"Ughn!" Ray was woken abruptly by a dull and blunt pain radiating in his stomach. He sat up quickly and saw a figure standing over the bed while glowering at him with a rifle. They wore a tan outfit, but Ray couldn't make out their face. It was a blur. "What you got in that bag? Open it— and no sudden movements," a deep voice demanded.
Ray couldn't get to his pistol with a barrel in his face, so he slowly reached for his backpack as instructed; while he did, Ray noticed Crystal open her eyes and hoped she'd keep still, as the person's focus was on him.
"Now! Just give me the damn bag!" the person boomed, and Ray handed them his backpack. They then threw it over their shoulder with their other hand and pulled the trigger.
Ray shot up in bed while breathing rapidly in a cold sweat that he wiped from his head. That was a nightmare, and he likely had it due to seeing those mysterious people yesterday. Oddly enough, he still preferred it to any good dreams. At least it was real and not the semblance of a fantasy he wished to have again.
His movement woke Crystal, and she, too, sat up, a bleary gaze in her eyes while looking up at a frazzled Ray.
He sighed and eventually caught his breath. "It was just a bad dream. Sorry for waking you." Fortunately, the sun was rising, so she would have woken up soon anyway.
"Pi…" Crystal walked and brushed her body alongside his back before sitting in front of him. It was her way of comforting him— or attempting to.
She didn't dream much nowadays or couldn't recall them, but they were rarely nightmares when she did. A lot of them made no sense. They mainly consisted of jumbled information and foggy events, but who knows?
"We should go search some buildings. We have to be mindful of what we grab, though. Can't fit the entire room or store into my bag anymore." Ray scooted to the edge of the bed and put on his boots. It had been several days, so he needed a new change of clothes and a shower if any homes in the area had water. Neither were his priority, so he would revisit them after evening hit.
Crystal dropped onto the floor after him while stretching her hind legs, ready for another long day.
"Let's go." He grabbed his pistol and backpack, walking outside and into Eterna with her. "Let's try the Mart first… even though those are usually barren." He headed toward the one he saw south by Central yesterday.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to find food and water, and the day had to come when the entire region ran out since no companies were supplying it. That's why it hurt to leave any behind.
Crystal scanned and watched for danger while on the way and felt a massive group of blue presence nearby at one point, which they found out was just a large flock of starly nesting atop a nearby building.
"Here we are…" Ray stopped at the blue-roofed, small Mart's entrance and attempted prying the once automatic door open, but it wouldn't budge. He scanned the structure. "Locked and not broken into, which could mean there are items inside, but I dunno how we're getting in. Maybe we could try the back door or roof."
While Ray thought of a solution, Crystal remembered she could use her telekinesis. It had been a while since she practiced it because she mainly preserved and used her abilities to avoid unfavorable situations now. She approached the sliding door and put all her focus on it. The gem on her forehead glowed like usual, and the door started subtly vibrating.
"What the…" Ray took a step back and looked at his deeply focused espeon. "Oh… You're doing that," he mumbled, watching her work at the door. Ray knew it drained her when she used her abilities for long periods, but this would be good practice, and the city seemed vacant so far.
Abruptly— and luckily it wasn't too loud, the door shattered into thousands of bits of glass that burst from pressure and flew at him, hitting the ground before the entrance, which startled Ray. He shielded his face and winced as some particles hit and cut his arms and legs, followed by Crystal stumbling onto her side.
He glanced up and saw around twenty starly fill the air and cry from atop that building after being startled as well. "C-Crystal, are you okay?" He noticed her frantic breathing pattern. Ray knelt beside her and looked around in case anyone heard it, although the immediate area was safe. "Goodness..."
She nodded and flicked her tail, huffing. Crystal felt weak and dizzy, was all. She hadn't intended to break the door. It was disappointing and meant she needed to familiarize herself and practice her abilities more.
