[ 87 ]
"Does it look bad?" Jakob practically slurred as he messed with the dried bloody ends of his hair. Given how light the colour was, Hansel suspected it would probably stain. But seeing the drugged-up state of his patient, and having already suffered a majority of the journey with him asking the same anxious question about his hair, Hansel decidedly shook his head.
"No. It looks fine." Hansel responded without looking up, instead keeping his attention on the journal in front of him. As the pages kept turning, the quicker he realised that his eyes were beginning to fail him. Words steadily became more blurry. In between Jakob's attention-seeking slurs, Hansel felt himself drop in and out of sleep. He kept making himself jump every time he startled himself awake. But the action was masked by the bumpy roads and never-ending swerves the van had to take to avoid various obstacles.
After stopping off at the small fortified base, where they picked up those who had chosen to remain behind, the soldier who was driving put his foot down. There was a short span of ten minutes where Hansel had to do a rapid procedure of stitching up a gaping wound, and injecting antibiotics into Jakob. It wasn't exactly a pretty result, but it did the job.
Seeing how everyone else was unscathed, it made those who dropped out feel guilty. When one man spoke up, the Commander shook his head and reassured him. "We survived because our teams were small." What he didn't add was the fact that it was hugely beneficial that these smaller teams were mostly filled with trained soldiers. Bjorn and Jakob could handle themselves, there was no disputing that, and even though Hansel was far tougher than he looked, it definitely helped that he had been attached at the hip with Niklas.
The driver called out when they were on the homestretch. Niklas stood up and approached the front compartment's window. He peered through for a time before turning and marching to the centre of the moving vehicle. From there he removed the mechanisms that kept the roof's hatch secure and pushed it open.
An immediate flood of cold air hit everyone, but most were relieved to see the sky again after a few hours of sitting in a metal box. But whilst watching their Commander as he propped himself up onto the roof for a time, those who didn't know the procedures were stupefied.
"With weapons, anyone could steal an armoured vehicle." Roscoe suddenly said. No matter the familiarity of the vehicle, if those stationed on the wall with their finger's on the triggers were suddenly being hurtled at at nearly 60mph with no visible sign of friendlies, they would be more inclined to shoot.
But with the appearance of the well-known Commander and his hand-signals to say that everyone was safe and sound, the military van was instantly given permission to go ahead to the armed-forces entrance. From what Niklas could see, as they drove across the open stretch before the divided quarantine-zones, there was a clean-up team getting to work. Littering the ground was a more than average amount of Rotter remains.
Those discarding the bodies looked as repulsed as everyone else did when given the task.
Finally passing through the first barrier of the safe-zone, Niklas jumped back down and locked the hatch once again. Only after the van came to a stop did everyone begin to move. The soldiers were the first to jump out, greeting the members that were the final line of security. The connection between them all was obvious, talking loudly and cheerfully like old friends reconnecting. It made sense that those who risked their lives on a regular basis would have a pretty strong bond.
Making those who were just recently trained feel like outsiders.
Hansel supported Jakob as they stepped down and they quickly drew attention. Any and all injuries were regarded with caution. "He sliced his arm on metal. I've checked and stitched him up myself, so I can vouch for it not being a bite." Hansel stated in a tone that dared any unqualified individual to argue with him.
They didn't, taking his word almost immediately. So Hansel proceeded to help the blond to the steps that took them to the mandatory health check-point. "Hansel! It's a relief to have you back." Dr. Aksel called as soon as they appeared. The middle-aged man, who looked as tired as ever, stood up from his seat and brushed aside his current patient to walk over.
The soldier who was left behind, in the middle of getting his boo-boo seen to, blinked in confusion. But the doctor in charge of the outer perimeter of the safe-zone marched straight over and greeted Hansel familiarly.
"Dr. Aksel, how come you're here?" Hansel asked as the rest of the team just entered the relatively small room.
"I worked here yesterday and today because I was anxious about you outside of the walls. Though I think you're courageous, you've given this old man a fright."
"You're not that old."
"Hush, let me fawn over you. Are you injured at all?"
Hansel shook his head and gestured to the man beside him who was gently swaying from one foot to the other. "I'm not, but he is. I did the best stitching I could do in what little time we had. Do you mind taking a look?" He only asked because there were other nurses present who could have taken over.
