Cipher Code {complete}

Chapter Three: Darkness •EDITED•

Day and night were only guesses based on the hours they managed to measure in their spare time and the distance they could still see ahead of them. The darkness that descended with the fog had destroyed all visual concepts of time—not like anyone needed it anymore.

You rise with the fog and descend with it as well. If you did otherwise then you'd be unquestionably dead the next morning.

Picking up the bundle that leaned against the door of the smithery, Esau smiled at his sister. He wasted no time, taking her hand in his as he secured the straps of the bundle across his chest.

His other hand now free, he pressed his mask tightly across his nose, not bothering to waste the effort to tie it on again.

"You have to get something good this time or we'll have to go hungry for a while," he joked as they walked, his real worries hidden just beneath the humor. Food is going to run out soon anyway.

A nod was Edythe's only reply and after a stretch of comfortable silence they eventually reached the first circle of stone houses. She moved quietly alongside her brother as they squeezed through the tight spaces between houses and the gaps that separated alleyways, a basket of herbs held firmly in her left hand.

By clinging to the shadows and avoiding the main road, they had managed to evade the eyes of the aimless infected who still wandered the near empty streets, keeping their presence concealed for the time being as they snuck their way into the center of town.

"Here we are," Esau announced quietly as he peered up from behind one of the barrels that rested in front of them in the dim alley. His gaze settled on the small building in front of him and he decided that it looked especially ominous tonight.

Inflamed blazestone ignited the torches that dotted the townsquare, but the the illumination only kept the fog at those specific spots.

It had been Esau's mother who discovered that blazestones kept the fog away. And for these past three months she had been the town's sole supplier since she was the only one who knew how to artificially produce them.

It's the only reason they haven't chased us out of Lacau, Esau thought bitterly and pressed the blazestone he wore into his skin. He only let his hand fall when the heat became unbearable. Pa should come back quickly and take us away.

Ten torches surrounded Duce's Pharmacy, making it the most brightly lit establishment for miles—and the most visible. It's exterior was colored a bland, peeling beige and it's only windows, the two large ovals stylishly cut into the front wall, were smeared over with black paint to keep curious eyes unaware of the happenings that went on in the building.

Esau had always found the place daunting, but the pharmacy was more portentous now than it ever was, with rolling waves of fog licking at its metal roofing, not daring to descend any further.

He shuddered at the sight. "Edythe, I should go in with you."

As Esau stared at the crooked sign that sat above the pharmacy's front door, his lungs inflated with undescribable dread and he felt the need to speak up again.

"It's not safe," this time he let fear taint his inflections. "The infected are in there," he said, as though he hadn't realized that for the past three months.

But his sister only shook her head, pointed at the group of suspicious looking men lingering across the street then motioned slowly to herself.

But you won't be fine, Esau stared at her blankly, ignoring the rest of the signs she made with her dexterous fingers.

Edythe had never liked talking where anyone but her family could see her, and most of the townspeople had long gotten used to her silence. But right now her gestures only served to irritate her brother.

"Just don't go alone!" Esau shouted unhappily, unable to express the terror he was feeling with the words. "I don't care if they know you, I still don't trust them."

Still, Edythe only smiled, taking off her blue scarf and wrapping it around her brother's bare neck in a reassuring manner.

Esau got the message and reluctantly turned away as his sister walked briskly towards the pharmacy to buy their dinner for the next seven days.

He knew that Edythe had already hidden the herbs in her skirt. She would leave the empty basket at the door as she went inside to sell the medicinal plants to the pharmacist in exchange for dry rations that would last their family a week if used scrutinously.

The process was a bit tedious but the secrecy was for her safety.

Their mother's herbs were in large demand at times like these, being the only thing capable of easing the suffering of the infected, and Edythe could easily get mugged for the plants by a desperate family man.

Usually, by the time his sister was done with her trade, Esau would be halfway across town going door to door selling powdered blazestones. When he was done, he would meet up with Edythe at their father's smithery and they would walk home together.

This time though was different. This time Esau stayed behind.

And regardless of the fact that he knew that he was cutting it close with time, he watched the pharmacy very closely because something felt undescribably wrong.

He didn't need to wait long to find out what it was.

When he saw the blank look on Edythe's face, dried herbs clutched tightly in her pale fingers as she stumbled out the shop's front door, his almost felt his heart stop. Something bad is about to happen.

Something really bad is. . .

His feet moved on their own before he could even register the slight shake of her head as her eyes widened at the sight of him rushing towards her, or the way he saw Edythe's lips form the word 'run' before the syllable even sounded out.

As he dashed to her side there was only one thing going through his mind. Edythe. I have to save her.

Where is her mask?

Why is she covered in blood?

What are we running from?

But then it came, answering all of Esau's unvoiced questions in a single moment.

Strangely visible in the thickening fog, it sped out the door, letting out a deafening wail just before sinking it's teeth into his sister.

Edythe's shout was accompanied by a burst of vivid red that rose towards the sky then splashed against the stones by her feet. "Esau, run!"

So he ran.

He ran straight towards his sister without a shred of hesitation, because at that moment Esau knew without a shred of doubt that he would give up his life if it meant saving her.