Someone grabbed me around my stomach and pulled me out of the room. I saw Andy rushing back into the burning room past me with a fire extinguisher.
"Stupid human," I heard Iris mumble before she dropped me on the back porch of the house and rushed back inside.
My eyes were watery from smoke and took their sweet time adjusting to the absence of light from the fire. When I finally could see, I looked at my arm. The winbreaker fabric was shredded into pieces and hanging limply off the mess. The bits of bone peppered the shredded chunks of meat, which were once my muscles and ligaments. The ulna was sticking out at an odd angle, and I wondered if it had dislocated from my wrist altogether, from all the pulling and thrashing. It should have been hurting much more than it did. I looked back at the sky and wondered why I was still conscious. A spasm ran through my body, and when it passed, I realized that I was shivering all over. This couldn't be good.
"Hey, hey. It's ok, Phoebe." Iris whispered beside me.
"You can heal this, right?" I looked at her with hope.
"Of course," she touched my forehead in a calming gesture, then disappeared for just a second.
I heard clatter from the house and turned my head to the side to see what she was doing. My teeth started clanking against each other. I tried to force my jaw to stop trembling because it was annoying, but I didn't succeed. The bedroom windows were dark. They must have put out the fire. That was good.
Iris stepped out from the house, holding something in her hand. When she came closer, I saw a big kitchen cleaver. Did she need it for protection? Were there more monsters coming our way?
She pulled a leather pouch from her robe and took out a gelatinous cube, the size of my palm.
"Eat this. It's important you swallow it all." She said seriously, and I didn't fight as she put it into my mouth.
The cube tasted like seaweed, chalk and nuts. It was hard to chew with my trembling jaw. But it didn't actually require that much chewing, and I forced myself to swallow as fast as I could with my tensed-up throat muscles.
I looked back at Iris when I was done.
"Do you trust me to treat you? I have to do something to make sure the infection doesn't spread and take root."
I just nodded. I don't care what it will cost; I want to be whole again.
"Ok, this will not hurt," she said, holding my mangled hand by the shoulder. Nubness spread from her touch, paralizing my nerves almost instantly. The effect crawled up my neck and through my chest, making it hard to breathe.
All I could focus on was Iris, raising a cleaver above my arm.
Stop! I want to scream, to get away from her. But her motions were faster than I could form words, and my entire upper arm was separated from my body in one clean chop.
My precious right arm was just a chunk of flesh now. Lying beside me in a growing pool of blood. Iris moved me away from the site. She was still touching my shoulder, and the pink flesh started wriggling and forming into tissue.
I could see bones, ligaments, muscles and sinews all forming into the new body part. I don't think I have ever seen anything so disturbing and wonderful at the same time.
When the perfectly whole shape was done forming, Iris sat back on her heels, slightly swaying from exhaustion. I couldn't stop staring at my whole numb arm. It was dry, free from all the blood and gore. Even in the moonlight, I could see that the skin was flawless: no moles, wrinkles or calloses. Even the old burn scar on my pinky was gone.
I think I was grinning. At least my wet cheeks ached, like I did.
"Oh, tahnkyou, thankyou, thankyou," I whisper, looking at my new arm. My shoulder was getting some sensitivity back, and I could already somewhat move my fingers.
"You should eat a protein and calcium-rich diet for a month," Iris says in a tired voice. "Growing a new limb takes a lot out of the body, and even with the advanced nutrition pack I gave you, you will experience nutrient deficiencies, muscle atrophy and bones weakening."
I slowly moved to get up. I was overwhelmed with the desire to hug Iris. But moving was harder than I was used to, and I had to lie back down.
"I don't even know what to say. You saved my life." I whispered.
"Andy should have listened to me in the first place… Many more people need my help." She said, getting to her feet, and waving her hands to indicate the houses around. "Stay well. You have good instincts. Maybe we will see each other in the future."
With her unnatural grace, Iris glided out of my field of vision, and I was left alone with the vast night sky.
I haven't seen a sky so bright since I moved out of my father's house. The lights of greenhouses, streetlights and nightlife blocked all this beauty. And now there were stars, shining bright, even with a full moon.
Not many people have helped me without ulterior motives or expectations of payment. Maybe the end of the world brought out the best in people? A wail from the house cut through my thoughts. Right. Iris wasn't human, and we were in the middle of the apocalypse.
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A deal hand screen popped up in my view, and I belatedly realized that I had killed Andy's mom. Shit… Will he hate me for the rest of his life now? He couldn't, right? I saved him from being bitten in the neck. No way Iris could have cured the curse then.
The image flashed before my eyes: a blood-covered, deformed face latched onto my arm. Then flesh and hair bubbling and fading away, eaten by the flames. Andy's mom no longer looked human. But what if her consciousness was still there? What if she was trapped inside, observing in helpless shock as her sick body acted on its own? And then, the torture of being burned alive.
Too weak to stand and desperate to escape those thoughts, I rushed to open the card options. Three green rectangles filled my vision. I forced myself to focus on writing.
[Pyromaniac Torch] was first. My feelings towards it were still complicated: a double-edged sword that had saved my life multiple times but remained as dangerous to me as to monsters.
