The Altered.

Chapter XLII.

The rain was a more fortunate event than Miles had guessed it would be when it had started.

As it got heavier, it masked the group's movements easily. They were still a little way away from the city, but even while creeping through the suburbs, there were many occasions where an Altered passed and the group had to quickly duck out of view until it was gone. It was much easier to hide when it was raining, and as helpful as it was, it could also work against their favour.

If the Unaltered could use the weather to their advantage, the Altered could, too.

Lia's voice rose above the sound of the rain. "We've got about fifteen minutes to go. Does anybody know the city well enough to know where we can find a safe place to stay? Preferably a library, like we decided."

"I know the city," Miles said. "I know plenty of libraries. Our best shot would be the State Library - it's massive and has multiple levels, so it'll be safe. I think." It was hard talking over the rain and he wasn't sure if Lia had heard him.

Then she nodded. "When we reach the city, take us there."

Miles kept that thought at the back of his mind as they walked, and he again took the lead instinctively. Unlike earlier, where there had been a lot of chatting, the group was nearly silent, now. It was too hard to communicate over the rain and too dangerous to when there could be Altered anywhere.

They stuck to the edge of the sidewalk on every street they walked down. Even over the hammering rain, in the distance sometimes there were screams or the scarring sound of collapsing structures. At first, Miles noticed it each time - but he was starting to grow used to it so much so that it began sounding like nothing out of the ordinary.

They were getting closer to the city.

They walked close together. It was getting cold. Miles could practically feel the rain penetrating his skin; down to his very core. He was trembling, teeth chattering, and all other members of his group were the same.

By the time the high-rises and familiar shapes of city-buildings came into sight, the group had had to pull themselves frantically into safety to hide from Altered so many times that Miles was starting to really fear how much trouble they could find themselves in in the city if they weren't careful. He led the group very carefully, knife always at the ready when something sounded nearby or somebody passed. It was easy to forget sometimes that the Altered were still people - they couldn't see through the rain any better than Miles could, and they weren't all deliberately searching for trouble. They were just willing to cause it if given the chance.

Miles didn't want to give them the chance.

"Stay close to me," Miles said as they started transitioning into the building-clustered streets of the city.

Compared to when Miles had last been here to get food with members of Bri's group and Aaron, the streets were rather empty. Again, he told himself that the Altered were people - they needed shelter from the rain, too.

Hopefully, they weren't currently using the library as their shelter, or it would be a little problematic.

The group made their way through the city behind the buildings; it was the safest way, even though there was nothing stopping the Altered from easily finding their way around the back of the buildings too. At the point, everybody has stopped trying to keep dry. They were drenched, and there was no way they could possibly get any wetter. They could only hope nobody fell ill - the last thing they needed was another sickness after just having to deal with Percy's.

Miles wiped his wrist across his forehead to push aside his dripping hair, blinking droplets of water from his eyelashes while he was at it. He kept himself pressed against the outer walls of buildings, hoping that it would keep him as invisible as possible to passing Altered. It surprised him how placid the Altered were when they weren't attacking - they might as well have just been regular humans that decided to constantly spend their time patrolling the streets.