The image is burned into Eli’s mind, searing white and numbingly painful. Audrey’s limp figure short circuits his brain, leaving him standing underneath the acidic rain with a blank expression. A look of disbelief flickers through his eyes, complete doubt as he briefly believes himself to be hallucinating. Suddenly, a compulsion drags his legs forward, tugging his limping feet onward with haste as he hurries over to the young girl. He crouches down, then lifts her up as carefully as he can manage, legs nearly buckling under him as his foot cries out in pain. He ignores his aching body and rushes over to a nearby building, a broken shell of a home that now has its front door smashed down, the glass scattered pitifully around the area.

The instant Eli escapes from the rain, relief floods through him, unraveling the tiniest bit of tension from his pent up heart. With no time to waste, the boy rushes over to a nearby couch, laying the limp Audrey across the cushions. Fear throbs in his chest as he abruptly holds his finger underneath her nostrils, waiting for the feeling of her breath to hit his skin. His hands shake slightly as the possibility that the breath might never come springs to the forefront of his mind. In the next moment, as if to erase such fears, the faintest heave of a breath brushes against his skin.

Relief and gratitude nearly causes him to collapse.

Feeling a greater sense of motivation, he looks around, quickly spotting a small blanket that most likely belonged to a child. He hurries over and picks it up, only to hesitate. Looking around, he notices that there are lights on, which means electricity. He tosses the blanket near the unconscious Audrey then looks around for a kitchen in the dark house. Eventually spotting one, he flips on the kitchen light and approaches the sink, lifting the handle to release cold water. In the meantime, he searches the cupboard, looking for a rag and a big enough container. He eventually finds a clean white hand towel underneath the sink, and an empty steel pot on the counter. Holding the pot under the lukewarm water, Eli fills the container around halfway, before tossing the towel inside and carrying it back to the couch.

Groaning slightly, he kneels on the ground, setting the pot on the floor in front of him. After taking out the rag, the first thing he does is focus on Audrey’s feet, which are nothing more than a mangled mess of skinless meat. Despite lacking a large amount of skin, there isn’t much blood present, meaning there’s less of a chance of Audrey immediately bleeding out. Without any medical knowledge, the best Eli can do is rely on common sense and his own understanding of things. He knows he needs to wipe away the rainwater, which is filled with acidic toxins that will continue to eat away at her, but he also knows that wiping down an area that’s been so heavily damaged will most likely cause more damage. If I can’t wipe away the rain… His brain burns as he reaches into the pot and withdraws the soaked towel. He then lifts the towel over the burn area and squeezes, letting the water drip against the skin.

He considers dabbing the towel against her feet, but again refuses out of fear of making things worse. After covering both feet in water, he begins rubbing down Audrey’s legs, the skin is far less corroded here than her feet, which ran through puddles of acidic water without protection. Dabbing the skin, he soon reaches yet another roadblock. He needs to remove Audrey’s clothing, as the water could have run beneath her clothes, which would naturally cause damage. However, to remove her pants he’ll need to drag the fabric over her feet, which naturally isn’t an option. As he thinks of a solution, he stares at the pant leg. The material is rather thin, with holes spread all across it from the rain. Looking at those holes, he has an idea.

Standing up, Eli hurries back to the kitchen, checking every drawer he passes by. Eventually he finds the knife drawer, and within the knife drawer, right next to a large array of steak knives, is a rather large pair of scissors. Snatching the scissors, he hurries back and begins the process of cutting off Audrey’s clothing, using the holes in the fabric to tear apart the legs. He manages to remove her pants, letting him get a better view of the damage brought about by the rain. The burns that are there are minor, but they are numerous as well. The porous skin oozes with blood, dripping down her legs in a light drizzle. As the skin here isn’t as damaged as her feet, Eli hastens up the process by lightly running the cloth against her skin, dunking it in the water whenever it even slightly runs dry.

In no time he finishes wiping the rainwater off of Audrey’s lower body. He then repeats the process of cutting away her clothing as he removes her top, revealing her bare chest to him. His eyes immediately locked on her collarbone, where her shirt ended at the neck. The area is heavily burned, dripping a light amount of blood from the affected location. He decides to repeat the process with her foot, not directly touching the area, but rather dripping the water on the burned spot. After cleaning up as best he can, Eli gently wipes down the rest of her body, his eyes hard and serious, not the slightest stray thought or consideration.

