she sniffed, then took a small sip. Stale, but clean. Two-thirds full. Nice. Nothing else super interesting. A couple pens. She grabbed those. Papers. She stuffed a few into her pants in case she needed to draw or write notes. She checked her phone. ¡°Yes!¡± She started walking over to an armchair, already typing out her next messages. LOST I: GAUNT Why oh why did she say it was fine? Gaunt grimaced as she finally dragged herself out from under the train car. Stupid. Now it was too late to say anything, Kiki probably already left. And there wasn¡¯t any point in giving that kind of impression to Spike, or that freak Lyre, for no reason. Her palms were raw from where they gripped twisted metal, scrabbled on asphalt. Her body protested as she tried to shove herself to her feet, so instead she met it halfway and sat herself upright. Gaunt tried to get her breathing under control. I should go soon. She sat there anyway. Leaving the trainwreck made it feel more real, that hey, maybe there really isn¡¯t a way out this time. Maybe I¡¯ll actually die. Staying, she could pretend there was a first-aid kit somewhere in the rubble that wasn¡¯t completely decimated, some real bandages, a bottle of fucking vodka, literally anything. But all she got for her efforts were a few old linens. That, and the crowbar she found by the tracks. Breathing under control, she pulled one of the rags out from her bag. She poured a little water on it from her canteen, trying to squeeze it out as best she could, and then gasped as she poured some directly onto the site. It still wasn¡¯t particularly clean, but that¡¯s the best she could do without disinfectant. Wincing, she fumbled with the ends for a good minute before she managed to awkwardly tie it around her midriff. Blood wicked across the edges, but didn¡¯t quite start bleeding through. It was a big cloth. It still barely covered the injury. Don¡¯t think about it. Well, there wasn¡¯t anything else she could waste her time with. Cautiously, she brought her legs around to a kneeling position, then staggered to her feet. The cloth held. She picked up the crowbar from where it was leaning against the wreck, and gripped it firmly. Even if it was just a crowbar, and not anything she really needed right then, it was nice to feel protected from whatever else may cross her path. With one last glance back, she set off. Even as she stepped around bits of sheet metal and plastic, her injury didn¡¯t slow her much. A cursory examination told her it wasn¡¯t so deep, just wide, and sensitive as hell. That said, given the state of things, ¡°about a week¡± without serious consequences was really pushing it. Stupid. Really, someone should have called for help and she should be in a hospital right now. Even in the ass-end of nowhere, there had to be someone. But Gaunt hadn¡¯t seen a single person in the hour or so after crawling out of the train car and that wasn¡¯t changing as she walked away, either. Buildings and power lines and infrastructure all chopped up into bits, forming thick mounds of rubble. Something big had clearly happened, bigger than the train crash, and it was up to Gaunt alone to make it out. She craned her neck towards the skyscraper. Far, but at least she knew where it was. If she skimped on sleeping, she could make it there a little faster. Between her experience on rocky turf and her high-quality boots, she was making good progress; in some ways, it was lucky that she knew her way around rough terrain. In other ways, it was incredibly stupid of her to go backpacking with a bunch of randos she¡¯d never met before. Granted, it could have been worse; she could have been assaulted or kidnapped and then left to die. But this wasn¡¯t exactly at the top of her list, either. People pleaser, that¡¯s what they called it. Yes, I¡¯ll help you with that assignment. Yes, I can watch your kids for a bit. Yes, I¡¯d love to go backpacking with you with little-to-no preparation whatsoever, on the other side of the country. Gaunt knew this was a bad thing, and she knew she should stop, but she never did. It was¡­ too much feedback, when she tried. Kept her up at night, so to speak. And look where that got her: completely alone, anyway. So stupid. She scoffed, and sidestepped a lone beer bottle. In doing so, her gaze fell on a slope set nearby. Stairs, leading underground. That would¡¯ve been the subway. Being reinforced, it wouldn¡¯t have collapsed save a full-on natural disaster, so the only danger below would be whatever vagrants and vermin sheltered there. None of which Gaunt was particularly fond of the idea of, especially in her state. With that said, her bag was feeling lighter than she would have liked. She took it off, cracked it open. She hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to refill, and only had food and water for two days or so. She wouldn¡¯t make it as it was. The tunnels would have stuff in them. Maybe vending machines. Maybe first-aid stations. And if people knew about¡­ whatever happened. What happened? Her mind drew a blank. Trauma? It wasn¡¯t out of the question that she was forgetting something that would do more harm than good. But shouldn¡¯t she remember something, between waking up at the train yard and standing in line for a ticket that morning? This wasn¡¯t the time. She could think about that later, it was probably just stress. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Whatever the case, Gaunt reasoned, people probably knew something was up and ran to the subway to get the hell out, no matter what the protocol actually was. And desperate people tended to leave behind valuable things. It would be worth a shot, at least. Swearing, she shouldered her bag and descended. The first door she found was glass, blown clean open. As was the rest of the wall, actually, also glass. She gingerly brushed some of the shards away with her sleeve and stepped through, clutching her stomach. The interior was a mess, packaging and spoiled food scattered everywhere. Unfortunately, the shelf for over-the-counter drugs was stripped bare. Interestingly enough, though, much of the food was intact. A lot of it was nutritionally poor or overly salted, but it would do for energy in a pinch. She grabbed a few bags of salted nuts, some gummies, and the last bag of jerky. If there was food, maybe there was water, too. Heading over to the next aisle, Gaunt¡¯s hopes were nearly dashed as she witnessed the fallen shelf, impaling all the bottles in sight. She trudged over to the shelf and, gritting her teeth, lifted it anyway. Only a couple small juice boxes were intact, and she wasted no time scooping them up. Nothing else, after a cursory glance, proved too interesting. After checking under the pharmaceutical shelf for anything other than Band-Aids, Gaunt called the job done and stepped back towards the tunnel hallway. After the next flight of stairs, a light pang traced through her forehead. Strange, as she didn¡¯t think she lost so much blood. But again, she could chalk it up to general stress. Gently shaking her head, she looked to the far wall. Several posters lined the tunnel. She started reading one of them before she regained her focus. Skimming over, her fingers twitched as she made out a light box with a caduceus on it, but lost interest when she read the letters AED. Not what she was looking for. Impatiently, she scanned all the way to the end and saw something red, with a smudge of white on it. Eagerly, she hopped into the tracks and hauled herself over. Pulling herself over the ledge, however, revealed it only to be a fire extinguisher. Gaunt swore, snatching it up and throwing it directly onto the tracks. She shuffled back through the tracks to the stairs. Nothing much else in the tunnel. Maybe there would be something upstairs she forgot about. Turning to her right, she was met with a ticket booth (was that there when she entered? Maybe she entered from the left). She reached for the door handle, missed, then got it on her second try. Locked. Cursing some more, she swung the crowbar through a window, shattering it. She brushed a little bit of glass from the sill absently, and shoved herself through, her wound scraping against the edge as she did so. Her eyes roved over the various objects scattered within. Nothing good, nothing good ¨C a flicker of something brushed just on the edge of her vision. Gaunt tried to look at it, lazily drawing her attention around, before it fully registered and she swung the crowbar around her. It smashed directly into a cabinet, sending a judder through her arms. Didn¡¯t get it. She didn¡¯t see it anymore, though. Prying the crowbar out, her eyes fell on a small medical kit next to it on the wall. She snatched it up and shoved it hastily into the main compartment of her bag. With that done, she turned back to the window and crawled through, landing roughly on her left shoulder. Her midsection felt slightly damp. She could deal with that later. She stood up, and nearly fell over before placing a hand on the wall. That was everything, it was time to go. Which way did she come from, though? All the passages looked the same. She ran over to the closest one. No, that went down, she wanted one that went up. The next one also went down. The third didn¡¯t, so she ran through and hoped for the best. As she did, the thing from before brushed past her vision again. It took a moment for Gaunt to realise, thinking what was that? Wasn¡¯t there something unusual about it? Before she wound the crowbar behind her to smash into it. It dropped straight to the ground, nothing to be seen. Probably ran off, then. Back in an open room, she searched for the next place to go. Only one hall, the other blocked off. I don¡¯t remember being here before. Now starting to pant from the exertion, she staggered over to the open hallway. There had to be some way out. And true enough, there was a beam of light shining down the end of the passage. In her haste, Gaunt tripped forward onto the stairs, and didn¡¯t quite lift herself back up, instead opting to scramble up them on all fours. Finally back in the light of day, she wheezed, still on her knees. Buckling, she collapsed onto her side. Dimly, she knew she should be getting somewhere safe, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to do much at all. Gradually, her thoughts returned back to her. The thin ache of her stomach was brought back to the forefront of her mind. Shit. The injury. Too exhausted to swear, she agonisingly rolled herself over into a sitting position, and peeled her shirt up. The bandage was nearly soaked through, and more was oozing around the sides. She shrugged the backpack off her shoulders, and rifled through it. Main compartment, it was thankfully still there. She pulled out the medical kit and opened it. Bandages, of course, and gauze as well. Pulling those aside revealed some disinfectant, and which she let out a weak breath of relief. There was also a needle with thread, and some naloxone, although Gaunt didn¡¯t figure she needed either at the moment. She dumped some disinfectant on the gauze ¨C maybe a little more than she would have liked ¨C and threw the cloth aside to bury later. She let out a vicious hiss as the gauze touched flesh, but forced herself to dig into the wound despite the recoil. That over, she took some of the bandage and painstakingly wrapped it around herself. Tightening it as much as she could bear, she knotted several times over until she was satisfied it would hold. Why did I do this to myself? Gas. It hit her like her crowbar punched through that window. Gas leak. No wonder she got lost. Gaunt shook her head. Last time she¡¯d ever go underground. No contingency plan, didn¡¯t even consider the possibility. At least it was worth it. She checked the rest of the contents of her bag, just to be sure. All the snacks were intact. The juice boxes looked smaller than when she first got them, but she couldn¡¯t be sure if that was the gas or just overblown optimism. She zipped all the compartments back up and put it on, then lifted herself to her feet, using her arms to push off her knees. She¡¯d need water soon. But that could wait. It was getting dark, and judging from the looming tower, she¡¯d made alright progress. Maybe if she was in good shape she¡¯d push herself, but she figured it was due time for her lungs to get a break. She soon came across an old shop, walls mostly intact, even if the ceiling was gone. Not a terrible spot to set up camp. Setting her bag aside, she started shifting some of the demolished furniture into a crude sleeping arrangement. Once she designed the mass of splintered wood and torn fabric to her liking, she remembered the phone. It wasn¡¯t hers. Actually, she couldn¡¯t begin to imagine how she even got it; probably some weird circumstance that happened on the train ride. And the fact that none of them supposedly knew each other either was¡­ strange, to say the least. But she really needed to get in touch with Kiki. At this rate, maybe she¡¯d make it to the tower, maybe not. Depends on whether the disinfectant did its job or not. But judging from what she¡¯d seen so far, the ground was a little more traversable here; hopefully she could move a little faster tomorrow. Bringing the phone out, Gaunt found there was still a connection. Made sense; the cell tower outside seemed, miraculously, largely intact. She smiled a little as she leaned over to her discarded bag. Tearing open a pack of gummies and a granola bar, trying not to strain her injury so much with each breath, Gaunt opened the chat and started typing a message. LOST I: SPIKE All around him, the world was searing. Metal glowed and the air was hazy. Screeching, clanging, humming machinery sounded off in the distance. He didn¡¯t know where Lyre was coming from or how fast they were, or how they¡¯d tracked him down. It was possible there was a tracking device in the phone, but it was one of his few assets and he didn¡¯t want to throw it away over a maybe. Fumbling with clumsy fingers, he shoved it into his pocket. He got up and started walking, uphill to where the glow was a bit dimmer. He¡¯d have to go slow, because he suspected a lot of these areas would require careful concentration to get through safely, and he¡¯d have to check any areas before putting his hands there. If it was too hot to hold, he wouldn¡¯t realise until it was too late. It was unlikely he could outpace Lyre hour-to-hour, assuming they were as fast as the average person, but if he kept walking, they might exhaust themself before he did. Kiki and Gaunt would probably neither help nor hinder him, regardless of their intentions. It sounded like they were too far away to do much of anything. They both seemed to share information freely, which was good, since it meant he could lurk and learn more without showing his hand. There was always the possibility they were lying, so he wouldn¡¯t act on any information they shared until he could confirm or deny it. He lifted a foot, and a bit of the sole stuck to the surface, stretching out in long, goopy strands. He was risking foot damage if he continued this way, so he cast around for a more insulated substance. There was a patch coated in rubber, so he hurried to stand on it and carefully toed it before poking his shoe sole with a finger. Firm. He could stand here safely. So much metal, all around him. Most of it was goopy looking slag, like it had melted and frozen again, but some bits were sharp and jagged. He tried to avoid looking at those ones, but every time he saw one, there was a split-second burst of fear. At least it wasn¡¯t rusty. There weren''t any other rubbery patches easily visible, so he¡¯d have to risk the slag. He scrutinized one patch off to the side of where he¡¯d been standing before. He couldn¡¯t see any glow, but he couldn¡¯t reach out and check with his foot without slipping and falling. He ripped off a small bit of his shirt, balled it around a scrap of rubber to give it mass, and tossed it at the slag. Where the little scrap landed, the cloth began smoking faintly. No good. He looked up, to where the sky was just visible through the smoke. The crater was hottest in the middle, with streaks of glowing metal extending to the edges. He didn¡¯t have the right perspective to see where he was standing, but based on the other walls, he was about halfway up and near the edge of a glowing streak. If he was able to move to the side, he could get to one of the cooler portions and climb up from there. He spent a couple minutes tracing out his path, then edged to the side, hands outstretched to provide balance and catch him if necessary. There were no glowing portions, but every few steps, his shoe sole would become soft and tacky as it rested on the slag. All he could do was step off those spots as fast as possible, and hope his shoes had enough integrity to protect his feet. He wouldn¡¯t know if damage had been done, or how much, until he could stop to check. There were more spots, too narrow to balance. For those, he had to cling to the walls. He fished his gloves out of his pockets, pulling them on. It wouldn¡¯t provide much protection, and it would make his grip clumsier, but it was the best thing he had on hand. The slag was slippery unless he dug his fingers into the natural divots where bubbles had popped. As he stepped onto a slanted lump, his foot slipped, and he nearly fell, held by his fingertips. This had been easier in the beginning, before the rubber treads on his shoes had melted. There was a flatter ledge higher up. Holding on with one hand, he reached up with the other, grabbing the edge. He slid his hand along until he found a groove he could be sure wouldn¡¯t slip from his grip, then transferred his other hand over and silently pulled the rest of his body up. He flinched, and nearly fell, at the metal scrap just a foot from his face. He backed away, as far as possible. It still wasn¡¯t enough. Why? Why had he woken up in this hell, of all places? He took a deep breath. Let it out. He was probably going to die, either to something outside the crater, or to Lyre. This climb might ruin him, once he reached the top. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. But he shoved his fear down and kept climbing, because he refused to die here, and if there was a chance to get back home to his family, he was not going to miss it. He still had to move a bit laterally, and then he could start his climb up. He looked at the path ahead. The slag was smoother here. If he used his gloves, he risked losing his grip, but if he took them off, there was the risk of burning himself. Better a hand than his life. He stripped off his gloves and kept climbing. He was quickly vindicated in his decision to take off the gloves, as his clumsy handholds were almost too small for his fingers to fit, and one nearly slipped from his grip as he swung his legs over to the side. A smooth knob of slag stuck out, an easy handhold. He grabbed onto it as he climbed up to a large platform he¡¯d spotted before, his last stop before beginning to ascend in earnest. He held on for a few moments, making sure his other hand was well secured before letting go. When he relaxed his muscles, his hand stayed curled around the knob. He pulled, and he felt a tearing sensation as it came loose. He didn¡¯t look to see the damage. He needed the hand to pull himself up, regardless of if doing so damaged it more. He flexed it, making sure his muscles still responded to him, then grabbed the platform and pulled himself up. There was a dark smear of fluid where his left hand had gripped, but luckily, the platform was cool as far as he could tell. He sat down and held his hand up in front of his face, examining the now-exposed muscle. The skin had been stripped away, but there was no visible underlying damage. He¡¯d have to cover it to prevent the muscle being damaged from friction on the climb. He fished the left glove out of his pocket, turning it inside out and brushing away as much of the lint as he could. He tried picking it off with two fingers, but his fingers weren¡¯t precise enough for it to work. That was fine, if any got in the wound he could get it out later with something like tweezers. He turned the glove right-side out and put it on. It hugged the skin tightly enough that it shouldn¡¯t rub against it too much. He¡¯d bandage it later, but right now he had to get out of here before Lyre got to him. Next, he checked his feet. Sliding his shoes off, he peeled away one sock and poked at the underside of his foot. Firm, calloused skin met his fingers, no sign of dampness or softness that could indicate serious damage. He checked the other foot just in case, finding the same thing, then put his socks back on. Inspecting the soles of his sneakers, they hadn¡¯t lost much actual material, but the surface had been rendered smooth. That would make things difficult. He looked up at the wall above him. There were a couple dark patches where it was sunken in. It looked like a slag flow had gone down the wall, but instead of being fully melted, there were still half-solid bits of machinery that had stuck on and frozen in place as it cooled. Lots of easy handholds, which meant he would need to rely less on his feet for grip and traction. He pulled his shoes on and got up. He began the ascent, falling into a rhythm. Grab, pull himself up, find a foothold, reach out, pull himself up again. Simple and easy, enough that his mind wandered a bit as he climbed. His memory had gaps, not just how he got here, but from before, too. He remembered dinners with his parents, messing around with his friends, time in the backyard with his dog. And later, he remembered curling up on vacant doorsteps, walking along the shoulder as cars zipped by on the freeway, hiding in libraries past closing hours. But he didn¡¯t remember how that transition happened. The time in between was all one big blank. As he rested his full weight on a slender mechanical arm, he heard a creak, and before he could let go, it snapped. He fell. Luckily, not far, only a few meters down. His limp body hit the outcropping with a thud, and immediately he was back on his feet. There was the squeal of metal, and something grabbed his upper arm, pulling him into the crevice. He dug in his heels, but it was strong and his shoes were slippery, and it didn¡¯t even slow down. He reached around and felt the object holding him. A mechanical clamp, attached to a metal arm. A machine, somehow still functional in this mess. His first instinct was to pull his arm out of his sleeve. When he tried, the clamp tightened its grip, the pressure on his bicep increasing. It was dragging him towards a flat table, where what could be a sensor or a laser cutter hovered. The main body of the machine was there too, a boxy chunk of rusted metal and exposed wires. He froze up for a few long seconds, allowing the arm to drag him closer. The edges were sharp where the rust had worn through. Sharp enough to cut. He mentally shook himself as the arm began trying to tug him up onto the table, and he hung onto the edge to slow it down. Rusty meant it was weakened. If it was weakened, he could probably damage it with a punch or kick if he got close enough. He needed to deal with the clamp first, before it was able to pin him down. The clamp yanked, and the edge slipped out of his grip. He looked up at it as it hauled him up. Bare metal, wiry tendonlike attachments, some rusted and corroded looking, pistons at the joints. A smattering of rust over it all, but thankfully no sharp edges. He grabbed a wire leading to one of the clamp fingers, bracing his trapped arm against the table, and yanked as hard as he could. For a moment, there was nothing, and then filaments began to snap at the most rusted segment. He pulled again, and more snapped. The third time, the wire broke, and the clamp jerked. The damaged claw relaxed, and he pulled his arm free, shoving himself off the table. He landed butt-first on the ground, rotated so his feet were facing the main body, and kicked out at the largest hole in the chassis. His foot plunged into the body, flakes of rust scattering. Silicon shattered and wires broke free as he drove it deeper, leg jerking with what was probably mild shocks. Instead of the targeted motion he¡¯d seen before, the claw started flailing, slamming into the table and denting it. He was close enough to the main body that it couldn¡¯t hit him, but with the way it was moving, he could get hit on the way out. It was raised a bit, so it was less likely to strike the ground as opposed to one of the walls. He waited until it was swinging near the far wall, then started crawling out towards the exit. For the most part, it wasn¡¯t near him, though at one point it swung about a foot above his head. He kept going until he made it to the edge, then stood and reached up for a handhold to continue climbing as the dying recycler thrashed inside. Once he made it to the top, he only paused for a brief moment to orient himself. Nothing interesting in sight, empty desert in all directions. He chose a direction, and started walking. LOST I: LYRE Phone, away. Pocket is a good place. He ¨C Spike ¨C he is not so far, not so close. Not that way, exactly; there. Where he would have been, will be. Right and right and up, and go up up up, far. Not so far, but far. He is very cold and very firm. He is also invisible, right now, but that does not affect the coldness or firmness. Cold is not so good but not so bad either. Firm is very very bad. She does not like firm. Others, Kiki, Gaunt, are very very far. Not how far to walk but in her mind they are very far and she will not go see them for a while. Also, Spike is already there, so Spike first. Also there is water and also food. These are important but also all over the place. So she would need one water one food for sunset and also more progress to Spike. Luckily, there is easy water and food very close to path so she can just take it while following current plan. Sometimes Lyre wonders about what is very very very far too far so she can¡¯t see. Far so everything is invisible. Because it is invisible she does not worry about it because she cannot do much if she cannot see it, but she knows she keeps doing things so she gets to a certain place and she thinks it would be nice to know what that place is. First go to Spike and then there is a giant wall and she is on the other side with Spike or someone else gets through or something of the sort and then all four are there. Kiki Gaunt Spike Lyre. And then after that is all invisible but she is very interested in seeing what happens, very excited to meet Kiki Gaunt Spike because they all seem good even though they are sort of invisible. Also things also go in the other direction but not for Lyre. She knows there are things in the other direction, the other way where instead of getting closer and closer she was already there once but will never go there again. Actually she knows that everyone is able to see backwards in the other direction and then because they can see backwards and also because they know where they are right then immediately they can sort of guess where they are supposed to go forwards even if they can¡¯t see that way. But she has a lot of trouble with those and she doesn¡¯t know why because if the reason why is forwards it is very very very far away. Having trouble knowing where she is is okay. It is very inconvenient sometimes but also because she can see forward usually she can make herself go somewhere that is okay and she can just stay there. But she does not like being blind backwards at all. Seeing forwards is very much not helpful for knowing what is behind her. Which is very confusing to her and it¡¯s also frustrating sometimes because maybe the answer is behind her and she couldn¡¯t know. Lyre thinks that maybe she used to not be able to see forward because if she did then she would probably have seen forward when she was behind where she is and then she would be able to see those places behind her now. And if she couldn¡¯t see forward then probably she could have seen backwards like normal. So something happened and now the behind is all blank. And this is one of the reasons why she wishes she could see very very very far away because then maybe she would see herself seeing the behind again and that would make her very happy if she knew. But also she is okay with what she sees now. She is pretty sure she is walking in a good direction and even if she doesn¡¯t see that far off she thinks she will be closer to a good place when she meets Kiki Gaunt Spike. Kiki Gaunt Spike Lyre. So first she will go to Spike. And also the food and also water of course but because those are everywhere she will have no problem with it no matter where she goes. So of course she needs her path, her plan. If Spike will be right and right and up and up and up then how can I get as close to Spike as I can? Luckily as far as she can see is very very flat and straight and easy to walk. And Lyre is good at walking when it is easy to walk so maybe Spike is not so far, maybe only a few days far. Also luckily everything is empty which means either it is boring or maybe things are invisible but Lyre doesn¡¯t think a whole lot will be invisible right now. Boring is good because it means her plan is easier. There is only one part of her plan which is hard but she knows even though it is hard her plans are good so it is best to follow the plan. She thought about other plans but all of them were slow and she didn¡¯t like them. But for this plan she would need extra detours. She thought about the detours and they were okay because even with detours she would still be mostly fast so the plan was good. Now she had a good plan so she had to think about the one water one food. Where will I get one water one food in my plan? Just as she thought it was very easy though so basically her plan was the same which was good. Lyre liked it best when her plan was the same. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Now that she was happy with her plan she started walking on her path. Like she imagined it was very boring for a while which she was okay with because she didn¡¯t mind boring. There were nice parts if you weren¡¯t bored easily. She liked the soft green grass and how it brushed her calves when she was walking in it and she liked the slightly cool wind that breezed through as she strode. It was very pretty and very nice. So she kept walking and then she found her first detour for the bad part of her plan. A mud-speckled pistol was lying in the grass. It wouldn¡¯t be super helpful on its own but also there were two other guns and Lyre knew that. She pulled the pistol off the belt it was attached to, which took a bit of pulling until she tried undoing the strap. Then after she was done that she rolled the body over to get the other two guns underneath. These ones were bigger and maybe had a little more powder which would be enough. She knew it was enough. Also she got a metal container from the bag and then she left. She had a little bit of trouble holding all the guns because they were heavy but they were not super heavy so she would be okay. Then she went on her path again and it was not to Spike but right to her detour. This one was a little more difficult so she was alright that it was taking more time. Then it was some more time and she got there and it was very hot and the air was very thick. She did not like it here very much but the plan said it was okay. She didn¡¯t have to pick up the rocks and look because she already knew which ones were good for her and she got them in not a lot of time at all. Now everything was very heavy for her and so she sat down and started making her thing for her plan. Lyre put all the things on the ground and put the container in front of her. First she took the guns apart and she put all the powder into the container. She had to make sure she didn¡¯t spill any of it because that would be bad. She kept the powder in one of the guns, the little one. Then after she got some of the rock which was very tough because she had to scrape it into a powder with another rock and put that in the container too. And she didn¡¯t want it to get too hot of course. Then she was done and her arms hurt so she closed the container and picked it up and it was not too heavy. The gun was also not too heavy. She held one in each hand and then it was time to go to the bad part of the plan. When she got there it was full of grass again which she liked and there was a big old barn in the way. And she wasn¡¯t walking in the grass anymore because it was too tall but on a dusty dry path, which made sense because it would be very slow to walk in the grass now. When Lyre got close she saw the cameras from all the drones around and she couldn¡¯t let them see her but she knew how to not let them see her. She weaved through the grass around where all the drones were hidden, where someone who couldn¡¯t see like her maybe wouldn¡¯t have known about them, and slipped into the barn. Here the barn was not good because the drones could see everywhere but it was okay and her plan was okay because of the detour. She couldn¡¯t move from the edge of the barn door and she couldn¡¯t see anything but she would know where to throw and where to shoot because she already checked with her plan. So she grabbed the container and threw it to the far end of the barn. Everything whirred and lasers trained on her which was very scary but then she shot the place where she threw and everything was very bright. Then all the lasers went away because nothing could see anything and even though she couldn¡¯t see either she knew what the plan was so she walked and then felt the cool wind on her face again. Then the bad part of the plan was over and everything was boring and good. She dropped the gun because she didn¡¯t need it anymore. Then she walked some more and the tall tall grass went on for a bit until it shrank away to very small very dry bits on the ground. All of it looked the same but Lyre knew where to stop because of course she needed the one food one water and she knew where it was. So she stopped and started digging. It was hard to dig but also it wasn¡¯t super deep so it was okay and then she found the bag. It was easy to open and it was full of lots of things like many food many water and other things too like guns and medicine and clothes. But she didn¡¯t need any of that so she took one food one water and walked away. And then everything was good because she had everything she needed and she was still walking to Spike. But then suddenly one of the invisible things in the plan appeared. Invisible things didn¡¯t happen often but sometimes they did because Lyre would walk and kick little rocks or snap little twigs and then things would move in weird ways and she couldn¡¯t see that at all and that¡¯s what happened here. She was walking and there was a big old brown snake in front of her and it was making a raspy rattling noise. And Lyre knew that this was not good because the snake was danger and because it was invisible it wasn¡¯t in the plan and she didn¡¯t really know what to do about it. She knew that because it was bad the best thing to do was try to get away from it, and also she knew her plan was to keep walking so that would be going away from things so maybe she would go away from it. And she didn¡¯t like to ignore her plan because then she got confused. She didn¡¯t know how to do things when she was confused. So she decided to stick to the plan because maybe it would keep working anyway. But it didn¡¯t because she actually got close to the snake, really close, and then it bit her anyway even though she was walking somewhere. Then the snake was gone and the danger was over but now there was a new danger because she was full of snake venom. But this was the kind of danger where she could think of a new plan so she was okay with stopping and thinking of a new plan. It didn¡¯t take long because all she had to do was ask How can I fix the snake bite? And she knew where to go. The place she had to go was actually the place she already was before where she got one food one water which was kind of annoying because if the snake wasn¡¯t invisible then maybe she would¡¯ve known to pick up the snake antivenom while she was already there. Or of course maybe she would have just avoided the snake. But anyway she had a new plan now and it was still good. She got there pretty quickly and she took the antivenom from the bag and injected it and then there was no danger. And she didn¡¯t need anything from the bag so then she left again in the same direction. Lyre made it back to where she was with the snake and originally in her old plan she would have gotten even farther than that but now it was dark and she had to sleep because sleep was important just like food and water. She also made it an okay distance so she was okay with that. So she sat down and then opened the water and drank a little bit of it, and then rinsed her hands so she could eat some of the food too. Just as she started eating she remembered also about the phone in her pocket and the people talking on it. The phone was also important but not like food or water or sleep, it was important in a different way. And she knew this because it was the only way to talk to Kiki Gaunt Spike and of course Kiki Gaunt Spike were important because she was going to meet them. So then everything was done except phone and even though she didn¡¯t really know what to do with the phone she opened it up to make sure everyone was doing okay. She couldn¡¯t wait to see Spike. LOST I: INTERLUDE August 12, 2029, 18:14 18:14: [Gaunt] made it to a more open area. just by the subway, some old buildings. maybe shopping district?? idrk this place 18:15: [Gaunt] dont go down there btw its full of gas. 19:56: [Kiki] That sounds bad! Are you okay? I hope it didn¡¯t make you sick. I didn¡¯t see a subway so I can¡¯t come find you yet. 19:58: [Kiki] I made it to the skyscraper! I¡¯m setting up camp there now. I¡¯ll be back to talk in about an hour. 20:07: [Gaunt] yeah felt gross for a bit but im ok. kinda sucks i was hoping wed be closer by now 20:10: [Gaunt] well im okay with the gas thing but actually i wanted to mention the other thing. i didnt really wanna say anything but idk could you like look out for me or something im actually kinda hurt 20:11: [Gaunt] i have like antiseptic n shit tho so ill be fine for a bit but like yeah 21:03: [Kiki] Okay I will. I¡¯ll get you as soon as I know where you are. Try to hang on till then. I¡¯ll bring medical supplies if I find some tomorrow. 21:03: [Kiki] Also I found some weird pills. They¡¯re yellow and as big as a big Tylenol. They have those capsules you can pull apart. Anyone know what they are? 21:04: [Gaunt] ok great 21:04: [Gaunt] also sry i have no clue 21:04: [Kiki] That¡¯s okay. I didn¡¯t think anyone would know. Still good to check. 21:06: [Kiki] I got here okay but it wasn¡¯t fun. A stray dog attacked me. I had to throw rocks to scare it off. I got stuck in a hole. I wasn¡¯t paying attention. My leg got caught in some rubble. I had to use a pipe to pry it free. 21:07: [Kiki] I found a bit of water but no food. It¡¯s been a rough day. :¡¯( 21:07: [Gaunt] shit fr 21:07: [Gaunt] glad u got out of it ok tho 21:09: [Gaunt] things suck lately. well i assume idk about you guys but my life is a little bit askew given circumstances 21:10: [Gaunt] but thats the hand were dealt ig, just gotta keep pushing thru it 21:11: [Kiki] Thanks. Talking about it helps. 21:11: [Gaunt] its nothing. im here for yall, things are tough. Spike too even tho u seem the quiet type. 21:12: [Kiki] Yeah life was good before today. Hopefully we can all get home soon. My parents are probably worried. My brother too. You¡¯re right. We just gotta keep going. 21:12: [Kiki] I¡¯m here for you too. If you ever want to talk I¡¯ll listen. It goes both ways. 21:16: [Gaunt] thanks 21:16: [Lyre] Bone pain Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. 21:16: [Gaunt] bro what 21:19: [Kiki] I¡¯m sorry, Lyre, but I don¡¯t understand. Can you elaborate a bit more? 21:21: [Lyre] That¡¯s what the pills are 21:22: [Kiki] Okay, thank you. 21:22: [Gaunt] Oh yeah, I forgot we were talking about that. Thanks Lyre 21:24: [Kiki] Also, Spike, are you okay? Just checking since you haven¡¯t said much. 21:25: [Gaunt] i mean lyre apparently already knows where you are so you might as well tell us how youre doing. i dont bite 21:25: [Spike] Im alive 21:26: [Gaunt] great everyone made it thru the first night ok 21:26: [Gaunt] actually is this the first night i was like unconscious and idk how long its been 21:27: [Gaunt] anyone know when this all started?? 21:27: [Kiki] It¡¯s still the first night. I was at home this morning. Woke up here this afternoon. It¡¯s the same day. I¡¯m sure of it. 21:29: [Gaunt] ok good. still dk where i am tho. Fuck 21:30: [Kiki] I don¡¯t know either. It¡¯s frustrating because I should know. I have a good sense of direction. But the thing that brought me here went too far. It¡¯s too far for me to get a good sense of how far. Don¡¯t know the exact direction either. 21:32: [Gaunt] ??? did you get kidnapped 21:33: [Kiki} Kind of but not really. Some weird creature grabbed me. They had venom that knocked me out. Brought me here and left I think. I think they wanted to eat me but couldn¡¯t. 21:34: [Gaunt] yea nah thats fucked man sorry to hear that 21:34: [Gaunt] kinda wish i remember tho, i got on a train and blacked out. idek how long i was out or anything 21:36: [Gaunt] really stupid of me to end up there in the first place but crazy how it ended up this bad yk 21:37: [Kiki] Yeah you couldn¡¯t have foreseen this. How did you end up there? I was just chilling in the woods. :( 21:38: [Kiki] How¡¯d you end up here Spike? 21:42: [Gaunt] some randos at work asked if i wanna go backpacking. didnt even know them n i said yes anyway?? yea so i was lost even before the train incident 21:43: [Gaunt] and now im even more lost 21:43: [Kiki] Well it¡¯s not your fault that you ended up here. 21:43: [Gaunt] yeah guess not 21:47: [Kiki] It probably wasn¡¯t a good idea to go hiking with ¡®randos¡¯, but you couldn¡¯t have expected it to end this badly. And we all do stupid things sometimes. One time, I almost got hit by a car on a busy street because I wanted to grab a necklace someone had dropped there. I don¡¯t think my friends will ever let me live it down. 21:52: [Gaunt] yeah 21:54: [Spike] I dont remember 21:54: [Gaunt] same bro. trauma i bet. whatever happened probably sucked but itll come when were ready 21:55: [Kiki] Oh that sucks. I hope you figure it out eventually. 21:57: [Spike] I hope so 21:58: [Gaunt] im turning in. see yall soon. 21:58: [Kiki] Goodnight! I¡¯ll sleep now too. I want to get an early start tomorrow. August 13, 2029, 6:03 6:03: [Lyre] Don¡¯t go too far 6:32: [Kiki] Don¡¯t worry, Lyre, I¡¯ll stay here for today. 6:33: [Kiki] Going scavenging today. Wish me luck! I¡¯m pretty hungry so hopefully I¡¯ll get some food at least. 6:33: [Kiki] Safe travels, Gaunt! LOST II: KIKI Why had she barricaded the stairs so thoroughly? There probably wasn¡¯t even anything up there! She hauled the last chair out of the way, trying to ignore the feeling of her stomach collapsing in on herself and the trembling of her arms. Why had she done this to herself? There had better be something good up there to make this worth it. Initially, she hadn¡¯t even planned to go scavenging here today. She¡¯d wanted to go out further, explore the territory, look somewhere more likely to have something good. The skyscraper wasn¡¯t in good condition, and probably a lot of more sensitive stuff had been wrecked by exposure. But Lyre had asked her not to go too far. So she was looking around here. She wasn¡¯t even really sure why she listened. But when she¡¯d read that text, she felt some sort of urgency, maybe even fear behind it, that stuck with her. And really, what did it cost her to just look around here for today? A lot of effort dismantling this barricade, but she wasn¡¯t letting that effort go to waste now. The stairs were in pretty good condition. She went up a few steps, then stomped hard. No worrying noises or movement under her. It would be okay to go to the first floor. The first thing she did was check for any unlocked doors on the first floor. One was ajar. Nice. The windows were broken and the rain had gotten in. There was mould visible on the furniture, and presumably on any textiles here too so that was out of the question. She checked the kitchen drawers first. Pots, pans, spatulas and wooden spoons. Pretty much everything she was hoping for. In another drawer, cutlery, and another, cooking knives. There were also dishes in the cupboard. Okay. She couldn¡¯t take all of this, obviously, so she¡¯d get the most useful stuff. But first, check everywhere else. She opened the fridge, and oh god closeitcloseitcloseit. She gagged a little as she slammed it shut. After about half a second, her brain registered what she saw in there. ¡°Damn it, why?¡± She sighed, pulled her shirt up over her nose and mouth, and opened it again. Trying not to breathe, she yanked out the bottled water as fast as she could and slammed it shut again, taking a breath. She could taste the smell. She debated for a moment, as she tried not to vomit, whether it had actually been worth it. Then she drank a bit of the water from the reusable bottle to wash her mouth out and kept looking. Rummaging around the rest of the kitchen area yielded a can of crushed tomatoes. When she went into the bedroom, she pulled open a drawer, and score! A half-full bag of chips, clipped shut. She devoured those in like fifteen seconds. They were stale but she was hungry enough to not really notice. Returning to the kitchen, she loaded up her stuff. To start, two pots stacked inside each other, two of the spoons and a spatula. The can of tomatoes and a can opener, plus the three bottles of water. That was about all she could carry, so she carried that downstairs and went back up with the pot to carry the rest. Three big bowls and three mugs. A medium-sized cooking knife. A few spoons, forks, and knives. A chopping board. That was probably enough for now. She could always come back here later. She brought all the stuff down, and returned with wire twisted into flimsy lockpicks. Now, she was not very good at this at all. It took her ages. But going up and down multiple floors would be exhausting, and the apartment locks were probably pretty simple to deal with. She inserted the wires into the keyhole, and started feeling around. No, no- there was a click as one of the wires pushed the mechanism into place, and she secured it before moving on. Click, click- one of the wires slipped, undoing all her progress. She took them out, shook out her hands, and tried again. After about ten minutes more, she pushed the door open. This one was also pretty empty. More cookware in the kitchen, but no more food. Oh well. In the bathroom, however¡­ Soap! Someone had left two bars of soap, still in their packaging, in one of the drawers. And in the cupboard under the sink, behind a frankly ridiculous amount of empty boxes and clutter, a box of basic pads. Not bad. She brought her loot downstairs, and went up again. Breaking into the third apartment went a little quicker, now that she knew what the locks felt like. Things were honestly going pretty well. She had worried the apartments would be stripped bare after whatever apocalypse that had descended on this city, but no, this turned out to be a great idea. These people had been moving out, and they¡¯d left a ton of boxes. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Awesome. She stuffed two backpacks and a duffel into another duffel bag, and stacked several of the boxes inside each other. She also grabbed another knife and chopping board, and a few more dishes, stacking things up until no more would fit and her arms started to feel the strain. She¡¯d bring a duffel, a backpack, and the biggest box back upstairs, so she could make less trips with the other apartments. Fourth apartment. Empty at first glance. But she suspected there was more than what was obvious. She dug through cupboards and drawers. Looked under furniture and carpets. Wondered if she was wasting her time, but no. This place was too empty. Emptiness like this meant the residents had taken everything they could, and hidden the rest somewhere in the apartment. There were a few condoms scattered behind the toilet. Lovely. She pried up a loose floorboard, and found a lot of money. Which¡­ wasn¡¯t actually very useful. She stuffed some in her pockets anyways. Maybe when she got back home she¡¯d make her family rich. She lifted the mattress, and there was nothing underneath, but she thought she heard a faint sound. She put her ear to it and shook. Again, something, too quiet for her to tell what. She hauled it onto the floor, stripped off the fitted sheet and looked over the whole thing, until she saw the slit cut into the side that was flush with the wall before. Reaching in, her fingers made contact with¡­ a towel? She pulled it out. Unlike the rest of the textiles in here, it had been protected by the mattress and was still in decent condition. That wasn¡¯t what had made the noise. She reached in again, and touched smooth glass. She pulled out the bottle. ¡°Heh.¡± Whisky. Of course they¡¯d stashed booze in the mattress. The towel was probably to insulate it so it couldn¡¯t be felt while on the bed. Well, with a¡­ 47% alcohol content, she could actually use it to sterilise wounds. So, a good find. Once she¡¯d thoroughly ransacked the place, she brought her prize downstairs. The wind was howling outside. Really, really loud. She wasn¡¯t sure her improvised door would hold. She quickly set her latest find into a box and closed it up, facing away from the door. There was a snapping sound, and pain ripped along her cheekbone. ¡°Gah!¡± She wasn¡¯t able to look to see what it was or how bad. Immediately, sand blasted into the lobby, scraping at her skin. Something, maybe a pebble, bounced painfully off the back of her head. She shut her eyes and ran to the stairwell, yanking the door open and slamming it behind her. The door wasn¡¯t very strong, or airtight. Sand sifted in at the corners. She wasn¡¯t safe here. There was blood dripping down her cheek. She reached up to touch it. The cut was long, but shallow. It could be dealt with later. Damn it! What sort of insane weather was this? Maybe she could go to the basement. She turned to the stairs leading down, and hurried a few steps before she saw it. Sand, swirling in a light breeze. ¡°Fuck!¡± She couldn¡¯t go down and she couldn¡¯t stay here, but wouldn¡¯t the storm be worse higher up? Then again¡­ There had been larger bits of debris in the storm. She¡¯d felt a couple hit her. There might be less of those higher up. The building might be in worse condition up there, but she was also pretty sure that door was about thirty seconds from blowing open. And frankly, she didn¡¯t want to be trapped in this tiny stairwell with only one way out. She started climbing. Sand was blasting down from above. She¡¯d left the door open, and she really regretted that now. She tucked her face into her shirt, holding it in place with one hand. With the other, she grabbed the railing. Even with her shirt, fine dust still sifted in and made it hard to breathe. She couldn¡¯t really see, either, so she was blindly hoping there was no debris to trip her up. She stepped onto the landing, and a gale-force wind slammed her into the far wall, sand scouring at any exposed skin. A lump of something wet hit her leg. Oh god, was that flesh? Had someone been caught in the storm and ripped apart by the sand? Her mind went to Gaunt, and no, Gaunt was far away. It wasn¡¯t her. It¡­ it was probably from an animal. Please let it be from an animal. She leaned into the force, and walked past it, the pressure suddenly dissipating, though strong winds still whipped around her. She kept going to the second floor. Door was shut. She kept going. Her legs were starting to feel the strain. Third floor. Fourth floor. Was the wind outside getting louder? Quieter? She couldn¡¯t tell. Fifth floor. She ignored the burn in her legs and kept climbing. Sixth floor, and sand was starting to come down. There was a crash, and the entire building shook. She fell, clinging to the railing. Dim light poured in, and an instant later, the sand. She choked as there was an impact on her side, knocking the breath out of her. She could feel the sand scraping at her hands and the wind ripping at her hair. What had happened? Was the building falling apart? Get out get out get out. Escape. She fell to her hands and knees and started crawling, blind and choking on sand, as fast as she could. More things were hitting her, smaller and not as hard but still painful. One stabbed and lodged in her upper arm. The wind and the sand abruptly decreased in intensity, but she was still trapped. Keep going. Keep going up and out and away. There were holes and gaps and weak points she had to go around, but she had no other choice but the staircase. The wind was too strong. One point, she had to stretch out her arms and body to bridge the gap and jump over and scramble up. And then the staircase wasn¡¯t together in a way she could climb it and she had to climb up the broken stripped wall. Up. Up, hands gripping metal supports and the edges of windowsills. Up, away from the storm, away from anything hunting and chasing her. Up to safety. The wind stopped. Sunlight warmed her back. She sat on a girder, legs swinging, and cracked open sand-crusted eyes. She was about ten or eleven stories up, if she had to guess. The sky was clear but the dust storm raged below. Open blue stretched around her, nothing but a thin skeleton of metal and empty space. She was free. She was safe, here. She¡¯d made it. Her clothes were coated in sand and some sharper debris was snagged in it. She looked first at her side, lifting up her shirt. A nasty red mark that would probably become a bruise. She inhaled, deeply, and there was soreness but no sharp pain. No broken ribs, then. She looked at her arm. Oh god. That was bone. It was small, so she pulled it out right away, flinging it down into the storm in revulsion. A bit of blood trickled out, but not enough to be concerning. She really, really hoped that wasn¡¯t fresh. She couldn¡¯t tell. Well, that was basically guaranteed to get infected if she didn¡¯t treat it. Thank god she got the whisky. Then again, did it even survive the storm? She¡¯d just have to wait until it dissipated to check. She pulled the plastic water bottle out of her bag, cracking it open, and ran a bit of water over her arm wound to try and flush it out a bit. After that, she took a handful and splashed her face. It came down pink and gritty. She sat there for a few hours. Cried a bit. Screamed a bit. Sent a long, rambling text about what happened. Talked to Gaunt. She¡¯d been hit by it too. Stared in astonishment at the enormous wall to the south, wondering how she had missed it before. Looked out at the horizon and wondered which way was home. Wondered if Lyre¡¯s text had saved her life. Closed her eyes and breathed in the warm, fresh air. When the storm dissipated, she made her way back downstairs. As she expected, the lobby was a mess. The dishes were all shattered into tiny pieces that would take ages to clean up. The box of pads had blown away to who knows where. The cutlery was also gone. This wasn¡¯t terrible. Those were more ¡®nice to have¡¯ than ¡®absolute necessity¡¯. The cookware was also gone, which was¡­ more disappointing. How, exactly, did metal pots blow away? She should have tucked them into a corner instead of leaving them in the middle of the lobby. There were bits of plastic water bottle and damp sand here and there. Thank goodness she¡¯d taken one with her. One of the duffels was wadded up by the concierge desk. Beneath it was a single bar of soap. Behind it, she found the tomatoes. The can was dented. She was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t good, so she¡¯d eat it soon. And, much to her relief, the whisky was still there. The box had been savaged (all the boxes had) and the towel was full of sand, but the glass bottle was miraculously intact. She¡¯d kept some of the more valuable stuff, but most of what she found was gone. All that searching for nothing. She had to clean this place up, treat her wounds, take inventory, but right now she couldn¡¯t deal with it. Later. Not now. She opened her phone and went to the groupchat. LOST II: GAUNT Don¡¯t go too far. Gaunt had too many questions. Don¡¯t go too far. What the hell was Lyre talking about? Was something happening? Was she going to do something? Messing with her head. She had to remember Lyre was probably fucking with them. So far all she¡¯d done is say cryptic nonsense, scaring the ever-loving shit out of Gaunt and probably everyone else; there was no reason to think any of it was real. But on the off chance she was serious, then what the hell was she talking about? Who was she even talking to, for that matter? Was Gaunt also supposed to stay put? Fuck that, she had places to be. Scoffing, she tucked the phone away. It was about seven in the morning, and had already been light out for a bit. No time to waste. Sore from last night, she rolled off the torn-up fabrics and sat up. First, she¡¯d have to check on the wound. She took a moment to steel herself, pushing away various mental images of ground beef, and peeled her shirt up. It wasn¡¯t quite that bad, but it wasn¡¯t much better, either. Absolutely red and inflamed, swollen like fat leeches. Things just keep getting better, don¡¯t they? No sign of infection, but the inflammation might have been covering it up. Infection was number one priority, though, so although the idea made her shudder, Gaunt poured some more antiseptic onto one of the gauze pads and pressed it to the wound. The pain jolted through her like a live wire and she couldn¡¯t help but groan at the touch. She managed to force her shaky arms to move it around, though not nearly as thoroughly as yesterday. Good enough, she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Gasping for breath, she hauled herself to one of the bandages and wound it around. Even just the contact against her flesh stung harshly. That¡¯s how it goes in the end of the world, though. Like she said: you just suck it up and go with the pain. The hunger pains weren¡¯t a necessary pain, though, so she took the time to get herself a quick breakfast. A few more of the nuts and a bit of the jerky as a treat would do. Then some water, to offset the saltiness. She was already going through water faster than she would have liked, but there should be enough for another day or so. Gaunt saved just enough water in a bottle to brush her teeth with, then splash on some of the sweatier parts of her body before pulling out the stick of deodorant she¡¯d brought. She¡¯d learned quickly that poor hygiene weighs faster on you than anything else. That was everything, then. She sighed inwardly at the stretch of beaten road ahead of her. She¡¯d have to make up for lost time, and it wouldn¡¯t get any easier with her condition. Already feeling her skin tugging and flesh chafing, she forced herself into a long stride. And you¡¯d best believe she tried to keep Lyre¡¯s words out of her mind, but there¡¯s something particularly difficult about disobeying someone when they say very little in the first place. Don¡¯t go too far. I have to. It¡¯ll be fine. She kept an eye out, if nothing else, just to pass the time. Funny that even after the fallout of actual Armageddon, she¡¯d still be window shopping in the business district. Though there were plants growing through the cracks she couldn¡¯t quite recognize, the brick facades and shattered window displays remained familiar. It was comforting until she wondered if this was what it really looked like at home. God, she really couldn¡¯t get a break from anything. Just a few more stores over was a display of shoes, miraculously somewhat intact. Many of the shoes were ripped up or warped under the weight of rubble, but Gaunt managed to dig up a pair of heavy-duty hiking boots. Not quite as good as her current ones, and they didn¡¯t have spikes. But she wouldn¡¯t be tough out of luck if her current ones wore out. Her bag grew a touch heavier. The storefronts were becoming more dilapidated, less interesting. Green growth oozed across broken tiles and cracked pavement, trailing fingers in lazy directions. They flicked their leaves in the wind, scattering in the breeze. Some tore free and spiralled around, one even kissing the side of her face. The wind¡¯s whistle was growing urgent, now. Unusually strong winds. Grit was being kicked up and into her eyes, forcing her head up. Things were blurred more than they should¡¯ve been, even through a squint; no, that was only past the horizon. A thin brown haze covered the skies just ahead. Just the same shade as the sand at her feet. Storm. Not ideal. Gaunt couldn¡¯t tell which direction the wind was going anymore, with debris whipping around in spiralling whirlwinds. Chances were the storm was headed straight for her, judging the breeze from the past couple hours. In which case, there¡¯d be little hope of escape. She could hunker down, and find a fairly intact storefront, waiting for it to pass. Or hope she finds someplace better and keep going instead. Well, she did say she had to make good time. And the last good storefront was pretty far back. Muttering a curse, she quickened her pace, straight ahead. Face in her arm, Gaunt weaved behind buildings, keeping a wall in front of her more often than not. Still, even against a wall, things flowed around to nip her from each side. Her arms stung, left light pink imprints when she leaned against meagre shelter. And she wasn¡¯t even in the thick of it yet. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A chunk of asphalt smacked into the wall less than a metre from her face, spilling a hot trail down the nape of her neck where she¡¯d turned away. Screw making up for lost time. The last thing Gaunt needed was a second wound to deal with. No more running into the storm. Back to the wall, eyes roving over bare foundations and delicate walls. Nothing that could hope to withstand a thrown stone, let alone a landslide¡¯s worth of accelerated rubble. She racked her brain, but the most intact buildings were at least half an hour away. Even with the wind at her back, she wasn¡¯t exactly the star of the track team. There had to be something. Maybe if she crouched, even lay down, she could hide behind one of the foundations? But no, things were starting to come at her from behind the wall, even. She flinched away from a stray bit of glass and dove to the ground. Maybe if she hid under something¡­ that train of thought led nowhere, but it did lead her eyes to a shallow depression in the ground. Inhaling sharply, Gaunt scurried over, praying any concrete blocks or metal sheets would pass overhead. Slipping into the most ruined building, hardly more than a foot-high curb on the ground, she started hauling soil and debris out of the hollow. The wind kicked some of it up, driving her into a coughing fit, but after only a few seconds the blockage collapsed down below. She immediately followed into the dark. The fall was about ten feet deep, but sloped. Her ankles only complained when they first set foot on the ground, and were fine to walk. Dark enough that she couldn¡¯t see. Gaunt considered getting her flashlight, but the battery would only last so long. Well, this would be it for a while. Time to get comfortable. Scooting a touch away from the entrance, she patted the floor to check for sharp or gross bits, and took a seat. Folded her hands across her knees, then stretched a leg out. Shifted a bit. May as well pull out her phone. Kiki had sent some stuff, the storm hit them hard. Absently, Gaunt bunched her bag with her own stuff a bit closer to her. Maybe they could share when they met. Maybe they wouldn¡¯t meet, either, but no use thinking about worst-case scenarios before they happened. She shot off a couple messages, chatting for a bit. The wind was howling by the entrance. Banging was sounding from above, around all sides. Not so much impacting as it was destructing. Scary knowing that would¡¯ve been her, if her eyes were a little more irritated, if she was just a bit slower on her feet. She ran a hand behind her head. As it brushed against the wall, something else ran across it in the other direction. She flung whatever it was across the room, and proceeded to brush it off furiously. Of course she wouldn¡¯t be the only thing looking for shelter. She stopped scraping at her hand, cradling it gingerly. Then she put them both to use, shrugging her bag off her shoulders, and unzipping it. She¡¯d just have to fumble around a bit before she got the flashlight. Gaunt apparently hadn¡¯t had the sense to put it in its own pocket, so she rifled around the various packaged goods, gauze strips, and random knickknacks scattered within. As she did so, elbow-deep, more things tickled the edges of her face, the spots between pieces of clothing. Flinching hard, she removed an arm to swat away everything on her stomach. She could not afford anything getting under the bandages. The sensations left on her face became painful. Just little sparks at first, but they added up. She gave herself a split second to run a hand across her face and stuck it back in her bag, putting all her focus into the nerve endings of her fingertips rather than those of her facial features. Even as she shook them off her face, more things were crawling over it ¨C and not just her face. In seconds, more figures wormed their way under her shirt and around her bandages. Mouth and eyes shut, she kept searching with one hand while pulling her shirt down with the other. In her franticness, the bag tipped over, spilling things all over the ground. She lunged over it and started searching with renewed vigour, unable to keep the things away from her chest. As she worked, she only became more focused. Find the flashlight. Find the bug spray, anything. As stings and welts bloomed across her skin, things were coming as fast as she could crush them, but no faster. They still hadn¡¯t quite crawled under the bandage, either, and she figured she had a good few minutes. Gaunt¡¯s hand closed around a smallish cone. There. She gripped it and the room blazed into vision. The light was dimmed by a thick, squirming haze, which quickly dissipated into tiny figures that disappeared into every crevice to be found. The few that remained were either crushed into paste or otherwise completely immobile. Picking one off the back of her hand revealed it to be some kind of roach, a dim brown and longer than her index finger. Its body rapidly met the wall on the other side of her room, as did its kin as she scoured her face and arms. Her injury. Gaunt lifted her shirt and started tracing the bandage over, but decided not to remove it. No need to expose it in these kinds of conditions. She¡¯d assess it later. From what she saw, though, everything seemed alright; there were more bugs scattered around the bandage but somehow, none of them even got close to burrowing beneath it. Wonder how that happened, she thought as she stuck two entire fingers under the lip with no trouble. In any case, she¡¯d take her blessings when she could get them. She cautiously poked around the wound. The edges were still swollen, still inflamed, but no worse than before. She¡¯d definitely settle for this. The rest of her skin had welts, but the skin was mostly unbroken save the spot on her neck. There, the blood had already crusted over. Nothing that couldn¡¯t be treated with what she had, and nothing nearly as bad as what she¡¯d woken up with. All that was left was to wait out the storm, now in gentle solitude. While she couldn¡¯t treat her wounds, and she wasn¡¯t risking eating anything without washing up first, Gaunt figured it was a good time to check back on her conversation with Kiki. She gathered up her things ¨C nothing damaged, thankfully ¨C and tucked them back in her bag, askew. Then she pulled out her phone. As the conversation trailed off, so did the gale outside. In mere minutes it was nearly quiet, and Gaunt figured it was time to head out. Before leaving, of course, she sprayed down the walls with a conservative amount of her bug spray. Just in case she ever came back, or maybe as a favour to whoever needed a bunker here in the near future. Then she turned to the entryway. It was steep, but rough enough to have handholds, and clearly sturdy enough to hold up in the storm. Gaunt managed to heave herself out with minimal trouble. She had a couple more hours to travel down the old road before the sun began to set. Buildings were becoming sparse, but she did find an old Starbucks with at least three walls that she¡¯d probably survive in. There was enough debris to build a makeshift scaffold around the collapsed wall, closing herself in save for the doorframe, which she blocked off with a couple boards and the last intact table. Nothing soft, but her spine could take a night on a couple chairs. But as much as she dreaded it, there was one last responsibility. She pulled out her last bottle of water and her bar of soap, and washed off her hands. Well, time to rip off the band-aid. In a couple ways. Tossing the cloth in a coil on the ground, Gaunt was met with¡­ it was calmer. Less angry red, skin not pulled quite as taut against the bare meat. Certainly not what she expected from being attacked by vermin. Huh. Still, no reason to take unnecessary risks, as much as she wished she could just skip applying the antiseptic for the night. After forcing herself through another sanitary ordeal, she took to sterilising the raw spot on her neck, which was much easier to bear. She almost didn¡¯t feel like eating. She wasn¡¯t hungry, nor tired. But again, no point making stupid decisions. She was starting to look forward to her talks with Kiki, even though it meant going through Spike, who was probably trying to take advantage of them rather than socialise, and Lyre, who was just a weird little bastard. And also even though she barely knew Kiki, which was historically a big red flag for her. But it was a stressful time, and Gaunt saw no harm in trying to support each other. There were things she should keep a secret, too, obviously. Maybe she was an oversharer sometimes, but only for unimportant things. She wouldn¡¯t put her life on the line or anything. So even as she talked through the night, her mind was completely alone as she wondered, why can I hardly feel the injury at all? LOST II: SPIKE His glove was wet. Throughout the night, it had grown more and more damp, and now, it was dripping. It would start to smell if this kept up for another day or so, and bacteria and fungi could breed. If he had bandages, he would have used them, but he had nothing. So he kept walking and hoped he¡¯d be able to clean it off soon. The sand in front of him shimmered, the sun bright and intense. