They survived.

It was just passing through. But they had no idea how many more of those things existed, and if there were even more variants.

What they needed to do had not changed, but the urgency had never been greater. The same could be said for the guilt.

Now both dressed in oversized jumpsuits, with rope tied around the hems of their wrists and ankles, Ariel and Guila quickly made their way down the tower.

They walked when they could, crouched when they needed to. But never did they run or go prone.

Because of their new, even thicker masks, speaking properly would've made way too much noise. So instead, Guila constantly had a hand on Ariel's shoulder.

When she thought they had to stop, she'd squeeze hard. Two quick squeezes were for slowing down. And three, meant "follow me". It was imperfect, but also the simplest method they currently had access to.

Originally, Ariel wanted to also use her tail as a visual signal for Guila. But, knowing that it would require cutting a hole into the suit, she was convinced to just stuff it inside.

Guila's job was to ensure that they avoided harmful terrain, like places littered with glass or other debris, but mostly to watch out for weak or missing areas of the building.

As they quickly, but carefully made their way down the hardwood-lined concrete stairs, Guila squeezed tight and Ariel grabbed the railing with her free hand.

It was a dead end. The rest of the stairs below, had collapsed. They could jump across the 2 foot gap, but there was barely any of the landing left for them to reach. If they missed, then they'd fall 5 feet down to the stairs below.

Without any light it was too much of a gamble. So, she squeezed three times, and grabbed Ariel's hand. They had to backtrack again.

That's right, again. This was the seventh time since they left the Janitor's room. But even while dehydration and exhaustion began to show, they did not stop to rest. They couldn't.

They walked past room after room that had its doors pried, slammed or smashed open. Inside, Guila saw scenes of corpses which the smaller insects feasted on. They chewed the flesh, burrowed through it, and spilled out of their orifices, wounds and opened guts.

But she couldn't turn away from any of the sights. Because if she did, she might not notice a big one lying in wait. Ariel's sensitive ears most likely couldn't notice stationary creatures, either.

Their feet had gone brown, drenched with the blood smeared across the floor and the damaged plumbing. But neither showed any complaints in their expression. The only times that changed was whenever Guila or Ariel took notice of the stench, of crying, or the white fluids, from which they'd turn away.

It was a race against time. Because if Guila understood one thing about these insects, it's that they were still in the process of nesting. The longer she and Ariel stayed, the harder it would be for them to leave.

Thankfully, it wasn't long until they found a new set of stairs.

While Ariel needed to be careful not to overstep, Guila had to worry about slipping. Due to the declining angle, and the fact she had to tiptoe, the wet surface became increasingly more dangerous. But that was just another thing that Guila had to watch out for.

They couldn't pass through areas that were too wet, because it would cause too much noise. Unfortunately, the wide puddles made that more difficult the lower they got. The sound also hindered Ariel's hearing.

But they just needed to be careful. Plus, the brass plating with a number 2 on the wall, was all the encouragement she needed. Soon, so very soon, they'd be out of this death trap.

Then it finally happened.

Several of the palm-sized insects, alerted by their presence, took flight. Whereas, like many times before, most flew around the two of them. One landed onto Ariel's ear, while another fell onto Guila's neck.

The panic was immediate as they let go of each other, to try and shake the heavy insects away. Because the cockroaches didn't just land, their barbed legs hooked into their flesh and fur.

They flailed while they barely avoided falling off the stairs.

"...NMGH!!!!?!!" But Guila was the first to scream with her mouth closed shut. Then Ariel noticed that it was going down her ear and she did the same.

Knowing that both of them were panicking, only panicked them further.

As a result, even more insects on the walls and ceiling took flight and landed on them. Mostly on their jumpsuits. But also their hair, exposed hands and feet. It was a cycle that would only worsen the longer they continued.

So Guila did the only thing that she thought she could.

"I'm sorry!"

She didn't dare to voice it out, lest allow one of the insects to fly into her mouth. Even with the mask, she didn't have enough trust in fate being kind. But even so, she grabbed the spear in Ariel's hand, held it away from the both of them, then tackled Ariel down onto the landing below.

"Ahk-" The two of them groaned when the landed a half-second later, but Guila quickly covered both of their mouths. However, she fell on her already wounded leg.

Ariel couldn't see the situation, but she understood that the insects flew off of her when they landed, and that Guila hadn't stopped groaning. So she fixed her mask back up, and quickly placed Guila's arms around her neck.

Noticing what she planned, Guila grabbed the spear off the floor, before she locked her weakened legs around the smaller, but now much stronger Vulpina's waist.

