I do not profit and Pokemon belongs to someone else.
Beta is RedWarrior702
This is written for fun and education, constructive criticism only please!
Warning: Blood, Gore
Chapter 1
Most days it was raining. After a while you didn't even notice it, at least not till you were standing under the downpour getting soaked.
Katrina didn't like the rain; she didn't like the rain at all. Rain caused colds and infections and increased her workload at the clinic.
Well clinic might be a little optimistic; the place Katrina worked in was a dilapidated old shack that had drafty rooms and a leaky roof. There was barely any running water and no electricity. But at least it had some water which was better than the other buildings.
Of the five houses still left standing in the Fort after the Apocalypse, the clinic was the only one that had running water and four standing walls. Most of the others had to make do with a lean-to and blankets, if they hadn't already been shoved out of the main house by the Pocket Monster Warriors so the, 'brave heroes' could sleep in comfort in 'real beds.'
Katrina has had this happen to her several times, when after a long day's work of fifteen to seventeen hours, which consisted of sewing up gaping wounds and dragging invalids from death's door, a PMW would have snuck into her small tent bordering the Danger Zone and it would be after she entered that she would find herself eating mud, usually several seconds after entering her tent. And of course since the small settlement was already struggling to house over three hundred lives in the five small houses, one dozen tents, and several thousand square feet of space that was available within the sheltering arms of the Wall, she would usually find herself seeking shelter on any bare patch of spare ground.
Now usually that didn't bother Katrina, she had it a lot better than others did. After all she was too young for most of the sports that the Pocket Warriors liked to have with the women in the Fort.
Even though her mother and father were dead, so were everyone else's.
Even though she barely had a satchel's worth of supplies that allowed her to survive, at least it wasn't rotting and she could keep it relatively safe from thieves.
And even though she was only eight and living alone, at least she wasn't part of the street gangs roaming the streets.
At least, she had a way to pay for her food and water as a Medical Helper, even though she did more work than her superiors, due to her boss being drunk out of his mind five-eighths of the day. Katrina actually thought that the only reason he hired her the minute she came up to him, the very same day she acquired her schooling graduate degree, was because he was so drunk he didn't really see who he was hiring. And as long as Katrina kept the workload light for him and didn't interrupt his continuous naps he let her have free rein of the entire clinic.
Which was more freedom than most people had; more freedom than the Police would have let her have.
Due to the same accident that killed her mother and father the Stupid Chief thought that she was somehow the main reason for most of the problems that plagued the community. Every time something went wrong he would be right outside her tent giving her the stink eye, like he was waiting for her to fess up. As if. She never did anything! How could she do anything?!
…Besides kill her parents of course.
Patricia said that she didn't do anything; she was just being mischievous like all children are. But instead of getting interested about clothes or houses or boys or anything like that she just had to be interested in those Pocket Monsters that dwelled outside the Wall. Well that curiosity had definitely been killed, along with her parents.
The only good thing that ever came out of that, at least to Katrina's mind, was the fact that she was able to befriend her Buddy.
Katrina was sure that if Patricia or Chief ever saw Buddy they would try to kill Buddy. But Katrina liked Buddy, Buddy was her only friend in this grey, painful, stupid world. The only friend.
All the other kids, the few that were left after numerous attacks from the Outside, were too stupid and childish to want to hang out with her. And even if they did want to play with her Katrina didn't want to play with them! …Really.
Okay, maybe she was a little lonely but with no friends to talk to or even play with and the adults alternating between suspicion at her high intelligence and maturity and then pride at how hard she worked to save their lives, how could she possibly trust them?! They were so freaking fickle! So, she was better off without them!
And Buddy had saved her, back when that Monster was done eating Mom and Dad and was heading towards her frozen form Buddy had chased it off. Buddy saved her. And Katrina would always be thankful. So having no friends meant Buddy was safer when she visited.