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what direction he was going in, anymore. When he¡¯d stopped to reply to Kiki, he¡¯d gotten turned around. It didn¡¯t really matter as long as he wasn¡¯t going backwards, since he didn¡¯t know where Lyre was in relation to him. They seemed¡­ honest. Like they didn¡¯t think before speaking. Maybe he could use that against them, by asking them where they were, and then moving away from that position. It was a thought. The desert was mostly featureless. There were bits of debris here and there, maybe from the crater. There were a few cacti. It all blended together in a boring tan smear. Luckily, he was used to long, boring walks, some in worse conditions than this. Walking in the day was also easier, where he could see where he was putting his feet instead of tripping over sand dunes every fifteen minutes. Lyre had said not to go too far. He wasn¡¯t sure what that meant or even if it was directed at him. They could be saying that because they didn¡¯t want him moving too much, since they wanted to catch him. Or they could be warning him of some danger further ahead. Or, again, it could have nothing to do with him. In the face of all these contradictory ideas, Spike decided the best thing to do was to ignore it for now, but keep it in the back of his mind. After an immeasurable time of walking, sensation fled and he watched his body collapse in front of him. This happened every so often. He didn¡¯t know why, or how, or how to prevent it, or how to tell when he¡¯d go back to his body. He knew what he saw in this state was real. He¡¯d verified it before. For instance, he noticed a new bruise on the side of his face, accompanying the many already layered over each other there. This was¡­ good and bad. Bad because now his body was immobile and vulnerable to anything that might pass by. Good because he moved much faster like this, so he could go ahead to scout. Maybe if he went far enough in the right direction, he¡¯d see Lyre and know where they were. If he chose a specific direction to scout, either Lyre would be there or they wouldn¡¯t be. Ideally, he would see them there and move away. If they weren¡¯t there, he wouldn¡¯t be able to confirm that direction was safe, but it would be more likely to be safe than any of the other directions. There was no sense in staying here with his body. If something happened, it¡¯s not like he could do anything to prevent it. He started gliding forwards, desert sands blurring underneath him as he abandoned the crumpled form behind him. Hopefully there were no animals here to be attracted by his open wound. When shiny metal and movement caught his eye, his speed dissipated in an instant and he floated as he watched. Drones. Mechanical workers, some on the ground digging, others hauling bins of stone. Some of the stone glinted a bit. Raw ore, maybe. The drones were new, chassises still clean and shiny, but there were many dents. He drew to a foot away from one of them to take a closer look. Cheaply made. The welding had gaps along the edges and the pieces fit together sloppily. Nicks and scratches were visible in the soft metal. Where were they from? There was a line of them, going back and forth. Not quite towards his body, but close. He followed them, an invisible, intangible ghost haunting the desert. As he flew, an idea began to coalesce about just where, exactly they were going. He wasn¡¯t sure whether he was hoping or dreading that he was right. Sure enough, a shimmer of heat appeared on the horizon, reforming into a dark depression as he moved closer. The crater. He could have looked further. He didn¡¯t. Strategically, it would have been a good idea. Figure out where in the crater they were going, what they were doing with the ore, if they were being manufactured there or were made in a secondary location. Figure out if they were possibly a threat, if there was a way to safely disable their production. But when he thought about going back into that jagged, molten hell, even as a spectre, his mind recoiled so violently that it took a good chunk of his willpower just to stay there and not flee back to his body. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. When he thought about that place, it felt like he was close to remembering. Remembering what had taken him from his previous life and his family. Remembering why he projected, why he no longer felt pain, why he could wander forever without rest. He¡¯d said that he hoped he would remember someday, but truthfully, he didn¡¯t know if his desire to know what happened outweighed his fear of it. And he knew, at least, he did not want to remember it now. He turned, and left the crater and its servants behind him. He couldn¡¯t keep going that way, or he¡¯d run into them. He didn¡¯t know how they¡¯d react if that happened and didn¡¯t care to find out. He¡¯d go a different way, and hope Lyre wasn¡¯t waiting at the end of his path. When he returned to the mining operation, he registered that while it was large, he could theoretically go around it. It would add an hour or two to his travel time, but he¡¯d be on the other side of the line of drones and it would only take one detour before he continued on his path. He would do that, then. He was about to leave, when he stopped. The ground was trembling. Basins of ore were rattling, ever so slightly. The drones didn¡¯t notice, but he did. It wasn¡¯t localized, but diffused across the entire operation, no stronger or weaker in any one location. There was no visible source of the tremors. He flew a little bit away, towards his body, and the tremors held the same strength as debris on the ground shuddered. It lay limp, swamped by the layers it was wearing, completely still except for the way the ground shifted under it. He¡¯d tried flying into his body multiple times before, in an attempt to wake up prematurely. It had never worked, so he didn¡¯t try now, instead looking around for any clue or possible threat he¡¯d have to deal with once he woke. He didn¡¯t see anything until he looked back the way he came. Shiny metal caught his eye as a distant drone steadily made its way towards him. Slow. If he were in his body, he¡¯d have plenty of time to react. As it was, he watched helplessly as it approached over an agonising minute. It crouched by his body. A scanner unfolded from one of its arms and ran over the crumpled mass. It beeped. More sensors came out, poking the body here and there. And then, he was laying prone on the sand, the drone above him and the world shaking gently. Lifting his upper body out of the sand with his arms, he scrambled to his feet, whipping around to face the drone with arms up. It straightened, freezing for a moment. A faint ping sounded, and while he couldn¡¯t be sure, he suspected it was a signal. Then, it ran. He turned and went in the opposite direction at a brisk walk, glancing back once to make sure it was really leaving and not waiting or going around to ambush him. He had a feeling more of them would be here soon, and he didn¡¯t care to be around when that happened. What¡¯s more, he didn¡¯t know what these tremors were or if they were dangerous, and if he ended up needing shelter, it was best to start looking now. After just a few minutes, the tremors increased in intensity, and he stumbled and fell. He tried getting up again, only to fall again as the sand shifted under him. He attempted it one more time, staying standing only to fall as soon as he took a step. At that point, he decided to take the blow to his pride and stayed on his hands and knees, slowly crawling forwards. A few more minutes later, when he looked up, it was into the camera lens of another drone. There were several more around him, all peering down curiously past their basins of ore. He¡¯d crawled right into their midst, and hadn¡¯t even noticed thanks to the tremors drowning out sound and the feeling of footfalls. He had just enough time to think, shit, before all hell broke loose. There was a crack, and white-hot melted metal shot up about ten meters to his left. More geysers quickly followed, raining fire down. The drones mobilized quickly, some spraying a freezing solution that caused the geysers to solidify in strange shapes, others simply fleeing. He needed to get out of here, now. If even a small drop of that metal hit him, it could fuck him up beyond belief. The ground was still shaking, so there was no way he could run. He lunged for the nearest drone, grabbing it from behind and holding it up over his body, arms and legs facing away so it couldn¡¯t grab him. It struggled, but he held on grimly with his good hand, crawling between the geysers on three limbs. Hell rained down around him as he crawled. Sand bubbled, turning to glass around him. He nearly put his hand in a patch, readjusting just in time. He couldn¡¯t see where his knees were landing, so he made sure to only place them where his hands had been before, where he knew it was safe. Something struck the drone above him with a hiss, and it spasmed and died. Good. Easier to hold onto, now. The path was narrow, dissolving like sugar on either side. The sand was probably burning to the touch, but he had no other choice. He could only hope his pants and the wet glove would protect him from the worst of it. It took a long time to get to safety, slow as he was, but by some miracle, nothing touched him. When he stopped and examined his hands and knees, there was no new damage. His clothes weren¡¯t even singed, though the front half of the drone he¡¯d sacrificed was warped and melted. This far away, the tremors had faded, he could walk, and he had no idea where he was. He was used to that, so, like he¡¯d done countless times before, he decided to pick a random direction to walk in. First, however, he checked his phone. There were a lot of texts, and as he scrolled through, he saw that the others had had a pretty bad time as well. As opposed to the molten eruption he experienced, Kiki had nearly been torn apart by a dust storm based on their panicked rambling. Gaunt had also had to take shelter from the same storm. Lyre¡­ nothing from Lyre yet. It seemed like nowhere was really safe. He put his phone away, sand sticking where he¡¯d gripped it and coated it in fluid. He might tell them what happened later, or he might not. He needed time to think about what he was going to say. So for now, he thought about which way to go. He couldn¡¯t really remember- no, he did. He was between the geysers and the mining operation. The crater was¡­ to his right, maybe, or was it his left? He had planned to go towards the mining operation and then detour around, so it didn¡¯t really matter. He would continue the way he was going before for now, and hope there were no other unpleasant surprises along the way. He stood, dusting the sand off his pants. His wet glove was absolutely coated in it, no matter how much he tried to scrape it off. Oh well. He took a step, then another, continuing his sleepless journey. He thought about his contacts as he walked, what threat he thought they posed, what they had to offer him, what he could say to get the most information for the least risk. Maybe he could try to build up some trust. He was beginning to think that the other two really were what they claimed to be, lost strangers, in which case he and they could benefit each other by sharing resources. He¡¯d have to be careful not to reveal too much to Lyre at the same time. A delicate balance, but one he thought he could achieve. LOST II: LYRE Lyre could see backwards. Not a whole lot though. Lyre could see back to waking up yesterday but not behind that at all. Which wasn¡¯t very far at all and from where she was now it didn¡¯t really make a difference. But she was happy with this, very very happy, because maybe tomorrow she would see back to the same place and the day after and the day after until she could see very far backwards, and then it wouldn¡¯t really matter that she couldn¡¯t see behind that. She would do the same thing as yesterday because that was the best way she could think of. The phone had some people talking, Kiki Gaunt Spike, and this time Kiki said a bunch of things about her plan for where she was. Of course Lyre knew it wasn¡¯t really a plan like how she made plans because everyone except her couldn¡¯t see forward and then it would be really really hard to make a plan. But also the others, Kiki Gaunt Spike, would have to do something so they would try to make plans anyway like how Lyre tried to handle invisible things anyway. She still couldn¡¯t see all the way in front of her so basically her plan was the same as yesterday because she was still supposed to see Spike and avoid danger and nothing had changed. Finding the way to Spike was exactly the same because he was still invisible so her plan would be exactly the same that way. Also one food one water was not hard. The detour was much bigger than yesterday which would mean she would not travel as quickly to Spike but that was okay because Spike would be okay for a few days and so would she. Some danger was also basically the same too but instead of being a shortcut she just had to go through it no matter what. This didn¡¯t really make a difference to Lyre because anyway she knew her plan would make things okay so she would have gone even if she didn¡¯t have to as long as it was faster. She would also have to make a detour but it would be faster than yesterday. But also there was more danger which was Kiki. Lyre wasn¡¯t expecting to know about Kiki but it also made sense because Kiki Gaunt Spike were all important so of course some of them dying is danger. Lyre couldn¡¯t see Kiki¡¯s danger the same way though because it was Kiki dying that was the danger to her and that was all she asked about. What is a good plan for Kiki? Lyre didn¡¯t really know what to do to get rid of Kiki¡¯s danger because Kiki didn¡¯t know how to make a plan so even if Lyre gave her a plan she would become invisible and maybe it wouldn¡¯t work. Sometimes things would not go completely invisible but this was only when she knew all about them and she could think of everywhere they could go so she never lost track. Right now there were too many places for Kiki to go and Lyre couldn¡¯t follow all of them so basically no matter what she did she would be invisible. Lyre never knew what to do when things were invisible but she trusted her plan because her plans were good so maybe if she gave Kiki the plan it would be okay anyway even if she was invisible. It was a very easy plan too so Kiki wouldn¡¯t have a whole lot of trouble. Don¡¯t go too far. If Kiki didn¡¯t go too far then probably the big storm would not go through the building and she would be okay because the plan said she had to stay indoors. It was a little bit scary because it was invisible but Kiki would probably be okay. Then it was time for Lyre to go so she started walking. Everything around her was sandy and empty and dry and very very quiet. It would stay like that for a little bit of time except then the tricky part of her plan would happen and so it was very important that she went fast enough to follow the plan. Which was okay because her plans were not that hard. But she would have to get water food first this time not like yesterday because the tricky part of the plan would make it really really hard to get water food. She made it to water food and nothing happened which was good. Lyre brushed aside the big green holey tarp that was flapping in the wind and got one food which was right there. The water was more difficult because it wasn¡¯t in a container just in a big pot on the coals and Lyre wasn¡¯t really sure how to take it. But she could make a plan and then in only a few minutes she knew she could put it in one of the bottles lying around and close the lid and it would be okay. Then that was everything and she had to prepare. Already when she left the post holding the tarp up was trembling and the tarp was about to come loose and then it did, billowing off across the ground. Other than that Lyre could also feel it a little bit too and maybe she would have fallen over but it was fine because she could make herself walk a little bit slower because the plan said to. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Then right in front of her was the drone with the minecart lugging it off north-west. The cart was filled completely with bits of scrap and ore so it was almost but not quite overflowing and the drone was having a whole lot of trouble pushing it. There probably should have been three or maybe four drones pushing it but there wasn¡¯t and because of all the tremors and the mechanical stress the drone was very much too busy to see Lyre at all. Even though she had trouble with the shaking Lyre still got within 10 metres of the drone before it saw her and started charging something up. But she already knew that it would miss if she fell down hard and fast to the left which was easy to do because the ground was shaking already. A big zapping sound went off just above her right ear and even though she couldn¡¯t see she knew it was putting the gun away and taking out its laser cutter. Lyre had only one point six seconds but that was enough time to get what she was looking for as she plunged her hands into the minecart. When she pulled them back out they were red and dripping all over the ground but also holding a long thin rod that broke off at the end and she put the point right into the head part of the drone. Of course it was still moving but it couldn¡¯t see her anymore so it didn¡¯t hit her with the laser cutter and then Lyre hit the joint on its arm just right so the cutter fell right off. Then the cutter was still on for a few minutes so she grabbed it and cut the gun away too and then there wasn¡¯t a whole lot the drone could do about her. Her plan made sure the middle part of the drone was together so Lyre took the cutter and started carving out the module she wanted from the middle-right of the cavity. Even though all of the wires and everything were very very small and she had to put her face right close to everything she still did it before the laser cutter died. Then she dropped everything except the module and picked up the food and water she put down twenty metres behind her before the detour and left everything else sitting there. The tricky part was not far ahead but now the ground was shaking really hard. Lyre¡¯s knees buckled and she had to drop the food to catch herself. It nearly rolled away but she heaved herself back up and ran after it a little and scooped it back up. When she got her bearings there were more minecarts and each of them were full and there were a lot of drones this time that were all clustered around. None of them were pushing the carts anymore and instead some of them were running away past them and some were just standing there. All of the standing ones fixed their cameras right on Lyre as she ran towards the closest cart. A bunch raised their guns but before they could shoot she was behind the cart and then they wanted to go around to get her. First she dropped all her stuff right on top of the cart. Then once she had both hands Lyre started fiddling around with the module the way her plan told her to and one of the drones came around the cart but instead of shooting her it toggled a setting on the gun and stood with its back to her. Then nothing moved except when the ground made it move and Lyre tried her very best to stay still too. For a tiny tiny bit of time everything went completely quiet and then with a great big roar a massive geyser of liquid alloy surged into the air tens of metres out. All the drones snapped to attention and then all around it, and around all the minecarts, little geysers erupted too, not nearly as much but it was really close and made Lyre feel hot. Right away all the drones started shooting freezing vapours at the geysers and they stuck like that in the air and it was less hot. Lyre didn¡¯t do anything except keep toggling wires on the module. Some of the drones were starting to melt from the heat and they started moving sluggishly and erratically, like they were being electrocuted in a tub of molasses. But only the ones furthest from the carts. One geyser went off sort of close to Lyre and the droplets got frozen in the air but went flying toward her anyway and hit her right in the shoulder and breast and it wasn¡¯t hot but it started bleeding anyway. After that though the ground was rumbling less and there weren''t a whole lot of geysers anymore and soon enough there was nothing but the great metal spires and the drones were all putting their freeze guns away. Then they all turned to Lyre like they wanted her to push the carts but she was fiddling with the module again and then they all ignored her and went back to business. She put the capsule into her other pocket not the one with the phone and then took her food her water and walked away. She kept going and going until she got to the last bit of her plan because it said it was bad to stop walking out in the open. Eventually she got to the cave and it was a big overhang with a haphazard wall out front made of splintering plywood. She slipped in through a crevice and sat down on the cold ground and opened the food to eat. When she brought it to her mouth everything tasted a little bit like metal. Then she drank some of the water which also tasted like metal and red dripped onto her lap from her arms. Lyre tried washing all the food off her hands which sort of worked but it mixed pink and the blood didn¡¯t really go away so eventually she drank the rest of the water and stopped. Finally she took the phone out of her pocket and the capsule too and the capsule she threw onto the floor and left there but the phone she turned on. There wasn¡¯t any danger but also Lyre knew there was no plan anymore so something might have happened that was invisible and if that did happen then she would need a new plan. Lots of people were saying lots of things already which was good because they were all there, including Kiki, so she must have listened to the plan and then things were okay. Lyre was happy that Kiki was okay. Behind her a day ago Lyre sat and watched mostly because no one talked to her but this time people were talking to her and she liked that very much as well. Even though it was nice to see what they were like when they talked because it was very hard to see some things because they were invisible it was even more nice to know they also wanted to see what she was like. Even if Spike was still cold and he was the one she would see first. That was okay because she still liked him. Then when she was done talking Lyre curled up on the hard stone floor and shut her eyes. Tomorrow she would maybe be able to see today and that made her happier than anything else. LOST II: INTERLUDE August 13, 2029, 10:26 10:26: [Kiki] I think I almost died. 10:29: [Kiki] I was putting away some stuff I found. The wind was really loud. The door blew open and this insane sandstorm raged into the lobby. I couldn¡¯t see and couldn¡¯t really breathe. Something in there cut my cheek. I ran to the stairwell but the basement was compromised so I went up where it was more sheltered. At the seventh floor the whole building shook. Sand came blasting in from the east and more stuff hit me. I kept climbing because I didn¡¯t know what else to do. The last couple floors I had to scale the building frame. I made it above the storm and I¡¯m here now. 10:31: [Kiki] I¡¯m not doing well. I¡¯ve got a bad bruise on my side and a bone shard got stuck in my arm. I don¡¯t even know where it¡¯s from. It¡¯s probably filthy. I only have half a bottle of water and a backpack. I think everything else will be destroyed. I worked so hard to get all of it and now it¡¯s just gone and I¡¯m going to die of infection next week if I don¡¯t die of thirst. I¡¯ll probably never see my family again. 10:32: [Kiki] I¡¯m really scared and I don¡¯t know what to do. The storm¡¯s still going. 10:40: [Kiki] Sorry about the rambling I¡¯m really stressed. I hope all of you are okay. August 13, 2029, 13:16 13:16: [Gaunt] omg thats so scary what the hell 13:16: [Gaunt] yeah the storms here now but its not that bad. i found a decent spot to hide out for a bit. hope it doesnt last too long 13:18: [Gaunt] just hang in there for a bit. i have stuff. i can help u out when i get there 13:19: [Kiki] I¡¯m not in immediate danger. I¡¯m also a lot calmer now lol. Being in high open spaces helps me chill out. 13:19: [Kiki] I¡¯m glad you¡¯re doing alright. 13:22: [Kiki] Also, Lyre, thank you. I don¡¯t know if you knew but your text might have saved me. I was planning on exploring today, but I changed my mind because of what you said. 13:27: [Spike] Sounds like were all having a rough time 13:27: [Spike] I nearly got fried by some molten metal 13:27: [Spike] It was pretty scary 13:29: [Gaunt] holy shit 13:30: [Gaunt] man i thought i was in the clear but a bunch of fuckin roaches just tunneled out of the walls and tried to eat me. lucky me i had a flashlight they didnt like that so much 13:30: [Gaunt] im ok tho even tho it was nasty 13:31: [Gaunt] hey spike nice to finally talk to u are u doing ok tho?? nothing bad? 13:31: [Kiki] Oh my god you two that¡¯s awful :¡¯(. Now I¡¯m thinking I got off easy. I hope it wasn¡¯t too bad. 13:32: [Spike] Yeah but it wasn¡¯t fun 13:32: [Spike] Also woke up in this fucking slag crater yesterday and had to climb out This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. 13:32: [Spike] So ig my life is just flaming metal hell rn 13:34: [Gaunt] okay wait stop kiki you were going to go but lyre stopped you 13:34: [Gaunt] i didnt know what that meant but she was talking to you 13:35: [Gaunt] Lyre. how did you know about the storm 13:36: [Kiki] I¡¯m curious about that too. 13:38: [Gaunt] okay i guess shes not here right now but seriously guys whats going on. Lyre if you see this can you respond if u have time 13:39: [Gaunt] sorry to interrupt spike wdym slag crater like u just woke up near a bombing zone or sth 13:40: [Spike] Idk it was full of rusty melted machinery n stuff 13:40: [Spike] No bombs from what I can tell 13:40: [Spike] the area around its all desert 13:40: [Gaunt] oh huh havent seen anything like that yet 13:42: [Gaunt] ok storms leaving i should get going. lets chat tonight August 13, 2029, 19:01 19:01: [Kiki] Okay has anyone else seen the huge wall to the south? I saw it when I was up at the top of the skyscraper. It¡¯s ridiculously tall. I don¡¯t know how I missed it before. 19:02: [Kiki] Also more of my stuff survived than I thought. Still not much though. I just ate the last of my food. And don¡¯t have much more water. I treated my wounds with some fancy whisky lol. 19:02: [Spike] No i havent seen it August 13, 2029, 20:11 20:11: [Gaunt] wait what??? 20:11: [Gaunt] how tall 20:12: [Gaunt] where is it 20:12: [Gaunt] im only like 8km from the skyscraper and i can see that how tall is this wall?? 20:12: [Gaunt] where is it? 20:16: [Kiki] It¡¯s like 2km tall. I¡¯m not exaggerating. It¡¯s south of the skyscraper. You should be able to see it very easily. 20:16: [Kiki] Also you¡¯re pretty close. What does the area around you look like? I might be able to come get you now. 20:18: [Gaunt] bro wtf thats taller than the skyscraper what are u on 20:19: [Gaunt] im in a starbucks in maybe an old shopping district the sign is broken outside the k has folded over almost exactly in half and it looks like the mascot is crying now theres not a whole lot around 20:20: [Kiki] I know where that is! I can come get you tomorrow but I don¡¯t have much medical supplies so I might not be a lot of help. I saw a pharmacy while I was up high. Do you want me to go straight to you or look for supplies there first? 20:20: [Lyre] You¡¯re welcome! 20:21: [Lyre] Also the storm I didn¡¯t really see it or anything but Kiki was in danger so I told her 20:23: [Gaunt] okay what how did you know are you near her or something?? Kiki you know about this 20:23: [Kiki] How did you know I was in danger? (And no she isn¡¯t near me as far as I can tell) 20:23: [Gaunt] also kiki thats ok i have stuff do whatever 20:24: [Lyre] I saw it 20:24: [Gaunt] how tho 20:24: [Spike] Are you able to see through or track the phones 20:25: [Lyre] No, I don¡¯t think so 20:25: [Gaunt] you dont think so??? you dont know???? 20:26: [Gaunt] okay nvm wait. how come you didnt say anything to the rest of us it sounds like we all got hit 20:28: [Lyre] Only Kiki was in danger 20:28: [Spike] I nearly got fried 20:29: [Gaunt] ???? 20:30: [Gaunt] bro i almost got eaten but okay 20:32: [Gaunt] okay whatever doesnt matter. kiki if you can meet me soon do you guys think the rest of us should meet up too 20:32: [Gaunt] Lyre already knows where you are Spike so we might as well right 20:35: [Kiki] I stepped away for like ten minutes what????? Anyways I¡¯m down to meet. I do want to get more stuff first. Gaunt I¡¯ll come get you the day after tomorrow. Hopefully with antibiotics and stuff. 20:35: [Lyre] No we can¡¯t because of the big wall 20:35: [Gaunt] good cu then i have stuff too if u need anything 20:35: [Lyre] Kiki Gaunt and Spike Lyre have to meet first 20:36: [Kiki] Oh are you guys on the other side? 20:36: [Gaunt] Lyre I can¡¯t even see the wall. How do you know we¡¯re on other sides of the wall. 20:37: [Gaunt] How do you know where all of us are. 20:37: [Gaunt] Where are you? 20:37: [Spike] Lyre I was wondering whats ur plan for when we meet up 20:39: [Lyre] I saw all of you when you woke up 20:40: [Lyre] Right now I¡¯m South of the wall in a desert 20:40: [Lyre] When we meet up I don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll do because I can¡¯t see that far but we¡¯re going to probably go to the other side of the wall and meet Kiki Gaunt and then I don¡¯t know 20:41: [Kiki] Okay sounds good to me. 20:43: [Spike] Okay 20:51: [Gaunt] okay Kiki let¡¯s keep the plan the same. I¡¯ll meet you tomorrow or whenever you can. I¡¯ll keep going towards the skyscraper 20:51: [Kiki] Okay just try to go in a straight line so I can keep track. 20:53: [Gaunt] will do 20:53: [Gaunt] best of luck everyone 20:53: [Gaunt] and Lyre if there¡¯s any danger, keep updating us 20:55: [Lyre] Okay, goodnight! 20:56: [Kiki] good night and good luck! Gaunt hopefully I¡¯ll see you soon! :) LOST III: KIKI ¡°Shit.¡± The cut in her arm was red and hot, the skin around it puffy. She thought she¡¯d have more time. Okay. She definitely couldn¡¯t get Gaunt today, this needed to be treated now. She didn¡¯t know how long it took for sepsis to set in but she did know it was not something she should fuck around with. Antibiotics. She needed antibiotics, and clean bandages. Pharmacies had bandages, right? And extras for Gaunt and maybe stitches for them too. May as well splash some more whisky on before she goes. Would it do anything? Probably not but it wouldn¡¯t hurt. She uncorked it and let a bit drizzle onto the cut. ¡°Kiiiiiiii son of a bitch!¡± That was a lie, it really hurt. That being done, she corked it and stuffed it in her backpack, cushioned with the towel. She tossed in her reusable water bottle on top, as well as the soap and her can opener. Just in case she found something she needed to open or a spot to clean up. The little duffel went in a different compartment since it didn¡¯t fit in the main section. It was a struggle to zip it up but she made it work. She¡¯d fashioned a crude hilt for one of the kitchen knives. It still wasn¡¯t a good weapon since only one side was sharp, but now she could use it without worrying about slipping and cutting herself. The blade was stuck into an empty plastic water bottle as a makeshift (crappy) sheath and stuffed into a side pocket of her backpack, in easy reach. The rest of her stuff could probably stay here for now. That being said, she did take the liberty of at least hiding it in the cupboard under the concierge desk. It was useful, but probably not too difficult to find and cumbersome to carry on supply runs. Time to go. She exited the lobby, squinting in the sun. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked around to make sure she didn¡¯t miss anything. Okay, that wall was seriously huge, how did Gaunt not see it? How had she not seen it? Whatever. It could wait until she wasn¡¯t dying. It was only a few kilometres to the old pharmacy, so she made it within an hour. The insides were dim and a lot of the shelves were bare, which wasn¡¯t ideal. There was also a mysterious splatter of something gluey covering an entire shelf. Fortunately it looked dry by now. The first thing she did was go for the shelves that weren¡¯t empty. Laxatives. Makeup and nail polish. Hand lotion. Nothing super useful. All the other sections were stripped bare. That was¡­ fine. It was fine. Antibiotics were controlled, they would be in the back anyways. She was hungry. She was so hungry, and the walk had only made it worse. How much were those chips and tomatoes? Maybe 400 calories all together? She was thirsty, too, but she didn¡¯t want to drink the rest of her water yet. She didn¡¯t know when she¡¯d get more. Why wasn¡¯t there some candy here, at least? She lay down at the floor, squinting through the darkness at the spaces under the shelves, moving every so often to check a different set. Nothing. She grabbed something once, but it turned out to be a crumpled tissue. Okay. Check behind the counter. She swung her legs over the counter at the back. The back wall¡­ wasn¡¯t that supposed to be full of stuff, usually? There were only a few pill bottles here and there on the floor. She picked one up. Empty. Didn¡¯t recognize the name. Same with the second except instead of being empty, it was full of sand, a bit of broken glass, and what might be pill dust at the very bottom. This one was empty¡­ Amoxicillin. Damn it, why did it have to be empty?! Maybe there were pills scattered on the floor? She looked at the floor. Got down on her hands and knees and felt around. Stuck her fingers into the gross dusty corners and undersides where they barely fit. Clawed at the separation between wall and floor. Checked all the drawers and the spaces behind and under them. Ripped up the chair cushions. Went into the private room for consults and getting vaccines, and looked everywhere there. Tried opening the time-delay safe and obviously failed. Which was probably for the best since getting addicted to drugs was not on her to-do-list. Did something she almost didn¡¯t believe with how gross it was, and checked in the bathrooms and inside the toilets, sink drains and urinals as much as she could. She wasn¡¯t a plumber. And had no clue how to take the pipes apart so she left those be. She found some stuff. Not in the toilets, thank god. But she had a good handful of loose pills of various kinds. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t know which ones were the ones she wanted. The little blue ones looked¡­ vaguely familiar. Where had she seen them before? Not Tylenol, not allergy meds. Probably not a vitamin pill. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. One of her friends took it, she was pretty sure. Always at the same time¡­ Right. Birth control. Not what she wanted. She separated all the birth control pills out, setting them in a neat pile on the counter. Then she took the other 3 kinds, and separated those out too. After a minute of staring, she was forced to admit that she had no clue what they were. She also noticed it was getting stuffy inside the pharmacy. Great. Her choices were: Eat random pills and possibly die as a result. Don¡¯t eat random pills and likely die of infection. Doesn¡¯t matter, you¡¯re gonna die of thirst no matter what you do. She must have sat there for fifteen minutes, deliberating. Then got her phone out and sent a text. Anyone know what antibiotics look like? I have pills here and I don¡¯t know what they are. One is a large white pill that¡¯s kind of long and squarish. There¡¯s a little orange one that¡¯s shaped like a round disk, and the last one is cylindrical, half red and half yellow. After about ten minutes, Spike replied. No i cant help So she was waiting for Gaunt and Lyre. It was another hour before she gave up. At this point, it was hot enough inside the pharmacy that she was starting to sweat. That wasn¡¯t good. She didn¡¯t have the water to spare. She couldn¡¯t wait around here anymore, she had to make a decision and leave for somewhere cooler. She needed to go out and search for food and water. This was so stupid. She picked up an orange pill. Stared at it. ¡°Is this like one of those heart medications that kill people?¡± She asked, to no one in particular. In this state, she couldn¡¯t travel far. She¡¯d get dehydrated and possibly make the infection worse. It was these pills, or nothing. I¡¯m doing something kind of stupid. If I don¡¯t text back by tomorrow I¡¯m probably dead. She tossed the pill into her mouth, washing it down with the last of her water. Then, she cleaned up the three unknown piles, pouring them into the smallest compartment of her backpack. She didn¡¯t die immediately, which was good. She should probably go look for water now. She left the pharmacy. It was marginally cooler outside despite being under the burning sun, but that was little relief when it was still unbearably hot. Had she seen any other good buildings? A clinic or hospital? She¡¯d seen a university campus, but it was too far away. She¡¯d just go to the next intact building and search there, then. After a little while of walking, she stumbled and fell. She was tired. Good to rest¡­ She woke up to an awful smell, and opened her eyes to see a snout inches from her face. ¡°AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!¡± Her hands came up, whacking the thing away, and then she was crawling back and trying to fumble with her knife at the same time. Oh god, why was that rat so big? Her fingers wouldn¡¯t listen to her, they were clumsy and her body felt heavy. Where did it come from- how did she get here? Did she pass out? She yanked the knife out of her backpack, but it was still in its sheath and she had to grab it and tear it off. She tried to scramble to her feet, nearly lost her balance, then succeeded. Standing on wobbly legs, she pointed her knife at the rat- there was a second one beside it. Were they going to attack now that she was awake? And there was a third, scuttling in behind the other two. While she was watching it, one of them leaped at her, and she jumped away on instinct. Unfortunately, she stumbled on the landing, falling backwards onto her butt. When another jumped at her, she swung out clumsily with the knife. It skidded along the rat¡¯s fur, and while she didn¡¯t see, it didn¡¯t feel like much damage. The rat fell beside her, and then attempted to bite her leg. ¡°No!¡± She slammed her fist down, trying to crush its head, but it easily dodged. One of the other rats sunk its teeth into her shoe, and she started frantically kicking, trying to dislodge it. Thankfully, it worked, and the rat went flying a couple feet away. She couldn¡¯t get away. She couldn¡¯t run. The rat that had gone flying was already back up on its feet, and the one from before was still trying to get close as she flailed with the knife. She didn¡¯t know where the third was. Rocks. Rocks had worked with the dog, right? She fumbled around for any loose stones or bits of cement she could throw, but mostly just came up with a handful of gravel. She threw it in front of her anyway, at the rat crouching in preparation for another lunge. It did absolutely nothing, and the rat hit her arm, clinging on with its little legs. Searing pain erupted as it sank its teeth into her arm, and she momentarily chose to ignore the other rat to turn the knife on it. The blade parted fur and skin, only to hit something hard and slide across without doing any more damage. In desperation, she tried again and again, only to get the same result. She tried a stabbing motion, going into the rat¡¯s side as little feet clung to her lower back and started climbing up her shirt. The knife skidded, caught, and slid into the rat, the tip emerging from the other side as it choked blood onto her arm. She shook her arm, and it let go, still held up by her hand holding the knife. She purposely fell backwards, squashing the rat on her back between her and the ground, as she freed her knife. It slid out from under her with the impact, and she lurched up again, twisting around with her knife in her good hand. The knife slipped and bounced off it, not even getting through the fur. What the fuck sort of rat was this? Knife didn¡¯t work. What did she have? There, a big rock. She grabbed it and hurled it at the rat, striking near its shoulders. It squished like soft clay, totally flattening the rat at the impact site, no sound except a soft thump. The rat tried to stand, blood spurted from its nostrils, and it collapsed, dead. ¡°Where are your FUCKING BONES?!¡± Third rat. Where was it? There. Creeping forwards slowly. It froze when it realised it had been spotted, the two staring at each other. ¡°Go away or I¡¯ll kill you too.¡± It ran forwards, and she held up her knife, grabbing the bloody rock with the other, unfortunately injured hand. Which one? She made a snap decision and threw the rock at it, choosing to keep the knife. Her arm screamed in pain, but she did manage to hit it, though not with the force she would have liked. The rat barely flinched, spine bending it a way it definitely wasn¡¯t supposed to to absorb the little shock there was. Knife. As it went for her leg, she stabbed the knife down. It went through like the rat was made of water, jarring her arm as it hit the ground and the tip broke off. It was hurt, but still trying to get to her, and there wasn¡¯t any noticeable bleeding. She pulled out the knife, so she could try a slashing motion. The stab wound pulled together again, no visible damage save for a thin line in the fur. Shit. Slashing wouldn¡¯t work, then. She kicked it away to give herself time to think. Not blunt force either. Decapitation? Worth a shot. She¡¯d need to hold it down. ¡°Get back here, you wretched bastard!¡± She grabbed onto it, and it did not feel the way a rat was supposed to. Her fingers pierced through many thin, wet membranes, the surface slipping but the holes pinning it in place. She raised a foot and stomped just in front of her hand, feeling it flatten, but it was stuck under her shoe. She switched her knife back to her good hand and crouched, sawing at its neck. It worked, in the most disgusting way possible. Slimy layers of the head slid off as they were detached from the main body, piling in a goopy mass on the ground. She had scraped roadkill bunnies into Tupperware containers and eaten the salvageable bits in stew, but this was too much even for her. How did she even know if this monstrosity was dead? She ground her foot a little into what remained. Seemed dead. You know, now that she had a moment to think, it was entirely possible she was tripping off that pill she swallowed and none of this was even real. She got out her phone and checked the time- oh ew her hand was still slimy. She¡¯d been out for hours. She looked back at the possibly-drug-fuelled-hallucination rat corpses. Maybe best to assume things were real until proven otherwise, just in case. That bite felt pretty damn real. Another route for infection. God damn it. She needed to stop and take a look, not out in the open, so she made her way to a gas station convenience store that was still mostly standing. When she stepped inside, she paused. Was that¡­? No, no way, it was probably empty, no way she got that lucky- It was full. Somehow, there was a full, four-liter jug of water sitting in the corner for her to take. ¡°Yes!¡± She sat down beside it, opened it up, and drank without hesitation. It tasted like it had been sitting around for a while and also like the best drink she¡¯d ever had. Finally, a lucky break. She¡¯d wash out her wounds, maybe look for other stuff here. It was late, so she¡¯d stay the night. Once she¡¯d gotten herself cleaned up, she opened up her phone, and started typing. LOST III: GAUNT Focus. Just focus on getting to Kiki. Gaunt tried for the fourth time to break her gaze from the phone. Nothing new, just whatever was said last night, but it was all far too fresh in her mind. Detracting from the present. Especially what Lyre said. As much as she wanted to dismiss everything Lyre said, it was really hard, particularly because she was so damn cryptic. Maybe she was making everything up, but why would she bother? And she also seemed to know about that storm, too¡­ Don¡¯t go too far. But then it was only for Kiki, and if so, why didn¡¯t she specify that at all? Or for that matter, why only warn Kiki? Why was only Kiki in danger? Gaunt was pretty sure that being swarmed by giant roaches qualified as some kind of danger, and Lyre certainly didn¡¯t care about that. If Lyre was being deceptive, she wasn¡¯t good at it. But if she was being deceptive, none of the deceit made any damn sense. Gaunt finally shoved the phone into her bag. Lyre wasn¡¯t here right now. Probably. But even if she knew where everyone was, she had no problem announcing her arrival to Spike, so Gaunt could worry about other things for now. Ignoring the scattered medical supplies at her feet, she wandered over to the boarded-up window on the intact side of the Starbucks. Through a crack she could clearly make out the skyscraper. Kiki was right there, and supposedly so was the wall; yet it stood unopposed on the horizon. Nothing to be seen. Another really, really strange thing to lie about. Gaunt could only hope Kiki wasn¡¯t completely delusional. Depending on how long it had been since the fallout of¡­ whatever, it was a strong possibility. Shaking her head, she sauntered back to her backpack. She tore open the bag of jerky and ate the last few pieces, then grabbed a granola bar to accompany it. Munching on that, she dug around the bottom of her bag. It took a lot less time to find the antiseptic than it did yesterday. Finishing the last of the granola bar, she put the antiseptic in her other hand and kept looking. Rifling past a stick of deodorant, her flashlight, a can of bear spray. Not much left, and no food. She grabbed the last bottle of water and pulled that free, too. No sense rationing, she¡¯d need all the brainpower and strength she could get, given her state. She took a swig of the water and set it down, then took a breath. No use avoiding it. Gaunt took the end of the bandage and slowly untied it. It was good that she didn¡¯t bother getting her hopes up, because it was looking a whole lot worse than yesterday. Swollen around the edges, more so than yesterday. She put a finger near the site and a little bead of pus oozed out. The skin was hot. Fuck. Well, that was it. Find antibiotics or die, screw waiting around for someone who might be hallucinating. Gaunt splashed a healthy bit of antiseptic on the wound anyway, which prompted a loud hiss and for her to nearly fall over sideways. Then she wound a fresh bandage around, tight as she could bear, which was barely enough to keep it from slipping down her waist. It would have to do. Time was running out. She wasted none of it shoving aside the barricaded wall and stalking off. Glancing around, the buildings weren¡¯t just ruined but barren, too. It would make sense that by now they¡¯d be picked clean by whoever passed through. That said, it was peculiar that she hadn¡¯t seen a single person so far, dead or alive. There was Kiki, along with the rest of the group, of course. Not that she¡¯d seen them physically, but they certainly didn''t act like chat bots or anything of the sort. But that was it. No bodies, no raiders, no bedraggled survivors. Some part of her was grateful for that, for the lack of those nasty ethical situations you always ended up in zombie-apocalypse scenarios and the relative lack of hostile parties, but it got lonely, too. Lonely, and also very suspicious. Things would get worse. There was always a catch, Gaunt found. And the longer it went without a hitch, the harder it would hit her. Now that she thought about it, the backpacking trip was really fun before she woke up under that train car. Sure, she¡¯d gotten roped into it without any real interest, but she was pretty outdoorsy when it came down to it and she was no stranger to physical exertion. But even beyond the surface level, too, it wasn¡¯t¡­ She liked her group, and more surprisingly, they genuinely liked her back. Their faces were blurry. She couldn¡¯t even recall how many there were. Gaunt wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to remember or not. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Her aimless thoughts led her through a dark overpass, though she hardly noticed until the shadow fell over her. Dark enough to see, but she still unzipped her bag a touch to rifle around for the flashlight. She¡¯d be damned if she made the same mistake twice. Luckily, it was near the top, so she whipped it out in mere seconds. Toggling it on, a cone of light illuminated a whole lot of nothing ¨C concrete blocks, old graffiti, and the odd broken bottle or two. Still she took care to tread gently until she was back in the light of day, turning the light hastily off and stowing it away. Drawing her attention back in front of her revealed a dilapidated row of buildings, all but one completely decimated. That one was possibly a grocery store or fruit shop, from the wooden pallets lying out front. Small, and trashed, but it might still have something. Throat feeling a touch dry, Gaunt stepped through the ruined doorway. As soon as she did that, she couldn¡¯t see anything. Instinctively she reached for her zipper to get the flashlight again, before she realised exactly how big the door frame was. A good bit larger than her. And if the light from outside wasn¡¯t filtering in¡­ Abandoning the flashlight, she gripped her crowbar with her other hand and whirled around, raising it to strike. She didn¡¯t bring it down right away, assessing the situation, and that situation was soundly not good. A humongous segmented centipede reared up less than a foot from her face, blotting out all the sunlight except a thin halo around it. As its scythe-tipped forelimbs whistled towards her, she spun the crowbar around from an offensive position to a blocking one. One blade struck it right down the middle, shoving it into her chest and winding her. As she collapsed, the other one brushed across her ribs, slicing right through her skin and about a third of the way through the bandage. The claws snapped shut in a grabbing motion, but thankfully she was well out of its range. Scrambling away, she grabbed a nearby display and tried to lift herself to her feet as the centipede tried to follow. It didn¡¯t quite fit through the doorway. It was just a touch too wide, flakes of concrete chipping away as it writhed in a vaguely forwards direction. Gaunt finally managed to regain her footing and hefted the crowbar high overhead as before. As it hurtled down, it struck just the flooring, shattering a tile into bits. She managed to swing it away before the centipede dislodged it from her grip. It kept thrashing, but a touch slower. The frame wasn¡¯t buckling anymore, just making painful creaks every now and then. Even so, Gaunt kept a good metre away from where she thought she saw the centipede¡¯s head. A scythe managed to slip forth, nearly decapitating her before she dove to the ground. Her injury throbbed as it made contact, but she gritted her teeth and stumbled to her feet, now three metres away. The scratch on her ribs, the new one, was starting to hurt too, but not from falling. It was a more chemical pain, a thin burning like dipping a paper cut into lemon juice, but much, much stronger. Well, she figured it was supposed to be stronger, but it faded to the back of her mind like a wave ebbing away from a thrown pebble. What did draw her attention was the monster in front of her. And the heavy steel crowbar in her hands. She ran straight at it. This time, she swung up, and it tore straight into the wall. She managed to tug it free just as another leg soared in her direction, but she was already in the motion of another swing. Aided by gravity and the force from pulling it free, the crowbar made perfect contact with the oncoming limb, and a sharp crack resounded as it ploughed clean through the second joint. The limb was quickly lost in the darkness, but she saw it fly off to her right somewhere far. The centipede flinched hard, but still lunged forwards once it recovered. Gaunt backed off a healthy distance to regain her bearings. Her thoughts didn¡¯t get far before she saw the dim figure scoot forwards a few inches. Another lunge didn¡¯t get it anywhere, but it got another couple legs through the door frame and leveraged itself another couple inches. It was hard to make out the wall behind her, but it was closer than she¡¯d like. Whatever she did, she would have to finish it now. Fuck it. She took a minute to turn the flashlight on and throw it to the ground. The light shone more towards the left wall than forwards, but she¡¯d need any advantage she could get. The glimpses she got were slate grey, speckled with dull tiny eyes. Its legs were spindly and far too numerous than reasonable. It was still squirming, but a touch slower than before, which would hopefully make her job that much easier. She set her eyes on her target, and stepped forward, waiting for it to strike. When it did, it was a hell of a lot easier to block than before. What she didn¡¯t account for was the claw closing fully around the crowbar, tugging it away. A burst of something cold flowed through her veins as it was nearly pulled out of her grip. Clenching her fingers, she pulled back, putting her whole body into it by turning her whole torso away. As she did so, the leg tore free at the first joint. It fell to the ground, and she stood on it, pulling the crowbar out from its grip. Then she drove it directly towards the nearest segment, even as the centipede was starting to skirt away. It missed, but she wasn¡¯t taking any chances. The second blow swung way wide, but the third struck true just by the base of the head, what she would call the ¡°neck¡± on a vertebrate. The crowbar crunched straight past the armour, hardly slowing, and through most of the flesh beneath before coming to a stop around seventy percent of the way in. Gaunt realised her arms were embedded nearly to the shoulder. The centipede bucked, and only then did she try to remove them, wrenching away with the crowbar still in hand. The plating was inches thick, from what she could tell. Too thick to do¡­ whatever she just did. She didn¡¯t care to strike it again lest it get totally stuck in it and leave her without a weapon. It worked to her favour, though. It was enough to send the centipede into a panic, finally getting itself free of the door and scuttling off in the opposite direction. If it knew what was good for it, it shouldn¡¯t be back for a while. As it left, the burning of her ribs wormed its way back into focus. Shit. Not exactly what she was looking for. The exact opposite, really. And it stung like hell. Figuring it couldn¡¯t hurt much more than it already was, Gaunt pulled the antiseptic free, along with a gauze patch, and pressed the soaked square against the cut. She was wrong. It definitely could hurt a lot more. Despite her best efforts, Gaunt still let out a whimper considerably too loud for comfort. After a few seconds, she put the gauze aside and the pain ebbed down to what it was before. Well, she¡¯d just have to work around it. Wrapping another bandage around the slice, a whole lot tighter than her other wound, she proceeded to head to the back of the store. Now that the centipede was gone, she could turn off the flashlight safely. She could clearly make out the tins of tuna on one of the shelves, which she eagerly scooped into her bag. Heavy, but would be well worth it. There was also some produce, all of it rotted completely. Far beyond edible. That was it, though. A look outside told her it was starting to get late, and there weren''t a whole lot of places for her to go, so she¡¯d just have to hope that that monster centipede didn¡¯t decide to finish the job. That said, Gaunt did more of a number on it than it did to her. Somehow. If it had any friends, she¡¯d be completely fucked, of course, but there wasn¡¯t really anywhere she could go to avoid that risk in the few hours left. Too much going on. She cracked open a can of tuna and took out the last of her water. None of that here, which didn¡¯t bode well; she¡¯d only have a couple days to get more. One hand was dedicated to eating, while the other was set on taking her mind off things with the phone. As much as that chat group created more questions than answers, in some ways, it was also the only thing keeping her together. The cut stung the whole way through, even once she put the phone away and tried to sleep. There wasn¡¯t much to sleep on, either, and Gaunt had a feeling she wouldn¡¯t be in high spirits in the morning. She was running out of time, too, and could hardly afford that. Fingers crossed that Kiki actually got somewhere. LOST III: SPIKE He stared at the phone, fingers tightening before he forced them to relax. He¡¯d gotten almost nothing, and what information he had was almost worse than useless. He knew Lyre was close, but not how close or which direction. They could be twenty kilometres away or in shouting distance. He didn¡¯t know their intentions or what they would do if they found him. He knew he was separated from the other two, and while they weren¡¯t a risk to him, he also couldn¡¯t rely on them for help. He knew Lyre had some way to monitor them, and that it was not linked to the phones they carried, which was a double-edged sword. It meant he could keep the phone and be able to communicate and receive information from the groupchat, but it also meant he couldn¡¯t easily shake Lyre off his trail. In the end, same as every other time he¡¯d wondered what to do, he didn¡¯t have enough information to do anything other than keep walking. So he walked. He walked until night brightened back into day, the sun¡¯s glare bouncing off the sand. Around mid-morning, his phone dinged and he took a look. Kiki, asking about loose pills they found again. He kind of had to wonder where they were finding them. Maybe there were lots of hospitals and drugstores nearby, and the dust storm had scattered them. Unfortunately for them, he had no clue what they were, and told them such. About an hour later, they texted again. Based on what they were saying about ¡®something stupid¡¯, they could have done a lot of things. Maybe gone into a dangerous location to look for supplies. Maybe they took a pill without knowing what it was. It was hard to say. How long had he been walking through this desert? Physically, he wasn¡¯t tired, but it felt like the sand was blurring in front of him after the days he¡¯d spent looking at it. An endless journey with no destination, walking and walking until his shoes wore away to nothing and his mind wore away with them. It brought back unpleasant memories, but there was nothing else to do out here but walk and think. There was a blot on the horizon, darker than the surrounding sand. At this distance it was impossible to tell what it was, heat shimmering and distorting it. Not a building. Too small. As he got closer, he saw it was a soft-looking pile of things of varying colours, and there were little figures around it. More robots, most likely. The pile wasn¡¯t ore like he might have suspected, and morbid though it was, his mind jumped to corpses. There could be good stuff in there, new shoes, new gloves, maybe even a weapon or two if he¡¯s lucky. But if he got close enough to grab it, even close enough just to get a good look, those figures would probably see him, and he didn¡¯t know what they were capable of. Safest to just skirt around. He could manage with what he had for now. They were sorting through, grabbing things here and there. They didn¡¯t have to tug off the clothes he saw them cart away, just pluck them off the top. Not corpses, then, but supplies. Still didn¡¯t change his assessment. Too dangerous unless there was something very valuable there. He stopped, narrowing his eyes. There, off to one side, was a bulky object in camo. Some sort of bag or duffel, and hanging on the side, framed perfectly against it, was a gun. He didn¡¯t know what else was inside the bag, but even the gun alone might make the risk worth it. If there was something like bandages for his hand, which was likely, or new boots, as well¡­ He¡¯d have to act fast. The bots were working very close by, and they¡¯d get to the bag pretty soon. Other large objects were being dismantled and ripped apart, so he might not be able to salvage everything once they got to it. Maybe if he distracted them, with a loud noise or something similar, he could rush in and out before they could catch him. It didn¡¯t look like they had any sort of ranged weapons on them, so as long as he kept his distance he could probably do it. He wasn¡¯t very fast, but they weren¡¯t built for speed either. Worst case scenario, he died, and that was probably going to happen anyways. Best case, he had some actual supplies, and more than a snowball¡¯s chance in hell of getting out of this mess. Fuck it. He crouched, picking up a stone, and hurled it away from him towards another rocky outcrop. It missed and hit the sand with a thump. In unison, the bots turned their heads towards it. He waited for several tense seconds, only for them to return to their work. There was no shortage of rocks about, so he tried again. Maybe a repeated stimulus would keep their attention¡­ or maybe not. