Well. Here's another one to throw on the 'Things I Didn't Expect to Continue' pile. I have no idea if this will continue at all, we'll just have to see.
It was a month since the first recorded fatality from self-inflicted anaphylactic shock came in and there were still cases coming in every few days. Today's was a senior turian NCO and Garrus didn't want to think about what kind of effect this would have on the lower ranks. The dextros were getting more desperate for food by the day and more than one raid had been attempted on the food stores. The krogans didn't even gloat anymore. They were disappointed, disgusted, some even pitying the slow deterioration of the race that had once nearly driven them to extinction. The turians and quarians were weak, too weak to continue with the reconstruction process, too weak to even attempt to save themselves. Their futures rested in the hands of the other races but Garrus couldn't even find the energy to care anymore. The medical stations were filled with dextros succumbing to diseases, sickness and dehydration but all he could do was lay in his cot and wish he had the energy to lift a pistol and end things on his terms.
Tali's body was too small under his arm, all fragile angles and brittle points. A doctor had put her on vitamin fluids and she had complained about aches in her body for days. She eventually stopped complaining. Garrus didn't know if that was a good thing or not.
He nudged at her helmet with his chin. "Tali? Tali, are you still with me?" His words felt as dry as his mouth, as his head, all cracked and emptied and crumbling to dust.
"So tired," she said so softly Garrus almost didn't hear it above the rattling in his lungs.
"Stay awake," he told her, even as his eyelids slid closed. "You have to stay awake." She hummed in response and Garrus breathed out, "Stay with me Tali. Please."
"I think," her words slurred together around a clumsy tongue, "that's the first time you ever said 'please' to me."
His mandibles twitched and something in his chest softened at the knowledge that, even as their end approached, Tali still had the strength to sass him. "I'm sure I said it before. Just... can't remember right now."
She hummed again, rolling a little closer until she was leaning against Garrus's chest more than not. He couldn't hear her breathing anymore, could barely feel her pulse and even if it wasn't the way he imagined dying, Garrus supposed there were worse ways to go than in the arms of someone he cared deeply about.
"Admiral Zorah? Admiral- there's a comm request for you."
Garrus managed enough energy to part his eyelids, staring at the human that stood near the edge of the cot.
"Admiral, General- please." The human sounded desperate and Garrus would've laughed if he had the strength. He was almost curious to know how big a blow to morale it would be if two alien races went extinct right here, right now, after what was supposed to be the war to save the galaxy. "We've been contacted by a quarian ship and they're asking to speak with the admiral."
Some how he managed to scrounge up the effort to ask, "Who is it?" His flanging tones ran together, turning the words into a tangle of frequencies that even he could barely understand.
"It's the captain of the Rayya."
The plates above Garrus's eyes shifted, drawing together at some long forgotten memory the name was trying to trigger. He took Tali's shoulder in his clumsy hand and shook weakly. "Tali. Tali." The light of her mouthpiece glowed and Garrus heard her breath again. "The Rayya is calling you. Isn't that your birth ship?"
"Yes," she said faintly. "It's a liveship." The words settled between them for a moment until Tali suddenly bolted upward, nearly jostling Garrus from the cot. "It's a liveship!" She leapt passed the human, nearly falling to her knees before she bullied herself outside with all the desperate energy that hunger had sapped from her. Garrus struggled to his feet and, with the human occasionally steadying an elbow, limped his way to the communications hub. By the time he got there, Tali was speaking to the comm too fast for him to follow. "Thank you. Thank you. Keelah se'lai, Captain. Thank you."
"/Of course, Admiral Zorah. Our ships will be there within the hour. Keelah se'lai./"
As the line cut off, Garrus asked, "What's going on?"
Tali spun around, eyes bright behind her visor and though her hands trembled as she gripped his arms, there was strength in them. "It's the Rayya, Garrus. A liveship! They have food!" Her breath hitched like she was crying. "We're going to survive!"