Which is why Katrina was kind of worried, just a little tiny bit… okay maybe she was worried a whole lot. But how could she not worry when Buddy hadn't visited her for her eighth birthday? Buddy always visited on her birthday before; it was very hard for Katrina to get past the Gates to visit Buddy, so Buddy visited her. But it was past dark and the day was almost over. Katrina had even finished her shift early and yet no Buddy to be seen.
Katrina was really worried. It had been a long time since she had last seen Buddy, and last time she saw Buddy he didn't look so good. All beaten up and battered and frail and even though Katrina tried to give as much food as she could to Buddy Katrina needed to eat too.
'Okay that's it! Katrina is going Out! Buddy could be sick and shivering away in a corner or dead or eaten or hurt or hanging broken in a tree,' Katrina thought, slightly panicked. All Katrina really knew deep in her heart was that she had to save Buddy just like Buddy had saved her so many years ago…well more like three years ago. Buddy never missed a birthday because Buddy was the only one who every celebrated a birthday with Katrina. All the others were too busy just trying to survive.
Now, since Katrina will be going outside, Katrina will bring everything, including the tent and that bag of balls, it was the only thing of her parents that she had left, because if the Pocket Monster Warriors stop by and one decides he likes her stuff Katrina will never know if she will ever get her tent or bag of balls back ever again…
Chapter 2
Getting out of the Fort was just as hard as Katrina thought it would be. After all, even though she was eight and she wasn't always eating regularly she was trying to bring her bulky backpack with her over the wall. Beyond the physical struggle was the psychological fear she had that she would be discovered sneaking around every time she heard a footstep or saw a light.
Eventually she was able to sneak through the gate when the Warrior had his back turned to her. But crouching in that ditch with rain slowly soaking her through and two inches of mud over her shoes for ten to fifteen minutes was not pleasant.
Having slipped through the gate and into the forest wasn't as tiring or hard as just waiting for that Warrior to turn his back. All she had to do was stay close to the ground and keep running in a zigzag because if she ran straight she had a purpose and if she stayed small and low and zigzagged she could be mistaken for a patrat.
Thank God the Fort only had torches. There used to be something called floodlights that were steady and bright all night long but Katrina had never seen them.
Having finally gotten into the trees Katrina paused and crouched by a tree with her back to its trunk and panted as quietly as she could.
She didn't touch the trunk just in case it was a sudowoodo, and she stayed crouched just in case a caterpie or wurmple decided to drop down on her.
Staying as quiet as possible as she caught her breath, Katrina allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark interior of the forest and orientated herself to the clearing that she and Buddy regularly meet in as often as they could. If Buddy went somewhere and thought he wouldn't be back for a while Buddy would leave a message or sign or something for her in that clearing.
Having finally caught her breath Katrina started darting from tree to tree, pausing to listen to the surroundings as she waited for anything to catch her foot or notice her movement whether it was the Fort or the Wild Monsters.
When Katrina was about three quarters of the way to the clearing she had to freeze in place, back against a nearby bush, due to a sound that sounded a lot like, 'GROOB!'
Shuddering slightly in fear Katrina wondered if she should continue or if she should stay put. That sound was very similar to the crobat that one of the Warriors from the Fort liked to hit whenever he got mad. But that crobat died of one of its wounds several months back so this one couldn't be a Monster from the Fort.
'Mew mmeeeewww!'
Buddy!
Hearing the call of the only friend she had, Katrina rushed towards the sound to hopefully save her friend from whatever problems he had gotten caught up in.
Upon breaking free from the underbrush and trees of the forest and into the small clearing, a clearing that Katrina had never seen before, she stumbled upon a frightening scene. A scene in which Buddy was bruised and bloody and an enormous crobat hovering in front of Buddy with its mouth wide and gaping and blood dripping down its fangs.
Giving a small scream in shock and fear, Katrina gave a running dive at Buddy and promptly face-planted as Buddy floated out of reach and back into the thick of the conflict.
Spitting out decomposing leaves and bloody dirt Katrina scrambled onto hands and knees over stones and sharp sticks and shouted, "Why are you doing this?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! It's my birthday isn't it?! Why are you getting yourself killed on my birthday?!"