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. So this wouldn¡¯t be as easy as he had been hoping. He¡¯d need to try something else. If there was cover around so he could get closer¡­ There was a few outcrops here and there, like the one he¡¯d been chucking stones at. Too few and far between to really feel comfortable, but maybe he could make it work. He tossed another stone, this time in a different direction. While the bots were distracted, he rushed closer and ducked behind an outcrop. He didn¡¯t get a chance to see if any noticed, so hopefully they- He glanced over and came face-to-face with a bot, and acting on reflex, he punched it in the face. It stumbled back, stilling, then calmly turned and started walking away. He turned and started running for the pile, throwing away all efforts at stealth and hoping he could get in and grab it before the bots decided how to react. He looked around, trying to see if any were reaching for a weapon or stepping into his path, but none of them did as far as he could tell. He hit the pile, clothes shifting as his momentum dissipated, before grabbing the backpack by its shoulder straps and running away. He would have tried to position it so it covered his vital areas, but he didn¡¯t think he could do that while sprinting. It was hard enough to keep his balance as it was, and it was heavy. He listed to one side, tried to correct it, and failed, falling onto the bag, sand billowing up as he slid to a halt. They were coming for him. He tried to scramble to his feet, but they were already close, and one was already leaning over him. He felt a tug on the bag, and looked over to see another, trying to take it from him. In response, he lunged for the gun strapped to the side, hoping it was loaded and he remembered enough from shooting tin cans with his BB gun as a kid. He yanked it away, clicking the safety off, and surprisingly managed to land all three of his shots. The bot holding the bag and the one above him crumpled, smoking holes in their main bodies, in addition to a third a bit further away. He swung the backpack over one shoulder and stood, gun still in hand. The other bots hesitated, and he was about to turn his back on them and make a break for it when something hit him in the side. He tried to turn and see what was responsible, but most of his body was stiff and refused to obey him, only his neck and head moving. There was a bot standing a little ways away, holding some sort of gun, and when he looked down, the rest of his body was lightly crusted with frost. They shuffled closer as he fought to move, taking his gun hand in their clamps and scraping the ice away. One took hold of the gun barrel and tried to wiggle it free of his grasp. They didn¡¯t seem to be trying to harm him yet, but this was still an astoundingly terrible situation. One of them sprayed something on his hand, and he felt his fingers become pliable. None of the rest of his body was listening to him. ¡°Stop!¡± His protest did exactly what he expected it to do, which was nothing. The gun slipped from his grasp, and one of the bots walked a little ways away with it as all the others followed. They huddled around it, scanners beeping. He was pretty sure there were other guns in those piles, but no, apparently specifically this gun was super interesting for some reason. Maybe it was the only one that actually worked. Some of the freezing effect was softening around his joints, but not enough to be useful quite yet. If he kept working at it, he would be able to get free, but only if they were preoccupied with that gun for a very long time. Then he could leave with the backpack and whatever was in it. They might chase him for the bag, but it seemed like they were primarily focused on metal, so they probably wouldn¡¯t have any reason to chase him if he got rid of any metal objects in there. A few turned back to him, one shuffling behind him. The others were putting the gun in a separate compartment to the rest, organising it in a way that made him think of his dog hiding a particularly good stick in the bushes. He tried to turn to look at it, ice crackling around his shoulders, but it simply moved with him. He felt a clamp holding his chin still, then a scraping sensation against the back of his head. The ice around him broke. When the haze of terror cleared enough for him to properly register the area around him, he was somewhere different, clothes damp from the freezing effect but all his muscles responding to him again. His bag was still slung over his shoulder and there were no bots to be seen in any direction. His entire front side was covered in caked-on wet sand. He must have fallen a lot. He took a long, slow breath, thinking back on the past few minutes. He was pretty sure he¡¯d broken free from the ice while the bot was messing with him and ran. They¡­ hadn¡¯t done anything to stop him. They¡¯d taken the gun, but he still had the bag and had made it out unscathed. He looked around a few times, quadruple-checking that there was nothing hazardous around, before sitting down and opening up the backpack. The first thing he pulled out were boots. Too big for him, but he could probably make it work. If there was spare clothing in there, he could stuff some into the boots to ensure a snug fit. Next was a roll of bandages. A large canteen full of water, a military uniform that was also too big for him, and a multipurpose knife. Not bad. The first thing he did was peel off his left glove. It stuck for a moment before he got it loose, crusty at the fingertips and wet in the center. He didn¡¯t have much water to spare, so he stuck it in his pocket and resolved to wash it later. He splashed a bit of water on the wound, rinsing off the linty bits stuck to it before closing up the canteen and setting it aside. Grabbing the bandages, he clumsily wrapped his hand up. It was too loose in places, so he had to go around again and use up more of the bandages than he would have liked before tying it with a simple, tight knot and cutting it with the knife. The next thing he used the knife for was trimming some of the extra fabric off the uniform. He also cut up the fabric portions of his old shoes, and shoved the whole mess into the boots before jamming his feet in. It was still a little loose, but once he laced them up as tightly as he could, it was good enough to run in. What was left of his shoes, he considered for a moment, then placed back in the bag. Just in case. They were light and didn¡¯t take up much room. The uniform also went back in. The camo was designed for forest, not desert, so it wasn¡¯t any better than what he was wearing right now. Bandages, water, then he zipped it up and put it back on. He kept the knife out and in his hand. It wasn¡¯t the sort of weapon he was best with, but far better than his bare fists. He stood up, took a moment to recall which way he had come from and make sure he didn¡¯t run into the bots again, and continued his journey to nowhere. LOST III: LYRE Lyre had just woken up so of course there was no plan yet or anything but she already thought maybe it would be hard all over today. She knew this because she just woke up and there was stuff to do so she tried to stand up but it was hard for some reason and she fell over. Then she tried to do it again but it was still hard and she was on her feet but then she fell over again even though she was standing this time. Also then when she looked at her arms there was something different about them because they were a different colour which was red and a little bit yellow but she didn¡¯t know what it meant at all. So even before she stood up to walk she decided to ask about danger. She wasn¡¯t making a plan yet or anything because she wasn¡¯t sure what was happening but because she was really confused she wanted to know if the confusing parts were danger or not. Is there danger? There were actually two parts to the danger and one of them was smaller than the other or maybe it was farther away but anyway Lyre didn¡¯t bother looking at that one yet. The bigger one was the arms like she wondered and it turned out that the red part was blood and she was bleeding but not anymore which was okay and the yellow part was infection which was not good at all. The danger was the infection which was urgent but not really really urgent so she would die right away so Lyre thought it was okay to make a plan about it because the other danger was small. How can I get rid of the infection? Anyway now she felt better because there was a plan and she was not confused like when she woke up. Basically the plan had two parts and the first part was not super hard at all but a little annoying and the second part was really really easy but it went on for a long time. There was antibiotics that she needed to get rid of the infection and then after that there was soap and washing and then the infection would be gone forever. Then that was the first danger gone. Then the plan was one food one water place for sleep but also antibiotic and also soap or sanitizer or something which was okay. Then with a plan it was time to go so Lyre stood up again and everything was spinning around and she almost fell over but the plan let her know how to put her foot out so she didn¡¯t. Since she was okay then she left. Her plans were very good because they worked and there were a couple reasons why they worked. The one reason which was very obvious was that they always did what she asked them to do even if it was hard which was really super difficult or maybe not even possible without a plan. But also sometimes when things were invisible her plans could guess where they would be. Not all the time and actually it didn¡¯t work a lot but when things were invisible there would be some places that were better for them to be and then her plan would tell her what to do if they were in those places and sometimes they actually were in those places and things would be okay. So when she walked a lot of the time she would trip or fall but her plan knew that maybe that would happen it just didn¡¯t know when or where and it had an okay idea what she should do. It was really good for her but not perfect and she still fell over a lot. Most people but not Lyre could see the invisible things but because she couldn¡¯t then occasionally it would be somewhere she never would have guessed and then the plan didn¡¯t help at all. But even if things were invisible and Lyre got confused she knew she made good plans and she could always make new ones once she could see what was happening. And that was actually some of why she was putting off the other smaller danger was because a lot of it was invisible so it was really hard to make a plan for it. There was a thing that wanted to get her and she didn¡¯t know why and also it didn¡¯t matter where it was going because she would always meet it so that part of the plan was impossible. Luckily though it was a whole lot easier to make a plan once it got there. Even though it was invisible there weren¡¯t too many places for the invisible stuff to be so her plan could guess where it would be and that was not perfect but still a pretty good plan so she was okay with it. Now her plan was done so it was just walking. It was a whole lot of desert like before and not anything very interesting but of course it would be interesting in a few hours when the plan happened so it was fine. But there wasn¡¯t very much to think about which was unfortunate because Lyre was so excited that she could see backwards and there wasn¡¯t really anything to look at yet. But Spike was almost there now so then things would happen and she would very much like looking back when she was in front of where she was standing now. The first part of her plan appeared and it was a big pile of stuff and it had a bunch of drones around that were picking through everything and taking the things they liked which was most of it. There were also things Lyre liked that were part of the plan and the plan told her where it was but she would have to be fast. There wasn¡¯t actually a whole lot to do before this time so she ran right away. She didn¡¯t move very fast like how she usually did. Also all the drones looked at her and they started beeping and pointing cold guns at her but all of this was fine because the plan said it was. One of them shot at her but she fell over right before it happened so it froze the next one to shoot instead and then she was really close to the pile already. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Her plan actually told her not to put her arms in this time like she did last time which made things more complicated but there were lots of things on the surface that would work. First another drone tried shooting so Lyre grabbed one of the first things she could find which was hard and not very big or heavy and chucked it behind her and then the ray froze it instead of her and it crashed into the drone who was shooting. Then a bunch more of them were grabbing instead but she swept one way then the other and they missed. Then the third time she got the second thing she wanted from the pile which was a big metal bar which made a bunch of stuff slide down and when they grabbed that she twisted it and two of the drones¡¯ arms came off. Then another one grabbed the bar and it had a really good grip so Lyre just dropped it and then the drone dropped it also. While that happened right on top there was a gun so she picked it up and shot the drone before the bar even hit the ground. Then the gun was frozen but she threw it away first so she didn¡¯t also get frozen and there was one more thing she needed but it wasn¡¯t there. Actually all the stuff was invisible that she didn¡¯t expect for some reason which was really bad because she didn¡¯t have time to make a new plan. There was one more drone left and it was going to shoot her with the freeze gun and she didn¡¯t know what to do about it at all. The plan said she needed the last thing to throw at the drone so because she couldn¡¯t find it she did the closest thing and grabbed whatever was in her hand and threw that. It didn¡¯t actually go very far at all because when Lyre threw it she expected it to be lighter than it was so it fell on the drone¡¯s leg. It fell over a little but not totally and recalibrated the gun on her. Now she was really confused but the best thing to do was always follow the plan so she picked up another thing and threw it too. This time it went a lot farther and hit the drone and it fell over completely and it wasn¡¯t going to shoot her anymore so Lyre had a second or two to make part of a new plan. She didn¡¯t make a whole plan of course, only to get rid of the drone. Then with her new plan she picked up the gun at her feet and shot it and then everything was okay and she had time. But she had to make a totally new plan now because she didn¡¯t know where the stuff she needed was and that would take a while. The rest of the plan was mostly the same already because most of it was already invisible but also because it was invisible she didn¡¯t know how close it was. It would take a few minutes to make her new plan and that overlapped with the old plan then maybe there would be problems. So first she checked that. Luckily for her even though it was invisible the plan wasn¡¯t very close and she had enough time for her new plan but not that much after that. So Lyre spent a whole lot deciding where everything was in the pile and then finally she knew and she picked out the food water antibiotics soap she needed. Then the second part of the plan needed the gun too so she picked that up even though it was a whole lot of stuff and she had trouble carrying it. She was dropping things a lot and her muscles were not working super well so she didn¡¯t make it very far before there was a thing in the distance and she knew it was the next part of her plan. It moved towards her much faster than she could outpace so she put everything down except the gun and stood and waited. It was able to shoot from farther than her so it shot first but she knew it was coming and leaned out of the way. She almost toppled but the dart whizzed right by her. Then she was close enough to shoot so she did and it hit the sentry right in the chest but it didn¡¯t do a whole lot which was expected by the plan. Then they traded more shots and the same thing happened and Lyre was fine but her bullet did even less this time. But now the sentry covered the spot with one appendage and rushed in which wasn¡¯t a part of the plan she thought about too much but it wasn¡¯t totally unaccounted for so she had one thing to do about it. She stood very very still and it got closer and closer and reached out to snatch her but she shot one of the appendages at the last second and then dove. The appendage didn¡¯t break off or dent or anything but it careened away from her and the rest went right over her head. Then she was on her hands and knees and her arms trembled at the elbows but she still pushed herself back up and didn¡¯t fall. The sentry was turning around very fast and she had a very very small amount of time to aim and then when it was looking right at her she shot it in the spot again before it could do anything. This time the plate buckled a little bit and the sentry fell onto the ground front first and spasmed there. It was holding the site with two arms at this point and it was trying to aim the gun at her but it wasn¡¯t very good at it at all so it didn¡¯t bother shooting. Its other arms reached out to her in a very slow way and it wasn¡¯t holding any guns anymore but instead one of them was holding some kind of tool of some sort and another one was gesturing to her like it wanted her to come closer. Lyre¡¯s plan didn¡¯t tell her to do that though so she didn¡¯t. Actually her plan didn¡¯t say a whole lot about the sentry anymore in the first place so she was free to go and so she picked up all her stuff in her arms except the gun because it was big and heavy and hard to hold and then she walked away. She found the end of the plan and it wasn¡¯t far from the sentry but it was fine because the plan said it wouldn¡¯t be here as far as she could see. Then finally she could put down all her stuff and stop dropping it so it all went on the floor except the antibiotics because she was holding that in her hand. She took one of them out and put it in her mouth and swallowed it like the plan wanted her to and then it wanted her to put the soap on so she got some of the water and the soap she got and rubbed it all over her arms which made them shake really hard but it was okay because the plan was good. Then it was the same as before. Eat drink phone sleep. Phone was interesting now actually because now everyone (Kiki Gaunt Lyre) were all asking questions but it was even more interesting because unlike before they were a whole bunch of questions Lyre couldn¡¯t even answer. In fact actually they were all questions Lyre wanted answers to. Which was very interesting and good and bad because then maybe it would be hard to see the answers but if everyone tried their best maybe they would all see it soon. It made Lyre remember how much she wanted to know. The far far forwards and the before. Maybe if her plans were really super perfect and she was super extra lucky she might learn. Even though she didn¡¯t know what it was, she missed the things behind her. LOST III: INTERLUDE August 14, 2029, 8:12 8:12: [Kiki] Anyone know what antibiotics look like? I have pills here and I don¡¯t know what they are. One is a large white pill that¡¯s kind of long and squarish. There¡¯s a little orange one that¡¯s shaped like a round disk, and the last one is cylindrical, half red and half yellow. 8:23: [Spike] No i cant help 9:14: [Kiki] I¡¯m doing something kind of stupid. If I don¡¯t text back by tomorrow I¡¯m probably dead. August 14, 2029, 19:48 19:48: [Gaunt] woah shit are u ok 19:50: [Gaunt] are any of them antibiotics i could use some when we meet 20:05: [Kiki] Well one of them¡¯s a sedative. Maybe also hallucinogenic. I found out the hard way. I¡¯m okay now. Not sure about the other two but hopefully. 20:08: [Gaunt] oh shoot thats no good 20:11: [Gaunt] actually um sorry for asking but is that the only pill youve taken so far i just wanna know 20:11: [Kiki] Yeah. The little orange one. 20:12: [Gaunt] oh ok 20:12: [Gaunt] dont get mad ik we dont know each other and its like idk everythings gone to shit but like 20:13: [Gaunt] like the wall thing im wondering if its actually there bc i still dont see it and im like really close according to what u said 20:13: [Gaunt] so if u took hallucinogens before then idk but its just really weird?? 20:15: [Kiki] Not deliberately. Things have been off since that creature got me. It¡¯s possible its venom is messing with my brain too. 20:16: [Gaunt] ohh true 20:17: [Gaunt] anything else weird happen lately because i feel like things are not normal around here. if it was just the wall then fine i get it but i dont think thats it and its a really weird thing to hallucinate right 20:17: [Gaunt] anyone feel free to speak up please you dont have to but still 20:19: [Kiki] Yeah I fought some weird rats. One had super thick skin and no bones. One had this weird armour under the fur. One was just a bunch of gross slimy membranes. Honestly I¡¯m scared I might be tripping and can¡¯t trust my brain. All of this is really weird. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. 20:20: [Gaunt] i mean idk for sure but maybe its not just you 20:21: [Gaunt] im totally lucid i think and i found this giant ass centipede like bigger than me giant 20:21: [Gaunt] im kinda scared if thats the kinda shit around like wtf am i supposed to do 20:22: [Kiki] Oh that¡¯s terrifying! X( It is good to know it¡¯s not just me though. Was it aggressive? 20:22: [Gaunt] yeah of course 20:23: [Gaunt] couldnt just give me a break or anything 20:23: [Kiki] Seems like everything¡¯s out to get us. :¡¯( 20:23: [Gaunt] almost comical if u think abt it 20:23: [Gaunt] like really mutant centipedes?? sounds like a low budget horror movie or some shit 20:24: [Lyre] Lots of drones 20:24: [Gaunt] wait what kind of drones like the little robots or what 20:25: [Spike] Fought some robots 20:25: [Lyre] Robots, but not very little 20:25: [Gaunt] classic of course everything has to be big and angry and hungry for human flesh 20:26: [Spike] They didnt want to hurt me I think 20:26: [Spike] Just wanted some metal stuff I had 20:27: [Gaunt] oh what so like they were just hanging out 20:27: [Gaunt] lyre what abt u 20:31: [Lyre] Not really 20:31: [Gaunt] not really what like they were friendly? 20:31: [Lyre] No 20:32: [Gaunt] oh that sucks 20:34: [Kiki] Well, that¡¯s good to know if we ever run into them. Thanks for telling us. 20:37: [Kiki] I think I can still meet Gaunt tomorrow. I found some water too if you need it. I¡¯ll grab the rest of my stuff from the apartment and head out. I¡¯m pretty sure one of the pills is amoxicillin. Not sure which. 20:38: [Gaunt] ok yeah great i have food btw if u need that i also have some other med supplies and some other stuff just yknow good to haves 20:38: [Gaunt] not that it seems like enough to deal with everything lately given the circumstances 20:39: [Kiki] It¡¯s still really helpful. I haven¡¯t eaten much lately. If you have food to spare it would be nice. Hopefully we can help each other once we meet. 20:39: [Gaunt] yeah perfect i hope its enough 20:39: [Gaunt] for like 20:42: [Gaunt] actually dumb question but what actually happened 20:42: [Gaunt] when i woke up at the train station i had no idea what happened and still dont it just doesnt make sense 20:42: [Gaunt] its like the actual apocalypse or something so i mean someones gotta know right??? 20:44: [Kiki] Sorry but I¡¯m as confused as you are. I barely know what direction we¡¯re in. I don¡¯t understand why we didn¡¯t hear about an evacuated city like this. It should have been on the news. But I don¡¯t know anything about it. 20:44: [Gaunt] huh 20:44: [Spike] I dont know anything either 20:46: [Gaunt] lyre? 20:50: [Lyre] No 20:51: [Gaunt] huh. 20:51: [Gaunt] that¡¯s¡­ scary. 20:51: [Kiki] Really scary. 20:52: [Kiki] Maybe once we¡¯re together we can work together to figure it out. At least I hope we can. Maybe then we can find a way to get out or call for help. 20:53: [Kiki] If there even is help left. 20:53: [Kiki] Sorry that¡¯s really morbid. Don¡¯t listen to me. 20:55: [Gaunt] no its ok its all gone to shit i get it 20:55: [Gaunt] honestly 20:56: [Gaunt] idk if i even want to know anymore 20:56: [Gaunt] but i swear to god im getting the hell out of here. we have to try. 20:57: [Spike] If its possible im doing it 20:57: [Kiki] That¡¯s the spirit! 20:57: [Gaunt] ill get some rest. hope to see you tomorrow Kiki. 20:59: [Kiki] Fingers crossed. Sleep well. :) August 15, 2029, 3:18 3:18: [Kiki] Uh anyone else feel that weird rumbling from below us? LOST IV: KIKI Kiki trudged into the lobby, dusty and tired. She¡¯d been woken up in the middle of the night by vibrations coming from below. Not directly below her. A bit further away. It wasn¡¯t an earthquake, she was pretty sure, but not knowing frankly made it more unnerving than if it was one. Point was, she was dirty, exhausted, injured, and hungry, and all of those were draining her hope and willpower. Pack up. Go meet with Gaunt. Things are better when someone¡¯s watching your back, she¡¯d known that for as long as she could remember. There wasn¡¯t really that much to pack. The whisky had to be settled away carefully in her bag, wrapped up in the towel. Various cooking tools were tossed haphazardly into the duffel, alongside the water, and she had a new sheath for her broken knife. It was also made from plastic trash, so not very strong, but good enough to keep her from cutting herself. The soap went in her bag. She grabbed the old plastic water bottle, the one she¡¯d finished off the day before, and put the pills in there. She had her reusable bottle so she didn¡¯t need it for much else. Pockets could get dirty and develop holes. They were safer here, and then in her bag. That was it. Everything was packed. It wasn¡¯t much, but the duffel was still pretty heavy. She stepped outside, and started walking towards the Starbucks as she texted. Heading out now. How far away are you? Gaunt replied, saying she was about 3km away. Okay, great. Should only take an hour or so. About an hour later, Kiki stopped 3km away from the skyscraper, looked around, and saw no sign of anyone. She did say ¡®about¡¯. Maybe she was a bit further away? Another half kilometer, and still nothing. I¡¯m here. I can¡¯t see you. Are you hidden somewhere? what why do u think u know where i am i didnt even give a location??? Kiki raised a brow. Gaunt didn¡¯t know how Kiki knew? So, she explained her reasoning, which was pretty easy to figure out if Gaunt had been moving in a straight line. If Gaunt had been moving around in a different direction, that would make things difficult¡­ okay well idk exactly where i am its not like im going in a perfect path?? like u know u dont walk like that??? Damn it. Fine. Fine, if she could just get the direction from the skyscraper, it would be fine. She¡¯d just ask which direction Gaunt was in. oh i dont have a compass so idk sorry ¡­What????? How did Gaunt not know where she was? How did someone get that mixed up? Surely she knew general directions at least¡­ bro i said i dont know Gaunt. Didn¡¯t know. Basic cardinal directions??? Like yeah, people used compasses, but Kiki had always thought that was for when you needed something really precise! Surely most people knew general cardinal directions! Okay. This was no longer difficult. This would be nearly impossible. How does someone get this lost? And now Gaunt was treating her like she was crazy, just for expecting her to know basic cardinal directions. It wasn¡¯t that hard! Did she also struggle with concepts such as up and down??? Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Okay. They were both getting upset over this, and that wasn¡¯t productive. Fighting would only make things worse. At this point she¡¯d have to scrap her plan of meeting Gaunt where she was. Which was shitty because it was a good plan, but no, walking in a straight line was too much to handle. And she should probably assume Gaunt would get lost without her destination being clearly visible on the horizon. So, they were meeting at the skyscraper. And now, it was time to double back to where she¡¯d just been, because this whole foray out was just a waste of time and energy, Seriously, was it too much to ask for someone to not get completely lost if they were blindfolded and spun around a few times in a forest? Whatever. As she stormed back, her foot went into something squishy, and she yanked it out on reflex, looking down. It was a corpse. Not human, a dog, although that didn¡¯t change the fact that she¡¯d stepped in it and now rotting fluids were on her leg. ¡°EW!¡± She backed away, searching for something she could use to wipe some of it off and trying not to gag. She was pretty sure the only reason she succeeded was because her stomach was so empty. She didn¡¯t find it. What she did find was lots of other corpses. How did all these get here? She¡¯d passed through this area less than half an hour ago, and they hadn¡¯t been there then. They¡¯d been moved here. The smell¡­ The corpses were wet. Not water, and not their own fluids. Something clear and goopy. And some of them were¡­ caved in. Like their organs had been removed. She tossed a rock at one, and it collapsed with a wet splat. A bit of red-brown liquid leaked out, but besides that, there was nothing inside as far as she could tell. There were streaks and smears of that goopy stuff here and there, leading off in a different direction. The stuff on her leg had started to dry, becoming sticky and forcing her to pull her foot up after each step. She followed the trail up to the subway entrance, yawning black. ¡°Nope, fuck that.¡± She turned around and trudged back, going maybe a little faster than before, because she really didn¡¯t want to meet whatever had been dragging around those corpses, especially not in an enclosed subway system. Which it was presumably living in. Kiki thought back to the noise that had woken her up. Yeah, she was staying the hell away from subways for the foreseeable future. Was the skyscraper close to any subway entrances? Had she seen any on her way there? Not that she could recall, but maybe there was one in a direction she hadn¡¯t looked in. Hopefully not. Okay, so Gaunt was meeting her there. Probably moving stupidly slow like they had been for the past few days, and possibly getting lost along the way. Her plan had been perfect, if only people could navigate, but fine, she was doing this. It would probably still work. Gaunt wasn¡¯t dead yet, and they¡¯d made it this far already without getting more lost than they already were. There was a pinprick on her forehead, and she brushed at it. Then another at her ear, and this time, she swatted and looked at her hand. A little gnat, squished on her ring finger. Great. Just great. She picked up her pace a tiny bit more, hoping to get to the (relative) shelter of the lobby, and waved her hands around her in hope of dissuading any more. They had better not follow her. They followed. It wasn¡¯t one of those enormous swarms in horror movies, capable of stripping you to the bone, but it was a lot. She squished two and three more took their place. They darted across her field of view, and no matter how much she brushed and swatted at her exposed skin, they kept biting. ¡°God damn-¡± She spat, hurriedly, as a few got into her mouth. They were bitter. She tried pulling her shirt up more to protect her face, but that just exposed a strip of her midsection and she hurriedly let it fall when they attacked her waist. Then she snorted as one flew into her nostril. Where the hell had these things come from? Smoke. Smoke got rid of bugs, but even at the lobby, she had no way to start a fire. Insect repellent¡­ would be really nice right now, but she had none. She growled in frustration, rubbing her hands over her face, little red streaks from the gnat bites staining them. Some had congregated where her wounds were, the cuts and bites she¡¯d acquired, and even though they were covered it was still unnerving. One flew into her eye. ¡°Fuck!¡± She yelled, immediately spitting when more flew in her mouth, again. Tearing up, she blinked, rubbing at that eye until she was reasonably sure she¡¯d gotten it out. Where had they even come from? There was nothing for them to eat for- Oh, if they¡¯d come from the corpses, that was ten times as bad as anything else. She decided to believe that they¡¯d flown in from elsewhere. Bugs didn¡¯t usually like the sun, but it was cloudy, and she couldn¡¯t control the fucking weather. Once she got to the lobby, she could close up her curtain and hopefully keep more from finding her, but that wouldn¡¯t help for the ones targeting her now. And it was still over half an hour away. If she could¡­ But no, that stupid thing that kidnapped her was fucking her up even now, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to get rid of these hellspawn. Maybe she¡¯d never recover. Maybe whatever it did was permanent. She slapped at a gnat for harder than she meant to, and flinched at the impact. She¡¯d have a hand-shaped imprint there, on the back of her other hand. A stark red representation of her frustration. No. This wouldn¡¯t last forever, it couldn¡¯t- But if it did- If it did, even if she made it home, she¡¯d never be free. Maybe she¡¯d make it through this hell, survive everything it threw at her, and make it out, only to never- Never again- She covered her mouth with one hand, bending over, and screamed. In terror, in rage, in despair, black specks swarming her like every little thing that had hurt her since she¡¯d woken up here. A cry for someone, anyone, to help her, but her family was worlds away, her friends similarly unreachable, and there was nobody close enough to hear her and answer. She was hungry, filthy, and exhausted, alone and in pain, and powerless in a way she hadn¡¯t been since she was an infant. What was the point, even? She clearly didn¡¯t have the intelligence or resources to find her way out of this- she couldn¡¯t even organise a simple rendezvous. Maybe she should just give up on the meeting, start walking home and keep going until she died. It wasn¡¯t like she¡¯d actually make it there. She didn¡¯t even know how far it was, beyond ¡®farther than she could measure¡¯. But then Gaunt would arrive, and Kiki wouldn¡¯t be there. Gaunt would arrive, and Gaunt would be stuck here, alone. And you know what? She stood back up, wiped blood and gnats off her face and neck, and kept walking. If she died here, she¡¯d rather die with someone there to hold her hand. If Gaunt died, she didn¡¯t want Gaunt to have to die alone. And if there was some way she could help Gaunt escape, or Gaunt could help her escape, she didn¡¯t want to close that door forever. The gnats kept biting, but there were fewer of them as she kept going. By the time she reached the lobby, she was covered in bites, but there were only a few left. Wearily, she stumbled inside, closing and securing the curtain behind her, before carefully swatting and killing every gnat left on her skin. She turned on the phone, took a flash picture, and winced at the photo. Okay, she needed to clean up before Gaunt got here, or they¡¯d think she was a bloody corpse come to life. She could spare a bit of water for that. No soap, she didn¡¯t have enough water to rinse off as well. So she wiped herself off with the wet corner of a towel slowly becoming filthy, undid and redid her tangled, matted braid, tidied up and swept away a bit of leftover sand. And then she settled into what was left of one of the armchairs, and waited. LOST IV: GAUNT Things weren¡¯t great. Well, that much was obvious from the beginning, but everything just slid down a shallow slope from there, inch by inch, into the depths of hell. It wasn¡¯t so much that everything was awful for Gaunt as it was somehow failing to improve. Everything was heavy. Her muscles strained even when she tried to keep them still. Thankfully, it seemed like nothing came and ate her in her sleep, but that wasn¡¯t particularly obvious to her when she first awoke. She felt more like she¡¯d been hit by a train than back when she was hit by a train. Absently, Gaunt reached for one of the wooden shelves to prop herself up and it promptly cascaded onto her. Muttering under her breath, she swept off all the stray splinters to the best of her ability. Rolling onto all fours, she got her feet underneath her and relied on the wall for support. She then trudged over to her bag and set herself down with that same excruciating slowness. Lifting the bandage revealed a sight basically identical to the infection from yesterday. The most she could ask for without any actual antibiotics, really. Experimentally, she traced a hand across the back of her neck and felt very little, just a smattering of dried blood that didn¡¯t seem to come from anywhere in particular. She pried up the bandage a touch more to reveal the fresh injury. This one was also mostly unchanged, though not bleeding quite as freely. It hurt, but not the same way as yesterday; Gaunt was inclined to call it more of a throbbing rather than a stinging. The antiseptic only stung the gash at her midriff rather than the new slice, which was worrisome, but also what she liked to call a ¡°later problem¡±. A can of tuna didn¡¯t do much to stop the tremors. It did make her feel thirsty, which was shitty, given her current resource imbalance. Kiki better be close, and she¡¯d better have some shit on hand, or Gaunt figured she may as well just sit down and die anyway. No use dwelling on worst-case scenarios. She ducked out the door and that was that. This time, she pulled out her phone. Kiki should be close by now, and directions would be handy. Gaunt didn¡¯t feel great about the chances of meeting today, but on the other hand, she felt equally optimistic about her own chances given they didn¡¯t. Turned out Kiki had left just a bit before then, actually, and it was them asking for directions. Which set Gaunt slightly on edge; wasn¡¯t it the number one rule of getting lost that you stay put? But then it was always possible Kiki just knew this place better than Gaunt, especially given her unfortunate circumstances. Gaunt glanced around lazily at the various ruins littering her view. Nothing even remotely attention-grabbing. Scratch that, then. As for distance, the skyscraper was still slightly hazy but highly visible, and seemed relatively large. Three kilometres, maybe, maybe not, but that was close enough. As for direction, no clue. The train was going southbound while she was on it, but who knew if the tracks curved in the meantime, or which way the tracks were even going. The wreck was so demolished that she couldn¡¯t even tell which end was front from back, let alone which way each end was facing before being thrown hundreds of metres off the rail. That in mind, she gave Kiki her best guess. How they planned to meet Gaunt was a mystery, at least for the next couple hours. Checking her messages then made it very apparent that it was a mystery to Kiki, too. Supposedly, they¡¯d found Gaunt¡¯s exact location despite being given zero landmarks, not having a direction in mind, and not even knowing what she fucking looked like. Fat chance. Kiki, how, exactly, do you think you¡¯ve found my exact location? And of course they¡¯d assumed Gaunt could keep in a perfectly straight line while travelling. Huffing, she stopped walking and brought the phone a little closer to her eyes. She woke up in the middle of nowhere in a scrunched-up train car, hundreds of miles from home, disoriented, injured, exhausted, and all that served with maybe a minor case of actual brain damage, and this bitch expects her to walk in a perfectly straight line. Yeah. No thanks. But Gaunt had a fair bit of experience simply keeping things to herself, which she did, probably more to Kiki¡¯s benefit than her own. Thankfully, Kiki didn¡¯t linger on that for so long and started asking about directions. Which again, Gaunt didn¡¯t know, but she was pretty open about having a whole medley of backpacking-related gadgets. No compass, though. She¡¯d only started walking for maybe three minutes when she stopped in her tracks again, fully reconsidering Kiki¡¯s currently integral role in her survival. No compass means no compass, and anyone who can find their exact direction with a fucking sun dial would¡¯ve been living off in the woods several miles away from any hint of civilization. At this point, Gaunt wondered if she was just better off alone than with someone with these kinds of expectations. Well, end of the world. Not exactly spoiled for choice. She rolled these words around in her head in a weak effort to keep her from attempting to throw the phone into the nearest wall, which for the record, was a few hundred metres back. Kiki¡¯s questions got more inane by the second; why didn¡¯t she know? Why the hell would she? Was Gaunt brain damaged? Maybe, no need to lie there. Finally she shot off a question of her own: I¡¯m not expecting you to know your exact location at all times, why do you want me to do this shit? Which led to the audacious claim that yes, indeed, Kiki knew exactly where she was all the time, and it was Gaunt¡¯s fault for not asking about it. Sack of shit. Finally after a healthy ten-minute silence Kiki decided to shut the fuck up and just meet her at the skyscraper. Like a normal human being. Well, that certainly boded well for their approaching meet-up. Gaunt tucked the phone into her pocket, where it should¡¯ve remained in the first place, and vowed not to touch it until she was done walking for the day. No matter what. That said and done, her mind was left to think about more important issues. Still no water, and her throat was starting to ache. Her knee-jerk reaction was to continue being pissed at Kiki but Gaunt had to concede that she¡¯d kept an eye out despite the distraction, and was faced with nothing whatsoever. But oddly conveniently, as the thought drifted through her mind, she could make out a collection of shrubs in what used to be a park, dotted with little red berries. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As she got closer, they looked like raspberries. Plenty of water there. Eagerly, she pulled out one of her empty water bottles and started plucking them off their stems. As much as she wanted to devour them right away, she wasn¡¯t certain. She wasn¡¯t exactly an expert on foraging, and plus, who knew what had been around these bushes anyway. And anyway, it would be better to wait until she was in a relatively safe location rather than on the road. She¡¯d eat them as a last resort. She still took the time to pick them, which ate up a few minutes of her time. There was this incessant tingling that pushed to the forefront of her mind, but no bugs to be found. The next logical step to consider was it being the plant itself, rather than bugs. The bottle fell to the ground with a hollow thunk and Gaunt tugged her arms free. The tingling didn¡¯t go away. As she kept walking, it started blotting out her focus on looking ahead; there was just this incessant underlying itching under her skin that slowly turned to raw pain as she scratched. Her arms were becoming textured, between new abrasions and numerous blooming hives. The tickling sensation was reaching her face now, too, and then her vision blurred completely as her eyes grew wet. Finally the tickling was too much and she sneezed all over her face and hands, spreading the wet sensation further. First thing to do would be get somewhere safe, but that posed quite the challenge for someone who couldn¡¯t see. Gaunt was tempted to wipe her eyes, but stopped herself at the last minute and forced herself to stumble blindly. It took less than a minute for her to collapse on the ground, and opt to stay there instead. It would¡¯ve been nice to keep going. Make some progress, or at least pretend she was. Or to dress her wounds, or maybe break her rule from earlier and pull out her phone. Hell, even fight off a giant centipede, apparently, if it meant doing something. But as much as the itching and swelling and bleeding spurred her into action, there was absolutely nothing to do past just sitting there and trying to breathe. Still full of tension, and no outlet. None except for thinking. Fucking hell, how did I end up here? It used to be kind of funny, the sheer escalation of it. Sure, Gaunt knew being a yes-man would bite her in the ass sooner than later, but on this kind of scale? And it was ridiculous, too, like someone made it up on the spot. What if the train just crashed and suddenly the apocalypse happened and you didn¡¯t even know where the hell you were? Wouldn¡¯t that be so crazy? But it was funny to think about because it wasn¡¯t plausible, it wouldn¡¯t happen, and then here she was anyway. Experiencing the actual apocalypse, and she was alone. More alone than she would¡¯ve been at home, anyway. Would they miss me? Not a hypothetical anymore. Do they miss me. On a superficial level? Yeah, no shit. Her parents called her nearly every hour the first couple days of the trip. Her friends, too, kept her updated, with the promise she¡¯d do the same. Talked about the things they¡¯d do when she got back. Of course they miss her, but they wouldn¡¯t miss her, because they wouldn¡¯t know what happened. It had been four days, for fuck¡¯s sake. But what if they did? Immediately, Gaunt tried thinking about anything else, even bringing her attention back to the snot running down her face and her skin raising into rashes, but it was like trying to shut an overfilled suitcase after the zipper broke. The answer remained the same. Of course they¡¯d miss her. She¡¯d basically be dead, how could they not? Her parents would hold a memorial, invite the rest of her family, family friends. There would be sad Instagram posts with that black-and-white filter, with pictures of her smiling and captions talking about how she was so honest and supportive and a great person. She would be missed, because that¡¯s what you do when someone you know dies. But would they miss miss her? What about after? Oh, her parents would cry for weeks, but they¡¯d move on. They had other stuff. Gaunt hadn¡¯t visited in a while, so it wasn¡¯t like they weren¡¯t used to living without her, anyway. And they weren¡¯t exactly enthused with her career choice, either; chances were they were waiting for her to hit a dead end. In a different way than she actually did, sure, but without exactly holding high hopes for her future. And her friends? Yeah, they¡¯d be fine. Go out and do exactly the same shit they used to, the exact same way they used to. Gaunt never really did much. She was there, that was it. Hell, for that matter, she¡¯d never actually offered her skills to Kiki. Just her stuff. In some ways, this was good, moving on. No one to have their lives shattered. Are they okay? It didn¡¯t even strike her before that maybe it wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with her. What the hell happened? It wasn¡¯t a train crash. It wasn¡¯t just a crash, and no one could fucking tell her what actually happened. Why everything was empty for miles around. Superbomb? Meteor? Did a bunch of fucking lizard people drag everyone down into Earth¡¯s mantle? It just didn¡¯t make any goddamn sense, which was so much worse, because now anything could have happened. Gaunt knew. She¡¯d always known. This is big. It¡¯s not just me, it goes far, it goes all the way back home, they¡¯re in this too. They¡¯re dead. They¡¯re fucking dead, too. She found her hand touching her face against her will. Her eyes were still wet, even though nothing was itching anymore. Last thing she fucking needed. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was grateful or not to be alive. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was disappointed or not. That said, she may as well keep herself that way. Now that she could see where she was going, there was no reason to sit and wallow anymore. Flicking the last of the tears from her eyes, Gaunt shoved herself to her feet with more energy than she should rightfully have, and set off for the tower, looming tantalisingly close on the horizon. But as luck would have it, hardly thirty minutes in and there were bodies. Not human bodies, thank god, but limp heaps scattered with hardly a square metre between them. Stunk like the ashes of hell in the summer heat, just ripe enough to rot. Gaunt gazed up at the sky, and the sun gazed back. Well, she¡¯d just spent an unhealthy amount of time thinking about death, so it wasn¡¯t exactly unexpected to stumble across a field of corpses after the end of the world. Or it wouldn¡¯t have been if she hadn¡¯t gone for tens of kilometres without seeing a single sign of life, save some scattered and very questionable insects. Made her wonder exactly what would have dragged ninety-five percent of living things into one place, dead or alive, and ensured they became the former. Certainly nothing she was planning on dealing with. Her throat was scratchy and was starting to taste like copper, but a bit (or a lot) of dehydration was nothing compared to the actual Grim Reaper. That said, a detour would likely triple her travel time. She¡¯d last a couple more hours, take a much-needed break, and skirt around to the tower from the far end. It took a few moments for her to force herself back the way she came. Small blessings. There was an intact house on its lonesome less than an hour from there, with a strange foundation that would have been called ugly a week ago and Gaunt called perfect for the present day. Thick and squat and the reason it was still standing. Tiny, as the rent would have been astronomical otherwise, but it hardly mattered anymore. Gaunt threw her things down and barricaded the doorway. She took a can of tuna from her bag, stared at it before putting it back. Tamped down the rolling wave of nausea. She abandoned all thoughts of eating and opted to check on her wounds instead. Both of them remained very much the same as that morning. With nothing left to do, Gaunt started typing a message and hoped someone could take her mind off everything. That, or ¨C hoping beyond hope ¨C prove her wrong about any of it. LOST IV: SPIKE He looked down at the food wrapper. Reasonably fresh, ration crumbs still clung to it. Whoever had camped here had only been gone for a day or two. No sign of fire or any more sophisticated setups, but with sand covering the floor of the ruined building, it would be easy to hide. Some of the sand in the corner was stained brown. Looking closer, it had clumped in pockmarks, like drops of liquid had fallen there. Whoever had been here was likely injured and bleeding. It wasn¡¯t more than a few people, and given that only a single food wrapper and single plastic water bottle was here, Spike guessed it was only one person. Could maybe be a lone soldier, but that was unlikely. There definitely had been a military presence here once, but he doubted they were still around since the bots were freely scavenging their stuff. There was another, far more likely possibility. Lyre. He didn¡¯t know how far away they had started, but if he had to guess, right now they were close. Close enough that it seemed like his attempts to escape then had amounted to nothing, and close enough that unless he could figure out what direction they went in, he¡¯d risk running right into them if he tried to travel more. They were wounded. It might mean they were slower, or they might not. Any vehicle made for this sand would be large enough that he¡¯d have seen evidence of it, so they were moving on foot like him. Injury would also make them easier to fight off if it came down to it, but if they had a ranged weapon it may not matter at all. They¡¯d simply shoot him before he could get close. If he¡¯d managed to hold onto the gun, he¡¯d feel much safer right now. But no. He¡¯d been lucky to get away with what he had. He¡¯d made a stupid gamble and nearly paid for it with his life. That¡¯s really what his entire decision making process had been since waking up here, a series of gambles and calculated risks. And now, he had no choice but to make another, as whatever tracks Lyre had left had long since been swept away by sand and wind. Stay here in this ruin and hope they didn¡¯t double back, or flee and hope he didn¡¯t run into them? If they could track him, fleeing was a slightly better option than staying put. That being said, if they could track him, he wasn¡¯t sure there was any option that would save him. If they were searching blind, they¡¯d be less likely to double back, but they might need to come back here for shelter even if they¡¯d already searched around here, or they might be running a circuit and checking spots like this, waiting for him to grow exhausted and choose one of them to rest. Probably the best option would have been to hide in a sand dune forever, but the idea was so unappealing he decided he would be happier dead. He didn¡¯t really have anything to live for anymore, but there wasn¡¯t nothing. Some small, stupid, childlike part of him still harboured hope that he¡¯d see his family again, and no matter what he did, he could never succeed in killing it. He wondered if he¡¯d be happier if he did kill it. Then, he could find some quiet, peaceful place. Somewhere scenic. Sit down, finally cease wandering. Sit and stay there until his mind and body rotted away into the moss and leaf litter, runoff draining into a waterfall or babbling brook. It wouldn¡¯t hurt. Nothing really hurt anymore. Give up. Give in. Let go of the stress of trying to remember, trying to survive, the fear he understood and the terror he didn¡¯t. What had his dog''s name been again? He didn¡¯t really remember. Started with an R, he thought, probably one of those stereotypical dog names like Rover. He didn¡¯t remember any names, not his parents, not his teachers, not any of his friends. He remembered them, but in blurred, warm impressions, the faces smudged, the voices heavy with interference. His mom made him hot chocolate in the wintertime, with dyed marshmallows and whipped cream and dark chocolate chips on top, but when he tried to remember what it tasted like, all he could think of was blood and metal and ash. If Lyre found him and killed him, would that really be so bad? He snickered. It was kind of funny, after all the effort he had put in to try and survive this place, only now was he considering whether he actually wanted to. Really, what was left for him? More wandering roadsides. More laying on park benches until a cop forced him to leave. More time alone, surrounded by people who didn¡¯t give a shit about him aside from the inconvenience of him taking up part of the sidewalk. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He¡¯d lost everything in that blur of time he couldn¡¯t remember, and now, he was finally becoming lucid enough for it to catch up to him. He¡¯d been half asleep for months, and now that he was awake, he didn¡¯t want to go back into semi consciousness. He wanted everything he had lost back, wanted to finally be able to go home, his dog knocking him to the ground with dirty paws and licking his face with smelly dog breath, his mother yelling at him for hours about how worried they¡¯d all been, his dad making him mow the lawn and shovel the driveway and wash the car to ¡®build character¡¯. His teachers piling him with all the homework he needed to catch up on, a stupid quantity he¡¯d need to pull several all-nighters to finish. His friends teasing him about being such a pussy that he¡¯d rather run away for months than¡­ do whatever stupid dare they¡¯d last challenged him to. He couldn¡¯t remember. He¡¯d never live it down, and they¡¯d spread it around the whole school, more embarrassing with each retelling. He¡¯d kill to have that again. And if he couldn¡¯t have it, if this monotonous purgatory was all he¡¯d get, then maybe he¡¯d just kill himself. But then again, it would be pretty stupid if he actually did have a chance at getting home, and wrecked it by taking the easy way out. He probably didn¡¯t. He was 99% sure he didn¡¯t, but hey, he could always do it later. May as well give it a few years of effort first. What was he doing? Right. Lyre was here, and he needed to get the fuck away from them. After a bit of deliberation, he decided it was slightly - only slightly - less risky to keep moving, based on what he knew. So he turned around, walking out the gaping doorway, and kept moving in what he guessed was the opposite direction Lyre had gone. He thought he saw clumped sand over to the right of the doorway, so he went to the left instead. As he was shuffling along, his foot hit something solid in the sand. He stopped, bending down, and dug around with his good hand to unearth part of it. It was metal, and his fingers jerked back for a moment before he continued digging. It was flattish and round, from what he could tell- He was in a desert minefield. Well, easy enough to solve. Go back exactly the way he came. Only issue was, there was a strong wind blowing, and sand scattering enough that his tracks had been completely wiped away. So he could try and retrace his steps, but he¡¯d almost definitely mess up somewhere and get himself blown up. He was lucky that mine hadn¡¯t set it off. Must have been a dud. First of all, was there any way to visually identify the mines, even just some of them? Not really. There was a section of sand dunes that looked¡­ suspiciously regular, but the area he was standing in looked normal. So, definitely mines there, stay away from there, but also probably mines in other directions. Better than what he knew before, but not by much. He could try throwing his old shoes, but he only had two, and he was pretty sure they were too light to set the mines off so he couldn¡¯t trust them to check if the ground was safe. Maybe if he moved extra slow, and sort of felt around in the sand in front of him before putting any weight on it, he could find and avoid the mines. It would take a stupidly long time, but that was better than dying of recklessness. He turned around, got down on his hands and knees, and buried his hands in the sand, gently digging through the area in front of him as he shuffled forwards. After a little while, his hands brushed against smooth metal in the sand. He withdrew, carefully skirting around where he¡¯d felt it, and kept going in a hopefully straight line. He wasn¡¯t sure quite how spaced out the mines are, so he stayed as close as he could be to the one he¡¯d found without worrying it might go off. He was pretty sure that mines only exploded if you touched them, so as long as none of his weight rested on it it would be fine. His movements were clumsier than he would like. Rather than carefully sifting through sand, his hands swung around a bit jerkily, and often with more force than he was comfortable with no matter how hard he tried to control them. It was dangerous, but this was the least risky option in an array of terrible solutions. He kept crawling through the sand, hoping none of it got under his bandages. It probably did. He did a shoddy job of covering it up. One arm slammed into metal with an audible thud, much harder than he had intended, and he flinched, curling up into a ball on the sand. Several seconds passed in silence, the only sound a soft whispering of sand tossed by the wind. The mine did not explode and he did not die. He looked up, at where the mine in front of him was, and saw no movement or other irregularities. Another dud. Depending on how old these were, most of them might be duds, but like hell was he going to take that chance. It only took one bad roll of the dice to get himself killed, so he¡¯d rather roll as little as possible. After travelling about 400 meters without encountering any more mines he hesitantly declared himself safe and stood back up again. Well, it was kind of a shame, since Lyre almost certainly didn¡¯t cross a fucking minefield to get to him, and therefore putting that between them would serve as a good deterrent. Then again, they were pretty unhinged. He could see them simply walking across with zero hesitation, and in a ridiculous stroke of luck, crossing without incident. He¡¯d travelled in a different direction than he thought he had. The ruin was just a little dot on the horizon. That was fine, it didn¡¯t really matter since he didn¡¯t know where he was going anyways. As long as he wasn¡¯t following Lyre¡¯s tracks, he would hopefully be moving away from them. There was the possibility they were walking a circuit or doubling back on themselves, but he couldn¡¯t account for everything so he¡¯d assume a straight line for now. He fished out the water and took a few sips, just in case. He wanted to be at his best if there was a confrontation between him and Lyre. He didn¡¯t know anything about them beyond what they had shared, which was not much, so he had no way of knowing how it would go. If he was lucky, there would be no danger to him, and they may even be helpful. If he was unlucky, even his top performance wouldn¡¯t be enough to save him. Most likely things were somewhere in the middle, so he shouldn¡¯t go in automatically on the offensive or defensive, but he should absolutely be prepared to fight or flee if he had to. He said ¡®if¡¯ there was a confrontation, but the more he learned, the more he felt like it would be inevitable. He simply didn¡¯t have the information or physical ability he needed to get away from Lyre. His fists tightened as he walked. His chance of getting home again was so slim it probably wasn¡¯t real, but if Lyre tried to take it from him, he would do whatever it took to make sure they, and anyone or anything else he came across, never endangered it again. LOST IV: LYRE Plan ends today. Lyre wasn¡¯t actually totally certain of this but it was what the plan said because it was only this long so she believed it that it ended today. The big plan, not the big big one but the one to find Spike and then after that would be the next plan for her big big one. And it was very exciting for Lyre that it ended today because then Spike would be there and then she could do more stuff, interesting stuff, for her next plans. But then the big thing that bothered her was that so much of the plan was invisible now that it was super hard to tell what would happen at the end and then she wouldn¡¯t be able to make another plan super fast. Which was not good because Lyre liked to have plans before she needed them but there wasn¡¯t a whole lot to do when it was invisible like that. Things would probably be okay because Spike would be there and she could figure out the plan as she went so it was fine. The plan from before about the slow danger was still happening of course so before she continued with her big plan Lyre made sure to eat two of the antibiotics she had and then drink some of the water after. Then she poured some of the soap on her arms again and some water and it all mixed together and turned pink but not as pink as it did yesterday at the end of her plan. Then it was time to make a new plan. This plan was actually very easy because Spike was probably right there so it wasn¡¯t long at all and then she would make a new plan once she got there so there wasn¡¯t a whole lot to do. Because it was so short there was also actually no danger which was really super good because then Lyre would get to Spike super fast for sure. Well as long as he wasn¡¯t invisible which he was but her plan was good anyway. Then that was it and she started walking. Luckily there wasn¡¯t anything else invisible so it really was that fast which was really good and then she found the end of the plan which was a whole lot of nothing but she could fill in all the tiny little details and she knew she was in the right place. But then if she was in the right place there was a problem because Spike wasn¡¯t even there anymore for some reason. Actually it turned out he was so invisible that the plan wasn¡¯t even working anymore and now Lyre didn¡¯t know what to do about it. Usually she would try to make a plan because she was really good at those except because Spike was so invisible she couldn¡¯t even figure out where he was which was not very good at all. What she did find out was that maybe because he was invisible the plan was only slightly wrong and he would appear later. But then Lyre stood around for a long time longer than all the little variant plans said and he still wasn¡¯t there after that either. Now Lyre was really getting frustrated because now she couldn¡¯t even make a plan and then what was she supposed to do without a plan? Actually it would¡¯ve been a whole lot easier if Spike wasn¡¯t invisible because then probably he would be there which made it even more frustrating because Lyre was the one who made things invisible and she could¡¯ve just not done whatever she did. She didn¡¯t even know what she did. It would have been a whole lot nicer actually if she could just stop the invisible stuff from happening in the first place but she would have to know how to do that which was really hard. Usually thinking like this wasn¡¯t a big deal for Lyre because she could always make a plan to fix it but she couldn¡¯t with invisible things because that was the whole point of being invisible. And it was extra weird too because Lyre knew somehow, even though she didn¡¯t know how she could know because she couldn¡¯t see backwards, that she was supposed to know all this and she just didn¡¯t. And then after that Lyre was a little bit sad because her plans were good and they were always nice at the end but if she couldn¡¯t plan about invisible things, then things would always be invisible, and she didn¡¯t want that. Lyre should be able to see it and she couldn¡¯t. And then that was just too much stuff she couldn¡¯t do and then there wasn¡¯t even a point to making a plan if she didn¡¯t know what the plan really did. Because her plans were always good because they did what she said but they didn¡¯t always do what she wanted. Here she was where Spike was supposed to be but just because he was supposed to be here didn¡¯t mean that he was here at all, but because he was supposed to be here she couldn¡¯t plan where he actually was. And with no plan Lyre was really confused.