The sound of the truck's engine was the only sensory input she registered. The entire world was hazy, was she asleep?

  She felt warm.

  *guess the AC was on*

  it was that kind of dry and stale heat coming from the vents. It felt as if she was barely moving, was the truck even advancing or was it just idle, she could not tell, the movements were too slight, and her world too incomplete to be able to tell. She slowly opens one of her eyes, barely able to open it at all, her eyelid felt heavy as if it was stuck, coated in honey and this grainy feel like she got sand in her eyes. She looks at the windshield, the glass was stained in some places, dirty even in some corners, she couldn't make anything of the outside world, it was all dark, a gray, no, more of a black,

  *eh who knows, shades of black were so important after all.*

  She turns her head, and looks down, she was in the middle seat, between the driver and the person to the right. Each second her perception changed, one moment she was certain she was dreaming, one moment she was certain she was awake this was real. Her entire model of reality was an uneven mix of perceptions. The driver, she looks towards the driver's seat, down her body, and she sees a familiar face.

  *Guess she's driving today...but why am I laying down on the seat here...did I fall asleep and I got carried into the truck? No...she wouldn't carry me here, not her...I mean she is a nice person to everyone isn't she? But after all I said to her, and all I did I doubt she'd carry me to the truck if I fell asleep...where did I fall asleep though...where could I get comfortable enough to fall asleep around here...nowhere is safe...how did I even fall asleep...*

  She tries to move, but for reasons unknown to her, her arm felt as heavy as lead, she could barely move it even the slightest bit. She forces her head to look up.

  *she's here too? What's this, a pajama party? I mean she's always so calm isn't she but...in a place like this...? And why next to me? I mean, she's always behaving nicely and calmly with everyone but, next to me of all people? How weird...I always liked her blue hair, it looks so nice on her, and how come it is natural? She must be lying, no way she has natural blue hair, I mean, I heard about natural blondes, heck, even natural red hair, but blue? That's a new one...it must be just a lie to make herself seem more interesting and mysterious to people...But she wouldn't lie like that...especially about something so small as hair color...and on top of that, she also has blue eyes...no way she was so lucky to have them both...no way she has them both so well fit together naturally, it's like she spent hours in a character customization screen...maybe she did, but nah, she wouldn't lie about something like that...she did say they are all natural not dye or contact lenses or anything like that...but when did I ask her? It was some time ago...maybe back then she did use to lie and now she doesn't lie anymore...but wouldn't she bring it up and tell me that she was actually lying back then if that's the case? Or maybe she was lying but didn't tell me simply because she forgot...

  Oh snow, yeah, cold outside, why is the door opening though...red?*

  Her half open tired eyes look at the other girl laying next to her on the right, she was fully asleep, but her body was leaning halfway against the door, and that door was not fully closed. She watches out the door, red, so much dark red, like a lake of blood all around them, and further away at a shore, a snowy never ending patch of land, filled with dark leafless trees. Her eyes start to widen, despite her state, she knew deep in her bones, deep in the marrow of her primal instincts that blood means danger. She tries to reach out, to catch her, she was about to fall out of the truck into the lake of blood. Her arm was heavy, it felt as if she was trying to swim in concrete. Her panic and her fear manage to give her the smallest aid in moving her limb, which now heavily drops onto the other girl's thigh, weakly gripping her mud stained pants. The other girl's head hangs loosely out of the now openly hanging door, still dead asleep. She tries to scream, maybe the driver will see her, she inhales as much as her stiff ribcage allows her to, and tries to scream

  -"Leee...Lii...LLLL...Laaaeaughh...Laaaaa...la...leee-ehehe..."

  Her best efforts lead to wails which can only be compared to an infant's cries, unable to speak yet desperate to be heard.

  -"Leeeeahahaha...aaaaa...nnnhhhh...aaahhhh...mmaahhh...Liii..."