"Of course. Since he seems to be away with the fairies, I'm guessing he's on strong pain-relief?"
"The strongest I had on me."
Dr. Aksel gave Jakob's arm a quick look over before gesturing to a nearby seat. "I'll have a peek but will probably take him back to the hospital. Get yourself looked at then you can join me if you want."
"If you don't mind," both men looked over to the Commander who had followed behind them. "I'd like Hansel to come with myself and Roscoe to debrief our superiors about our mission."
Hansel shrugged his shoulders and agreed, but first they were all instructed to have their check-ups before going anywhere. In the time that it took, a soldier had been sent ahead to let the necessary personnel know that they had returned. So that when Hansel followed Roscoe and Niklas on the other side, those who would want the information the quickest, were already present.
The building that they headed to was one that was nearest to the gate leading to the next section. Before they went inside, both soldiers turned to face him. "I'm sure you can understand that the information we now hold is priceless," Niklas said seriously, "and there are some who would run a mile with it rather than thinking twice. So don't mention the thing we saw, just yet."
With Hansel's promise, the three men walked inside. There was a soldier or two standing immediately inside, along with a few individuals who weren't wearing greens. But they were undoubtedly guards. Their presence was clearly strange to both the Commander and his Lieutenant as well.
"Commander Niklas, Lieutenant Roscoe, Dr. Hansel." A soldier greeted and after hearing this newfound title, Hansel was a caught a little off-guard. He didn't have time to perhaps enjoy it as another door opened and Niklas stepped in first.
As soon as they were in, Hansel noticed something was wrong. The door shut and Niklas practically growled, "What the fuck are you doing here?!" He sneered at one of the two men that was sat on the other side of the table. There was a vacant chair in between them, with the Supreme Commander making a clear statement of not wanting to sit directly beside the stranger in white.
"Commander Niklas, it's been a while. How are you?" The man completely ignored the previous question that was all but spat in his face; instead he returned the greeting with a respectful one.
"Enough!" The Supreme Commander was frowning, an intimidating expression as the older version of Niklas slammed his hands on the metal table in front of them. He looked at the man beside him and held a similar sneer on his face to his son. "You're only here because of the people you whisper your lies to gave you permission. So you sit there, shut the fuck up and don't speak to my kid. Got that?"
Hansel was completely lost. Evidently he was the only one who didn't know what the situation was between them all, because even Roscoe was regarding the stranger with a scowl. He thought he had seen Niklas angry before, but those times had nothing on his current expression. He seemed ready to pounce over the table and rip the man to shreds. So even though Hansel had no idea who the man was, given how distrusting everyone else found him— he decided to happily side with them.
"Of course, Supreme Commander. But I wouldn't be here if you didn't consistently keep key information from me and my team."
"You're lucky you haven't been shot, let alone been kept out of the loop." Niklas spat.
"I said enough; sit down." Mathias ordered and only when the Commander did, did Roscoe and Hansel do the same. Directly opposite Hansel was the stranger, a man who seemed to be watching him more than the other two.
"For the benefit of Hansel, this is Andrei who is in charge of our alternative pharmaceuticals. His belief is that a cure no longer exists and that we should put our time and effort elsewhere." The Supreme Commander couldn't hide his underlining bitterness and Hansel wasn't sure how to respond. But Andrei didn't appear to be bothered by the man's words yet again.
"I'm sure that would unsettle quite a lot of people if that got out." Hansel admitted while thinking back to the anxious questions that had been asked of him when they originally set out on mission. Hansel had believed that people were working towards a cure, but if that wasn't the case then his job in this world was going to be a whole lot more difficult.
As he had spoken honestly about his belief that the cure lay within nature, it could only be made into a viable vaccination by people who actually knew what they were doing. Knowledge that Hansel's old memories most certainly didn't possess. A small ache in the back of his head started to build as he wished the world had some form of Google.
"People are naturally afraid of what they do not understand. Just like how we have continuously adapted as we learned more about Rotters, and now they are nothing more than pests under our feet. The more we evolve, the stronger we become. Our children won't view the creatures outside as something fearsome, but of target-practice instead." Andrei ignored his order to remain quiet.
