We were all more relieved once we reached the rolling mountains that were visible from the estate.

This was a woodsier area, a much more comfortable environment travelling across miles of open land that put us at a tremendous disadvantage when it came to seeking cover to evade the detection of Combine outland scanners, which we thankfully never encountered. This mountain range thankfully had a forgiving incline that required little effort to climb. However, it was well past noon at this point and having spent the whole morning walking made the climb a little more tiring than it would be otherwise. What would be needed soon was a little break, and Aaron informed me that one was not far.

A rest stop was situated by the overgrown trail we had been taking. It was nothing grand like the estate we had left down below in the valley, it was a small one-story building that was actually in even worse shape, with large holes in the ceilings and walls that were covered by tarps and overrun with vegetation. I had an odd hunch that this place had long been forgotten even before the Combine invaded Earth.

I wouldn't have thought that this was an official stop for refugees until I saw the yellow lambda sign painted on a corner of the mossy brick wall. I had been informed that this was the universal sign of the human resistance, making a clear indication that there were supplies stored here for refugees making their way to Red Bay.

Unfortunately, food rations seemed to be low on stock at the time we came upon it, finding little to eat inside the cache hidden underneath the rotting floorboards. Thankfully, I still had those emergency MREs in my backpack. This was the ideal time to finally use them.

I had just enough so that each of us could get one, which delighted me. Our little meals were ready within minutes after I configured the little heaters installed underneath tightly sealed packaging. It felt nice to give back to my hosts after they had so kindly provided for me over the past couple of days, even if my gifts were comparatively minuscule.

We ate our rations on the floor of our relatively sheltered refuge, and I got to indulge in watching them try food from my universe. "Half a yeast pie with pasteurized cheese and meat toppings…" Aaron recited what I told him was in his specific ration, studying the steamy dish in his hand like he was holding some lost treasure. "Are you sure that scribbly text on the bag doesn't say 'pizza'?"

All the text on my MREs was in Lylat, so it was understandable why he would ask for clarification. He and Ben could apparently understand me perfectly, which only added to the confusion to our incredibly near-seamless language barrier. "I find it weird that it doesn't," I admitted, happily taking a few bites of my fried fish cake. It was regrettably a little soggy due to the nature of the ration's heating base, but I was too famished to care. "I don't know why the manufacturers who make these rations have to name them like they're packing construction solvents."

"I ain't hung up on the verbosity, lassie, I'm more floored that you got pizza in your universe," Aaron said, putting his ration up to his nose and smelling it more thoroughly. His eyes flared with disbelief. "Holy cow, it even smells like I remember. You sure you're not from Earth, lassie?"

"Nowhere close to it," I insisted, though becoming rather curious about the logistics of this myself. "How strange it is that our worlds seem to be so similar to each other in many ways whilst being universes apart."

"You're telling me," Aaron added. "That fact that you're speaking English is a miracle of its own."

I raised an eyebrow at him as I finished one of my fish cakes. "I'm not, though. I'm speaking Lylat right now."

"You certain you guys haven't just been speaking English this whole time? Your accent even insinuates that."

"And likewise, what makes you certain that you haven't been speaking Lylat your entire life? I've heard plenty of dialects like yours also."

"Maybe we both have been lied to by our worlds," Aaron shrugged. I found myself entertaining that funny thought for a moment. Ben, having been more content to peacefully eat his brisket sandwich, decided to relay a thoughtful suggestion.

"It is possible that both of your worlds arrived at many of the same conclusions, though the steps necessary to reach them were circumstantially varied," he said, holding his sandwich with both hands while his chest arm held a little can of Cornerian soda that was provided in his MREs. "The variabilities between our existences expand beyond the endless endlessness. We should remain grateful that we can commune without the aid of translation. Kinships between otherworldly newcomers are forged far faster this way."

There was a discernible warmness to his emphasis, which was something that made me smile. The sentiment didn't pass over Aaron's head either, prompting him to raise his own tiny can of soda. "I feel ya, buddy. Here's to alien kinship."

"Here's to alien kinship."

"Yes…" Me and Ben both chorused, tapping the ends of our cans together in cheers.

