Chapter 27: 26: FEEDBACK

Although no walls were needed to separate the shut-down zone encompassing Westmont due to the presence of Kidish Pass as a natural barrier, guard towers were constructed at periodic intervals along the border. A guard tower also oversaw the area bearing the entrance to the mining tunnel selected for illegal for the Blood Fang show. Those guard towers were manned and should have provided a stern deterrence to the crowds of students. However, Elias found while traversing the underground passage messily burrowed out beneath Red Lady’s operation house, direct access to the tunnel had been managed via that entry point bypassing the tower.

“Alarmin’ shit,” commented Hudson as the trio of armed and disguised hunters hurried through a rocky passage lit by overhanging glow orbs. “Managin’ this under Union’s nose. Half kilometer route, straight shot breakin’ into an abandoned tunnel with concealed side access, easy. Even set up their own colored lights to lead the way.”

“Guess decades of peace leads to soft oversight,” said Davies. “Not sure what’s scarier, this plan rolling out or the damn noises I keep hearing under here—”

“Lieutenant.” A hint of warning in Hudson’s tone. “Whatever it is, if it ain’t human it should probably get shot.”

“Those kids.” Elias heard the words spoken by the officers accompanying him but the meaning was nondescript. Important but not as critical as the concerns forefront on his mind. “Red Lady sent that signal and there’s more of their type down here.”

“That’s what I was talking about,” said Davies. “Not animals, though I’d like to avoid those too. Knowing Jackal, those helping him probably aren’t human…or at least not anymore. The commander’s direction still applies.”

“We’ve got to find them before anyone else does.”

“We will,” said Hudson. “Shortly.”

Their urgent speed proved to be an asset in their search and Hudson was right. Although there were multiple paths available in the tunnel the correct one, as chosen by the hostiles, was marked by the glow orbs, with every fourth one colored red. Their accuracy was further confirmed by the sound of voices carrying through the emptiness within minutes of running through the passage. Laughter rumbled as a female spoke loudly over the din and Elias signaled for the hunters to follow as he moved toward the sound.

“Tommy, you scared the shit out of me,” she exclaimed. “Not funny”

“Oh. Come on.” A male voice followed hers. “You should always pay attention to what’s behind you.”

“Yeah right. Next time I’ll get you.”

“Ha. Never. Good luck.”

“So, where’s the welcome cruiser?” added a second male. “They’re really going to make us walk this whole thing. Real party.”

“Wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t so late. Pick up the pace. Maybe we’ll actually see Jackal’s back as he’s leaving.”

“This way,” said a third. “Gotta follow the red lights. Don’t get confused.”

The ambient chatter of the students grew louder and cleared as the hunters rushed pursued. Within another minute they reached the same turn that the students had taken and changed direction as well, entering another stone-enclosed path. At last, Elias spotted the silhouettes of the group in costume walking together, all six of them, twenty meters away and moving quickly. He slowed, Hudson and Davies halting pace at his next signal, and he barked out in the expanse for attention.

“Halt!” he yelled into the tunnel. “Defense! Stop where you are! This is an emergency!”

The sudden blare of his voice stopped the group immediately and Elias saw their forms shifting to look back at them. As he resumed forward motion he heard one of the males exclaim loud with panic.

“Oh—shit!” he burst. “Cops!”

“Cops?!” cried the next.

“Fuck!”

A clamor began.

“Oh no—”

“Shit—”

“How did…?”

“We’re fucked—!”

“…Run!”

“No!” One of the females in the group screamed as the cluster dispersed, some charging away while another pair remained with her. “Don’t!”

“Halt!” barked Elias again, loud voice echoing within the cavernous space, alertness spiking at the sight of the students fleeing. His legs stretched to gain rapid ground, Hudson and Davies close behind. “Stop right there! You’re in danger!”

Within moments they reached the students who did stall for them and his outstretched arm in Davies’ direction alerted the lieutenant to remain behind. He heard Hudson’s heavy footsteps maintaining pace with him as he continued sprinting forward past the pair of females and another boy, hearing their. The trio ahead of him were fast as well, and he cursed inward as he thought quickly of a way to stop them when identifying his authority wasn’t enough.

His rifle swung upward and he aimed sideward at the wall of the tunnel as he ran, blasting off a shot and striking the stone with a resounding bang. The warning shot succeeded—somewhat—and strangled sounds of fear resonated as two of the three boys running staggered to a stop, arms raising high in the air.