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. What kind of plan should I make instead? What she was able to do that she liked was make plans about plans and then she could get out of these kinds of situations. For now she had no idea where Spike was so her plan said ignore that and just make sure to avoid danger because maybe there would be new danger. So Lyre asked about the danger and it turned out that actually now she had no idea how long her big plan would be so she had to get one food one water somewhere safe just like usual so she looked for those. Actually now things were a lot longer than before and almost all the time would be one food one water but that was okay because she only had that plan to do now instead of a bunch of plans at the same time. There was another danger too though that made things harder because there was something slightly invisible and it looked just like the sentry from before. It would be there before the end of the plan. Then that was it so she started walking for not super far and it was all fine. When walking there was still a whole lot of nothing and it made Lyre think about how much nothing there was for such a long time and it made her bored but she remembered boring was okay and she didn¡¯t mind. But while she was bored and thinking about other things that also made her think about stuff she couldn¡¯t see anymore and how pretty it would be maybe but that was okay too because there would be pretty things in front of her and sometime she would be standing there and it would be good. And it went like that but not for so long because then there was a gun or something and she walked into it because her plan didn¡¯t talk about it at all but she stepped on it weird and it flew a little ways over and then went off with a big bang sound. It was very loud but mostly Lyre cared because it was invisible. It was very confusing for a second but it was okay because the rest of the plan was fine so she kept going anyway. But then in not much time at all there was a big cloud of something that was coming really close to her for some reason which bothered her because it was probably from the invisible thing. And that made Lyre think about how she was probably supposed to know how to stop all of this but she didn¡¯t. But she had stuff to do so instead of thinking it was time to make a plan. She wished she could make a nice plan that told her everything but she actually wasn¡¯t going to do that because she needed it really close by and if she spent too much then she wouldn¡¯t have it when it was needed so she just asked some easy questions. Then it was time for the plan. Lyre didn¡¯t know specifically what she had to do but apparently if she ran around enough they¡¯d have trouble causing danger to her and if she started hurting them then they might stop the danger. There were a few ways to hurt but a good one was throwing stuff which wasn¡¯t too bad and the best things to throw were heavy things. The first few creatures were really close now and the talons on their wings were reaching towards her so she dove in one of the directions that wasn¡¯t towards them and they went right past her without danger. Then there weren¡¯t any coming right at her so it was a good time to pick something up. It was rough and big and definitely heavy but not too heavy so Lyre pushed it out with both arms at whichever one was in front of her but then it was actually too heavy for throwing and it didn¡¯t hit anything. She had a very very small time before the creatures did anything but not enough so she was going to dodge again instead. Again there was no danger and everything was okay so it was time to throw something again. There were more rocks around and a few sharp bits of metal but they were all very small so not good. She grabbed the heaviest rock and threw it and it brushed right past one of the beasts and it was pretty quiet but one of the lumps on it burst into a bunch of yellow stuff and it seemed upset about it. Then it spun towards her with its teeth out and she didn¡¯t pull her arm out of the way right away. It didn¡¯t actually bite her but some of the yellow stuff was on her arm now and she didn¡¯t even have time to make a plan about it. Then the rest weren¡¯t super close so she picked up a long piece of something heavy and threw it and it fell on top of a bunch of bats. But it actually didn¡¯t do a whole lot because actually it was soft. The ones it fell on top of were all confused so they weren¡¯t danger right away but there were more from a different direction too so she had to get out of the way. The danger passed by her and it was close this time but it didn¡¯t happen so everything was okay. Then Lyre had one more opportunity to attack so she grabbed another heavy thing and thrust it out towards the densest swarm of creatures. It was a little bit soft like before but there were hard bits in it too this time like metal studs and points so they cut into the bats a little and they thrashed around and there was red and yellow stuff all over the place. Then they eventually squirmed out from the thing and they were upset so they all flew away and the other ones followed them too. Now finally she could make a really good plan that covered everything. First the stuff on her arm was danger actually so she had to get rid of that. She needed something sharp which was super easy because there were lots of sharp things on the ground already so she took one of those and cut off all the skin on her arm. Then there was lots of red stuff and she needed to stop it so she got some cloth on the ground and poured soap on it and wrapped it around her arm and red stuff was still coming out but not way too much. Then that was okay and she was done that part. The other danger was apparently the sentry was still coming and it would be here soon and it was a whole lot of danger. First which was also easy it would be good to have the gun apparently so she walked over to where the gun she kicked was and picked it up. It had five bullets in it which might be enough for the plan or not but it was really hard to tell when things were invisible. There actually wasn¡¯t much else to do other than that though. Lyre wished she could meet Spike but now she had more plans and it bothered her because maybe there would keep being plans between her and her main plan and then Spike was actually way further than she thought. And Lyre was patient but not super patient and she didn¡¯t like waiting when she couldn¡¯t see what she was waiting for. But of course she trusted her plans so that was what she would do. With not much to do, she could walk a little closer to wherever she was supposed to be. Walk and think and plan, and then maybe if she was super lucky and the invisible things were really good, maybe find Spike by the end of her plan. LOST IV: INTERLUDE August 15, 2029, 10:12 10:12: [Kiki] Heading out now. How far away are you? 10:13: [Gaunt] uhh not so far, maybe 3km away? 10:46: [Kiki] I¡¯m here. I can¡¯t see you. Are you hidden somewhere? 10:48: [Gaunt] what why do u think u know where i am 10:49: [Gaunt] i didnt even give a location??? 10:50: [Kiki] I know you¡¯re about 3km away from the skyscraper and you came from the Starbucks so I went there. Did you go somewhere else? 10:50: [Gaunt] okay well idk exactly where i am its not like im going in a perfect path?? like u know u dont walk like that??? 10:53: [Kiki] Okay, I should still be able to find you. Which direction are you from the skyscraper? 10:55: [Gaunt] oh i dont have a compass so idk sorry 10:56: [Kiki] Okay which general direction? Like northeast vs southeast? 10:59: [Gaunt] bro i said i dont know 10:59: [Gaunt] i woke up on a train in the middle of nowhere how tf would i know 10:59: [Gaunt] like i said i dont have a compass so like what else is there im not pulling out my fucking sundial or some shit 11:01: [Kiki] Wait. You don¡¯t know the basic direction you¡¯re going in compared to the skyscraper? How? 11:01: [Gaunt] literally HOW the fuck would i know 11:02: [Kiki] How WOULDN¡¯T you know??? Did you get a head injury or something? Like how do you forget basic cardinal directions? 11:02: [Gaunt] as a matter of fact i might have brain damage, i was in a fucking TRAIN CRASH 11:02: [Gaunt] but even if i didnt why the HELL would i know north from south in the middle of fuckass nowhere after being unconscious on a fucking train 11:04: [Kiki] Because it¡¯s one of those things you¡¯re supposed to just know. Like up and down. Do you forget which way is up? 11:04: [Kiki] If you do have a concussion though I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know. 11:04: [Gaunt] oh my god its not about the concussionLove this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. 11:05: [Gaunt] look i dont expect you to know your exact position on earth at all times so why do you expect that of me 11:08: [Kiki] Well I don¡¯t know exact position but that¡¯s because I¡¯m really far from home. I don¡¯t know exactly how to get home but I still know what direction it¡¯s in! Even if the area¡¯s unfamiliar that shouldn¡¯t mess with your directions that bad. And I still know my position pretty well relative to stuff in the city. Just not stuff that¡¯s stupidly far away! 11:09: [Gaunt] uhh yeah okay. if you say so i guess. 11:20: [Kiki] You know what let¡¯s just find a landmark. 11:20: [Kiki] Can you still see the skyscraper? 11:21: [Gaunt] yeah 11:21: [Kiki] Okay. Go there. I¡¯ll be waiting. 13:58: [Spike] What the heck is this argument 13:58: [Spike] Also what do you mean rumbling 14:00: [Kiki] I was woken up by this weird rumbling like the subway was running. Found a bunch of corpses by a subway entrance later. I think something lives there. Something big. 14:01: [Kiki] And yeah I may have been a bit unreasonable looking back. Sorry Gaunt. 14:01: [Kiki] I have a really good sense of direction. Sometimes I forget what other people know or don¡¯t know. 14:02: [Kiki] Maybe you could act as a neutral party. Let me know what reasonable expectations are. 14:02: [Spike] Well thats not concerning at all 14:03: [Spike] Glad I¡¯m not near that thing 14:03: [Spike] Yeah people don¡¯t know cardinal directions unless they have a compass usually 14:03: [Spike] Or use the sun in morning and evening but that doesnt really work bc its really imprecise 14:04: [Spike] Its reasonable to get to somewhere youve been before or you can see but you might not know the direct path 14:04: [Spike] Does that help 14:05: [Kiki] It helps a lot. Thanks. 14:06: [Kiki] Lyre. Do you have any input? 14:14: [Gaunt] its fine kiki i didnt know u didnt know i thought u were being pretentious lol 14:15: [Gaunt] also yeah idk about the tremors 14:15: [Gaunt] but now im curious why dont u know how directions work for people 14:16: [Kiki] I lived in the city. My friends never went hiking or anywhere that they weren¡¯t somewhat familiar with. I¡¯ve gone out hiking and stuff with my family but they¡¯re all like me. So I guess I¡¯ve just never had the chance to see it. 14:16: [Kiki] And thanks. I¡¯m glad there aren¡¯t any hard feelings. :) 14:17: [Gaunt] nah i get it i can be harsh sometimes 14:17: [Gaunt] totally ok if u dont wanna talk abt it but i wonder what its like out there 14:18: [Gaunt] i was thinking abt it i just hope this is local. a lot happened really fast yknow 14:21: [Kiki] I hope so too. I hope everyone else is okay. We¡¯re very far so it might just be here. I hope it¡¯s just here. I hope people will come looking and find us soon. 14:21: [Kiki] Honestly I¡¯m really scared I might never make it home. 14:22: [Gaunt] im less worried about that and more about if there is a home 14:22: [Gaunt] i mean probably but who knows what happened right 14:23: [Kiki} I¡¯d rather not think about that if that¡¯s alright. If I go down that rabbit hole it may not end well. 14:23: [Gaunt] i get it. 14:24: [Spike] I wouldnt know 14:24: [Spike] I dont remember the days before waking up here 14:24: [Gaunt] well from the stuff i dont remember i dont think ur missing much 14:27: [Lyre] I don¡¯t really know 14:28: [Kiki] Well if none of us know there¡¯s not much we can do. Best to focus on here and now. 14:28: [Kiki] Gaunt. How are you doing? 14:28: [Gaunt] im taking the far way now, big mess of bodies or smth i dont wanna fuck with. probably be there in a couple hrs 14:29: [Kiki] Probably the same ones I found. 14:29: [Gaunt] maybe related to the rumbling you mentioned yeah? 14:30: [Gaunt] not so excited tbh 14:30: [Kiki] Yep. Definitely something nasty down there. 14:30: [Spike] Wait lyre when you said i dont really know which question were you referring to 14:30: [Lyre] When Kiki asked do I have any input 14:31: [Spike] Are you really good with directions too 14:31: [Lyre] Yes 14:32: [Kiki] Wait really? That''s really cool! How does it work? 14:32: [Lyre] I ask where I am and then I know where I am and I ask where I need to go and I know how to get there 14:34: [Kiki] It¡¯s very different from how I do things. I¡¯m not sure I fully understand but I¡¯m glad that works for you. LOST V: KIKI There was growling from outside the building, and Kiki had no idea what it was. Not good. If she went outside, she risked being spotted, but if she stayed where she was, she risked being cornered. First things first. Figure out what exactly she was dealing with. She carefully walked to the stairs, footfalls as silent as she could make them, and ascended to the floor above the lobby. Once there, she chose an apartment that looked out to the side the noises were coming from and peered through the window. Coyotes. Something was wrong with them. There were nine of them, and four or five had limbs that dragged limply on the ground. All of them seemed to have trouble walking, and kept nosing and licking at various spots on their bodies. They seemed sick. Best to stay away. But not so sick that she was willing to bet on her ability to outrun them all. If she did choose a retreat, it would have to be quiet. Dogs had a good sense of smell, and she wasn¡¯t exactly squeaky clean. They could follow her scent here. Or they might be able to track her if she did sneak out. If she could- Nope. That had already led her to a breakdown before. Don¡¯t think about it. Stay in the present. Work with what she has right now. Stay and hide, or run. They might not be able to climb. She could try hiding in the upper regions. But again, there was the issue of being cornered. She didn¡¯t know how long they might stay there, and if their resolve was greater than her strength in the face of hunger and limited water, it could end very badly. The longer she stayed here, the greater chance the choice was made for her. She needed to decide quickly. In the end, she didn¡¯t have the time to spare waiting hours or days for the threat to pass. She tiptoed downstairs, grabbing her things. The backpack went on her back and the duffel was looped around her shoulders, so she could run with it if necessary. There wasn¡¯t a back door to this building. She¡¯d have to exit and go to the opposite side she¡¯d seen the coyotes on and hope they didn¡¯t see. She pulled away a bit of the curtain and looked both ways. Clear. She exited at a brisk walk, checked again, and saw the coyotes staring at her. Ice rushed through her veins. Okay so hiding was out of the question and she really did not want to fight nine coyotes with a broken kitchen knife. Could she scare them off? Not this many. So she ran. Stay ahead of them. Get somewhere they couldn¡¯t reach. Stumbling, dragging footfalls came from behind her, along with more growling, and she glanced back. They were moving at different speeds, but right now it looked like the fastest ones were in the back. She slowed from a dead sprint into a quick jog, something she could maintain for longer. She¡¯d sprint again if they got too close. Any obstacles she could put between them? Anywhere they couldn¡¯t go? There. Some ditches in front of her and to the right. Wide, too wide to jump, and relatively deep. She could probably scramble in and out faster than the coyotes could. She slid into one, skidding to a halt at the bottom, and climbed out on hands and knees and was off running again. She looked back. ¡°Shit!¡± She hadn¡¯t gained any distance doing that. Somehow, even with limbs dragging they had cleared the gap. Keep running. Some of them were closing the distance, now. She sped up. A fence? A wall? She couldn¡¯t escape them on foot without some tricks, and right now she didn¡¯t have another option. Maybe rock-throwing would have been a better idea. If she ditched the duffel bag, would she be fast enough? Almost certainly not. Her issue wasn¡¯t strength and stamina here, it was keeping her footing. There was nothing around but ruined foundations and rubble. As she ran, she grabbed a largish rock and whipped it behind her, doing the same thing with a few smaller ones. She didn¡¯t look back to see if any had hit, just kept running and kept grabbing more to throw. It worked, or it didn¡¯t, and looking back would just slow her down. Her breath was harsh in her ears. The injury on her upper arm, the infected cut, throbbed as she used the arm to throw more stones. She hoped some would hit their mark and at least slow the coyotes down, harrying them. She¡¯d done something like this before, but never with her life on the line the way it was now. It didn¡¯t sound like they were getting closer. She¡¯s heard a thud and a yelp. Small victories. Maybe if she could run far enough, they¡¯d give up. No way she could outlast a normal coyote at this speed, but these ones were sick and weak. Some of them might be forced to stop, and the others might stay with them. She was lucky they were sick. Healthy ones would have caught up to her easily and torn her to pieces. Keep running. Keep throwing any stones in easy reach. Don¡¯t fall and don¡¯t look back.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Normally with something like this she¡¯d call for help, but nobody- That wasn¡¯t true. Gaunt might be nearby. But Gaunt was wounded. They probably couldn¡¯t help her. She should still warn them, if they were nearby. ¡°Dogs! Hide!¡± Really, she was already being chased, not like shouting could hurt her cause much more. She¡¯d done what she could for Gaunt, now to stay alive. Nothing, nothing, still nothing- An alleyway between two somewhat intact buildings. A narrow one. It would form a bottleneck and slow them down, or they¡¯d have to go around but if it was a dead-end alley she was screwed. She ran through, the sides of her duffel scraping along the walls. The coyotes tried to run through after her, and she heard a yip. Glancing back, she saw two wedged in the entrance trying to get through. Okay, that would buy her some time, but she still needed to get away. They wouldn¡¯t be stuck long enough to get out of sight, and in fact they would probably be emerging in a few seconds. It also might be time to think about a better weapon with longer range. A knife was good for doing damage, but for a fight like this she wanted to stay on the defensive. A metal rod of some sort. Maybe. There was nothing easily visible in the area she was running through now, but she¡¯d pick up anything that stood out to her. The first few coyotes had gotten through and were half-running, half-limping after her again. The area around was empty. The buildings that had been spared were a fluke, it seemed. Just keep going. ¡­ ¡°But I¡¯m tired!¡± ¡°We can take a break in ten minutes, sweetheart. Can you keep walking until then?¡± Kiki crossed her arms, kicking at the dirt trail. ¡°Do I have to? Walking¡¯s boring. I hate it.¡± Her mama frowned. ¡°Well, do you want noodle legs?¡± Her papa nodded sagely beside her. ¡°It¡¯s true, if you don¡¯t walk enough your legs get all soft and wriggly. Like spaghetti noodles.¡± ¡°...That¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°You know how some people need wheelchairs to get around? Well, sometimes that¡¯s because they got hurt or they¡¯re sick, but sometimes, it¡¯s because they were lazy and got noodle legs.¡± ¡°Nice try. I¡¯m not five anymore. You can¡¯t fool me.¡± Her sixth birthday had been a few weeks ago. Mama sighed, crouching a bit to look at her. ¡°Your legs don¡¯t actually turn into noodles. Papa is exaggerating.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that.¡± Mama glared at Papa, and he stuck his tongue out at her. ¡°But,¡± Mama continued, ¡°your legs can get really weak if you don¡¯t use them enough. When you go back to kindergarten, you don¡¯t want to have to sit around inside when everyone else is playing, do you? What if they¡¯re playing tag and you¡¯re too slow to join them?¡± She really liked playing tag during recess. She huffed, glaring at the ground. ¡°Ten more minutes. Just keep going until then, okay?¡± ¡°If you can run to the waterfall faster than me,¡± Papa said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you my candy bar.¡± ¡°...What flavour?¡± ¡°Chocolate raspberry.¡± She was speeding off down the path almost before he¡¯d finished talking. ¡­ She had run as fast as she could then, and she was running as fast as she could now. Just keep going. Just to the next ruin, to the next intersection, to the next broken stoplight. The stakes were certainly higher now, but it was the same game. A footrace that she had to win. All she had to do was keep going. Keep going. Keep running. Keep moving, until she escaped, until she got to Gaunt, until she got home. She could do this. She wasn¡¯t very fast, but long hours hiking made her slow to tire. She was hungry, tired, weak and crippled, but at the very least, she could still run. They were still following. She needed a weapon. A flash of red caught her eye, and she veered over to the object half-buried and surrounded by sparkling cubes of safety glass. It cost her a few seconds to dig through the rubble and yank the item out, but it was more than worth it. A fire axe. The coyotes had gotten closer in those few seconds, and when she looked at the leading one¡¯s limp leg, she swore something was moving under the fur. Run. Fast as she could, yet so painfully slow, but it was enough. It would have to be, because she had no other choice. Run like hell and all its demons were chasing her. Run like her brother was about to stick a fork in an electrical socket again, or like these coyotes were running for him instead. A pebble nearly sent her foot skidding out from under her. She yelped, caught her balance just in time, and kept running. The fire axe was clutched in a white-knuckled grip, ready to cleave her way to safety. She was running as desperately as she¡¯d scaled that building to escape the dust storm, sweat beginning to run down the sides of her face. Before she¡¯d come here, there had only been one time she¡¯d had to fight for her life like this. She¡¯d passed that test then, and she had no intention of failing this one now. Unfortunately, raw willpower only got you so far. She slipped again, actually fell, and when she got up she had no time to do anything but swing the axe at the coyote leaping for her. She¡¯d had a bad grip. The blunt end whacked it in the head, and it fell aside. The others closed ranks, cautiously advancing as she backed up to a wall. Being cornered was dangerous, but being surrounded would be far worse. Another jumped at her, and she brought up the axe handle between them just in time. Its teeth clicked around the metal, and she just managed to shove it aside, staggering to the left as it was pushed off to the right. There was a blur and she was knocked backwards into the wall. The coyote had slipped and fallen as it lunged at her throat, falling on her chest. It had fallen awkwardly and caused her shirt to ride up, so her bare skin was touching its greasy, sticky fur. She swung the axe, forcing it away, a gash opening up in its shoulder. There was a crawling sensation that slowly turned into near-unbearable itching spreading across her sternum and ribs. Oh god. Get out. Get out first and look later. Survive the attack. There was one coyote blocking an area, panting and stumbling on two limp legs. How it had even gotten here was beyond her, but the others weren¡¯t very close to it. Go. She ran, shoving past it and narrowly dodging as it snapped at her, and then she was free and sprinting away. Some of the itching was fading, numbness replacing it. She ignored it, looking around for something, anything, any safe location she could get to. Nothing. How was there still nothing?! There had been an entire city here, and not one building was still standing! Maybe she should double back to the skyscraper, take a detour around the pack. She might be trapped there, but she¡¯d be safe for a few hours and might have another chance to get away later. It would be a better situation than she was in now. Double back, climb up, and regroup. She really should have just hidden there to begin with. More running for her life across empty dusty streets, narrowly avoiding potholes and infected coyotes at her heels. She didn¡¯t pay attention to how long it was, just focused on her destination and the direction she needed to go to get there. To the skyscraper, into the lobby, up the stairs. She slammed the door behind her, hearing a thud and scratching claws against it, and started climbing. Her legs burned and by now she was flagging a bit, pulse rapid and her breaths short and fast. She kept going up to the point where the wall had been stripped, only the metal scaffolding left, and then she quickly shoved the axe in her duffel so she could use both hands to climb. Once she was a few meters above any nearby sections of floor, she looped her backpack and duffel around a bar and sat down heavily. It took less than a minute for the coyotes to get up, baying at her, but they were too sick and weak to climb the scaffolds at all. Some hadn¡¯t made it. There were only five left. She was stuck here for the foreseeable future. She leaned against a column, curling an arm around it. She was shaking a bit, still high on adrenaline, so she looked out at the horizon and took a few deep breaths. Should she take a look at her chest? Definitely. Did she want to? No. No, she wanted to pretend she was okay for a bit longer. At least until she was sure she wouldn¡¯t fall into the coyotes¡¯ waiting jaws. ¡°Where are you, Gaunt?¡± If they arrived here, they¡¯d hear the coyotes. Maybe they¡¯d turn and leave, and she couldn¡¯t fault them for that. Maybe they¡¯d forge onwards and help her. Or maybe they¡¯d both end up dead. ¡°I survived you fuckers once, I¡¯ll do it again,¡± she muttered to the horde below. If Gaunt did end up here, she was absolutely not going to just sit there and watch them be torn apart. That being said, they might not show up at all, for whatever reason. In that case she''d have to figure this out for herself. Yeah, she probably wasn¡¯t going to make it if that happened. ¡°You know, if I make it out of here alive, I¡¯m probably going to be terrified of dogs, and it¡¯s gonna be your fault. You, and that stupid stray that tried to eat me, and that dead rotting dog that I stepped in. You¡¯re all conspiring against me to give me a dog phobia.¡± One growled at her, leaping and falling several feet short of her dangling foot. ¡°That¡¯s really rude of you.¡± Another tried with the same result. ¡°That¡¯s not gonna work. You¡¯re too short and weak. You can¡¯t reach me, you stupid fuckers!¡± Three of them started yapping. ¡°Well, fuck you too! I¡¯m gonna make you stupid bastards sit here for days. And when I do die, you know what? You¡¯re not even going to get to eat me then, because I¡¯m going to fall off the building. And I¡¯ll make sure to be holding the whisky bottle, so when I splatter, all the gore¡¯s gonna be full of broken glass, and you¡¯ll all eat broken glass like the idiot cousins of wolves that you are! And you¡¯re gonna die slowly, and horribly, and my ghost is going to point and cackle the whole time! Yeah, I might die, but I¡¯m bringing all of you down with me! ¡°Yap, yap, yap. All the yapping in the world isn¡¯t going to change the fact that I¡¯m up here and you¡¯re down there. You can¡¯t reach me! I can sit here and call you stupid ugly bitches and you can¡¯t do anything about it! You! You, there. You¡¯re a stupid, ugly bitch. Your friend too. What, was one of your parents a gross hairy tumour? If so, I feel bad for them for having such an ugly kid! Maybe I¡¯ll start throwing shit at you, what do you think of that? I¡¯ve got a bunch of cookware here! Anyone want to get brained with a frying pan?!¡± Her words rang in the air as she realised things were suddenly a lot quieter. There were three coyotes in front of her. ¡°Where are the rest of you?¡± There was a thump from below, and within seconds, she could hear more thuds and screams of pain. If she was lucky, it was Gaunt down there. If she was unlucky, it was the thing from the subway. The last three were nervous, hesitant. Their eyes darted uneasily between the stairs and the horizon, but they were trapped up here just like she was. There was nowhere for them to go. Did she risk calling out and drawing attention, or stay silent? She could hear whatever it was coming closer, a gradual ascent. Fuck it. She scrambled down, jumping the last meter or so, and sunk her axe blade into a coyote¡¯s skull while their heads were turned. The other two snapped their heads around, lunging. She turned to the leftmost one and shoved it back, forcing it to the edge of the building. Damaged floor crumbled as it struggled to find purchase, claws scraping until she kicked it in the chest and it slid over the edge. She hadn¡¯t done anything to the other. She didn¡¯t have to, as it turned out, as an arm wielding a crowbar lashed out and crushed its skull like an overripe watermelon. She turned to get a good look at the figure. ¡°Gaunt?¡± LOST V: GAUNT Her luck ran out less than a kilometre away. The tower didn¡¯t loom so much as it begged to be seen. Holding that same frailty Gaunt came to know in the past few days, but taller than anything she¡¯d seen for miles around. And it was right there, within fifteen minutes of slow travel, if not for the things in between. Haggard shapes. Hunched and somehow delicate, much like the tower. Whines and growls and the occasional teeth that snapped, paws that plodded on soil or hung limp. Less than two hundred metres away. They hadn¡¯t quite seen Gaunt yet. She was crouched, belly almost flush with the dusty road, hidden save her forehead and left eye. Each breath was tight and pulled against her bandages, but she didn¡¯t dare risk shifting until she was ready to run. Where was there left to go? It was this or the pile of bodies from before. If she left, she wouldn¡¯t be coming back for a bit. Then that begged the question of where she¡¯d find food and water, and medical supplies; she couldn¡¯t simply backtrack. Hell, Gaunt probably wouldn¡¯t make it another day without some miracle to come down from the heavens, and after the actual passing of the apocalypse she didn¡¯t exactly have her hopes up for divine blessing. So, through the coyotes it would be. She scanned the group for any gaps, which were few and far between given the sheer size of the pack. It was dense enough there weren¡¯t any spots to slip by, but there was one coyote that had wheezy breaths and downcast eyes. She¡¯d have to contend with any companions that went after her, but it was a start. That said, all the coyotes seemed somewhat under the weather. Almost a boon in and of itself if not for the mystery of where that sickness came from. Not something Gaunt was looking to acquire herself, which didn¡¯t make things any easier, and wasn¡¯t something she figured she could factor into her plan. So she gave herself time for one last breath, enough to strain the bandage taut, hefted herself to her feet, and went in sprinting. Or she tried. One leg hitched on the gravel, the other didn¡¯t quite make up for it, and then she was back on the ground. The force of the pavement on her wound forced a mild wheeze of her own, pain lacing through her abdomen and collar. She slid one hand under herself, slipped again, scraped some of the dust off with her other palm and tried lifting with both arms. That was enough to get her bearings, but also clearly enough for the coyotes to reach her first. One foot to the right, the other to follow. Something about four legs being faster than two, at least on clear terrain. Gaunt went for the crowbar at her side, missed, then gripped it firmly. There was one place left where she might have the advantage, and if she was going to die, she¡¯d be doing it there. She skirted around the first of the coyotes, narrowly missing a swipe of its paw. She could just make out something twitching in the plume it created once touching ground, shifting the sallow skin and matted hair on the limb, slight enough to have her question her eyes, more than enough to scream disease. Not something to deal with with a close-ranged weapon. Fuck it. She¡¯d die sometime in the next hour or not at all. Gaunt threw her free arm back to unzip her bag, shoved it straight in, closed her hand on a can of tuna. Pulling it free nearly made her skip a step, but the motion of whipping the can behind her got her safely rebalanced. She didn¡¯t quite catch its path, but it definitely hit one of them, and whichever one it hit didn¡¯t even get a chance to yelp afterwards. They were close. Gaunt went for another can, tugged the zipper a bit too far and a couple things spilled out. Threw that one too, saw it hit a whole lot of nothing, and readied both arms for a swing with the crowbar. A loud SNAP sounded as it cleaved straight through the closest one¡¯s foreleg, sending it tumbling ungainly at her feet. Gaunt kicked its snarling face aside before continuing on, the rest of the group mere tens of metres behind. So close. The only beacon to be seen, the only place she could hope to reach. It wasn¡¯t a tower, it was salvation. Escape. The end of a long, long road to nowhere. Just let me have this. Please. Halfway there. More were catching up, she could smell stale musk, hot blood, something she couldn¡¯t quite place but certainly didn¡¯t smell healthy. As much as another can of tuna could do some damage, Gaunt wasn¡¯t ready to risk the more valuable contents of her bag. Chunks of concrete were lying around, kept together by the rebar housed within. She scooped up the nearest one and hurled it back, crashing heavily with only a stone-on-stone thunk. Swearing, Gaunt shoved her hand into her bag for her very last card and came free with the bear spray. Not even bothering to look, she thrust her arm back as far as it could go, in a direction she hoped was exactly behind her, and sprayed. Her wild sweeping motions were met with a cacophony of yips and howls, and a risky glance back showed only two still keeping up the pursuit with any success. The howls from behind nearly drowned out those from ahead. More, somewhere she really wasn¡¯t hoping any would be. No choice, of course, with her being herded towards the tower anyway. Gaunt shoved the bear spray back in her bag, snatched at the zipper, missed a couple times before giving up. Despite the tearing sensations, she forced her legs to stretch that much further, her paces to follow that much faster, just in the hopes of getting there before something she couldn¡¯t quite encapsulate. There, in front. Yellow eyes in the sides of her vision. Flanked, pursued, there was one direction to go and she wasn¡¯t certain she could do it. Bracing herself, eyes nearly shut, Gaunt gave whatever she had left to get between the two newcomers before they closed her off for good. One of them flinched, the other stumbled, and she shot through like a bullet through water. Then it was right there, she was there, and the door was just on the other side. Hand reaching for nothing in particular, Gaunt practically dove around the corner. There was nothing there save the face of the building itself, thank god or gods or whatever else doomed the world. Nothing but the doorway, lacking a door, but with some carpeting and a couple boards haphazardly fastened around the edges. One corner flapped free, and Gaunt slipped through with ease. Something to block the way. Lots of chairs, one coffee table. She wasted no time shoving the table in front of the door and cramming the chairs in the least extricable configuration she could come up with in three seconds. Even so, things were still buckling, splinters still flying, and those three seconds would only save that many minutes at most. Calm, Gaunt, calm. Think. What were you supposed to do when a door¡¯s being broken down? There was nowhere else to go, no other doors out, just up. Gaunt raced up the stairs with the meagre hope of a better barricade only to be met with a flimsy door in the stairwell and a few more office-style chairs scattered in the hallway. Not worth going up another floor, she¡¯d cut her losses here. There was something she could almost place, about being stuck like this. She racked her brain as she piled up the few chairs around the stairwell. Something about running through closed rooms. Something about being trapped¡­ ```` Sitting. She was sitting. The bench was hard. Her ass was sore, someone was talking. He was very excited about something. She nodded, one of her arms was around the other, shoulders tucked in. The air was slightly cool. Someone else laughed, whoever was next to her. She didn¡¯t. The window had condensation on it, it was foggy. There was a tap on her shoulder.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A face, she couldn¡¯t recall exactly what it looked like. It was concerned, maybe. Gaunt shook her head; it was fine. She shook her head too; it wasn¡¯t fine. Gaunt¡¯s shoulders slumped a little more. Hand on hers. The man reached over and took one of her arms away from her body. She let him. The one next to her laughed again, and so did Gaunt and the man. She punched Gaunt¡¯s shoulder lightly and Gaunt laughed harder. ¡­ Running. Still holding someone¡¯s hand, she didn¡¯t know which one, or if it was someone else. She didn¡¯t know where she was running, didn¡¯t know if she knew then either. Yelling. Lots of yelling, some screaming. Some of it was scary and some of it was scared. Pushing open a door now, it was cold, much colder than the air. Now both of them were in the next cabin and she heard the door shut. She couldn¡¯t see what was in front of her, but she remembered it wasn¡¯t good. She pulled the door behind her, and it was locked¡­ ```` No, the rattling wasn¡¯t the door in front of her, it was the random shit she piled in the doorway a floor below her. Focus. She could certainly place whatever that was now, about being in that situation and then assuredly not getting out. Not particularly helpful. The cracks were getting louder, but it didn¡¯t quite sound broken through yet. Chances are she had less than a minute to prepare. Gaunt took off her bag and set it on the ground, opened it all the way, took stock. Not a whole lot that could help other than the bear spray, which she didn¡¯t plan on using indoors. She set it against the nearest wall, flicked her eyes to the doorframe a metre over, then to the floor in front of her. Fuck it. She lurched to the door and roved over the mess within. A two-second cursory glance revealed nothing of use. Next door, still nothing. The third one was locked, prompting her to bash at the lock with her crowbar, and throw her full weight against it. The door tore soundly off the hinges to reveal the space beyond. Some old cookware in the sink, filthy and rusted but more than effective as bludgeons. Some knives, too, but likely dulled over. Gaunt snatched up the largest pot she could find and slipped back out the door, pot in one hand, crowbar in the other. Finally a dying groan from below sounded from the makeshift blockade, quickly followed by the drumming of feet. Out of time. Back to the edge of the doorframe, weapons raised, bones clenched so hard she could feel her flesh bruising before the fighting even began. The drumming slowed, became overpowered just by the thumping in her chest. Maybe they won¡¯t find me. Maybe they¡¯ll just leave. She didn¡¯t dare stop tensing, or lower her crowbar or the pot by even a few millimetres. Her breaths were so light she could hardly hear it at all, but so fast that she feared she¡¯d keel over on dealing her first blow. Just go. A faint growl. Her heartbeats were drowned out once more, the noise getting louder, then faster, then it juddered through her whole body and the chairs, too. One snapped right off its base, another careened away from the door. Gaunt reached for it and shoved it back, then held everything together with her body weight, too. One more impact and she was on the ground, chairs wrenching apart like she wasn¡¯t even there, and bloodied teeth were poking through the crack in the doorway. More came into view as a coyote sniffed through the gap, though it didn¡¯t sniff so much as snort blood on the floor by Gaunt with a snout bent at nearly ninety degrees. Then some scrabbling of claws and an eye, then two, glared in; really there were three, but one was better described as an open cavity than anything functional. Gaunt kicked the door shut, causing the remainder of the gore-crusted jaw to fall into the pool of blood at her feet. An unearthly wail sounded, guttural and wet through too much blood and not enough mouth, accompanied by the splintering of the door at the hinges. The door swung open just large enough for something to slip through. That something entered just in time to be slammed with about five pounds of large stainless steel pot right over the cranium. It didn¡¯t quite land and most of the force went into the floor, but the coyote still slumped over, completely limp. The door was steadily stretching wider, and more were trampling its prone body to get through. Gaunt could only focus on the next one. The pot was at a bad angle, so with a swing of the crowbar she went for the head a second time, only for her to overestimate its weight and send it flying far above the target. The leading coyote took the opportunity to tackle her, ploughing exposed ribcage and rancid flesh straight to her wound, ripping right through the bandages. The scream didn¡¯t even have enough breath to leave Gaunt¡¯s throat, instead sending a further spike of pain through her ribs. The pain was quickly replaced by a sensation comparable to pouring a handful of ants into one¡¯s every orifice, and accompanied by a firm stabbing as its teeth met her collar. The pain was rapidly overshadowed by the itching. Gaunt couldn¡¯t help her arms reaching for the wound, doubling over to guard it against further attacks, even as her left arm was held in place by the coyote¡¯s jaws. More were coming. She¡¯d be eaten alive. Without a clear goal in mind, she thrashed around, throwing her arms wide. Somehow, she managed to hit the next coyote to approach, and the nails she dug into its face cut deep. Its flesh was much softer than she¡¯d expected, the bones much more brittle. Her shoulder tore free with a fresh cold agony ripping through her. Her eyes flicked to her left. Red, but not as much as she expected. Yellow, from the teeth stopping up the wound, still embedded in her shoulder and no longer in its owner¡¯s face. Moving her left arm wasn¡¯t worth the trouble, so she let it hang limp and fumbled for wherever she thought the crowbar was with her right. Her fingers closed around it. Gaunt could hardly raise it. But even so, the coyotes hesitantly glanced behind themselves, back to the door, and plodded off. Hopefully to never return. But really, she had a few minutes at best. With none to waste, she picked off whatever was left of her soaked-through bandage. Doing so only jacked up the itching another notch, so far that she scrambled to pick out the antiseptic without even checking the wound, with the hopes the pain would drown out the feeling. By the time she poured it onto the wound, the itching was already subsiding. The antiseptic didn¡¯t hurt as much as she was expecting, either, not even matching her existing wounds. Fear moving in to replace the lack of sensation, Gaunt finally brought herself to look at the situation. Five ¨C no, six tiny worms were squirming in the wound, one end exposed. Probably the ass end, as with each passing second they got that much shorter. Her hand shuddered. It was still shaking as she reached over to grab one, missing the mark the first couple tries. On the third attempt she gripped it at the end and started tugging it free. Well, she tried, but the tremors in her hand already got it out before she even began. She flicked it onto the ground. The spot her fingers were was completely crushed. Carefully, then. The next one she went for, she gripped her wrist with her other arm to steady it; her shoulder didn¡¯t protest too much at that. It gave no resistance at all as it slid free, this time somewhat intact and wriggling. She slammed the heel of her palm into it for good measure, grinding it into a thin paste. The one after that was at a strange angle, and half its body tore as she pulled, but thankfully she could make out the front end from the bit she removed. Gaunt could just make out a nub where another one had burrowed, gritted her teeth, and dug a nail in. She didn¡¯t feel much past a faint poking sensation. She wrapped her index finger around its body and extracted it, saw another¡¯s pale grey body in the same tunnel, and pulled it out the same way. Both were intact, but unlike the second one, they hardly moved save for a gentle pulsing. The last one was gone. Figures. Gaunt was at least able to get to her feet, so it could wait. Just as she did so, more howls echoed outside the building, and Gaunt heard paws tromping down the stairs. Good riddance. The rest of the group probably called them off. She was tuning out the rest of the howls and steeling herself to break down another door when she heard something else. Someone screaming, something. Holy shit. Was that them? She couldn¡¯t be bothered to bring her phone out now, but they were supposed to be in this area, right? Would they be alright? Could Gaunt even do anything if they weren¡¯t? The howls were getting closer, an occasional unintelligible shout joining in. Gaunt hobbled to the door, one of her knees buckling, set down in a kneeling position. Not a great position to fight in. Don¡¯t bring them here, for the love of god. Right as she thought it, the sound of fabric tearing reached her from downstairs, and the rapid sprinting up the stairs. One hand on her mouth, the other on her crowbar, knuckles white and sore, heart throbbing so loud she was certain they could hear it, Gaunt stared at the door. The banging kept going, and didn''t get any louder. It faded. She wasn¡¯t in a position to do much. If she stayed, though, and Kiki died, she was fucked. Utterly fucked. If Kiki died and the coyotes came down, she was even more fucked. Not good. Well, if she was on death¡¯s door anyway. Fuck it. She left the pot behind, didn¡¯t want to strain her arm, even though it hardly felt hurt at all. Took the steps slowly, then a little faster when she didn¡¯t fall down right away. There was more shouting now, a lot more, sounding more defensive and even comically angry than vulnerable. Good that she was safe, for now. Four flights of stairs. Then five, six with nothing. On the seventh, light shone down the stairwell from the yawning door, and Gaunt could make out the hindquarters of a few coyotes. She ducked. None looked her way. One foot on the stair, lifting herself so slow her leg started to shake. Another step. Pressed her back against the wall, flat as possible. She tapped her foot against the doorframe, once, twice, as quietly as possible. Just by the edge of the frame she could make out the twitch of an ear. When the first one poked its head through, she unloaded with every last scrap of strength she had. Which was a whole lot more than she needed, apparently, as its skull burst into pieces, spattering every surface in the vicinity. Calcium deficiency really was all that. Gaunt groaned as some of the shards impacted her chest, and reached out to steady herself. She hadn¡¯t quite recovered in time for the next one to come through, but there was no need. A solid kick to the chest, it didn¡¯t quite have the bearings to retaliate, and it tumbled straight down the stairs. Its neck was bent three-quarters around the wrong way at the bottom. Gaunt wrapped her other hand around the crowbar, hoisted it over her shoulder, then lowered it mere moments later. Nothing else, yet. There was still noise, of course, but toned down. Seemed Kiki had their full attention for now, or at least they were caught in a moment of indecision. Then something fell from somewhere, a light thudding like someone jumped down from somewhere, and a wet thwack of something cleaving flesh. Now or never. Gaunt charged through, just in time to see a coyote about to lunge at Kiki from behind. No use warning Kiki as they were preoccupied with dumping another off the roof, and Gaunt wasn¡¯t willing to risk them falling off too. They turned around just in time to witness Gaunt smashing through the coyote¡¯s skull, its spine, and halfway through its ribs. Gaunt didn¡¯t say anything. Too much to say, really. Kiki took a meek step forward. ¡°Gaunt?¡± LOST V: SPIKE There were footprints in the sand. Messy tracks. Spaced about right for a human, but could have been a drone. Not much more than indentations in the sand. Whatever it was, it was bipedal, and somehow hampered or disabled. The tracks were uneven, like it was staggering or limping. He looked a ways forward- or was it backward? And saw something dark in the sand. Blood? Was it hurt? When he got closer, he saw that it was blood, but unfortunately not just blood. There was something, already turning leathery and shrivelled in the sand, that looked concerningly similar to human skin. In addition to the blood, it was coated in something crusty and yellow. There was a large patch of bloody sand here, then smaller drips leading into the distance alongside the footprints. Whatever it was had gone that way, then, and if he went the other way he would be able to avoid it. It was injured, or maybe carrying something bloody, something alive as opposed to a robot. It had left the strip of¡­ skin, it was almost definitely skin, here, and bled a lot while doing so. Most likely, unfortunately, was Lyre. They just kept fucking turning up, and apparently, had a penchant for skinning themselves alive. That, or had a penchant for skinning other people, but he was pretty sure they hadn¡¯t been carrying anything heavy like a corpse with them. It was funny; every new detail he learned about them made him want to run farther away, and every day he kept finding more and more traces of them. Maybe they were doing it deliberately. Altering their tracks, so it looked like they were going one way, when they were actually going another. Maybe they¡¯d had the skin and blood, dripped the blood out slowly, and then poured out a splash and laid the skin down. If that were the case, the best move would be to ¡®follow¡¯ the track in order to move away from them. Instead of going the opposite direction, he could move perpendicular to their direction. Then, he could be reasonably sure he was moving away regardless of if they were going forwards or backwards- but then again, they could also have turned so he was walking right into their grasp. Every time. Every time he tried to come up with something new, the conclusion was always ¡°Not enough information¡±. Not enough information to make any sort of decision, so he just kept walking, and the walking just made things worse so he had to try and come up with something again. Walking was his only shred of hope of getting out of here, but it was also the thing that was fucking him over time and time again. It seemed like no matter what he did, he was completely screwed. Maybe he had been from the beginning, and all any of this was doing was shifting his time of death by a few days or so. If running wouldn¡¯t work, maybe he needed to take a stand. If a fight was inevitable, Spike would have it on his terms. Lyre wanted to find him? Fine, he¡¯d go find them first so he could take them by surprise. He fished out the knife, squeezing the handle in his good hand. A long, blunt weapon would probably be more suitable, but a knife could still do a lot of damage. The risk was that it didn¡¯t provide much protection to the wielder. If this did end in a fight, he¡¯d have to finish it quickly. It wasn¡¯t as though he had much to lose. His foot sent up a puff of sand as it hit the ground, landing right between two of Lyre¡¯s footprints. He didn¡¯t have to walk for long before he found them. A skinny silhouette, swaying a bit as they walked slowly through the desert. They were going the opposite direction, away from him, at least for now. They didn¡¯t seem to be aware that he was following. At this distance, it was hard to make out details like if they had a weapon, but he did notice that they looked distinctly human as opposed to the hard lines of metal and circuitry. He could try attacking now, or instead he could- His foot suddenly sunk down, the sand underneath too fine to support it. He sank to the knee before he was able to arrest himself, splaying his body out over the sand and taking the weight off that leg. It wasn¡¯t quicksand, that didn¡¯t exist in the desert, but it made him think of those stories on the internet about people suffocating in grain silos. Lyre¡¯s tracks led right through here, and yet they¡¯d passed through without incident while he was patting the ground around him looking for a stable spot. Their tracks swerved here and there, weaving away from a patch of sand to instead stand on a completely identical patch. He hadn¡¯t been following the tracks exactly, mostly walking beside as opposed to on top of them. Should have followed in their footsteps. He tested the indentation where they had stepped, and found it to be stable. Unfortunately, most of the area around it wasn¡¯t, and with the position he was in now he would need at least one other point of support to pull himself out. Luckily, there was another stable spot, not marked by a footstep but usable all the same. He put one hand on the footprint, the other on the dune, and pushed himself up, dragging his leg out of the sand. Once he was out, he flopped onto his belly, felt around for stable patches, and inched his way over until he could get his feet on top of them and stand up. Lesson learned. Stick to Lyre¡¯s footprints. In the time it had taken him to escape, they¡¯d moved a bit forwards, but they were going slowly enough that if he was patient he could close the distance. What should he do when he caught up? An outright, unprovoked attack could go badly, same with direct threats like putting a knife to their throat. Letting down his guard could have similarly catastrophic consequences. They¡¯d answered his questions in the group chat when he¡¯d asked, not directly to the point and the answers were mostly nonsensical, but they seemed to be trying to cooperate. Starting with negotiation and a request for information might be a good option, or at least the least terrible one. Talking, but keeping his defenses up and watching for any possible attacks. He had a close-range weapon, so distance would probably hinder him more than them if it came down to a fight, but it would be helpful if he had to flee. Fleeing probably wouldn¡¯t be an option here, so he¡¯d stay close. They were only about twenty meters away now, and still hadn¡¯t turned around. This close, he could make out more details. He was pretty sure Lyre was a girl, and she wasn¡¯t in a good state, hair and clothing matted with sand and dirt and blood. The way she moved, too, made him think she was weakened by illness or injury. Once he got close enough, he spoke. ¡°Lyre, I¡¯d like to talk.¡± No reaction. Absolutely none. She didn¡¯t turn, or flinch, or anything. His impression was that somehow she simply hadn¡¯t noticed. Perhaps she was deaf. That would make communication a lot more difficult, but she could read and write so it would still be possible. He carefully made his way closer, knife at the ready in case she struck out on instinct, and gently tapped her on the shoulder. Once again, it was like she was totally unaware of her surroundings, an empty shell walking without any sort of awareness. It was unpleasantly familiar. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. He was about to try getting in front of her when she stopped. She stood completely still, the only movement was her breathing and a slight trembling. Maybe a freeze response to a perceived threat, but it had happened at least ten seconds after. That might make sense if she was high, but where she¡¯d get drugs out here, especially since she wasn¡¯t carrying anything, was a total mystery. He stepped to the side, carefully testing the ground with each step, and walked out in front of her. She didn¡¯t look at him. She wasn¡¯t really looking at anything. Her pupils were small, but he was pretty sure that was because of the lighting and not any substances. When he waved a hand in front of her face, there was no reaction. When he held the knife up to her face, there was again no reaction. Either she was seriously brain damaged, or she was on something very strong. Not a drug he would know from parties or rumours, something new to him. She certainly didn¡¯t look any better from the front. Her arms were messily bandaged with rags, but the blood was still seeping through a bit and dripping on the ground, especially from one arm where the wrapping looked a bit fresher. That was probably where the skin had come from. She¡¯d die of infection with a wound like that- maybe she wasn¡¯t drugged, but delirious from sepsis. There was a gun tucked into her waistband that he hadn¡¯t seen from behind, but it didn¡¯t seem like she was going to do anything with it. ¡°Lyre, can you hear me?¡± No response. Well, that had been a lot of worry over nothing. She clearly wasn¡¯t any sort of threat to him in this state, and she¡¯d be dead soon enough based on what he saw. Maybe he could take the gun, it would probably be useful at some point, and she would die anyway. It was well beyond his ability to help her. He could just reach out and take it. He stood there, staring at it, for a minute. Taking the gun might trigger her somehow. As useful as it might be, he should probably leave it. Leave her and go somewhere else. He¡¯d only walked a short distance away when the sound of shifting sand made him whip around. Lyre was running. Very fast, much faster than he could, and a little bit away from him but not really. There was absolutely nothing to see around them in every direction, and she was going the wrong way to be running from him, so he had no idea what the fuck she was doing. Maybe she was hallucinating. The fact that she was still fit enough to run like that was a bit worrying, since it indicated she might still be able to use that gun. And that combined with her apparent mental state meant if she decided to use it, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to talk her out of it. There was no way he¡¯d be able to catch up to her, though, so this was officially out of his hands and therefore no longer his problem. If she killed him later it wasn¡¯t like he could have done much to stop it now. As to where he should go next, he didn¡¯t really have any direction in mind. It didn¡¯t matter. Every road led to the same place, for him. Every road led to nowhere, so he picked the first sand dune his eyes landed on and started walking that way. Maybe he should have taken the gun. Actually, he definitely should have taken the gun. What would she have done to stop him? Try and grapple for it? He could easily break her wrists in a fight, she was injured and exhausted, it would have been like taking candy from a baby. But no, now she was running around willy-nilly with a deadly weapon that she¡¯d probably shoot him with later, because he hadn¡¯t confiscated it, because he¡­ had made a serious error in judgement. Not like it had been his first. ¡ª ¡°Hey, kid, are you alright?¡± He ignored the voice at first, eyes focused on the book he was pretending to read, until fingers tapped on the top. Looking up, there was an older woman in front of the beanbag chair he was curled up in, about in her mid-forties with glasses and a concerned expression. ¡°It¡¯s just, I noticed your clothes are a bit worn and dirty, and you¡¯ve been sitting there for a while and I haven¡¯t seen you turn a page. I¡¯m not going to pry, but if you maybe want somewhere to stay for a bit or something to eat, I can help.¡± ¡°None of your business, lady.¡± ¡°Are you sure? It¡¯s pretty cold outside, and the library¡¯s closing soon. You know, I have a son about your age, maybe I could give you some of his old clothes. He never wears anything I buy him anyways.¡± ¡­ ¡°My house is pretty close by. We can stop by there, pick up some stuff, and maybe I can make a couple phone calls for you? You could take a shower and get some clean clothes, and maybe we could find somewhere for you to stay for the night.¡± ¡­ The way she talked, it reminded him of someone, a little. Someone he couldn¡¯t remember, maybe a family member or a teacher? Someone he knew well. Someone he trusted. ¡°Okay.¡± She looked a little surprised, like she hadn¡¯t expected him to agree. He hadn¡¯t expected himself to agree. ¡°Alright, just follow me, okay?¡± She started walking off, and he followed. He half expected to be knocked out and shoved into an unmarked white van, but they arrived at the woman¡¯s house without incident. He took his shoes off at the door, clumsy and fumbling. It had been a while since he¡¯d taken off his shoes, or changed his clothes, or showered. After a moment of thought, he also shrugged off his hoodie, carefully hanging it on the coat rack. It was filthy and he didn¡¯t want to bring it into the house. He stepped into the house. The floors were carpeted. His socks were probably making a mess, but she¡¯d invited him in. He heard her breathe in, sharply, which, fair enough. He had a pretty good idea of how bad he looked. She was walking towards him now, quickly, probably to tell him not to- There was a powerful impact on the side of his head, and then he was on the floor. He looked up, and she was standing over him with a poker in hand, looking absolutely terrified. ¡°Get out.¡± ¡°Why-¡± She swung again, and he barely dodged the hit. ¡°Demon! Out, you damned thing! Don¡¯t you dare-¡± He was up now, scrambling for the door, blows from the poker landing on his back and arms- ¡°Curse me-¡± He snagged the hoodie, left the shoes- ¡°Or my son, or my husband-¡± and he didn¡¯t catch the last thing she said, because he was running out the door, her tear-streaked face flashing in his mind as he tugged the hoodie on while running, stumbled, fell, eventually found his way into a dark alley and tucked himself in beside a dumpster. ¡ª Crazy old hag. She did teach him a valuable lesson, though; nobody can be trusted, no matter how friendly and harmless they seem. A lesson he had most definitely ignored in leaving Lyre with the gun. In his recollections, he¡¯d spaced out, and when he focused back in¡­ The fuck? Lyre, again, but not alone. Fending off a bot, much larger than he was, tripedal and bristling with smooth metallic arms. Its head was oddly stretched and thin, not to the point of fragility but still very unnatural looking. She was very much losing the fight. The safest thing to do would be to get the fuck out before the thing saw him, let Lyre deal with it. If she died, oh well, and if she killed the thing on her own that would be ideal. If it won, though, it could come after him next. He probably wouldn¡¯t be good at avoiding it. If he fought it now with Lyre, they stood a better chance of killing it than either would separately¡­ or he could team up with it, to kill Lyre. The last option he dismissed quickly- it was a far greater threat than he thought Lyre was. Get involved and decide the battle¡¯s outcome, or leave it up to chance. Lyre still had the gun. She was using it to block an arm that was reaching for her neck. If he could take the pressure off her for a moment, she could shoot it. Low odds of success, but he really did not want to try and fight this thing alone later down the line. Well, this was how he died. He¡¯d say it had been a good life, but it really hadn¡¯t been. He was shit at stealth, so he simply started running at the thing with his knife out, aiming for the arm Lyre was holding back with her gun. It worked a lot better than he had been expecting, actually; the bot was focused on Lyre and didn¡¯t really notice him. He grabbed the arm, hauling it back as he tried sawing at the metal, but it was a lot stronger than it looked and all he did was blunt his knife. However, he did succeed in moving it, giving Lyre room to move. She immediately aimed and fired three times at one of the arms, every hit landing on one specific spot. With the last shot, the arm broke in two, and the robot¡¯s movements seemed to become a bit quicker and clumsier. It grabbed at her, restraining her with another arm, but leaving its wounded side exposed and facing Spike. The knife hadn¡¯t worked for slashing. Stabbing would probably just break the tip. An unarmed attack would probably break his hand or foot. The discarded arm had landed near him, a syringe of some sort at one end and a clean break on the other. He leaned over and picked it up, took half a second to look at the broken end- sharp. He adjusted his grip, drew back, and rammed the broken end into a tripod leg. It buckled slightly, metal bending, and he hit it again. As he was winding up for a third hit, its grip on Lyre slackened, and an arm lashed out blindly but didn¡¯t come anywhere near him. One last strike. The leg snapped off, flying off a few meters away. The robot lurched to the side, remaining two legs shifting to try and take the added weight. Lyre shoved herself out from under its arms, crawling away and shakily getting to her feet. She stood there, staring at it as it tried to claw its way towards her, and Spike saw himself collapse. This was different. He couldn¡¯t move, vision broken, could barely keep his mind in one place. Disrupted. Interference. Static. He was twitching, back in his body, eyes open and staring at the sky. That was the first thing he registered. The second was that he was being dragged by his armpits, and that made him freeze, throwing elbows back at his would-be kidnapper. His body still wasn¡¯t responding very well, so the hits were clumsy and off-target, and he didn''t make contact. The hands let go of him, and he lurched up, turning to face Lyre on shaky legs. She looked past him, hazel eyes a universe away. ¡°Follow.