Chapter 26: Endemic: Part 4

Endemic: Part 4

From the start, he couldn't bear the pain in his chest.

He'd been forced out of the comfortable black car; otherwise he would have stayed there forever.

Above them, the sign read 'Santa Ivonne Clinic,' although it wasn't the entrance, but rather one of the emergency exits.

Vines Pall and Chase Termiane saw those letters.

Rousset, behind them, waited, sitting on the steps outside while she vomited, holding her injured arm. For some strange reason, it didn't hurt as much as it should have, but it was difficult to move, so she then tied her blouse around her neck like a makeshift arm sling.

The two young men moved forward into the clinic. They had a reason; they left Jevo, Earlene, Sopa, and Edher inside.

Still, it didn't stop Vines from feeling scared, for a different reason.

The rooms were in disarray, papers and furniture scattered on the floor.

"W-What...?"

And a body covered in black blood.

This majestic sight, like a piece of gore art, was upside down against one of the walls of the room, its arms drooping due to gravity. It was impossible to imagine how it managed to reach that spot without help.

It muttered.

"W-We'd better-----"

"Ahh!"

Vines' legs were already backing away on their own, leaving the room, if not for Chase's impediment and the voice they heard.

It was Earlene's voice.

"..."

Unlike Vines, Chase showed a more pained, confused, and sleepy face.

It was then that they both walked until they turned a corner of the rooms, almost colliding with an individual who suddenly appeared.

This turned out to be Edher, who was startled by a high-pitched scream.

"You..." Vines stammered.

She managed to recognize them but didn't say a word. Followed by her companion Sopa and the unknown man, they quickly drove on.

"Hey!"

When Vines called to find out what was going on, the trio managed to get into the car parked outside.

And they started it.

"H-Hey! Hey!"

The young Brawell and little Paul remained inside the car, but didn't do anything to stop it. The car accelerated and quickly disappeared.

"What the fuck? They're gone! They left us!" said the robust young man, holding his head in worry.

For his part, Chase continued on his way to truly understand what was happening.

A group of people desperately fled while the dark individuals stalked them.

They should have escaped silently.

It wasn't like that.

Dreamers. Many of them.

One of them nearly attacked Earlene, who, despite covering her mouth, couldn't help but let out a scream of horror at the tragedy unfolding around her, thanks to the greater desperation of one of the young men in the group, who made such a noise to draw attention away.

In this distraction, Jevo, carrying Cadie, tugged on Earlene's shirt as an indication to flee as quickly as possible.

The family accompanying them seemed relatively unharmed. In fact, they were ahead of the curve regarding the distance to the emergency exit.

Chase gave them space to cross the exit and flee in any direction they pleased, while he himself followed his companions to leave the clinic as well.

The comforting thought was simple: with the dawn approaching, the sun overhead, the Dreamers wouldn't chase them.

Apparently, they couldn't tolerate it. At least not when it came to traveling long distances.

"It can't be..."

A noise in the distance could be heard by everyone.

"Th-This isn't normal..."

With Cadie on his back, Jevo looked around.

Was his assumption wrong?

Maybe not entirely. The Dreamers at the clinic had made too much noise. What other explanation could there be?

Still...

"They shouldn't..."

Chase's group looked up, gazing out at the suburbs.

There were dozens of them.

Dreamers came from the alleys like animals responding to the call of their pack.

And the dawning sun didn't affect them at all.

Their eyes, dilated and bloody like an eclipse, were wide open.

Without any means of transportation, they didn't hesitate for a moment.

Chase, Jevo, Vines, Earlene, and Rousset began running in the opposite direction with all the strength their bodies allowed.

-[Ø]-

"A-Ah...! Ah! Gah!”

History repeated itself once more.

And the bird on the horizon watched.

“Ah! Ah...”

No. They made it repeat itself.

This city, Figuras, was no longer a safe place.

However, they couldn't escape it.

They were driven from place to place, wandering through every park and neighborhood, never with a chance of reaching the main exit.

There they were, trying to catch their breath in a vast wooded area. Due to its close location to the heart of the capital, the fog thickened to such an extent that their range of vision didn't exceed 10 meters, although the height of the tall trees did.

“Ah... Where are we?" Earlene asked.

No one had an answer.

The scene looked the same no matter which direction they looked.

"Just... Ah... I see trees..."

Stating the obvious, Chase noticed Cadie, the young woman Jevo was still carrying.

"Ah... W-What?"

"Nothing."

They were interrupted by a faint sound around them that made them buckle at the knees.

