Susan gasped and sat up. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was her lying in the dirt at the training grounds. She looked around frantically, trying to get a bearing of her surroundings. The room she was in was engulfed in darkness, and she was lying in something soft, probably a bed.
Susan's heart raced, her instincts taking over. She was ready to attack at any sign of danger. But as her eyes got used to the darkness, she realized she wasn't in danger. She was back home in her apartment. She began to relax her muscles and glanced over at Anna's bed. On it lay Anna, her back facing Susan.
Had all of that been a dream? Had she really met Marie? Or was she just chasing fantasies? Susan leaned back and sighed. It likely was. She wasn't that lucky. Her life wasn't that exciting. She was just some scavenger, someone who lives off of scrap. There was no way her life had any more meaning than that.
But what if it had been real? Maybe she had been lucky? The question was driving her mad. She had to know, even if it meant waking up Anna.
"Anna," Susan whispered. No answer. Anna could be such a heavy sleeper sometimes.
"Anna," Susan repeated a little louder. Anna fidgeted where she lay, like she was on the verge of waking up.
"Anna, I need to talk to you," Susan continued. "Could you wake up for a moment?"
No verbal answer came, but Anna began to slowly turn towards Susan. Slowly, but surely, her face turned to hers. Her eyes were closed, but Susan knew she was awake.
"Anna, I'm sorry to wake you up, but I need to ask you this," Susan asked. "That whole thing with the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Was it real, or was I just imagining i-"
She froze mid-sentence as Anna's eyes opened. Instead of the warm, welcoming eyes of her friend, a pair of empty, green eyes stared back at her. Susan's heart started racing in her chest. An old fear had awakened inside of her.
The glowy, green eyes stared at her, illuminating the darkness of the room. They were empty, soulless, and devoid of all life. It was the same eyes she'd seen all the way back then…
Paralyzed by fear, Susan could not move a muscle as the creature in Anna's bed slowly rose up. Its movement was uncanny and rigid, slowly moving closer to Susan. With every step it took, a slimy footstep echoed around the room. As the monster got closer, it began raising its arm. Horrified, Susan watched as the hand moved closer and closer to her neck, but no matter what she did, she could not move. The dead eyes burned their way into her soul, pushing away any will to run.
The creature's hand locked around Susan's neck and she felt it tighten around her throat. The world felt as if it was crushing her, making sure there was no escape. All she could see were the creature's eyes.
Susan's vision began to darken. She tried to summon some last bit of strength, but her arms still refused to move. The apartment faded into darkness, leaving only the monster on top of her. It whispered something, but Susan could not make out what it was.
Suddenly, Susan felt a wave of exhaustion, and to her surprise, relief. Finally, she'd be able to rest. It didn't matter if this thing would kill her. At least she'd be able to relax again. Wherever she'd go after death, that monster could not chase her. Then… maybe dying wasn't so bad after all…
She'd be able to look at the fields of the beyond without worry. And even if there was nothing after death, just an endless void of nothingness, she'd be able to rest again.
Susan felt as her muscles relaxed and she closed her eyes.
Finally, it was over…
But something didn't feel right…
As her consciousness faded away, the creature's eyes did not disappear. They just continued to stare at her, as an endless void surrounded them.
Anger, confusion, and fear rushed through Susan.
"Why?!" she cried out. "Why won't you leave me alone?"
When no answer came, all feelings left her body. So this was it…?
After everything she'd been through, even in death, she couldn't rest. No matter where she went, the creature continued to chase her, to haunt her. Tears began running down Susan's chin, as she continued to plunge deeper and deeper into the darkness…
"Susan? Can you hear me?"
A familiar voice echoed in Susan's ears. Confused, she tried to gain her surroundings. She was still surrounded by darkness, but it felt different than before. It was warm and welcoming. What had happened?
"Hey Charlie, I think she's waking up, get in here!"
It took Susan a few moments to realize that she was laying down on something. Something soft and cozy. Was this what dying felt like?
There were footsteps and another familiar voice. "Finally, I was starting to get worried!"
"Where am I?" Susan thought. "I was in my apartment a moment ago. I was dying. Why does dying feel so warm?"
Or was that a dream? Surely death couldn't be this welcoming?
Slowly, she opened her eyes. She was lying in some sort of bed. Her head rested on a large, white pillow, while her body was covered up by a white duvet. In front of her sat Anna, while Charlie stood in the doorway. Their faces were a mixture of relief and worry. Susan sighed in relief. So it hadn't been a dream…
"Hey, you okay?" Charlie asked. "You hit your head pretty hard."
Just as she said it, Susan noticed the booming pain in her head. But, she tried to ignore it and muttered a few words in response.
"I've been better…" she murmured in a raspy voice. Anna smiled, a smile her eyes did not mimic.