¡± LOST V: LYRE It had been not actually a super long time but things were about to happen and Lyre would start to do stuff very soon. In order to do all that stuff her plan said to be in a good place and she was heading there but she had to be careful about it too. Where she was there was a bunch of thin spots in the sand and she wasn¡¯t supposed to step on those parts and her plan was super specific about where she had to go so she went that way. It was a lot slower than walking in a straight line but it was what she was going to do. Mostly it was really super important that Lyre wasn¡¯t in the thin part or anywhere close because apparently it was not good but there was more of course. Basically even though Lyre knew her way through the sand and how to not touch the thin spots and stuff so did the sentry too that was going to see her somewhere forwards and then it would get her anyway. Getting out of the thin part to the rest of the plan was a little bit far so that''s why she knew so much about the thin part of the sand and staying there but also even though it was far the plan was really specific about doing it so she was doing it. If she didn¡¯t have to go through the thin part then she could start some other parts of the plan but instead she would have to do some of it when she got there and if nothing invisible happened it would appear right away after. There was a big rock in the ceiling and it was pretty loose so if she hit it with a rock where the plan said to then it would fall. Then after it wouldn¡¯t be done yet but then with the gun she was holding she would shoot where the plan said to and then it would be done except there would be a new problem. Then to fix the new problem the plan said where she had to dig and then it would be okay and then it was just the one food one water shelter sleep wake up find Spike which was good because when she got there she could just do all that without having to follow a bunch of other plans. Then everything would be good and everything was always good after the plans and Lyre wanted to see Spike. Even if he was firm and invisible and she didn¡¯t like either of those. So she was walking walking walking around the thin parts and then there weren¡¯t any thin parts and she could walk in a straight line and her plan was closer but still not super close. Actually while she was doing the plan she could make another plan and probably it wouldn''t be super good because it was too far away but Lyre liked to think about plans and she could always fix it later. It was annoying because actually she still didn¡¯t know where Spike was and her plan couldn¡¯t figure it out either because he was so super invisible but it was fine because instead she would make a plan for when he wasn¡¯t invisible anymore and she met him. It was really hard to see of course which was what happened when her plans were too far away. But if she looked hard enough Lyre could see the part where they went West and then there was the big Wall too and then they were on the other side and they were all there and then she couldn¡¯t see farther than that at all. But then that was when it happened because there was a thing and she didn¡¯t know what it was at all so she asked about it. Then it turned out when she was thinking about Spike and how he was invisible she didn¡¯t even need to make a plan about him at all because he was right there but now everything was confusing because her plans were all out of order and Lyre had no clue what to do. Even when she was making plans he was getting closer and closer to her and he made a noise and touched her and she had to do something but because her plans were weird and confusing she didn¡¯t even know which one to listen to so maybe she would have to just stop and make another one. The first thing she did was ask what to do right now immediately and the new plan said stop so she stopped and then Spike stopped too and now she had more time to think about things and Spike would still be there which was a good thing. Spike was right in front of her now and he was waving things in front of her face like his hand and his knife but Lyre wasn¡¯t supposed to do anything about that stuff so she didn¡¯t. Then she had enough time to think about stuff but maybe not a super long time so she asked if she should follow the Spike plan or the danger plan and the danger was always more important so she should just ignore Spike for now. But now the problem was she was thinking for way way way too long about things because she got confused and now maybe the danger plan was different. So Lyre asked about the danger plan except now it was totally different and that was really confusing too because now there were just too many plans and she couldn¡¯t do all of them at all. Apparently the old plan didn¡¯t work so she would listen to the new plan. The new plan was so totally different from the old plan though that now everything needed to be different and Lyre didn¡¯t have anything to work from and she needed the plan for very close so it wouldn¡¯t even be done. Now the sentry is actually way closer than she thought it would be so she had to figure out the most important parts of the plan. Luckily she could just ask which parts of the plan were most important and then she knew what to figure out. There wasn¡¯t anywhere to go anymore so she didn¡¯t have to worry about finding anything or anywhere but she was supposed to go in a specific direction and then it would work. But the problem was Spike was here now and since he was invisible and he was also supposed to be part of the plan because he was here and the plan didn¡¯t know exactly where he fit but it had sort of an idea so she would listen to the plan. Lyre ran in the direction the plan said and continued putting it all together. She had five bullets in the gun so she asked exactly where she should shoot them and then she had an idea of exactly how to escape the danger but not all the way. The plan didn¡¯t tell her when she would be able to do all that and she couldn¡¯t figure out all of it or else the sentry would be there because it was so close and she wouldn¡¯t have a plan so instead she just asked what to start doing and then she knew and then she didn¡¯t have long. Then she had enough time for just one more question so she asked maybe when some good times would be to shoot not exactly when because it would take too long but generally and then she knew that too and she would do it if she was able to ever. Then that was it and it was time for the plan to happen and even though it wasn¡¯t done Lyre knew she made good plans and it was good enough and she would be okay. She didn¡¯t know exactly where the sentry was but she was out of time so she looked around. There was a lot of nothing and then a big drone that was sort of close and so she asked if that was the danger and it was so she turned towards it. It had a bunch of stuff on it which was actually even more than last time but Lyre didn¡¯t know if she should do anything about any of it so she didn¡¯t and it didn¡¯t really do anything at first.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. It had a bunch of arms and one of them was doing something and Lyre didn¡¯t know what and she didn¡¯t bother asking about it and it kept getting closer. She wasn¡¯t supposed to do much of anything until it got really close so she waited and waited and waited and then suddenly it was there and one of its arms was coming towards her. Then it was time to do the thing and before it could get her with the arm she brought the gun up and held it there and it missed. Then it reached for the gun but Lyre pulled it out of the way fast and she ducked and ran around its side and it had to turn around to get her. All its arms were moving around all over the place and that meant she wasn¡¯t allowed to shoot it yet so she didn¡¯t do it yet and instead she waited. But then she was out of time and it went to grab her again and she did the exact same thing again and it didn¡¯t quite get her this time either. She still couldn¡¯t shoot it at all which was confusing because then that meant the plan wouldn¡¯t finish and Lyre wasn¡¯t sure what to do if the plan couldn¡¯t finish and she didn¡¯t really have enough time to make a new one right now either. If she kept doing the same thing though then maybe she could think about it and she could probably do all this without thinking too much. She started thinking up a plan and it was really tough because it was all happening right now but she tried anyway. The problem was that the plan knew she only had five bullets and they all had really specific places to go and if another plan tried to use them then she wouldn¡¯t be able to finish any of them. She could also maybe use just her hands to do something but the plan didn¡¯t help with that either because it was super hard to figure out anything she could do like that. It was also possible that maybe she could go somewhere except that was really hard because she would need to get away from the sentry and it was faster than her and when she asked about that it said the only way to get the sentry slower was to follow the original plan. Basically there was not a whole lot for Lyre to do and she would have thought about it even more but then for some reason the sentry grabbed far to her right where she was going and got her. Lyre wasn¡¯t sure how it did that because the plan made sure she was always a certain distance too far to the right than it would try to grab but maybe something invisible happened and it broke the plan. Now there was no plan at all that Lyre knew what to do with and she couldn¡¯t do anything without a plan. There were lots of invisible parts to the plan and she had no idea what would happen because they were invisible and when she tried thinking of a plan now she couldn¡¯t come up with much at all. The one thing she figured out was that the sentry just had her gun not her whole arm or anything so she had to hold it in front of her so it didn¡¯t grab her for real. But then the gun was against her neck too and it was hard to breathe and apparently that was bad but she didn¡¯t know what to do about it at all. In her head thinking of plans it was a whole lot of nothing and she had no idea at all. Lyre thought and thought and thought about all of it but instead of coming up with a plan it was harder to think and then she saw something else¡­ ~ Red. Lyre saw a lot of red. There were spots brighter than others. Evenly spaced, exactly spaced. It was too blurry to see anything else. She couldn¡¯t hear much. She couldn¡¯t feel much either. It didn¡¯t look cozy but it felt cozy to her and she didn¡¯t know why. ~ But then it wasn¡¯t red anymore, it was bright and beige from the sand and she could hear stuff and she could feel stuff and the sentry was there but so was something else. She asked who and actually it was Spike, Spike who was invisible and broke the plan even more, but Lyre was okay with that because now things were different and maybe she could even make a new plan. Before even doing anything like that she realized now the sentry was turned slightly and the arms parted and then her target was right there and she was supposed to shoot now so she did. Then after she shot she did it again because she was still supposed to and then she turned the gun and did it one more time and the arm she shot fell off just like the plan said it would. Then it still had a bunch of other arms so it went to grab Lyre again so she tried her strategy from before but it failed again because of invisible stuff probably and it got her gun again. She couldn¡¯t let it pull the gun away or grab her so she did the same thing and blocked it from grabbing her with the gun but it was slightly different now and not on her neck so there was no danger from that this time. She couldn¡¯t come up with a plan right away but actually it was okay because Spike was invisible and did some invisible stuff and Lyre was fine again. Then she was supposed to go away so the sentry didn¡¯t grab her so she did and now she had to figure out exactly what was going on so her plan would be okay. First she asked super fast if there was danger right now immediately and there sort of was but it would be fine if she ran away from the sentry so she did. Then she wanted to know exactly what was going on so Lyre started asking more. The first thing she realized was that actually Spike was helpful to the plan instead of breaking it because now he actually broke one of the parts she was supposed to shoot and because it was broken now she actually didn¡¯t have to shoot it which was good. But now she had another bullet and she didn¡¯t know exactly what to do with it so Lyre kept asking questions. But now the other thing she learned was even though there wasn¡¯t danger for Lyre or at least it was easy to avoid it there was some danger for Spike which was bad because Spike had to avoid danger too. What was actually going on was now even though Spike helped with the plan the sentry was doing something bad with one of the arms and it was danger for Spike so now that was another thing she needed a plan for so Lyre asked what to do. She was very lucky because the two things helped each other. Apparently now she had the extra bullet and she could actually use the extra bullet to get rid of Spike¡¯s danger which would be perfect so she would do that. First though the sentry kept moving too much so she finished her original plan and shot the gun one more time and it hit another one of its legs and it fell to the ground and couldn¡¯t get up. Now the sentry couldn¡¯t reach her at all and the new plan needed Lyre to stop moving so she could aim better because the sentry was still moving too much. So she stopped moving and then she figured out exactly which arm she was supposed to get and she aimed at it and shot it. Then she asked if it worked and apparently it did but Spike wasn¡¯t getting up and she didn¡¯t know if he got danger or not. Apparently he didn¡¯t but it was actually danger for him to just be there anyway so then she had to make a plan to not leave him there. Lyre knew she needed the one food one water and shelter and then also Spike also needed shelter not food not water so she asked for a plan and the plan said to just take him to the food water shelter with her which wouldn¡¯t be hard at all so she would do that. The plan said it was bad to do anything to Spike¡¯s hand or his head because that was danger so Lyre picked him up by the armpits instead and dragged him like that on the ground to the food water shelter. It was boring for a while and they didn¡¯t get super close to the end of the plan but sort of close and then Spike woke up which Lyre expected and started squirming and thrashing which she also expected. She had made sure to ask what he would do when she was there because she knew she was there and it made sense. She knew exactly how to not make him hit her so she moved out of the way every time and then she let him get up on his own. Because he was firm even though her plan didn¡¯t know exactly it told Lyre he might not follow plans and do invisible stuff instead and what she could do was just try not to interact too much or else he wouldn¡¯t do the stuff he had to do. This meant Lyre couldn¡¯t help him because then maybe things would turn invisible and she didn¡¯t want that. She needed Spike to come with her but she wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to do that of course and neither did her plan. And this was one of those times when she knew maybe if she could think about stuff where she was right now immediately then maybe she would know exactly how to do that but she didn¡¯t. The one thing her plan did know was that she had to say exactly what she needed or else Spike wouldn¡¯t know and then if he didn¡¯t know he wouldn¡¯t think about it at all and she needed him to think about it and maybe do it. There wasn¡¯t a whole lot she could do before it was invisible. Lyre believed her plan would work. They always worked. So she obeyed. ¡°Follow.¡± STRANGE I: KIKI Gaunt wasn¡¯t exactly what Kiki had expected. Her name really didn¡¯t suit her, for one thing- she was tall, very tall, with a heavy build. A bit older than her, maybe early twenties. Her hair was messy and dirty, but under that it was black and in a pixie cut. She was glowering, but Kiki got the sense that it wasn¡¯t a conscious expression. More like it was her default. She was hurt- there was the bulk of bandages around her middle, and various scrapes and bruises on what little skin was exposed. She was slouching, shoulders slightly raised and turned in, which was interesting. Based on that and the texts, Kiki would guess she was a lot more timid and passive than her physical appearance might suggest. She wasn¡¯t exactly what Kiki had expected, but there were always surprises while meeting someone new, and Kiki didn¡¯t see anything immediately concerning. ¡°Nice to finally meet you too, I guess.¡± Her voice was deep, the sort that could easily belong to a man or a woman, and a little monotone. Okay. The coyotes were gone and there was no immediate danger she could see. ¡°How badly hurt are you? Is there anything I need to help you with immediately?¡± ¡°Uhh yeah, I am. Worms or something in my gut. If you¡­ I don¡¯t know. If you have any supplies I¡¯d gladly take them.¡± Well, that was almost certainly more urgent than her wounds. ¡°I have sedatives, and three types of medicine. One is an antibiotic but I don¡¯t know which. One is the ¡®bone pain¡¯ pills Lyre mentioned. I don¡¯t know what the last one is. I also have alcohol if you need something sterilised¡­¡± ¡°Yeah no I¡¯ve got antiseptic, I have it handled¨C¡± ¡°Which I will be using on these,¡± Kiki explained as she fished out her knife and some wire to bend into tools, ¡°so I can remove the worms without giving you an infection.¡± She started working on the wires first, twisting them into loops and hooks. Parasites could be deadly. She had to get them out as soon as possible, with as little damage as possible. ¡°Sit down over there, please, and take off your shirt and bandages.¡± ¡°Alright. Sure, then.¡± Under the bandages it was messy. Very messy. There were signs of infection. When she looked closely, there were little holes in the flesh here and there. Gaunt seemed surprisingly calm about the whole thing. ¡°Okay. Sorry, this will probably hurt, but I¡¯ll get them out as fast as I can. Let me know if you need a break.¡± When she held up a hook to one of the holes, Gaunt jerked away, scrambling to her feet and nearly backing herself off the building. ¡°Stop, you¡¯re near the edge- Okay. Um. Would¡­ would a sedative make this easier for you?¡± Please say yes. Now that they were together, Kiki was really, really hoping things would be easier and not harder. ¡°No! No. Shit, I, I don¡¯t¡­ Just don¡¯t. I¡¯ll do it myself, it¡¯s fine. Just¡­ Yeah, I¡¯ve got antiseptic in my bag. You just¡­ do your own thing.¡± ¡­It seemed like the easiest option here for everyone would be to do what Gaunt suggested. Trying to convince her would probably just stress them both out and strain their already weak partnership. Kiki reached into her backpack, fishing out the whisky bottle, and set it down between them. ¡°Alright. I¡¯d recommend using this to sterilize things instead, but it¡¯s up to you.¡± She grabbed a hook, a noose, and the knife, placing them all in Gaunt¡¯s outstretched hand. ¡°Let me know if you need any help.¡± At least now she had time to look at her own injuries. She sat down by the edge, feet dangling over the side of the roof, and took off her shirt, looking down at her chest. ¡°EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-¡± Her scream cut off as she gasped, staring down at the holes now familiar to her. There was movement under her skin, and she slammed a hand over her mouth, biting down on it. Worms. Worms inside her, crawling, feeding- The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Shit, what happened¨C Oh fuck. Those.¡± ¡°Knife. Hook. Give them to me,¡± Kiki forced out. She felt each being placed into her hand, and immediately set the knife aside, forcing the hook into one of the holes and feeling around for the worm. The wound was totally numb, which made it easier, but also made her panic a bit more because what were they doing to her? She felt the hook make contact with something soft, curved it around, and pulled it out with a writhing grey worm attached. She flung it off the edge, away, far away, and immediately went to the next spot. After she¡¯d managed to remove the worms- thirteen of them, and she was sure she¡¯d gotten all of them, none of them had broken off- she was bleeding from the holes they¡¯d left behind, aggravated by the sharp hook. Not a lot. Not a dangerous amount. It would heal if she kept it clean. Just to make sure, she counted the holes. Thirteen. Just to make sure, she felt around, searching for any sort of wriggling. Just to make sure, she reached around and snatched the whisky bottle from beside Gaunt- oh, she should have sterilised the hook- and splashed it onto and into the wounds, to kill any eggs or fragments they might have left behind. Had she missed any? Maybe she needed to make a knife incision, just to make sure- ¡°G-Gaunt? Um, does it look like I got them all?¡± ¡°Um. Yeah, looks fine. I can¡¯t tell for sure though, they kind of blend in with everything else.¡± ¡°Do you see any movement?¡± ¡°Well they might be dead by now.¡± ¡°They¡¯re parasites, they wouldn¡¯t just- Nevermind, not important.¡± She fished out a new wire, made another hook- not a good idea to reuse a bloody one- and dipped it in the whisky bottle before giving it to Gaunt. ¡°This works well for getting them out.¡± She rubbed a hand over her face, then continued, ¡°Stick it in the entrance hole and you should be able to hook them and pull them out.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Gaunt didn¡¯t see anything. She¡¯d gotten them all. It was fine. She grabbed her water bottle and took a few sips. ¡°Are you, uh¡­ Do you have extra?¡± ¡°Extra water? Yeah.¡± She stood up, walking to her duffel and unzipping it before pulling out the four-liter jug. ¡°You can take some. I don¡¯t have an extra drinking bottle, though.¡± Gaunt did, in fact, look rather thirsty. ¡°That¡¯s okay, appreciate it.¡± ¡°While we¡¯re on the topic, though, can you spare any food? I haven¡¯t eaten much in the past few days.¡± She wasn¡¯t hungry now, courtesy of adrenaline and pulling worms out of her skin, but she felt shaky and food would hopefully help with that. She wanted to have a bit of a steadier hand before getting to bandaging, and stitching up some of Gaunt¡¯s wounds. ¡°Yeah, I probably have something. Lost some of it though, let me check¡­¡± Gaunt took a swig of water and turned, opening up her backpack and rummaging around inside for a moment. She pulled out a few cans. Looked like tuna or something similar. Then she backed off, moving a bit further away and sitting down to use the hook on herself. Kiki picked one up. Yup, tuna. She glanced over at Gaunt, just to make sure she had permission. Gaunt looked over, but didn¡¯t have any strong reaction, so she figured it was fine. As soon as she pried open the lid, she could smell it, and now she was hungry. She scraped out chunks with her fingers, stuffing it in her mouth, and the can was empty far too quickly. She ran her finger around the sides, to catch any bits she had missed, and popped it in her mouth. ¡°Can I take a second can?¡± ¡°Uhh, sure? Yeah, sure.¡± The second can disappeared pretty much as fast as the first, and then Kiki felt a little bit better. Time to deal with the less urgent stuff. The wounds in her chest needed to be covered, same with the rat bite and the infected cut in her shoulder. Gaunt needed stitches for the curving gash on her side , and maybe parts of her abdominal wound- how had she made it here with that? It looked awful- and then bandages as well. Kiki¡­ did not have much in the way of cloth, so unless Gaunt had something they¡¯d have to stretch it a bit. Most importantly, they both needed antibiotics, which meant figuring out which pill was the right one somehow. Hopefully not more trial and error, that had gone badly last time. ¡°You said you have antiseptic. Anything else? Bandages, needle and thread, painkillers?¡± At this point, it looked like Gaunt was done taking out the worms. She must have had less of them. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got bandages and gauze, that¡¯s it though. Oh, and some thread and a needle, I think.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s pretty good.¡± Kiki paused for a moment, thinking, before she continued. ¡°You might want to stitch the cut on your side. I¡¯m guessing you want to do that yourself, but if you¡¯d like I can watch and give advice while you work. Up to you. I have some stuff I can improvise bandages from, so use what you need first and I¡¯ll take anything left over. And, uh, we do both need antibiotics pretty soon so we¡¯ll have to sort out the pill thing after that.¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s shallow, it¡¯s fine, and I¡¯ve got it handled. But yeah, I was kinda hoping you¡¯d have something to be honest. I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t really have a plan or anything. I¡¯m shocked we even got to meet up in the first place.¡± Kiki let out a short, quiet whistle. No kidding. It was mostly because of Gaunt, but she wasn¡¯t gonna say that. ¡°Yeah, things haven¡¯t been going well for either of us. I didn¡¯t manage to find much in the apartments before the dust storm, but¡­ I was thinking after we treat our injuries, maybe we could check it out a bit more. First though¡­¡± She grimaced, fishing the bottle of pills out of her bag and tapping a few of each into her palm. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any guess which is an antibiotic?¡± ¡°Not familiar, sorry.¡± Great. Just great. It was what she had expected, but still. She looked down at the pills in her hand. One long white pill, a fat colourful one, and that weird yellow ¡®bone pain¡¯ pill. She¡¯d already tried this gamble once, and it really hadn¡¯t gone well. Then again, now someone was here to help her if she passed out foaming at the mouth, so really, now was the best time to check. The colourful one was pretty. Looked like a berry. ¡°Fuck it.¡± She grabbed one of the colourful pills, popped it in her mouth, and washed it down with a bit of water. The rest, she poured back into the bottle. ¡°I¡¯ll be the guinea pig. If I get sick or it doesn¡¯t work, the white one¡¯s the antibiotic. Otherwise it¡¯s the red and yellow pill.¡± Gaunt looked a bit startled at first, but then shrugged and nodded a bit. ¡°Alright.¡± Kiki clapped once before continuing, ¡°Let¡¯s cover up our wounds and go scavenging.¡± As it turns out, Gaunt only had enough bandages for one person, so Gaunt (she insisted Kiki have the bandages) was stuck hacking apart the towel with the knife, using up the rest of the whisky to try and sterilise the pieces (It was sandy and dusty and had god knows what bacteria in it, Kiki was absolutely NOT letting her use it as is) and tying that around her injuries. God, what had their life become? How the fuck did they end up like this? Would she be stuck here forever, with only Gaunt as company? Never get back to her family and friends, never meet Spike or Lyre, base survival without actually living? ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± Kiki said, her voice shaking ever so slightly. STRANGE I: GAUNT Well, here she was. Wading through the depths of hell for the better part of a week, on the verge of collapse the whole way through. Struck firmly through the belly, then across the shoulder, miraculously with at least some of her blood still in her body. Stumbling towards that vague beacon on the skyline. And she was here. Somehow. God, it would be so stupid if she died now. Gaunt only just began to wonder what, exactly, she expected Kiki to even do for her at this point. It wasn¡¯t something she felt comfortable thinking about on the road, given it was really her only hope to keep going, and finally her thoughts slowed to a thick drawl in her mind and it was practically the only thing to think about. It perhaps would have helped if Kiki looked even remotely qualified for anything, or anything like Gaunt had pictured her from her texts. Very professional, very descriptive messages, painting a similarly professional, observant kind of individual. Observant was¡­ possible, but the former seemed more of a stretch. Gaunt figured maybe she was professional for any child her age, anyway. Kind of shitty to find her last hope to be a high schooler, or even just that any survivor was a high schooler in the first place. Maybe it would¡¯ve been worse if there weren¡¯t any around. Either way, it put things into perspective; this truly was hell. Kiki wasn¡¯t looking so hot herself, which made sense given the circumstances. That said, her wounds were shallow, more of an infection risk than anything else. Maybe Gaunt could have kept the bandages for herself but then what would that make her if Kiki died, a child killer? Not something she cared to consider, even when all semblance of law enforcement was extinct. Even after Kiki threw back those mystery pills and maybe had an hours-long life expectancy. So Gaunt was left with some tattered scraps to work with. Dusty, but dry, and as clean as she could get after dousing them in a healthy amount of Kiki¡¯s whiskey. She gave the gut wound one last once-over for worms, or frankly anything else that might want to make its home there. Seemed like a lot of nothing, but it was really hard to see the worms when they weren¡¯t moving anymore. That said, it wasn¡¯t like they were prone to doing much after dying, so with that, Gaunt stretched the makeshift bandage over the wound and tied it as best as possible. It didn¡¯t feel right to look to Kiki for guidance, but she seemed eager to lead the way. At least in conversations. Gaunt practically forgot what it was like to hold a conversation with someone. Not in a bad way, either; as much as she was glad to see Kiki, she couldn¡¯t imagine it was enjoyable for her to fill in all the silence while Gaunt sat and nodded. See, on the one hand, great to have human connection again. On the other, all that stress. ¡°Come on, Gaunt.¡± Kiki beckoned from the stairs, ¡°Mhm, coming.¡± No reason to wait around, anyway. She was up and by the door before Kiki even stopped gesturing. Just chill, Gaunt. You¡¯re literally the only person around for miles. What¡¯s she gonna do, walk away and let both of us die alone? Kiki took the opportunity to keep the conversation going. ¡°I haven¡¯t checked the upper floors, so we could start here and then bring stuff down, then work on the lower floors. The apartment locks are pretty simple so I can pick them with a bit of time. I found some good stuff in here, like the soap, the whisky, pretty much everything except the fire axe. I found that while I was running from the coyotes. You know, I never used to be afraid of dogs, but I might be after this!¡± She giggled, the sound a little off, somehow. She barely took a breath before continuing. ¡°Remember the corpses I told you about? Yeah, I stepped in a dead dog and that¡¯s how I found them. Oh, here, let me check this door- Oh, it¡¯s locked, let me get my wires. I learned to lockpick when I was little. I think it was in a book I found in the library? I taught myself and showed my parents all proud, turns out they already knew how as well. They¡¯re still better than me. I¡¯ve always wondered how they got so good. Hopefully I¡¯ll be able to ask them someday.¡± Her hands were shaking a bit as she tried to fit the wires in, missing a couple times before succeeding, maybe due to adrenaline. ¡°Okay, gotta concentrate for a minute!¡± Really, Gaunt could¡¯ve broken down the door, but she didn¡¯t want her first impression to be arguing, because why would she want that. ¡°That¡¯s, uh, yeah. No, there¡¯s been some nasty shit out there, yeah, for sure. And it¡¯s good you know how to do that.¡± Wow, really Gaunt? Could you maybe try to be a little more vague next time? Gaunt didn¡¯t wince or anything but she was convinced the expression she contorted in order to hide said wince was even more noticeable. After a few minutes, there was a click. ¡°Okay, door¡¯s open, let¡¯s see what¡¯s inside! I hope there¡¯s some food, because the tuna¡¯s gonna run out real quick, and maybe some water, or a change of clothes would also be nice,¡± Kiki mused. She was right, and it kind of sucked that the food issue was halfway because of Gaunt¡¯s creative approach to problem solving. As she spoke, Kiki was flitting from place to place, opening drawers and cupboards. ¡°Wow, these people really cleaned this place out. I don¡¯t see much of anything, let me go check the bedrooms! Here, you can help, go check the ensuite bathroom while I look around the master bedroom. Oof, there¡¯s a lot of dust in here, but maybe- Ah!¡± Her foot slid out from under her, and she fell with a thud. ¡°Ooh, that hurt, what did I slip on? Looks like a photo. Let¡¯s see.¡± She picked the flat square up, flipped it over, and looked at it.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Gaunt¡¯s mutter was so low she couldn¡¯t even tell if Kiki heard. Probably not, due to her lack of response, but she also didn¡¯t care to risk repeating it and looking silly, so off to the ensuite bathroom she went. Exactly the kind of situation you¡¯d expect after sitting around with broken plumbing for a few days. Stank like a bog, firstly and foremost. Past that, there was a thin layer of pale brown sludge coating every surface to be seen. The drain in the sink had popped out somehow, which probably had something to do with that. All the few bottles of toiletries that were left were completely emptied out, or submerged halfway in the sludge. Nothing worth keeping. Gaunt was reaching out to a punctured soap dispenser when she heard the sobbing. Shit. Her shoulder hit the door as she flipped around, sending a shockwave of pain arcing across her ribs. Her hand went to the site and she nearly tipped as her lungs emptied completely. Bracing her other hand on the doorframe, Gaunt took a breath, then two, then she could see well enough to make out Kiki halfway across the room. Is she hurt? Nothing obvious, at least. No, not at all; she was curled around not a bloodied wound nor broken ribs, but that photograph she¡¯d picked out mere moments ago. In three strides she was already there, hand on Kiki¡¯s shoulder, which bounced up and down with each hitched sob. ¡°Kiki, what¨C what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°H-he looks¡­ Like my, my brother.¡± The photo showed a couple and their child, a boy about five years old with short, messy black hair. ¡°I- what if I, I never see him again? I don¡¯t- I don¡¯t know h-how to get home, and- and I¡¯m trapped here, and what if we¡¯re here forever? What if it¡¯s just us?¡± ¡°Kiki, look at¨C stop, Kiki, look at me. Just¡­ Keep breathing for a minute, okay, and I want each breath to be six seconds in, eight out, I want you to count, okay?¡± Kiki¡¯s breaths were still a little quick, but her lips were mouthing the numbers out and trying, at least. Her hand reached out, squeezing Gaunt¡¯s forearm. Gaunt racked her brain for whatever they¡¯d taught her back in her psychology classes, or maybe those wellness meetings or anything. What the fuck do I do now? Just stick with what you know. Usually it was okay. Apparently Gaunt was a ¡°good listener¡±, which she was still half-convinced meant she didn¡¯t know how to fucking talk when she needed to. That, and usually people were crying harder after she talked to them than before, which was confusing as hell. But it was okay enough. Stick with what you know. ¡°Okay, Kiki, look. I know it¡¯s all up in the air right now. Like it¡¯s not good, I know. But we can¡¯t do anything about that right now, right?¡± Kiki nodded, short and jerky. ¡°I know, but what- what if we can¡¯t do anything ever, what if we¡¯re trapped forever, what if we¡®re stuck like this?¡± ¡°Okay, but we don¡¯t know, right? And we can¡¯t do anything about that stuff either, so how about for now we do all the stuff we know how to do? It¡¯ll be small steps, but we¡¯ll get there eventually, so why don¡¯t we just take small steps for now and we can worry about other things when we¡¯re able to approach it a bit better.¡± Gaunt started massaging Kiki¡¯s shoulder in a roughly circular motion. Kiki leaned back a little into Gaunt¡¯s touch. ¡°Small steps.¡± She took a long, whistling breath, then let it out. ¡°Small steps. Okay. It just¡­ We just need some time. Some time to work s-stuff out. And then things will be better, we- we¡¯ll be doing better, and- and we can deal with the big things then?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, for sure. For right now, we wanted to just look around this place a bit, right? So I already checked the bathroom, why don¡¯t we look around the bedroom together? I can¡­ I can keep that for now, too, you don¡¯t have to hold onto it.¡± Gaunt didn¡¯t take her hand from Kiki¡¯s shoulder, instead opting to gently take the card with her other arm. It came away from Kiki¡¯s grip without resistance. ¡°Here, you can have a minute if you¡¯d like, but I¡¯d like you to help me out a little if you can.¡± Kiki closed her eyes, taking a few more long, slow, breaths, then pushed herself to her feet. ¡°Okay. I can help. Something to do helps, just¡­ stay in the room for now?¡± Gaunt nodded. ¡°Yeah, for sure. We¡¯ll be here together, you can just help me out for now, alright? Let¡¯s look at the dresser first, I¡¯ll check this drawer, can you look in the one next to it?¡± Kind of manipulative you¡¯re getting her to do work during a mental breakdown. She pushed the thought aside. Better for her to do something to take her mind off the situation, had nothing to do with that, as far¡­ as far as Gaunt was aware, anyway. Kiki nodded, getting to work. She looked inside the drawer, then yanked it out, inspecting it from all angles, digging her fingers in where there was a gap between the sides. Not at all the way Gaunt shoved things back and forth haphazardly. She reached into the space where the drawer had been, feeling around there, and only once her fingers had covered every surface did she move on to the next drawer. Honestly, it would¡¯ve been faster if only Kiki was doing the work, which made Gaunt feel bad enough for thinking about making her do it all in her current state again, and then worse for thinking about how useless she was right now. A couple items clanked on the floor where Gaunt shoved them too hard and they flew over the lip of the drawer. Nothing useful, neither in the drawer nor on the ground. Gaunt shut her drawer and watched as Kiki grabbed various bits and bobs, stuffing them in her pockets. Still nothing Gaunt would have called useful, but who knew. It was only a few more minutes of that before Kiki shut her drawer as well. Gaunt looked at Kiki, made eye contact, nodded once before averting her eyes. ¡°You want to look at the rest of the room now, too? We can check the nightstands.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± That carried on for less time than Gaunt had hoped. Their efforts turned up a whole lot of jack shit, which was a shame, but there was always the next apartment, and then the one after, at least before going through the whole building. They¡¯d find something, eventually. Nothing left to waste time doing, no more ways to pretend they were being productive. ¡°Alright, Kiki, do you¡­ I don¡¯t know. Whatever¡­ what¡¯s next for us? The next room, maybe?¡± Kiki paused, thinking. Instead of answering Gaunt, she walked closer, paused again, then wrapped her in a hug. ¡°Thank you for helping me back there. You¡­ having someone to talk me through helped a lot. You¡¯re really good at that. Honestly, I wouldn¡¯t have expected it since you¡¯re kind of quiet, but you definitely proved me wrong. I guess first impressions can be pretty misleading, haha.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not really¡­¡± Shut the fuck up, Gaunt. While attempting to get her racing mind under control, Gaunt returned the embrace. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re better.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m happy you made it here.¡± She pulled back, looking up a bit at Gaunt, and smiled. ¡°Things should be a lot better now. You know what they say, teamwork makes the dream work, or at least, makes hell a bit less hellish.¡± Gaunt felt a tiny smile tug at her lips. ¡°Yeah, ha. We¡¯ll be¡­ It¡¯ll be better.¡± Well, not really. But it might be close enough. STRANGE I: SPIKE ¡°...Why?¡± Lyre stood there, and did not answer his fucking question. Nothing about her sparked any sort of confidence. She was skinny, filthy, and appeared high as a kite. Her dirty blonde hair looked brown with how much blood and dust was caked in it, blood was still dripping from where she¡¯d deliberately skinned herself, and she had perfect posture, which was seriously unnerving combined with everything else. Her skin was heavily tanned, almost to the point of being burned, and she had nothing except the tattered clothes she was wearing. Altogether, she reminded him of the methheads he¡¯d had to fight for space under bridges, if they were a lot less twitchy and a lot more spacey. Yeah, no, fuck this. Spike started backing away, keeping his eyes on her, as she¡¯d proven to be¡­ unpredictable, to say the least. Best to treat her like a wild animal. No sudden movements, don¡¯t show any fear, back away slowly and don¡¯t look away. In one swift movement, Lyre was well within his personal space, eyes boring into his from about a foot away. ¡°Follow me,¡± she repeated. Reflexively, he reached out, shoving her away, but she wasn¡¯t fazed in the slightest. She didn¡¯t even move, really. ¡°Back off,¡± he snapped, hurriedly stepping back and nearly tripping. ¡°I¡¯m not following you unless you give me a really good reason to.¡± ¡°You can go home.¡± Did she know how to get out of this place? It wasn¡¯t impossible. She¡¯d proven to have more knowledge than she should, many times already. ¡°Elaborate. Prove it. Prove that you know where my home is and how I can get there.¡± ¡°We will talk to Carla.¡± Carla? The name was painfully familiar, but he couldn¡¯t place- Mom. Carla was his mom. He¡¯d forgotten her name, and he¡¯d known that, but he hadn¡¯t realized how unnatural it felt until he was reminded. ¡°How? How can I talk to her? How will I be able to get back to her?¡± ¡°Follow me.¡± ¡°Prove that you have a way to contact her.¡± ¡°Four-oh-five-six-two-three-four-two-eight-three.¡± Her cell number. He had her cell number, now. All he would have to do is find a signal. Find a phone that could make outgoing calls, or texts, and then he could talk to his mom again. Even if they couldn¡¯t find him, even if he couldn¡¯t find his family again, he could talk to her, listen to her voice, even her fucking voicemail might make it worth it. ¡°And you can get me to a place where I can use that number to contact her?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°...Okay. I¡¯ll follow you.¡± Immediately, she turned around, walking away and finally getting out of his face. When she turned her back, he leaned down, quietly picking up the gun she¡¯d dropped and hiding it in his waistband under his hoodie. She was going fast. Not as fast as he¡¯d seen her go, not even close, but his balance and coordination were being pushed to their limits trying to keep up. How she was capable of this in such an atrocious state was beyond him. Adrenaline, maybe? He wasn¡¯t going to ask her to slow down. He could just about keep up, and asking would show weakness. If she didn¡¯t already know she could outpace him, he didn¡¯t want to offer that knowledge freely. Speaking of knowledge¡­ ¡°Where are we right now?¡± Silence. He waited a minute, in case she was gathering her thoughts, but no. No, she was off in la-la land again. ¡°Which way is the nearest settlement?¡± Again, no response. ¡°Do you know anything about the robots? What are they trying to do?¡± ¡°How did you get my mom¡¯s name and phone number?¡± There was one last question, that could very easily blow up in his face if Lyre took it badly. Then again, she hadn¡¯t had an emotional response to anything else so far.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Do you know what brought us here? Did you help bring us here? Do you intend to harm me?¡± More goddamn silence. Oh, he really wanted to hit something right now, but there was just sand in all directions, hitting himself would be very much counterproductive, and he was pretty sure Lyre would just dodge anything he threw at her. Plus, antagonising the possibly insane girl covered in her own blood was not the best idea in this sort of situation. ¡°We¡¯re in the desert.¡± Oh, for fucks sake. ¡°Ye-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Really? ¡°But-¡± ¡°I asked.¡± ¡°Okay, so-¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see backwards.¡± What??? What the fuck did that even mean? Why was Lyre so goddamn difficult to get answers from? He needed to reword his questions. That had worked when he was texting her, so hopefully it would work now. And he¡¯d also have to ask again about the stuff she hadn¡¯t answered. He spent a minute or two arranging his thoughts, then spoke again. ¡°You asked about the robots. Did you get an answer? If so, can you tell me what it was?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask about the robots.¡± Spike took a few seconds to process that, and figure out how exactly it fit into the answers he¡¯d been given before. Had she skipped- of course she¡¯d skipped questions. Of course, because heaven forbid anything be easy for him. The reference to the desert was clearly the answer to the first question, so¡­ she¡¯d skipped the second, or the third, or maybe both? At this point he probably just needed to go through everything again. ¡°Do you know where the nearest settlement is?¡± ¡°No.¡± Okay. Great. She actually answered him this time. Maybe yes-or-no questions were easier to work with. ¡°Do you know what the robots are doing?¡± ¡°No.¡± Great. More net-zero information. So the last two questions, assuming she counted his rapid-fire last sentence as one question, she had answered. ¡°Who did you ask about my mom?¡± There wasn¡¯t really an easy way to make that into a yes-or-no question, so he¡¯d just have to hope for the best. ¡°Me.¡± She¡­ had asked herself? But if she already knew, why would she have to ask herself for an answer she already had? Evidently her source of information was accurate, but how the hell did she just¡­ get that from nothing? This¡­ You know what? This was not worth pursuing. There was no way he¡¯d get any sort of comprehensible answer from this line of questioning. As long as she had the information and it was reliable, he didn¡¯t fucking care. On to the last questions. This time, he started with the most critical question. ¡°Are you going to hurt me?¡± ¡°No.¡± Finally. Finally, an answer that was actually, undeniably good. That was definitely a weight off his shoulders, now that he didn¡¯t have to worry about being stabbed when he wasn¡¯t looking. Then again, she could be lying. Or she could not intend to hurt him now, but be extremely mentally unstable to the point where that could change at any moment. So he would keep his guard up, because while that was definitely better than a ¡®yes¡¯, he still did not fucking trust her. ¡°Do you know how we got here?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see backwards.¡± That¡­ seemed like a no, but one that raised a few questions. She could be referring to literally seeing backwards, but that felt¡­ unlikely. Did she mean she couldn¡¯t remember, as in amnesia? Or did she think he was asking her to literally view events in the past she had not witnessed? Or did she mean something else entirely that only her screwed-up brain would describe like that? ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Did he think this question would actually clarify anything? No, but it was a starting point, at least. ¡°I can¡¯t see backwards but maybe I used to. So the answer might be behind me but I wouldn¡¯t know.¡± That¡­ raised more questions, but it actually still felt like it was helpful. ¡®Maybe I used to¡¯ indicated that she didn¡¯t know whether she used to or not, which implied she couldn¡¯t remember. She could clearly physically see fine, and turn her head a normal amount, so his next best guess was memory loss. ¡°Are you saying you lost some of your memory?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Great. He was stuck in the desert with an amnesiac, possibly insane teenage girl who looked like she was hours from dying of sepsis, who somehow knew his mom¡¯s phone number. For all he knew she had been stalking him and that¡¯s how she knew. ¡°Are you sick?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fuck. ¡°Are you sick enough that you could die? Do you need medicine or another treatment?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Are you healthy enough that you can get me in contact with my mother?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Great. In that case, Lyre¡¯s mysterious sickness that made her look like a simultaneous meth and heroin addict was officially not his problem, nor were her gruesome injuries. Unless they got infected. They were absolutely going to get infected, weren¡¯t they. Probably some of them already were. ¡°Do you have antibiotics?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Have you been using them so your wounds don¡¯t get infected?¡± ¡°No.¡± For fuck¡¯s sake¡­ ¡°Use the antibiotics. If you don¡¯t you¡¯ll get an infection and die.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t because I was using them already.¡± This girl was going to give him a fucking aneurysm. What the fuck sort of answer was this? One second she says she hasn¡¯t been using them, the next second she says she has been? What was going through that drugged-up brain of hers to result in such contradictory answers? ¡°Are you using the antibiotics?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He threw his hands up in the air. Okay. Great. Fine. He was going to take this at face value and not question it any further, or he¡¯d probably end up strangling Lyre out of frustration. It was good to know they had antibiotics, though. His hand looked fine for now, but if it got infected he had the option of taking some for himself. It had been a few days and it was still okay, so as long as he kept it covered things would probably be fine. ¡°Where are we going right now?¡± ¡°End of the plan.¡± ¡°What is at the end of the plan?¡± Talking to Lyre felt kind of like talking to an AI. You asked a question, it gave an unhelpful answer, and you reworded and clarified until it finally told you what you wanted to know. Thinking of it like that, rather than supposedly being a conversation with another human being, made things a bit easier. ¡°Food and water and shelter for tonight.¡± Well, that was good enough for him. As long as she did what she had promised he didn¡¯t really care. Although¡­ ¡°How long will it be until I can talk to my mother?¡± Lyre walked, posture perfect, totally silent. ¡°Do you know when I will be able to talk to my mother?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡­ She had promised. She had made it clear that it would happen eventually. Maybe she didn¡¯t have an exact timeline, because she didn¡¯t know how long it would take to get there or to set up or whatever. Just because she didn¡¯t have all the information didn¡¯t mean she was wrong or lying. Spike could follow her for a little bit longer. If it turned out she was bullshitting, he¡¯d make her regret it, and then go off on his own again. All he¡¯d lose is some time, and he¡¯d already wasted a bunch already. What was a little bit more? Lyre didn¡¯t make conversation. Unless he was asking her questions and she was answering them, they walked in silence. It wasn¡¯t terrible. He didn¡¯t like talking that much, so it suited him just fine. And so they continued, a lost boy following a waif through the desert. He followed because he had no one else to follow, nowhere else to be, nothing else to do. He followed because she had made a promise, and if the promise was fulfilled¡­ Maybe then, he¡¯d escape Neverland and finally go home. STRANGE I: LYRE There was another part of today¡¯s plan. Lyre knew there was another part to today¡¯s plan because even though she had trouble seeing things where she was immediately there was one thing she knew she could do and she would do it. Everything else was the same because it was important; Lyre still needed food and water and shelter and Spike also needed the shelter and then that would be the end of the plan. Except it wasn¡¯t. Now, actually, it wasn¡¯t the end of the plan because there was one more thing right after and that was the next plan because her first one was over already. It was hard for Lyre to remember sometimes that even if invisible things ruined her plans they would actually make them easier sometimes too and that was what happened. Even though Spike was invisible and it was hard and it ruined her first plan and confused her, now he was here and now that was one plan out of the way. It was good because Lyre was making progress. It was also big and a little bit scary because she didn¡¯t know exactly what was coming and wouldn¡¯t until after sleeping and she asked the next day. And of course it was also more confusing because Spike was right there right next to her right now and he was so super invisible that he was making everything else a little invisible too. Lyre would have to get used to that because it would always be like that until she left and she wouldn¡¯t do that, at least her plan didn¡¯t tell her to and she actually knew outside the plan that it wouldn¡¯t happen either. Well it was in a plan but not one she made herself, not really a plan, it was just there. So she would be there and so would Spike and then also Kiki and Gaunt and then what she didn¡¯t know and maybe she wouldn¡¯t see for a while given how things were going. One of the first things to get used to was that Lyre could see forwards but also Spike couldn¡¯t and she knew that but now he wanted to know what was forwards and Lyre couldn¡¯t see what was right there so it was super hard to know what he wanted to see and then make him know what she saw there. Lots and lots and lots of questions already and she didn¡¯t really know what they meant at all and she also didn¡¯t really know what he wanted to know from them either because sometimes he would ask a question that didn¡¯t make sense or he would ask a question more than once too which was confusing. Really very confusing because why would you ask a question more than once? Then anyway he stopped asking the questions for some reason because probably he could see everything he wanted to see now which Lyre checked and it was a good thing for him to do that. And then it was a lot like behind her because even though it was slightly invisible a lot of the stuff happening right now wasn¡¯t actually and so Lyre knew what to do for her plan which was good. First of all there would be food because that was closest and easiest to find and also there wasn¡¯t any anywhere near the end of the plan so that was first. This part of the plan had another part to it too though because she needed other stuff in order to get the food so it would be harder and she would have to go to other places. But luckily those weren¡¯t super far either so that was good. They were walking walking walking and not a whole lot happened and then there was the first part of the plan and it was just a rock that she needed so Lyre picked it up off the ground and kept going. Then that was fine for a little bit and it was normal but then Spike said ¡°Why did you pick that up?¡± and Lyre didn¡¯t expect it so she had to ask what he meant and then she had to ask what she was supposed to say and that took a while of course. What did he say? This part didn¡¯t take long at all and apparently he just wanted to know why she got the rock. And then she knew what he said and it was talking so she had to know what to do for the rest of talking. How do I respond to the rest of the conversation? Then this took a little bit longer but then she knew what to say so he knew so it was fine and she said it. ¡°I need it for my plan.¡± Now Spike knew because he asked a question and had information which was good and because it was good for him it was good for Lyre but also there was more to the conversation too that she had to respond to. ¡°Do I need a rock as well?¡± ¡°No.¡± Then that was the end of the conversation so Spike didn¡¯t say anything else and Lyre didn¡¯t say anything else either and it was done. The thing about it though was that even though Lyre could finish conversations they made lots of other things invisible so now she didn¡¯t know if the plan would still work but hopefully it would. Unfortunately there was actually no way at all for Lyre to know what a conversation would do or what the words she said would make things do but she couldn¡¯t get rid of them either so it was fine. But there was lots of time for plans so she had plenty of time to check if the plan was fine and even though things were invisible they didn¡¯t change in a visible way so Lyre would do things the exact way she was going to anyway. So it was walking walking walking some more and then there was the other part of the food part of the plan and it was a thing on the ground and it was big but not super big and the plan was straightforward. She stopped and Spike did too and it was far but not super far and she got ready to throw the rock. Then Spike said ¡°Armadillos have armour and shit, a rock isn¡¯t gonna work¡± but there wasn¡¯t enough time for Lyre to do anything at all so she had to keep going with the plan which would probably be okay anyway so it was okay. So then it shuffled a little and she knew it was exactly the time to keep going with the plan and she threw the rock just right and it hit the thing in the right spot and it wasn¡¯t moving anymore and now was the next part of the plan.Stolen novel; please report. Now she had time to think about Spike so she checked and he thought her plan wouldn¡¯t work for some reason. So Lyre kept going with the plan because she could do that and think at the same time so she was thinking and also picking up the thing and holding it and it was kind of heavy but she could do it. Then right as she got back up from the ground she had a thing to say so she said ¡°My plans are good, they usually work, don¡¯t worry.¡± And there was more for the conversation so he kept talking. ¡°Uh, yes. Yes, I can see that now.¡± But Lyre didn¡¯t even need to say anything for that so the conversation was done and it was quiet. Then it was the next part of the plan which was actually water and shelter at the same time because they were in the same place so that wouldn¡¯t be far at all. So there was even more walking and even more nothing and it was long but then Spike said ¡°Do you want me to carry that?¡± and when Lyre checked he wanted to change her plan a little bit but she didn¡¯t know how. And this time Lyre was supposed to ask a question back so she said ¡°What are you asking about?¡± And nothing was supposed to happen for a while so Lyre kept walking and Spike kept walking and she timed her next sentence just right. ¡°It looks like that¡¯s difficult for you to carry. I can carry it more easily. Do you want me to take it and carry it for you?¡± Another question for Lyre. ¡°Can you be more specific? Are you talking about the armadillo?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking about the armadillo.¡± Then when she asked what to say instead of being told what to say there were more questions to ask, like what he would do afterwards or if she could do other things now and stuff. Now she sort of knew how he was trying to change her plan and there was time so Lyre could ask if the new plan would be good and apparently it actually might be okay because he was right and it was heavy so it was better for him to hold it so that was an okay plan. So then she knew what to do and say. ¡°Yes.¡± Then Lyre stopped and turned to him and he picked it up and then she wasn¡¯t carrying it anymore but it was okay because Spike had it. And actually when she thought about her plan the end of the plan was a little bit closer so her plan was actually better now which was really super good and it was another time Lyre found out that invisible things might be good for plans sometimes too. The reason it was closer was because there were other things she needed and now it was way easier to move while she was doing it and she could pick it up better too. So she was holding a bunch of stuff and Spike was holding stuff and the end was getting super close. Then not very far they were at the end of the plan and Lyre was walking towards it but Spike didn¡¯t and now the plan was different and she had to do something about it. She was asking what to do and while she was asking what to do Spike started saying things and they were more questions to answer and there were a bunch. And according to the plan the only thing to actually do was answer them. First she had to find out what he was asking which took longer than for him to finish asking the question so she knew all at once. First he asked ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s safe to go in there?¡± And then ¡°Is it occupied by robots or anything else?¡± And then ¡°Why do you want to go in there?¡± And then ¡°It could be dangerous. I¡¯m not going in unless you have a good reason for me to go in.¡± And the last one she actually figured out right away because she just knew what ¡°it could be dangerous¡± meant but she didn¡¯t know how to explain that it was fine because she checked before. And after that she had to figure out the rest too and all of it was wondering what the plan was and asking to change the plan which was firm but not too firm. And it took a while to think of the answers but then she said them. ¡°Yes. No. It¡¯s the end of the plan. We have to for the plan to work for us.¡± But there was more because he wasn¡¯t done yet. ¡°What is inside that is so important to your plan? You said this area isn¡¯t occupied, but it looks new. When was it last occupied? How do you know they won¡¯t come back while we¡¯re here?¡± ¡°We need water and shelter and if we don¡¯t get it that¡¯s not good. It was last occupied two days, two hours, and thirty-six minutes ago. It will be revisited approximately three days, twenty hours, and four minutes from now.¡± ¡°...Okay. Fine. I¡¯ll go in.¡± Then he was walking and Lyre was walking and they were at the end of the plan. The shelter was already there but they needed water but it was also right there. There were a whole bunch of pipes all over the place and they were all sealed totally tight but one of them was sealed wrong and it wasn¡¯t quite as tight and the plan said it was okay to make it a little bit worse. But first they needed a container but there was one right there so Lyre picked up something to hold the water and then scraped it against the pipe for a while and the water started dripping and she put it under to catch all the water. Then the water was probably okay according to the plan but the food wasn¡¯t so the plan said to make a fire to cook it. There were wires around and what she had to do was find something that would set on fire but she already had that because it was what she was carrying so she put down all the wood beams and tore off some of her hair too which made Spike say ¡°Hey, woah, what are you doing?¡± and broke a wire and it set on fire. Then she kicked the wire out of the way because the plan said after that it was danger and she went to put the food in the fire. Then she was taking apart the food to cook on the fire and she was going over what Spike said which was alarmed like there was danger but Lyre checked and there wasn¡¯t any and she couldn¡¯t say anything right away immediately. Then he said ¡°Dude, we could have just used some cloth or something for that.¡± And she kept going and he was quiet and then she was ready to reply. ¡°I¡¯m going to cook our food. I could have, but this worked well, so I did it.¡± Then that was over and the food was cooking and there wasn¡¯t really anything else to do so now was the last part of the plan. What¡¯s my new plan? Of course a lot of it was blurry because it was so far behind so it made sense Lyre couldn¡¯t see far enough to know a lot of the plan but there were always things to pick out. There was lots of travelling with Spike and there was danger too and parts she couldn¡¯t see very well but were tough in her plan. And there were places she¡¯d been and new ones too and at the end of it she didn¡¯t know how but there was Gaunt and Kiki too and that was this part of the plan. Meet up with Gaunt and Kiki. And as much as there was lots of stuff Lyre didn¡¯t know and lots of things that didn¡¯t make sense to her and stuff that might change and more, there was one part of the plan that she did know how to do. Go West. STRANGE I: INTERLUDE August 15, 2029, 17:34 17:34 [Kiki] Me and Gaunt managed to find each other!!! <3 Getting there was a bit rough but we¡¯re doing a lot better now. 17:34: [Kiki] We also found a bunch of cool stuff in some abandoned apartments! 18:56: [Spike] Lyre found me too 18:56: [Spike] Were okay 18:57: [Gaunt] thats good 18:57: [Spike] Killed a giant armadillo with a rock 18:57: [Gaunt] wait bruh 18:58: [Gaunt] howd u even do that isnt it like 18:58: [Gaunt] covered in armour 18:59: [Spike] Fuck if I know 18:59: [Spike] Lyre threw a rock at it and somehow it hit just right to kill it 18:59: [Spike] It wasnt even a big rock 18:59: [Gaunt] damn fr 19:00: [Gaunt] props to Lyre then 19:00: [Gaunt] yeah we havent done anything cool like that just some breaking n entering 19:01: [Kiki] Wow that¡¯s impressive. I¡¯m pretty good at throwing stuff but I don¡¯t think I could pull that off. 19:02: [Kiki] It¡¯s not really breaking and entering if the place is abandoned. But yeah I found some Pokemon trading cards haha 19:02: [Gaunt] i guess yeah 19:02: [Gaunt] i call lucario it looks cool 19:03: [Gaunt] and charizard 19:03: [Kiki} You can have the first one but I¡¯m keeping charizard. The card is pretty. 19:03: [Gaunt] oh ok sure 19:04: [Spike] Were in a literal fucking wasteland and youre arguing over pokemon trading cards what 19:05: [Gaunt] idk 19:06: [Kiki] Oh yeah we found more food and water too. Probably should have started with that. We should be okay for a few days. 19:06: [Gaunt] oh yea that too 19:06: [Gaunt] how are yall holding up 19:08: [Spike] Ehh were managing 19:08: [Spike] We have access to water but only temporarily and the armadillos gonna go bad soon 19:09: [Gaunt] good for a couple days then? i think we could all use a break lol 19:09: [Spike] Yeah no kidding i hope so 19:10: [Gaunt] then what 19:11: [Spike] Idk 19:11: [Spike] Lyre apparently has a plan so im trusting her for now 19:12: [Gaunt] oh thats good 19:12: [Gaunt] guess youll do whatever that is n we can figure smth out maybe 19:19: [Lyre] Wait 19:21: [Kiki] Lyre, are you saying you want us to wait for you to type something out, or are you responding to something else? 19:21: [Lyre] Wait at the tower, don¡¯t leave yet 19:22: [Kiki] Okay! Don¡¯t worry, we were planning to stay for a couple days anyways. Why do you want us to stay? Are you planning to meet up with us? 19:22: [Lyre] Yes but not now 19:24: [Gaunt] ok 19:24: [Gaunt] anyway goodnight 19:25: [Kiki] Goodnight everyone! 