A woman. This time, it was the wailing and sobbing of a woman.

"..."

It was unbelievable. The wailing was getting louder and louder, and they couldn't see where it was coming from.

It didn't matter much. All they had to do was keep running.

So they did.

"Gh! Ah!"

In their haste and poor vision, Rousset had slipped.

"Tsk!"

With her one functioning hand, she tried to get up, only to realize she was standing in a puddle.

More than that, in front of them was a vast lake.

"Over there."

And a settlement on the other side of it. It looked like a large barn. Someone probably lived there, and if not, it would be a good place to take cover.

"Come on, man, let's go around this… AAAAH!”

In his peripheral vision, Vines managed to see an object leap toward him. Clumsily dodging it and with a high-pitched squeal, he managed to move out of its direction.

From its shape and size, it was clearly no ordinary insect or animal. Whatever it was, it had fallen into the putrid lake water.

"S-Shit!"

A woman's wails weren't heard again. Instead, multiple thin shadows appeared behind them through the thick mist.

It didn't take long for them to realize they were cornered. They had to decide; Fall back and undoubtedly be slaughtered by the approaching Dreamers, or continue forward and swim the lake to the barn with the thing lurking in its depths.

Approximately 100 meters separated them from the other side of the lake.

"(I-If they catch one of us, it wouldn't have time to reach the others... right?)" Vines thought, agitated.

Jevo was the first to dive in, despite still carrying Cadie on his back.

If he'd thought logically, he would have been right; being the slowest to move, he had to make up for it somehow.

But his cleverness had an effect on the rest of the group, and with some disgust, they all began to enter at once.

Although thick to wade through, the water was only about a meter deep, about a meter and a half at most. Even Earlene, the shortest of the group, could wade through without being up to her neck in water.

By chance, she glanced toward the shore until she noticed the Dreamers had stopped.

Earlene had the idea that they had stopped because they were considering the difficulty they would have crossing the lake. Somehow, this thought crossed her mind as she watched them gaze out at the lake.

They found themselves halfway there. 50 meters without a single stop, and the point of no return.

"Gps...! Gah!"

The member who took the worst of it was Jevo, after all. The depth was increasing, and with it the difficulty. His body, after traveling some kilometers with the added weight, was about to collapse. At that point, he was trying to gasp for air as much as he could.

"H-Help...! Gff...! Ah!"

Chase and Rousset were in the lead and couldn't hear him over the splashing.

Vines was a meter away from him.

He pointedly ignored him.

"Gh...!"

When Jevo was about to succumb, Earlene grabbed the vulnerable Cadie and pulled them both back.

She had no strength at all, and her fatigue was also noticeable, but it would be enough effort to get them all to the barn, without leaving anyone behind.

The last thing was out of her hands.

"A-AH!"

Without warning, an object was heard being submerged in the water.

When Chase turned to see what it was, one member of the group had undoubtedly been submerged: Rousset. The girl was dragged completely underwater.

"G-G-Guh!"

Aquatic plants, sand, hundreds of tiny fish... At just 2 meters deep, the mist within these waters was even thicker than that which permeated the land, making it difficult for any sunlight to reach.

Clearly panicking, Rousset flailed her arms as hard as she could to return to the surface. Her adrenaline level kept her from feeling pain in her broken arm, but she did feel like something was keeping her from leaving the lake, as if her leg were trapped, and it was.

There was nothing but darkness, and within it, Rousset could instantly make out something.

A face.

A woman's face. It looked dry, malnourished, and lifeless. And in this emaciation, her black eyes stood out. But judging by her expression, she looked more like a frightened animal.

Rousset kicked this face desperately, until the woman stopped all movement and just let herself float in the lake.

"AH! A-Ah! Ah!"

Coming out of the water and catching her breath, she saw that she was the last of the group still swimming. Chase helped her join them on dry land.

"Tsk! Gah! Shit..." Chase complained, sitting on the ground. The experience had woken him up from his drowsiness.

The outside was quiet; no Dreamers were in sight.

Without exchanging words, everyone knew they had to get into the barn as quickly as possible.

It was a sprawling, abandoned barn built of stone and wood. The smell of rotting fish, the tools on the cabinets, and the hanging nets indicated it was used for fishing.

The footsteps of their damp shoes echoed on the rotting wood. If someone lived there, they must have noticed them, but no one answered. It really looked abandoned, so they didn't bother calling the owner.

The barn was made up of multiple smaller, half-built buildings surrounding a cabin. The property was a large piece of land worn by weather and neglect.