Sobbing with strangled cries Katrina stared upward with frustrated anger and fear as Buddy slanted one battered big blue eye at her and uttered in a deadpan tone, 'Mew.'
Katrina gave a short shriek of surprise as a sudden harsh wind slammed into Buddy and thus Katrina, who was crouching right behind and below Buddy.
Falling backwards onto her butt, Katrina landed onto her backpack that promptly jabbed something sharp into her kidneys.
Furthermore, Katrina smacked her head onto a hard shape that rang with a dull, echoing thump. Katrina then curled into a fetal shape and moaned in pain, ignoring for a time the furious fight occurring above her.
Snapping her head up to glower in anger at the inanimate object or tree that abused her poor little head, Katrina blinked in confusion and some awe as she beheld an egg of green and blue and white.
Given the fact that Pokemon eggs in the Fort are fairly rare- mostly eaten unless they are proven to come from a coveted pokemon pairing- Katrina reached out hesitantly to brush her fingertips along the smooth curve of the egg.
A sudden explosion caused her to jump in shock and turn her head towards the mushroom cloud of dust and debris to the left, Katrina then wrapped the egg into her arms and huffed as she shuffles away from the point of impact that was the battle between crobat and Buddy.
'Meewww…'
Jerking her head towards the sound in surprise, Katrina sees Buddy in the center of the impact crater, Katrina swiftly shrugs off her backpack and shoves the egg with reasonable force into the backpack before she tied it back up and shrugged it on again as she started to scramble over to Buddy before the vicious crobat tried attacking Buddy again.
Sliding down into the shallow depression and trying to keep as quiet as the growing sound of falling dirt and leaves would let her, Katrina squints her eyes as she tries to pinpoint the pink shimmer of Buddy's battle bubble.
Not seeing anything and increasingly frantic to find Buddy before the crobat does, Katrina starts shuffling along the floor of the crater with her hands in front of her face to skim the floor and walls around her.
After several traumatizing seconds of fear, her hands hit a wet, breathing, warm figure right in front of her.
Releasing a soundless yelp of excitement, Katrina makes her trembling hands travel along the tail and then the body and then over the head to end up under Buddy's little arms.
Grabbing Buddy in a death grip, despite the pained, 'mmeewww…' response Katrina starts scrambling up the walls of the small crater, trying to get away from the ever nearing high-pitched cries of the crobat.
Slipping and sliding over the forest dirt and mud and leaves and struggling to keep hold of Buddy's slippery form, Katrina finally drags herself and Buddy over the lip of the crater and right into the face of a green, blue, and winged Monster.
Chapter 3
Katrina froze, but not for long.
After all, with Buddy whimpering and squirming to get away from her death grip, and the crobat hovering at who knew how close a range and gaining, you couldn't be a frozen psyduck while the solar beam was coming straight towards you.
Scrambling frantically with her feet and her one available hand she tried to find some purchase to move sideways and not straight forward, where the hovering form of a Monster that she had never seen before floated.
Right as Katrina finally finished her scramble over the edge of the crater, out of the settling dust and onto the forest floor strewn with decaying underbrush and the shattered remains of once-grand trees, the Green Monster darted forward.
Yelping in panic Katrina curled down and over Buddy, hoping to protect her already injured friend.
Feeling a tug on her backpack as the Monster supposedly reached her form she started to roll to the right, still curled into a ball and hoping against hope she wasn't rolling towards the murderous crobat.
After rolling for five to six revolutions, Katrina felt the hard and unforgiving impact of a tree on her right side.
As soon as Katrina stopped moving she glanced up from the dirty forest floor with a quick motion of her eyes and kept her head as close to the ground as possible. She then promptly yelped in surprise to see the Green Monster serenely hovering in front of her face.
Glancing past the small Monster, Katrina was frightened to see that the crobat's profile could be seen approaching through the quickly settling cloud of debris behind the Green Monster.
Scrambling up to her feet Katrina almost tipped over backwards as the weight of the backpack reasserted its presence with the help of gravity.
