—
At the sound of the alarm next to her, Reya slowly awoke from her slumber. She had fallen asleep on her stomach the entirety of the night due to the bruises on her back from the day before. Fortunately, it seemed to have healed up a decent amount overnight.
Shifting her head to the left, she squinted her eyes to locate the ringing alarm. Deciding to turn it off, she slipped out a lightly tanned arm from the covers, the small stretch of skin glowing under the kiss of the morning sun. Upon finally turning off the alarm, she found herself fully awake. She slowly arose, the white sheets of bedding draped around her.
As she rubbed her eyes, her gaze locked onto the closed window in the shared bedroom. Although the thick curtains were drawn, a small sliver of sunlight continued to shine through. She stood up with a stretch and made her way to the window, pausing for a moment before slightly pulling a curtain to peek outside.
She was greeted by the brightness of the early morning sun. Apart from the thick and high fence protecting their current base, there wasn't much going on outside. She silently hoped for the day to unfold peacefully, considering their mission…
Then, a creak of the bedroom door pulled her attention from the fences to the source of the sound. Evonie, probably having been awake for a while, stepped in and leaned on the doorframe. Her languid eyes landed on Reya's dazed ones, the corners of her lips curling slightly.
"You're awake? The others just about finished setting up for breakfast. C'mon, let's eat so we can set out for the mission early."
Reya blinked blankly at Evonie. She eventually pushed the curtains closed and walked over to Evonie.
"Just give me a minute, Ev…" Reya spoke with a slightly raspy voice, having just woken up.
With the hoarse voice came a bit of a nasal sound, making her sound softer than usual. Evonie sighed, walking over and grabbing Reya's wrists.
"Come on, go drink some water," Evonie added, pulling Reya with her. Obviously, Reya was irritated upon being dragged. She pulled her wrists back but eventually followed Evonie to proceed with the routine along with the other members.
—
After concluding all the preparations and arrangements, the group set off, leaving Warner and Fiora at the base. The heat of the sun poured down, so they decided to take a route with a few trees just to get some shade.
After following the path for a while, they arrived at the building that Reya had recently entered. The same old residential complex, the surrounding landscapes deteriorating after chaos broke out with ferals. When Reya finally entered, she saw the same things she did the last time around. It smelled of iron from dried blood and various objects that were breaking down. She even noticed a smell reminiscent of the fire from her last fight.
Thalia commanded first for their next move. The other members didn't exactly have much of a plan either, so they were willing to follow her lead.
"I say we start with retracing your steps. I want to see the aftermath of your fight and see if we can find Fiora's mother as well. Reya?"
Reya nodded and led the group, stepping over scattered belongings. Fortunately, the buildings didn't reek too heavily of death, which was often the case for areas that hosted ferals.
The yellowing walls and deteriorating decor gave an eerie feel to those present. It was a rather suffocating feeling, being in a structure lost to the circumstances of the present. Such was the case of their world now.
Amidst all the decay, Reya stopped in her tracks. There was an area that held obvious marks of a fire. Black walls and melted objects all around… yes, this was it.
However, there was a rather repulsive scene that greeted them right away. There, lay the same creature from before, charred rotting flesh and exposed innards, decomposing right in the area it had died. Some clumps of its flesh had fallen off its bones, leaving the natural elements to feed off the skin on the ground first.
The smell was revoltingly pungent, but most of the members grew used to the sight and smell of such things due to having completed multiple missions. Reya, however…
It wasn't the sight that got her, but the smell that made her want to shrivel up. Rarely losing composure, she was a fighter who was used to defending and attacking for missions, but she had never gotten used to the nauseatingly strong smell of rot. She felt her eyes well up with tears and her stomach turn violently.
"Ew, Reya, don't… never mind." Jun-liang wanted to interject, but he shrank back upon noticing her violent reaction.
Thalia fell silent, having known that Reya was a lost cause when it came to such things. She'd tried many methods to make Reya develop a tolerance against unpleasant odors, but to no avail, it had remained Reya's sole weakness.
Just as she was about to retch, she saw a figure quickly make their way over through her tear-sodden vision. She caught the scent of concentrated peppermint oil and eucalyptus, feeling slender hands slip a tight-fitting mask over her face. She was washed over with instant relief, taking a moment to settle down. When she did, she eventually raised her eyes to see… Evonie.
"So much for that temper of yours. You're quite fragile, am I wrong?" Evonie spoke bluntly, her eyes spying over Reya's.
The sight of Evonie, especially in her already inconvenienced state, made Reya snap back more irritably than usual.
"… I won't hesitate to get sick all over your shoes right now," she replied discourteously.
"I can just as easily take back that mask."
Thalia interrupted the exchange with an irritated tone, obviously fed up with the two.
