Chapter Thirty-Five:

A/N: Not much to say about this chapter. Just R&R, and tell your friends!

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It had been at least a day since Tessa had arrived in the safety of the Residence, and her body showed it. Every muscle in her body screamed as she ran to the room where Adette was being kept. She was excited, but she had no idea why. Adette was hardly a friend.

The large door soon loomed before her. On the other side of the polished wood was the only other survivor from the Balamb party, the only other person capable of thinking with a clear mind.

Tessa recognized that Tifa was a hero and had saved the world, but she had done it with the help of two people that were trained in the art of combat. Tifa hadn't had that type of training, but Tessa and Adette had. However, Tifa was a good fighter. When Avalanche had converged upon Junon and stolen a submarine from Shinra, one the local SeeDs on reconnaissance had filmed part of the altercation. Before the Lotia Garden staff had seized the video, Tessa had been among the masses to view it and was fascinated by the hand-to-hand fighter on the screen.

"Adette?" Tessa whispered as she eased open the door. She saw the empty bed and the blood drained from her face. "Adette?"

She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Tessa turned around and her vision painfully exploded in stars. The floor rushed up at her.

"Hyne, what did I do?" Tessa heard Adette gasp. "I didn't… I thought you were…"

"Why do people keep hitting me?" Tessa complained as she rubbed the side of her head. It was still sore from the whack Macone had given to her earlier, and Adette hadn't made it feel any better. "I'm going to get a concussion."

"I'm so sorry, I… what the hell is wrong with you?" Adette shrieked.

Her sight was still fuzzy, but Tessa made out Adette slowly backing away. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision and figure out what was going on. "What are you talking about?"

"Your fucking eyes are fucking red! You're a fucking freak!"

Tessa grabbed the doorknob and pulled herself up. She realized why Adette was freaking out. "There is nothing wrong with me, you stupid bitch. I've always been like this."

"No, you haven't, you had green eyes," she reminded him. "You're a freak!"

"Would you stop saying that?" Tessa whined as she grabbed her head. Her temples throbbed and things still looked a little fuzzy. She stepped forward unsteadily. "You're starting to piss me off."

"Stay away from me!" Adette warned as she grabbed a small electric lamp from the bedside table. The cord caught on the headrest, so she jerked it out of the lamp.

She held it out in front of her like a sword, both hands gripping the metal base. It soared through the air as she gave it a test swing before locking her eyes on Tessa.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tessa asked with a wince. "I'm trained in martial arts and you're a firearms major. You won't be able to touch me with that thing. By the way, what did you sucker-punch me with? The last thing I need is head trauma."

"Where am I? Where are Phelan and Mr. Dincht? Miss Xu? Miss Rinoa?" Adette screamed. Her eyes were wide and bulging, reminding Tessa of how Rinoa had acted down in the sewers. The hysteria was oddly similar between the two women. "Tell me you freak!"

"Shut up!" Tessa screamed as she held her head. "Just shut up! They're dead, all of them. We're all that's left!"

The lamp fell from Adette's hands, hitting the floor and shattering. Her eyes were wet and shining from the streetlight outside. She plopped on the edge of the bed, the springs squeaking beneath her weight.

"How did they die?"

It was Tessa's turn to have her eyes grow wide, until she remembered that memory loss was a common side effect of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She realized that it was miracle she hadn't gone into shock herself.

She didn't want to tell Adette about the creatures Zell had coined "Rots." All it would do was remind her of the impending doom outside the walls.

"Look out the window," she said. "That's how they were killed."

Tessa closed her eyes and remembered the man with the greying hair shooting Rinoa and Zell. Images of Phelan and Xu swam into her mind's eye. What had happened to them after they were left behind in the large arch, the Gate in the centre of the metropolis? She didn't really know what had happened to them, but there was no point in building up false hope.

"Is there a riot going on?" Adette asked despondently as she stood by the window. Tessa hadn't even noticed it when she stood up. "Where are we, again?"

"We're in Galbadia City. I don't know what's going on," Tessa admitted. She closed her eyes, again, and tried to remember what day it was. How long had it been since she had left the Garden? The train ride? The airship crash? She grabbed her hair out of frustration, trying to remember.

"How are we going to get back to Garden?" Adette asked, interrupting Tessa's thoughts again. "Should we wait until the police take care of the rioters?"

"The police are dead, too," Tessa said quietly. As hard as she'd tried not to, she was thinking about her future and whether or not she would die; if she would become a Rot, too. "Just like the rioters."

"They're dead?" the other girl asked with no emotion in her voice. Tessa shivered. "I guess that would make sense. Some of them have their intestines spilling out, after all."

"Yes," Tessa said oddly as she backed away from Adette, who was still looming by the window. Her face showed no trace of curiousness or fear. "Well, I'm going to go now."

Adette turned and looked at Tessa with blank eyes. There was no awareness, no life in them. That was when Tessa realized that Adette was as dead inside as the creatures out in the streets. Adette didn't blink, she just said, "Goodbye, then."

When she got out in the hallway and closed the door behind her, Tessa grabbed a handful of her own hair and pulled out of frustration. Several red strands came loose and were dropped to the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tessa whispered as she leaned against the heavy oak door. "Damn you, Hyne! What have you done to her, you old bastard?"

Just then, Macone came strolling through the hallway. When he caught sight of Tessa he sneered and walked over to her. "So, I hear your girlfriend is finally awake. That must make you happy, you little cunt."

"Now is not the best time," Tessa warned. She could feel her blood start to boil, but the last thing she needed to do was get in a fight. "So leave me alone."

"You know," Macone said as he leaned against the wall and gave Tessa the once-over, "you could be hot if you tried. It's a shame you have to ruin it by opening your trap."

"I said go away."

"You don't seem to understand," he hissed as he got into Tessa's face. She noticed that he was sporting the black eye she had given him. "You're not one of us, you don't belong here. If it weren't for Holt, you'd be dead and floating facedown in a sewer right now. Hell, you still smell like shit."

"I'm not kidding, go away!"

"Sure thing," Macone said with a laugh. "The stench is starting to bother me anyway. Just remember, we Galbadians don't like your kind here."

My kind? Tessa wondered as she watched Macone skulk off. What in Hyne's name does that mean?