Chapter 21: The underground...
Vignette couldn't stop herself.
She was bobbing her head up and down, looking past the heads and shoulders of the people in front of her, trying to look for any girl with blonde hair. Even though she knew that it was futile, considering the sheer amount of victims in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, she still clung onto the last shred of hope that she would be alive.
Behind the row of armed soldiers pushing back the crowd of people were nurses and doctors in hazmat suits, hastily rushing back and forth with drugs and equipment in their hands. One of them was in a heated argument with a soldier, getting to the point where he would shove him back in anger while pointing at his clipboard.
Vignette could barely make out what they were yelling over the roars of the crowd. Something about...not enough? Her worries began piling up, and she began trying to calm herself down by telling herself that Gabriel was a special forces operator. If she was dying then she would be of immediate concern. She hoped.
She began feeling claustrophobic and felt the urge to just run away as far as she could. They were all standing on the railway tracks in the tunnels, which were a metre down from the platform they would use to board the trains. It had a way of making them feel like they were helpless, since it prevented any light from shining through. Everything electric was burnt out, so they resorted to using candles, lanterns and setting fires inside of rubbish bins, which added to the gloomy atmosphere.
Hensky watched Vignette from the platform with sympathy. She felt just as uncomfortable as Vignette, even though she had no real loved ones to worry about. Vignette shuffled away from the crowd and stumbled up the stairs to talk to Hensky.
"Don't worry podrooga," she said, giving the purple-haired girl a hug. "She's fine. Promise."
"...stop it. I know that," Vignette muttered in her shoulder. She felt the throbbing in her heart ease slightly from the warmth of another human being.
"Brr! Cold isn't it? Let's go to our bunks. Everyone's worried sick."
"...okay."
They proceeded to walk down the length of the platform, the darkness making it easy for them to trip over a suitcase or a chunk of concrete which fell off the wall. Going even further down into the subway via the frozen escalators were their living quarters, shoddily set up by the JSDF after the nuclear warning. There were rows and rows of bunk beds, and most of them had people sitting on them in misery.
She tried to be somewhat appreciative that her and her friends all had sleeping areas, even if the place reeked of cigarette smoke and sewage.
"Sit," Hensky said, gesturing to a bed. "I...hope you don't mind sleeping with me."
Vignette stayed silent, cradling her head in her hands as she sat down on the creaky mattress. Her Russian friend could practically smell the worry radiating off her body. She wrapped one arm around Vignette.
"I've gotta do something...I've gotta do something..."
Vignette mumbled to herself over and over again, and a familiar face peered out from the bunk above her.
"Vignette," Alvarez called, turning her ear in the direction she heard her. "You there?"
"I'm here. Alvarez."
"How's Gab?"
"They...won't let me see her. They won't let any of us see them. Not until decontamination," Vignette answered with melancholy.
"Oh. I wish I could say something encouraging but..."
"It's okay. How have you been doing?," Vignette asked with her mind in another place. A phone and some earphones suddenly dropped to her feet.
"Eh...I've been listening to some audiobooks lately but as you can see...totally dead."
"Must be pretty boring for you huh?," Hensky replied, inspecting the cracked phone in her hands.
"Yup. I'm stuck here with my thoughts. Can you do me a favour and describe where I am right now?"
"It's dark. There are candles everywhere. There are rows and rows of bunkbeds, and two or three people sitting on each bed. Everyone looks sad. No children anywhere. I... hope Ansel will make it. He doesn't deserve this. No one does."
With Vignette's description, Alvarez felt a small smile form on her face as her mind suddenly created the space around her. She had gotten used to living without sight, and had gotten extremely good at navigating the world around her through her hearing and sense of touch.
"Vignette," she notified. "Someone's calling for you."
Vignette perked her head up and looked at the far end of the living tunnel, where there was a man in a lab coat reading out a list of names from a clipboard. She, along with several other people scrambled out of their beds and ran as fast as they could towards the medical bay.
Vignette's soul was split in half, not knowing whether or not she would be listening to Gabriel's last words, or if she would be alive and getting better. A nurse noticed the two running towards her and directed them to the middle of the subway, where a large group of men dressed in JSDF uniforms were demanding to see their loved ones.
"What is this? Where is she? Where is Gabriel Tenma White?!," Vignette demanded, but the nurse simply walked away from her back to the medical bay.
"Please, calm down. You will all see your loved ones very soon," a man in a suit and tie said, standing on a crate. "Please let us explain the situation here."
The crowd slowly quietened down.
"You are all the JSDF troops who had got to safety before the blast, and are not irradiated. Everyone else was caught outside when the blast occurred and is now in medical, getting treatment," he explained coolly.
