Chapter Twenty-Eight:
A/N: This chapter is more about character development than anything else. (Who would have thought I'd still be developing them this far in?) Some begin to go OOC, but, then again, wouldn't you if an entire city were trying to eat you? R&R!
Gullwing Yunie: I like Cid, too, but it was only a cameo (meaning once in the story) appearance. but not to fear, soon a new FFVII hero shall arrive, and takes a formative role in the future of the fic.
Chocobo Nunchaku: (Nice new pen nameby the way) Thanks, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where you will go with Epidemic. The prologue was very promising.
Oh, and do check out my oneshot You're Wonderful.
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"Is he okay?" Xu asked after they had had propped Phelan up against a concrete wall. They were in the interior of the Gate, in a small access room. There were three ways one could go from the room: back out the door; up a ladder on the wall opposite the door; or down the same ladder. "He's unconscious."
"He's not unconscious, technically," Tessa replied as she slapped Phelan's face. His cheeks were red from where Tessa hit him, but his eyes were glazed over. Her left breast fell out of the large gap in Adette's jacket, so she tucked it back in and zipped it.
"Then what's wrong with him?" Xu asked as she leaned over Tessa shoulder, fascinated by the gruesome sight. "Why isn't he moving?"
"He's slipping into shock!" Tessa yelled impatiently. "If he doesn't come around…"
"What's going on down there?" Tessa heard Rinoa yell. She sounded as panicked as Tessa felt.
Tessa stood up and wiped her bloody, sweat-drenched face with the sleeve of Adette's jacket. The artillerist wasn't in the room, though, and that caused Tessa to panic. She ran out the door and into the opening of the Arch as a pair of thin, white legs began to descend down the ladder and into the room where Phelan and Xu were.
Adette was standing still, her gun aimed at the bars where the rotting people were stripping Phelan's removed appendages of their meat. Tessa glanced at the people and began gagging when she saw a woman in a nurse's uniform shove a tendon into her mouth. Turning back to Adette, she saw the same blank expression that was on Phelan's face just decimetres away.
She shook her, but Tessa couldn't get the other girl's eyes to focus. Then she slapped her, but it seemed to have the same affect as it had on Phelan. Grabbing the gun and pulling it from Adette's hands have no effect either.
"We have to get inside!" Tessa yelled at Adette. The Brunette responded by blinking and turning her head toward the door. Tessa rubbed Adette's back out of encouragement, trying to get Adette to come back to awareness. "That's right, come on."
Her feet moved stiffly, but Adette followed Tessa's lead into the access room. When she got them into the room, Tessa slammed the metal door and latched it.
"What's wrong with her?" Xu asked as she pointed at Adette. Rinoa and Zell had climbed down to the access room and were standing by the ladder.
"I think she's in shock, too," Tessa yelled over the racket outside the Gate, "but I'm more worried about Phelan. He needs medical attention."
"We can take him to my dad's house," Rinoa said as she raised her hand. "There's a path there through the sewers."
"Great idea," Xu said. "Do you think he'll take us in?"
"Bad idea," Tessa said, stepping in front of Xu. "We don't know if any of those… people… are in the sewers, and Phelan can't go into a sewer in his condition. Do you know what kind of diseases we would be exposing him to?"
"What do you suggest?" Zell gasped as he wiped his brow. He rubbed his bitten arm, which Tessa noticed had grown inflamed. "We wait here and get eaten alive?"
"No," Tessa said as she stepped back and wrapped an arm around Adette's shoulders. "We go, but someone stays behind to take care of Phelan."
"What about her?" Xu asked as she pointed at Adette. Tessa protectively pulled Adette close, unsure of why she cared so much. "Does she stay?"
"No," Tessa said. "I'll take care of her. She can walk, even if she doesn't react."
"Why should you go?" Rinoa raised her hand and walked over to Tessa. She peered into the redhead's eyes, trying to read her expressions. "Why can't you stay here and take care of Phelan? Xu told me that you're the one that cut his arm and leg off to begin with."