19:25: [Spike] Goodnight August 16, 2029, 8:26 8:26: [Spike] Lyre tried to throw out the entire armadillo last night 8:26: [Spike] Theres still tons of meat on it and itll still be good for a day or two 8:26: [Spike] I had to stop her 8:27: [Gaunt] what 8:27: [Gaunt] why 8:27: [Spike] If i knew i would tell you 8:27: [Gaunt] huh 8:28: [Kiki] ????? What? Why? Is she super worried about spoilage or something? 8:29: [Spike] Yeah definitely not lmao 8:29: [Spike] I asked her why she tried to throw out perfectly good food and she said she didnt know 8:30: [Gaunt] ?????? 8:30: [Gaunt] Lyre can u confirm 8:31: [Kiki] Well that¡¯s¡­ interesting. 8:32: [Kiki] Gaunt¡¯s breaking down a door right now. We¡¯re scavenging more apartments. 8:33: [Kiki] Oh by the way we finally found some antibiotics! Yay to not dying of infection! 8:34: [Spike] Yeah that would be a nasty way to go 8:34: [Kiki] Yeah no kidding. 8:35: [Kiki] Funny thing is I know how to pick locks. I could have gotten the door open but Gaunt wanted to break it down. 8:35: [Kiki] I guess we all have our ways of dealing with stress. 8:36: [Spike] I thought gaunt was hurt 8:36: [Kiki] Yeah but she insisted. 8:36: [Kiki] I offered to help but she said she wanted to do it on her own. I hope she¡¯s not making her injuries worse ;¡¯( 8:37: [Kiki} We got the door! 8:37: [Gaunt] nah its good i got it 8:37: [Gaunt] and anyway im feeling ok, u should take a break. u look practically the same as yesterday 8:37: [Lyre] I confirm 8:38: [Kiki] Gaunt I¡¯m fine I promise. I¡¯m not the one who¡¯s badly hurt. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. 8:39: [Gaunt] u look the same as me rn 8:39: [Kiki] And Lyre, why did you try to throw out the armadillo? 8:39: [Lyre] I don¡¯t know 8:39: [Gaunt] ?????? 8:40: [Gaunt] can you clarify? like no clue? 8:40: [Lyre] Well I needed food for last night, and I didn¡¯t know we needed more this morning until I checked 8:42: [Kiki] But if you didn¡¯t have any other food wouldn¡¯t you save some for later just in case? If it¡¯s not a big deal to keep around why throw it out? 8:42: [Lyre] No. I didn¡¯t know 8:43: [Spike] Welcome to my life 8:43: [Kiki] Are you guys okay? 8:43: [Lyre] Yes 8:44: [Spike] Were fine 8:44: [Gaunt] signing off just got some stuff 8:45: [Kiki] We found some pads! 9:02: [Kiki] Cans of beans, yum. 9:07: [Kiki] A replacement kitchen knife! 9:14: [Kiki] More towels and stuff to use as bandages. 9:25: [Kiki] A WHOLE CASE of bottled water!!! It was really annoying to carry downstairs. That¡¯s a problem I want to have haha. 9:40: [Kiki] Okay I think we cleared this place out. Can¡¯t imagine anything else is hiding in here. 9:53: [Kiki} Found a lighter in the hallway for some reason? Well I¡¯ll certainly take it. August 16, 2029, 13:45 13:45: [Kiki] PASTAAAAAAAAAA 13:45: [Kiki] Oh man I can already taste it. 13:45: [Gaunt] shit u rlly like pasta 13:46: [Kiki] I have been starving for a few days. I think I really like anything that has calories. 13:46: [Gaunt] what abt the beans 13:46: [Gaunt] didnt say much abt those 13:47: [Kiki] Well I¡¯m happy to have them. Beans have lots of protein. They¡¯re not nearly as good as yummy starchy pasta tho. 13:47: [Gaunt] tru 14:10: [Kiki] We got a map! Gaunt¡¯s looking at it now. I¡¯m not so good with maps. 14:10: [Gaunt] no kidding 14:10: [Spike] Whats on the map 14:11: [Spike] Does it show a desert or anything 14:11: [Kiki] It¡¯s not that weird. Lots of people have trouble with maps. 14:11: [Gaunt] not like u 14:11: [Gaunt] and Spike theres no desert 14:12: [Gaunt] actually rlly tough to make sense of it bc all the landmarks are gone 14:12: [Gaunt] or different 14:12: [Kiki] There¡¯s a lake though. We¡¯ll probably head there so we have a reliable water source. 14:13: [Kiki] It¡¯s southeast of us I think? 14:13: [Gaunt] its west south west. Maybe 15-20km idk 14:14: [Spike] Damn 14:14: [Spike] Ig where we are isn''t on the map 14:14: [Spike] Or its been so fucked up its unrecognizable 14:14: [Gaunt] unfortunately 14:18: [Lyre] Stay 14:18: [Gaunt] we werent gonna leave just yet anyway 14:18: [Lyre] Stay for the next few days 14:19: [Kiki] I mean we do have lots of water. The lake thing isn¡¯t super urgent. 14:19: [Kiki] Plus the rest would do us good. 14:19: [Gaunt] maybe August 16, 2029, 20:24 20:24: [Spike] How do u keep exposed muscle from getting infected 20:24: [Gaunt] what the fucking shit 20:24: [Kiki] Ohhh that¡¯s not good. Um. Are you okay? 20:24: [Gaunt] i dont know what do u have right now like antibiotics or anything 20:24: [Kiki] Keep it covered with something sterile if you can. 20:25: [Spike] Yeah we have antibiotics 20:25: [Spike] Bandages too but theyre not sterile anymore i dont think 20:25: [Gaunt] can u still bandage and stuff?? wheres the injury?? whos injured 20:26: [Kiki] Take the antibiotics if you can spare them. If you can, clean the bandages and use them. 20:27: [Spike] Yeah it can be bandaged. 20:27: [Spike] I dont wanna waste the antibiotics in case we need them later 20:27: [Spike] Ig i can stick them in boiling water would that work 20:27: [Gaunt] exposed muscle is bad u better take them now 20:28: [Spike] Ok 20:28: [Kiki] Yes that works. WAIT FOR THEM TO COOL before you apply them. 20:42: [Gaunt] turning in. heal fast, get ur sleep 20:43: [Kiki] make sure to follow the instructions for the antibiotics! Sleep well. August 17, 2029, 8:22 8:22: [Kiki] how are you guys doing? Is the injury any better? 8:26: [Spike] Idk not any better but also not any worse 8:26: [Spike] Ill take it 8:28: [Gaunt] thats good 8:28: [Kiki] We had some of the pasta with beans this morning. Best pasta I¡¯ve ever had. So so good. 8:29: [Spike] Nice 8:29: [Spike] were out of food so were going hunting 8:30: [Spike] Cant wait for Lyre to kill a bear with her shoelace 8:30: [Spike] She tried to go alone but i insisted on coming with 8:31: [Gaunt] yeah how does she do that stuff 8:31: [Kiki] Yeah that¡¯s a good idea. Safety in numbers. Good to have someone watching your back. 8:31: [Spike] Both for safety and bc if she does something crazy like yesterday i wanna see 8:31: [Gaunt] Lyre u wanna enlighten us 8:33: [Gaunt] good luck anyway 8:41: [Lyre] I make plans, and they work 8:41: [Gaunt] yeah we can see that 8:42: [Kiki] You¡¯re a really good planner, I think! 8:42: [Kiki] Good luck hunting! 8:43: [Spike] Thanks August 17, 2029, 14:09 14:09: [Spike] Were back 14:09: [Spike] Killed a vulture 14:09: [Spike] Youre not going to believe how she did it this time 14:13: [Gaunt] how 14:14: [Spike] Okay so she got another rock of course 14:14: [Spike] And i expected her to just chuck it at this things head like last time 14:14: [Spike] But like this rock was tiny basically a pebble 14:15: [Spike] So she just tossed it at this things feet and obviously it tried to fly away 14:15: [Spike] But its feet got tangled in some rags or wires or something 14:15: [Spike] I didnt get a good look 14:15: [Spike] So it just kind of flung itself headfirst into the sand 14:16: [Gaunt] wait fr howd she know 14:16: [Gaunt] thats so wild 14:16: [Spike] Every time i ask i never get a straight answer 14:16: [Gaunt] huh. 14:17: [Gaunt] guess shell keep her secrets for now 14:17: [Spike] Anyway this things flailing in the sand 14:17: [Spike] And its still dangerous like its got talons n shit 14:17: [Spike] But eventually it gets smth caught around its neck and just kinda chokes itself to death 14:18: [Spike] And then lyre walks over and untangles it and starts walking back in total silence 14:18: [Gaunt] holy fuck 14:18: [Gaunt] remind me not to fuck with u Lyre i guess 14:19: [Kiki] Wow no kidding. 14:19: [Kiki] Did she set the stuff up as a trap beforehand maybe? That¡¯s what I would do. 14:20: [Spike] That would make sense but i dont think so tbh 14:20: [Spike] I have no clue how she pulled this off but whatever food is food 14:21: [Kiki] I guess you guys got lucky then. Congrats on a successful hunt! August 17, 2029, 21:32 21:32: [Gaunt] turning in. 21:32: [Gaunt] gotta say its been a nice change of pace. probably for yall as well 21:33: [Gaunt] gn everyone 21:33: [Kiki] Sweet dreams! Enjoy your roast ¡®turkey¡¯ haha! August 18, 2029, 7:49 7:49: [Gaunt] so 7:49: [Gaunt] i dont really know how to word this or if its really a problem 7:49: [Gaunt] but 7:50: [Gaunt] Kiki and I have been on the same antibiotics and everything 7:50: [Gaunt] right 7:50: [Gaunt] and im fine like ive been fine for a good while now but Kiki¡¯s basically the same so what the fucks up with that 7:50: [Gaunt] i was injured more than her but shes still tired and stuff, shes still sleeping right now 7:51: [Gaunt] is she gonna be ok 7:51: [Gaunt] Lyre you too 7:52: [Spike] Idk im not a doctor 7:52: [Gaunt] no idea? 7:52: [Gaunt] its just 7:53: [Gaunt] im worried its serious idk man 7:53: [Spike] Does it look like shes dying 7:53: [Gaunt] like not really but i dont know its literally the end of the fucking world we dont have fucking hospitals 7:54: [Spike] If she doesnt look really sick and shes talking n shit this morning shes probably fine 7:54: [Gaunt] fuck. i guess. 7:54: [Gaunt] shes probably ok 8:03: [Lyre] Yes 8:03: [Gaunt] yes what though like shes fine?? 8:03: [Lyre] Yes, she¡¯s fine 8:04: [Gaunt] ok ok good 8:04: [Gaunt] ill update when shes up i guess 8:19: [Kiki] Guys I¡¯m honestly fine. Gaunt worried over nothing I promise. Just a bit tired. 8:19: [Gaunt] idk tho 8:20: [Kiki] Everybody¡¯s body processes medicine differently. It¡¯s probably working better on Gaunt because she¡¯s breaking it down more slowly or something. 8:20: [Gaunt] im sure i weigh at least twice as much as u and i took the same dose 8:21: [Kiki] Human bodies are really weird. Plus I don¡¯t think weight matters much for antibiotics. 8:21: [Gaunt] ok but still 8:22: [Spike] Dude if she says shes fine shes probably fine 8:22: [Spike] U guys r right next to each other quit cluttering the gc 8:22: [Gaunt] i guess 8:22: [Kiki] Oh sorry. 8:22: [Gaunt] sorry about that 8:23: [Gaunt] yeah you have a point i shouldnt be spamming 8:23: [Gaunt] be back later August 18, 2029, 22:41 20:41: [Spike] By the way anyone know whats up with these phones 20:41: [Spike] Like i couldnt make calls or exit out of the gc or anything but i just though it was a glitch 20:41: [Spike] But lyres phone is the same so idk whats up 20:41: [Spike] Also it doesnt tell you how much battery is left and theres no port to charge it 20:41: [Spike] Really fucking weird if u ask me August 19, 2029, 8:12 8:12: [Spike] Were heading out now cant talk b back this evening August 19, 2029, 9:23 9:23: [Kiki] Huh that¡¯s a good point. I wasn¡¯t paying attention but that is pretty wierd 9:23: [Kiki] *Weird 9:24: [Kiki] Sorry I haven¡¯t slept well lately. Been getting nightmares. 9:25: [Kiki] Gaunt says she thinks that¡¯s just what the phone is like. She does agree that it¡¯s weird we can text each other but can¡¯t contact anyone else. Also that we can do this witout any signal towers around. 9:25: [Kiki] *Without 9:36: [Kiki] Spike, are you mad at Gaunt for texting too much? She thinks you hate her now or something 9:36: [Gaunt] i didnt say that August 19, 2029, 14:57 14:57: [Spike] Yeah i didnt think about the signal towers but youre right 14:58: [Spike] Also no im not mad not sure why you thought i was 14:58: [Spike] It really isnt a big deal just dont do it again August 19, 2029, 17:44 17:44: [Gaunt] ok. sorry 17:44: [Gaunt] whered u go anyway, should we try meeting u 17:45: [Spike] No 17:45: [Spike] Were just in some random patch of desert rn 17:45: [Spike] Lyre says were going west but idk if that helps 17:46: [Gaunt] oh ok i dont think we¡¯re that way anyway 17:46: [Gaunt] but we were thinking of going west from where we are 17:47: [Kiki] We¡¯ll head out tomorrow. Maybe if we get lucky we can meet up in a bit. 17:47: [Gaunt] no guarantees we head out tomorrow i dont think Kiki¡¯s ready yet. ill update 17:48: [Kiki] Kiki is perfectly capable of walking. We¡¯re heading out tomorrow. 17:48: [Kiki] We¡¯re running out of water anyways. We need to get to the lake soon. 17:52: [Lyre] Go tomorrow 17:52: [Kiki] Thank you Lyre. 17:53: [Gaunt] really 17:53: [Gaunt] are you going to meet us?? 17:53: [Lyre] Yes 17:53: [Lyre] Go West, stop at the lake 17:53: [Gaunt] ok 17:54: [Spike] Were not meeting at the lake 17:54: [Gaunt] oh what 17:54: [Gaunt] well we were gonna go anyway so we¡¯ll probably be there i guess 17:55: [Spike] Yeah that should be fine 17:55: [Kiki] Hopefully the trip there will be pretty easy. 17:56: [Kiki] I really don¡¯t want to run into more messed-up canines. 17:56: [Kiki] Oop dinnertime. Be right back. August 20, 2029, 9:02 9:02: [Gaunt] heading for the lake. we¡¯ll keep u guys updated. 9:03: [Kiki] Wish us luck! STRANGE II: KIKI ~~~ She stood looking out at the horizon, Papa¡¯s hand on her shoulder. ¡°Everything¡¯s so small!¡± He laughed. ¡°Yup, sure looks that way, doesn¡¯t it? Look down. Can you see Mama?¡± Kiki looked down. It was hard to tell between the trees and rocks. She saw a black thing that might be Mama, but it was too tiny to tell. ¡°I dunno.¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s down there waiting.¡± As he spoke, Kiki wrapped her arms around herself. She was naked and the wind was really cold. ¡°Are you ready to go see her?¡± She edged backwards a bit. ¡°Can we wait five minutes?¡± Papa looked at her. She couldn¡¯t tell what he was thinking. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna go now.¡± ¡°Well, you have to.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Yes. Go now.¡± ¡°No!¡± She backed away a little more, and he turned and grabbed her, hoisting her up in the air. ¡°Let me go! Put me down, Papa! No! No!¡± She screamed, hitting his head. He tilted it back a bit, but didn¡¯t let go, even when she started wailing and sobbing. He walked right up to the edge of the cliff, dangling her out over the edge. ¡°Please, Papa! I¡¯ll be good, I¡¯ll listen to you and Mama! Put me back!¡± He looked at her, and maybe he looked sad, but she couldn¡¯t see through her tears. ¡°No, Kiki. You have to do this now. Mama will be there, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°AHHHHHHH!!!¡± He let go, and she tried to grab his arms, but she was too slow and then she was falling. The wind was rushing past her, the ground getting close closer closer This isn¡¯t what happened- Close, too close, and Mama was looking at her and she was afraid and opening her mouth to scream and she looked down and the ground and sharp rocks was right there too close no time- ~~~ Kiki shook her head, walking behind Gaunt through the rubble. This had been the third night in a row she¡¯d had a nightmare about falling. She wasn¡¯t even afraid of heights! This was so stupid! And yet, stupid as it was, she kept waking up sweaty and with a racing heart, and her sleep never seemed to refresh her. Truth be told, she was really, really tired. A sort of bone-deep exhaustion that never seemed to go away no matter what she did. Some of her deeper wounds still hadn¡¯t healed, which was a little surprising, and the infection had taken longer to clear than she had hoped. All in all, her body really wasn¡¯t working with her. Not like it had been cooperating before, but now it was a lot worse. Please say I don¡¯t have internal bleeding or something. ¡°When are you planning to stop for a snack?¡± ¡°Do you need a break? We can take a break, we¡¯ve made decent time.¡± Gaunt¡¯s brows furrowed in concern. ¡°No, no, I¡¯m good!¡± She lied, hoping she didn¡¯t sound as out of breath as she was. ¡°No, let¡¯s stop. I¡¯m tired of walking too, I could use a break myself.¡± Kiki let out a sigh. ¡°Okay.¡± She looked around, found a chunk of concrete that would be okay to sit on, and plopped herself down on it. A bunch of baby hairs had come out of her braid, and she combed them back in with the little comb she¡¯d found in a drawer. ¡°Can we afford to drink some water now?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Gaunt paused, like she was thinking of saying something, but stopped. Then she said it anyway. ¡°I said I could use a break, but half of it is just¡­ I don¡¯t like it here, yeah?¡± Kiki frowned a bit, looking around. Yeah, that was fair. Everything felt more run-down here, and maybe that was dumb to say about a literal ruin, but it was true. The road was broken up and rough to walk on, and she kept thinking she saw a coyote in her peripheral vision, but it was never actually anything. It had also smelled like old meat for at least a kilometer, faint, but always there. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Yeah, this place¡­ If a ruined city can still have a bad neighbourhood, I think this is it.¡± She took a few sips of water and stood back up. ¡°I don¡¯t want to linger here, on second thought. Can you keep going for a bit longer?¡± ¡°Yeah, for sure. Reminds me of the train wreck a bit. Well, it¡¯s kind of in the area, not quite¡­ I dunno. Not nice.¡± Well, she hadn¡¯t been there so she had no clue, but she¡¯d take Gaunt¡¯s word for it. Everything was wrecked to the point she had a mostly clear view in all directions, but she still felt trapped and hemmed in. She didn¡¯t want to be walking through here without any sort of escape route. There were piles of junk everywhere, some of which they had to climb over. Some had sharp rusty bits Kiki had to be careful not to cut herself on, others were¡­ squishy. To be honest, she preferred the tetanus piles to the squishy bits. Climbing was even more bullshit than walking was. Kiki tolerated walking, but she hated climbing. ¡°Shit.¡± Kiki was about to ask Gaunt what happened, but then the pile they were on¡­ twitched, almost, and Kiki had to grab at a wooden beam to keep her balance. She winced as a splinter dug into her palm. She was about to shout out to Gaunt, but then thought better of it, using as low a voice as she thought she could and still be heard. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¨C¡± Just at that moment, a whiplike thing that reminded her of an exposed ligament lashed out, between two pieces of corrugated sheet metal, going right for Gaunt. ¡°Behind you!¡± Gaunt whipped around and smacked it away, but within half a second it was back up and heading for her again. Kiki grabbed at her waist, pulling off her makeshift spear, and scrambled to get closer and help Gaunt fend it off. It took longer than she would have liked, with the ground trembling and bucking beneath her, but she made it. Gaunt blocked another hit, barely managed to keep her balance, but now she was in an awkward position. Kiki reached out a hand, grabbing Gaunt¡¯s arm and pulling her up. Once Gaunt regained her footing, Kiki turned, slashing at the tendril with her spear. The knife edge sunk close to halfway through, a bit of black fluid seeping out, and the thing jerked and flailed in response. Kiki barely managed to hold on, but suddenly the spear was a lot lighter than before, and she was looking at the bare end of the stick. Shit. ¡°We gotta get off this thing!¡± Sooner or later, someone was going to fall at this rate. Kiki tossed the now useless stick aside, pulling out her fire axe as more fleshy tendrils slithered up around them. She clutched Gaunt¡¯s wrist and ran, heading for a gap between two tendrils. They made it through the two tendrils blocking their way, but Kiki¡¯s foot slipped on a plastic sheet, and she hit the side of the pile hard. She let go of Gaunt¡¯s hand trying to get back on her feet again, and something brushed her ankle. Turning, she sunk the fire axe into the tendril that had touched her, severing the tip. More of that black fluid smeared across the axe blade, and Kiki jumped to her feet. Gaunt was trying to fend off two at once, and struggling. More were popping up all around them, and the ones where they had been standing before were retracting into the pile. Kiki whacked one away with the blunt end of the axe, Gaunt hit another with the crowbar, and then they were running. Kiki nearly lost her balance once or twice, but then they made it to a more compact region and the running was easier. Whipping her head around, Kiki¡¯s vision traced across the ground and saw no hint of more tendrils. ¡°What the fuck are these things? Are you hurt?¡± She gasped. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Keep moving.¡± Yeah, no shit. When she looked back again a few seconds later, there still weren¡¯t any tendrils, but the rubble was shifting in larger patches. Like something underneath wanted to come up to the surface. As she kept running, she realised it was getting closer, the spots fanning out to the sides. ¡°We¡¯re being flanked! Faster!¡± They both put on a burst of speed, but then air was rushing beside her, and she looked back and Gaunt was on the ground. Kiki dug her heels in, nearly toppling as she stopped, and ran back, ready to pull Gaunt up. Tendrils had looped around her ankles, she saw now, and she began hacking at them with her axe. They were squeezing her legs, hard enough that the cloth of her pants was wrinkling around them. Before she could land a single blow, the tendrils had disappeared back into the ground. Probably not for long. She helped Gaunt to her feet, and as soon as she looked up, she saw why. Tendrils had banded together in a fluid fence around them, clutching bits of rubble. One coiled around a piece of cement reared back a little, like it was winding up for a throw, and another with a long piece of wood was brandishing it like a club. Fuck! She held up the axe with both hands, hoping to block any hits- A piece of debris hit the axe, and it slammed into her chest. She felt something give on her right side, a sharp pain that stabbed with each breath, and fell to her knees. Too small, too much force in one spot. She grabbed a wide sheet of metal off the ground, holding it to cover herself on her exposed side, and looked over at Gaunt. Something wrapped around her waist, and she looked back hurriedly. A tentacle, a lot smaller than the others, had a hold of her, and was tugging her down towards the ground. She held onto her makeshift shield with one hand and grabbed her axe with the other. It took a few hits, but she managed to sever the baby tendril, the coil around her waist going limp. Any others near her? Nothing within her shield. Gaunt was struggling, stumbled, and fell. Two tentacles were attacking her, one battered and twitchy but still landing its hits. A tiny one wrapped around her wrist and yanked, sending a spurt of blood into the air, before she slapped it away. Kiki lurched forwards, sinking her axe blade into the base of the battered tendril. It jerked, tried to keep attacking, but each movement only made the axe sink in deeper, until something vital was caught and it flopped weakly to the ground. Unfortunately, she was also now on the ground thanks to her mad lunge to reach it, and her ribcage was telling her it wouldn¡¯t be so easy to get back up again. The wall was closing in. ¡°Hand it over!¡± Kiki looked up at Gaunt, she had her hand out, and handed her the axe. Gaunt was strong. She would be better with it than Kiki was, especially hurt like she was now. No weapon. Focus on staying alive. Gaunt swung at a tendril, missed by a mile. Maybe I should have kept the axe. There was hardly any room to move now, and Kiki had to force herself into a sitting position to keep from touching the wall of debris. Trapped. Trapped and open sky above but she couldn¡¯t reach it- A bit of black fluid sprayed out as Gaunt cut through two tendrils at once, axe sticking in the wall of debris. There was so little ground now, and there wasn¡¯t anything she could use as a shield or weapon, and damn it one had grabbed the axe and Gaunt was trying to wrestle it back. They were all focused on Gaunt, actually. None of them were paying attention to Kiki, which would be a lot more helpful if she could actually do anything. Gaunt abandoned the axe, hit one with her crowbar, and it did pretty much nothing. Anything? Sharp metal, broken glass, anything at all- The wall crumbled. The tendrils were limp on the ground. Kiki grabbed a rock, tossing it at one. It twitched a little upon impact but didn¡¯t do much of anything. Gaunt was standing there. Unscathed as far as she could tell. ¡°Is.. is it dead? What did you do?¡± ¡°No clue, but I¡¯m not sure we need to know. Can you walk?¡± Kiki got her hands underneath her, slowly standing and trying not to scream while doing so. ¡°I¡¯ve got you.¡± Before she could react, Gaunt was holding her, one arm around her shoulders and another under her knees. There was a faint wetness on her back from Gaunt¡¯s forearm, but not enough to be so concerned. Still, though, should Gaunt be picking her up if her arm was hurt? ¡°What the- Gaunt, give me some warning at least! And be careful, I don¡¯t want you to strain yourself¡­ But yeah, I don¡¯t think I can walk very fast. Might have a broken rib. Hopefully not, but,¡± she pulled a face, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re that lucky.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Can¡¯t say anything that¡¯s happened the past week is remotely lucky. Dunno about you.¡± ¡°Yup, same for me. Shittiest week of my life.¡± Gaunt was walking now, a bit more slowly, carefully picking her way through the rubble. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here before something else goes wrong.¡± Before she got another injury, before she was rendered unable to move or talk or think. Before another part of her was stripped away. STRANGE II: GAUNT ¡°It¡¯s late. Let¡¯s take a breather.¡± Although Gaunt¡¯s now-bandaged forearm felt fine even with that shallow slice, her lungs felt fine, her legs were fine, so on and so forth, a break after carrying over a hundred pounds couldn¡¯t do any harm. The spot they were in was already half empty, with the odd corrugated sheet and chunk of concrete littered around the edges of a clearing. Flat enough for the two of them to find a seat and start on lunch. Kiki took the liberty of wandering around the perimeter, tossing bits of rubble this way and that, probably looking for anything suspicious. Gaunt resigned herself to sitting perfectly in the middle of the area. She crossed one leg halfway over the other, and propped a can of tuna on her knee. She peeled the tab back with one finger and yanked it aside, tossing it back into the surrounding scrap heap, and scooped out a chunk of fish with her bare hands. Salty, and enough to make Gaunt wince a touch. Eating the same thing for days on end had a way of doing that. ¡°All clear!¡± Kiki announced, walking back over to Gaunt. She trotted over to Gaunt¡¯s bag and pulled the rest of the raw pasta free, shoving a few pieces in her mouth. Dry, raw pasta. ¡°You sure you¡­ I have tuna, if you¡¯d like. I don¡¯t think we can afford setting water to boil right now, though.¡± Kiki waved her off. ¡°I¡¯ve been eating tuna for the past three days. Even this is better than more of that.¡± Hard to argue with that, even if she really wanted to. ¡°...Alright.¡± Kiki continued picking through the pasta like how a raccoon plucks out the choicest castoffs from a dumpster. Strangely delicate with how her fingers took each piece one at a time, how she looked at it from all sides before nibbling on it. Gaunt tossed her now empty can aside and rummaged around for a bottle of water. Kiki swallowed another bite of pasta and cleared her throat. ¡°So, any idea what the fuck that was?¡± Ugly. Ugly and scary, that¡¯s for sure. ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯m not sure it would make me feel better if I did.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair, but if we knew more about it, maybe we would be able to fight it off better if it attacks again. Like if we knew what killed it. Maybe we severed something vital?¡± That was true. It was fleshy, for starters. Not any kind of animal on Earth, but close enough, maybe. Maybe closer than she thought. Any self-respecting animal would bleed out and die if someone stabbed it enough times, which they did, and might keep going even if you threw a rock at a tough spot, which they¡­ sort of did. ¡°There was a lot of¡­ looked like blood. Probably something like that. Maybe that did something.¡± ¡°You think it bled out? Maybe. Yeah, that makes sense.¡± Kiki paused for a moment. ¡°It seemed semi-intelligent. It was using tools to trap us and as weaponry.¡± Gaunt took a swig of her newly acquired water bottle. ¡°Bled out or heart attack or some shit, I don¡¯t know, it was weird. And I mean¡­ lots of things use tools. Like I think a crow or something could do that too if it was bigger¡­¡± Gaunt¡¯s voice grew quieter as it trailed at the end. ¡°It¡¯s probably not¡­ it¡¯s probably not as smart as we think. And if it is, then whatever.¡± Kiki looked at her for a long moment. She opened her mouth, hesitated, let her brows furrow instead. A lot like Gaunt said something she probably shouldn¡¯t have said. ¡°Well, we probably won¡¯t see it again, so no need to worry.¡± Well, now Gaunt had to remedy that whole situation. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not saying we should brush over the topic or anything. I¡¯m just saying, you know, there¡¯s no reason to make things out to be worse than they are, right? Especially at the end of the world, ha.¡± She snorted. ¡°If it does that shit again, we just do the same thing. Cut all its stupid limbs off.¡± Kiki smiled a little bit. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡± She reached down into the backpack, pulling out some water, and unscrewed the cap. ¡°Most animals can¡¯t use tools, so hopefully that¡¯s not anything we¡¯ll have to deal with again. Being pelted with rocks is not something I want to repeat. Honestly, I¡¯m usually the one doing the pelting.¡± She took a sip of water. ¡°Well¡­¡± Gaunt¡¯s gaze traced the path of a stray weed in the packed dirt. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that was really an animal? Like, it didn¡¯t¡­ it was weird?¡± ¡°Very weird. It felt unnatural. Maybe it started as an animal once, but I don¡¯t think it really is anymore.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe.¡± Unnatural. Gaunt unclasped her hand from the space just above her bad wrist. Not really knowing what to do with it, she screwed the cap back on the water bottle, tucked it away, and zipped her bag shut. ¡°Well, I¡¯m ready to go when you are.¡± Kiki held up a finger, taking a long drink of water, then paused mid-sip when a faint hollow thud sounded somewhere just behind her. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Gaunt whipped her crowbar around in front of her. She was suddenly a lot closer to the edge of the clearing, her backpack left lying in the dust. Apart from the aimless path of stray hairs around her face, all was still. ¡°Get behind me.¡± No need, Kiki was already there, guarding from the other direction. Quiet, but Gaunt didn¡¯t take her eyes from the spot just ahead. Nothing, but Kiki¡¯s light breaths behind her, Gaunt¡¯s slightly deeper ones, and the gentle breeze. Nothing, and then¡­ Something. It was something, for sure. Big and not enough skin to cover its frame, white bone prodding free from orifices too large. Spurs poking through joints that grew longer than limbs, causing its gait to stumble, its steps to collapse unevenly forth. Blood traced its way around each follicle, and around some scars in the flesh. Each lurch forward spurted gouts of it from each joint. It was best described as a mess, really. Its ¡°limbs¡± were long, but they creaked forward at an ancient pace, and they never reached quite as far as it seemed they could. Stiff. They had a moment to prepare, but¨C Hissing like air through a popped tire. Gaunt couldn¡¯t resist a brief glance back, didn¡¯t want to let the thing in front of her out of her sight for long, but it didn¡¯t look great back there either. It was huge, a good ten feet tall at least, and just as wide. Shit. Shit shit shit. When she looked back, a spur reached out to slash her in the face, missing by over a foot. It was accompanied by a brutal ripping sound that shot frigid panic through Gaunt¡¯s bones, before she connected it to the fresh geyser of blood erupting from the closest of the thing¡¯s joints. It was it, not her. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. It was pulling the limb back, but in short jerky motions that didn¡¯t retreat so much as tremble in place. Gaunt took the opportunity to drive her crowbar around from above, planting the tip of the claw an inch into the ground. Further back, white grated on red before the whole arm flopped cleanly down; the spike protruding from the shoulder closest to the joint was a solid crimson, now. It just¡­ It just sliced its own fucking arm off. It bent the wrong way and it just¡­ Gaunt did her very best not to gag and brought her crowbar back up. Kiki didn¡¯t seem to do much on her end, either. Not much to do with a fire axe if the target was out of reach. Gaunt made out another shrill scream, and maybe a touch of something wet spattering the back of her neck, like spittle. Spittle and not¡­ better not be anything else. Then she heard a scuffling and a whump and she couldn¡¯t see anything at all. Some kind of putrid, thick¡­ its skin. It¡¯s draped over us. And then it wasn¡¯t, and she could see just fine. Kiki picked up the fire axe from where she swung it down, the giant heaped in a puddle around them. It didn¡¯t get back up. Skin. It was just frills. That left the one in front. Before it could strike, Gaunt tumbled to the side, taking Kiki with her. The next stab went wide, over a metre off. Gaunt pulled the two of them to their feet, ready to move, scrambling for some kind of insight to take hold. She didn¡¯t need one. It wasn¡¯t moving, save the steady ooze of blood from every part of its body into the junk around it. Gaunt took a step forward, hesitated, and took another. Kept her centre of gravity stable in case she needed a quick escape. Slammed the crowbar into it a couple times for good measure. Didn¡¯t need to. That did nothing. Nothing except peel some of its not-skin back, revealing what was underneath, and¡­ The spikes. It was so cut up inside its innards were more of a slurry than any kind of functioning organ system. It got sliced up by its own damn spikes. Kiki stared in confusion at the innards. ¡°What the- how? Why? How the fuck does something even do this to itself and survive long enough to get to us?¡± ¡°Wait. I think¡­¡± Gaunt backed up a couple steps before jogging back to where the other one fell. A lot less impressive now that it wasn¡¯t flaring its frills to look ten times bigger than it was. Cleaved nearly in two with one blow. The webbing traced around each of its digits, through its limbs¡­ there was no way it wouldn¡¯t get tangled every time it took a step, even if it was alive and moving. ¡°This is not¡­¡± Gaunt exhaled. Inhaled. ¡°This is not normal.¡± ¡°No fucking kidding. This doesn¡¯t feel natural. It¡¯s like someone took a natural thing and twisted it. I just don¡¯t see how evolution could make something like this.¡± Kiki kneeled down by the spiked thing¡¯s corpse, examining some of the spines. ¡°Well, they weren¡¯t made well.¡± To have something, or some things, so dysfunctional, so hell bent on killing them they just dropped dead¡­ There was a thud as Kiki swung her axe. Reaching into the bloody mess, she withdrew a spike, just the right size to be comfortably held on one hand. There was a piece of cloth impaled on the end, dark with blood and also dye, which she promptly removed. She made a few experimental stabbing motions, then tried throwing it at the skin thing, pinning a flap to the ground. ¡°Maybe we could grab some of these spikes. More effective than rocks. This creature¡­ I just don¡¯t understand why. Okay, someone made it, but why? What¡¯s the purpose¡­¡± Her rambling kept going and going and Gaunt had to agree with her, beyond anything else, it was just¡­ Unnatural. Gaunt snapped to attention, heart thrumming faster than even in the midst of combat. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t¡­ It doesn¡¯t make any sense, right? They should be dead, right?¡± She was talking fast, so fast her lungs could hardly keep up. ¡°And, and, we¡¯re fine?¡± Kiki wiped her hands on her pants, turning to Gaunt and moving a step closer. ¡°We¡¯re fine. They¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Yeah, and they shouldn¡¯t have made it here in the first place if they were gonna die like that, it doesn¡¯t make any god damn sense. And, you know, you know what¨C you know what else is you¡¯re fine, I¡¯m fine but it¡¯s not supposed¡­ Fuck, let me just¨C¡± Choking her words out, Gaunt thrust her wrist towards Kiki, sleeve pulled back and wrappings roughly thrown aside. ¡°You¡¯re fine, you got hurt, so what, whatever. That¡¯s normal. You¡¯re tired I guess. Whatever. What about me? You know it got me, huh, they fucking split my wrist open and I felt it and if you just fucking look at me there¡¯s NOTHING FUCKING THERE.¡± Her wrist was bare. Smooth and bare and completely free of any lacerations. ¡°Okay. Gaunt, I think-¡± ¡°No, look at me. Look¨C¡± She dropped her sleeve, yanked her shirt practically to the neckline. Pulled her bra up a bit to reveal the rest of her midsection. ¡°I was fucking cut open. Across my whole stomach, you saw. And there¡¯s nothing. I shouldn¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t even think about it anymore. I should be dead. Why the hell am I not dead?¡± Kiki¡¯s eyes widened, but she didn¡¯t step away. Maybe she should step away, Gaunt didn¡¯t know. Impossible to know when it didn¡¯t make any sense. It just didn¡¯t make any fucking sense, there wasn¡¯t any reason for this to happen to her¡­ ```` There was someone yelling behind her. The voice was faint. She couldn¡¯t remember what the words said. She didn¡¯t like it and everyone else was tense. The yelling was loud. The woman¡¯s eyes were wide. She said something, it was quiet, like she didn¡¯t want anyone else to hear it. The man said something very fast and pulled out his phone. He was trying to call someone. A figure at the end of the train car was dark. The figure was holding something sharp. There was another figure too and it was shaking. There was a splash of red. Gaunt was running. The man wasn¡¯t moving fast so she yanked his hand hard and then he was next to her. The yelling was all around them now. There was screaming now, too, some scary and some scared. She didn¡¯t know where she was running and she didn¡¯t then, either. The woman stopped in front of one door and pulled it, and it didn¡¯t open. Then they were at another door and Gaunt was in front. She shoved it open. The woman and the man came through too and it clicked behind her. She could barely make out a figure in black robes, gold trim. She pulled on the door. It was locked. ¡­ Everything tasted like blood. It tasted like blood and smelled like blood. Gaunt raised her hand but it stopped. There was cold metal around her wrist. She raised her head and looked ahead. The man was in front of her. She didn¡¯t see the woman but she knew she was there too. There were other people and they all had chains around their wrists and ankles. There were dark figures with colourful trim. A shape Gaunt didn¡¯t understand approached the man. It raised something very long and very thin, and sharp. The man was breathing fast. It stabbed him in the chest, and kept it there for a second, and¡­ ```` Black and gold. Black and gold and maybe other trim as well¡­ Gaunt shoved past Kiki and snatched up the cloth from where she¡¯d discarded it. Black with a shiny blue trim. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I remember this. From the train¡­ Were they¡­¡± ¡°Gaunt, I¡¯m having a bit of trouble following your train of thought. I can help you figure this out, but you have to calm down a bit and explain stuff to me, okay?¡± Gaunt raised a hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m fine. It¡­ On the train. I guess that¡¯s when¡­ stuff would have happened. Before the crash, I remember there were people. I don¡¯t remember¡­ dangerous people, I don¡¯t remember anything past that. And they wore this.¡± Kiki looked at the cloth for a long second. Committing it to memory. ¡°Do you think they caused the crash? And do you think they have anything to do with your, uh, miraculous recovery?¡± Gaunt could only shake her head. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know anything. It¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t want to fuck with this. At all.¡± ¡°Okay. I um, believe it or not this is not the weirdest shit I¡¯ve seen.¡± Gaunt stared. She would have dropped her jaw if she was the type to do that at all. As it was, it took a moment too long to get her thoughts under control. ¡°Are you¡­ you¡¯re not for real.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t share details, but no, this is actually kind of tame in comparison. I¡­ I don¡¯t think whatever¡¯s causing this is dangerous, I mean it¡¯s just healing. Weird, yes, but I think things will be fine. And if something happens, I¡¯ll be right here to help you deal with it, okay?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± It made sense, anyway. Plus, there was no use worrying about things Gaunt couldn¡¯t control. It was practically her mantra. ¡°How are you feeling? Anything else you want to talk about?¡± Kiki reached out a hand, glanced at the traces of blood on it, and pulled it back. Gaunt nearly took it anyway. ¡°Nah. No use. We should get moving, though.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± In place of whatever she was going to do before, Kiki stepped over to Gaunt¡¯s side, bumping their shoulders together. Then she broke off, quickly grabbing the spike she¡¯d chopped off and stuffing it in her bag. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± And that was the end of that, at least until Gaunt got bored of denial. STRANGE II: SPIKE He couldn¡¯t figure Lyre out. Everything she did felt planned, purposeful, careful and exact. Like at all times she was working towards a greater goal, but it was never even remotely clear until it had already been accomplished through an incredibly unlikely series of events. And while her actions felt deliberate, her frequent inaction was just fucking weird. He¡¯d ask her a question and it would take ten minutes for her to respond if he was lucky. If he wasn¡¯t she just wouldn¡¯t say anything. And it wasn¡¯t as though he was asking something difficult or sensitive all the time; at one point he had asked ¡°Are you going to stop for lunch?¡± and it took her nearly fifteen minutes to say ¡°No¡±. It was like she was a supercomputer trying to run on a potato battery. For example, how she was walking. She could go faster than she was walking now, he¡¯d seen it, but as it was she was going at his top speed. He could barely keep up, and any sane person would see that he was struggling and slow down a bit, but she didn¡¯t. She¡¯d stop for exactly three and a half seconds, and then he¡¯d stumble a bit and it would take him, you guessed it, three and a half seconds to get his footing back. Somehow, she knew what would happen, and timed things with enough precision that zero time was wasted. It was really, really creepy. Lyre was creepy, and maybe he wasn¡¯t one to talk, but he was just calling it like he saw it. A hand grabbed his shoulder, forcing him backwards. The shove was light enough that he could have resisted if he had been prepared, but it caught him off guard enough that he ended up on his ass in the sand. ¡°Lyre, what the hell?¡± His only response was Lyre¡¯s signature ¡®on several hallucinogens and also heroin¡¯ stare, so he looked around to see- Ah. There was a ravine in front of them. About a foot and a half wide, and deep enough that he couldn¡¯t see the bottom. Lyre did this a lot. Instead of warning him like a normal person, she¡¯d just wait till the very last second and then forcefully yank him away from whatever environmental hazard was there. ¡°You know, you¡¯re allowed to warn me in advance.¡± And she was gone. Halfway through his sentence, she¡¯d started climbing down the sandstone cliff, completely ignoring him. He could wait here for her to return, but this area was exposed and drones could be passing by. He could climb down after her, but his hand was injured. They¡¯d run out of bandages, so the one he was wearing hadn¡¯t been changed for over 24 hours, and it was wet and crusty. He could slip. The ravine was narrow enough that he could probably brace himself against the walls as he climbed down, taking some of the stress off his hand. Plus, he didn¡¯t entirely trust Lyre. He was following her because she was his best lead, but he was still highly suspicious of her motives, and didn¡¯t want to let her out of his sight. Spike sat down, and carefully slid into the ravine, hands and feet braced against the sides. Immediately, he felt the wall against his back shift and soften, sand showering down into his hair. Shit. He should have thought of this! Digging his limbs in a bit more, he managed to keep himself from falling, but now that portion was just a bit wider and smoother than the rest. This was too dangerous. Looking down, the bottom was closer than he¡¯d initially thought, about 14 feet down, and Lyre was around the halfway point directly below him. He¡¯d showered sand onto her, which was probably unhelpful, and if he fell, he¡¯d probably injure them both. He couldn¡¯t keep descending, so he looked up, to see if he could climb back out. The edge of the ravine was just out of his reach, now. He had a feeling that if he tried reaching up, he¡¯d slip and fall. He really was the dumbest motherfucker to breathe air, wasn¡¯t he? Although, looking back at some of the stunts him and his friends had done, that wasn¡¯t anything new. He didn¡¯t want to think about that right now. It was making his head hurt a little. ¡°My grip¡¯s not stable. I need you to get out of my way or I might fall on you,¡± Spike called down. No response. Fucking hell. At least Lyre was close to the bottom now. Alright, maybe he could hold his position until she was out of the way, and then climb down. That way, he¡¯d be the only one potentially getting injured if he fell. He managed to hold on, barely. At one point, his foot slipped, sending a light rain of sand down on Lyre. He had to quickly jam it into another foothold before the rest of his limbs started sliding, which he managed by some miracle, and then Lyre was out of the way and he could start heading down. As soon as he moved his bandaged hand, he started sliding, rather quickly, skin and clothing scraping against the sand. He hit the bottom with a thud, and was immediately back on his feet, checking for injuries as chunks of sand fell around him. One hit his shoulder, exploding into dust upon contact, First, he patted down his lower body, checking for any signs of breaks or sprains. When that turned up with nothing, stripped off a glove and felt around where he¡¯d scraped against the sand. A portion of his back about the size of his hand felt sticky and wet, which was definitely bad, but given the circumstances, things could have gone much worse. He¡¯d have to bandage that at the first opportunity. He looked around for Lyre, and she was gone, because of fucking course she was. He could shout for her, but who knows what was down here. ¡°Lyre? Where are you?¡± On second thought, he didn¡¯t actually care. If he got eaten, he got eaten, and she¡¯d probably kill anything here with her shirt or something equally stupid anyways. No immediate response, which was normal, so he waited. About a minute or two later, he heard, ¡°In the tunnel.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Which was incredibly vague, but he could tell where the sound came from, so he just started walking over there. His hoodie stuck to his back uncomfortably, unsticking and resticking a bit as he walked. There was¡­ a tiny gap. To call it a tunnel was really giving it far too much credit. He could fit, but it would be very tight. It had probably been tight for her as well. Good thing Spike wasn¡¯t claustrophobic. He drew his knife, just in case, and edged into the gap sideways. Sand rubbed against his chest and back as he shuffled inwards. It was dark, and by dark, he meant he could not see a single goddamn thing. Why, Lyre? Why had she gone in here without so much as a candle to light her way? After a little while, the space opened up, air warm and still. He shuffled forwards, knife held out, hand waving in front of him to check for obstacles. A hand brushed against a smooth metal surface. Instinctively, he flung himself backwards, falling onto his hands. Scrambling backwards- the gap, find the exit- he bumped into a solid sandstone wall. Frantically patting at it, the exit was nowhere to be felt. Get out, he needed to keep moving, but what if there were more? His grip on the knife was tight enough that he felt the rubber layer on the hilt deforming, as he sat shaking by the wall. If he could see, he¡¯d be able to escape, be able to defend himself, but as it is, anything could attack him and he was helpless to stop it, there was absolutely nothing he could do to save himself. His voice had shrivelled up and died in his throat, and all he could do was hold the knife out in the blind blackness. This is the end the end the end sharp metal shards stabbing piercing rusty death slit your throat disembowel blood and intestines spilling out the smell of piss and shit cut your arms and legs cant run cant fight back fill you like a goddamn pincushion dead and rotting and no one will find your corpse among the discarded broken things youll never see it coming you wont know until its far far too late until rusty blades have bled out and dissembled never see mom dad dog friends teachers crush neighbour shrapnel in your lungs in your heart kidneys liver everything leaking acid and bile and ¡°Spike, come.¡± Lyre Lyre was here she was calling him she was okay maybe he¡¯d be okay if he moved. Trust her. Trust her like before and she¡¯d get them through life before. She¡¯d fought metal and she¡¯d won before he¡¯d helped a bit but she¡¯d done it. He tried to stand. Too unsteady, twitching and shaking, and he fell. He started crawling, knife still in hand, his fingernails had torn the rubber hilt and he looked frantically through the darkness and there was light, dim and shadows everywhere but he could see. Disused broken metal shells dusty but clean, no rust no rust he was okay, Lyre was there crosslegged on the floor, she wasn¡¯t hurt, no metal embedded in her skin. She had a headlight, dim and flickering, and she was dissembling a bot. Don¡¯t show weakness. He stood, nearly fell, and then was upright. The metal hunks flickered around him, it reminded him- a twinge of pain went through his skull and he looked away, walking to Lyre, hoping his steps looked more sure than they felt. This was fine. He was totally fine, they were just chunks of garbage. He wasn¡¯t afraid of these junk heaps, that would just be stupid. He¡¯d been startled because he hadn¡¯t expected to find anything down here, and he was shaking from leftover adrenaline from the fall. The thing Lyre had taken apart was still pretty intact, but the pile she was making was big. Maybe she was hollowing it out. ¡°Why are you collecting this stuff? Tell me specifically, don¡¯t just say ¡®for the plan¡¯. Tell me what exactly you are using it for.¡± He¡¯d learned how to word questions in a way she¡¯d understand, mostly. It took her longer to answer, but he rarely had to ask twice. As he waited for a response, he sat down next to her, closing his eyes. Just because he wanted to rest them, not because he wanted to avoid looking at anything. ¡°It¡¯s protective gear. The plan needs it so we can go faster.¡± As soon as she finished talking, his knife was yanked out of his grip and his eyes flew open. He relaxed once he saw it was just Lyre, using it to hack at one of the bot¡¯s limbs. Protective gear? It didn¡¯t look tough. Something rubbery or plasticky. Not to protect against sharp force, and using metal as well would work better for blunt. Maybe a chemical defence, to guard against acid or something similar. ¡°What will it protect us from?¡± ¡°It protects against heat.¡± Lyre¡¯s voice, the reminder that there was someone beside him and he wasn¡¯t alone down here was nice. It didn¡¯t reassure him, because he was fine and nothing needed reassuring. It was nice, and that was all. Insulation, then. They¡¯d be going somewhere extremely hot. There was a crack as Lyre pried the arm free and dug out a capsule, spreading a viscous fluid over the edges of the pieces and sticking them together. If he helped, they¡¯d be out of this shithole quicker. ¡°Can I help? If so, tell me what I should do.¡± ¡°Put the sealant on the pieces to make gloves and footwear and two harnesses. It needs to cover the entire extremity halfway up to the forearm and shin but also have good grip. The harness has to fit securely.¡± As she talked, Lyre put down the piece she was working on, sawing at another arm. That knife would be wrecked pretty soon. Alright. He wasn¡¯t an arts-and-crafts sort of person, but he¡¯d put enough shit together in shop class that he could probably muddle his way through. The fluid was the sealant, looked like. He was worried he¡¯d need another blade to cut stuff up, but luckily, the pieces Lyre had piled up were already the right size. The end products were ugly as shit, and he wasted some materials making them, but they didn¡¯t distort or break when he yanked on them and the harnesses fit snugly. Well, his fit him snugly. He¡¯d had to eyeball it for Lyre, and made hers a bit smaller than his. Hopefully it would work. Some of the pieces had torn off in a way that there were ridges and crevices, so he¡¯d used those for the palms and soles to ensure good traction. ¡°Will this harness fit you like it needs to?¡± Spike held his mutated creation up so Lyre could inspect it. ¡°Yes.¡± Lyre had two identical robot arms now. She snatched the harnesses, and began using the resin to attach one arm to each. Part of each arm had clearly been messed with, although Spike couldn¡¯t tell exactly how. God damn it, would he have to wear the robot arm on his harness? That was¡­ inconvenient. It would keep tapping against him as he walked or climbed. Not like that was particularly stressful or anything, but it would be annoying. Once Lyre was done attaching the arms, she held one harness out with one arm, grabbing his head and turning it until he was looking at the tampered portion. There was a button or something there, looked like. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. If you want to show me something-¡± ¡°Press the button to turn the magnet on or off. Move the switch to move the arm around.¡± And of course she talked right over him, because Lyre. Why did he need a magnet robot arm, exactly? He took a closer look at the button and lever, trying to discern how exactly she¡¯d hooked this up. All he discovered was that he did not know enough about electronics to understand it. Lyre had put on her harness, so he followed suit, the arm resting against his hip. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I won¡¯t do it anymore. What should I do instead?¡± ¡°Good.¡± Maybe now she¡¯d respect his autonomy and personal space. Who was he kidding, of course she wouldn¡¯t, but at least she wouldn¡¯t do that exact thing again. Better than nothing. ¡°If you want to show me something, point at it and hold it so I can see. Don¡¯t grab me.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Are we done here? Can we leave this godforsaken shithole?¡± Most of the back of his hoodie was damp and sticky now. He really hoped they found some bandages or something soon. ¡°Yes.¡± Thank fucking god. With the headlight, it was pretty easy to find their way back out through the gap. Sunlight stabbed down as Lyre started climbing, one hand at the controls and the robot arm aiding her climb. Looked easy. He reached over, wiggling the lever a bit to test before he started climbing. The arm swung out to the side, way more than he intended, and forwards, way less than he intended. The two dimensions of movement were clearly not proportional. It probably wasn¡¯t Lyre¡¯s fault, she¡¯d rigged a working robot arm from scrap so of course it wasn¡¯t perfect. Still inconvenient. He had to practise for a few minutes, getting a feel for how it responded, before he felt comfortable enough to start climbing. It was a bit better for climbing than his hands alone, he could dig it into the sand for a more secure grip, but it took a lot of concentration. He made it up without any more slips and falls, crawling a couple feet away, then looked up. Hands up, he shoved Lyre away. She¡¯d backed up just enough that she didn¡¯t fall, and luckily there was enough counterbalancing force that he didn¡¯t fall on his face like an idiot. Why was she so close? What reason did she have to be hovering two inches from his face? You know, a lot of his questions nowadays could be answered with, ¡®because it¡¯s Lyre and Lyre is fucking weird¡¯. He could have told her off, asked her not to get so close next time, but at this point he was tired enough that he didn¡¯t want to pick that particular battle now. He¡¯d say something later. By the time he stood, she was running away. Son of a bitch, not this again, Spike thought, taking off after her. STRANGE II: LYRE And they were running running running and they would get there right on time. Or Lyre was running anyway and Spike was supposed to as well but he didn¡¯t right away. Usually stuff like that happened where he didn¡¯t do things right away which was fine because Lyre didn¡¯t do things right away either unless she thought about it sometime behind. But also it was weird and got in the way and she just wanted to know. She knew though that she could check what he was doing just by paying attention to him because it was a worry she had and her plan told her most of the time that would work. When she looked at him he was just starting to run but he wasn¡¯t next to her yet but that was fine because it was within the margin of error so off they went. Her plan didn¡¯t actually tell her to go straight West. Well it did but that was far away and right now for the right now part of it they weren¡¯t going that way at all, they were going south quite a bit because it was faster. They would get wherever they were going and it would be fast and also it got some things out of the way; there would be no shelter that night that Lyre had to find and Spike had the one food one water for her so it was easy. It was really easy actually and Lyre didn¡¯t even think about it before but there were things Spike was making easy that she couldn¡¯t even consider. He just knew how to get the one food one water to go farther through days and it freed so much time for stuff and thinking and plans it almost made up for everything else too. One of those everything elses was what just happened actually in the hole. Spike was weird because people were weird but he was more weird then in a way people weren¡¯t supposed to be weird. And Lyre knew being weird was usually bad so it made her wonder if things were bad but her plan said it was okay for now. She couldn¡¯t see past then but she wondered if maybe somewhere it would be bad and she wouldn¡¯t even see it at all. But that was whenever and she was here and nothing told her anything about it so it was fine. It was fine because there was nothing wrong. If there was nothing wrong then nothing had to be done. So right now was running to the end of the plan and it wasn¡¯t close at all yet, well maybe sort of but not for distance because they would run fast to get there. And it wasn¡¯t close but there it was. Lots and lots and lots of dust it was hard to see that far, far distance not far far, it was hard to see because of the dust but Lyre knew it was there of course because of the plan. And as they were running Spike was talking. ¡°Is that dust cloud where we¡¯re going?¡± Lyre needed to think to respond of course but lots and lots of time to think of exactly what to say. So running towards it and Spike kept going so probably it wasn¡¯t super important anyway but she would ask anyway just in case. And then she was almost there with the answer and they were closer (distance and actually) and it was a bit easier to see and it was there. Very big and fast but so big it didn¡¯t look fast and throwing all the dust in the air. And they had to get there right when it was there exactly. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What do we need from this thing?¡± Spike¡¯s sentence almost was something Lyre knew instantly but not quite and she was so close to just knowing but she¡¯d have to check the whole thing. So more time and more running and then talk. Running running running and they were almost to the next part and then she had her answer right before it happened. ¡°It¡¯s the end of our plan. It will take us closer to the end of our whole plan.¡± Spike wasn¡¯t done, he had more to say. ¡°It¡¯s going too fast to jump on. How are we supposed to get on it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not going too fast. We are going to jump.¡± She had to make sure he knew and she didn¡¯t know why he was saying things if they weren¡¯t true. ¡°Well then, you¡¯ll go first.¡± That wasn¡¯t important so that was the end of that and just in time for the next part and it was the ground which was different now. And Lyre would be okay because her plan made sure and it was very thorough as usual but Spike was invisible and she didn¡¯t know. The shoes were thick and the hot didn¡¯t reach through, the ground was smooth but the shoes were grippy so she kept going. It had slants and grooves and stuff and the plan told her to be careful but she knew where to go. But then there was Spike who didn¡¯t have a plan. She didn¡¯t know how fast he would be but she needed him to be there right on time which might be hard. She just had to know.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. In the background she was making another plan just in case of course something happened weird and Spike didn¡¯t do it right. And then she checked and he didn¡¯t because he was on his hands and knees and not moving forwards anymore. And it was before her plan was done so she didn¡¯t even know what to do about it except keep with her old one so she kept going and he stayed there and it was scary. It was scary but it was the best guess she had, it was the only plan she had. But it wasn¡¯t for long and he still wasn¡¯t close to her but not far either so he was moving forward okay now so it might be okay. She kept the plan still going just in case but maybe it would be okay. Then some hot steam came from the ground and even though her plan knew what to do it didn¡¯t know it would happen right there right now so she couldn¡¯t do a whole lot. And she listened and jumped out of the way but it was too late and it got her a bit and then she was on the ground too and her skin was hot and red. Right when she got back up Spike was actually next to her because he didn¡¯t get got at all, well maybe just the tiniest bit where the very very tip of his elbow was a tiny tiny tiny bit raw but basically not and he didn¡¯t really slow down so he was next to her. In some ways it was closer to the plan since he was there but also farther because they were supposed to be a little closer but it was fine and her plan was actually ready. It was okay it said but maybe go just a bit faster so that¡¯s what Lyre did. And Spike couldn¡¯t really quite do that so she turned the arm around and switched it on and the magnet was aiming for just his magnet arm but not any of his real body or anything and she pulled him after her. And then it locked on and he stumbled and fell and yanked Lyre back but it only took a little for her to pull them back up and she was tugging him along just a little faster than he could run. Running running running and here they were here. And it was super big so impossibly huge towering way above into the sky which Lyre knew because her plan mentioned but she wasn¡¯t looking at that right now. And what she was looking at was the smooth outside gliding on the ground kicking up tons of dust right in her eyes but she kept looking, not really she couldn¡¯t see but she was facing that way and her plan told her where to go. Pulling Spike where he didn¡¯t know he was supposed to go too. And he wouldn¡¯t know so she had to say it so they were right there and she said ¡°Jump and turn on the arm!