Crouching in a low and wide stance, Katrina kept her feet and proceeded to then lose her grip on a slipping Buddy who moaned, 'mmeewww….' in pain as Katrina struggled to keep her balance on stinging knees and aching ankles while holding onto a slippery and limp Buddy.
Finally feeling stable after several seconds of struggling, Katrina looked up to find the shortest and quickest route back to the Fort and shrieked in fear as the Green Monster shoved its unusually large head closer to her face.
Slamming onto her butt yet again Katrina scrambled sideways and back around the tree, away from the huge blue eyes ringed in black and the rapidly approaching figure of crobat behind it.
Widening her eyes in surprise and fear Katrina stared beyond the Monster and, clutching Buddy closer, pointed a trembling finger at the approaching crobat and tried to stammer, 'W-w-w-w-w-watch o-o-o-o-o-out! WATCH OUT!'
Flinching in fear at the impending impact of the charging crobat Katrina clenched her eyes shut and huddled over Buddy.
"Celebi! Cele, cele, bibibi! Celebi!"
Cowering away from the unexpected cries and squeezing her eyes shut and Buddy close, she trembled with anticipation of the upcoming battle.
Instead Katrina felt a lurching whirl of motion all around her and then…nothing.
…No impact and no more cries. Katrina gingerly peeked her eyes open, hoping that maybe the two Monsters had left the injured prey behind for some other fun activity but even she didn't really believe that.
Having caught sight of the Green Monster now glowing in front of her, Katrina uncurled out of her tight fetal position and scrambled across roots, rocks, and dirt in any direction that was away from the dangerously glowing Monster.
Hitting another rock Katrina clamped her right arm around Buddy, who had worryingly stopped struggling and groaning as much as before, and groped with her left hand around the rough and jagged surface of yet another rock she had run up against, looking for a cave or a stone to throw so as to drive the Monster away from her.
Feeling the sharp curve of the boulder turning not a foot away from her body Katrina froze and breathed in deep and steady. She began counting to calm herself, and crouching with her feet coiled under her and ready to give her the burst of power needed to escape.
And as the Monster lazily circled closer and closer, Katrina coiled and sprang!
Using her left arm as a lever as much as possible, Katrina bent almost double under her backpack, her feet scrambling for purchase against the damp, soggy, slippery leaves underneath. She rushed around the side of the boulder and almost straight into a pack of houndour, who had probably been attracted to the sounds of battle and the smell of blood.
Snapping her head back and slip-sliding on her butt towards the aggressive and very dangerous Monsters, Katrina struggled to abruptly reverse direction.
Seeing something bulbous and small with a weird smell rushing them, the pack of Houndour seemed to snarl as one towards the intruder. They were already on edge with the sound of the battle between their foe, the carnivorous crobat, and some presence that didn't feel that strong and yet their instincts urged them to avoid. This sudden intrusion in their space was too much.
The closest Houndour lunged forward with jaws agape and glowing towards the wildly retreating Katrina.
Snapping down those deadly jaws onto Katrinas left leg, whom then screamed.
'AAAAHHHHHHHH!'
She began kicking out with her right leg and scrambling behind her with her left hand to pull herself further away from the Monster on her left leg.
Sobbing in pain and kicking at the houndour's face blindly Katrina heard a low growl to her right and snapped her tear-filled eyes to the side to see another snarling Houndour stalk towards her.
'Celebi!' The Green Monster from before floated into view from atop the boulder behind Katrina. The houndour on her leg abruptly let go of her to growl a warning at the floating Monster while the houndours approaching switched their focus to the new threat.
Dragging her mangled leg towards her body and away from the jaws of death, Katrina sobbed wildly as she scrambled back and away from the aggressive Houndour and towards the Green Monster, the Green Monster that hadn't hurt her…yet.
Having finally reached the boulder, Katrina grabbed hold with her left arm and dragged herself to stand on her right leg, leaving her left leg to drag bloody and mangled at her side.
