Story Reader / Main Story / 24 Chaos Unsnarled / Story
Are the patients all gone?
Vera rushed her way to the conservation area, having learned about what had happened.
Having quickly purged the encampment, Vera asks Salans to quickly tally up the people there.
Four left in the house. One still breathing, and the other already dead.
That's weird. I remember seeing quite a few of them barely able to even walk when I came to check on them yesterday.
Nearby, Salans is giving orders to the aggregation of refugees.
The refugees form a squad of six rows, each with a person tallying them up.
A boy of about five crouches before a military stretcher, screaming his father's name as he wails ceaselessly. The high-pitched cries sting at everyone's heart.
Salans kneels down and gently hugs the boy before picking him up and carrying him to the end of the first line.
Windger, could you look after Dack's son for now, please?
Having just wiped away the remaining traces of her tears, the old lady rubs her hand on her ragged clothes, as if to hide any hint of sadness from the little boy.
Okay, leave it to me.
Salans nods and puts the boy down. Before sending him off, Salans holds onto the pair of tiny but callous hands.
Chap, your dad will be back soon.
You saw the doctor giving him a checkup and treatment earlier, right?
Chap nods his head while biting on his lips and widening his eyes to keep himself from crying, but droplets of tears continue to roll down his cheeks every time he blinks.
Uncle Salans, Daddy's eyes are hurt... What will happen when Daddy wants to dry?
Daddy always sheds a lot of tears whenever we visit Mom at the grave... Where will the tears go now...
Salans opens his mouth, but no words come out that can answer the child's innocent question.
Windger takes Chap's hand and pulls him into her arms.
My dear child... It's all going to be okay... Everything is going to be fine...
Chap follows Windger into the first line as Salans points at them to a colleague counting each person in the line. The colleague gives Salans an "okay" signal.
Roughly three minutes later, when everyone's been counted, Salans approaches Vera.
Vera, we have six deaths, 12 injured, and nine missing. Including the ones who were missing before, we've got a total of 26 unaccounted for.
Thank God you and your team were in the area when it happened, or it would have been much worse, but the missing 26...
Every one of them is important to us. I know you only have a few hands, so if there's anything we can do, please let me know anytime.
If there's anything, I will, but let's make sure these people are safe first.
Vera points to the crowd behind Salans.
One of my members told me that the Hetero-Creature appeared inside the makeshift shed. If my memory serves me correctly, that's where the injured were cared for. Is that right?
Yes, before you arrived, the shed was a resting spot for merchants or informants, but we took over the place when the infected grew in number.
Who was the last person to check on the shed before the incident? Is he on the death or missing list?
It was a nurse by the name of Vane, about 20. She's also one of the missing.
And Dack. He's not a professional nurse, but he's been learning how to care for patients ever since his wife passed... Anyways, he's been helping out in the shed.
His face is severely infected, which caused some complications. The doctor said he wouldn't wake for a while.
The last time I saw the patients, many of them couldn't walk. How are they doing now? Can they walk now?
We haven't had enough serum for a long while now. We've been giving diluted or minimum medication, so they aren't going to recover anytime soon.
Wait... we got a shipment of medicine late this afternoon. I gave them to Vane. Maybe she reassigned the dosage.
Increasing medication won't heal rotting bones and flesh in a few hours. Has anyone seen or heard patients call for help or run away?
We were all enjoying the precious holiday time when it happened. Nobody saw or heard anything before the white-haired guy who's one of us noticed the monsters.
What about the entrance to the shed? Any sign of damage?
There is, but we don't know what caused it. Everyone was panicking... and fighting will inevitably cause some damage.
Vera looks past Salans at the site that, until just not so long ago, was filled with joy and laughter.
This makes no sense. How did the patients move elsewhere?
If the Hetero-Creature carried them off, there should be witnesses or tracks.
With that, Salans falls silent, too.
How about you help me out now? Get everyone who's not on some urgent task gathered at the clearing.
I'll leave a few of my people here to protect you. Give me half an hour to search through the area.
No problem. I'll explain the situation to everyone.
No. 21, chop chop and get to work!
Yup!