The second card showed an hourglass full of sand at the top: [Second Wind]. The name promised a stamina boost, but the hourglass looked ominous. Like I'd have to repay what I borrowed.
The third card showed two interlocking wavy lines: [Tissue Splice]. Possibly drawn from Iris's healing technique? None of the cards Andy used near me influenced my options before. Was it because Iris' card was closer to my set? Or was her card so powerful that it had shaped my system selection somehow?
In any case, I considered my options. A pick-me-up would be useful right about now. But I didn't want to fall into a coma from exhaustion if there was a rebound due afterwards.
What Iris did was so unbelievably cool. I had [Heal Wound], but could it ever evolve into growing out new limbs? With empty skill slots and constant danger, more healing options seemed smart. Avoiding injury entirely was impossible at this rate. Without Iris, that bite would've killed me.
I selected [Tissue Splice] and flipped the card.
Fuse two edges of tissue. Cooldown 1 hour.
Great, another description that raised more questions than it answered. What I needed was some rest and an entire day to figure out these abilities. This system should've come with a damn manual.
After a few more minutes, I felt like I could stand up on my own. The numbness in my shoulder had passed, and I used both hands to help myself sit up.
The sense of deja vu was unsettling. Just the day before yesterday, I woke up in this house, feeling worse than ever, in the darkness and with an unclear perspective about what the day would bring. The time has passed, but my future didn't become clearer.
I stepped into the living room and had to cover my nose. Not that it helped much. A thick, choking mixture of burnt fabric, charred wood, hair and flesh was overpowering. I left the sliding door open to let in some air. The closer I came to the bedroom, the worse it was getting. The smell was settling on my tongue with a thick layer of soapy ash.
The warmth was wafting out of the room, like the residual heat from the oven. My eyes started watering again from the lingering smoke.
The curtains must have fallen, because the room was doused in cold moonlight. It was like someone turned the desaturation filter on the entire space.
The bed was the focal point of devastation. The mattress and frame were blackened and twisted. Springs poked through the destroyed material like skeletal fingers. All surfaces had white dusting, as if a bag of flour exploded over the ceiling fan. The only clear black spot in the shape of the body was in the middle of the blackened mattress.
My gaze caught on Andy's rocking shape. He was sitting over a steaming, burned corpse, mumbling something under his breath. The smoke and soot covered his entire form - his hands and chest were black. He must have dragged the body from the bed after putting out the fire, because the wall where he sat had no bubbling paint or black tracks.
His every rock was accompanied by a wet squelch, and occasional drops were landing from the ceiling. I realized that everything was doused in water.
I didn't want to step inside, but still called to Andy from my spot.
"Hey, buddy, want to come outside. It couldn't be healthy to be here amongst all the burned plastic."
"Fuck off, Chloe."
"I will help you bring your mom's body out, too…"
He jolted upright, as if someone had shocked him with the defibrillator. His entire form was shaking in rage, hands squeezing into fists. Even in the darkness of the room, I could see that his eyes were red from tears and smoke. The rest of him looked like a black and white picture: black soot and white residue of fine powder.
"I curse the day I agreed to help you with that idiotic video. You brainless, selfish parasite. Do you even understand what love or human connection means? We could have saved her! Maybe she would have been normal outside of the full moon!" He was walking towards me, and I had no other way but to back up into the living room. "Why are you even here? Why aren't you with your family? I haven't heard you mention them even once." He looked over me mockingly. "I know why. Because you are a heartless, murderous bitch. And not a single person in this world cares whether you live or die."
I didn't answer. His words hurt. Which was stupid. I barely knew this man; I didn't care if he would live or die. But still… A pathetic tremble set in my chin.
I'd saved his life so many times I'd lost count. He would have been dead from his mother's fangs if not for me. But if he was too blinded by rage to see that, there was no point in explaining. I doubted he would have heard me anyway.
Just one more person in the list of people who hate me.
I looked over the living room, trying to estimate what I could quickly grab to have a fighting chance outside.
My spear and backpack were by the couch. I lunged towards them, and Andy followed my movements. I had no idea what he was planning to do. He was a big man, with enhanced reflexes and who knows what other skills he had picked up along the way.
I [Leaped] out of the house through the screen door, protecting my head with a backpack. The mosquito net hit me painfully in the arms before it gave, and I fell through. The wooden fence was too tall for me to just scale, but there was a door at the back, and I ran towards it. Andy tried to run after me, but I was already too far.
"And God help me if I ever see you again." He yelled after me when he realized that he wouldn't be able to catch up.
Chloe's Deck (7/10):
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Blue Card: [Leap]
Instantly leap forward up to 6 feet. Beware of obstacles. Cooldown 30 minutes.
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Blue Card: [Heal Wound II]
A medium burst of healing for a single target area you touch. Cooldown 1 hour.
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Green Card: [Spear]
Basic proficiency with spear weapons. Grants +5% damage and improved accuracy when wielding spears.
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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.'
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Blue Card: [Pyromaniac Torch]
Fire recognizes a kindred spirit. Go on. Light it up. Just be careful what you feed it. Cooldown 10 minutes.
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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.
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Blue Card: [Tissue Splice].
Fuse two edges of tissue. Cooldown 1 hour.