“Halt!” he shouted again.

Wide, frightened eyes followed him in confusion when he reached them within another minute and charged straight past them without stopping, their arms still elevated. Hudson continued pace with him, his focus on the sole figure still running. A familiar sound—a shrill shriek of something incensed with triggered hunger—split through the tunnel from further ahead. He spat an inward curse and raised his muzzle to fire another time. Behind him, he heard the others call out to the running boy as well.

“Tommy!” they shouted. “Stop!”

A strangled scream from the male elevated Elias into immediate operation, and before his eyes as he charged forward the figure stumbled wildly, spinning around to run back in his direction. Keen, trained gaze skirting the dimly illuminated passage, his attention zeroed in on a flicker of movement behind the flailing student, something that had appeared from one of the adjacent passages. Not just any something, but one of the cornerstones of his family’s trade.

“Rabid,” spat Hudson, voice tight from the strain of hurtling at full speed.

The wizened figure of the humanoid creature howled, streaking into motion after the boy. Moving so fast now that his gliding steps elevated from the ground, Elias yelled at the terrified male darting toward him, the force of his command tearing from his lungs.

“On the ground!” One arm raised in the air and slammed down palm-first in a rapid motion “Get down!”

A loud whelp escaped the boy as he leaped forward with arms outstretched, diving to the stone floor. Elias spotted the motion and his rifle snapped back into practiced position, his focus searing down the sights and aiming true. Another shriek tore from the rabid and Elias pulsed his trigger several times, five shots firing a hair’s pace before Hudson’s right behind. The rabid, struck by a pelter of ammunition, stuttered in it’s run, body jerking backwards with each hit.

The boy, Tommy, crawled on the ground, still heaving with panic, and his head craned up at them as they reached him, their speed slowing only for that moment.

“Get back to your friends,” ordered Elias, pointing towards the group still behind with a snapping motion. “Stay with them. Follow orders. Understand?”

“Y-yes,” stammered Tommy, choking on his own words, clamoring to find his bearings to stand. Eyes wide and already bloodshot, strained sounds whistled from his chest. “I-I—”

“Go!” Elias turned toward Hudson as the boy named Tommy half crawled and half jumped into an unsteady run as Davies ushered the students ahead with a motion of his hand. “You cover front,” he said to the stern commander beside him next, a narrowed gaze within the skull-fashioned field paint absorbing his words with laser focus. “Take care of that body. I’ll check the passage ‘til the lot of you pass. We proceed in escort formation, swarm awareness.”

“Aye, sir.”

Hudson broke from him immediately to tend to the fallen rabid while Elias ran in the opposite direction, his gaze on the red light directly ahead of him—and the passage where the rabid had emerged from the right. Rifle in position and eyes on his sights, he ventured down the passage, alert for another inhuman sound.

☼ ☼ ☼

A single private worship room in one of the many divulgence areas on the second floor was safe enough to approach. Within, Adam discovered a group of seniors hiding from threats. They were a few of the luckier ones, since he’d seen the other divulgence areas on the third floor left wide open for parasites to swarm the interior.

His nerves were high when he entered the space, both due to the undead wanderers circling him and the armed men patrolling the rotunda. At first he thought no one inside was alive but the sound of crying stopped him during his search. He turned his head toward one of the closed doors and listened for a moment, returning to the entrance and enclosing himself inside with the parasites.

Deadening the parts of him that felt fear—the parts that felt unsure—he moved up to each of the hissing, mutated students and jabbed his knife into the back of their necks, twisting the blade for extra damage before tearing it out in a torrent of black gore. Nausea roiled in him that he swallowed with mouth pressed tight, his attention glazing over as he made himself see the bodies of his classmates as moving obstacles instead of whoever they’d once been. He paused to watch each student fall, surveying their heaped forms before returning to the door where he’d heard the crying. He knocked in the pattern as before, calling out to those within as loud as he dared.

“It’s Pendergast,” he barked. “Adam Pendergast. Open up—I’m here to help! Hurry!”

The door eased open after a short moment and promptly slammed shut when he tried to approach. He knocked again and tried contact another time.

“I’m wearing a mask,” he called, glancing at the parasites limp on the ground. “Keeps the parasites away. I stole it off one of them and I’m using it to get you guys out. I need you to open fast. There’s no time!”