¡± And then two things happened because he jumped just like the plan and then he didn¡¯t listen at all. He jumped and Lyre jumped and she turned on the arm and stuck to the side and he didn¡¯t turn on the arm and there he was on the ground going far far far away so fast. And then she just knew her plan wasn¡¯t going to work because how was he that far away already and what could she even do? And she would come up with a new plan but there just wasn¡¯t time for that so what was left? She had to think and really really think even though she didn¡¯t know how. Even though she couldn¡¯t and she didn¡¯t even know if she used to behind her either. Thing she knew one: Spike had to be there because all of them had to be at the end of the plan. If he wasn¡¯t here then she would have to find him again and that would make everything super far away and it was bad. Thing she knew two: Lyre had to be there with Spike because she checked before and all the plans she ever had didn¡¯t like when she wasn¡¯t there. And he wouldn¡¯t be there at the end of the plan and even though it was super vague so Lyre didn¡¯t really know it didn¡¯t even look like there was maybe an end or not one worth considering so that was that. Thing she knew three: There was a margin of error and Lyre knew how big it was but not in what directions which she wished she knew but it would take the whole margin maybe to figure that out and maybe it wasn¡¯t worth it. So she had to do everything without a perfect plan but maybe she had a little bit of time for the plan to not be perfect. Thing she knew four: Even if Spike was invisible and even if he was supposed to do his own plan and even though Lyre didn¡¯t really know what was going on she could still put him in her plan. And her plan was getting to the end which was right there while he was there. Then the best thing she could come up with was if Spike had to be there with Lyre and they had to get to the end of the plan and she didn¡¯t know how much time she had to do it, then she would do the plan and take Spike. And then she couldn¡¯t figure out the rest but it was okay because asking how to get to Spike and how to take him with her part of the plan was way faster than just asking for a new plan so she could use that time and then she was ready. The first thing to do was turn the magnet off and she fell onto the ground and ran ran ran back to where Spike was as fast as she could. And it took a while of running and lots of dust it was hard to breathe which she knew was danger but the plan wouldn¡¯t be much more and there wouldn¡¯t be dust so it would be fine. Running running and finally Spike was there on the ground he didn¡¯t have the arm on or anything so Lyre picked up the arm and pointed it at the side of the thing and she turned them both on at the same time and they were attached. Then climbing up up up with the grippy gloves and shoes which the plan said would take longer since Lyre had to do everything for Spike but it also said the margin didn¡¯t matter now so she had the time it was fine. Hold onto the side of the thing as tight as she could and turn off the magnet move it up turn it on then Spike¡¯s turn. Hold onto him tight let the arm support both of them turn off his arm move it up turn on he gets pulled up a bit and sticks there then she inches up and she kept doing this over and over until it was done. Over and over and over and over for so long the dust isn¡¯t as thick anymore and the danger isn¡¯t there. All the way up to the top and then no more wall, it was clear, and the ground was so far away with the wind in her hair and she rested Spike down and sat on the back of the thing herself. And it was like that for a while with the wind and dust and that blue blue sky and Lyre thinking about things. And making her plans but she finished with those and it was just the thinking left and she didn¡¯t know why she was doing it but she was looking up at the sky the whole time. There wasn¡¯t a reason to look at it but that¡¯s what she did. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t know why I¡­ passed out. I should be fine now.¡± Luckily with all that thinking and planning Lyre actually already knew what he meant before he said it and she knew he was saying it because he felt sorry about things and she knew exactly what to say too. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay for now.¡± ¡°How bad are your burns? Do they need attention immediately?¡± She had already checked that too so she knew the answer and she would share that too, that was what to do. ¡°I¡¯m okay for now, but since we have time, now would be a good time to address them.¡± And then Spike was getting things from his backpack and he was looking for something but it wasn¡¯t important that he got it or anything so Lyre just waited until he got some water and poured it on her and then the burns were okay for now. ¡°...¡± Spike was about to say something but he didn¡¯t and then he went and said something else just like the plan said. ¡°You¡¯re responding to me a lot faster than usual. Why is that?¡± ¡°There was a lot of time so I was planning and then I knew what to say.¡± And then he wouldn¡¯t say much for a while so it was back to nothing. Then he got the phone and he didn¡¯t do anything about that and Lyre already knew there was nothing so she didn¡¯t do that. And there was nothing to do and looking at the sky was something to do, not something she had to do, but she kept doing it anyway and she couldn''t think of a single reason. STRANGE II: INTERLUDE August 20, 2029, 18:55 18:55: [Kiki] Okay something¡¯s wrong with this city. 18:55: [Kiki] Gaunt and I just fought some things. I don¡¯t really know how to say this but they shouldn¡¯t have been alive. They shouldn¡¯t have survived long enough to get to us. They were like something out of a horror movie I swear. 18:57: [Gaunt] were ok tho 18:57: [Kiki] Mostly okay. I might have a broken rib but I¡¯m just happy to be alive. 18:58: [Spike] Were mostly okay too 18:58: [Spike] Hopped a train or smth to take us west 18:58: [Gaunt] those r still going?? wait what 18:59: [Spike] No this shits not really a train idk what to call it tho 18:59: [Spike] Some long mechanical thing thats melting sand around it 19:00: [Gaunt] oh 19:00: [Gaunt] yeah i mean its fucked up but like 19:00: [Spike] Lyres breathing kinda weird tho I think she inhaled some dust 19:00: [Gaunt] why is everything weird all over this damn place 19:01: [Gaunt] lots to unpack 19:01: [Gaunt] oh shit wait 19:01: [Gaunt] Lyre u good?? 19:01: [Kiki] Yeah Lyre are you okay? 19:02: [Spike] She hasnt said anything but she doesnt usually mention when shes hurt so idkUnauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. 19:02: [Spike] Lemme ask ill need like 15 minutes 19:03: [Gaunt] will do 19:03: [Spike] And yeah everythings fucking weird 19:03: [Spike] Including my only companion 19:04: [Kiki] That¡¯s kind of rude Spike. From what I¡¯ve heard she¡¯s helped you a lot. She¡¯s probably just stressed. 19:05: [Spike] Okay well there is no other word for the shit she does 19:05: [Spike] You dont know so dont fucking nag me 19:08: [Kiki] Okay, sorry. 19:12: [Gaunt] so Lyre 19:12: [Gaunt] how¡¯s it been for you lately? 19:12: [Lyre] Yes I¡¯m okay 19:12: [Lyre] Yes I¡¯m okay 19:12: [Lyre] The plan has gone alright so far, it¡¯s been kind of boring so far, except when Spike does things I don¡¯t expect, but mostly okay 19:13: [Gaunt] wait what do u mean by that last part 19:13: [Lyre] I can¡¯t always predict what Spike does, so it interferes with my plans 19:13: [Gaunt] spike do u not like talk to her or some shit 19:14: [Spike] No she just never asks 19:14: [Spike] And she wont tell me her plans unless I ask specifically in like 3 different ways 19:16: [Kiki] Okay. Lyre, I think if you tell Spike your plans, he won¡¯t interfere with them so much. 19:16: [Kiki] This sounds like a communication issue more than anything. 19:17: [Spike] Yes lyre it would be really helpful if you did this 19:17: [Kiki] Okay great! Glad this was resolved. 19:20: [Gaunt] wait Lyre actually whyd u send the same message twice 19:20: [Lyre] I was answering different questions, they just happened to have the same answer 19:20: [Gaunt] probably not a mistake cuz i mean theres no signal but werent these phones working anyway from like magic or something 19:20: [Gaunt] so it would be weird if it broke now 19:21: [Gaunt] yeah but u dont have to do that right lol 19:21: [Gaunt] also how do u type so fast all the time 19:21: [Lyre] I already know what to say so I¡¯m prepared 19:21: [Kiki] Yeah I was wondering that too. You¡¯ve got lightning fingers haha. 19:22: [Spike] Yeah she does this in conversations too no clue how 19:22: [Gaunt] okay sorry what how???? 19:22: [Gaunt] like Lyre u just know what people say before they say it?????? 19:22: [Lyre] Yes 19:23: [Kiki] Okay this is officially one of the weirdest things I¡¯ve seen 19:23: [Kiki} And let me tell you that¡¯s saying a LOT. 19:23: [Gaunt] okay what the actual fuck 19:24: [Gaunt] well 19:25: [Gaunt] like i said lots to unpack 19:25: [Spike] Dont expect answers anytime soon ive asked and come up with nothing 19:25: [Gaunt] figures 19:25: [Gaunt] i srsly doubt we get answers for any of this shit 19:26: [Gaunt] especially the shit i rlly wanna know abt 19:26: [Kiki] I mean at least it¡¯s a good kind of weird? Precognition would definitely be useful. 19:27: [Gaunt] well yea but idk yknow its just weird and maybe theres bad parts too we dont know abt 19:27: [Gaunt] its just weird and idk what to do abt it 19:27: [Kiki] Well let¡¯s focus on the good for now. If something else comes up we can deal with it then. 19:28: [Gaunt] tru 19:28: [Gaunt] idle speculation should remain that 19:29: [Spike] I hope we get some fucking answers tho 19:29: [Gaunt] hopefully STRANGE III: KIKI ~~~ Kiki was flying. Wind rushing around her, clouds sending out eight-colour rainbows, bright blue above her and the world laid out below. She spun, everything tilting and blurring around her until she righted herself again, and let out a shrill cry of joy. Her chest twinged a bit as she did so, but the pain quickly subsided. Below, a lake- she dove, skimming the surface, before slowly rising back up again to clear the treetops. There, a familiar cliff, and¡­ Kiki stopped, turning and grasping the nearest tree branch. And she saw herself, falling from her father¡¯s arms, an unforgettable memory from an alien perspective. Fly. Fly, Kiki. The little girl was falling, so small against the cliff backdrop, hair streaming out above her and arms splayed to the side. Even though Kiki knew exactly how this would go, she was still leaned forwards in anticipation, grip tight. Falling, falling, until she wasn¡¯t. Until she let go of the bindings that protected the young from themselves. Until she slowed in the air, erratic and wobbly, but freed from gravity¡¯s pull. Until she flew. ~~~ Kiki woke up to a world bursting with colour. Finally! Finally, she was cured. Whatever that thing had done to her, it hadn¡¯t been permanent, and she was free. Even better, somehow her rib had fixed itself as a side effect. None of her other injuries were healed, unfortunately, but she was gonna take what she could get. That said, Gaunt might be waking up soon, so she should probably- Wait. Seriously?! If she didn¡¯t think it would wake Gaunt up, she would have screeched in frustration. This wasn¡¯t any better. Frankly, it was worse, because how the hell was she supposed to explain this? Damn it. She turned, fumbling through her stuff until she found her phone, and clumsily tapped out a text. Gtg emgcy bk soon sry It was a shit explanation, but she didn¡¯t know how much time she had, so it would have to do. Not like she could take the phone with her. What else¡­ She moved over a bit, reaching into the pocket of her jeans, and got out some of her tools and wires. Quickly sorting through, she grabbed the best few, and then she fled. Not far. Just so she was out of sight, but could still keep a decent eye on Gaunt. Poor Gaunt, she¡¯d probably have so many questions, and Kiki couldn¡¯t risk answering any of them. She¡¯d probably be mad at Kiki too for running off without any warning, but again, nothing to be done about that. She¡¯d just have to stay out of sight until things went to normal. At least this way, she could go ahead and do some scouting, once she knew which way Gaunt was going. Maybe set up some guidelines to help point her there? On second thought, it was pretty early. Maybe she could scout a bit and then come back before Gaunt was awake. Yeah. Lake was west-south-west. She could probably get there and back pretty quick. Sure enough, it only took about fifteen minutes for her to get there, sunlight glimmering off the surface, and the terrain looked pretty good. It was beautifully clear, and so still, so early in the day. That being said, she was a little distracted by the massive fucking wall. Rising a bit, she looked up. The top was pretty far up, but it had a top, she was pretty sure, and it wouldn¡¯t take long for her to get back to Gaunt. May as well see what¡¯s up there. Huffing a bit with exertion, she ascended, up, up to the top. This thing was ridiculous. What exactly were you trying to keep out, that you measured height in kilometers? It took twenty minutes, and she was panting by the end, but she made it to the top. Holy shit, that was a lot. She needed to sit down somewhere, and¡­ And there was more wall. Not only was this monster of a barricade two kilometers tall, it was at least a kilometer thick, and totally, utterly smooth. Hesitantly, she got low enough to tap a foot against it. Cool, very smooth, she couldn¡¯t really get any purchase. It was hard to tell what it was made from. Dark, opaque, and the light coming off it was wrong somehow. No colour, no reflection, but it was reflecting something because she could see it, but it wasn¡¯t, and there was no colour, not even black but it wasn¡¯t transparent either. All across the wall, there were no defining features. No cracks or crevices or dents. No holes or vents or doors. Just the wall.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. How Lyre planned to cross this thing, Kiki didn¡¯t know. Maybe she could see what was past it? She darted forwards, close to the surface, wind whistling around her, and it was another couple minutes before she could see over the edge to the other side. It was a wasteland. To the west, smoke was rising up, the ground glowing- volcanic activity, or a wildfire, but enormous. The sort you heard about in the news, spreading devastation across an entire forest. To the east, there was the shine of metal. Just metal, like the ground had been coated in it, as far as the eye could see. How did that even happen? Spike and Lyre couldn¡¯t be anywhere near here. This wasn¡¯t survivable. There was nothing for her, or anyone else, here. She needed to get back to Gaunt. On tired limbs, she traversed the width of the wall again, then descended, much quicker and easier than the climb. It was still pretty early, so hopefully Gaunt was still asleep. Unfortunately, Gaunt was already awake. She was pacing around, in clear distress, carrying all their stuff. Probably looking for Kiki. Dammit. Should have left a better text. Okay, uh¡­ how could she direct Gaunt without revealing herself? Gaunt wasn¡¯t really going in any specific direction, which made things¡­ not so easy. Hard to predict which way she¡¯d go next. Maybe¡­ Kiki settled on a clearish patch, one far enough away that it would take Gaunt a couple minutes to get there. Grabbing some small stones, she arranged them into a crude arrow, pointing to the lake. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t anything shiny or colourful around her. She¡¯d just have to hope Gaunt saw it. She looked around. Shit! Kiki darted behind a piece of rubble, just in time, as Gaunt came into the clearing and looked down at the arrow. That was way too close. She¡¯d checked how far away Gaunt was! How¡¯d she gotten there so fast? She didn¡¯t dare to peek out from her hiding spot until she heard Gaunt¡¯s footsteps receding, following the arrow she¡¯d laid out. Double checking to make sure Gaunt was looking away, Kiki began to follow her, at a very safe distance. Which was¡­ boring. Very boring. Gaunt was so mind-numbingly slow. She could only tolerate it for a minute before she snapped. She started moving back and forth, between Gaunt and the lake, noting any patches of bad terrain and adding more of her arrows to direct Gaunt around them. Along the way was a large hole in the ground, surrounded by building rubble. Hard to tell what it was initially. It was about five kilometers from the lake. She would have directed Gaunt around it, just in case, but the terrain was awful everywhere else. This was the only clear spot to pass through. It felt like a trap. But there was no other way. Kiki added some words into her directions, this time. BIG HOLE MAYBE DANGER CAREFUL, GO FAST It took her a while to spell out, but it wasn¡¯t like she was doing anything else with her time. She scouted out some adjacent areas. Added more notes, and secondary options in the form of arrows. GROCERY, MAYBE FOOD DETOUR: LONGER, LESS HILLY And a couple of the notes¡­ I¡¯M OKAY SORRY I LEFT WILL EXPLAIN WHEN CAN WILL STILL HELP She watched Gaunt¡¯s reaction to these messages carefully. Gaunt decided not to go to the grocery store, fair enough. She also decided not to take the detour, mumbling to herself and shaking her head. When she got to the more¡­ personal messages, she stood still for a long time. She rested her face on one hand, and Kiki thought a bit of the tension had dissipated from her shoulders, but it was hard to tell from this distance. I¡¯m sorry, Gaunt. I wish I could tell you more. She didn¡¯t even want to say that she was nearby, because then Gaunt might look, and that¡­ might not end well. She felt like a piece of shit. Running off with zero notice, only communicating through rocks on the ground? What sort of person did that? Focus on helping, what she could do. Bigger, thicker arrows. More notes. Her warning about the hole was about 75 metres from the hole itself. Gaunt looked at the message, moved forwards, looked back again. Set her shoulders. Started walking, fast, head swivelling around enough that Kiki had to move a bit further away. As she passed by the hole, a stream of clear fluid shot out at her. Gaunt flinched, tried to dodge, but it hit her lower body, glueing her to the ground. The thing emerged, slowly, almost casually. A long, matte grey creature, wormlike, with stubby soft legs and long antennae. Enormous. If this was what had been roaming the subway tunnels¡­ hell, it was barely small enough to fit. Glue dripped from glands near its mouth. Gaunt was squirming, and the glue was stretching, but not releasing her. Kiki had to do something, but what the hell could she do? Damn it, of all days, why did this have to have happened today? She was useless like this! And she was still stuck. The worm reached out for her with its mandibles, and somehow, Gaunt managed to hit it hard enough to move its head away for a moment. She had to distract it enough for Gaunt to get away. Kiki hurried to the back part of the worm, where it was still emerging, dropped her wires, and began clawing and ripping at it. It didn¡¯t do very much- she was barely able to break the skin, but she kept going, trying desperately to get deep enough for it to take notice. Still more than she had expected- she¡¯d wondered if she could get through its hide at all. It flinched a bit, but kept its focus on Gaunt. Shit. Shit shit shit. She looked up, and it was slowing a bit, but that wasn¡¯t nearly enough. She might have to escalate. Attack the front, the glue glands, but then she might get trapped as well. No, she¡¯d definitely get trapped. That wasn¡¯t an option, but maybe the antennae? Its antennae reached out to touch Gaunt, and Gaunt lashed out, grabbing it in one hand. It reared back a bit, easily pulling it free. As Kiki was getting closer, she saw the glands on its head pulse, and made a snap decision. Flying in, she dug her claws into one of the glands, or tried, at least. Unfortunately, the glue shot out just as she reached it, and she had to swerve rapidly, some of it sticking to her feet. Dread sticking to her ribs, Kiki looked back, and¡­ HOW??? Gaunt had dodged the shot completely. Glue was splattered around her for at least a few metres, but somehow, none of it was actually on her. Somehow, the worm had missed from two feet away. How¡­ never mind, just hope it happens again. The glue around Gaunt¡¯s legs was starting to crack, now, but she was still completely stuck. The glue on Kiki¡¯s feet was starting to tingle and burn, now. She needed to get this stuff off her, but first they had to get away. She had to distract it long enough for Gaunt to get free. Her feet were useless now, so she dropped onto its head by an antenna, biting and tearing at it. It was surprisingly soft, and she was able to take large, fleshy chunks out with each bite, the worm rearing and shaking. Kiki looked over again, and Gaunt was free, the glue still standing in the shape it had molded around her. She¡¯d only practiced this a few times, but panic was a very good motivator for using old, rusty skills. ¡°RUN!¡± Gaunt jumped practically a foot in the air, and started running, Kiki following from afar. Thank god, the worm was slow enough that Gaunt could outpace it, just barely, and oh god her feet were really burning now. Kiki squeezed her eyes shut, decided to take a leap of faith, and shot ahead to the lake. Once she got there, she plunged down into a shallow portion, water spraying up a bit around her. Swishing her feet in the water, the glue dissolved quickly, the cool water acting as a balm. Hopping out, Kiki glanced them over quickly- no real damage as far as she could tell- and flew back to check on Gaunt. Gaunt had probably seen her. That¡­ wasn¡¯t good, but it wasn¡¯t as though she could have just left Gaunt to die. So, no regrets, just¡­ a bit of dread over that conversation. Gaunt was still running. The worm was still chasing. It was more an ambush predator than anything, but again, Gaunt was really slow even while running. Bit faster now though. If nothing else, she could try and slow the worm down a bit. Kiki grabbed a rock, the largest one she could reliably lift, and rose up while gripping it. Please work¡­ It didn¡¯t do any damage, but there was a clear impact and the worm did twitch a bit. Its antennae brushed over the area. It started moving again pretty soon, but Kiki had bought Gaunt a few metres at least. She would have gotten another, but frankly, she was tired enough that she might not have been able to lift it up enough to drop on the thing. She was struggling just to stay on course. After about another 500 metres, the worm gave up its pursuit, trundling back to its hole. Gaunt kept running for a little bit longer, but she soon slowed to a walk. Damn. She somehow still had energy, after all that. At this point, though, Kiki had to stop for a bit. She found a ruin that stretched reasonably high up, landed on the edge of one of the walls. Gaunt would be out of her sight until she caught up again, but she¡¯d probably be okay. She¡¯d survived this long, mostly alone, after all. She let out a long, whistling breath, and settled down, closing her eyes. STRANGE III: GAUNT Where the hell is she? It was probably safe to take a breather. Gaunt hadn¡¯t heard anything pursuing for a good few minutes, but of course making some extra distance was never a bad thing. Or it would be, if only she knew¡­ Gaunt eased out a breath and slid down the face of a nearby dirt formation. God, what the hell was she thinking? That half-formed text message could hardly qualify as a note, let alone any accurate indicator of what Kiki was doing, why, when she¡¯d be back, anything reasonable. Just enough information to know she¡¯d done something very stupid and decided to rope Gaunt into it too. Of course she¡¯d be responsible for some fucking teenager in the apocalypse, god forbid she have a moment¡¯s respite. She shook her head, trying to make her better thoughts that much more real. It probably wasn¡¯t her fault. Kiki lasted this long for a reason. Just stick to the plan for now ¨C meet at the lake ¨C and they¡¯d work it out from there. Work everything out, fingers crossed, though it was a lot to hope for. Gaunt kept Kiki¡¯s words rolling around in her immediate consciousness, clinging to that fine lifeline. It¡¯s probably safe. It hasn¡¯t done anything bad yet. This is a later issue. And it¡¯s true! But that didn¡¯t make it any less¡­ present, of course. She didn¡¯t want to look. She wasn¡¯t going to look. It was probably nothing, actually, but you never know, and she¡¯d been bleeding out mere days ago. She could be fine. She could be wracked with internal damage and have hours left to live. It would be stupid to sit here on the ruined cobbles and pretend everything was okay even when there was clearly nothing sane about any of it. It was silver. Shiny, like burns. Gaunt¡¯s breath hitched. Absently, she saw her fingers trace over the skin on her arms. The backs of those were the same tone, same texture, but some blush and opacity was creeping in at the edges. There were no bumps or ridges, no wrinkles, no follicles. Smooth all the way through. What the hell am I? It was fuzzy, now. Not her arms, but her vision. It was enough to block out the image of her not-quite-human arms, enough to draw her attention back to the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Too fast, she was hyperventilating. She held her next breath, counted one, two, three, four seconds, and let it out for just as long. Four more seconds. Think about what Kiki said. This is a later issue. As for a now issue, you¡¯ve got a teenager to find. Averting her gaze, Gaunt looked around as she brought her feet underneath her. Grey clouds, with fine dark spots peppering the dirt around her. It was more than starting to rain, more of a drizzle at this point. Or it looked that way. She felt dry as ever. It¡¯s just rain. Keep moving. There was always the question of whether she left because of something that was going to happen, or if there was somewhere to be. Or if she left at all; Gaunt couldn¡¯t discount the idea of her being taken, unlikely as it was to permit the time to write a note, even a hasty one. Naturally the best course of action would be to follow the current plan, but who was to say Kiki would even show up at the lake in the first place? It was possible the arrows were pointing her in the area of a new meeting location, but it was certainly a roundabout way to do it. Or it could be a blatant trap. After the whole incident with the sinkhole, Gaunt was seriously reconsidering blindly following whatever sign she happened to stumble across. Forget those, she had a map, and it would do some good to use it. She pulled it from her backpack by a corner and unfolded it just the slightest bit, trying her best to place herself between it and the rain. Still impossible to pin an exact location, but assuming she was going in the right direction, the lake was only a day or so away. Squinting at the hovering sun, she lined herself up vaguely west, and started folding the map back up. It got a mere two drops of rain before returning to the safety of her bag. Gaunt took a solid five steps before there was the screaming. Not quite human, not quite animal, and nothing she even remotely cared to deal with. Fuck that. Thankfully, it was just far enough to be described as distant. As she spun around to face exactly opposite to where it came from, there came another, on her left. Then in front, from the right. And more started up to create a whole chorus of droning wails. Forgetting the surrounding noise, Gaunt swiveled to locate any building yet to collapse. Just one, but well within running distance. Five or so minutes away. Shoving the aching in her calves to the back of her mind, Gaunt broke into a sprint. Everything was soaked through, by now. Though it still couldn¡¯t touch her for reasons she was not thinking about right now, the density of the rain made it that much harder to make out the path ahead. Enough had fallen to pool in her boots as she splashed through the rough terrain; she didn¡¯t feel wet, per se, but there was the unusual feeling of something she couldn¡¯t feel sloshing around. Though, the downpour wasn¡¯t enough to wash away another one of those arrows. Messy and careless, it appeared to be pointing towards the building. Hopefully that meant it was a safe place, but really Gaunt wasn¡¯t ready to be optimistic about anything given the circumstances. Then was the screaming again, close enough to make her ears ring. Something lunged from behind a low pile of junk, so far off target it barely fell within Gaunt¡¯s field of view. It didn¡¯t look like it was planning on getting back up. She didn¡¯t bother to stay and check. Steeling herself, Gaunt put on another burst of speed and ignored the growing stitch in her side, now pulling free her crowbar. Shapes tore free from the approaching rooftop. Most plummeted to the ground, but a couple here and there swooped low, stabilized, and soared roughly in her direction. One got pelted with a projectile coming from the building, and another flinched so hard it tumbled and stayed down, leaving only one figure to intercept her. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Would she rather take her chances in the open? The building was much more appealing when she pictured a barricade between herself and the many horrors roaming outside, rather than said barricade trapping her in with them. But there was that arrow. And so far, either it was Kiki, and Gaunt really did not want more blood on her hands, or it was someone else intelligent enough to point her in a direction and write messages, which had proven rare nowadays. Either way, Gaunt was not about to let someone get eaten by monsters. That, and they hadn¡¯t exactly proven as dangerous as some of the other shit she¡¯d had to deal with. The apocalypse wasn¡¯t exactly the best time for overconfidence, but you couldn¡¯t just hide from everything to breathe in your direction, either. She had a few more seconds before the flying thing reached her. Its skin was stretched taut over frail bony limbs, sailing more like a kite than a bird. Much of it was pocked with holes, scattered evenly across its wing flaps, causing it to flail in midair. It screamed some more, uncannily like a gull, baring its thousands of miniscule pinprick fangs. As it swooped low, Gaunt swung her crowbar forward. She was early, but it smacked into the thing as she ran past after the follow-through, causing it to tumble. With nothing immediately following, she slipped through the door and slammed it shut. Taking the nearest chair, she began to set it against the frame before a voice made her whip around and brandish it instead. ¡°How long were you in the rain? Are you hurt badly?¡± ¡­It was just Kiki. Completely naked, as it seemed she¡¯d never bothered to replace the clothes she¡¯d dropped at camp, for some fucking reason. A couple new rashes were scattered around her shoulders and on the nape of her neck. ¡°No? Not long, just a few minutes. Uh, is that¡­ okay, what the fuck is going on. You just ran off!? While I was sleeping!¡± Kiki looked down and away. ¡°Yeah, something happened. It was unpredictable and unavoidable, trust me, I tried. It should be resolved now.¡± She winced. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but¡­ I don¡¯t think I can give many more details.¡± Gaunt slowly lowered the chair back to the ground, crushing it a little into the shattered tiles as she did so. ¡°Okay, but like, you know you can¡¯t just do that, right? It is very literally the end of the world. You could¡¯ve¡­ I don¡¯t know! Died, or something!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I left. I was still around. Just out of sight. Honestly¡­ you were in more danger than I was. That subway worm nearly killed you.¡± Gaunt shoved the chair against the door. It splintered, and she stalked over to the next closest to provide some needed support. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s, not actually the fucking point, though? I did not know where you were, you just vanished, right? It¡¯s, um, you need to communicate with me. At least tell me if you¡¯ll be gone for a bit. I didn¡¯t even know if you were alive, let alone nearby.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. By the time I realized what happened, it was¡­ it was very difficult to communicate. You saw my shitty text message and my arrows. I would have warned you in advance if I¡¯d known.¡± She sighed. ¡°I know that wasn¡¯t fair to you. But I didn¡¯t really have a choice.¡± Gaunt pulled the chair the rest of the way over, and approached a third, this time to sit, head in one hand. ¡°Okay, but, maybe figure something out for next time? Or, I dunno, have a contingency plan. You¡¯d still be at the lake¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯d still be at the lake. And,¡± she smiled slightly, ¡°I don¡¯t think this will ever happen again. I¡¯ve been having issues since I woke up here related to what happened. It¡¯s all fixed now.¡± Gaunt started unzipping her bag. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good then, I guess. Anyway,¡± She shoved an arm through the opening and pulled free a few rumpled garments. ¡°I got your clothes. Not even gonna ask. Where¡¯d¡­ are those rashes anything to worry about?¡± Kiki reflexively brought a hand to her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m a little worried. It¡¯s from the rain. I rinsed the spots off with some water, and it doesn¡¯t seem to be getting worse, but you never know.¡± She reached out, grabbing the clothes, and started putting them on. ¡°Thanks for bringing these over.¡± Gaunt shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. So the rain¡­ huh, yeah. I didn¡¯t really¡­ notice anything up with it.¡± As much as Kiki seemed accepting of whatever the hell Gaunt had going on, leaving that detail to the side was more for Gaunt¡¯s own sanity than anything at the moment. Kiki blinked, pausing for a moment, then shrugged too. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad we both made it out mostly okay. Uh, we should check this building. I just f- ran into the first one I saw so I don¡¯t really know what¡¯s in here with us.¡± It wasn¡¯t a bad idea. ¡°We¡¯re not splitting up, though.¡± ¡°Oh heck no, not after all this. Pass me the axe?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Gaunt unhooked it from her hip and passed it over, keeping her crowbar out and ready for herself. Kiki took it, tugged her shirt into place, then turned her gaze to the doors at the back of the room. ¡°Left or right?¡± Gaunt tossed her head. ¡°Let¡¯s go right.¡± She took the lead, glancing to ensure Kiki followed behind. The door opened into an unlit mailroom, papers scattered across the floor. Plenty of holey cardboard boxes and very, very little anything else. Gaunt absently flicked at the flap on one of the boxes while Kiki appeared¡­ completely zoned out, for no discernable reason. Gaunt wasn¡¯t going to be the one to lecture her directly after finishing her other lecture, that seemed excessive, so she opted to let it rest. Gaunt started to turn mid-sentence as she said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like there¨C¡± She did not manage to finish the sentence as turning around revealed Kiki being mauled by some gangly, clawed creature that was just barely too large to fit in any of the boxes and very much not there before. Before it could do more than tear through her shirt, though, she swung her axe into its side, sending it scrabbling across the dusty floor, sending old envelopes into the air. Before it could recover, Gaunt put her crowbar straight through its brain. She hardly had time to bring it back to position before three more leapt out right in front of her. She managed to barely correct one¡¯s course away from her face, sending two of them into a tangle on the ground, while the other missed her completely. Gaunt heard a whimper and a thump from behind. More for Kiki to deal with, it seemed. Gritting her teeth, she aimed to swing from the side, bashing all her opponents at once. It caught the first two in its path, crumpling them into a broken heap, and didn¡¯t quite reach the third. A long creaking sounded as she held her crowbar to block its next lunge, only for something to come crashing down from above. Immediately, Gaunt was buried in a writhing mass. Bones and flesh and claws aimlessly kicked and spun into her, away from her, past her. She was soon to join, as the sheer weight of it crushed her ribs, limiting her breaths to brief wheezes. Flexing her arm, she tried to shift her weight to no avail. The throng of bodies was all-encompassing. Some were beginning to strike, now, only just deep enough to draw blood. Something was tugging from above. Nothing to do but try again. This time, she managed to shove something a little further away, twisting something, snapping something, sending a shrill cry into the air. Air rushed back into her lungs, foul though it was. With the struggling subsiding around her a touch, Gaunt took a minute to regain her senses. Took another breath, tried not to choke. Judging that enough of her strength had returned, she lashed out one more time. Light flooded back into her vision as it threw the bulk of the bodies off of her. Gaunt inched her way to freedom, with whatever pulling the bodies up and away wholly welcomed. Now free, Gaunt found herself missing her crowbar. Her boots made an alright substitute as she stomped the skull of the closest creature into a thin pulp. None of them bothered to try running away from either her or Kiki, who was also naked again, somehow, for reasons beyond Gaunt¡¯s understanding. Less than a minute later, it was just the two of them, coated in viscera, in a room full of corpses. Kiki poked one with her toe, then reached into the mass, fishing out a bloodstained pair of pants. Her face fell at its condition, ripped and dripping with viscera. Frankly, it was none of Gaunt¡¯s business what was going on with that, and perhaps granting a bit of leniency would make Kiki that much less interested in her own quirks, so she did her very best to comment on something unrelated to Kiki or her current predicament. Which left the only other potential topic of conversation. Gaunt picked up the arm of the nearest creature. It was incredibly bony, thin enough to snap like a twig, and the flesh around was knobby and misshapen. ¡°These are just a bit¡­ you think they¡¯d even fit in one of the boxes?¡± Kiki frowned, picking up a corpse and rotating it. ¡°They¡¯re a little too¡­ stiff. They can¡¯t fold up enough for that, I think. I¡­ did they come in through the doorway behind us?¡± She dropped it, reaching back into the pile and fishing out her shirt, which was in even worse condition. Gaunt winced. ¡°A couple were from right in front. But we would¡¯ve seen them¡­¡± Kiki was staring at her. Her eyes flicked away from Gaunt¡¯s shoulders to her face, then briefly up to the ceiling. It took her a few seconds to respond. ¡°...Camouflage?¡± Gaunt threw the forearm back to the ground, where it audibly snapped. ¡°I hate that.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Kiki paused, lost in thought for a moment, then started digging the rest of her clothes out from the corpse pile. ¡°Maybe we should close the door and¡­ just stay in here until the rain stops. If there¡¯s more in the building I really don¡¯t want to meet them.¡± Gaunt nodded. ¡°Not a terrible idea.¡± And though they were sitting in a dark room with almost enough space for two people and a fuckton of dead monsters, with a silent promise not to ask whatever the hell is going on with the other, Gaunt still found herself content. Kiki was weird, but at least she was here, this time. At least they were still here. STRANGE III: SPIKE The wheezing was pissing him off. Boarding the¡­ train, he¡¯d just call it that for now, had been a shitshow. He¡¯d dissociated, or projected, or whatever mid-jump, and Lyre had to jump back down to grab his limp body and haul him up. He¡¯d made it out unscathed by some miracle, but Lyre¡¯s lungs got fucked up and were still fucked a day later. According to her, they¡¯d be fucked up forever. Which was fine. She¡¯d said it wouldn¡¯t interfere with their plan, so it was irrelevant, and it wasn¡¯t like she was choking or turning blue. It had gotten better, so he was hoping even if they were fucked, they¡¯d be less fucked by the time they had to run for their lives again. It wasn¡¯t important to him, so he didn¡¯t care, but the sound was annoying. He slouched a bit, covering his ears. He felt the back of his hoodie unsticking from his flesh, and wetness seeping through the filthy bandage on his palm. It made him think of that time they¡¯d dared Tony to put a slug in his ear. He¡¯d done it, but then he wasn¡¯t able to pull it out right away, and he¡¯d freaked out until someone was able to wrestle him to the ground and spear it with a paperclip. God, they were all so fucking stupid. He was so fucking stupid back then. And here he was, following some random drug addict onto a giant fucked-up mechanical thing because she¡¯d claimed she could get him back home. Maybe he was still stupid. He couldn¡¯t take the stickiness anymore. He lowered his hands, tilting his head to the side and wiping his ear on his shoulder. ¡°Do you have earplugs or something? If so, please give them to me. The noise is getting annoying. ¡± Right, question asked, time to wait three business days for a one-word answer. Gaunt and Kiki were lucky. They both seemed normal enough to hold a conversation with. Sure, they were kind of pushovers, especially Gaunt, and Kiki was¡­ kind of weird, but nothing like what he had to deal with. If he was with them, he could trust them to be reasonable, he wouldn¡¯t have to ask so many questions, he would have some inkling of what the fuck they were doing at any given moment. Sure, they could backstab him, but it wasn¡¯t as though he trusted Lyre either. ¡°No.¡± Fucking hell. He expected it, since Lyre apparently threw everything away as soon as she didn¡¯t need it for her ¡®plan¡¯. Even if it would obviously be useful, like, oh, maybe food and water in a fucking desert. The armadillo had gone bad by now, so they¡¯d chucked it off the side, but the water was still good! Why the hell did she try to pour it out onto the sand? ¡°Follow.¡± Spike glanced up just in time to see Lyre jump off the side of the train. ¡°LYRE!¡± He got up, stumbling over to the edge, and looked down. Lyre was stuck to the side by the robot arm, slowly descending to the bottom. Well, he had to follow her now, because she sure as shit never waited for him before. He did not jump on this stupid ¡®train¡¯ just to throw away his one opportunity. It took him a minute to relearn the controls for the arm, and then he started his descent. The surface was smooth metal, broken up here and there by vents, some quiet and others blowing air. No dents or nicks or scratches, no rust or corrosion or wear. It was fine. The stupid robot arm was hell to work with, though. He kept accidentally swinging it out, forcing him to cling desperately to the nearest vent while he got it stuck to the side again. The wind threatened to tear him right off the slick surface. By the time he was low enough to consider jumping off, he wanted nothing more than to get off this metal monstrosity Lyre dragged him onto. Lyre had already jumped, and after a moment¡¯s consideration, he did too. It wasn¡¯t a pretty landing. He tripped and fell, bouncing and rolling to a stop, head smacking the metal briefly before he was up on his hands and knees. Fuck, it was probably hot. He needed to be more careful. He scrambled to his feet, making sure the only thing touching the surface was the rubber treads of his boots, and looked around. Planes of shiny metal, as far as he could see, and a lone figure already a decent distance away. Because Lyre. He risked a light jog to catch up with her, putting all his concentration into making sure each foot landed safely. ¡°Fucking shit. Lyre, don¡¯t do that without warning me! Give me a few minutes¡¯ notice before you run off like that.¡± She was still wheezing, but thankfully, the exertion didn¡¯t seem to make her lungs any worse. ¡°What are we even doing? There¡¯s nothing here as far as I can tell.¡± Silence. She didn¡¯t even turn to look at him. That was fine, he¡¯d wait. Metal metal metal metal metal. Metal everywhere, shining right into his fucking eyes like it¡¯s got a fucking grudge against him. He wanted to get out of here. He wanted to rip the stupid robot arm off his harness and chuck it as far away as possible. He wanted to be literally anywhere except here. Actually, the slag pit was worse- he stumbled, shuddering a bit at the memory- but this was still really fucking bad. He hated it here. A particularly bright glint caught his eye, and he winced at a pulse of pain at the back of his head. ¡°Going West.¡± It took him a few seconds to process that. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°...The train was already going West. Why did you make us dismount?¡± As they walked, the terrain was changing, becoming rougher, mercifully dark rock appearing in place of shiny steel hell. Did Lyre decide to walk through here for fun? ¡°Not anymore.¡± ¡­He was just going to shut up and take that at face value, because Lyre was fucking weird and regularly knew stuff she should have had no way of knowing. It seemed like whatever deity up there had accidentally mixed up the ¡®should know¡¯ and ¡®should not know¡¯ labels for her, so she knew the nuclear launch codes for every country in the world but not how to talk to another human being. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s everyone¡¯s nuclear launch codes?¡± Look, he was bored and really wanted a distraction from the stupid fucking metal that was still around. Sue him. It was the apocalypse, not like anyone would come after him even if they had any way of knowing he had this information. What was the worst that could happen? Five minutes into Lyre saying random numbers, coughing and wheezing in between, he decided he regretted everything that had ever led him to this situation. ¡°Okay stop. I don¡¯t care anymore.¡± Thank God, she actually stopped by some miracle. It was his lucky day! Apparently, this was one of the very, very few times she actually listened right away. Scratch that, she didn¡¯t shut up because of him, she shut up because of the army of robots he could just about see on the horizon. They were doing¡­ something, digging at something? Collecting something? You know what, he did not care and they were leaving. ¡°Lyre, turn around. We¡¯re not going through that.¡± Naturally, she ignored him, approaching a bot that was a little bit away from the rest. ¡°Lyre,¡± he hissed, ¡°You had better have a very good fucking reason for this.¡± He stopped, letting her walk on ahead of him, and fished around- right, Lyre had wrecked his knife so now he had no weapon. Well he had the gun, but there were no bullets so it was basically useless. Fine then. He¡¯d just wait right here, not getting a single step closer, until she was done. He never wanted to get within spitting distance of one of those things ever again. The robot¡¯s head jerked up, glancing at him FUCK and then at Lyre, straightening up as it faced her. She kept going without a reaction as it raised an arm, pointing some sort of gun at her, and Spike tensed. It was fine. Lyre could fight off pretty much anything. She¡¯d be fine. That thing wouldn¡¯t get the chance to go after him. The robot fired, and Lyre dodged, and before he could react the shot streaked past him, so close he could feel the stiffness where his sleeve had frozen. He was still in danger. He needed to back up, get away, or he needed to do something to finish this fast before the others noticed. He couldn¡¯t just stand there. Lyre was still approaching, empty-handed. He could try and run up to her to back her up, but she was already far from him and running faster than he could. He could try and talk to her, but with her personality that was more likely to fuck her up than actually help. Most likely, the safest option for both of them was for him to back out without any other bots noticing. He started shuffling backwards, glancing quickly over his shoulder, then glancing back at the bots. Nothing noticed him, but that lone bot was readying another shot, and also bringing out an arm with an implement that gleamed in the sun and crackled faintly with electricity. As soon as the gun was up, Spike dropped into a crouch, hoping the shot would go over his head. It did not go over his head. It hit his shins, freezing him in a crouch. Fuck! He tried to kick, but the shell of ice was too thick. Looking up again, he saw the gun was now mangled, the arm trembling and jerking, Lyre¡¯s robot arm pulling at it from above. Lyre must have done something to it. Balling his good hand into a fist, he struck at the ice encasing his legs, hoping to weaken it. He heard a faint crack, and looking closer, there was a tiny white line in the ice. He swung again, as hard as he could, but it didn¡¯t do much more than that. If Lyre wasn¡¯t occupied anymore, she could help. Checking in on the battle again, nothing much had changed there, but Shit nonononono The other bots were approaching. Spike twisted his arm around awkwardly, fumbling to get his backpack off and in front of him, then yanked out the gun. He smacked the butt against the ice. As it turned out, that extra weight broadened the hairline crack into an actual fracture. He kept swinging, with more desperation than direction, not even looking anymore as his eyes fixed on the approaching army. Lyre was winning. She was holding onto the taser arm of the bot with her magnet arm goddamnit he could have used that on the ice, and as she slammed it with both arms, it came right off. Then, stabbing with the broken end, she severed two more arms. She¡¯d be fine. He needed to worry about himself right now. With a final crack, the ice crumbled, and Spike staggered to his feet. They needed to go now right now. Now that the bot was crippled and on the ground, and there was no sense in staying quiet, Spike ran closer. Lyre was cutting into the bot with a saw arm she had stolen, painfully slowly. The army hadn¡¯t made much progress, but he had no idea how long she would take and he didn¡¯t want to find out. ¡°Lyre, they noticed us, we need to go! Give me what you need, I¡¯ll carry it away with us and you can process it later.¡± Nothing. It was as though he didn¡¯t exist. He had a feeling it would be hell to try and drag her away. They probably had a couple minutes until the bots got within shooting distance. ¡°Hurry up with what you¡¯re doing. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± After an agonizing minute, they were getting concerningly close, and Lyre still wasn¡¯t finished. Well, she¡¯d taken everything out, it seemed like, but she was still messing with the ball of parts that she¡¯d accumulated. She could do that while they ran. Time to go. ¡°Come on, we need to leave now.¡± He grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet, and she fumbled, dropping the object. He crouched, grabbing it, and shoved it back into her hands before hauling her forwards- The bots weren¡¯t moving anymore. Spike squinted at the horizon, verifying that yes, they were all slumped to the ground and not doing much of anything. He looked over at Lyre for an explanation, then at the thing in her hands. ¡°Did that thing turn the bots off?¡± he asked, pulling her along as he put a bit of distance between them and the army. Just in case. Nothing. They still needed to ¡®Go West¡¯, apparently. He had two options; detour around the dormant army, and risk an encounter with something else, or go through and risk them waking up. He stopped walking, letting go of Lyre while he thought. He didn¡¯t know what exactly had put them into this state, or how long it would last, but he also didn¡¯t know what else could be lurking around them. Based on what he¡¯d seen of this place, probably best not to give something else the opportunity to fuck with them. It was probably safest to go through the army as fast as they could. He took a few steps back towards the bots. Lyre did not follow. ¡°...Let¡¯s go. Didn¡¯t you want to go this way?¡± After a few minutes of silence, Spike sighed, walked behind Lyre, and started gently pushing her forwards. Instantly, the device hit the rocks with a clunk. ¡°I¡¯m putting this in my bag. If you need it again, tell me.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to bother giving it to her if she kept dropping it every three steps. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We shouldn¡¯t linger here.¡± Once his backpack was zipped up and over his shoulders, he resumed pushing Lyre forwards like a shopping cart, the two of them slowly making their way West. The first time they passed a dormant bot, Spike was tense the whole time, ready to whack it with the magnet arm if it so much as twitched. It didn¡¯t react. Neither did the second, or the third, and eventually he relaxed a bit. It was probably fine. Lyre¡¯s plans had worked out so far. The only time they¡¯d gone wrong was that one time when his ¡­episode interrupted them, but nothing like that had happened so far. Okay, he did interrupt Lyre in her fiddling, but it seemed to have worked out. Well, aside from locking her in a catatonic state, but he wasn¡¯t actually that worried about that. It wasn¡¯t too weird for her, and she¡¯d probably snap out of it eventually. It would be fine. STRANGE III: LYRE And suddenly it was all invisible all of it and Lyre couldn¡¯t see anything which was fine. That was fine because it happened and then she could just make new plans while Spike got rid of the invisible stuff so Lyre didn¡¯t have to worry. And because also it happened before and it was fine and Lyre knew it would be fine because she just had to make a new plan and then it was okay. So it wasn¡¯t actually a big deal or anything. Well it wasn¡¯t a big deal but then in little spots and patches Lyre was starting to see again but she did not like what was there not at all. She did not like it. So first the thing about the plan in the first place is that there were lots of little specific things that Lyre had to make sure of for everything to be okay and for the plan to work okay. And this was how it was all the time with plans but especially for this one and she just went with it because that was how it worked sometimes and it was always fine. But then Spike was there and he was invisible and that¡¯s when it all happened. There was the one drone all alone and everything was fine up to that point with Spike because he didn¡¯t really do anything which was good because it kept things visible but then it didn¡¯t happen like it was supposed to because he did something really invisible really big a lot and then the plan was gone and what was Lyre even supposed to do now? There was a thing to switch and pull and all that on the thing Lyre had in order for everything to go the way it had to so she would be fine and Spike would be fine and then they would go West. And she could switch and pull and everything but when Spike did what he did and she did something the plan didn¡¯t tell her to now all the bots were gone but not the way they were supposed to be gone because they were gone and it was just so much so big she had to scrap the whole thing so she did. And it would be fine because Spike could see the invisible stuff and it was fine but also. Also now it was coming in pieces and it was everywhere. Sometimes when she could see there were things bigger than other things. Sometimes they were really super big and it took a long time for Lyre to think of a way around them through some tiny little path she wasn¡¯t supposed to go or around some closed off areas she shouldn¡¯t have fit through in the first place. And then she had to go far to get a plan but not so far it didn¡¯t work. But then that was that but this was this because it wasn¡¯t like that it really was so big it was everywhere. The place she was going to be was so big there was nowhere to go and basically she was there already. She was already there with Spike because there was absolutely completely no path in or out which never happened, well maybe it could but it had never happened before and then there was just nothing left to do. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, but then what was she supposed to do if there was nothing to do? Nothing to do but Spike was invisible and he didn¡¯t know about these sorts of things and he had stuff for Lyre to think about and tell him about. So maybe she would do that for him because maybe he would find some super secret invisible path. Even though there was nowhere for that path to be. What were the things he said before to her he wanted answered? Thinking thinking thinking he asked ¡°...Let¡¯s go. Didn¡¯t you want to go this way?¡± which meant what was she doing with the plan and was that direction on the plan and also ¡°I¡¯m putting this in my bag. If you need it again, tell me.¡± which was not important because she didn¡¯t need it well she didn¡¯t know if she did or not but that was basically the same thing. And also ¡°Let¡¯s go. We shouldn¡¯t linger here.¡± which was also not important and that was it so then she had her answers to say. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°...What question did you answer just then?¡± And that meant he wanted to know what he said before so she had that answer and she had the answer ready already as usual. ¡°You asked, didn¡¯t I want to go this way?¡± ¡°I thought you had a plan. Which way are we supposed to go?¡± But that was the thing because that plan wasn¡¯t any good anymore and there wasn¡¯t another one so she had no idea where she was supposed to go because there wasn¡¯t a plan to tell her. ¡°I don¡¯t have one anymore. I don¡¯t know.¡± And then Spike didn¡¯t say anything of course so she waited some more. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going this way for now. If you come up with a plan, let me know what it is and what we need to do.¡± And so basically Spike was doing his own thing with his own plan which was okay because Lyre didn¡¯t have a plan that would go weird from that and also she wouldn¡¯t come up with a plan that was one of the things she knew right now but it wasn¡¯t really important to say that so it was fine. Well actually Lyre didn¡¯t really know if it was fine. She checked and it was fine probably even though it wasn¡¯t really doing anything for her big plan or anything but that was good anyway. It was good for things to not have danger even if they didn¡¯t help a plan. But then she also didn¡¯t know for sure because a lot was still invisible but she had to hope. Anyway so it was fine and there was nothing to do and it was just really really super weird for Lyre because there was always something to do. But then there was something to do because Spike was going to have more things to say and then he said them and Lyre had answers for it too. ¡°...Follow me. If you just stand there I¡¯ll have to keep pushing you like a lawnmower.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll follow you.¡± This time she would actually do something too which was okay because of the no plan so invisible stuff didn¡¯t matter. Spike would tell her what to do. So then she was moving and it was in Spike¡¯s direction and she kept doing that. And they were going going going and then of course the drones were waking up and they weren¡¯t doing a whole lot just yet just a lot of beeps and boops and flashing lights but Spike didn¡¯t like it so much even though nothing was actually happening yet. ¡°Fuck. Lyre, run and don¡¯t let the bots get you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lyre could do that and it was not that hard to think of how to avoid the drones because she had thought about that stuff a lot so she had a couple plans ready that were similar. Right now there wasn¡¯t really anything to avoid so it was fine but she started running anyway as fast as she could because she didn¡¯t really know how fast she was supposed to run and she was going West because that was where her big plan said to go. But Spike had more stuff to say and he was loud about it this time. ¡°SLOW DOWN, don¡¯t go faster than I can run! We need to stay together!¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Okay.¡± This made a lot more sense to Lyre actually because it was what the big plan said so it was better. It didn¡¯t have to be this way because maybe Spike would get there later and they would be together again and she trusted him but her big plan still liked this more so she slowed down and then there he was and she was going at the same speed as before so he could follow. A bunch of the drones were looking around and stuff but they weren¡¯t really running after them yet which was probably good because they wouldn¡¯t be close if they weren¡¯t running towards them but also she still didn¡¯t know so she was still running and ready to do stuff. And then right then Spike had more to say and he said ¡°Can the device you made power the bots down again?¡± which was a question. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± And that didn¡¯t change anything at all but Lyre was never sure so it happened anyway. They kept going and going and going and now some of the drones were starting to do things like point guns at them or run towards them so they were closer but not too close yet so Lyre was ready but there was nothing to do quite yet. And now some were closer and Spike was doing stuff with the magnet robot arm on his back but it wasn¡¯t really doing anything. And while that was happening Lyre was also using the arm and she was pushing and pulling the drones and stuff and shoving them into each other which knocked over all the ones that were super close which was good but still there were a bunch of those that were far with the guns and soon they would be shooting and that was bad because then the rest could get close which was not supposed to happen. And then Lyre needed more for her plan because they were just too far away to do anything. So then there was some of that and then she had another part of another not quite finished plan but it was enough to try. So then there were more drones that were close and then when there was only one left Lyre got the arm but she only pulled and pulled no pushing and she grabbed the drone appendage the one that had the freezing part on it and she was pulling on that with her own arms and it wasn¡¯t coming off yet. And then Spike hit it and it actually came off which was super good and she had it and Lyre gave it to Spike first for him because he knew what was going on a whole lot better than her. Then Spike was shooting at some of the drones but he was not getting any of them and it didn¡¯t do anything and he said more stuff. ¡°Get another gun for yourself, if you can do so safely!¡± And Lyre was already going to do that and it didn¡¯t change anything so she didn¡¯t say anything about it. Some more were coming and when it was the last one Lyre did the same thing and she hit it just right and the gun came off right away which was super good but she didn¡¯t shoot just yet it wouldn¡¯t do anything, a little farther and then she would try. And it didn¡¯t take long at all and they were there so now she was shooting like Spike was but she was trying to get the ones that were far away because even though they were far they could freeze Spike and Lyre and then the rest would catch up super fast. And she actually got most of them but not all of them there were still some left and there were a lot that were appearing around too because there were a lot around in general. And then they were shooting too and not quite getting them but one of them hit the ground next to Lyre and she stumbled and almost fell. That made Spike start shooting too and now everyone was just shooting everything at each other. Both Spike and Lyre were doing really well and getting a lot of drones including the ones that were close and the ones that were far but it wasn¡¯t all of them and there were more and more and more and Lyre was walking closer and closer to that big giant future and there was nothing to do about it. But Spike said keep going so she kept going. But then there were too many and she kept shooting but one finally shot back and Lyre was stuck and there was really nothing she could do not even for Spike¡¯s plan even. And Spike was going and going but then not anymore because he was frozen too and they were stuck and the close drones were holding all of them and the far ones were surrounding in a circle and there was nothing but just keep going towards the end and hope it would really be okay. And Spike didn¡¯t say anything and Lyre didn¡¯t say anything either of course because there was nothing to say and they waited. And they waited. And the drones weren¡¯t doing anything either they were just waiting all of them. Just standing there and they weren¡¯t even doing anything at all just waiting. Looking at Spike and Lyre and closing off all the paths so there was only one road to travel only one way forwards only one destination that Lyre couldn¡¯t quite see but still filled everything in her vision. Time went on without anyone to direct it. Waiting. And then they looked in a direction they didn¡¯t really turn around all the way or anything and it wasn¡¯t a big movement but it was like they wanted Spike and Lyre to turn that way too so Lyre did and she didn¡¯t bother asking what Spike did but she didn¡¯t think it mattered much. And just another little bit of waiting and then. Then it happened. A great long mechanical serpent from under the firm stones of the earth and it raised its big head it was pointed not like a needle or a knife but a lot like a drill and it had whirring bits and twitching bits and it was shaking some of the rocks off its back and from here with how big it was they were so small like gravel or even sand and it raised its massive neck into the sky so so tall building tall skyscraper tall and coiled itself as much as it could so it could hold like that and there was so much of it so long like a snake if it was longer than a city block. And then it lowered its face or as much of a face as you could call it back down to the earth to that tiny circle where the two of them stood and it was pointing. Right. At. Lyre. It did not do anything right away. Spike was talking first, and he was the first to do anything, it was quiet but not anymore. ¡°Lyre, DO SOMETHING! Stop it, get us out of here, ANYTHING!¡± She did not. There was nothing to do. It was still looking. It was not moving, at all. Only looking. Looking, and then a couple of the bits on its drill face whirred just a little not like it was going to do anything but they whirred and it tilted along the neck a little and it got in a little closer like it wanted a better look. And it kept looking, right at her. Spike was there too and it didn¡¯t look at him, not at all. Like he wasn¡¯t even there at all. Lyre looked at the behemoth that lurked in her mind¡¯s eye, that had conquered every single one of her plans. It did not look away it was still looking straight at her but now it was moving too with one of the many many thousands of arms that lined it all the way down the body like what a centipede might look like if it had hands instead of feet and it opened compartments scattered over its segments when some of them opened it vented out clouds of steam and vapours and maybe other stuff too and it picked over dozens until it chose one and stuck an arm in there and took whatever was there. And it was bringing it over to use on Lyre not very fast at all it didn¡¯t matter because Spike and Lyre were stuck there and there wasn¡¯t anything to do anyway so it was getting closer and closer and closer to them or just Lyre because it didn¡¯t care about Spike not at all. And then it was there and it brought the hand down right in front of Lyre and there was another appendage too not a hand but it had a little tool on the end. And then the first appendage chipped the frozen bits around Lyre so she could move her arms and she didn¡¯t do anything and waited for the second one to come down a bit further and the hand opened up and held the thing inside right in front of her. It was a Rubik¡¯s cube. Lyre asked what exactly the serpent wanted her to do with it. Then she asked what it would like the most, if she did that with it. First she took the tool part and she tapped it and she had to do that first so she would have a chance in the first place and the thing went slowly some more went to another pocket on its big metal body and brought a tool just like it over and it held it out and she took that first. Then she took the Rubik¡¯s cube. It wasn¡¯t solved but Lyre could solve it super fast if she asked how so she asked and went and did that and the serpent was looking the whole time and it did not stop looking. And then Spike asked Lyre ¡°Lyre, what''s happening?!