"Can we talk now, Mistress?!" Ariel whisper-yelled with already exhausted gasps as she racewalked.

"Yes…!" Guila answered, trying to stifle her, once-more opened wound. "Slow down, there's glass. Turn right."

They were so close. Yet still so far. The glass walls had already shattered, but that only meant they had less avenues of escape. So, with the spear's shaft held diagonally against Ariel's chest, Guila looked for anything that could be an auxiliary exit. Because those would be flanked by concrete.

"Turn left." She whispered again, and Ariel did so without question.

There were even more roaches here. But being this close together actually made it easier to deal with the problem. Now, Guila's new job, as disgusting as she thought it was, was to pry the roaches off of them.

She swallowed whatever fear she felt, letting anger at their situation take over, because she had no doubt that Ariel was more afraid than her.

Such were the benefits of having so much adrenaline coursing through her body. Had it been any other time, she would've just cried and screamed.

"Turn right again, then straight ahead."

"Yes! Please keep them out of my ears…!"

"I'm trying…!"

Tens of hundreds of cockroaches, like ink blotches, had covered the Tower's white interior motif. Only when they passed through them, did these insects disperse. Unlike their skittish behavior on the higher floors.

Had Guila's mind been more free, she might've assumed that it was because the things saw power in numbers.

Instead, she found it far too difficult to keep prying them off, so she just pushed Ariel's ears down against her head. Then, Guila pushed her face against the back of her head too.

"There's a magnet-locked door right up ahead. Use me to push it open."

"Yes!"

"On three. One… two… now!"

As if the door wasn't even there, it swung open and they stumbled onto a medium-sized path. The cockroaches were everywhere outside, too.

The sound of something cracking beneath them reached her ears, but was quickly drowned out by their buzzing wings.

They were finally outside. No longer did they have to… She immediately regretted looking up. There, just barely visible through her one remaining eye and the haze of smaller insects, were dozens of the "Oozers" moving across the building's outside wall.

"Mistress... where do I go?"

"- Run left. Into the shopping street. Be careful, it's a brick road. It might be uneven now."

"Unhf! I can handle it, Mistress."

"... I know you can."

But as she squeezed closer to Ariel, her gaze wandered to the upper half of a dark dome in the distance. That had to be the Opera House and most likely, there were people in there. Otherwise, why would it be so covered with insects, to the point that she couldn't see any other color than black?

However, if the larger insects were already focused on the people inside, then she wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. The two of them will reach the Loading Bays, and there they'd await their beloved.

"It's going to be a long journey though. So, I have an idea." Despite the constant assault of roaches upon their skin, hair and clothes; her thick mask, their speed, and ironically, the insect's size were what gave Guila the necessary strength of will to converse.

Because at the very least, she didn't need to worry about one of them entering her ears. But even if she couldn't reach those on her hair or suit, they could just work on getting them off, later.

Her attention went to the map that now replaced the scuffed parts of her vision, then she zoomed in and decided on the quickest route.

"There's a Security Station near here. We'll be moving through much-smaller hallways and might need to break in, but I'm willing to bet there's combat armor inside. Like helmets, as well as guns."

"... Okay! I'm relying on you, Mistress."

"I know! I'm relying on you, too!"

Unfortunately, speedwalking while carrying someone heavier than herself was exhausting. Even though she was strong thanks to her genetic makeup, Ariel had neither well-trained stamina nor muscle strength. Her lean, toned body was merely her natural state.

Making it worse, was that she could only gasp through gritted teeth and breathe through thick cloth. She was getting lightheaded as a result, but she couldn't stop to rest. Not yet.

Because she knew something that Guila did not. They were surrounded by big ones. Not the Oozers. But what was probably the adult insects. Since, they made the same chittering as the ones that attacked at the start and it was a louder version of the sound that little ones made.

Those things had to be watching them, or at the very least, must've noticed them from inside and on the roofs of the small shops and buildings that flanked them on either side.

Not to mention behind them. Guila may not have had the chance to look, but Ariel realized that this path led directly into the central park, where hundreds of insects were still engorging themselves. Sure, they were going the opposite way but she didn't know if she could outrun them.

Not with Guila.

Then slowly, while the chittering behind them seemed to strengthen, her grip around Guila's thighs slackened.

"... no!"

"'What is it, Ariel?!"

"N-nothing, Mistress. I… how much farther?"

Although worried, Guila chose not to ask and just answered.

"700 meters, at least… wait, slow down. You'll trip on the corpses. Shift to the right."

Ariel didn't respond. Not immediately. But she gave a breathy grunt and did as told.