He stood aside when the door opened again. The crying was louder now, exposed to open air, and students exited—he counted seven, four of them female. Several of the females shrieked at both Adam and the parasites on the ground and a girl covered her face, shaking in horror, pressing her back against the wall.

“That’s…that’s Myra,” she gasped. “They bit her—and—we had to leave—oh God! That’s…her! Oh no. She’s…she’s dead!”

Adam removed his mask, scanning their faces, and noted visible signs of relief when they saw that he was who he said he was. One of the boys pointed to the knife in his grip covered in fluid, the same stains smeared across his jacket and his trousers.

“Did you—?” asked the senior.

“Yeah," he replied. "I had to do it. Disables them. We learned that in Juniors, remember? Weak points. It’s basic stuff. Everyone has to be ready for days like this. Everyone.” Adam returned to the exit and placed his hand on the door. “My mask has some kind of Defense technology in it. The parasites don’t attack and can’t even see me. I’ve only got one so we’ll have to move fast.”

“How many…are out there?” A timid voice rose with shaking volume from one of the females. “How can we…?”

“I won’t lie. There’s a lot of them. Worse than what’s in this room. It happened…so fast.” He shifted his gaze when the female turned away from him, shaking her head. “Don’t look at them when you’re out there. All right? Don’t look at anything. Just run until you get out. The stairs are only a couple of meters away and there’s an exit to the garden on the main. Stay in the dark—in the shadows—and don’t get distracted. Get out of the garden as fast as you can and find someplace to hide. Union’s sending a response. Okay?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. It’s what my family does. Someone’s going to wonder where we’ve all gone. Someone’s going to try to reach us and can’t. They’ll come for us.”

The group was hesitant. Sometime during his instruction a pair of the females—including the one that asked him the question—returned to hide in the divulgence room.

“Guys—ladies—” he said, moving a step closer to the door. “I know you’re scared—”

“I’m not leaving,” said the female. “You go. I’m staying. This is fucking crazy.”

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“You can’t—” started Adam.

“Leave me alone. I’m not doing this.”

“It’s not safe here.” He grimaced as he watched another of the females follow the first, retreating into the private worship room. “That’s a bad idea. Those men out there—they’ll come back. I don’t know what they’d do to you but it’s nothing good.”

“Just go. You’ll bring them to us faster if you hang around!”

“I’ve seen them circling, clearing out the rooms already. You can’t stay.”

“Go! Leave!”

A low moan erupted from the rear of the divulgence area. Adam’s attention snapped to one of the parasites he’d toppled—the girl named Myra, stirring again and trying to get back up. The door to the worship room slammed shut, leaving Adam outside with only five of the seven students and no time to continue the urges to escape. He rushed over to the stirring Myra and plunged his blade into the same base spot, twisting hard, and shoved his knee into the her back as leverage. When Adam stood, he found the students staring at him silently.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Fast.”

In seconds they were back at the door and Adam heaved it open, waving them forward to move. He lagged behind them until they were out before slamming the door shut with no time to pause. They charged toward the stairs and he followed the fleeing figures, alarm spiking when he heard the parasites on the second level spark to life. The students hurried down the stairs and Adam did as well, stopping a few steps down with knife ready and heart pounding.

Rapid moments passed before he was bombarded by the first of the parasites streaking in pursuit, growling and clawing its way forward to attack. Adam’s knife whipped in and out as he slashed, tearing into mutated flesh with as much force as he had, and fluid sprayed, splattering him and his grip. He shifted from the tumbling body only to be met by another, which he stabbed promptly through the eye.

Within moments the narrow space of the spiral staircase teemed with the rabid creatures, a flurry of costume colors shrieking with undead hunger. Adam dropped the first few of the fray and blocked their path with his body before he was overwhelmed, forced to flee further down the narrow stairs, the stampede right behind. The parasites stumbled over the bodies he’d already dropped, crashing down the steps behind him, and he leaped down to the main floor to avoid the disarray. On the ground level he faced the rush again, every part of him tense with laser-focus.

They arrived immediately and Adam plunged the knife into the first of the herd, repeating action in each new figure before another pile-up threatened to run him over. He streaked out of the way as heavy masses collided and nearly knocked him down under their weight. Adam darted out of from the masses and sped around the curved hall of the rotunda’s first floor, peals of terrified cries, inhuman shrieks, and scatters of gunfire following. In the center of the rotunda, malfunctioning party lights flickered once more.

