“Huh, that’s odd” Rita remarked.

She’d finally started catching up to the Knight and Demon’s group again. According to her ‘spidey sense’ as Alice called it, they’d stopped moving. She preferred to think of it as a ‘people sense’ herself.

What is?

“They feel like they’re too far away” Rita said. “You know, the people we’re following.”

That’s why we’re walking closer, isn’t it?

“No, I mean they feel further than they should be.”

I don’t follow.

“You can also tell they’ve stopped, right? So, if we travelled about halfway to them, they should feel half as far away now, correct?”

I guess? Honestly, I’ve been paying more attention to the environment, trying to keep an eye out for things that want to eat us.

“Erm… right. Thanks. But my point is that they don’t feel half as far away. They feel about… three quarters of the distance away? Yet somehow, they aren’t moving. It’s breaking my brain a little” Rita groused.

Maybe you got the distance wrong? Can I remind that we don’t have the slightest idea of how this sense works or even why we have it? Maybe our distance sense is just shit.

“Maybe…” Rita admitted.

They kept walking, passing more and more intact buildings as they did. It seemed that the area they were approaching had been less heavily impacted by what Rita had mentally dubbed ‘the Calamity’. Eventually, Alice spoke up again.

Okay, I think I see what you mean. We take three steps but they only feel two steps closer. The parallax is also all wrong. Hmm.

“Yeah, except… not exactly, right? Wait, what is ‘parallax’? You mean the triangulation effect if we move from side to side?”

Yes. The direction change doesn’t match the distance they feel from us. At all.

“Right. Based on the angle I think they’re in that building” Rita said and pointed to one of the intact apartment blocks ahead. It had a row of broad windows facing them.

You could be right. It feels about right but… also not? This is confusing. I think our spidey sense is broken.

“Then there is only one way to find out!”

They set off again, passing through empty streets and slipping through a few broken fences, making sure to avoid the line of sight from the windows at Alice’s urging. The closer they came to the building Rita had pointed out, the more obvious the disjointed sense became. Their targets were at the same time inside, yet also not. It felt like one of those optical illusions that changed what the picture was depending on where you focused, except it was skipping her eyes entirely.

Are you sure you still want to do this? Alice asked as they reached the bottom floor of the building.

“Absolutely. They’re the only hint at civilization that we’ve seen, we have to at least try” Rita replied.

Then best turn over control now, before we go in. Last thing we want is to accidentally run into them in a stairwell and you attack before I can stop you.

“Erm, good point. Okay, how do I do this again?”

Just relax. Stop worrying about being in control and just let your body do whatever it wants. I’ll handle the rest.

Rita took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She leaned against the nearby wall as she focussed on letting each part of her body individually relax. It was a trick a psychologist had taught her back at school, when she’d been struggling to deal with exam stress.

There we go, almost got it, just a bit more…

She let her mind wander, going limp as she focussed entirely inward. She felt her awareness of herself fade… fade…

It almost came as a shock when her body started moving on its own, jolting her out of her zen-like state of mind. Instinctually, she clamped down control over herself, causing all her muscles to freeze.

“Ahh, Rita, please don’t do that. I can’t override you” Alice asked, making Rita shudder internally. It felt so weird to have someone else talking with your mouth.

Sorry. Not used to riding shotgun in my own head.

Slowly her muscles eased up and Alice began moving again.

“Please be careful with that. If you want to take over again rather just let me know, okay? Otherwise we could get a painful lockup like that at a critical moment” she said. “I’ll hand it over, don’t worry.”

Unless I go crazy.

“Unless you go crazy, yes” she responded with a smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep us alive.”

Thank you.

They were both quiet as Alice stepped inside the bottom floor of the apartment block. Around them were copious amounts of broken glass, but all the walls seemed intact at least. One of the two elevators at the far end of the lobby even stood with its doors wide open, as if inviting them to come inside.

Even if the power hadn’t been off, neither of them would have been too keen on risking it.

They’re somewhere above us, so we definitely have the right building. Distance is still weird though…

“Yeah. Can’t tell if its two floors or twenty. Or something in between” Alice replied.

The building can’t be more than eight stories.

“I know. Just calling it likes I feels it” she responded before nodding at the partially open stairwell door. “Guess we head up the stairs.”

They set off up the stairs, moving slower now with Alice in control. She insisted on moving carefully, ears straining to hear every sound and pausing every time something creaked. It quickly began driving Rita nuts.