  Her despair brings her to tears, her now only one open eye tearing and leaking the salty essence of helplessness. Her grip on the other girl's pants starts to slip as more of her body starts to slip out of the truck after each tiny bump the tires go over. Her arm felt numb, dead, a grip of a bird's tiny feet. She wails and writhes in her seat, and the instinctual movements of expressing her frustration, wake her body out of her numbness, her grip suddenly turns to steel, angrily yanking on the pants towards her, making them slide off her hip slightly. She finally pulls her back into the truck while still tearing and crying, half of fear of what could've happened, half of relief. The door was left hanging left and right, as the other girl plops into her arms loosely like a corpse, without any sign of reflex to break her fall into her arms. She wraps her arms around her head, but making sure she's not covering her airways. The door slams against the steel frame of the truck, but that was least of her problems now. She turns to the driver, incredibly frustrated and shaken.

  -“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST SYLVIA WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH THAT BOX BRAIN OF YOURS? WHY DIDN’T YOU FUCKING DO ANYTHING WHAT IF LINN FELL OUT OF THE TRUCK INTO THE SCHISM WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

  -“I couldn’t focus on you two, the road is very narrow, and the resources in the truck are of highest importance, we cannot afford to lose them into the Schism”

  -“ARE YOU FUCKING OUT OF YOUR MIND? “WE”?! WE COULDN’T AFFORD TO LOSE THE TRUCK INTO THE SCHISM?! I DO NOT GIVE A SINGULAR FUCK ABOUT THIS TRUCK OR WHATEVER GOD KNOWS IS IN IT LINN COULD’VE BEEN A GONER, DONE FOR IF SHE EVEN GRAZED THE SCHISM AND YOU DARE TO FUCKING SAY “WE” COULDN’T AFFORD TO LOSE THE TRUCK?!”

  Her screams were hysterical, shaky, shaken and filled with fury, her saliva was dripping down her chin from how unapologetically she was yelling and shouting, she didn’t care about it one bit, she didn’t even feel it. The only thing she cared about it was Linn which was now safe in her arms, but she could very well not have been.

  -“I told you, I couldn’t pay attention to what you two were doing, this road is very narrow and the truck very tall, any mistake co-“

  -“SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU CARELESS BITCH WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT WE WERE DOING? YOU PUT US IN THE TRUCK, YOU PUT HER LEANING AGAINST THE DOOR, YOU LEFT THE FUCKING DOOR HALF OPEN SPARE ME YOUR BULLSHIT IT’S ALL A SHITTY TRANSLATION OF “I COULDN’T BE BOTHERED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU TWO”

  She looks down at Linn again, brushing her messy hair, a wave of wailing hitting her once more.

  -“Fedora, your situation was not my doing. Your disabled state was an unforeseen consequence we simply did not prepare for. I had to improvise to secure you both, but my main priority is what is inside the truck, these supplies could save dozens of people.”

  Fedora listens with an incredulous look, she simply cannot believe what she is hearing. Sylvia’s face remains expressionless, eyes fixated on the road, not the slightest change in any facial muscle, and neither does she wipe her cheek.

  -“Y-You’re unbelievable…you must be playing some sick joke…you put…some food for some strangers you never met, above us, not only you put them above us, but you still do…you’re not even looking my way…let alone look me in the eyes…You think you’re a hero? Their hero? Letting us die for them, you call that heroism…?”

  Fedora’s face turns to one of utmost disgust and disdain as she stares at Sylvia without blinking once.

  -“You do all this just to infatuate your insatiable ego…I would fucking understand you leaving ME to fucking DIE, ME YOU PSYCHOPATIC BITCH, BUT WHAT HAS LINN EVER DONE TO YOU? SHE’S A FUCKING ANGEL AND YOU TREAT HER LIKE SHE’S LESS THAN YOUR FINGERNAIL.”

  Her expression changes from anger to disgust and contempt once more.

  -“She has always been kind to you, always helped you, and even when you treated her like a fucking object, like means to an end, she never got angry at you, never spoke up about it, she always forgave you…and look at what you did…I just…”

  Fedora stops herself from talking, instead, she looks down at Linn once more, wraps her hands around her armpits and pulls her up higher so she can better hold her steady. She makes sure Linn’s face is all alright and brushes her hair off of her face, then, leans to the right, and with the force of her frustration, she pulls the door in so hard, the impact makes the window of the door crack. She keeps looking down at Linn, tearing up again, the realization of what could have happened still eating away at her mind.