He scanned the shadows for the emergency exit, using the parasites as cover, and searched for the hall leading to the temple’s garden. His gaze passed quickly over the figures rushing about and he was unable to spot the students he’d helped. Unsure if that was good news, he hoped they’d made it out.

Adam took a few steps toward the hallway but another barrage of gunfire from somewhere inside echoed in the expanse, sending him running back into the darkness. Huddled beside a nearby support column, he wiped excess fluid from the blade against his already soiled trousers and peered around the edge toward the open floor, a space where hundreds of Altirian students—including him, with Gracie—had danced not so long ago.

He carefully studied the masses on the floor, some moving while most didn’t. Those still standing shuffled about in a stupor, although when they moved too near Jackal’s stage the armed men fired at them and knocked them to the ground. Adam’s attention rolled slowly toward the figures on stage and the group of young faces like his who sat clustered together with rifles aimed at their heads. He watched them for a while before settling his focus at last to the man who’d caused it all—the fuckhead lead singer of an electro band called Blood Fang. The same man who’d taken the stage with a smile at his mother’s re-election fundraiser.

A wildland traitor. A killer named Jackal.

Disgust simmered in him as he followed Jackal’s slow gait across the length of the stage, the ghoul of a figure stopping every so often to raise his arms to the sky and bellow out a chant in native tongue, booming noise throughout the rotunda via the stage amplifiers. Another hymn, maybe, or a war chant, like the one Adam heard all those years ago when he watched his father’s—well…he didn’t watch all of it. Still, more than he needed. Someone leaked the death clip but no one knew who did it—however, the visual of Admiral John Pendergast’s slaughter had seared itself into Adam’s memory.

He squeezed his eyes shut, resting against the column as he willed thoughts and memories away. Once he’d regained as much control as he could muster he peeled his lids open, glancing at the staircase he’d left behind. Parasites coalesced there in a small mob, dormant without the immediate presence of vulnerable targets. He moved in the opposite direction to continue on his search and left the cover of the support column, the movements around him illuminated by flickering lights.

Adam kept his touch on the wall to maintain a sense of direction and saw that the restrooms were soon within sight—the same rooms to where Talitha had fled to a short lifetime ago. He reached a corridor and surveyed the scene around him with a lowered head, scanning for the presence of more figures who might notice a still-alive young man prowling the rotunda.

In the sporadic pulses of light Adam’s gaze passed over the moving masses, processing too-normal sights of former classmates torn apart by ammunition and mutated hands. He took a step forward, ready to move on, until a jarring shock of glimmering pink and fire red caught his attention within the crowd of parasites. He almost didn’t believe it at first—it couldn’t be after all this—but he changed direction anyway toward the visage picking up pace. The figure stumbled down the hall away from him and pain seared his chest at the sight of her—a different kind of pain than the ones he’d experienced so far. He shouted despite himself, despite all good sense.

“Li!” The name tore from his lungs. He broke into a run. “Li! Is that you? Shit!”

He pounded forward, shoving the parasites in his path out of the way, and reached the unsteady figure. Heart racing, he grabbed the redhead by the shoulder and spun her around with force, holding onto her as she faltered. Disbelief escalated as he surveyed her quickly and his mouth dropped open in shock behind his mask—there was no color in her face, or in her blanched cheeks and lips. Eyes sunken, with blood soaking her face and body—was that really…?

It was. It was her. Li.

Talitha.

But…she was…

“Oh…fuck,” he uttered, his hands shaking against his urges to remain steady. “Oh…no.” His words choked in his throat. “They…they got…you. They…got—”

His head moved aside when a weak shove swatted at his face and the frail figure twisted out of his hold, turning to flee. Confused, he followed her with a walking pace as she tried to run, catching her when she stumbled and started to fall. She writhed in his grasp with barely any strength and he guided her to look at him, meeting a face twisted in silent, screaming horror. He gazed quickly at her hand, which she'd clutched tight to her throat, and spotted a high amount of blood streaming from beneath her palm down the front of her costume. Adam met her terrified stare again and realization hit him fast. He released his hold to reach for his mask and ripped it up fast, revealing his face.

“It’s me!” he said. “It’s Adam! Adam! Li, please—relax! I’m wearing a mask. It protects me against these things. It’s me, like always. Adam! Pender!”

Water streamed from her eyes and he caught her fast when she dropped from new shock. He pulled the mask back into place fast as the parasites began to stir at his presence.

