Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!
I can't think of a single thing to say. This chapter's a little slower, but it's a little different as well. Enjoy!
Octavia was somewhere else mentally. We'd settled under an overhang in the mountainside to rest. Having dragged Octavia around like a corpse, I was dead tired. I couldn't feel my arms or fingers, and my eyes were full of dust kicked up by the wind. We fed on our aura, or more my aura. Octavia was barely conscious, so I couldn't exactly tell her to sustain herself. For the time being I just needed a nap. We were about to embark into open air, where we wouldn't be able to take shelter anywhere.
As I pulled my ragged jacket tighter, I gazed out into the storm, praying that it would subside soon.
Honestly, I'm surprised we made it this far, for this long.
But more surprisingly was Gale Sheng's survival. She'd been crawling after us, half-dead, more of a corpse than Octavia, determined to catch up. Despite her lack of skin or speed, somehow she had managed to catch up whenever I dare take a break.
Despite this lingering thought, I leaned closely into the mountain, folded my arms, and prepared for a powernap. Shutting my eyes was painful, considering all the sand plastered to my eyelids. As the wind rustles my hair, I finally drift off, sleeping for no more than an hour.
When I awaken the sun has begun to set. I shake Octavia's shoulder in the hopes that she will wake up. The only response I receive is that of a slight moan. With continued shaking she moans again, frustrated.
"Octavia," I said, "come on, we need to get moving. This damn storm isn't letting up, so we really ought to get going while we have a head start"
"Five more minutes," I heard her groan.
I slapped her shoulder, "Octavia!" I called, afraid that Gale would hear me, but knowing that I couldn't carry Octavia for much longer and feeling the need to tell her how urgent this was.
She blinked, "Okay, okay!" She said angrily, standing clumsily.
"You okay?" I asked, just to make sure.
"No I'm not okay dammit!" She retorted, "But it's not like I have a choice. Come on, let's get rolling."
As she staggered out into the open, I followed her, stealing a glance behind us. The corpse is nowhere in sight, so I let out a sigh of relief.
Octavia largely hobbled as she walked. Having worn through much of her boots by now, it's clear how uncomfortable she is. Moreover, she's still missing her right arm, and it hasn't exactly been able to heal properly. Chances are she's sick, though how badly we don't know. At this point we're simply praying for our survival, though we seriously doubt our chances.
The paint on my hands and ankles has long since eroded away, revealing the slick robotics underneath. Thankfully they were designed well enough to block out the dust.
The trek was painfully boring, and our lack of energy, potential heatstroke, and high chances of dying had long since ceased to entertain us for hours as they once had, when it'd first began. We were concerned with our lack of energy, but had since learned to ration it as best we could. The heatstroke was something of a given already. Somehow we managed to live on, despite the overwhelming temperature threatening to strike us down where we stood. And dying out here where nobody would find us had simply become an expectation. A reality that we'd both come to accept. We had become close friends with death, and on occasion longed for it. We knew that death was inevitable, and we lived with it, challenged it even.
The storm never let up, but we sure did. Octavia collapsed to her knees about four hours in, but with some help was able to stand and walk for another hour before her legs simply gave way. With a great sigh, a deep breath, and a heave, she was over my shoulders again. Every step was a journey, and as the hours wore on it became less and less worthwhile in my mind. Every step seemed to take ten minutes at the least. It felt like each one was sucking out all the remaining strength I had.
No more than two hours passed like this before I collapsed, unable to maintain even the slightest pace anymore.
"Hey," Octavia asked between breaths, "what if Gale already died, and this is all for nothing?"
"It isn't…for nothing," I replied, panting, "Whether she's…dead or not…we're getting home…we have to"
She didn't respond, and for a second I wondered if she'd died.
"Don't…lose sight…of that," I pushed out, hoping to keep her going.
She smiled slightly, then she was gone. I could see her chest moving up and down as she breathed, and knew that she wasn't dead, but rather had fallen asleep. And despite how cracked and hard the ground was, it felt more comfortable than anything I'd ever felt. Soon I too gave way to sleep.
Line
I awoke some time later. How long it'd been, I wasn't entirely sure, but I felt good. Better than I had in quite some time.
I sat up and stretched, pulling up my jacket to cover my mouth as I yawned. I didn't want any more dust in my mouth than there already was.
As I revealed my face to the elements once more, I saw something in the distance. I couldn't exactly tell what it was, but I could make a pretty good guess.
I shook Octavia awake and leaned in to her ear, "Gale's here," I said. She sat upright almost immediately and looked out to the horizon, quickly spotting the silhouette.
The figure gained detail, and it became apparent that it was who I'd guessed. Gale Sheng, crawling towards us on all fours like an animal, her body reduced to crimson muscle with the occasional fleck of skin holding onto her for dear life. Her clothes were gone, save for a few rags somehow hanging off her shoulders and torso. Her lips are gone, revealing a constant smile that proved more menacing than when she was alive.
We'd long since figured out what her semblance probably was, though it seemed more like a deformity. She couldn't bleed, and had a heavy resistance to pain. And by our own experiments, her healing capabilities were better than that of most.
I stood, grunting with the effort. My limbs were still stiff, I could hardly move.
"Come on Gale, just move on," I called out to her. "You're good as dead, and so are we. So why don't we either work together or just move on?"
"Hell shall descend upon our remains!" She cried out. Her voice was hoarse and raspy, likely clogged with sand. "Hell shall descend upon our remains!"
Every time we'd encountered her that was all she'd ever said. Truly this place had driven her more insane than she'd already been. Chances are whatever she was screaming about was already irrelevant. We'd been out for several days. Whatever had happened she wouldn't live to see, and neither would we. Still, I wanted to try.
I slid one blade out from my mechanical palm. It met some difficulty along the way, but made it almost all the way out. I moved stiffly towards her, slamming my hand against her forehead. The blade pierced her forehead and she froze. I tossed her aside with some effort, taking a few steps back to maintain my balance.
She lay on her side for a moment, and with a stiff twitch she was back up, crawling towards me with her mouth wide open.
I took a step forward and kicked her across the jaw, sending her bending backwards, probably cracking her spine at the same time. As she lingered in that position I stepped forward and cut her throat open. She gurgled slightly, though with what saliva I wasn't sure. My throat had long since dried out.
I took Octavia's wrist in my hand and started walking, pulling her with me. My fights with Gale were hardly fights anymore. She couldn't move, I barely could, and so what we got was a lot of slow movements in a very one-sided fight.
What I didn't do was look back. I knew Octavia and I had more energy now than Gale, so I just started running in a different direction than what we'd already been going in, just to throw her off. I wasn't eager to run into her again, and if that meant taking a slight detour then I was okay with that.
So there you have it. Somehow Gale's still around. That's fun. She's kinda creepy, at least in my mind she is.
I actually got around to doing some writing a little white ago, but it seems like as a whole I've stopped doing so as frequently, though I don't really know why. I have just as much time as last year I think. Oh well, maybe once this is all over I will.
Anyways, that's about it. As usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!