  Sylvia’s expression remains unchanging to all of this, her eyes remain fixated on the road ahead, and she keeps driving unfazed, Fedora’s saliva on her cheek having already dried up.

  After about an hour of driving, they finally arrive at some distant village lost in that sea of dark lifeless trees. Fedora’s eyes felt tired, half from all of the crying she went through, half from her field of vision being mostly composed by the Schism’s crimson depths. The sight of the road was nothing but the narrow snowy road they were driving to, and the enormous crimson expanse of the Schism to the left and right.

  Linn’s eyes finally started to lazily open, just as heavy as Fedora’s when she first opened them while lying in the truck. She looks around for a bit, then her eyes close once more. Fedora looks around tired, many people started to gather in front of the truck, all wearing so many clothes on them you could barely recognize a human shape. In front of the crowd was someone, maybe a leader of sorts. Sylvia gets out of the truck, and calmly walks over to that person.

  -“My name is Sylvia, I am one of the 4 Ergals. I’ve been sent here by the Kola to provide your village with the necessary supplies so that everyone here is taken care of and healthy”

  The odd person starts to peel off its hoodies, revealing her long silvery hair.

  -“Thank the gods above! I thought our fates were long sealed…no one ever bats an eye to this world forgotten village…we may be forgotten by the world, but we are everything to one another here. God bless your pure hearts for helping humble people like us. We owe you for life, your time alone, given to us, is of highest honor.”

  The woman finishes her phrase with a bow, bending her back and facing the ground, both of her arms around her stomach, making herself look smaller and submissive in front of Sylvia.

  -“No need for all the gratitude, after all, we must follow the Kola’s orders, it’s knowledge and wisdom are beyond our understanding, thank the Kola, not us, we are merely fulfilling its will”

  The woman straightens up, and starts speaking again.

  -“Bless The Kola and bless all of your souls too, we again thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

  Fedora watches from the truck, half intrigued half disgusted by the number of formalities she had to witness.

  -“Fucking hell man might as well kiss her ass at this point…”

  Just as she was looking, Linn finally uttered a faint sentence.

  -“F…Fedora?....Wha….where? Where am I….?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  *This feels nice…her thighs are really soft…and the air is all warm and nice…she smells of fresh air…are we in some car…? Gosh why am I laying with my head on her lap her legs must be all stiff and hurting….I need to get up…*

  Linn tries to get up, and Fedora helps her, leaning her back against the seat of the truck.

  -“Fedora…w…what’s all this?”

  Linn asks, as she looks all around her, all the people outside, Sylvia in front of them, the truck, the forest everything was a stranger to her.

  -“Remember that weird bunker…? Where we were earlier today…?”

  Linn looks confused at Fedora, and suddenly her eyes narrow slightly like she started to remember everything.

  -“The crates…that heavy door…wait why was I sleeping? The selvim…you went to fight…WAIT ARE YOU OKAY FEDORA? THERE WERE SO MANY SELVIM AND WITH SUCH A SIGNAL THAT I BLACKED OUT ARE YOU OKAY IS SYLVIA OKAY HOW DID I END UP IN T-“

  Linn was all shaken, patting Fedora on her legs, her arms, her shoulders, checking everywhere for any signs of a wound. Fedora suddenly takes her hands, placing her hands on Linn’s wrists, and looking her in the eyes.

  -“Linn, I’m all okay, no need to worry about me, see?”

  Fedora gives Linn a small smile, her eyes closed and happy, a genuine beautiful expression on her face.

  Linn’s eyes start to water, seeing the genuine smile of Fedora was melting her heart. Linn starts crying out of relief, and hurries in to hug Fedora.

  -“I’m so relieved! Gosh I’m so relieved you’re all alright! Guess not even The Kola is all knowing…to know that such a huge number of selvim would show up out of nowhere…”

  Linn looks down for a few seconds as she was rubbing Fedora’s hands.

  -“I’m sorry…if I was able to fight you wouldn’t have had to fight so many selvim on your own…it sometimes feels like I am useless and just dragging t-“

  Fedora places her hand on Linn’s mouth.

  -“Shut up. You’re not. Fuck what the others say. You’re an Ergal, and my friend for a reason.”

