"Chloe!" The sound was muffled, like I was underwater. "Chloe! Chloe!"
The waters have parted, and I took a deep breath of fresh pine-scented air. It also smelled like singed chicken. I wrinkled my nose.
"Oh, thank God, you are alive," Andy said.
"As I said, she had simply overexerted herself. It's a bad idea to use the card for the first time in a fight."
"Oh," I winced, grabbing my head. The headache was keeling me off center, like the hangover you get at five a.m. after just an hour of sleep. "How long was I out?"
"Not long, a few minutes, maybe. The third dino escaped when it saw us coming. They are pretty chicken shit for dinosaurs."
"Anything's better than it chewing off my head. Hey, Doc, care to give me some healing?"
"My healing will prove ineffective for your circumstances," Iris said.
"How would you know? This whole thing started, what... Less than a week ago. Just try your card." I asked.
Iris didn't answer. She stood up and started walking back towards the road. I tried to follow her example, but had to use Andy's help to actually take an upright position. He seemed to put his childish grievances aside in light of the circumstances.
"We only have another half an hour of walking, and it's scarcely populated areas, so there shouldn't be any monsters," Andy said, once we were both standing.
"Fingers crossed," I mumbled. "Hey, can you give me my spear?"
"You might cut yourself with it right now…"
"And we have a doctor for that. Hopefully, cuts are something her healing is effective for…"
The pain was getting better and better with every second now, but I was still woozy, so I tracked back to the spear and the backpack with Andy's help.
"Did you get any cards?" I asked Andy.
"No, I think it was considered a split kill between Iris and me. Even though she didn't do much fighting. Between you and me, I doubt she has any fighting cards at all… How about you?"
"I got a notification. Wait, let me see."
I sat by the tree, going through my things. I desperately wished for some water to soothe my parched throat. But the dino had mangled my favourite water bottle when it bit through the bag to throw me into the tree.
My hands, face, and mouth felt raw from all the heat [Torch] had unleashed. But when I checked myself in my phone's front camera, everything looked the same as when we'd left the hospital. The sunburned appearance, combined with a whitening scar on my forehead, made me want to stop caring about my looks altogether. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. I healed my forehead to restore its normal colour and make the scar less noticeable.
This spot was as good as any other to check on the notification. This time, there were two blue cards and one green card on the offer.
First, [Pyromaniac Torch], I dismissed immediately. The skill was strong and dangerous. No matter how much I enjoyed setting monsters on fire, I didn't want a repeat of my fainting spell. Until I figure it out, I wasn't going to improve this card.
The next blue card was Compass Rose with a footprint underneath and [Pathfinder] at the bottom of it. It was nice of this System Deal to acknowledge my efforts in keeping our party safe en route.
The last green card showed a circle with a heartbeat line running through it and [Endurance] printed at the bottom. It would be a good counterbalance to the exhaustion [Torch] caused, if it could give me a second wind right now. But water, rest, and an energy bar would accomplish the same thing. I didn't want to waste a card slot on something food could fix, especially when I wasn't certain it would help with [Torch]'s side effects.
Finally, I have decided on [Pathfinder], selected and flipped the card to read the description.
Read the landscape and identify the safest routes by using subtle signs like animal tracks, worn earth, natural markers, and subconscious knowledge. Cooldown 6 hours.
The skill was exactly what I thought it would be, without any ominous notes, and I congratulated myself on a good choice. The 6-hour cooldown was a bummer, but what else was new?
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
I pulled out the mangled map we'd stolen from the car shop and studied our chosen route, activating my card. It was like divination through the Maps app. Suddenly, I could remember every small detail I'd seen out of Andy's window, everything I'd picked up on our walk, the general knowledge of the area I'd gained from half a year of jogging through town, and even hints I'd spotted from the hospital roof.
It all clicked like a puzzle, and I had two route options to Andy's house. One was through a more suburban area with one-story houses and lots of chainlink fences. The other wound through farmland with trees and hedges separating crops and grazing fields from the street.
I was so tired after the fight that I decided to take a brief break at a familiar location. Braving my way home when I didn't even know if another monster had moved in seemed reckless. Survival outweighed the appeal of my own bed and pyjamas.
When the skill stopped working, I forgot all the minute details that had gone into my analysis, like the approximate distance aggressive ant colonies usually settled from each other, or the territory where we'd encountered dinos. But I remembered the routes and knew which areas required extra vigilance. Of course, there could be new monsters or factors I had no idea about. But we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.
I explained my plan to Andy and Iris, in case we got separated, and we've set off towards the farms.