Gasping for breath from the pain and the tightness in her chest Katrina flinched as she felt objects stabbing into her back from within the satchel.
Gripping the boulder with her left hand more firmly Katrina turned her head and just caught the glimpse of the top curve of her newly discovered egg from before when a white and gold glow surrounded her.
Then all was dark.
Chapter 4
Waking up to shouting is not something that someone should be used to.
However, Katrina was used to shouting and even screaming from all her years of living at the Fort.
After all, the adults didn't really keep their late night activities quiet and even when they weren't doing anything there were still lots of mental breakdowns with people who just couldn't take the Fort's lifestyle anymore.
Not as many now as there had been in the beginning but enough that seeing someone crouched in the middle of the street and screaming while huddled into a fetal position wasn't uncommon. People would usually just move around him or her, or if they were feeling vindictive they would try kicking them till they stopped which didn't always work. After all, the Pocket Warriors who 'patrolled' the Fort weren't known for being patient and well-adjusted people at the best of times.
So, turning over, with difficulty and a grimace of pain Katrina heaved a sigh and relaxed further onto her side while clutching Buddy close to her and ignoring the steadily approaching noise.
'…Wait, Buddy? Didn't something happen to Buddy recently?'
Sitting up abruptly Katrina screamed due to the lightning strike of pain coming from her left leg. Katrina barely held onto consciousness. Resisting the urge to fall back unconscious, Katrina noticed that the shouts were coming from a man. A man who hadn't been there before. Probably the man who had also been the one making so much noise before. Someone who was wearing a long white coat and purple shirt and had long black hair that didn't look like it was dipped in grease!
He looked healthy and clean and nice…he was evil. Nobody was that healthy unless they had enough power and supplies to waste on appearances, such as keeping that coat white!
And nobody washed themselves unless they were sure they could deal with any water Monsters that decided to interrupt what she heard was a very private process. Katrina didn't know if that was true or not, she has never had the opportunity to 'wash.' All her water was for consumption.
Trying to catch her breath after the sudden shock of pain was hard enough, but keeping a hold of Buddy while trying to push herself away with her right leg kept stealing what breath she was able to get a hold of. Upon the Evil Man crashing to a stop in front of her he started talking and circling her- he was probably sizing her up to eat her- while also looking around the field and staring at his wristband. Weird but it might give her a chance for her to catch her breath and hopefully get around to running…eventually.
However, as soon as she started to catch her breath she tried to put her left leg on the ground and quickly collapsed with a yelp from the sudden upsurge of roaring pain.
Finding the Evil Man's attention on her suddenly caused her already tearful eyes to well up and she started to sob, from stress and fear and pain and the uncertainty of what he would do to her.
Great, now he might get so annoyed at her crying he might kill her! This thought caused her sobs to start transitioning to wails and before she knew it she couldn't see anything through the tears and she couldn't hear anything beyond the noise she was making.
"WAHH! BUUAAA! *Hic* *Hic* BUWAAA!"
It was not pretty.
Feeling arms starting to close around her she tried to pull away and felt them tighten. Unwilling to let Buddy go, who was worryingly quiet but still warm and breathing she flailed blindly with her other arm. Hearing a grunt made her feel vindictively satisfied for a brief moment but she couldn't stop squalling and even as she squirmed as hard as she could she could feel his arms tightening and dragging her into a warm chest. The lap she ended up sitting on had long strong legs that she could tell were well built and thus used to running and left her in no way confident in her escape plan.
Hearing a Monster approach from the trees behind them did make the sobbing stop, from sheer terrifying fear. Why wasn't the Evil Man moving?! Didn't he know they were going to be eaten?
Unless the Monster was his! Now she was going to be eaten!
Starting to quietly sob again while hiding her face against the Evil Man's built chest Katrina contemplated the fact that her eight years of life were going to be so short, she hasn't even kissed anybody yet!
Hearing the man speak, Katrina noticed he had a deep smooth voice that was crooning words in a silken stream towards her. Very nice voice but kind of creepy to be crooned at by an Evil Man….did he want her to think he wasn't evil?