"Don't hurt yourself trying to help, but thank you for getting that door... open." Ray picked her up and set her on the Mart's floor after stepping over all the broken glass. "If you have energy, you can help search, but sit still if you need to recover." Ray walked around and scanned the aisles. There wasn't much on the shelves, but it wasn't empty. He found that the back door was unlocked, so whoever was in here had left the front door intact. He figured it was too good to be true.
Ray still found a few more waters, two small bags of PokéChow that Crystal didn't enjoy the taste of, and a few potions he could administer to her if she were ever injured. Healing properties in general were rarer than meals to come by.
Crystal searched behind the counter and multiple aisles but found nothing except various types of pokéballs and other miscellaneous items so far. She couldn't see atop the high shelves, but she hopped on counters when she could, nearly falling over and off of one once since her balance was thrown off.
"Crystal!"
She looked up from where she was, her ears erect after hearing Ray call. She trotted over and looked up at him attentively.
"Look what I found." He held up the pokémon food and grinned. "You'll have to stuff your face with chow for a while. We'll check other buildings throughout the day too." While Ray fit the items into his backpack, he heard it: the heart-stopping loop that came alive every other day.
He froze while in the middle of putting a potion into his bag. The siren blared at random times across Sinnoh for minutes on end. It first played when the virus had spread at an alarming rate and took too many lives to control.
Authorities, such as police, had been nowhere to be found, hospitals and Pokémon Centers stopped providing their services and shut down, and Sinnoh's military that had established martial law had ditched the region. The siren served as a dire last resort warning to the uninfected once upon a time that no one was in control of a new and hopeless reality. They had given up.
Ray had no idea where it originated from. Its system must have been disabled, but it'd mysteriously started up again weeks ago. Its tone would rise and lower until it fell silent for a second. No longer, then it would start up again.
Ray waited for it to fall into its slumber once more. He could never move while it played its chilling song.
Crystal wasn't fond of it either and pressed her ears against her head. It reminded her of the moment a controlled pandemic brought society to a staggering and abrupt halt. She couldn't even imagine having fun anymore. It just made her feel worse.
After all fell silent, Ray shut his eyes momentarily and put what he found in his bag. "Next building."
He had searched multiple buildings with Crystal before nightfall; among them were all four floors of the Team Galactic structure. Ray felt nervous the entire time they were inside, not only because it used to be one of the infamous Team Galactic's headquarters, but because there were bodies eaten away on a couple of floors.
So Ray didn't spend a lot of time there as a result. Not that they'd come back to life and try to kill them or something, but the building was creepy and could be a breeding ground for the virus. Plus, most of the rooms had been cleared out.
They were currently in the same house they'd stayed in the night before and were in bed. "It was difficult leaving most of what we found today behind, but I can't overpack again." Ray patted Crystal's side as she lay in his lap. "I'm gonna get ready for bed. I'll be back." He set her aside, took a toothbrush from his bag, and went to the restroom. There was no water, so he had to use some bottles of his drinking water to wash and whatnot.
She walked to the pillow and lay below it, stretching her tired legs before curling up. She'd try falling asleep. They had a long day, which is what most of them have been for the past several months. Crystal was just grateful to be able to rest without trouble finding them so far. She sometimes wondered where all of the murderous groups were and hoped they never waltzed into a city that any resided in. Of course, she could scan and kill, but it was best to avoid a situation like that if possible.
After drying off with a clean towel he found in the closet, Ray put on a new pair of jeans and a long-sleeved red shirt to sleep in. He couldn't be caught unclothed or have to spend an extra moment getting into pants in a dire situation. He slipped on a pair of socks and kept his boots next to his bed so he could easily access them during the night.
Ray let Crystal keep the upper half of the bed while he took the center, staring into space. He felt they should leave this city tomorrow. This was their second night spent in Eterna. Nothing alarming had happened yet, so he wanted to say he felt safe, but that would never be true. He wished it could be, but it was only luck, and it wasn't wise to push it.
That was something to worry about in the morning, though. Ray wanted to sleep and hope he didn't experience another nightmare, nor a good dream.