"However, we cannot care for this large amount of people, and we expect to run out of drugs and supplies in two days or so, at the current rate of use. So, we need all able-bodied soldiers to retrieve what you can from the local hospitals in the area. Either that, or fight off the Ares troops advancing on our position."
"(What do you think? You going to go?)," Hensky asked Gabriel in Russian.
"(If it means saving Gab, then yes.)"
"(I wish I could share your determination. We'll get burnt alive or shot if we head out there.)"
"(We have to Anna. We can't just stay here.)"
They followed the crowd of soldiers who were taken into the medical bay, a large open area in the tunnels with mattresses lined up row by column, spaced apart so that nurses / doctors could walk past. Vignette and Hensky began searching through the sea of injured, the soldiers doing the same.
It didn't take long to spot yellow amongst the beds, and the two ran towards it.
"Gabriel!," Vignette cried, falling to her knees and cupping her hand around Gabriel's red cheek. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?! She's conscious! W-Why isn't she saying anything?!"
A nurse came running over, flicking through paper on her clipboard.
"She's suffering from acute radiation syndrome," she explained. "Nausea, internal bleeding in her GI tract, inflammation of the lungs and skin burns. We think she may have had a seizure as well."
"Tell me she's going to get better," Vignette growled, staring down the nurse.
"I...can't say for sure ma'am...," she whimpered. "Without the right supplies, blood transfusion equipment, antibiotics, stem cell donors, potassium iodide..."
"I'll get them. All of them."
She crouched down and held Gabriel's head in her hands. The slight movement caused long strands of hair to fall out and stick onto the pillow.
"Gabriel...can you hear me...?," she whispered with tears in her eyes. The angel's breathing slowed down, as if she was getting calmer at the sound of Vignette's voice.
"I promise I won't let you down. I promise."
Vignette lightly kissed her on the forehead.
"Love you."
A nameless soldier gave a quick tug on Vignette's gear, making sure it was secure on her person. She made an 'okay' symbol with her fingers, and walked up the endless flight of stairs where light slowly began to illuminate the path in front of her. Instantly realizing how heavy her gear was, she began to worry about whether she would even make it back alive. They had to walk to a hospital on the outskirts of the city, and if the supplies weren't there or were destroyed, then they would have to search another hospital, presumably one even further away.
All of this, with a heavy lead-lined radiation suit, a gas mask which forces you to spend all the power in your diaphragm just to breathe in, and their usual combat kit just in case they ran into Ares soldiers.
She faltered halfway up the steps to catch her breath, but was gently pushed forward by someone behind her.
"(Let's go comrade!)," Hensky exclaimed with a heavily muffled voice. She pulled out a marker and drew a smiley face on the back of her suit.
"Hensky? W-What are you..."
"Wouldn't want to mistake you for someone else now would we?"
"Right. Pwah...I don't think I'm gonna make it up...," Vignette moaned.
"What happened to 'I promise I won't let you down?'"
At the thought of Gabriel's deteriorating condition, Vignette suddenly regained her strength and began stomping up the stairs triumphantly, much to the Russian girl's delight.
"I thought you weren't coming?," Vignette asked once they were on the surface. Like everyone else, she began doing some stretches loosen up her muscles.
"Why wouldn't I?," she chirped. "Saving Gab is our top priority right now. Besides, I hate to admit it but..."
"Huh?"
"It's somewhat exciting, isn't it? To be surrounded by radioactive fallout, protected by our suits! It's just like running around in the rain while wearing a raincoat!"
"Well let's hope you don't regret that. We've got a long way to go."
Once everyone was up on the surface, they set off parallel to the shore on foot towards the hospital. The gunfire still continued, day and night, a haunting reminder of the impending threat. No one knew whether or not Japan had launched its own nukes in retaliation.
The further away they walked, the more the buildings began to resemble actual buildings, except their windows were all blown out, and the outsides were covered in soot and dust. Their Geiger counters quietened down, and idle chit-chat turned a bit more lively.
"Gospozha," Hensky called, tugging on Vignette's arm. She noticed the white spray painted patterns of angels wings, crosses as well as a sticker on the rifle Vignette was carrying. "Doesn't that belong to Gabriel?"
"Mhm. I feel better with this. It feels like a part of her is with me, you know?"
"Your holographic sight seems to be dead."
Vignette looked through her electronic sight and didn't see a red reticle.
"Seems like it."
Hensky got her marker out and painted a small dot in the centre of the glass.
"There we go. Good as new."
"Hope I won't have to use it."