Sometime later, we wrapped up our lovely little picnic in the wilderness and prepared to scale the rest of the mountain, which was only a few hundred feet up until we reached its rounded peak.

Before we resumed our hike, we decided to sift around the place for any more hidden supplies that we might have missed. Aaron was doing it primarily so that he could investigate this decerped stop's inventory so that he could properly request that more would be brought to this place once we reached Red Bay. While not being appointed to oversee this place like he was the estate by the railway tracks, I thought that was considerate of him.

Having already deduced that the overgrown structure was depleted of caches, Aaron began to search around the vicinity for any other potentially hidden staches that hadn't been touched. Ben had followed him outside, though he appeared to be more interested in immersing himself in the serenity of our deciduous environment. I was inclined to join him.

I was just finishing up putting everything away in my backpack until I detected a flicker of a telepathic signal that made my ears perk. It was a troubling one; not quite 'dull' like an animal, and not quite sharp like a sentient being. It was an unsettling mix of both. And perhaps most unsettling of all was the fact that I detected it right underneath me.

Getting a suspicious idea that maybe the floorboards weren't entirely suspended above the ground as I had seen from outside, I stood up and began looking around inside this grungy but endearing interior, and it wasn't long before I discovered a trapped door in the floor, buried underneath a couple of large dusty plastic-like boxes filled with rocks.

Physical strength had never been a niche of mine, so it was somewhat of a challenge to lift the top boxes and set them aside on the floor before resorting to my legs to push the last one on top of the door out of the way. Once that feat was accomplished, the square-shaped door on the floor was revealed, and the metal handle on the edge of it invited me to grab it and lift it open, which I eagerly did upon discovery

Lifting the creaky wooden slab open, what had been revealed was a dark, dank, and pungent basement area with a metal step ladder leading down into it, which was only about fifteen feet or so. I looked over at the exit again, tempted to call Ben or Aaron over to show them what I found, but I had become prone to plunging into danger thanks to my independent past, and did so the same in this instance as I decided to venture down by myself.

Having an answer for the darkness that enveloped me, I deployed my staff before its spearhead ignited into a blazing ball of fire that served as a magical torch, illuminating the entire basement. There wasn't anything amazing about this new area; it was merely a narrow space about twenty feet long from the latter to the end, flanked by wooden shelves that had shards of splintered wood scattered all over them and even on the floor. It looked like someone may have already ransacked through all the hidden supplies.

Instead of going back up to inform Aaron of what I found, I was again drawn to that telepathic ping that went off again, coming directly from the other end of the basement. The light from my flame only reached so far, so I stepped off the latter and crept my way forward, minding the splinters of wood on the floor. After a few steps, I came up to a chain-link fence that closed off the remaining end of the basement.

There was a chain-link door that led inside, though more wooden crates could be seen propped firmly up against it. Without giving much time to ponder on this, the telepathic ping could be felt again, and its epicentre was right inside that cage. The pieces were coming together around the same time when whatever was kept behind that barrier began to stir, leading me to believe that my presence was disturbing it.

A harrowing and familiar moaning sound began to sputter from the other side of the cage, and I was soon able to see a humanoid shape rise to its feet, though my light was still too dim to fully light it. I sensed tremendous pain coming from that creature; frantic and muffled breathing could be heard, almost sounding like someone on the verge of tears, which jostled an emotional response to help it, subsequently suppressing my instinct that registered this as a threat and to leave promptly.

"W-Who's in there?" I gently called, disturbed by the woeful moans that emanated behind the cage. Speaking up brought about an unforeseen violent reaction from the creature, making it spin around before slamming its arms against the chain-link door, making me jump back in surprise.

"Uuu-aha-aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHHHH!" It screamed with unspeakable agony that transcended past what ears alone could process. Its audible torment was absolutely nothing compared to what it was thinking.

Its own physical and mental anguish pounded at my head like I was standing right underneath a gonging metal bell. Its thoughts were my own, and I couldn't handle it. I lost balance and dropped my staff moments before I hit the ground clutching my head, shouting in confusion and mutual turmoil as the host continued to scream without cease. That was all that it could do under its parasitic torment.

