Sitting down. Resting her eyes. Breathing. All of that, so taxing and re-enforces both the situation, and how River was going to be a liability.

She rested her full backpack, courtesy of one Madison Solomon, on her lap as she sat crosslegged in the gloo-covered floors. Leaning against the now-empty shelves, looking around at everyone else who waited.

Aiko with her leg propped up and resting her arm on her knee. Maddie squatting, Jackie standing with the key to their victory under her arm…

Tracy hugging her legs.

It would’ve been something like 45 minutes, or a full hour, since the first Wave of the Nulgarrt came to be. They took turns resting, Maddie suggested that they might as well stuff as many snacks and shit into our backpacks as we could—because she still needs to be on brand being a character from a Scorsese film.

Luckily, the store they boarded themselves in was a convenience store, with the typical needs of the Transitionary Point consumer.

Snacks, some perishable food items, cleaning supplies, self-generators for the inevitable day when the city grids fail, self-help kits of planning a bunker, and various Shift protection products. River would’ve thought “trademark” at the end of that, but she didn’t know if Extant was that out of touch to trademark literal survival tools. But she could buy that.

They couldn’t do that or much less steal them, though. Apparently they haven’t stocked them yet here, complete with semi-condescending, completely out of touch sign that read: “HELP IS ON THE WAY!”

Totally on brand with the girls’ flavor of “Luck left us around the time as God” track record.

But they might not need that, as they have the self-generator. A marvel of recent innovation, perpetual power within our hands… If it doesn’t get messed with. Despite the breakthrough, the technology and process cannot be disturbed by any means. Sometimes, there’s recalls because some people slapped it or even tapping it.

That factors into the plan. Of course, wait until Wave 3 happens. Wander about to find the Prime Stew while keeping the generator running. Run away from the Nulgarrt, and drop the generator into the Stew and gun for it as Noumena takes care of it.

So, on a scale of Death Star to Casting the One Ring into Mt. Doom… It was like the Axe scene from Titanic. Possible, doable, but the pure dread that hinges on the mundane is unbearable. Still room to fuck up.

“It’s taking a while…” Tracy said, looking at the window. A window that displayed blurs, smears of what was a gaudy if not modern theatre lobby. Just turquoise, with browns, red, and oranges smeared into the places the prime color couldn’t reach.

All the while seeing creeping, white wisps slither about the picture.

“It might take a day… Maybe two,” Jackie guessed, thankfully saying instead of River. “It happening in a couple of hours was a hopeful thing.”

“Depends on the Nulgarrt spawned, the more frenzied will be faster, y’know…” River added with her empty words.

“Of course… Of course,” just looking at the windows, as the creatures that they’ll have to face where just swirls and streaks within the blurred images. “But y’know… What if they… Found a way to co-exist? Maybe the unexpected this time’s—”

The dying, desperate screeches reverberated before the window showed the rush, flurry of white.

“NOPE, THEY’RE KILLING EACH OTHER, THEY ARE KILLING EACH OTHER AND THE WORLD IS WRONG!” Tracy screamed, covering her eyes.

The windows were banged against, and the boarded doors shuttered and rocked. As if they wanted to seek refuge.

“Crazy fucking things…” Maddie whispered out.

“Man,” River tried to interject what was missing. “You know when shit’s going down if Maddie don’t snark at it.” The intensity clouding what still air they had left showed that they failed.

Everyone started to rise to their feet, putting on their packs, and gathering together.

“We all remember the plan?” Jackie asked. “Stay close, defend each other, find the Stew, run like hell…?”

They all nodded in agreement, murmuring to confirm.

The trashing, screeching was starting to wind down. Starting the countdown.

“Sucks about the thin air, though…” Jackie sighed. “We could use the water bottles we have to curb it, but…”

“We’ll hold our breath and use siVis on our lungs,” Maddie said, despairingly.

“CAN we use siVis on our organs…?” Aiko sounded mindblown.

“Theoretically,” River said. “Most of the Original Case Trends recreated, repurposed, or even removed them.”

“…HOW?!” Jackie screamed.

“It was theoretical,” River answered.

“…WHY?!” Jackie refused to accept.

“They kinda felt inhuman and said ‘fuck it; might as well’,” River shrugged.

“…Now I wanna play with my organ,” Aiko said. “Something weird and useless, like my gallbladder—"

They expected something like a loud shout, bang—maybe even a bloodcurdling scream. But all that followed was a pathetic thud, and then a deafening silence.