They began walking on the road, where there were dead bodies scattered everywhere, blood pouring out of their mouths.
"(Vignette...)," she muttered to herself. "(Remember...when we used to play with dolls? When we used to play tea-party and style each other's hair?)"
"(I never did anything like that. I wish I could have though.)"
"(How did you spend your childhood then?)"
Vignette reminisced about her time in Hell. ("Well...I did chores? I cleaned the house, took the pets for walks and did the laundry. I also read books.)"
"(No friends?)"
"(Not really.)"
Hensky laughed, fogging up her mask. "(Maybe once this is all over, I'll show you how us girls used to have fun.)"
"That...would be nice...," Vignette said with a dreamy tone. "Although we're not little girls anymore. And we've...been through a lot."
She fiddled with the keychain dangling on Gabriel's rifle.
"(Maybe we can have little girls of our own someday...my kid and your kid can grow up together...them versus the world. Oh, but what if one of them is a boy? Hoho...maybe they would become lovers? How romantic...!)"
"Slow down there miss. I didn't catch any of that."
"Nothing. Just dreaming."
Their idle talk was interrupted when a soldier at the front of the group raised his rifle, and began shouting at the entrance of the hospital. Everyone quickly spread out, guns pointed at the entrance.
They ducked for cover when the people inside the hospital began shooting at them, but it was a quick engagement. Along with the other soldiers, Vignette and Hensky walked up to the entrance with their rifles drawn, and saw the blood of the people they just shot.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"All clear!"
The dead Ares soldiers were wearing gas masks, but they didn't have hazmat suits on. Vignette carefully walked into the hospital and into the first floor, where the chairs used for waiting were rearranged in a way to serve as temporary beds. On one of them was a soldier who was laying completely motionless. She fired off a round into his head to make sure, and the sound of the gunshot reverberated across the walls.
Glass from the blown out windows crackled under her boots, as she went room to room, checking for anyone else. Along with Hensky and five other soldiers, she ventured further down into the building, into what seemed like the intensive care unit. She opened the doors to one of the rooms, and saw a man laying in one of the beds with his palms pointed up on his lap.
She kept her rifle pinned on him as Hensky cleared the rest of the room, to make sure this wasn't an ambush. There was yelling in the background, informing the commander of the squad that there were Ares soldiers in the ICU. Vignette trained her muzzle to the side of his head as the commander walked in.
"Commander," Vignette declared. "I hope you won't order me to shoot them. Sir."
"Bring them out into the main lobby," he ordered.
"Yes sir."
As the sun began to set, each individual of the able-bodied JSDF scoured the floors of the hospital, piling necessary medical supplies in a pile near the entrance. There were three medics sifting through the supplies and separating what was necessary, so that they didn't have to waste carrying capacity on the way back. Meanwhile, the irradiated Ares soldiers were lined up against the wall with their wrists zip tied together.
The last thing Vignette did before she went to bed was cover each of the prisoners with a blanket from the hospital beds, while Hensky shone the light from a small lighter.
"(Sleep well.)"
Some of the ghastly pale men lit up after hearing their native tongue being spoken by Vignette, and they began to ask questions with a weak voice.
"(...please...did they win the fight...? At the shores? My...brother...)"
Vignette locked eyes with his downtrodden eyes. "(They're at a stalemate right now, neither side is winning or losing. Let's hope you stay alive to see him.)"
"(Thank...you...thank you...)"
As she moved on to the last, he spat on Vignette's mask to which she didn't even flinch.
"(Fuck you. Murderers.)"
Vignette slowly stood up and threw the blanket off to the side, while his comrades began chastising him quietly.
"(You fucking idiot. You could have said nothing and stayed warm for the night.)," the man next to him said.
"(You're gonna get your fingers cut off man.)," another one warned.
Vignette took the lighter from Hensky and shone the light in his resentful face. "(Do you hate me?)," she asked. The words escaped her mouth fluently and flawlessly. It was almost as if it was her native language.
He stayed silent however, choosing to stare Vignette down through the thick plastic of her mask.
"(I have done nothing to you.)," Vignette casually said. "(I even offered to help.)"
"(Get away from me. You disgust me.)," he spat.
Vignette and Hensky returned to their room which used to be a doctor's office, and sat down on the bed. It was hard and obviously not meant for sleeping, but for patients to lay down and get themselves examined. Vignette had covered it with a thick blanket so that they wouldn't freeze in the night.
They took off their masks letting the frigid night-time air sap the sweat from their faces. They were far enough away from the blast site where they could breathe in the air without getting a lethal dose of radiation poisoning.
Vignette flicked a potassium iodide pill into her mouth, while her friend made idle talk.