Can’t we move a bit faster?

“No. I’ll do this for you, but we’re doing it my way” Alice whispered.

For a moment Rita was tempted to just seize back control and make them move faster. It was so frustrating to just be able to watch and not actually do anything! To be completely reliant on Alice for everything!

Which had to be how Alice felt all the time. Now that was an awkward thought.

Umm… Alice… do you ever wish you had your own body?

“I do have my own body” she mumbled absentmindedly as she peered carefully through the stairwell door. Wrong floor, but she checked the door anyway.

No, I mean… why are you so willing to let me take control back? Don’t you get frustrated at being so… helpless? It’s barely been five minutes and I’m already pulling my mental hair out. Don’t you ever want to just… take over?

Alice stopped in the middle of a landing between stairways. They were getting close now. It was either the next floor or the one after.

She sighed softly. “Are you worried I’ll try to keep our body? Lock you out and keep it for myself?”

You could say the thought has crossed my mind.

Alice chewed her lip thoughtfully. “In the interests of transparency and trust, I have to admit it’s crossed mine as well.”

…and? Rita asked delicately when Alice hesitated.

“And now’s not the time to discuss this. Shall we talk about this later?”

Alice… I’m about to lose my mind to some crazy rage again most likely. And this time I’m probably going to be gone for a while. I’m worried I won’t come back.

“I promise I’ll take you out for walks” Alice replied.

This is not funny! I’m being serious!

“I meant I’ll take you for walks away from the demon if they somehow don’t kill us. Give you a chance to come up for air, so to speak. Okay?”

Oh. Thank you. I appreciate it.

“My pleasure. Now can I please focus on what I’m doing? I’m deathly nervous and fully expect them to kill us the moment they see us.”

Gora peered through the open doorway, only one eye and the tip of her sword sticking out.

Inside was a sizable room, about five by six metres in size. Along the walls were a few intact wooden cabinets and across from the doorway was the large window that Gora had seen from outside. It contained no other ‘furniture’, intact or otherwise, though about one third of the room was tiled. It appeared something had been broken loose from the floor at the boundary between tile and scraggy, moth-eaten carpet.

In the centre of the chamber was a strangely glassy and smooth divot in the floor in which a small campfire merrily crackled. It was the same colour as the carpet around it, but it appeared as if someone had… melted that section of the carpet and floor down and cast it into a new shape, before letting it harden like glass.

Four new-looking, tough canvas tents formed a contrast to the eerie firepit. They were spread evenly around the fire, while next to it stood a few neatly stacked cooking pots.

For a few moments she stared intently at the fire, carefully watching the perfectly cut firewood logs inside burn. Only once she was satisfied that nothing was amiss did Gora step inside and gesture for the others to approach. She wasn’t aware of anything ever faking a Campsite before, but it was one of the hypothetical danger scenarios old Delvers threw around. Besides, a bit of caution cost her nothing.

“Ok, looks safe. Come on in and dump your gear” she called back as she picked out one of the tents and tossed her heavy backpack inside.

“Oooh, tents, yes!” Ava exclaimed and bounced over to another, lifting the flap and inspecting it.

“Are you sure this is unoccupied?” Samual asked from the doorway, gesturing at the tents.

“Oh, yeah” Gora replied, stretching her shoulders. “Previous Delvers left the tents and cooking stuff behind. We’re not quite sure how, but it somehow comes along when the Campsite shifts. They even clean themselves in the process.”

Samual shrugged and picked out a tent.

For the first time in what had to be over 72 hours, Gora could relax. They were safe. Not just relatively safe or approximately safe or most likely safe, but absolutely, one hundred percent safe. There were precious few certainties in this nightmarish landscape, but of those few this was one.

For twelve hours, nothing could harm them.

In the desolate, dangerous, inhospitable wasteland that was the Nightmare Tree’s domain, Campsites were the sole beacons of respite and safety. You could identify them by the merrily burning fire, always set into a small pit in the centre of the room. They always burned for exactly twelve hours from the moment that the first person entered the room.

It produced no smoke and consumed no fuel, but you could cook on it and warm yourself just like any fire. There was an aura of peace around it and for those twelve hours, no monster would enter or attack you, as long as you stayed inside the room containing the fire.