"It's ok, it's ok, it's ok shhhh. It's just my pangoro, and he says that nothing here can hurt you. You're safe. My name is Professor Sycamore, what's your name?" Katrina squeezed her eyes shut and continued shuddering in fear. "Not going to tell me well, that's ok. I called Officer Jenny to come here and alerted Nurse Joy about your little friend that you seem to be clutching so desperately. It's ok, it's ok, it's ok shh shhhh. It's just my pangoro and…"
Katrina stopped listening after that because he just seemed to be repeating himself.
Katrina wondered who this Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy were. Was Nurse Joy a Medical Helper like herself? But even if she was, there wasn't anything this Nurse Joy would do for Buddy, not unless the Evil Man aka Professor Sycamore, who she assumed was the Boss, would let her use precious resources to heal Buddy and herself and that wouldn't happen unless there was something in it for him and she didn't have anything! Maybe she should tell him she was a Medical helper too. Maybe she could pay him back by working under Nurse Joy and the Evil man wouldn't think of worse ways for her to pay him back.
Stuttering through her sobs she managed to croak out in a strangled voice, "I-I-I-I am a N-N-N-Nurse too-o-o-o you know, I-I-I-I can h-h-h-h-help!"
Pausing in his litany of repetitive words at this piece of knowledge Professor Sycamore was quiet for a nerve wracking moment and then a warm hand started stroking at her head comfortingly while he said gently, "I didn't know you were part of the Nurse Joy family, I wouldn't think it what with the white hair and red eyes. Won't you tell me where you came from? You seem to be a long way from home, you should know Santalune Forest isn't the safest of places. You're lucky I was doing a research study here. Otherwise you would have gotten lost and died!"
Katrina, who had finally started to control her sniffles, asked very hesitantly, "Where's Santalune Forest? I thought I was still near the Fort."
Katrina could sense him tilting his head at her as he asked in a curiously blank voice, "Fort? I didn't know there was a Fort around here, can you show me where this fort would be?"
Katrina turned her head slowly, so as not to startle him, so as to stare at him incredulously and then silently pointed towards the Fort.
Professor Sycamore kept his blue eyes on her for a few long moments and then followed her finger in the direction it was pointing. As he contemplated the distance Katrina glanced past his head and froze. The Monster that was standing silently behind Professor was at least seven feet tall, and it must have weighed at least a ton! Squeaking from fear Katrina quickly reburied her head into his chest, hoping that if the Monster hadn't seen her looking at it then it might not think she was challenging it or something.
Just as she started calming down from the sudden fright of the Monster the Professor started shifting like he was getting ready to stand! She also heard more rustling from the trees around her approaching. It might be more Monsters! Yikes!
Chapter 5
Waiting in anticipation for death to descend was nerve wracking. The noises of the trees rustling in movement eventually stopped and the air seemed to still, then there was the sound of footsteps approaching closer and closer. Katrina tightened her grip on the Evil Man, who didn't seem so evil now, and curled up further, shivering.
The Professor's hand never stopped stroking her head but she could hear the rustle of his clothing as he looked behind him towards the approaching footsteps. Too little too late, they were going to die.
Katrina couldn't tense her body anymore but she oh so wished she could. If she had some way of releasing her anxiety she wouldn't be feeling such a strong urge to vomit. After all, if the crying didn't make the Professor decide to kill her then vomiting onto his white coat most certainly would. Katrina didn't want to die so she valiantly resisted the urge.
The Professor started murmuring towards the footsteps, or the direction the footsteps were approaching from at least.
"Gooorrrooo?"
The sudden surprise of a deep voice crooning with a gravel roughened tone right next to Katrina's ear caused her to jump in shock and fall backwards, out of the Professor's lap. Katrina hadn't even realized that she was still sitting in his lap!
She was so worried about whether the thing approaching was going to hurt her that she never even noticed how comfortable…and comforting it was to be held by someone else.