But the more he spoke, the more ominous Hansel believed him to be. "With all due respect, you don't strike me as someone who lives in this section, so how is it you have seen these children? But even then, I think you have been misinformed. The children I see coming into the hospital are anxious messes because of either what they have seen or the learnt behaviour from their parents. As we stand currently, there is no bigger fear than a single cough. People believe in the medication that they have lived with for so many years. We can't just say we've given up on finding a cure and that Rotter's aren't that bad because of our weapons that only some are coherently trained with."
Even though they were supposed to be talking about the mission, the soldiers didn't interfere at all. They knew what type of person Hansel was, and knew how passionate he got about things he believed in. All had experienced the young man's inspiring lectures. It was also the Supreme Commander and his son who had unanimously received stern words from the handsome man too. Though on separate occasions, it left them both with a good impression of him. Someone they believed would be very well known and trodden carefully around if given a good rank in the military.
"You make a valid argument, Hansel. In the end we both just want to save our species. I believe you would be interested in what my team and I have come up with and I would be grateful to hear your opinion if you were to come with—"
"Not a chance in hell." Niklas cut him off.
For the first time, Andrei's mask slipped— just by a inch— but it was still noticeable. That flicker of a dark expression when he looked at Niklas was one of pure irritation. Without having to say anything, Hansel knew that he then perceived the Commander as an obstacle.
From the side, the Supreme Commander cleared his throat sharply. "The mission was estimated to take only a day, how come you're only returning now?"
Niklas continued to glower at the glasses-wearing man and had to force himself to drag his gaze away to look at his father. "A little like here, the city seems to have its own sort of micro-climate. It's not as drastic as ours currently, but the changes in weather were instantaneous. It got dark quick and the weather got worse to a point where it was difficult to hear our own footsteps let alone any Rotter's. Not only that, in the beginning our team got split up because of the sudden arrival of an Advanced Rotter."
Supreme Commander Mathias gave a single nod and put the pen he had been twiddling around in his fingers to use. "Continue as you wish."
"We divided up, my team and Roscoe's. There's a graveyard of cars on the main point of access into the city. But this bridge has a passage beneath it which was presumably being used by the workers; which Roscoe and his team took. Upon crossing the bridge we came to the area dedicated to tourist information and Hansel and I split from the rest of my team to check the map. It was located in a compromising position and if we hadn't have gone on as a two then we would have been spotted by an Advanced Rotter. Hansel can back me up in saying that these ones are.. different."
"Different how?" Andrei immediately asked as he tapped his pen on the notebook on his lap.
Niklas pretty much told him to fuck off with only a look. Hansel quietly sighed, "We guessed that since there was a surprising lack of standard Rotter activity- or even the remains of- the Advanced Rotters had been having an all-inclusive buffet. Unlike the one we saw in the past, which seemed to be like patchwork creatures, these weren't. Though still repulsive with elongated limbs and the normal clicking or grunting when they moved, they seem to have evolved."
Andrei appeared very interested in what Hansel had to say. "Do you think they may have evolved mentally?"
"Mentally? I'm not sure. They seemed to be doing the same routes around the city though, never once stepping foot out of it.
"Interesting."
"We found a maintenance tunnel which connects all the commercial buildings. There was no Rotter activity down there and it took Hansel and I straight to the centre. The entrance to it is next to the tourist board so will be ideal for our initial move." Niklas changed the topic as he spoke to his father.
"Very good. Something like that could be the difference between winning or losing."
"Yes, but there's a problem. There are five Advanced Rotters and they are all sticking to the entrance of the Hydroelectricity facility. We can't be certain why, but it does have open space for them to hide from the worst of the weather."
Both pens stopped, "Since when did they hide from the weather?"
"How intriguing. From setting traps to having the perception of different weathers, they are as Hansel stated.. evolving." Andrei grinned from ear to ear.
Niklas, as if having blinkers on, kept looking ahead. "But that's not the only thing. Whilst monitoring the facility, something else emerged that we'd never seen before. A child.. or what we think was a child."
"We have already seen Rotter children."
The Commander looked to his side, to Hansel. "It wasn't a Rotter child that seemed to have been bitten. Not from what we could gather anyway. It was an Advanced Rotter that was a child. It was far more active than its counterparts, even demanding attention by biting them and screeching in their faces. But the others seemed to be trying to avoid it altogether, perhaps perceiving it as a threat."
"Did it look the same as you described the others; not like patchwork?"
