Brownie dashed towards the bigger degenerate while the small one bolted at her, but this time, Kiah was ready. It might be smarter, but she was faster.
As it raised its gnarly fingers to swipe at her, she brought her labrys down hard, slicing deep into its exposed waist. Its skin cut like butter under the blade.
The creature shrieked in pain.
She grinned.
'Good. That's what you get.'
The blade didn't cleave all the way through, though, so she yanked it free with a grunt. The degenerate staggered, but it wasn't slowing down.
It swiped at her face again, narrowly missing her cheek.
Kiah retaliated, bringing her labrys to its arm. The limb hit the ground with a wet thud.
A sharp rush of adrenaline shot through her as she watched it twitch on the floor.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted Brownie dueling with the other degenerate with a scythe — spinning, dodging, slashing. He looked effortlessly cool, like he'd been training for this his whole life.
Then—
*Shriek!*
She snapped her gaze back.
The armless degenerate's face twisted in fury as if it couldn't believe a lowlife cut his arm off. It lunged at her with animalistic rage, tackling her to the ground.
She hit the floor hard, pain lacing through her ribcage as the creature thrashed on top of her.
Kiah cried out but raised her forearm just in time, keeping the creature's snapping teeth from tearing into her face. Its jaws clamped onto the padded sleeve, ripping at it, trying to reach her skin.
She couldn't breathe.
She was suffocating.
The weight. The pain. The stench — God, the stench. Like rotting meat soaked in sewage. Her stomach lurched.
With her free hand, she fumbled at her side, fingers scraping against the stun gun strapped to her waist.
'There.'
She gripped it tight and jabbed it into the degenerate's gut.
ZZZZT!
The creature convulsed violently, twitching on top of her, then paused momentarily.
That was enough time.
Kiah shoved the disgusting creature off her and hastily stood to her feet.
The degenerate recovered quicker than she expected, already attempting to stand up. She took Brownie's advice and severed both the legs of the degenerate with two quick swipes.
The degenerate shrieked a few more times but refused to give up. He swam in a pool of its own blood but kept crawling towards her undeterred.
Tenacious bastard!
She was about to call on Brownie to finish it off, but she paused. Her hold on her labrys tightened.
She wanted to finish it off herself.
So without hesitation, she swung and severed its head clean from its body.
Finally, the bloody thing stopped moving.
She did it. She had taken one down.
She looked up to see Brownie finishing off his own degenerate, too. With the tension draining from her limbs, Kiah let out a long breath before sliding down the wall, grabbing her sides in pain.
She needed to get checked. Soon.
***
"Yeah, it's definitely broken."
Pinkie said, squinting at the bruises growing across Kiah's chest and abdomen.
Kiah sighed and pulled her top back down. After the chaos in the halls, they'd found shelter in another room on the upper floor.
Right now, she and Pinkie were holed up in the bathroom.
Pinkie had sustained a scratch on her arm from earlier, but it wasn't that bad. Kiah had reluctantly let her check out her injuries too — though all she had done was confirm what she already suspected.
"That punch must have been nasty if it caused this kind of damage. You flew across the street like a rag doll."
Kiah's face turned sour.
"Keen observation."
Pinkie shrugged, digging into her backpack.
"I have something that might help."
She pulled out a black plastic bottle. "This helps with fractures and helps with internal bleeding. It also has a good numbing effect. I've used it before. It works like magic."
Kiah gazed at the bottle with a dark liquid warily. She'd never seen or heard of anything that helped with both internal bleeding and fractures — definitely not outside hospitals.
And also, she had never self-medicated on anything apart from headache medicines.
What were the chances that this wouldn't kill her on the spot?
Kiah shifted her gaze back to Pinkie's bright, reassuring face.
"What is in it?"
Pinkie shrugged.
"A bunch of different chemicals and herbs. My neighbour's doctor brews it. He says the key is Calzene X, some lab mineral that accelerates bone tissue regeneration, and Spinal Veil, a herb that speeds up tissue repair. It's used a lot in traditional street medicine, so don't be scared. We call it Patchdrop."
Kiah couldn't dispute her explanation. Half of what she said sounded impossible, but what did she know about this world's medicine?
Kiah stared at the bottle, eyes narrowing.
"If it's that important, why are you just giving it to me? What if you need it later?"
Pinkie tilted her head.
"You saved my life. It's the least I can do. You could have easily left me to die and looted my bag after, but you didn't."
"Why would anyone do such a thing?" Kiah asked, confused.
"Because the world can be heartless sometimes."
Kiah hesitated… then took the bottle.
"Thanks." She finally said, downing the contents in one gulp.
Anything to dull the pain.
The effects were instant. A soothing warmth spread through her chest as the pain dulled to a manageable throb. It reminded her of the paste Eden had given her too.
Medicine in this world was on another level. She wasn't sure if the effects hit faster because of the genetic modifications in their bodies or if the compounds themselves were just that advanced.
Eyes wide in surprise, she turned to Pinkie.
"You were right. It really does work like magic."
"Told you." The girl smiled. "I'm Nayeli, by the way. But you can call me Naya."
Kiah blinked. The name suited her. It was soft and bright, much like the girl herself.
"I'm Kiah."
"Can I call you Kiki?"
Kiah grimaced but shrugged. What people called her was the least of her concerns right now.
"Sure."
Naya grinned wider, then left the bathroom to join Brownie in the bedroom. Kiah followed behind her, now feeling much better thanks to the medicine.
"I'm Nayeli, but you can call me Naya." She chirped at the guy. "This Is Kiah. What's your name?"
The guy looked between them, as if deciding whether or not to answer.
"Anwyll."
Kiah raised a brow. Brownie still suited him better, but oh well.
"Can I call you Will instead?" Naya asked.
"I don't really care," Anwyll said with a shrug.
He was sitting in a chair in a shadowy corner of the room.
The three of them sat in different corners, their eyes occasionally flicking to the locked door. The air felt dense.
Silence fell over them.
Kiah checked the timer.
05:32:47
Five hours in.
Why did time crawl when you were desperate for it to pass, and fly when you wanted it to slow down?
She wondered how many others were still alive.
Ten of them had been dropped in. Blondie was already dead. And that scream she'd heard earlier… someone else was probably gone too.
That left maybe eight of them. Maybe fewer. Who knew how many had died in silence, out of earshot?
"So… what made you guys decide to join the rebels?"
Naya's whisper broke the silence.
"We should stay quiet," Anwyll warned, his voice low.
"I know. But sitting in silence is awkward. If I am going to die tonight, I'd at least like to know a bit about the people I'm dying with." Naya remarked.
'Speak for yourself,' Kiah thought grimly. 'I don't plan on dying tonight.'
But realistically, out of the three of them, she was in the worst shape. Statistically, her odds weren't good.
But statistics be damned.
"I'll go first," Naya said. "I joined because degenerates kept attacking the town where I lived. I've got three younger siblings. And my parents are getting old. I wanted to be strong enough to protect them. I wanted to become someone they could rely on. Someone they'd be proud of. So about a month ago, I spent a week looking for the closest rebel front and signed up. They let me choose my weapon and train, and today, I was transferred here."
Kiah blinked.
That… wasn't what she'd expected. Naya had come off as a chatterbox, maybe even an airhead. But clearly, there was more depth to her than Kiah had given her credit for.
Naya also mentioned she signed up one month ago.
It confirmed something Eden had said. They were usually given more time to prepare, train, and adjust.
Did she have bad luck or something? With only three days to prep, wasn't she the weakest person here?