"I'll be fine" Enlyn lowered herself back to the ground. Bad part about having a group was she couldn't do what ever she wanted anymore. "So where are you trying to get to?" She asked genuinely curious. "Gotta have a destination in mind to be traveling so much."
“I’m going to Paradis,” Rigel said as he lowered himself to the soil too. The rumor of Paradis… The place untouched by the plague, a place for immunes, with a storage of food. The restart of humanity. The catch was that no one knew the exact location. But Rigel had a feeling… Going to Paradis wasn’t the entire truth, though. One big reason he was on the move was because of the hounds and monsters after him. At one point he had thought he lost them, but sure enough a few days later they were upon him, and Rigel almost died that day. They had an incredible sense of smell, and Rigel needed to stay ahead of them. Paradis would be safe though, it had defenses.
"Paradis…" Enlyn mumbled. She'd heard of the place but wasn't even sure it was real. Her brother had hopped he'd have been able to see it before he died. Tears almost escaped her eyes, "right! Yeah lets go" she turned around to regain control over her emotions. This town, where she'd watch her patents gunned down, her sibblings die. She'd finally be leaving it behind. But the question was, would she be strong enough to stay away forever? "So I'm guessing you know where it is then?"
No, was the immediate answer Rigel should’ve said, but instead replied with a simple, “Yes.” He was fairly certain he could find it, but the lie didn’t sit well in him. But he couldn’t have Enlyn second guessing him. He shook his head to himself, “Let’s get going,” And then he started walking, moving towards sunrise. To the next beginning of this alliance. He looked back at her, “I’m glad we met, Enlyn.”
Enlyn smiled, "yeah me too. Lets go on an adventure!" She was extatic to be leaving this old town, to maybe finally see Paradis. Perhaps that's what she needed. Something knew. Somthing away from here. She followed him ready for what ever was to come.
“Pfft, it’s hardly an adventure. It’s survival,” Rigel waved a casual hand in the air. He turned to walk backwards, dangerous if he had been on his own, but he had Enlyn this time, to look at her, “When’s the last time you’be been out of that rust bucket city?”
"Uh…since before the war…" Enlyn looked down at her feet shyly. It was a rust bucket city, that she wouldn't deny. But hearing it made her realise what ever attachment to the memories she had here died with everyone else. "Its not as bad as you'd think really."
Rigel barked out a laugh, “You’ll see a lot of different things. But you won’t see people. I’ve only found traces of them, notes, time capsules in a way for the next person. Graffiti on walls, drawings in dirt. I try to leave one every once and a while, help the next sucker trying to live another day,” Rigel laughed again, then sobered up quickly, “But you’ll also see traces of the monsters and beasts.”
"Monsters?" Enlyn asked looking up. She'd never really seen any but she'd heard of them from jack before. "Do tell" her eyes lit up. Any thing new was cause of excitement for her. Even if that something could kill her before she'd have time to knock an arrow or pull her knife from its hidden spot under her almost to baggy sweat shirt.
Rigel furrowed his brow, “You don’t know? The infection, the mutation, nothing?” It couldn’t be… Surely she’d heard of them before? Or was it just him? “You’ve never seem the hulking beasts, with black ooze dripping from their maw?” There was so much more to them than ‘black ooze dripping from their maw’.
"Well my rust bucket of a city didn't have enough people after the war- so no" Enlyn didn't like how he'd just looked at her, Like she was stupid or something. "But I've heard of them" she added matter-of-factly.
“How many people know about-“ Panic shot through his eyes and he halted in his steps. He sucked in a deep breath. It’s all my fault, they’re all going to die. He braced his arm against a nearby tree, staring at the ground trying to work through his head. Rigel’s face screwed up for a few seconds, his inner battle showing.
"Rigel!" Enlyn ran up to him, "hey Rigel. Dude you alright?" She asked in a panic. what the heck…panic attack? Anxity? Enlyn saw his face twist, "Rigel. Calm down" she grabbed his shoulders.
Rigel turned away and whispered, as if in a trance, “I just killed them all.” Murderer. Rigel closed his eyes, just breathing, “They don’t have any defenses, they wouldn’t have known, they’re all dead by now. And it’s my fault.”
Enlyn resisted the to back away, "what?" She asked her own head spinning now. She'd seen him kill jack with out a second thought but if he'd killed lots of people…something told her he'd be no better. "Hey calm down. What are you talking about?"
Rigel looked at her with hopeless eyes, “I sentenced them all to torture. Enlyn, Enlyn, I-“ Rigel’s face screwed up again, “The monsters. They’ve been following me all this time, tracking my scent. I just led them to that city. And they won’t just kill those people,” Innocent people, “They’re going to rip them apart alive. And any un-immune will be infected, they’ll turn into beasts too. This is different. There aren’t just cannibals in that city, innocent people.” Rigel had killed before with no fuss, not a second thought, but humans, not cannibals- he had just killed humans.
Enlyn's face fell. "We can worn people. But we should keep moving…" She didn't want to seem ruthless, but there worn't many good people left in that city. She'd helped those who wanted to escape and watched others die while she couldn't do a thing. "Trust me. Some thing tells me those people aren't as good as you want to believe."
Rigel turned, putting a cold mask like he had when- when a lot of things happened. He took a deep breath and reeled it all in, “We need to keep moving. The beasts will have a lot of energy after that city,” That feast, “They’ll catch up. We can’t afford to camp and sleep for the next few days.” Rigel kept walking, away from that doomed city. His doing, just like- Rigel shook the thought away.
"Right" Enlyn took a look back at the city, sorry. her thoughts to those who'd die, and to the memory of her family she'd leave behind. "Then we better get moving." She shifted her bag on her back ready for a very, very long day.
Rigel led them out, away from the city, away from the bloodbath that was to take place there. He glanced at Enlyn, desperate to get it off his mind, “What was your family like?”
"My family?" Enlyn cleared her throught, "they where nice….people.." She crossed her arms across her chest. "Yours?" She asked wanting to change the subject but not wanting to be rude.
“Good. Great people. My mother seemed to always be baking, my father always taking care of me and the house. He had built it from the ground up, so it always needed to be fixed,” Rigel chuckled, then explained shortly, “Lived in the country. Had tons of animals, how about you?”
the city. That city to be exact" Enlyn let out a small chuckle, "the rust bucket city" she thought for a few more seconds before speaking again, "it was a pretty big house. We weren't good on money so I always questioned how we had the house still. But it was good, for my siblings." She gave a small sad smile.
The feeling a guilt washed over Rigel again, but he clamped it down this time. He nodded, continuing to walk forward. He didn’t see the beast until it was on top of him. The black hog, ooze dripping from its mouth, crashed on top of him hard enough which made him fall down. Fanged teeth were already unhinged to rip off his face.
Enlyn jumped at seeing the best. "Rigel!" She shouted in fear. Before her brain could register a thing her body took over, knocking an arrow and shotting the thing right in the shoulder blade.