Hansel nodded. "As I said, it didn't have any visible bite marks on it. There was no decomposing skin or stiffness in the joints. It was horrific."
"Truly fascinating."
The Supreme Commander put his pen down, "We'll blow it up the first chance we get. I don't know what it is and I don't care; the more we allow this virus to mutate the worse off we will be."
"You fool. We should capture it and examine it." Andrei scolded, looking at the man as if he were an idiot.
"Look, you have only survived this long because of people like me who know how to keep our asses from being bitten. You are really fucking delusional if you think that your reach is far enough to undermine my orders. I allowed you to be here- me. I will make sure none of your moles step a foot outside of these walls if I suspect you're going to go after that thing. So just be grateful you have been allowed to hear what this squad has told us."
Andrei looked like he was going to burst a blood-vessel. He gripped his pen tightly and silently met the Supreme Commander's stern gaze. Eventually, he smiled. "Of course, you know best. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to be getting back to my office." He didn't wait for permission, he stood up and walked around the table.
Before he went to the door, his sharp eyes lingered on Hansel. "See you soon."
When the door closed, Niklas sat back in his seat. The soldiers looked at each other with a series of expressions and eventually Mathias spoke, "You've all done well. I heard only one of you was injured and we received vital information. Plans are being drawn up and we're going to take the city as soon as teams that are currently out are back with the remaining rovers. From there it's going to be a rush to get it all secured, but thankfully with there only being one bridge it will be relatively simple in comparison to this base."
"What's with the large amount of Rotter remains outside the walls?"
Mathias frowned, "A large group of survivors turned into a large group of Rotters due to an undisclosed bite wound."
"Any survivors?" Roscoe asked hopefully.
"A child, but you can imagine what that sort of experience has done to her mind."
Their meeting was brought to an end on a somewhat sombre note but Hansel was relieved to finally get out of yet another seat. He stretched his arms as he walked out and after saying goodbye to the soldiers he was now far too familiar with, he made his way to the hospital. Dr. Aksel greeted him as cheerfully as the last time and gave him an update on the drugs and then Jakob. The drugs were doing well, no one seemed to suspect anything and it had done the job of reducing the amount of patients they saw in a day.
As for Jakob, he had apparently insisted on going back to his own bed. So Hansel returned there as well, prepared to grab the blond by his ear and drag him back to the hospital where he could be monitored. What he didn't expect to see though, was when he stepped into the shipping-container of a residence, Valentin was there.
Truthfully, Hansel had forgotten the man existed. "Valentin, how's your leg?"
"My leg- oh, it's fine. You look tired." The tall man crossed the dimly-lit space and for some reason, he seemed different. Hansel wanted to retreat but refused to allow himself. Instead he stood with his head held high, not that that was obvious to the yellow-eyed man.
"It felt like a long mission." Hansel confessed and tried to lighten the mood.
Valentin chuckled, fixing a hand onto his shoulder with a slight squeeze. "You've come far, Hansel. You were so scared when I first met you and it's sad to think that we've drifted apart since coming here."
Hansel shook his head, "We're still.."
"No need to lie to spare my aching heart," Valentin grinned before gesturing to the seating area. "Come on, I was just having a drink." He led him over and they had a seat.
"What is it?" Hansel swirled the glass and took a sniff. Definitely alcohol.
Valentin grabbed his own glass and took a sip, "Just a little something I found." He admitted and though Hansel was certain he'd stolen it from somewhere, he still liked the smell of it. So he took a drink.
"Fuck, that's strong." He scrunched his face as it hit the back of his throat.
"That's why you probably should have sipped it, you loon." Valentin put his glass down on the table with a 'clack'. He rested his forearms on it too and looked at Hansel closely, the grin that he had sported from the beginning gradually faded to a flat line. His eyes narrowed and under the sole light in the room, the animalistic yellow of his irises seemed to glow.
Hansel went to speak, but his tongue felt heavy. Shortly followed by the pressure behind his eyes and the weight of his body in the seat. His heavy breathing was all he could hear as his vision tunnelled. He watched as Valentin reached over and pressed his shoulder until he capsized.
The last thing he remembered seeing was Valentin watching him fall.
[ TBC ]
[ A/N: Friggin' Valentin. ]
[ Patreon > Always two chapters ahead. If you're interested then the link is in my bio <3 ]