  Fedora takes her hand off her mouth and places it on her thigh.

  Linn looks down at Fedora’s hand with a small smile.

  Just as they were having their affectionate moment, Sylvia opens the door of the truck.

  -“I finished talking with the chief, she said she prepared rooms for all of us to sleep the night here, going out at night and encountering hordes of selvim is simply not worth the time and resources, we should all stay the night.”

  Fedora’s face turns all serious and pissed again.

  -“Fine, but I’m not sleeping in the same room as you even if you pay me.”

  -“I said she prepared rooms for all of us, not that she prepared a single one for all of us to share.”

  -“Whatever miss grammar…”

  Linn watches silently, she doesn’t join in on the drama.

  -“No need to get so worked up over some rooms Fedora, if it makes you feel any better you can sleep in my room so you don’t feel lonely and uneasy in a foreign bed and place.”

  Fedora looks at Linn’s serene face, as calm and soothing as ever.

  -“Thanks Linn…I really appreciate it.”

  Linn smiles gently and hugs Fedora again.

  -“What about you Sylvia? Won’t you feel lonely and uncomfortable sleeping in this foreign place?”

  -“No need to worry about me Linn, I’m fine, I’ll sleep alone in the room next to you too so I am close in case anything happens.”

  -“Well if that’s what you want to do, then alright, show us where our rooms are.”

  Sylvia walked away silently following Mechka while Fedora and Linn remained in the truck a few more moments.

  Fedora looks at Sylvia walking away with a thoughtful look.

  -“She can be such a bitch sometimes…too much of a bitch…”

  Linn giggles.

  -“I guess we all have our moments.”

  -“I guess…”

  Says Fedora as she jumps out of the truck, her boots sinking into the snow.

  -“Shit, watch it the snow is really deep.”

  Linn slowly steps out of the truck, and places one foot onto the top of the snow, slowly transferring her weight to it.

  -“Oh it cannot be that deep it barely reaches you-“

  Her foot sinks into the snow and she falls forward right into Fedora’s arms.

  Fedora laughs loudly while holding her by her arms.

  -“PFAHAHAH! What did I just say? Do I inspire that little trust?”

  Linn begins laughing aswell as she slowly adjusts herself and her jacket, closing the door of the truck.

  The said village, was a village only by name, the buildings did not resemble what one might expect from a village at all. The houses were all made of unpainted concrete, gray lifeless straight edges. Every single building and structure in that village was built after brutalist architecture, from benches to bars, everything was made out of irregular lifeless, cruel 90 degree angled edges of hard concrete.

  The snow as frozen and stiff, making unpleasant creaking noises over the boots of the 3 of them. Fedora looks around, taking in the sight of the dead concrete structures, but she did not seem displeased one bit, in fact, she seemed almost relieved to be in such a place. On the other hand, Linn looked around a bit uneasy, her face a mixture of curiosity and anxiety, this place gave her a weird tingle down her spine, as if something was off about all this, she felt in danger, the rock hard and unforgiving walls of every building screamed one word in her mind, ‘grave’, but she chose to ignore it, to her it was just simple worrying of this new place. Sylvia didn’t even bother looking around, her gaze was only fixated forward on the building they were heading to, her expression still as cold as ever, not sign of even a facial muscle twitch or frown to indicate any kind of curiosity or intrigue to this new bizarre place they’ve found themselves in.

  Mechka kept storytelling to Sylvia the history of the village, but Fedora couldn’t care less, their voices were nothing but background noise her brain didn’t even bother to process.

  She looks left and right, trying to find anything interesting or entertaining, and as they were talking, she sees something odd in a small space between two of the houses.

  A child, looking no older than 7 years old, was sitting nearby a fire. Above that fire was a rabbit impaled from head to toe on a spit rod and the child was rotating it around. The rabbit was thrashing around and making noises as if asking for help, even though it was already impaled from one end of the body to another and its fur was nearly all burned off.

  The child somehow notices that Fedora was looking at him, and he lifts his gaze from the fire. He looks at Fedora with his big brown eyes, and gives her an eerily wide smile that span from ear to ear.

  Fedora’s face contorts in a mix of disgust and repulsion as she makes an audible “ewhh” sound, while her hands go close to her chest. She decides to look away and instead turn her gaze to Linn.