The jolt of Katrina jumping and then scrambling to keep from falling out of the Professor's hold jostled Buddy and a weak, 'Meeee….' was his only response.
Katrina's cheeks colored in shame. How could she forget Buddy? He was so hurt and he wasn't responding to the Professor or the huge Monster or even the approaching footsteps…it could be he thought they weren't a danger to them? …Nah, all adults were greedy and selfish and cruel. They didn't care about anybody but themselves and their own pleasure. Buddy wasn't responding because he was so very weak!
After that huge fight with the crobat Buddy had been beaten black and splattered with brown and red, very unlike his usual fur coloration of pink and white! His little stubby tail was even drooping sadly in exhaustion! Katrina's eyes started welling with tears at the thought of Buddy dying. He couldn't even open his eyes completely!
A hand landed fairly heavily on top of her head.
Katrina soundlessly gasped in shock and plopped her butt solidly back onto the grass.
Her watery eyes flew up towards where the hand had come from and landed on the worried cobalt eyes of the Professor.
The same Professor that was standing crouched over her with his hand roughly patting the top of her head... if he was trying to comfort her he was doing it wrong. He should have been stroking her head like he did before, at least that one felt nice. This patting felt like he was trying to slap the sadness out of her by hammering her head.
The Monster standing tall behind the Professor wasn't looking at her, thank Arceus! The Monster was staring to the side and chewing the leaf stalk that seemed to be stuck in his mouth…did he not have any bones to chew? Bones would be more congruent with his image, and cubones always seemed to have some bones so they couldn't be that rare.
A vague sensation of eyes staring at her caused Katrina to twitch and glance to the side.
Standing there, staring at her with intense navy blue eyes was a miniaturized clone of Professor Sycamore. A clone that was hugging a leather bag overflowing with paper…paper? The only paper Katrina had ever seen was when the drunk Doctor had to get his butt up to look up one of the Pokemon Warriors' more unusual diseases. They seemed to pick them up like candy… like the saying of taking candy from a baby. Though it can actually be fairly difficult, especially when you need to give the baby a shot and he won't let go of his weaponized berry-icicle. The book that the Doctor looked at to diagnose the Pokemon Warriors was the only book in the clinic: the rest had been burned for warmth and that book might actually be the only book in the Fort! Katrina sure hadn't seen any others…
It wasn't until the Professor's heavy paw suddenly stopped patting her head that she realized that she and the clone had been staring at each other, without blinking, for who knows how long.
Blinking in shock Katrina jerked her head down and hid the lower part of her face in Buddy's bloody fur, bad idea. Quickly removing her chin from the sticky fur Katrina frowned down at Buddy in worry and worked to wipe the wet blood off her chin onto the ragged cloth on her shoulder.
While Katrina was avoiding the eyes of those surrounding her, she sensed the Professor waving the clone closer and murmuring something to it. After the conversation was finished the clone nodded silently and after setting down the bag the clone fearlessly went over to the huge Monster and after taking its paw the clone started walking away from them, away from her…was this when she was going to be murdered?
Watching the clone move away Katrina could feel her hope and blood drain from her body. Maybe her soul might live on kind of like all the nutcases said it would at the Fort?
A rustling noise and then a sudden increase of elevation, accompanied by a grunt, surprised her into letting out a short shriek of fear and surprise.
The Professor had picked her up!
He had the bag dangling over one arm and was carrying her cradled to his chest! She with Buddy and backpack included…
…He was following the clone. Was he not going to kill her in the meadow? Maybe he was bringing her to the slaughterhouse to kill her there! But if she tried to fight him now, what with her injured leg and Buddy, she would fail and exhaust herself futilely.
Shivering in terror Katrina halfway closed her eyes and continued cuddling Buddy as close to her chest as she could as the Professor carried her through the forest, keeping to the path that the clone and the huge Monster had traveled before them.
Katrina wasn't sleeping though, oh no. Katrina was biding her time and saving her energy until she knew she could escape safely or when she saw some civilization. All the crowds usually allowed for a chance at escape…as long as you were smart about it.