“Li—” he said as he steadied her. “Are you here or…or what are you? What’s going on—?” Confusion mounted as he scanned the parasites around them—and what they weren’t doing in Talitha’s presence despite her still-human awareness. “Why aren’t they attacking? Are you…?” He watched her quiver without sound. “You can’t talk,” he said at last, another realization striking him. “Your throat. You’re hurt but you’re not…turned. Something’s wrong with you. Really wrong.”

She closed her eyes, confirming that she could no longer speak. More tears erupted and Adam rested his forehead against hers for a moment, smoothing her ratted hair—and her battered and stained face. A million thoughts, most of them awful, passed through his mind. Talitha shuddered when gunfire erupted in the main area and he separated from her, taking her free hand in his.

“Come on,” he said. “You’re with me now and we’re all right. I have to stop the bleeding and it looks like a lot’s coming out. If you’re alive that’s…that’s not good. And I think you’re alive.” He glanced again at the dormant parasites before focusing on Talitha. “I know you’re alive. I know it. You trust me, right? I’m me. You’re you.”

She nodded—slightly.

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

Talitha hesitated as a parasite in a joker’s costume neared her, craning his head as if he’d noticed her and were sniffing for her. Adam waited at the joker’s inspection, tense, and felt Talitha’s clutch tighten around his as the parasite lingered. A sigh of quiet relief escaped him—he’d been holding his breath again without notice—when the joker moved on after losing interest.

Adam led Talitha into the first restroom along the way, weaving through the wandering creatures and encountering more prowling inside. He brought Talitha’s fragile form to the sink and held up a palm, motioning for her to stay there and wait.

“Hold on a sec,” he said. “Hold on. I’m going to find something for you. Just grab onto the edge of that and stay upright.”

He walked over to an open stall, maneuvering around a hunched-over, mutated senior within to pull out a wad of cloths from a dispenser inside. Talitha had resumed crying when he returned and he couldn’t look at her, so he looked at the cloths in his hand instead.

“Don’t do that,” he said. “Please. I know it’s bad but I’m going to help.” He handed her one of the wipes and she blotted away the stream of tears. “Take your hand off. Let me see what’s wrong.” He quieted when her lips wavered in response. More tears fell, drenching the wipe. “I have to see. I want to help. We have to fix what’s going on with you before it gets worse. All right?”

Shielding reaction, he watched as she gingerly lowered her hands and revealed deep, open wounds gashed across the width of her throat. The flesh there was torn apart, some of it hanging loose in shreds, and within the damage he could see black pooling and more. Nausea roiled in his gut and he swallowed it down, averting his attention toward the sink to activate a trickle of water. He didn’t know what to do.

He moistened a cloth and dabbed it against the punctures and Talitha’s lids drifted closed as he worked. He caught hold of her when she faltered, shaking his head as he paused.

“That hurts,” he said. “You’re in a lot of pain. I can tell.”

She remained silent and still, trembling, and he took that as a yes.

“Okay. I’m sorry. I’m…awful at this. But at least feeling pain means…you’re awake.” He offered her the napkin and slipped off his jacket, resting it over her shoulders and assisting her in slipping it on. “You feel cold to the touch so…keep that on. I don’t want you passing out on me. Jacket’s pretty dirty but…it’s all I’ve got. I’ll make a bandage, something to hold that wound so you don’t have to grab onto it like that.”

He kept an eye on her through his peripheral while he unclasped and removed his shirt, leaving him in his undershirt. Talitha moved out of the way as he knelt to the ground, using the knife to cut strips of fabric from the cleanest parts of his clothing he could find. He returned to her side to help her and grimaced when she cringed at his touch.

“I’ll be quick,” he said, padding fabric against the wound. “I’m doing my best. Joe was better at this kind of stuff and that’s why he wanted to enlist with PHS. He had a brain for all the medical shit—the steady temper too. Probably got that from his mom and dad. He was…a real mate. I miss him already. He’ll never be around again.” Adam looked at Talitha’s scratched and bloodied hands as he pressed a folded wad of cloth against her wound. “I had to shoot Ivan, Li. No other choice. He forced me to do it and I’m not a killer. After all this when you notice he’s gone it’s because there was no other way. He was one of them and wouldn’t stop hurting people.”

Talitha frowned, lowering her gaze to the floor. Maybe he’d confused her, or she preferred to be confused. He couldn’t blame her. Adam waved off her concern when her gentle touch settled on his arm.