"Stop being ridiculous, the both of you. The issue is solved, so let's get back to the mission,"
"You can say you're thankful that I insisted on bringing the mask, you know," muttered Evonie. However, she quickly shut up after earning a hard glare from Thalia. She turned her eyes away, instead opting to stare at Reya.
Thalia cleared her throat, tilting her head towards the creature on the ground.
"Evonie, do you think you'll need a sample for the lab?"
Evonie lifted her eyes from Reya, studying the creature. After a moment's consideration, she took out a small tube from her bag and walked over to get a sample. She carefully took a few pieces, making sure to avoid getting any of the mess on her hand. She eventually closed the tube once more and got back up, tucking it into her bag.
Once she was done, Jun-liang spent a few seconds studying the creature on the ground.
"It's ridiculous how quick these things decay…" Jun-liang mumbled to himself. He eventually moved on and raised his head, glancing around. After scouting the area, he walked over to a corner and peeked through a hall that caught his attention. Compared to the other halls, this one seemed to show more signs that someone had recently resided there.
One open door to an apartment, with all the other ones closed…
Reya glanced over at Jun-liang, narrowing her eyes. After walking over and assessing what he was seeing as well, she nodded and explained to the other members.
"I'm pretty sure this is the corner I first saw Fiora. Judging by that door…" Reya trailed off, her mind falling into thought.
Thalia continued Reya's words, clearly understanding Reya's point.
"It's likely that Fiora and her mother lived here?"
Reya nodded, watching the approaching Thalia and Evonie.
"Should we enter?" Jun-liang asked.
"I reckon we're all ready. Nothing else that we need to do now—apart from finding Fiora's mother," Evonie added.
Reya glanced at Thalia, her nod giving the go signal.
With that, they walked in, the other members following close behind.
—
Back at the base, Warner was working on one of his projects. He planned on creating another small explosive and hopefully succeed. It was for the sake of their future missions, after all. He was down in the basement, which had become rather messy due to his work. Various tools were hung up on the wall and some stored in boxes. Most of the clutter was at the worktable, with multiple blueprints and papers along with unfinished projects strewn about.
He was engrossed in his current work, carefully adjusting the components of the device to properly function together. However, he wasn't completely unattentive to his surroundings.
That was why, when he heard the patter of footsteps descending the stairs, he quickly whipped his head around, tightening his grip on the screwdriver in his right hand. However, the sight that greeted him was fortunately nothing dangerous.
A small girl, donning a colorful shirt and simple knee-length shorts, seemingly wandered around and stumbled into his work area.
It's Fiora, Warner thought to himself. The kid had been sleeping the last time he saw her, so he hadn't bothered her. He set aside the hazardous device he was holding, deciding to talk to the girl.
"You've found my work area, huh?" Warner asked casually, turning to face the child while sitting.
Fiora was awfully shy the first time she had gathered with the members, but after spending a night and the morning with them, she opened up a little more. She slowly walked over to Warner, staring at his table.
"What are you doing?" she asked softly, her eyes flitting around the various tools and items in his work area.
Warner thought for a second, thinking about how he should proceed with the answer, before finally settling down.
"I'm creating tools for the other members to use. I can make all sorts of devices, you know."
"That's so cool!" Fiora smiled, growing curious about this new man.
"It is indeed."
Warner smiled, leaning back in his chair slightly. Suddenly, he noticed Fiora's eyes linger a little longer on a car figurine perched on one of his shelves. The bright red color and designs stood out from the rest of the things around, so he expected her reaction. He turned to the toy, continuing to speak on calmly.
"That car was the first gift that my friend, Jun-liang, gave me."
"Jun… liang." Fiora blinked slightly, repeating his words.
Noticing her attempt to commit the man's name to memory, Warner smiled and changed his wording.
"The black-haired man that you saw yesterday. You can call him Jun." He suddenly paused, seeming to realize something.
"Speaking of gifts…" Warner trailed off, turning to rummage in a nearby box. He eventually pulled out a small remote and robot, handing it over to the little girl. It was an old project he made. He often created little trinkets whenever he was bored, and the robot was one of those.
"You came here, wandering around because you were bored, right? Consider this my first gift to you. You can go upstairs to play with it. Just don't wander into any more random rooms, and don't go outside, okay?"
Fiora's eyes shone with interest, carefully flipping the toy around and studying its features. She beamed, quite pleased by the toy.
Thank you, uhm…" she paused, not sure how to address the friendly man.
"Arnie. You can call me that, okay?"
"Thanks Arnie!"
And with that, Fiora quickly sped away to test the little toy. Finally, having sent away the little child, Warner turned back around to continue working on the weapon he had set aside.
—