  -“Fedora look what I found!”

  Says Linn excited as she holds a stray cat in her arms cradling it like baby, her worried face seems to have eased down a lot.

  -“Look at how cute it is! Isn’t that right Mr. Kitty?”

  Linn extends her hand to pet the cat, but the cat avoids it, hisses at her and jumps out of her arms.

  Linn pouts her eyes watery nearly about to cry.

  -“What did I do wrong…awwww…”

  Fedora shrugs and keeps walking.

  -“You didn’t do anything wrong, the cat just didn’t give a fuck about you, better to let it go than rummage over it.”

  Linn’s face remains a bit sad as they keep walking through the village looking left and right.

  -“Alright! Here is our humble guest house! You can make yourselves at home! I’ll have to go enter through the back since I have more matters I must attend to, see you soon!”

  Says Mechka as she goes around the guest house and disappears behind the concrete wall.

  -“Pffft, humble guest house? This looks like an entire motel and she calls it a guest house man she’s so weird.”

  Fedora looks around for a bit scratching her head.

  -“What was her name again?”

  Sylvia looks at her and rubs the bridge of her nose in a disappointed manner.

  -“Mechka.”

  -“Mechka huh? At least she has a name, with how things look like around here I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a number instead of name.”

  Linn looks at Fedora, listening.

  -“I don’t mean to be rude or anything but…I kind of agree with her, this place seems more like a prison rather than a village”

  -“I don’t mind the buildings, it’s the people that stain it for me, they seem really…out of place…ewh..” Says Fedora.

  Sylvia stands as still as a statue listening to them both, her eyes taking turns in looking at whoever was speaking.

  -“You can finish your chat inside, this is no weather to be having a conversation outside.”

  Sylvia stops for a moment, and points to the roses around her neck.

  -“These might give us certain abilities but immunity to cold isn’t one of them, at least none of the 4 of us has that kind of ability.”

  Fedora looks annoyed at her, and she starts to shiver slightly.

  -“Yeah yeah I know, I don’t need a science lesson in -20 degrees miss Sylvia.”

  Fedora walks past Sylvia towards the entrance of the building, Linn following after her nearly immediately.

  Sylvia doesn’t take this as an offense, she doesn’t even listen to what Fedora said, she simply turns around and follows after them.

  The door to the motel looking brutalist building was a heavy steel door, which probably weighed around half a ton.

  Fedora tries to press on the bulky doorknob of that door, but the heavy metal was frozen in place from the cold weather and ice.

  -“What the fuck is up with these people? Why would a motel need a fucking nuclear bunker door, like really…”

  As Fedora still struggles to press the doorknob, Sylvia steps in from behind, and effortlessly hammers down the doorknob with her fist, the ice along the screws breaking and the heavy door creaking open.

  -“Oh thanks miss Hercules now we probably broke their fucking door, you’re responsible if anyone says anything.”

  Linn watches from behind the two, about 2 steps behind.

  -“I guess we should have knocked first…? Or ask for help with the door? I mean we just got here we don’t want to make anyone angry or break their stuff…”

  As they were arguing, the door actually fell off the hinges from how old it was and Fedora burst out laughing.

  -“Pfahahahah! What did I just say? Oh my gosh I should become a prophet.” Says Fedora wiping a tear of laughter under her glasses.

  Sylvia squats down and picks up the door, struggling to align it on the hinges.

  -“I didn’t know it was THIS fragile…it was frozen too…”

  As she was struggling, another kid breaks off from a group waiting in the distance as if they challenged him to go talk to her.

  -“E-excuse me miss…me and my friends wanted to know…are you really some of the 4 Ergals.?”

  Sylvia tried to be nice despite the door giving her more trouble than she’d like to admit.

  -“Yes we are.”

  The kid looks around nervous, somewhat intimidated by the direct cold answer.

  -“Weren’t there 4 Ergals? But there are only 3 of you here, what happened to Snowdrop Mary?”

  The door makes a heavy metallic screeching noise again as Sylvia struggles to see where the hinges actually connect to the door simply because of how thick it was, and despite her strength she was getting tired, after all, that door was incredibly heavy.