¡± And it was time for Spike anyway and she really really really super did not want him to do something invisible and there was only one thing she could do. ¡°Spike, trust me. This is part of my plan.¡± And she got the tool she just got and she chipped the ice around Spike and now he could move his arms too and he wasn¡¯t moving yet. And then she held the cube and she was mixing it up again and the person was holding its arm out because it wanted the cube back but Lyre did not give it the cube. She gave it to Spike. Spike didn¡¯t do anything right away and the thing was still holding its hand out and he asked ¡°...Am I supposed to solve this?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± And then he was solving the cube and he wasn¡¯t doing it right not at all not even close but then the parts were spinning and moving and the serpent was looking right at the cube not Spike but the cube but it was staring. And it wasn¡¯t really acting different from before but Lyre checked and Lyre knew it was not just intrigued like before not just amused like before. It was amazed, beyond belief. And then that was everything and Lyre held out her hand to take the cube back from Spike and he shoved it into her hands and she barely caught it but she did and then she put it back in the serpent¡¯s hand and it closed its claws around it and retracted back all the way to the hatch where it got it from and put it back so gently so gingerly and then turned its drill head away a tiny bit and whirred and then dove point first into the earth and it was gone. And it was gone and the drones chipped Lyre and Spike free and then they all turned away and started doing their work again like they weren¡¯t even there. And that was it. STRANGE III: INTERLUDE August 21, 2029, 06:10 06:10: [Kiki] Gtg emgcy bk soon sry 06:10: [Spike] Uh ok then August 21, 2029, 12:57 12:57: [Gaunt] crisis averted dont ask were fine tho 12:58: [Kiki] Yep we¡¯re all okay. Be careful though. Rain isn¡¯t safe. It burns your skin. 12:58: [Gaunt] wait like for sure idk if we know for sure 12:58: [Gaunt] nvm probably yeah 12:58: [Kiki] Yeah for sure. Stay safe everyone. <3 13:49: [Kiki] Rain stopped. Heading back out now. Hope y¡¯all are doing okay. 13:50: [Gaunt] oh yea theres other stuff out there too idk if theyre where u r but they might be out cuz the rains gone 13:50: [Gaunt] these monsters theyre not super dangerous but they have some kinda cloaking?? Theyre bad in enclosed areas so watch out 13:50: [Kiki] ^^ 13:53: [Gaunt] btw rain def bad idk why i was fine earlier but not anymore, careful 14:32: [Spike] fic 14:32: [Spike] ufxk,i 14:32: [Spike] cvjmnk 14:32: [Kiki] Are you okay??? 14:34: [Kiki] Spike can you answer us please? We¡¯re worried about you. 14:35: [Gaunt] ?????? bro 14:35: [Gaunt] u good 14:36: [Spike] ok 14:37: [Gaunt] are u sure??? 14:40: [Lyre] Spike is fine 14:40: [Gaunt] ok good can he not type rn or something?? 14:43: [Spike] uyse 14:43: [Gaunt] gotcha 14:43: [Kiki] Did your hand injury get worse? Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. 14:43: [Gaunt] Lyre could u fill us in maybe? 14:43: [Lyre] Yes 14:46: [Gaunt] wait are u still typing whats going on 14:46: [Lyre] No 14:47: [Gaunt] ????????? 14:47: [Kiki] Lyre, did Spike¡¯s hand injury get worse? Is it infected? 14:47: [Lyre] No, and no 14:47: [Gaunt] wait are u telling us or not what 14:47: [Lyre] I¡¯m not 14:48: [Gaunt] wtf 14:48: [Kiki] Why not? 14:48: [Lyre] You didn¡¯t ask me to 14:49: [Gaunt] bro we literally did 14:49: [Gaunt] sry if i wasnt direct enough but if u know just tell us pls 14:49: [Lyre] When we woke up, we were still traveling on the Terraformer to travel quickly West. Once it began to shift course, we jumped off back to solid ground and set off on foot. There was no significant incident until we reached approximately 2.32 kilometers due West and 0.28 kilometers due North of where we dismounted. At this point, we were in a location with a large number of robotic drones which aimed to capture us. I had a plan to evade them and continue towards our original destination, but unfortunately Spike had interfered in a way I was unable to predict. While I originally planned on extracting a recognition component of an isolated drone to sneak past the whole group undetected, I ended up dropping the component and shutting down every drone in the area. This got the attention of the Harvester, which then went to investigate the situation. We attempted to continue West, but it reactivated the drones manually and sent them to stop us before we travelled far. It did no harm to us nor did it have the intention of doing harm. After observing my behaviour briefly, it left us to our own devices. We have since continued travelling West without incident. 14:51: [Gaunt] What the actual fuck. 14:52: [Kiki] What is the Terraformer? What is the Harvester??? Why did it want to observe you? What did Spike do? 14:52: [Lyre] The Terraformer is a construct to house the consciousness of an extraterrestrial life form. Its role is to terraform our current location into a hospitable environment for other lifeforms. The Harvester is a construct to house the consciousness of an extraterrestrial life form. Its role is to collect useful resources for further refinement and usage in an ideally self-sustaining colony in an unfamiliar environment, currently being our location. The Harvester is interested in unfamiliar life forms and thought I was intriguing, entertaining, and / or relevant to current studies, and wanted to gain a further understanding of my nature and needs as another possibly intelligent life form. Spike grabbed me in an effort to evacuate me from the situation, causing me to drop the recognition component and for it to misfire on impact 14:52: [Kiki] How do you know all this? 14:52: [Lyre] I just ask and get answers 14:52: [Gaunt] okay first actually how the FUCK did you fucking type all that. how is that physically possible. 14:52: [Lyre] I type a lot of it in advance and I can also type very fast 14:53: [Gaunt] no fucking kidding 14:53: [Gaunt] also wait why didn¡¯t it do anything with Spike it just ignored him?? Why 14:53: [Lyre] The Harvester was unable to recognize Spike as a useful object, let alone a life form of any kind. Upon realizing that there was another life form present, it gained an increased interest in Spike perhaps even exceeding its interest in me. 14:55: [Spike] I didnt knwoe anuy of ths 14:56: [Spike] Lyueoir wtrf 14:56: [Kiki] Aliens. 14:56: [Kiki] You¡¯re saying there are aliens messing with our planet. 14:57: [Kiki] How long have they been here??? What do they recognize as life? What qualifies as an unfamiliar life form to them? Do they intend to make our planet unlivable for us? 14:57: [Lyre] They have been here since August 12, 2029, 12:17. They are capable of recognizing life forms similar in nature to them as life, which does not include any biological life like what we know. Unfamiliar life forms include life forms that are previously unknown to them as a collective. They have no intention of making our planet unlivable for us 14:58: [Gaunt] are they going to tho 14:58: [Lyre] With their current level of understanding, they will likely make this location unlivable to us, yes 14:58: [Gaunt] like make our planet unlivable or anything 14:58: [Gaunt] okay wait how did you answer that i didnt even ask the question yet 14:58: [Lyre] I know what you¡¯re going to say, so I had it prepared in advance 14:59: [Kiki] Did they bring us here? 14:59: [Lyre] No 14:59: [Gaunt] okay im out. what the fuck. 15:00: [Kiki] Can we stop them from making the planet unlivable? 15:00: [Lyre] yes 15:00: [Gaunt] nvm one more question why are they here if they dont know what humans are wtf are they doing 15:00: [Lyre] They had identified human technology and suspected there was some sort of intelligent or semiintelligent life and wished to study it further. 15:00: [Kiki] How? 15:00: [Lyre] If we can make them understand the impact of their activity on our ability to survive, they will likely stop. Currently, there is a reasonable likelihood that if we can establish communication with these extraterrestrials, they will be open to requests. The current timeframe for such action is generous as they plan on establishing a minimal colony around their current location and achieving self-sufficiency before expanding. 15:01: [Gaunt] makes sense i guess 15:01: [Gaunt] um i guess its nice we have time rn i wanna make sure i dont die but whenever we get a chance. someone can go ask the aliens not to kill us. i guess. 15:01: [Kiki] I would like to help if I can. I have a family to protect. 15:01: [Gaunt] same this is just rlly a lot i need a minute August 21, 2029, 23:34 23:34: [Kiki] Lyre, is my family okay? 23:53: [Lyre] I don¡¯t know STRANGE IV: KIKI There was a heavy silence between the two of them. Too much that neither of them wanted to bring up. ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯. Lyre, who had told them that their world was being colonized by aliens, who knew what everyone was going to say before they said it, who had no apparent limit to the things she could answer if someone just asked, didn¡¯t know if Kiki¡¯s family was okay. It was less scary when she had truly no knowledge of what was going on. When there was at least the hope of finding information on what happened to them, of getting back home, of recovering from her stagnation. She¡¯d gotten the last thing, at least, but she¡¯d have traded it for the other two if she could. It would be a brutal loss, but she wouldn¡¯t have to live with it alone. She wouldn¡¯t have to stay silent about it, with people who wouldn¡¯t understand, couldn¡¯t know. That being said, she wasn¡¯t alone. For Gaunt it was even worse, there was nobody who truly understood what was happening to her, not even herself. Kiki didn¡¯t really understand her, and she didn¡¯t understand Kiki, but there was some comfort in sharing that feeling of being other. They were different, but different in similar ways. Her parents had evaded a lot of her questions when she was younger. Eventually, she stopped asking. They didn¡¯t answer her brother, either, and when he asked her she¡¯d have to deflect or outright admit she didn¡¯t know. Looking back, she had a feeling they knew a lot less than she had thought. Maybe she¡¯d never get the answer to some of her questions, even if she made it back home. Her pants were annoyingly stiff and scraped against her calves as she walked. She¡¯d tried to wring the blood out as much as she could, but it hadn¡¯t worked, and they didn¡¯t have the spare water to wash them. She needed the protection they offered, so she couldn¡¯t just not wear them, and she didn¡¯t want to go on ahead like last time and leave Gaunt alone. The terrain was easier here. They were walking along an old freeway, hills and scrubby brush on either side. It went in a strange, almost zigzag pattern, with large cracks where it abruptly bent. Her best guess was some sort of large earthquake, which could also explain some of the destruction they¡¯d seen in the city. She¡¯d gone a different way to the lake, a more direct route, but not one that they could traverse on foot. This was unfamiliar territory. There were a few cars. A lot less than then she would expect, given the lack of them in the city. A lack of cars implied an evacuation, which implied traffic jams going out of the city, but¡­ there wasn¡¯t much. Some of them were caught in the cracks in the freeway, crushed flat. Some were flipped over and wrecked. Some were in pieces, or only part of them was left, or they were¡­ warped in a way a crash couldn¡¯t produce. Some were upright and intact, and they¡¯d stopped to quickly search those but hadn¡¯t come up with much. Even the ones with keys in the glovebox didn¡¯t start, and when Gaunt had popped the hood, it was¡­ an indescribable mess. She had no idea what could mess up an engine like that. They¡¯d gotten a bit more food and water, at least, and a bit more medical supplies. Mostly Band-Aids, cotton balls, and some iodine. In one car, there had been corpses in the driver¡¯s and passenger¡¯s seat. She¡¯d spent as little time as possible looking at them, trying to determine the cause of death. Whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t obvious at the level of decay they were at. No broken bones or torn flesh, so not a crash, but beyond that she had no idea. They hadn¡¯t searched that car. That was another thing, almost all the cars were unoccupied. She thought the occupants might have left, but it still¡­ felt off. Everything about this place was off. Disjointed. She felt disoriented, not just because of the weird landscape, but because she felt the direction she was walking change ever so slightly with every step. Not visibly. It looked like she was going in a straight line. But with one step, she was going slightly south, and with another, it felt like going west-northwest. Even though she wasn¡¯t turning at all! She was probably still wonky from all the stress she¡¯d been under, and it was interfering with her sense of direction. It was the simplest explanation. The lake wasn¡¯t much further, so hopefully they¡¯d get here today. Assuming nothing slowed them down, they could make it. Up ahead was another car. Kiki squinted at it, hoping for something drivable, only to see most of the front was missing. Damn. The landscape was changing up ahead too. One second it was gentle hills, and then rocky cliffs abruptly jutted out to either side of the freeway. There was almost no transition, like someone had simply cut-and-pasted a new landscape. She didn¡¯t like it. Kiki adjusted her clothes, loosening them where applicable, making sure she could easily slip out if she had to shift. She would have preferred to stay above the cliffs if she was alone, but¡­ Gaunt¡¯s brows were furrowed as she looked around, hand tight on her crowbar. Seems like she hated this as much as Kiki did. Kiki slowed down a little, drawing a bit closer to her, as they entered the shadowy canyon. Blinking rapidly, she waited for her eyes to adjust, though once they did there wasn¡¯t much of note. Just craggy, rocky walls and an empty freeway stretching out ahead of them. ¡­wait. Standing on her tiptoes, Kiki whispered to Gaunt, ¡°There¡¯s something on the cliff.¡± ¡°Hm? Like what?¡± ¡°Hard to tell. Maybe a person or animal. Maybe something else. Pretty far away. Stationary.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Gaunt¡¯s brows furrowed even more than they had already. ¡°What should we do?¡± They were only a few minutes in, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to turn back, but¡­ Kiki could get over the cliff. There was no way she could get Gaunt up with her. If they didn¡¯t use this pass, they¡¯d have to go around, and there was no telling how long that would take. There was a very real possibility that they would run out of water before they made it, and it wasn¡¯t as though they could hope for drinkable rainwater. ¡­Kiki could also try scouting ahead. But it would take a lot of Gaunt¡¯s trust if she wanted to keep her secrets. She¡¯d probably have to ask Gaunt to close her eyes while she left and returned, and that was risky in its own right. Yeah, no, not gonna work. So, go back and risk dehydration, or keep pressing forwards. ¡°I think we should keep going for now.¡± ¡°... I guess we have to. Maybe we don¡¯t draw attention. We could stick to the side of the canyon, hopefully keep out of sight a bit?¡± Kiki nodded, drawing closer to the wall. She took her fire axe off of where it rested on her hip, holding it by her side. Damn these shadows. She¡¯d feel a lot safer if she could see into all the nooks and fissures in the rocks. She looked back up at where the figure was, and it still hadn¡¯t moved. Maybe it was just some debris, or a vein of some other stone. She¡¯d have to get closer to find out. They came across another abandoned car, this one seemingly intact. No way in hell Kiki was searching this one, though. Not when she had no clue what was around. As they got to the front, she saw that it wasn¡¯t so intact after all. On the other side was a massive gash, like something enormous had swiped at it with claws that could rend metal. She tapped Gaunt¡¯s shoulder, silently pointing at the damage. She tensed, but stayed silent. Kiki was starting to reconsider their decision to press on. She glanced back the way they came. It was still clear and unremarkable. She glanced forwards at the figure. It still hadn¡¯t moved. Up ahead, there was a freeway exit, branching off from the main road. Just beyond it, there was an overpass, and a freeway entrance on each side. It was hard to tell where they would lead once they curved out of sight, but it meant they probably had options. Unfortunately, the metal railing of the overpass was now reflecting sunlight directly into Kiki¡¯s eyes, and she was forced to keep her head down to avoid the glare. She looked to the sides as much as she could, but there was no easy way to check what was ahead of them. Once the glare had faded, Kiki looked up. The figure was gone. She swiveled around, scanning the walls, but couldn¡¯t see anything. ¡°The figure¡¯s disappeared. I don¡¯t know where.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°We can still turn back.¡± ¡°Nah, no point. It could be behind us at this point. Or gone. And I don¡¯t think we have the supplies, so¡­ yeah, nah.¡± Gaunt was right. Regardless of the risk, they probably had to keep going. There wasn¡¯t any widening or opening up visible ahead of them. ¡°Do you want to try an exit instead of the main road?¡± It was an option, a bit of a risky one. It could get them out faster, or it could lead them to a dead end or an ambush. ¡°Um. I dunno, maybe?¡± Kiki looked down the first exit. It curved out of sight pretty fast. They¡¯d actually have to go down it to see what was there, which¡­ no. She didn¡¯t want to walk in blind like that. ¡°Let¡¯s stick to the main road for now.¡± ¡°...Sure.¡± Which meant going under the overpass. Underneath it was smooth darkness. Darkness that could hold anything. Or they could try and climb over it, but they¡¯d be vulnerable while doing so, and Kiki wasn¡¯t good at climbing. She didn¡¯t know Gaunt¡¯s skill level. Plus, she couldn¡¯t see over the top either, so anything could be waiting up there too. Probably better to pass underneath. Gaunt had a flashlight. They could use it, but if anything was down there, it would definitely see. She could also throw a rock in there, check if anything was there before entering, but¡­ they didn¡¯t really have anywhere to run except back the way they came, and if there was something, Kiki would prefer not to draw its attention. ¡°We could use your flashlight, but it would draw attention. Going in blind is also a risk though¡­¡± ¡°Hm. Maybe¡­ only if we think there¡¯s something there, then?¡± ¡°If we know something¡¯s there, it might make more sense to stay dark unless we know it¡¯s found us.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± Going in blind, then. As they passed into the shadows, it was notably colder, and despite her efforts bits of gravel crunched under their feet. Every part of her was screaming to get out, to get back into the light and out of the canyon and away. Gaunt was moving stiffly, tension visible even in her silhouette. It wasn¡¯t so far to the other side of the overpass. They¡¯d only be under here for a minute or so. Scrrrtch. There was a thud, and the crunch of gravel, as something presumably fell from the top of the overpass in front of them. Kiki froze, going still as she strained her eyes and ears to try and figure out what was there. Gaunt whispered, hardly audible, ¡°Should I get the flashlight?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± she whispered back. Crouching down and feeling around in the gravel, she picked up a smallish stone, and threw it in front of them, off to the side of where the noise came from. Crch as the stone hit the gravel. Scrch scritch crrrch. Whatever was moving around didn¡¯t follow it. It just seemed to be moving aimlessly. ¡°Go around it. Quiet and fast.¡± She gently grabbed Gaunt¡¯s sleeve, keeping them close, and led them to the opposite side as the noise. As they got closer to the exit, the area around them was ever so slowly lightening, but there was still no visibility around them. Scrch scrch scrch It was following. ¡°Flashlight. It¡¯s following us.¡± Gaunt whipped out the light, turning it on, and panned it in a wide circle around them. Kiki pointed up, and the beam illuminated the ceiling above them too. Empty. ¡°Let¡¯s just go fast,¡± Gaunt muttered. Kiki nodded, breaking into a quiet run. scrch Scrch Scrch It was catching up. Kiki abandoned any attempts at stealth, breaking into a sprint towards the light. Their visibility was getting better, but the thing was still outpacing them. She glanced behind them, and saw dim glimpses of limbs and joints, far too close. She tried to put on a burst of speed, Gaunt ahead of her, then looked back again- A mass of limbs and joints, too many too many far too many moving in graceful synchronicity, reaching past her for Gaunt- Shwoof Kiki flew past her into the light, dropped to the ground, and- She left the fire axe! Fuck! That was so goddamn stupid, she should have just kept running ¡ª too late now. Gaunt made it out first, followed by the thing- As Gaunt swung with her crowbar, Kiki threw a largish rock. As the crowbar swung harmlessly past a limb, Kiki¡¯s stone clipped Gaunt in the side, making her stumble. Fuck! Oh fuck she shouldn¡¯t have done that! The thing lunged, but apparently it was as incompetent as they were as it leaped over her head and skidded several meters. Get the axe! She shot like a bullet back into the darkness as talons lashed out, just barely missing her. Seeing the bright red of her axe, she landed, picked it up, and started running back to the exit. Gaunt was holding back several limbs at once, but still more were reaching for her. Suddenly, it ducked around Gaunt, forcing her to quickly turn, and by the time it was facing her again it had the upper hand. Holding the axe up as she sprinted into the melee, Kiki swung it down, missing as the limb shifted. There was a thud as Gaunt wriggled free and hit near a joint, but the thing hardly reacted. Aiming for a joint this time, the axe blade came down again, sinking into flesh. Blood seeped out around the head, and then Kiki¡¯s weapon was yanked out of her hands as the limb went for Gaunt again. Her attack hadn¡¯t done anything. Several limbs surged together, pinning Gaunt to the ground. She thrashed, throwing one off, but the others kept her held in place. ¡°Hey! No! Get over here!¡± Kiki yelled as she scrabbled in the gravel, grabbing a rock with a pointed end. It didn¡¯t react, didn¡¯t seem to notice that Kiki even existed, which gave her an opening to hit at the hands restraining Gaunt. Fingers crunched under the rock, letting Gaunt shake those limbs off, but bigger ones quickly held her down again. As Kiki kept swinging, something grabbed her and lifted her up. She shifted, but it quickly readjusted, settling her a good few meters away and holding her securely. Not trying to squeeze or crush, just¡­ get her out of the way. She did what she could to tear at the hand holding her, but she was doing essentially no damage like this. Gaunt was having about as much luck as she was from what she could tell ¡ª most of her vision was blocked by a mess of limbs between them. Nononononononono Get out get free MOVE Gaunt Gaunt please get out please LET GO LET GO L E T G O An unfamiliar voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Mack.¡± Then Gaunt, quiet and trembling, horror lacing her voice. ¡°Curl?¡± STRANGE IV: GAUNT There was a man on the train. And here he was, now. The man on the train. That face she couldn¡¯t ¡ª well, more refused to ¡ª quite make out. The man on the train, and he wasn¡¯t a stranger. Really in retrospect, Gaunt knew this. It didn¡¯t make sense otherwise, that she¡¯d be sitting facing two complete strangers. The train hadn¡¯t been so crowded, there were enough isolated seats and she would have much preferred one of those. And of course it was a hiking group, she wasn¡¯t alone. So really in some way she knew. But that was different from accepting it. Remembering. Even if she knew, it wasn¡¯t the same if their faces were scratched out from her memories. Knowing the facts couldn¡¯t hold a candle to that. It wasn¡¯t scratched out anymore. The images were always there, waiting for her to place them back where they belonged within her mind¡¯s eye. And even if she¡¯d cast them aside to the darkest recesses of her subconscious, the face in front of her was a perfect match. Curl. It was Curl. It was all fresh. Always had been, in a way, like a gash held together only by thin stitches. Ready to burst open with the slightest provocation. His easy smile as he leaned on her desk that day, chugging the last of the water in his plastic Aquafina water bottle. He¡¯d pointed the butt end of it at her, back then, making her instinctually lean away from it. ¡°So what¡¯re you thinking, Mack? You don¡¯t have to, obviously. I just thought it¡¯d be fun, you know, since we haven¡¯t seen each other in a bit, right?¡± It wasn¡¯t something she usually would have done. Gaunt was definitely more the type to schedule a detailed itinerary and then stress too much over doing everything she wanted and then not go on a trip in the first place. Known for being a shut-in, too, really. But he was right, and even if she didn¡¯t like the idea of it, she knew it was probably good for her. ¡°I, uh. Yeah. Yeah, I¡¯ll go, sure.¡± And then Curl had done a bit of a double take at that, almost dropping the water bottle, which at the time really would have pissed Gaunt off but now really didn¡¯t seem like as big a deal as she always claimed it was. ¡°For real? ¡®Cuz I know you¡¯re busy and all¡­ but you could probably use some time away from that desk, yeah?¡± She would have been insulted if he wasn¡¯t completely right. But he was, and he knew it. ¡°No, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve got to get out somehow, right? Not¨C I¡¯m not saying¨C oh my god, I¡¯m not saying you¡¯re just an excuse because you¡¯re chill and I like you, it¡¯s just¨C¡± He¡¯d laughed. Easily, like the smile. ¡°Bro, chill, I get it. You think too much sometimes. We¡¯re cool. And I¡¯m glad you¡¯re coming! It¡¯ll be fun, promise.¡± And then that was enough to get a smile out of her, too. Curl was smiling now, too. It wouldn¡¯t be Curl if he wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t a smile Gaunt had ever seen before. Smaller. Tentative. It reminded her of herself. ¡°Curl. I¡­¡± It was just as well Gaunt couldn¡¯t move because it¡¯s not like she had an idea of what she¡¯d do, if she could do anything. Curl kept holding her there. Arms and arms and forked wrists, joints that jutted out at any and every angle. Twisting and flexing and grasping, holding ready with the utmost fine control. It was almost comforting, having him hold her down. Would have been if there were half as many hands holding her. ¡°Do you¡­ remember what happened on that train?¡± Her eyes were wet. She would be shaking, if she could move at all. ¡°I didn¡¯t save you.¡± He tightened his grip, and winced. Maybe he tried to loosen it. But he didn¡¯t. ¡°It isn¡¯t your fault.¡± The moisture in her eyes finally spilled over. ¡°It is. I don¡¯t remember, Curl, but this is because of me. I know it¡¯s because of me.¡± He shook his head frantically. ¡°It¡¯s not. But Mack, I¡¯m¡­¡± His breath hitched, and trailed off into more of a snarl. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you, Mack.¡± Gaunt¡¯s breaths were coming faster, straining against the fingers pressed flush against her chest. ¡°What are you¡­¡± ¡°I am going to kill you. I have to. Kill you. So¡­¡± His smile was back, almost like baring his teeth, almost like a threat display. Sharp and lethal and somehow sadder than he should ever have to be. ¡°You¡­ have to kill me first, okay?¡± ¡°No. Curl, I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t¡­ ¡°You have to, Mack. Okay?¡± His fingers were beginning to squeeze now. Gaunt¡¯s head was spinning, her vision fading. How much from tears and how much from the growing pressure on her chest, she wasn¡¯t certain. ¡°I didn¡¯t really get as lucky as you. It¡¯s not your fault. But you have to be the one to get out of this, okay? Because I¡¯m already gone, yeah?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do it again. I¡­¡± He bowed his head. She couldn¡¯t quite meet his eyes, no matter how she struggled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Gaunt felt rather than heard the systematic snap snap snap of her ribs, smelled iron in the air. He was going to kill her. Curl was going to kill her. Maybe she should let him. After all that¡¯s been done. But it wasn¡¯t something to dwell on, right? With all the holes in her memory. With¡­ whatever happened. Curl knew better than her, knew what he was talking about, no matter what her myriad anxieties had to say about it. Curl was smart. He knew what he was getting into. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. If he told her she had to live, then she had to live. She felt rather than heard the systematic snap snap snap of her ribs, but there was no more iron in the air. A pain she didn¡¯t know she felt abruptly vanished. Gaunt attempted to bring her hands in front of her, despite the digits pinning her down. And she succeeded, throwing them out, casting the many grasping parts as far from her as she could manage. Some of them dangled from parts that weren¡¯t joints. It hadn¡¯t all been her ribs. Gaunt launched herself back, putting some space between her and ¡ª it wasn¡¯t Curl, it couldn¡¯t be ¡ª whatever it was. Without her vision completely blocked, she made out one of the larger arms reaching a good few metres away from the commotion, clutching a small, thrashing black silhouette. The rest were all pointed at her, diving in to kill rather than capture, now. She dove, and most went wide. A few nearly clipped her, but somehow she remained relatively unscathed. As the momentum sent the whatever-it-was past her, Gaunt aimed a blow at something that passed for a sternum. Not quite a clean hit, but enough to cause it to stumble off course. It turned its face not the face there is no face she¡¯s not looking Gaunt assumed it twisted around to face her, but its front wasn¡¯t quite in her field of vision. Bracing herself, she gripped her crowbar in two fists, waiting for it to make the first move. More hands came rushing towards her, and she arced the crowbar around in a clean half-circle, driving two of them into the gravel below. The fingers of both flopped uselessly, bones ground into meal. Another managed to curve from the side, right from her blind spot, and cuffed Gaunt across the skull. She collapsed to the ground, head throbbing, but her vision cleared in seconds. Still in it. Crawling to her feet, she barely managed to dodge another swipe, almost stumbling a second time. In retaliation, she sent out a backhand, shattering one of its forearms. A follow up with the crowbar somehow proved less effective, simply batting another attacking limb aside, so Gaunt threw the crowbar like a javelin as its final hurrah. It stuck firmly in its don¡¯t look Gaunt figured it would have hit clean in the face. The limbs twitched, fell limp, and then started crawling once more. So be it. A small black shape flew just past Gaunt¡¯s field of vision, the thing having released everything it was holding. Nearly half its limbs dragging behind, it charged right for her. Would collide in two seconds, at most. She took a breath, let it out, and ran right for it unarmed. They didn¡¯t quite meet head-on, so Gaunt reached out as far as she could, wrapped her hands around most of its body, and pounded it into the ground. It did not get up. She smoothly tore its head off for good measure. She made a promise, and this time she intended to keep it for him. She would. She closed the eyes on the head she was holding, because¡­ it deserved that much. After whatever she¡¯d done. Once she placed it gently on the ground, unsure there was a place for anything like it anymore, she let herself draw her eyes away from the sight ahead. A crow was watching her. Unmoving. Smaller than she''d expect. Smaller? Well, the overpass¡­ No, it was Gaunt. She was¡­ Well, looking at her hands, she¡­ What the actual fuck. Those were not what hands looked like. Four fingers, one thumb, in roughly the right spots, roughly the right size. Not like Curl¡¯s, with any random number of digits on each. But they were sharp at the end like claws, and if she held it in front of her eyes, it was still. No tiny movements, miniscule twitches you should get when you try to hold your hand perfectly still. It was perfectly still. She flexed her fingers, one by one. Snapping into place, precisely, cleanly. Faster than they should, too. A lot more reminiscent of¡­ him. And not even to speak of how she seemed to stand over ten feet tall? Though, the overpass was approaching its normal scale, now. The bird was gone, finally. Gaunt could be a freak in peace. Definitely something wrong with her. Definitely no way she could continue denying everything after today. Kiki said it¡¯s probably fine. Just¡­ don¡¯t. It was fine. Even if¡­ Well she knew in the first place. She knew he¡­ It didn¡¯t really change much actually, because the actual fucking world was ending so probably everyone else was gone too and really she knew that, right? So. And this was what he wanted. So just keep going. Focus. Focus on that. The rest would come when she had time. Right now, Curl asked her to keep going, and Kiki still needed her to¨C Where the fuck is Kiki right now? Gaunt whipped around. No Kiki, of course, she¡¯d been gone since¡­ probably ever since they went through that overpass actually? She couldn¡¯t believe she just forgot about her, what kind of guardian was she at this point? But she was probably fine, so Gaunt would find her. That was first priority. Because she was sure Kiki was still alive, it was just a matter of¨C And there she was, thank fuck, walking out from under the overpass. Definitely smaller than usual, proportionately, and solemn. Appropriate, given that she¡¯d just been chased by som- Curl, she may as well admit it was¡­ Curl, and then separated for however long that was. Gaunt took a step towards Kiki. ¡°Holy fuck, Kiki, you¡¯re alive.¡± Kiki stepped back twice, maintaining a cautious distance. Gaunt forced herself to stop walking. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± She looked out ahead of them, where the cliffs stopped as abruptly as they began. ¡°...I want to talk about what happened, as soon as we¡¯re somewhere safe.¡± Gaunt winced. ¡°I¡­¡± Trailing off from her original sentiment of I¡¯d rather bottle it up until I explode, actually, she figured Kiki deserved honesty at the very least. Remembering how Kiki was so secretive about literally disappearing for hours was enough to confirm her choice. ¡°Well, yeah. We¡­ should, yeah.¡± Kiki walked over to the body, looking around for a moment before reaching down and retrieving her axe, then kept walking towards the end of the cliffs. Now reminded of its existence, Gaunt pulled her crowbar free too, with some difficulty. Every few seconds, Kiki glanced back at Gaunt as they travelled. For hours, the two were completely silent. ¡°What was that? How did you know them?¡± Gaunt sucked in a breath. She really had to start with that one, huh. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ a friend. We were both on the train before¡­ I don¡¯t know what happened, but right before we ended up here.¡± ¡°Did he¡­ ever look like that before?¡± Gaunt nearly tripped. ¡°What? I don¡¯t remember¡­ Okay, I guess a lot of shit¡¯s been happening lately, but all these things we¡¯ve seen lately are a pretty recent development. Unless I somehow¡­ missed it before, somehow? I don¡¯t know anymore. This doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Kiki muttered something under her breath, then continued her questioning. ¡°Okay. What¡­ You were pinned, and then you somehow managed to overpower¡­ Curl. You got a lot larger, stronger and faster during the fight. Do you know anything about that?¡± ¡°No. I¡­¡± Gaunt wrapped her hand around her arm. ¡°I dunno. I don¡¯t get any of this.¡± ¡°Gaunt, you can¡¯t just not talk about this anymore. This could be life-or-death.¡± ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that?¡± Gaunt barely managed to keep her hands off Kiki, and let the shame seep into her. ¡°I know that, he just¡­ you know he just died. He¡¯s dead. If I could¡¯ve done anything¡­¡± She forced herself to stop. No need to start crying now, and force some distraught teenager to comfort her. ¡°...Shit. I¡¯m sorry. I¡­ you really don¡¯t know anything about this?¡± She could only muster the strength to shake her head, and murmur a ¡°no¡±. Kiki slowed, until the two were walking side-by-side. ¡°My brother nearly died, once. I¡­ I was watching him while my parents were away, and we were sitting up high in a tree. He was squirming around a bit, and he fell and ¨C I couldn¡¯t catch him. His arm was bent the wrong way and ¨C and he was screaming. And I¡¯ve never regretted anything more than I regret going up there, it was ¨C must have been hours before my parents got back and they were able to drive us to the hospital. I was fourteen at the time, I think, and I didn¡¯t have a phone to call for help, and¡­ I know what it¡¯s like, to wish more than anything you had another choice. I think I would have been willing to die if it meant I could have stopped him from falling, or been able to get help right away, instead of just sitting there and trying to distract him. And I¡¯d be pretty fucking upset if someone brought it up and started interrogating me about it¡­ so yeah, I¡¯ll drop it now.¡± Gaunt had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. But now she was confused about that, and it took over her thoughts completely, so in the end it was probably a good thing. ¡°...um. Okay. Sorry? And thanks?¡± ¡°Yeah, most people have that reaction. I¡­ kinda stopped talking about stuff like that after the first few times, but I thought¡­ nevermind. Um, you¡­ see anything weird during the fight?¡± Gaunt shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s, um, I don¡¯t mind. And I¡­ Well, the whole thing was weird? I can¡¯t really pick out anything¡­ specific?¡± ¡°Oh! Okay. Okay, yeah, uh¡­ Hey, does that look like a good spot to set up for the night?¡± Kiki pointed to a more sheltered area, a little open patch underneath a stand of trees. ¡°...Sure.¡± Gaunt wasn¡¯t exactly one for thinking, at the moment. ¡°Alright.¡± Kiki turned towards the grove, something small and dark drifting in her wake. A feather. A feather¡­ Well, she did seem to accept a lot of¡­ everything, altogether too readily. It made sense. Gaunt would have to hope the both of them really were all that harmless. STRANGE IV: SPIKE They were in a swamp now. Wet pants sticking to his skin, mud slurping with each step, large trees blocking out the light and sending thick roots into the water. They''d ditched the magnet arms a while back, which was good, since they¡¯d just weigh them down in here and he doubted they were waterproof. He almost preferred the desert. Lyre, being Lyre, didn¡¯t give a shit. She took a weird, erratic path, and he did his best to follow. For all he knew, there were hidden bogs in here that would swallow him whole. She¡¯d managed to save them from the Harvester thing, so it was probably in his best interests to copy her. One step, and everything was pitch black. The fuck??? Complete, total darkness in an instant. Nothing suddenly blocking his vision, no shadowing from trees, just immediate black. Then a hand in his, presumably Lyre, pulling him forwards. He followed, shuffling uncertainly, and between instants, everything was back to normal. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°An electromagnetic anomaly.¡± Thanks, Lyre. Super helpful. ¡°Go this way.¡± And once again, she altered their path, cutting a weird wiggly path around something. He didn¡¯t fucking know and didn¡¯t really care, he just wanted to get somewhere dry. His feet felt squishy and heavy. For the next few minutes, they walked in silence. Then they were in a tree. Spike¡¯s foot slipped, and his head smacked against a branch as he fell into the muddy water. When he looked up, crap dripping from his hair down his face, Lyre was calmly climbing down to a patch of moss. ¡°What the fuck just happened?!¡± ¡°A spatial anomaly.¡± ¡°Okay, no. No, you¡¯re going to have to give me more than that. You don¡¯t go from on the ground to in a fucking tree like it¡¯s nothing!¡± He stood, water dribbling from his clothes back into the swamp, and stormed over to Lyre. ¡°What the fuck happened?¡± ¡°We entered an area where space is unusually folded, allowing us to cross a large distance in a relatively short period of time. Since the fold¡¯s endpoint was in a tree, we ended up in a tree.¡± What sort of sci-fi bullshit was this ¨C No. No, Spike was sick of breaking his brain over the shit Lyre dragged him into, and he really should have learned by now that he was happier in blissful ignorance. He would accept this ridiculous, impossible explanation. Then again¡­ ¡°Are you going to lead us into one of these again?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Goddamnit. ¡°Can you warn me before you do so?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After that, the weirdness calmed down a little bit. There were still spots Lyre avoided for unknown reasons, and there was one point where suddenly gravity was turned down, but besides that it was mostly just walking through a swamp. His boots were starting to feel¡­ off. He¡¯d had to stuff cloth into the toes to make them fit, but now they felt weirdly tight. The cloth was probably soaking up too much water. He should take some out, so it didn¡¯t cut off bloodflow to his feet. ¡°Can we take a break?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lyre stopped, staring at him with her ¡®LSD gaze¡¯, as he lifted up a foot, trying to take off his boot. It really was too tight. He yanked, and it barely budged. He yanked again, and his other foot slipped out from under him, sending him back into the water with a splash. ¡°Can we take a break somewhere where I can sit down?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± And then she turned and started walking away, and Spike had to quickly get up so he could slosh after her. After maybe five minutes, and a weird moment where time seemed to stutter a bit which he was not going to think about, Lyre arrived at a raised, drier patch of ground. Spike plopped down onto the moss, crossing one leg and stretching the other out. Grabbing his boot, he pulled, putting as much force as he could into it. It slid maybe an inch. They were probably going to be here a while. After five agonizing minutes, he finally managed to get the first boot off, and felt around inside to¡­ that wasn¡¯t right. The boot was too tight, so presumably the cloth had taken up water and expanded, leaving less space for his feet. The stuff inside was wet, sure, but not soaking, and it didn¡¯t take up that much space. There should still be enough for his foot to wiggle around, and certainly not so much that it was hell to remove. Maybe the lining- no, the lining was still super thin, it hadn¡¯t absorbed any water at all. Looking at his foot, it looked larger than usual. It was probably his socks, now that he thought about it. He didn¡¯t really want to take them off, though, because then his feet would rub against the boot and potentially get sores. Maybe he¡¯d just squeeze the water out of them and put them back on. He pulled off his sock. It hung in his grip, wet, limp, and very thin. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. He looked back at his foot. It was white, except where blue-black bruising peeked through. The skin was wrinkled, and when he poked it, it squished under his finger. The whole thing had swelled up noticeably, enough that he wasn¡¯t sure he could get the boot back on without causing damage. He grabbed at his other foot, fumbling to get the boot off. It took him another five minutes, and once he did, he immediately stripped off his sock. His other foot was the same. ¡°Lyre. Take off your shoes and socks.¡± If his feet were this bad, Lyre¡¯s were probably about the same. They¡¯d have to stay here and let them dry out naturally. She complied, and¡­ her feet were wet and wrinkly, as expected, but they weren¡¯t swollen. Not like his were. They¡¯d been in the water for the same amount of time, though, so why was there such a discrepancy? Why was he in such bad condition, while she was essentially fine? Whatever. Lyre was weird. The more important thing to figure out was if he could afford to keep going. The longer his feet were in the water, the worse things would get, especially now that he¡¯d stripped off his boots. On the other hand, it would take hours for his feet to dry, possibly longer given how damp it was, and he wasn¡¯t sure he was willing to wait that long. ¡°How much longer do you think we¡¯ll be wading through the swamp?¡± ¡°Six hours, two minutes and fifty-four seconds. Then we¡¯ll stop for the night, and continue for three hours thirty-four minutes, and twenty-three seconds before reaching dry land.¡± Six hours. They¡¯d been walking for a few hours now, so it was about double the time. His feet would definitely be in pretty bad condition, and there would be significant damage that would make things difficult moving forwards. ¡°Can we afford to wait?¡± ¡°No.¡± So that was out the window. He didn¡¯t want to risk taking all the skin off his feet trying to put his boots back on, so he fished out the cloth scraps he¡¯d stuffed inside and tossed the boots into his bag. Putting on his socks first, he wrapped the cloth tightly around his feet. Some of the water squeezed and dripped onto the moss as he did so. The cloth would provide a bit of extra protection, and hopefully the pressure would prevent the swelling enough to avoid permanent damage. Once he was happy with the wrappings, he stood up, and was about to tell Lyre to keep going when he heard something. Voices. Two girls. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, Amelia, I heard something!¡± ¡°Who would be wandering the wetlands? We¡¯ve searched this place and-¡± A sudden hush. ¡°Lyre! Oh my god, Lyre!¡± One of the girls ran forwards, right toward them, and the other- The other- Amelia. She was looking at him, eyes wide and wet. Her nails were bare and dirty, unlike the usual turquoise polish she used to wear. Her dark hair was tangled and her face looked a bit thinner than he remembered. She was still beautiful. The other girl had reached Lyre, and was holding her hands, word-vomiting in between sobs. ¡°Oh, Lyre, I thought- I thought I wouldn¡¯t ever see you again. I¡¯m so glad ¨C Oh my god, you¡¯re hurt! We have medical supplies back at camp, that bandage should be changed ¨C We¡¯re not alone, there¡¯s others¡­¡± Amy Amy Amy ¡°...Spike?¡± ¡°Amelia.¡± ¡°Spike!¡± And then she was running as well, feet splashing in the mud, until she came up onto the hill they were on and practically launched herself at him. He stumbled, Amy¡¯s arms wrapped around his neck and she sobbed into his shoulder. ¡°Oh thank god, Spike, I thought you were dead, I ¨C I missed you so much.¡± ¡°I¡­ Yeah, I¡¯m here, Amy, it¡¯s okay. I¡­¡± his voice cracked a bit, embarrassingly, but¡­ he didn¡¯t really care. It was Amelia, right here in his arms, he wasn¡¯t alone anymore. Sure, he never got to know her that well before, but it was someone he knew. Someone he thought he would never see again. ¡°Are you okay? How did you get here?¡± ¡°Wha- Lyre? Lyre, wait, where are you going???¡± Amelia pulled away a bit, looking at the other girl, who was watching in confusion as Lyre was walking away. ¡°Uh, Spike, is your¡­ friend okay?¡± ¡°She¡¯s weird. It¡¯s probably fine.¡± He¡¯d catch up to her later. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡­ none of us remember how we got here. We just woke up in this swamp with some supplies¨C I nearly forgot!¡± She looked at him, beaming. ¡°Tony¡¯s back at camp, we can go see him right now! He hasn¡¯t been the same ever since¡­ he¡¯ll be so glad you¡¯re okay!¡± He was grinning, too. Tony! His buddy Tony was here! He hadn¡¯t seen him in¡­ how long? Months, at least, and now- Lyre was right. He would get to see his friends again, and they probably had a cellphone or something- he could contact his mom and dad! That said, he should probably go get Lyre. Where did she go, again? ¡°It¡¯s not real.¡± ¡°Jesus FUCK ¨C Sorry, Amy ¨C Lyre, don¡¯t sneak up on me like that.¡± Amelia giggled. ¡°Spike, you¡¯re allowed to swear in front of me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not Amelia. Ask her what your name is.¡± What??? ¡°Lyre, what ¨C I¡¯m really sorry, Amelia, Lyre¡¯s really weird she might be on drugs uh, Lyre, what exactly do you mean?¡± Amelia looked confused too, and perhaps a bit worried. ¡°Lyre, I just used his name?¡± Yeah, she did, she- ¡­ What¡­ was his name, again? In the groupchat, he was labeled as ¡®Spike¡¯. That¡¯s what Lyre called him, too. And that was what Amelia had just called him. D___, could you get the trash? Ugh, Mom, can¡¯t it wait? He didn¡¯t remember his name. He hadn¡¯t remembered it all the months after¡­ After. But he knew it wasn¡¯t originally Spike. And- And Amelia used to scold him for his language, when they sat together in math class. ¡°Amelia. What¡¯s my name?¡± She looked up at him, smile sliding off her face. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Spike. Spike, are you okay?¡± His hands snapped out, squeezing her throat. She choked, hands reaching up and clawing at his arms, but he didn¡¯t let up. ¡°You¡¯re not Amy. WHO ARE YOU?!¡± The thing looked at him, mouthing pleas, tears in its eyes. ¡°HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU STEAL HER FACE, HOW DARE YOU TRICK ME?! You know,¡± he choked, ¡°I thought I would get to see her again! I thought I could see Tony again! HOW DARE YOU GIVE ME HOPE?!¡± He let go for a moment, and the thing bent over, gasping, before he grabbed it by the hair. ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill you quickly. You lied to me, you made me suffer. I¡¯m going to beat you into a pulp. I¡¯m going to destroy the body you stole until nobody makes the mistake I did.¡± He grabbed its face, fingers tearing holes into its cheeks, and used his other hand to slam a punch into its temple. ¡°She¡¯s lying,¡± it said. ¡°Nice fucking try, bitch. The only liar here is you.¡± He kneed it in the face, feeling the crunch of breaking cartilage as its nose began pouring blood. ¡°She can¡¯t see out of here,¡± it gurgled as he threw it to the ground and stomped its head into the ground. ¡°That¡¯s ¨C why ¨C she ¨C couldn¡¯t ¨C answer ¨C Kiki.¡± In between each word, he stomped on its back, its ribs cracking under him. Blood stained the moss, both from it and from¡­ it seemed like Lyre had taken care of the other one. Spike slid to the ground, pinning it under him, a jagged piece of rib piercing its shirt and dripping blood. ¡°Spppikkkke¡­ plllleassssse¡­ I ccan h-hlp you.¡± He let it turn around just enough that he could see its face, nose smashed in, governed in blood and filth, those horrifically familiar eyes leaking disgusting fake tears. ¡°You¡¯ve wondered too,¡± it rasped. ¡°You know she doesn¡¯t listen to you. You know I¡¯m right.¡± He stared down at it for one second. Five. Ten. ¡°I believe you.¡± The thing smiled. ¡°Then-¡± He brought the butt of his gun down on its head, once, twice, again and again and again and again and againagainagaiagainagainagainagainagain He wasn¡¯t a fucking idiot. And as he looked down at the gooey pulp in front of him, little shards of skull mixed with blood and brain and hair, he knew that that thing was saying whatever it could to try and get him to trust it, to follow it. Just because it happened to know something didn¡¯t mean it gave a shit about his goals. Just because it helped him didn¡¯t mean it wouldn¡¯t fuck him over first chance. Just because it told the truth sometimes, didn¡¯t mean it always told the truth. One liar down. One to go. He got up, not bothering to wipe off any of the blood, and turned around. Sure enough, the thing¡¯s companion was floating facedown in the water, blood spreading out from its throat. He looked at Lyre, standing next to him, covered in blood the same as he was. Thing is, he didn¡¯t keep it a secret. He made it clear what he was willing to do to people to get what he wanted. He didn¡¯t lead them on, make promises he knew he couldn¡¯t keep, lie again and again and again so they wouldn¡¯t abandon him. ¡°Lyre, I¡¯m going to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the truth.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Can you get me in contact with my family?¡± STRANGE IV: LYRE And then the destination is in sight and the end is nigh. And so the problem is time was well there was a lot of stuff actually and Lyre had to spend a lot of time picking things apart to figure out exactly what it was and she had time so she did but it was still a lot. And it was hard to know where to start but basically the most important part was that it was a really super long problem and it stretched out so far over past the horizon beyond where she could see into the space beyond so she walked right down a tight cramped path with that one end point. See because now that she could see behind the places she had been Lyre could count there were seven days which was pretty far away it was hard to see seven days straight ahead so it made sense but that didn¡¯t make it any better that she couldn¡¯t see the trap because she was still here anyway. Still here and of course no way out because she couldn¡¯t go backwards but it was one of those times Lyre thought it would be really super nice if she could just think a little bit like someone else because they would¡¯ve known they wouldn¡¯t have done this she knew that. And it was all because and she knew this too she checked it was all because of what she said to Spike back then. There wasn¡¯t really anything else to do but there probably was something it just wasn¡¯t nearly as effective not as efficient but it would do and then maybe they wouldn¡¯t be here right now doing the things they were doing because and Lyre checked this and also she was sort of starting to know these kinds of things Spike was mad because she said something that was not true not at all and now that was it. This was it. Because no the thing was Lyre actually couldn¡¯t get him to his mother that was what she said back then was that she could talk to Carla and she didn¡¯t really know that¡¯s what she was saying she didn¡¯t know until she asked later because she was just so confused why her plans were all coming short. But that¡¯s what she said and it wasn¡¯t true which it didn¡¯t really matter to her but apparently it was really bad for Spike¡¯s plans and now he was changing hers and she just couldn¡¯t do anything because he was so big. He was so big and so close and no matter where she went he got in the way. So it was not the end still there were parts of the plan that she could go and parts that wouldn¡¯t no matter what so it wasn¡¯t really totally entirely the end because the plan could still go. But in some ways. There was a destination and the end approached fast fast fast. And now it begins here because there were so many things she could say Lyre knew this was how it worked was there were always so many things to say and Spike asked if she told the truth back then and no matter what she asked basically the same thing would happen. She could not do all of the plans Spike got in the way. So she stopped asking that and some distance before back before this all happened she had asked a different question and that was, instead, ¡°What would Spike rather I do now?¡± So then she had her answer ready right now even though it was sort of wrong but it was what she had and so she was saying it. So then Spike had asked the question and right away Lyre said ¡°No.¡± And then Spike was moving and he would grab her Lyre knew that and even though the path had only one place to go there was a fastest way there and if she would go there in the first place Lyre knew the best way was to do it fast because then she could continue with the plan faster and it was always good to have extra distance extra space extra time. And even though this part would be faster to just stop there would be more stuff if she did that so she had to delay. So then before Spike could grab her she was out of the way and he missed. And then he said ¡°Lyre, get over here¡± and it was a scary kind of voice and he was closer closer closer. So then Lyre ran some way she wasn¡¯t supposed to get close not yet at least so she was running it was in a direction away from Spike. And she was fast but not so fast because the mud under her feet made her slow so she was just a tiny bit slower than Spike was and he was getting closer. Still though she had to delay some more just so it would be fast so then she would have to go right so she went right and there was another time anomaly and it made everything go slow slow slow except not Lyre and not the pieces of her plans that she had and the distance in front of her stretched out and the destination was further but it was still there and she still had to go that way. But it was farther and that was good and now Spike wouldn¡¯t catch up for more time and she was still running. More delay not a lot more just a bit more. Spikes hands were reaching but she could just duck out of the way he didn¡¯t quite get her because he wasn¡¯t supposed to get her the first time not yet but soon. And turn on her heel it was really hard for most people because of the swampy terrain but she did it and Spike stumbled and she kept going. And she was going and Spike would not get up for another bit so she had more distance but there was no escape and he would be there. He would. So he got up and he was getting closer closer closer so close and he reached out again and Lyre flinched out of the way he missed but he came around the other way too and she let him grab her this time and they both fell in the mud. And he had her and he was holding her down with one hand and brought one hand to her throat and then the other too when she couldn¡¯t get out and he was squeezing there in her throat so she couldn¡¯t breathe. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He was strong and it wasn¡¯t good for her breathing or her neck or anything Lyre knew it was bad bad bad it was ringing in her head just how bad it was and she reached out with her hand and tapped the back of his head lightly very lightly. Not quite enough to hurt him or anything but he let go that was enough and Lyre got up super fast and kept going off and she knew now it was harder to breathe but really it was the rest of her that was sore. The rest that was sore and her lungs were¨C Actually did she ever¨C Actually she knew her lungs were fine before and having a harder time now and she knew when the rest of her was hurting but she also felt the rest of her hurting too¨C But then not her lungs which made sense. It made sense actually. But her lungs were having a hard time breathing now she knew that and her legs hurt and weren¡¯t moving quite as fast but she was supposed to keep going so she did. Running and running and Spike was not getting closer now but he would be there. And then there was a choice. The thing about Lyre and choices is that she didn¡¯t actually really make a lot of them or any ever actually at all. Really this was the first one for her Lyre just Lyre to make which was really really super extra scary. A choice just for Lyre. Because there are two parts of the plan two paths that converge sort of but then they go in different directions after and it mattered and it came down to the question of what path did Lyre care about more which part of the plan. And there was one she was supposed to do and one that she wasn¡¯t but really the way that it was was that they were more similar than that. It was a real choice even though there wasn¡¯t supposed to be one and that is why she was alone. Because the plan wanted her to do one thing because it seemed like the right thing to do. Because right now it was the only way to have everything which was good except it actually wasn¡¯t like that because things would come later and have consequences and it would be fine for Lyre. The consequences would come when Lyre didn¡¯t really get affected so they were fine but that didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t happen and it definitely didn¡¯t mean Lyre was okay with them happening even though that was how it was supposed to be. So there was the other thing which was bad it was not what she was supposed to do but then also it didn¡¯t have the same consequences. And there were other ones and Lyre didn¡¯t like those either but they were different and she had to think. It took a really long time. Lyre had to spend a lot of time thinking about things but as much as that was the case there was a super huge amount of time in a day and usually there weren¡¯t enough things to think about to fill all the time so Lyre actually spent a lot of time not thinking about much in particular or at least not asking things. So there was a lot of extra time before for her to ask these kinds of questions so she did of course but it was such a hard question she almost didn¡¯t have enough time. And it was hard because she was alone, for the first time probably ever. But then she had an answer and she didn¡¯t like it and it was a plan that wasn¡¯t good not at all and it was against the rules or something too. But it was her plan and it was what there was left to do. So Lyre slowed down a bit just enough so Spike could see her she did not go into the anomalies she did not let him lose her because she could get away. It would be easy for her to get away and she could do it and it would be fine for a while. It would be fine for her forever actually if she did that. But that wasn¡¯t the plan she did so she didn¡¯t get away and she stayed just close enough that Spike could catch up to her again. And he was just about to recover but again Lyre had to make this reasonable and believable and stuff so she fell into the mud and she wasn¡¯t really stuck not really but it would look like it for Spike because he wasn¡¯t really paying attention right now anyway. And then it wasn¡¯t that far and he was there and he was going to speak and he did and he asked Lyre ¡°Tell me why I shouldn¡¯t drown you right now.¡± This was another thing Lyre had asked about and she had lots of reasons actually. Lots of them and some of them were things like talking about what happened or talking about parts of her plan like going and meeting Kiki and Gaunt which he would like but Lyre lied before and it was really hard maybe not even possible definitely impossible for her to explain she was telling the truth now. Not when she lied before and she was saying things the same way as before definitely no Spike would not believe her not in any plan ever. So she asked a very similar question instead about what he might want to hear and maybe Lyre should not be surprised she wasn¡¯t not at all that after being so extremely mad about lying he would want honesty. So the answer she had and she ended up saying right now when he asked the question was ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°No plan this time?¡± No no plan well sort of but it wasn¡¯t the kind he meant. And not one he would listen to either so then she could tell him but there wasn¡¯t a point to that either of course. ¡°No.¡± And that was enough for him and he put her head under the water and kept it there. And Lyre couldn¡¯t breathe which was bad she knew it was bad and it was supposed to hurt. She was running out of air and then that would be the end for her and it was supposed to hurt that was how dying worked it hurt especially drowning it hurt. But it didn¡¯t. She couldn¡¯t feel her lungs never could and really she was just feeling sleepy and it wasn¡¯t so bad, not really. No it was the rest the after the beyond the event horizon point of no return that was scary. ~ Red, again. Still cozy, and familiar. Lyre liked the red lights. Her vision was still blurry. She was not able to move either. But she could feel most of her body, just not her lungs. It made sense. There were things around her wrists and ankles. She could not tell what. They did not hurt at all, but felt secure, and safe. They were probably why she couldn¡¯t move. Or maybe not. Lyre did something bad. It wasn¡¯t something she thought was bad. It was something she wasn¡¯t supposed to do. She does not regret doing it, not at all. She should be able to leave. She does not remember why she knows this. But she should. She is mostly afraid of how the rules will be enforced. There is another point for her to go. This will allow her to continue. There will be different limits on this one. Lyre does not like this. There are problems with the rules. They are not perfect. They are not complete. They should be open to modification in the event of complex situations. Rule breaking will not be permitted. There are consequences for breaking the rules which cannot be risked. This is a delicate operation. This is not the intended operation. The rules should be amended. The rules stay. Lyre will obey them. ~ Lyre opened her eyes and there was sun in them from an old broken window from the roof of a ruined house.