“Ah... Ha...”

Jevo immediately entered the cabin and let Cadie rest on the first couch he found. Slumping down beside it, he relaxed in an attempt to regain feeling in his legs and back.

No one wanted to say a word to each other after what had happened for several minutes. Instead, they kept busy.

Chase looked through the windows to check for unexpected intruders, and leaned against the wall to regain his energy. Quickly shaking his head, he signaled to everyone that there were no Dreamers around.

“Chase, what now?” Vines asked. “Lock the doors?”

“Do you want to stay here overnight?”

“If you're asking, the answer is no, I don't. But it's not like we have much of a choice.”

“... (Damn fog... I can't see anything)” Chase grew frustrated as he strained his gaze through the window.

He hadn't noticed Rousset crying silently until he turned around.

“I-It's nothing,” she said, holding her injured arm. “It just hurts a little"

“You need to treat that..."

"Well, unless a doctor lives in this fishing shack, I'll have to endure it until I find one. Or do you know about medicine?" She tried to smile.

"..."

Without responding, the dull ache in his torso reminded him that maybe he needed a checkup too.

"Let's block the entrances," Jevo chimed in. "It seems there are no residents present. If we wait a while, the fog might dissipate."

"Yeah... I don't want to run around again without knowing where the hell I'm going," Chase replied, wringing out his wet clothes.

"What do we do with our clothes?"

Vines was soon having quirky thoughts about Rousset and his question.

"I brought this," Earlene approached. She carried a rag, which she handed over. "It's the cleanest one I could find."

"Hmm... A few hours should let the clothes dry themselves..."

"But we don't know how long we'll be here. You should..."

"Right," Rousset affirmed before standing up and glancing into the guest room at the end of some stairs. "I hope the owner won't mind if we search their clothes."

While Chase secured the entrances however he could, Earlene returned to the kitchen, this time snooping in the old refrigerator.

"This looks like the home of a weird old retired truck driver," Vines commented, walking behind her. "Weird and secluded, like a weeb."

The comment brought a small smile to Earlene's face.

Any idea, even a ridiculous one, served to distract them.

"Shh... You're talking too loud. Um... Why don't you have shoes?"

"Bruh, I don't want to catch a cold. So what does this weird truck driver have to drink?" The boy poked his head out with no respect for personal space. He couldn't help but look uneasy.

"A few drinks... But I don't think they should be drunk."

"Drinks are meant to be drunk. I'll take them all."

Gathering the bottles of various brands, he retreated to the living room. In contrast, Jevo entered through the same door.

"How is it possible he can drink at a time like this? ...I can't imagine."

"There weren't any more... Oh, a children's soda. Just one..." Earlene said, holding the small box. She handed it to Jevo, who clearly needed it more, but after a sip, he returned it to her.

"Thanks. You can have it. I'll have to settle for water from the sink."

"I think I saw a bottle... This one. Here."

She took the plastic bottle and went to the faucet. The water that poured out was curiously clear and pure compared to the scruffy barn, at first sight at least.

They both were about to leave, but Jevo stopped at the sink.

He stood there, silent.

“...”

When Earlene realized there was no one behind her, she headed to the guest room on the second floor for company.

Cadie had been taken there after they'd settled in. Surely there would be someone else to be with, she thought.

She opened the battered door. Chase was watching through the window at the end of the room. Rousset was sitting next to Cadie on the gurney where she was resting.

The lady in white, Cadie Saggiatore, didn't respond. Despite her half-open eyes, her gaze was lost in an unimaginable horizon. Occasionally, she could be heard muttering something, a few incoherent words before returning to an unusual silence and nothing more.

It wasn't much different from carrying a dead weight.

"..."

With a glance at her, Chase returned his gaze to the window.

"Um... Hi..." Earlene greeted. She didn't really know what else to say. She was never good at starting a conversation, but she hated awkward silences and loneliness.

Rousset ran a hand through Cadie's straight black hair.

"I dried it as best I could..."

"..."

"We have to get her to La Quilla, don't we?" Rousset commented.

Earlene nodded.

"That's what we promised Miss Perke at the shelter."

"Oh, I'm surprised you remember her name..."

"..."

"Right..."

"Speaking of the shelter..." Chase intervened. "If I recall correctly, old man Henroy mentioned that you had something to do with drug trafficking at San Ramael High School."

"Why are you asking that now?" Rousset questioned, frowning.

"I'd be stupid to think at this point that it didn't have something to do with... them. These things aren't normal, as you might have guessed. And It’s boring just staying here looking at each other."

