See Prologue for Disclaimer
Chapter 6: The Relief Project Part 1 (Nyx's POV)
I sat at the table the next morning having a breakfast of a cream cheese bagel and coffee, normally I'd have a much bigger breakfast than that but I didn't have time to waste that morning.
After I finished I had to get ready and be out the door in no more than ten minutes, today was the day I begin helping the others with the Relief Project and I had to head back to the Resistance Base to get my briefing on what I'm supposed to do.
I looked over to see Infinite vacuuming the floor, since I was going to be gone for basically the entire day, he offered to do all my household chores for me. I wrote him a detailed list of what needed to be done so he'd know what to do.
I finished my breakfast and went back upstairs to change out of my pajamas, I then walked into my makeshift infirmary and loaded my larger first-aid kit into a backpack; I would've taken one of the smaller ones but this one had far more medical supplies, and for as big as it was, it wasn't really all that heavy to carry.
I walked back downstairs, getting ready to head out the door. "Off you go then...go and...clean up my mess", Infinite said sadly. I looked at him in sympathy before going to give him a hug, "It's okay, I know you're sorry. Now remember what I told you: keep the door locked, the curtains pulled down over the windows and don't make too much noise. I know I live in a secluded area just outside of Sunset Heights but that doesn't mean no one is going to walk by and notice you", I said.
He gave me a smile before I turned around, grabbed my Wispon and headed out the door. Since it'd take too long to walk, I used my grappling hook to swing my way to the Resistance Base, this method of travel was much faster as opposed to me having to walk all the way there.
Finally I arrived and I showed my I.D. To the guards out front so they'd let me in; once I got to the main briefing room, I only saw Knuckles in there looking over some paperwork and schematics, which led me to assume that I was very late.
"Oh no, am I too late for the briefing? Knuckles I'm so sorry, I tried to get here a little early but..." I trailed off as he looked up at me but didn't look the least bit upset, in fact him seemed happy that I was here. "Oh Nyx, good you came. Everyone else decided to get a super early jump on their tasks, but you're just in time to receive your job", he said.
I sighed in relief knowing I wasn't in any trouble and I was about to sent out on my next mission, "So...what's my contribution to the Relief Project, Knuckles?", I asked.
He picked up a clipboard and looked it over, "Since you're the only doctor available at the moment, your job is a pretty big and important one. You see, there's been tons of refugee camps set up everywhere until we can completely rebuild everything that was destroyed. So I need you to go into every camp and not only take note of how many people, both Mobian and Human, are squatting there but also provide food, water and medical attention.
"Now I was gonna have Sonic go with you to help out, but he's already busy helping the Search and Rescue teams, so Shadow and Silver will be going with you instead. They're in the supply room loading everything onto the truck you'll be using to transport the supplies to the refugee camps.
"Take this clipboard, on it there is a list of each camps' location and another list for you to take count of all the refugees. We need an exact number so we know how many survived and we can work on getting them replaced back in their old homes once the Rebuilding Project is finished", he said as he handed me the clipboard with a pen tied to a string attached to the top.
"Thanks Knuckles, I'll do what I can to help these people", I said as I left the briefing room to go find Shadow and Silver. I quickly did find them at the base's loading area where they and a couple of the soldiers were loading crates labeled "Food" and "Water" into the back of a white delivery truck that had the Resistance's logo painted on the sides of it.
They quickly noticed me as I approached them, "Oh hello, Nyx. Good to see you here", said Silver. I'm immediately glad he didn't seem to remember our little talk from yesterday or...maybe he did, he just didn't care since we had an important job to do. It was a good thing he didn't bring it up too; we were already going to a camp filled homeless and possibly starving people, we didn't need the extra uncomfortableness.
"Nice to see you've joined the cause, Pipsqueak. I can only assume Knuckles filled you in on what has to be done, so help us get these crates onto the truck", said Shadow. Oh yeah...that! Ever since I first met him when I first joined the Resistance, Shadow has always referred to me as "Pipsqueak".
Why does he called me this name? Because on my first day, I was pretty shy and feeble and shaken up, not to mention I'm a whole foot shorter than him, so he calls me Pipsqueak.
He did tell me before that he does value me as a member of the team, that I'm a lot stronger and braver than I look, and that the nickname is just a friendly and playful joke, but that doesn't stop it from still being annoying.
I put my annoyance aside as I got to work loading the crates onto the truck, once it was full enough, we closed the back of the truck. We climbed up front as Shadow turned on the truck and began driving down the road to the first of the camps, "So where are we going first?", asked Silver.