He noticed before, but Audrey’s left arm is covered in a layer of strange goo. He’s hesitant to touch it, and whenever he drips water on it, nothing happens. After remembering that the outside rain did nothing to wash away the goo after it was poured, he regrettably concludes that there’s nothing he can do at the moment. From what he can tell, it’s akin to having one’s hands stained heavily with ink; unless one wants to rip their skin, they can only scrub for so long. In that case, he decides that after covering the arm with water to remove the acid, he’ll move on to problems he can immediately attend to.

He looks over the rest of her body, noting the broken bones and bloodied hair. Having jostled about her body while wiping down the areas between her neck and hamstrings, he’s slightly surprised she hasn’t woken up yet. He knows she’s still alive, as he double, no, triple checked by pressing his palm against her back, undoubtedly feeling her heartbeat. Still, the lack of response has him terrified. As he carefully dabs water on her face and head, Eli whispers to Audrey, his voice horse and pained.

“Audrey… C’mon Audrey, wake up… Open your eyes, Audrey. Now’s not the time to be sleeping…”

Deep down, he’s unsure if his words are meant to wake her up, or comfort himself. Whatever the case, he eventually manages to clean up the immediate problems with a stable hand. Now, he needs to wrap up the burn areas, as an open wound of any kind is just asking for infection. Looking around carefully, he searches for something that could be used to wrap around the wounds. Towels like the one he found in the kitchen are too rough and could possibly cause issues, which means he needs something softer. It also can’t be dirty, as that would make his efforts pointless. There must be something I can use...

He takes in the house, drawing connections to both his previous home and Audrey’s home. The place is different from the normal apartments of the inner city. Rather, it seems closer to a normal house for a single family. Eli remembers seeing a metal staircase outside of the complex, explaining why the building is so tall, yet lacks the existence of stairs as far as he can tell. The two of them are currently located in the living room, a small room with toppled furniture and a few lamps. Covering the floor is a muddy rug, black footprints from military boots cover the floor, leaving a clear marking of where the small squad of three had gone during their intrusion. Against the walls are cupboards, which are relatively empty, excluding some children’s toys and work tools.

Eli already knows the contents of the kitchen cupboards, so he skips the inspection as he hurries over the door to his far right, stepping past the smashed hinges. Inside the room are two beds, one larger than the other, though not by much. Going by what he’s gathered so far, he makes a guess that the two parents slept in the larger bed, while a young child slept in the smaller one. The room is rather cramped and uncomfortable. Next to the smashed remains of the door is a squat dresser. Pulling the top drawer open, Eli sees a handful of outfits, all pointing towards their owner as the father of the house. Pulling open the second drawer, women's clothing appears before him, in a larger quantity, though not by much. At the very bottom of the dresser, Eli finds the child’s drawer. The drawer is filled with clothing from all stages of the child’s life, the fabric seemingly stretching their limits for each piece of fabric. Based on the size of the largest outfit, Eli places the child around six or seven.

Closing the first and third drawers, he withdraws a handful of white shirts. Though the cotton is stained with age, the clothing looks clean and well washed, meaning it’s safe enough to use. Now carrying clean shirts to use as bandages, Eli limps back to Audrey, his mind gradually getting used to the pain wracking his body. Though, ever so faintly he feels the slightest prick as water drips from his hair onto his skin.

After tearing and cutting apart the shirts into strips, Eli carefully wraps the most severe areas. He pays special attention to her heavily damaged feet. He’s unsure about what to do with her arm. The goo doesn’t seem to be burning her skin. Rather, it’s gradually dissipating, like water slowly evaporating over time. He’s unsure as to what is really going on, whether the goo is slowly breaking down, or if Audrey’s body is absorbing it. Remembering the cruelty of the King, he concludes that whatever the answer, it most definitely isn’t a good thing. He can only force himself to be glad that only a small part of her was hit, and that she wasn’t completely covered like he’s sure some are. Eventually, he decides to cover her arm.

After taking care not to touch the affected area, Eli finally finishes with Audrey’s immediate treatment. He carefully lays a blanket that he found across her naked skin. He then fixes one of the tipped over chairs and sinks into it, letting out a weary sigh. Grunting, he suddenly removes his shirt, and glances down at his burned body. His skin isn’t as torn apart as Audrey’s, but the affected areas are still pretty bad. Looking at the holes in his pants, he concludes that the lower half is probably the same.

“Haaah… What am I going to do…?”

Tomorrow… Why must it be such a distant dream? Letting out another sigh that echoes from the depths of his heart, Eli feels his consciousness slipping. The last thing he sees is Audrey’s unconscious body. Faintly, a flicker of worry flashes through his mind as a stray thought flares like a dying light, before being ruthlessly snuffed away in the encompassing darkness.

Ah, I forgot the guitar...