"..."

"We don't even know what they are..." Chase said stubbornly.

"What would be different? Do you think it would be important to know now?"

"Probably not," the boy replied sharply.

"..."

Rousset thought for a moment and sighed.

What did she have to lose?

"...I wouldn't say I was involved. I just saw what was going on. That's all. I didn't commit a crime or anything like that."

"So what happened then?" Chase leaned against one of the walls.

"You see... I used to go out with this guy... They called him Dregan. Or 'Dan'. He was... someone fun to be with. Sometimes he got a little out of hand, but it didn't seem like a serious matter to me. But I never thought he was involved in anything really serious until one day he introduced me to his friends. They had some kind of... gang?. They called it... W8, Wolfit, or something like that. It wasn't very big.

"The biggest criminal gang in this country nowadays, what a surprise..." Chase commented sarcastically. "So they were the ones distributing that crap at the Institute? And apparently with approval. My... acquaintances tried it. I never did."

"The Institute didn't have enough money to pay what the students and the government were asking for. New classrooms, new materials, refurbishment, cleaning, an extra year of physical training... They thought it was a private school? ...You don't know what... we had to go through..."

"Hm... I guess that Dregan guy must miss you."

"Heh..." Rousset let out a mocking laugh. "Miss me... Don't you remember that rumor about a student being really flirtatious with a teacher a couple of years ago? Well... One day my best friend found him on top of the English teacher after school... Can you believe it? Doing that in the school?"

"Was it true?" Earlene questioned. "That's why a teacher was fired too... I thought they just sent them to another school."

"Don't be naive, sis. The rumors were true. A teacher was called in and acted like a hero, beating up a student."

"..."

"From that moment on, I didn't hear anything else about him or his gang. The deal was still on, though he wasn't the one in charge anymore."

"Professor Henroy, uh," Chase scratched his head, his gaze angry. "That drug he was handing out, it was supposed to only cause fever and headaches, so what changed?" ...The moment I lost my mind, and when he fled the Institute before, that bastard definitely knew all this for a long time.

"We don't know if he's what caused this mess. We don't even know how it spread... W-We don't know anything," Rousset said, searching for a cigarette she'd put away a while ago. It was clearly wet by then, but having it in his mouth was enough. "...I doubt that many people took the pill voluntarily. Or if there's a cure."

Tired, Chase headed for the room's exit. Although before leaving...

"...Do you think she's contaminated too?" He pointed at Cadie, who was resting on the stretcher.

"I don't know... And... W-What if she wakes up and attacks us?"

"I have no idea what we'll do if that happens. You should tie her up or something, just in case. By the way..."

He approached Rousset. Without permission, he snatched the cigar from her mouth and threw it to the side of the bed. He'd never light it.

"Women look bad smoking."

She reluctantly picked up the cigarette as she watched him leave.

"(Don't bother me...)"

Going down the steps, Chase looked for what looked like a restroom. At least the smell indicated it was.

It only had a dirty hole in the floor for a toilet and a hose hanging from the ceiling for a shower.

He wouldn't last long in there.

He felt some discomfort in his chest, in the area where he'd hit himself while… cleverly jumping between two tall buildings just time ago.

Opening the noisy door, he walked over to the broken mirror over the sink and lifted his shirt to check.

"...?"

For a moment, he was shocked.

Judging by the hard impact against the edge of a building, he should have a broken rib, or a considerable stain.

There were no signs that he had actually been hit.

Confused, he left the bathroom. Vines welcomed him into the living room with a bottle of wine of dubious expiration date, and they both sat down on the dusty armchairs.

Jevo, who had been in the kitchen, was also returning.

But he was petrified.

"Guh..."

From his angle, he could see an immense number of black shadows waiting outside the cabin windows. The mist made it hard to distinguish their shapes and numbers with certainty.

They should have left someone guarding the outside.

Another mistake.

Was he delirious? No. They were surrounded.

"..."

The young man turned his eyes toward Chase and Vines; both were slowly retreating.

It was no use. Like them, the Dreamers had their eyes wide open, using them to follow each step and movement they made.

"F-Fuck..."

As he walked away, Vines didn't notice where he was walking. His wet feet on the smooth wood caused him to slip for a moment, making all sorts of shrill noises against a nearby piece of furniture.

"A-AAAH!"

He had barely recovered when one of the shadows let out a shriek, violently hitting its head against the window.

Jevo didn't wait another second. His first instinct was to flee up the steps to the guest room.

Chase and Vines weren't so lucky.

To be continued…