I picked up the clipboard to take a look, "The first refugee camp is in Sector 415-702, otherwise known as Metropolis", I said. The drive wasn't too long as we came upon the camp that was surrounded by a eight foot tall wall made of cinderblocks held together by mortar and cement.
At the corners of each wall were guard towers, each with their own armed guard and there were two more armed guards posted out front. "Um, what's with the heavy artillery? Do they...think the refugees pose some kind of threat?", I asked.
"No, there's still tons of Eggman robots running around and causing trouble, so there's armed stationed at all of the refugee camps. They're not there to keep the refugees in, they're there to keep the dangerous robots out", said Shadow.
The three of us stepped out and showed our I.D.s to the guards, then they told us to drive around to the camps loading bay to unpack all the crates. Once the crates were out and properly stacked into one area, we opened them up and began to distribute them amongst the refugees.
"Someone please help! My husband...he's not breathing!", I heard a woman's voice scream. I looked to my left and saw a female beaver bent over the fallen form of her husband, I then saw one of the guards run up to them to look over the situation. "Is anybody here a doctor?", he shouted.
Gripping the strap to my backpack tightly, I hurriedly ran towards them. "I'm a doctor: Nyx Snowfall M.D. Ma'am, I'm gonna have to ask you to stand back and give me some room. Your husband has most likely passed out due to a heart attack", I said as I removed my pack and gently pushed the beaver woman away.
I then placed my ear to her husband's chest and heard a very faint heartbeat, so I ripped open his shirt, placed my hands on his chest and began performing CPR. I alternated between giving him chest compressions and breathing into his mouth to put some air in his lungs, but he wasn't giving me any signs of life.
"Come on, sir, don't give up on me! You can survive, you've got to fight back!", I shouted as I continued giving him CPR. After the eleventh or twelfth attempt, I pressed my ear to his chest and, to my horror, I heard...nothing; I tried so hard to save him but in the end...it just wasn't enough.
I brought my hand up to his face and gently closed his eyes before using the blanket he had used to keep himself warm to cover his lifeless body. I then looked down at my watch, "Time of death: 9:23am. I'm sorry ma'am, I tried but your husband...he's gone", I said to the beaver woman who immediately began crying hysterically and then threw herself into my arms.
"NOOOO! Oh Darryl!", she shouted as I held her back while two of the guards carried her dead husband away on a stretcher. She then looked at me with sad, glossy eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen! He needs to be here!", she screamed. I looked at her in sympathy, "I'm sorry ma'am, but I did what I could—"
I was cut off when she grabbed my hand and pressed against her stomach; to my shock, I felt movement within her body which could only mean one thing. "You...you're pregnant?!", I said. I looked back and Shadow and Silver and even they were equally as shocked as I was.
"Yes, and with twins! Now that my husband is gone, what am I supposed to do?!", she shouted as she continued to cry. I then put on the bravest face I could muster as I reached into one of the crates and pulled out two packs of food and a bottle of water.
"All you can do now is live on, survive! You're carrying precious cargo and if they are to be brought safely into our newly rebuilt world, you have to take care of yourself. Your husband would want you to live and raise his children", I said as I gave her the food and water.
She still had tears in her eyes but she smiled at me before walking back off into her tent. I stood up and went back to where Shadow and Silver stood by the rest of the crates, they both gave me small smiles; I knew they were proud of the way I acted.
I knew these people were sad, scared and broken, and things were only going to get harder for them the longer they had to stay here until the Rebuilding Project was completed, but there was one job I and the rest of the Resistance had that was even more important than the jobs we already had: we had to be strong for all these poor people who had nothing left of the lives they once had except their friends and family and the clothes on their backs.
"This is only the beginning of the hard times, isn't it guys?", I asked Shadow and Silver. They both nodded in agreement as went about our task of giving food and water to the refugees while I took down just how many of them were living here.
There were originally forty but since that beaver man died, it was now down to thirty nine, with two more on the way; I looked up and saw that same beaver woman softly stroking her belly while quietly weeping for her husband, "Chaos, please give me strength", I whispered to myself. Chaos only knows, I need all the strength I could get to handle what's coming soon.
To be continued...
Author's Note: There ends Chapter 6 and part one of "The Relief Project" subplot; I plan on separating this subplot into four parts so I could explore just how much damage was done to Mobius during the war with Eggman and show every characters react to it all, especially Nyx's. See what new horrors lie in Wait in Chapter 7; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!