"Well, I'm not the one that dropped the gate on the guy," Tessa countered. "Besides, there's nothing more I can do for him, but I can still do some stuff for the group in the sewers."
"Didn't you say we shouldn't even go in the sewers because of those… those Rots out there?" Zell asked as he wiped his sweaty brow again.
"Listen," Tessa said as she pocketed the gun she had taken from Adette, "things are tough, but we can get through it."
"What are you talking about?" Rinoa yelled as she grabbed her head and backed away from Tessa. The pressure was already beginning to get to her, and she wasn't handling it like Tessa had expected. "You're just as clueless as the rest of us!"
"No, I'm not," admitted Tessa. She dropped her arm from around Adette and walked the perimeter of the small room. "I shouldn't say, but I think I have to."
"Say what?" Rinoa screamed at the top of her voice. "How can you be so calm? We're about to die!"
"I've fought them before, the Rots," Tessa said, borrowing Zell's description of the cannibals filling the streets. The room fell silent as the three seasoned fighters gaped at the SeeD candidate. Tessa lowered her head and continued walking.
"You've… fought them… before?" Zell said in disbelief as he scratched his arm, causing fresh blood to drip onto the floor. "Where? How?"
"Back at Balamb Garden," Tessa confessed to the other three, who looked at her as though were crazy. "It was my first week after transferring."
"I don't believe you," Rinoa said as she grabbed Tessa and jerked the redhead so that they would be face to face. "Cid would have said something if that were true."
Tessa pried herself free of Rinoa's grip and stepped back, bumping into a speechless Xu. "It's true, I swear. The Headmaster didn't want people to know. He even had the bodies burned before they could be examined."
"Why?" Xu finally spoke up. "Why would he do something like that?"
"He didn't want panic to spread? I don't know why, but that's the truth," Tessa yelled over the Rots clamouring outside, still trying to get to the meat inside. "Rinoa, you've fought them, too. Tell them."
"No I didn't!" Rinoa said incredulously. "I've never fought a… What did you call them, Zell?"
"Rots," Zell said as he continued to scratch the bite. "I called them Rots, because they're literally rotting."
Duh, Tessa thought as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. He's clearly not a clever man. But, then again, there aren't any anyway.
"Right," Rinoa said with a nod at Zell. "I know you're a liar now, I've never fought a Rot."
"Then what would you call those men on the train?" Tessa asked. "They were eating other people, and didn't seem to feel any pain. The same with the woman A… I shot."
"You're right," Rinoa said as she stepped back, teetering on the edge of the hole that led to the sewers. She looked at Tessa in confusion. "I did fight one before. How did you know, though?"
"She told me something," Xu said. "She said that the woman on the train had an infected wound on her shoulder, a bite."
The three women looked at Zell, who looked down at his arm and saw where he had scratched it raw. He backed up against the wall and his face went pale. "I'm not… I mean…"
"It was a theory," Tessa jumped in, trying to keep everyone calm. "I had nothing more than speculation behind it, don't worry. Now let's get out of here and see if we can find Phelan some help. He's not looking too good."
True to Tessa's word, Phelan was sweating, trembling, and making incoherent utterances. Xu walked over to him and knelt down, placing a hand on his shoulder. She looked at the rest of the group, her eyes narrowed. "I'll stay with him, you guys go."
"No!" Tessa yelled, nervous at the prospect of leaving Phelan with someone that she didn't trust. She hadn't uncovered the connection between Xu and the three attackers in Timber.
"Wasn't it your idea for someone to stay with Phelan?" Xu asked with inflamed nostrils. "Well, I'm in charge of this operation, so I should stay with him. You guys go get help."
Regretfully, Tessa reached into the jacket pocket and pulled out Adette's handgun. She held it out for Xu, who took it with confusion. Seeing that she about to ask why, Tessa quickly explained the rationale for her decision. "We have another gun on Adette, and two of our people are trained in hand-to-hand. You'll need it more than we will."
Xu waved Tessa away, and the redhead grabbed Adette's hand. She looked down the ladder, the darkness horribly inviting and waiting to envelop its victims.