Various magicians and researchers had attempted to study it over the years, but they’d only managed to come to two conclusions. One, the effect was real, and two, if you studied it too closely it vanished. Popped like a soap bubble.

“This one has more of those little purple fruits!” Bob exclaimed from the cabinets. He’d gone straight for the food, of course.

There was always food available in a Campsite, ranging from dried meats to fruits to wrapped cheeses with no cheesemaker’s mark on them. It was always fresh and safe to eat, though it did not magically protect you from your allergies or an upset stomach. Nor was it in any way enchanted against perishing. It was simply as if someone had placed it there mere moments before the visitor arrived, then quickly ducked out and never returned.

“No, thanks” Gora said as he held out a handful of the fruits out towards her. “Those things stop me up like crazy. I’d like to be able to enjoy a shit before we have to leave.”

“Eww” Ava remarked from where she’d crawled inside her tent and started setting up her living space. “You could have just said no.”

“We all shit, Princess” Gora chuckled, a wide grin on her face. “Best do it quickly and safely as possible.”

Gora could feel the stress flowing out of her as she sat down next to the fire and tossed her metal mask next to her tent. She hadn’t realized how much the whole Nemesis thing had tensed her up, not knowing what to expect. Here, at least, she could finally let her hair down.

“Gora” Zaxier interrupted, “could you perhaps answer a question?”

Even with no baggage of his own, it was surprising how quickly the cat could make himself comfy next to the abnormal fire. He was already splayed out in a very casual yet dignified manner that suggested he had been here for hours already.

“Sure. Shoot” Gora replied casually as she took several of the dried meats Samual handed out. He’d found them in a different cabinet than the one Bob had raided. They looked like beef strips but tasted a bit like chicken. Odd, but tasty.

“Back in the Wilderness Zone, we managed to travel directly from Campsite to Campsite and never had to ‘rough it’ as you would say. I have noticed it appears as if Campsites are far less common here in the City Zone. Is that accurate or is there some other reason for our path of travel?”

Gora leaned back, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Well, that’s tough to say” she started. “You see, the Wilderness Zone’s a lot better mapped than the City Zone. A lot easier to map, you understand, since it's closer to the edge.”

For the Wilderness Zone, you actually had to book your Campsites you intended to stay at. Emergencies were one thing, but there was nothing worse than arriving at one only to find another group already camped inside. They would let you in, of course, but things were usually a bit cramped and uncomfortable.

“Plus, we moved a lot faster there” she continued. “We didn’t have to be so careful and could travel more in straight lines rather than having to go around obstacles.”

The cat nodded. “I see. I thought those might have been factors. Thank you.”

“They aren’t the only ones. In my experience, Campsites in the City Zone tend to shift more often and further than those in the Wilderness, if only because they can go vertically as well as horizontally. That makes them harder to find.”

“What do you mean by ‘shift’?” Samual asked. He’d moved his tent so that it faced the doorway instead of the fire and Gora had a hunch he was going to spend every moment of the next twelve hours he was not asleep keeping an eye on the entrance.

“Shift. Move. Change location” Gora explained. “After we’re done here, the next group who comes by will find nothing here but an empty room. Instead, they’ll find the Campsite maybe in the room next door. Or three floors up. Or over in that building over there” she said, pointing out the window at another building across the road.

“But how?” Ava asked, her head peeking out of her tent.

Gora shrugged. “Nobody knows. Nobody has ever caught one mid-shift. All we know is that it will be in one place when one group comes along, but the next group will find nothing but an empty room.”

“This place is weird” Ava said and ducked back inside for a moment before popping her head back out. “Hey Gora, want me to put my Anima outside again so I can get killed in my sleep?”

Gora snorted. “No, keep them in their little ball. We should be safe here” she replied, intentionally ignoring the sarcastic tone in Ava’s voice.

Ava pursed her lips angrily but ducked back inside and closed her tent without saying anything further.

Conversation grew quiet after that. They were all tired and nobody was really in the mood for a lot of chatting. Zaxier sat next to the fire along with Bob, quietly lecturing him on some of the finer points of magic and spellcasting. Ava disappeared into her tent and only popped out briefly to scrounge some food before disappearing back inside, while Samual… was about as chatty as usual.

Gora had just gotten comfortable in her tent and closed her eyes to have a well-deserved nap when Samual stuck his head inside and whispered.

“Gora? You’re not going to believe this…”