“Goddamn it,” Maddie rubbed her forehead. “I was hoping it was a lot longer…”

“Alright girls,” Jackie clutched the generator. “Stay close, move fast…”

Aiko went to grab one side of the shelf, and River went over to grab the other. The two move it out of the way, away from the door, as the goo was free to seep through the broken glass door.

“Fuck…” Jackie said. She went forward, as always, as the rest followed after. Jackie opened the door slowly, a slush sound followed as she does.

The area was fractured. Still ripples and tears, littered within and out of the lost air. The lobby was destroyed, turned to ruin, and was pulled in multiple areas, rendered into pieces along the flooded floors. The still, sickly sludge came above their ankles, reflecting the flashing, neon lights. Twisting them.

“We’re not… Just gonna throw away these socks, we’re gonna have to burn ‘em…” Maddie seemed out of breath already, as they all walked about.

“Socks?” Tracy sounded breathless. She took a while to catch her breath, “I rather burn my shoes as well, if they weren’t my only pair now…”

“Like goo’s gonna hurt anybody…” Jackie replied, struggling as well.

Cue the slurry dead, parasitic worm parts. All varying degrees of limb, organ, husk and unidentifiable.

“Aiiyueeedewaaaaggg…” was what Tracy let fall out of her mouth.

“It’s all… So weird…” Aiko motioned her hand around a swipe of removed air. “Air-eater worms… How can something gobble up something like air, just air, and they can do this…?”

“Anything they can…” River responded, looking around. “They were forced to be in this world, straddled with something to live with in this world… And do what they can in this world.”

She was going to add, “Sounds familiar, don’t it?”, but they were living enough in a shitty, cliché B-Movie already enough.

Aiko was still captivated at the vacuum pocket, moving her hand around it as careful as someone like Aiko can be… She edged her fingers close to it, raking it gently with her fingers.

She was flung forward before she knew was going on, skating on the floor as the Stew splashed all over her legs, sliding on her side towards the exit.

“WOAH” she screamed out, fling forward to regain her balance.

“The hell did you do--?!” Maddie spat.

“Touched the air-bites!” Aiko responded.

“And why the hell did you do that?!” Maddie yelled.

“There is no reason when you’re being curious—You’re FINDING the reason--!”

“No, wait…” Jackie felt her neck. “That… Somehow gave us more air to work with…”

“You’re right,” Tracy nodded. “It’s a lot easier…”

Maddie leered at Aiko, then back to the group, “We’re not gonna reward her with fucking up her way to success…”

“I mean, I agree,” Aiko reasoned. “But this is the power of discovery!”

Jackie looked over to River, “So do we pop these to gain an advantage and will it attract them here…?”

“It probably knows that we’re here anyways…” River reasoned. “Either rushing in after the noise it heard or… Waiting for a chance to strike.”

She nodded, “Well, let’s pop a few and be careful doing it…”

There wasn’t any movement, causing Jackie to look around.

“…Well, I can’t do it,” Jackie explained, looking to the generator. “I could hurt this thing, making all this pointless.”

“We’re just used to you being fearless leader…” Maddie said.

Aiko rushed back, being careful not to knock into any more cavities, back to the others. The remaining girls, sans Jackie, looked to each other to see who’d go first.

River shrugged, and went over to a cavity. Stroking it, before it popped and forces her back. “Aaaaaah…” she rubbed her hand, in a deliberate monotone.

Tracy laughed at that, somehow. Like her somehow managing to sound amused and terrified at the same time, “Does it actually hurt or…?”

Tracy walked up to a cavity as well, “wrapping” her fingers around the blotch-like pocket, and started to softly and steadily squeeze as she quickly and tensely winced. It popped at some point, sending her screaming and getting yanked forward before briefly stopping.

She panted, grabbing her arm, “I am GLAD that we have more air now because I NEED IT TO VOCALIZE HOW TERRIFYING THAT WAS”

“You moved like, three inches--” Maddie said.

“But that does mean these vary in power…” Jackie wisely cut her off, and managed to add more than she did to the discussion. “An educated guess that it depends on the sizes, but this is La-la land, so…”

Something skittered within the air and they all heard it.

Jackie shouted out, “Whatever it is, it’s coming, girls!”

Something is racing toward them, and they all can see it coming.

“Oh nonono,” Tracy voiced what everyone was feeling. “Fuck--!”