"So...what did the last one say? Sounded not good," she asked as she added ripped newspaper to the small fire she started on the ground.
Vignette sighed. "He called me a murderer."
Hensky turned her head slowly to see Vignette's face, her expression highlighted by the darkness of the night and the warm, orange glow of the fire. She wore a look of contemplation, as if she was rewinding her memories for any sort of proof that reinforced his statement. Completely motionless and completely expressionless, she looked like a robot.
A bit of smoke tickled Hensky's nose, but quickly escaped through a large hole in the roof. "Vignette..."
Vignette shook her head and blinked. "Sorry. Gabriel says I worry too much and-fuck...there I go again. Why can't you just...get out of my head for two seconds...?!"
Hensky giggled and leaned in closer to the purple-haired girl, looking mysterious in the orange glow.
"You say that like its a bad thing," she quietly remarked.
"I-no, no it's not a bad thing!," Vignette strongly replied. "It's just...I don't know. She just has to find a way to attach herself to every. Single. One of my thoughts...!"
Hensky laid down on the bed and opened up the blanket so that they could share body heat. Vignette hesitated for a second, her usual nervousness springing forward again, but she pushed it down and jumped in bed with her friend. She tucked her head in the crook between Hensky's chin and chest, and found that it felt somewhat comfortable, even if they were wearing their military uniforms. It was warm, and she felt protected. Usually, a certain blonde loli would be the one to have her head resting on Vignette's chest.
"(It's because you love her. Because you think she's the most important, precious thing to have ever existed, and that life wouldn't be worth living without her.)"
"(P-Probably...)"
She looked down at Vignette so that they locked eyes.
"(The very fact that you seem concerned about if you are a murderer tells me that you're not,)" she whispered. "(You think a murderer would care about killing babies?)"
Vignette nodded, grateful that she was speaking Russian slowly so that she could understand.
"(Then why does my soul feel so...tainted...)"
"(Maybe that's normal. If you want to survive in this world, that is.)"
Vignette yawned as she felt her eyes get heavy.
"(Let's hope...that...normal...Gab...)"
"Okay. Goodnight Vignette. Sleep well."
"...night...Anne..."
"...ra...phie..."
Raphiel jolted awake from her upright sleep after hearing a small squeak from her friend.
"Gabriel...!," she whispered in relief. She gently wrapped her arms around the small creature, being careful not to jostle her IV cord or the bandage wrapped around her torso.
"...vo...mit...," she weakly moaned. Raphiel quickly opened a plastic bag and set it near her face so that she could expel the contents of her stomach. It was the strangest, weakest and most frightening vomit Raphiel had ever seen. Upon opening her mouth, crimson red fluid began leaking out, as if someone had turned on a water faucet. She didn't even gag, due to how weak she was.
"...my God...," she gasped.
The fluid stopped, but Gabriel was still turned on her side, her colourless eyes still staring forward. It was frightening. Raphiel had always known Gab for her colourful and bright eyes, shining baby blue like it was an opal. Even when she was riddled with bullets or suffering from deadly gas, her eyes never faltered.
A nearby nurse noticed this and helped Raphiel to clean the blood off Gabriel's cheek and off the sheets.
"What's happening to her...," Raphiel quietly shuddered. "Is she going to..."
"I don't know. She has internal bleeding. Most likely her bone marrow is completely destroyed," the nurse grimly whispered.
"We can save her right? We can save all of them...?"
"Depends if they bring back enough medicine and equipment. We just don't have the equipment right now to treat anyone."
"What do you need?"
"We need a small device, manual operated, that separates stem-cells from a healthy donor's blood. We need a long list of medicines, chemo-drugs, antibodies, what-not. We need a bunch of other tools as well: gloves, masks, tubing, precision tools, the list goes on. Jesus...it's a medic's worst nightmare. Seeing people die in front of them."
Gabriel turned her head, too exhausted to even groan. "...vi...ans..."
"Vignette's gone to get you the medicines, don't worry. Ansel's recovering too, he should be okay."
Gabriel's eyes twinkled a little bit, like it found hope.
"You better give them both a big hug when you get better, you understand Gab-chan?"
The corners of her lips lifted slightly, like they were trying their best to smile. She closed her eyes and her head went limp, breathing far too slowly, but at least it was steady.
Raphiel stood up and walked out of the medical bay, trying to stay as silent as she could so that she didn't disturb anyone. She savoured the silence for as long as she possibly could, before she picked up her sniper rifle to head out to the surface, where she would have to listen to gunfire for the coming days.
11/04/2021: Another one! Next one will be a Raphiel chapter!