The telepathic emulation was overloading me, down to where I was kicking my legs and crying out desperately. I had to make the screaming stop; I had to end its agony to end my own. Mustering the will to reach for my holstered sidearm, I pulled it out and wobblily aimed it at the prisoner as it continued to pound at the metal cage, relentless in its endless screams.

"HHeeeeeeeeeRRRRRRrrrEEEEEEEELPPPP ME-E-EEEEEEEEEEEEEE-A-A-a-aOOOOHHGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWDDD!" it shrieked relentlessly, managing to slip its arm through an opening in the cage, reaching out for me. It was as much of a hostile gesture as it was a pleading one, begging me to make it end as it could not control itself.

Sensing these vivid intentions amongst all of the tormented bellows made me hesitant to shoot at it. My hand trembled from both my mental attack and from a fanning will to kill someone who needed help. I couldn't even close my finger around the trigger, as if my hand had turned to stone.

Our hopeless situation abruptly ended when the air-piercing bang of Aaron's handgun destroyed the torturous stream of thoughts. Only a garbled snarling could be heard from the cage before the prisoner fell backwards against the wall, motionless and very much dead as yellow blood began pooling out from a hole blown through the headcrab still attached to the victim's head.

I heaved frantically, still not over what I had been subjected to as I felt Aaron rush to my side, trying gently to prop me up while keeping his nerves steady. "Lassie! Are you okay?"

I barely heard him as my eyes remained fixed on the mutated corpse lying in the cage still illuminated by the magic flames of my staff that was still lying on the floor. The silence in my head almost seemed louder than when it was flooded with total reciprocated suffering. "You… You…killed him…" That was the first thing I noted as my heart continued to pound against my chest. I couldn't decide what had happened was a good thing yet, and that indecisiveness alarmed me.

"It was a zombie, lassie. A headcrab got a hold of him," Aaron tried to reassure me as he gently helped to prop me back upright. With my head finally clear of that poor prisoner's shared torment, I was able to sense Ben climbing down the ladder to join us, growling with concern.

"What has happened? Has the Krystal been injured?" he inquired, stomping up next to Aaron, who shook his head.

"Not physically, no," he relayed. "There was a zombie in there, but I killed it before it could break out."

"Hmm…" Ben grunted with acknowledgement. There was a momentary silence between all three of us, but I was able to feel Ben looking at me. "His suffering has ended, Krystal. It was the only way. I would encourage you to take solace in that."

I put my palm to my forehead as if my head was still ringing. The clarity in my thoughts inadvertently allowed my own thoughts to process what I witnessed and experienced, and all of it made me want to throw up my fish cake. "Could… Could nothing be done to help him?" I spoke, my voice registering like a timid breeze across a small open hole as I pleadingly turned to my friends who surrounded me. "I heard his thoughts. He was alive. He could hear me…"

Both Aaron and Ben dawned identical solemn expressions across two very different facial constructs. Aaron closed his hand around mine and held it comfortingly. "They're already dead, lassie," he grimly stated, his eyes dark yet mournful. "The worst thing you can do to a zombie is to leave them be. For their own sake, we have to kill them on sight. There's no way to undo all the damage that's already been done to them."

My fur was failing to keep me warm as a light shiver coursed through my body. I looked over at the cage again, now getting a much better view of the now-deceased victim. His shirt was drenched in blood, which was a direct result of the headcrab's brutal latching method, and the abdomen area was ripped open to reveal all of the body's vital organs. Long and mangled mutated claw-like fingers lay sprawled out on the floor, motionless along with the rest of the mutated body that flickered forebodingly in the soft light of my still-burning spearhead a few feet away from me.

Even before Aaron had told me what he did, I already seemed to instinctively know that death was the only way out for that poor human, yet I could not bring myself to pull the trigger. While I was no stranger to killing―beasts and soldiers of all kinds in the worlds I have been to―I have never once killed an innocent life that pleaded for help in any way that it would come, and never did I plan to.

My nature prohibited me from ending the life of an innocent, yet I had to realize that this world was a cruel and perverted one. I now knew that I had to adapt to its circumstances even greater than I originally thought. Even still, the side of myself that always prioritised the well-being of others would likely be too stubborn to cast aside. I hoped I would be able to do the right thing when I would be tested again.