Noah was taken aback, completely under the shock of both the threat and his own revelation. He didn’t fully understand what was happening, but one thing was certain: whatever this was, it was a mystery that needed solving. Of course, it all depended on the next few seconds. Would Xavier push and pierce, or would he pull and spare?

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

“I want to help,” he said, trying to stay calm. “I can help.”

Xavier contemplated his prey for a few seconds as he bared his teeth, his eyes betraying a hint of malice. These were the eyes of someone who was ready to kill.

“You can’t tell anyone,” he finally said.

Their standoff was suddenly interrupted by Kaycee’s voice calling out to them. Xavier quickly put the blade away and rushed to join up with her, Noah on his heels.

“Guys, we need to move,” she said. There was a hurry and worry in her voice, something Noah hadn’t heard from her before, even when she was getting shot at.

“What’s the rush?” Xavier said as if nothing had happened. “No way we’re going to make it to Basin before night time, shouldn’t we rest here?”

“It’s not safe. Karim found taint in some of the houses.”

“Shit…”

She looked at Noah with frustration, as a mother would look at a child after they did something stupid .

“Look, I know you’re new at the whole ‘staying alive’ thing, but you were here before. Mentioning the taint is one of the things you wanna tell people who are trying to keep you alive.”

“Sorry,” he simply answered. “But I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

She sighed.

“Nevermind.”

He felt she was being unfair as there was no way he or his friends could have known, but he understood there was no point in arguing at the moment.

“What’s plan B?” he asked, trying to shift the conversation as Karim and Jacob caught up to them, with Isaac dragging his feet, still groggy from his nap that was cut short, not far behind them.

“Waiting the night out here was plan B,” Xavier said.

“What do we do now?” Jacob asked, visibly anxious.

“We start walking and we hope they don’t get too interested in us. If they attack, a direct beam of light will make them recoil. Then aim for the heart with a weapon.”

“Kaycee, we don’t have a flashlight,” announced Noah.

“Then it looks like we only have one for the whole group. I don’t like these odds, but we don’t have a choice: we’ll have to head towards Basin and hope we find a refuge. Karim, if you have a prayer for us, now would be a good time.”

Noah found himself to somewhat admire her. Her words were grim, but she was well-grounded and charismatic. She seemed to know what she was doing, and being so level-headed in the face of certain death was inspiring. He was glad she was around, and that she was in charge instead of someone like Xavier… or even himself. Despite the danger, for the first time, he believed they would stay alive.

“Kaycee, there’s more. You won’t believe this. Look at the building over there!”

Karim directed their attention towards one of the old abandoned restaurants. Noah and his friends hadn’t bothered exploring it earlier as they had a feeling they wouldn’t find anything. Something was off, though. It took him a second to figure it out: throughout the morning and the afternoon, its color was a washed-out red. Now, it was a dark gray teint.

“What in the world…” she let out.

“I think the whole structure has been tainted… Or maybe it’s something else. I’m not sure”

“Damnit… Okay. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out later. Daylight’s almost out, we need to move out.”

The evacuation was surprisingly slow and calm. There was a sense of urgency in their steps, but any panic they could have felt was under control. Where one would have run, Kaycee instructed them to walk instead. Jacob looked at Karim and questioned him.

“Um… Shouldn’t we run?” he asked a little louder than usual to attempt to get everyone’s attention.

Karim looked at him in the eyes for a few seconds. He tried his best to put on a reassuring smile but it was evident there was much worry beneath the facade.

“No…” he said, “it is something we have learned early, in our village. It is no use to try and run from the creatures of shadows. If they know we are there, they can track us until for as long as they want. They are there or they are not there.”

“What he’s trying to say,” interrupted Kaycee, “is that running will only get us tired. Speed over long distances doesn’t matter to the Corrupted. If they feel like it, they’ll catch up. Best we can do is conserve our strength and use it only when necessary. For example, if we come across other types of-”

Her explanation was cut short. A loud noise, akin to an aerial raid siren with an extremely low pitch or the warcry of an immense creature, blared throughout the islands. It was so powerful that it had everyone on the ground, covering their ears in suffering. The pain was unbearable, but the pressure on their psyche was the most intense. It was like their souls were being ripped from their bodies, shredded into pieces and cast in the void only to be slowly savored by an eldritch god.

It only lasted for about a dozen seconds in their physical reality, yet Noah was convinced he lost consciousness at some point, and his subconscious was made to endure the agony for minutes after being transported in a parallel dimension where time didn’t exist. Xavier had been particularly affected. It could have been from the physical pain, but there was also an undeniable sense of dread that they now all felt.

“What was that?” Noah asked after a few seconds.

Kaycee shook her head to indicate that she didn’t know. She was disarmed, confused. She, too, felt the imminent doom looming about. Xavier kneeled and put his hands on the ground.

“This is it. We’re done. They will get us and they will kill-”

“How about you stop being a little bitch and you get up?” Isaac screamed, forcing himself to fight the dark, nightmarish fear that had shrouded their whole party.

Xavier was obviously in a state of shock and hysteria. He pulled on his own hair as his psyche dwindled into despair.

“Xavier, shush. We’ll make it,” Kaycee tried to assure him as she got up. Her voice was unconvincing, trembling: she, too, was afraid. It was obvious she had trouble believing herself at first. But then, after a second, as if she had mentally slapped herself, her eyes looked more determined and focused. “We’ll make it,” she decided, this time with more conviction.

As the group prepared to resume their march, Noah approached Xavier. He grabbed him by the arm, inciting him to stand. “Hey. You heard what the lady said. You need to get up,” he softly said, attempting to be a soothing voice among the craziness.

He helped him as best as he could and Xavier accepted the aid without looking up.

Noah did not hold a grudge for the unprovoked attack earlier; in fact, he felt sorry for him, almost pitied him. These people had been on edge for close to two months, under a considerable amount of stress every day, not knowing if they or a loved one would perish or vanish. There was no way around it, it had to change their personality eventually. Isaac, Jacob and he would change too, in time. They had been mostly emotionally frozen to it all so far, in great part because of a lack of understanding. Still, the changes had already started, especially in himself. All he could do, he thought, was to retain his humanity for as long as possible, and try to bring relief to those who needed it the most. And in this situation, it meant helping someone who had threatened to kill him a few minutes earlier.