  -“She’s…back at the Kola she’s busy.”

  The kid looks back to its group and they keep cheering him on to keep asking.

  -“M-miss why are your roses around your neck like that and not on your arms like Fedora’s or Linn’s?”

  Syliva misses the hinges again and exhales in a frustrated way.

  Seeing this Fedora steps in between her and the kid, she squats down so they are eye to eye.

  -“She’s a REALLY big fan of Hawaii so she put them like that to mimic them! Now go back home, we are very busy now and it is too cold outside for a kid to be out.”

  -“B-but mom said we can stay out until-“

  -“If you don’t go back home I’ll tell Mechka you’re bothering the Ergals.”

  The kid’s face turns pale when he hears about Mechka and he nearly starts crying.

  -“S-sorry! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to bother you! I promise! I’ll go home just please don’t tell miss Mechka!”

  He runs back to his group, his thick clothes making him trip and fall into the snow before getting back up and reaching his group. Once he told everyone there what happened they all spread out and run to their respective homes.

  Fedora stands up, looking proud at them.

  -“Wasn’t that a bit too mean? He was just a curious kid…”

  Says Linn.

  -“Curious kid or not, the door won’t put itself back.”

  Says Fedora.

  Sylvia finally manages to put the door back on its hinges her face sweaty and breathing hard.

  -“I will personally tell Mechka to repair these hinges…”

  Fedora laughs and they all walk in.

  She walks up to Linn to grab her by the wrist.

  -“Oh c’mon don’t worry, if Mechka complains about anything, miss iron fist over here is at fault, we didn’t do anything, I was in fact being very gentle with the doorknob. C’mon in!”

  Fedora pulls Linn inside the building, and what they saw was nothing short of unusual. The walls had this kind of minimalistic design, with simple models being conjured up by the countless tiles on the walls and floor. Most of the floor was covered by beautifully made persian carpets, with seemingly infinitely complex patterns and shapes. The tables were made from shiny wood, and for lights, huge chandeliers were attached to the ceiling.

  Eventually Sylvia walks in too, behind the two of them, making sure to close the door, and that it wasn’t actually broken or anything. She turns around, and she is too, met with the odd complexity of this place. Sylvia’s eyebrows to the slightest eyebrow raise, unnoticeable unless you’re looking with a magnifying glass at her forehead. Even for her, such a sight was unusual.

  The doors to various rooms were also all random, one seemed to be from the Victorian era, one door was made out of metal, one was highly digitalized, one was a plain wooden door, one was a double glazing door, some entrances didn’t even have doors, and so on.

  Fedora looks around amazed, a smile spreading across her face.

  -“Well…I can say that seeing a bird dancing upside down would’ve been more normal to me than…whatever all of this is. “

  She turns around once more to better analyze the scenery.

  -“This is either decorated by a terrible designer, or we’re just in some mom’s nightmare”

  She laughs to herself while still looking around.

  Linn and Sylvia both remain quiet, not knowing exactly how to even react to this odd combination of styles and elements.

  Just then, out of a Victorian wooden door, Mechka comes out in a hurry and greets them all once more.

  -“Welcome to our humble guest house! I apologize for being late…me and the cooks in the kitchen are doing our best to make sure everyone here is well fed!”

  Fedora listens, raising one eyebrow.

  -“Is there even anyone else in this guest house besides us 3?”

  -“Well no…it’s been a while since we had to cook here so we had to get everything ready”

  Mechka kept fidgeting around and rubbing her hands, she seemed very nervous to have such guests over.

  -“And you aren’t just any guests…so we’re giving our very best!”

  Mechka’s eyes widen a bit all of a sudden, as she lightly slaps her forehead.

  -“Oh god how rude of me, of course! Your rooms are 1,2 and 3, just up the stairs right there behind you!”

  Mechka points to the concrete stairs behind them, they had no carpet, no tiles, just lifeless gray concrete.

  -“I am so sorry but I must really go back to the kitchen! The others need me, make yourself at home! The doors are unlocked and I left the keys on the inside! Now please excuse me.”

  Mechka does a bow, and hurries back to the kitchen, opening and closing the Victorian wooden door behind her with a weird creaking noise.