Exhaustion aside, the walk along the small two-way street that circled around town through farms was almost pleasant.
A distant sound of gunfire reached us on a bridge over an irrigation channel. The shooting meant that there were monsters close by.
We ducked and weaved to avoid another group of dinos and a menacing-looking yellow lizard. Maybe the lizard wasn't actually menacing… It scurried away as soon as it saw us approaching. But getting poisoned by one had forever changed my sentiment.
We reached Andy's house without another monster encounter.
Andy was sluggish and dragged his feet when we walked down his street. I, on the other hand, felt less drained by the time we entered his house. Yet Iris was the only one who looked like she could take on another day of walking without missing a beat.
Despite looking like he was put through the wringer, the first thing Andy did when we came in was head to his mom's bedroom.
Iris and I entered after him. The heavy stench in the air made me want to pull the shirt over my nose. Unfortunately, my shirt stunk, too. And it would make me look like stuck up snobb. So I just stayed by the door, where it was a little bit easier to breathe.
When my eyes adjusted to the muted shadows, I could see that Mrs. Hill was in the same position we left her this morning. She lay motionless on the bed, her breathing shallow and irregular. Her face was flushed a deep crimson, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead and temples.
Andy changed the wet towel on her head and went through the cluster of items on her nightstand, picking up a thermometer. Iris moved closer.
The sight hit too close to home, bringing back memories of visiting grandma in hospice. Back then, I didn't avoid the smell. I stayed by her bed, comforting her through spasms of pain. My efforts didn't help much when the entire family turned away. Even my bedridden, dying grandma stopped talking to me.
I needed to get some fresh air.
"She is still running a fever. I don't understand. Her wound is healed. What's wrong?" Andy asked in a lost little voice.
"Can I see the wound?"
Andy nodded and pulled the thin bedsheet off her leg. A series of puncture marks in two opposing arcs from the upper and lower teeth was still visible. Thanks to my skill, the wound was just slightly reddened scar tissue. There was still some residual bruising, but otherwise it looked uninfected.
"I'm sorry, Andy," Iris shook her head.
"What do you mean you are sorry? Just heal her, like you did with my hand. It should help with whatever infection had gotten into the wound."
"This isn't an infection that my card can cure. We should help this woman move on. It would be the most merciful course of action for all of our sakes."
"No. What do you mean by "move on"? Please save her. Do something. She is my mom. The only family I have… You know how you couldn't do anything for that woman in the hospital? Well, you can here! You are a doctor. You gave an oath, haven't you?"
Iris sighed and approached the bed. She touched Mrs. Hill's toe, and I could almost see the ripple of energy that passed through her body. The bite site knitted itself, like it was never there. Normal colour returned to her cheeks, and her breathing deepened.
"Mom?" Andy called. "Mom, are you awake?"
He touched her forehead and shook her shoulder. But the woman didn't wake up. Her eyes were moving intensely under her eyelids, like she was dreaming.
"Her fever is gone. Why is she not waking up?" Andy asked.
"She is too far gone. I just healed the infection, but the curse had spread its roots."
"Oh, come on. What curse now? It's just a bite…"
"The feral plague."
"That's nonsense. You obviously healed her. See, she is getting better, no fever. See…" He showed us a thermometer with the perfect 98.6°F reading. "She should wake up soon, right? I should make her some soup. Please, please, I beg you to stay until we confirm that my mom is better." There were actual tears in his eyes as he squeezed his mom's hand. He grabbed a thicker blanket and pulled it over his mom's body to keep her warm now, when she finally got rid of the fever.
Iris was looking at him with sadness in her eyes, like it was Andy who was terminally ill, not his mother.
I turned and finally left the room.
Chloe's Deck (6/10):
-
Blue Card: [Leap]
Instantly leap forward up to 6 feet. Beware of obstacles. Cooldown 30 minutes.
-
Blue Card: [Heal Wound II]
A medium burst of healing for a single target area you touch. Cooldown 1 hour.
-
Green Card: [Spear]
Basic proficiency with spear weapons. Grants +5% damage and improved accuracy when wielding spears.
-
Green Card: [Poison Tolerance]
Dulls the worst poison effects, giving your body time and chance to fight it. Does not work on lethal poison dosages.'
-
Blue Card: [Pyromaniac Torch]
Fire recognizes a kindred spirit. Go on. Light it up. Just be careful what you feed it. Cooldown 10 minutes.
-
Blue card: [Pathfinder]
Read the landscape and identify the safest routes by using subtle signs like animal tracks, worn earth, natural markers, and subconscious knowledge. Cooldown 6 hours.