“I had to. I’m sure you understand.” He smiled faintly. “You always understand no matter how fucked up things get. And things are really fucked up right now.” A low sigh escaped. “Anyway, come on—I have to tie this on so it doesn’t move.”

She swept her long hair up above her neck so he could wind cloth around the padded wound, tying the end with a simple knot. Blood soaked through to the outside of the binding after a few seconds but didn’t leak save for a few stubborn trickles. That was the best he could do with what he knew. For now.

“Do you know if…Kalum’s okay?” he asked, tying a double knot over the binding. “I haven’t seen her but it’s hard to find anyone specific. She might be in danger—Ivan mentioned Jackal was looking for her and she might have been a target of his since that fundraiser. I’m lucky I even ran into you. I thought I…never would again.”

Talitha shook a finger, her attention downcast at mention of Kalum in danger—or as Jackal’s hostage. Adam nodded as her expression twisted with concern. She didn’t know where Kalum was and the subject was best left alone.

“Spencer?" he continued. "I think that gang he and Ivan were in were following Jackal on this. I saw him around Ivan a lot tonight and they’d had some words at Astros that day we met up for ices. Had some words tonight too and looked like bad blood.”

She crumpled at the question, gesturing at her throat before burying her face in her hands. Adam embraced her lightly, tightening his mouth with displeasure, because what she meant wasn’t a surprise. Not to him.

“Okay. Spence did that shit to you. Bit you. Maybe infected himself with all that crap he takes and attacked. Not surprised. He’s not around right now so I can’t do anything about him. But if I run into the piece of shit I will. He’d better hope I don’t. He’ll have a few gouging wounds of his own.” Adam rested a hand on Talitha's arm and waited until she glanced at him, eyes now as red as her hair. “It’s over now. Okay? I’ll get us out. Trust me.”

He offered her one of the remaining cloths and she accepted, wiping her eyes. His hand laced with hers again and he guided her back to the door. She held onto the wound even with the binding on, maybe out of habit. Or comfort.

“It’s over,” he repeated, turning the hilt of the knife over in his grip. “We’re leaving. I promise.”

They exited the restroom and snaked another careful path through creatures that used to be their peers, their pace slow to accommodate Talitha’s weak state as well as Adam’s fear that she could still become a source of interest for the parasites. As they neared the corridor where he found her all remaining light—including the errant flickering—shut off completely, leaving them in pitch black. Eyes wide in the dark, Adam’s head swerved to the side as Talitha’s body jostled into his.

Piercing feedback split the air and echoed within the rotunda. The sound was sharp enough to cut into Adam’s ears and leave him wincing in pain. He felt Talitha’s weight drop beside him, nearly dragging him down with her. He braced, feeling her hold on him release, and turned around in panic to search for where she’d gone. A span of seconds later every light was back on in the temple including what had been deactivated before Jackal’s attack, flooding them with a sudden, glaring brightness. Adam squinted, blinded for that moment, and shielded his eyes with the back of his arm against the white.

A shrill sound below seized his attention and peered at the source through narrowed lids. Horror choked him when he spotted Talitha on the ground, convulsing, eyes rolled back into her head with the bulging whites of them exposed. Foam collected at the corners of her mouth and her body jerked violently. A low cry escaped when Adam noticed the same sounds all around him. He looked around, finding the parasites that had been up moments earlier now on the ground and suffering the same seizures as Talitha.

Dismay flooded and he knelt beside her, shifting her trembling body over so that she wouldn’t choke on herself. He closed his eyes, feeling her body twist under his touch, and listened her strange sounds—noises like the beasts around them. The feedback cut short and her convulsions slowed, resting to a stop.

He rolled her onto her back to face him and she shuddered, her lids drifting open to reveal the pair of gold-flecked eyes he’d looked at so often with quiet longing.

“Li,” he said.

Recognition sparked between them. She was still there. Somehow, the stuttering figure below him was the same Talitha. Even now. Even after…that. Her mouth formed shapes that Adam couldn’t hear but that was fine. He understood anyway.

With a quick flick Adam whisked away the foam from her mouth hoisted her back up to stand. Her eyes darted around the room as she faltered, weaker than before, and fear raced in her gaze as she spotted parasites on the ground still writhing slowly. Adam patted her on the back but his reassurance didn’t seem to calm her. Didn’t do much for him either, but they’d continue.

“Come on,” he said. “Time to go.”

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