"You've been out for the last hour and a half. Marie and the others arrived shortly after you passed out. Then they brought you here."
Susan examined the room she was in. It was relatively large, with six beds all lined up in a row, with medical equipment lying on tables that were scattered around. If she had to guess, she was probably in some sort of infirmary.
Susan tried to sit up, but the pain in her head was unbearable, and she sank back down onto the bed.
"Take it easy," Marina said as she entered the room. "You're going to have to take it slow, otherwise you'll just end up worse than you already are."
Exhausted, Susan nodded. Marina walked over to her and handed her a glass of water and a few pills. "Here, take these, they should help with the headaches."
Susan stared at the pills in her hand in astonishment. Were those really… painkillers?
"Where'd you get these?" she asked. Anna and Charlie looked just as astonished at the sight of the pills. Marina looked at them and sighed once she realized what was going through their minds.
"I don't really know how to put this into words, but I'll do my best," she said and sat down in a chair. "Ever since we got support from the government, we've had access to all sorts of equipment we wouldn't have otherwise. This includes stuff that isn't widely available to the public."
Susan looked back down at the pills in her hand. Ever since the flood, the production of medicine had almost completely stopped. In the years of chaos that followed, it had been almost impossible to find any kind of medicine. And since there was no one left to make more, the little that did exist quickly ran out.
Survivors of the flood had had to get by without any medical help. Wounds, diseases, people just had to either endure them or die from them. And for the few people that knew how to make medicine out of plants were hard to come by. And if you did, their prices were high and the choices of medicine very limited, since there weren't many plants living in the Splatlands.
Even after Splatsville was established, production of medicine had been really slow, and the types of medicine were really limited. When medical companies had started again, they ran into the same problem as before, that being, materials required for the medicine were either hard to come by, or just straight up unavailable. This led to prices being extremely high. A single box of normal painkillers was priced at a few million.
"They give you guys this stuff for free?!" Charlie asked dumbfounded. There was a weird look on Marina's face as she answered. "More or less, yes."
It looked like Charlie wanted to say something, but she just couldn't form the words. Susan continued to stare at the pills in her hand.
"Eat them, staring at them won't make the pain go away," Marina said, and Susan was ripped out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, right," she murmured and gulped down the pills. The water felt refreshing as it ran down her throat. Susan paused as she realized that she'd just eaten more money than she'd ever owned in her entire life.
Just then, Marie entered the room. "So, our recruit is finally awake," she said and leaned up against the wall. "I was honestly starting to think you'd never wake up."
Susan smiled weakly and nodded. "How'd we do?"
"On the practice?" Marie asked. "Well, you guys seem to work really well as a team and are quick to adapt to difficult situations. What you showed us was exactly what we were looking for."
She then looked at Susan. "Although I have to say, attempting to glide after a fall like that down the stairs is very, very stupid. You're lucky you're not more hurt."
Susan nodded. "Yeah, it just seemed like a really good idea at the time," she responded weakly. Marie continued.
"However, for a first time, it definitely met our expectations. I'm sure you guys will make an excellent team!"
"Hell yeah!" Charlie cheered and gave Anna a high five. "What's the plan now?"
Marie looked down at her phone and scratched her head. "I was hoping we'd be able to take the second training match today, but since Susan is out, it looks like we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to do it. That means you guys can go and see your new headquarters."
Susan had completely forgotten about that. They'd be stationed at a different location, somewhere closer to the city.
"Once Susan can stand again, Marina will drive you there," Marie continued. "Rosa will tag along and help you guys settle in."
"Awesome!" Charlie responded and looked at Susan. "You think you can walk?"
Susan nodded. The headache had eased up a bit. She sat up and was about to stand up when Anna came over to her.
"Oh no you don't," she said. "Here, put your arm around me."
Susan sighed. "Anna, it's fine, I can walk on my own."
"No you can't, now quit being stubborn and put your arm around me," Anna responded. Defeated, Susan put her arm around Anna, and with her help, was able to stand up.
"Excellent!" Charlie said and turned to face Marina. "So, when do we leave?"
"Well, if Susan can stand, then we can leave now," she responded and wrote down a few things. "Oh, and before I forget."
Marina picked up a bundle of white cloth and threw it towards Susan. "Here's your T-shirt, I had to remove it when you came here."
"Oh, thanks," Susan answered and slipped back into the shirt. She hadn't even noticed that she wasn't wearing it until now.
"And another thing," Marina continued and handed her a small, plastic bag. "Take these, they're more painkillers. Take two when you go to bed and two when you wake up."
"Alright," Susan said and placed the bag into her pocket. "Anything else?"
"No, if you're ready, we can leave now," Marina said and pulled her car keys out of her pocket.
"Alright then, let's go!" Charlie said and the four of them exited the room, smiles on their faces, leaving Marie behind, who looked after them with a proud, confident look.