Story Reader / Border Pact / Southwood Road / Story
Yet another day...
What day is it today?
A tiny, dirty finger reaches out, scratching a scar onto the burnt wall.
In truth, she no longer remembers what day it is. Hunger and terror work wonders in shattering a child's thoughts and memories.
"Once the CPF is activated, we'll be back." Someone said this to her, but who was it? Her father? Her uncle?
She despises herself for not being able to keep the time... And the Corrupted that would sometimes stumble upon her always gave her quite the scare.
She only knows that today is the "third day", but she has no way of knowing how many "third days"have passed before it, lost in memory.
She despises herself so much that she could just die. Dying sounds good right now.
All the gilded stories her Grandpa told her of mankind's Golden Age aren't enough to cover up the rust of the scavenger's life she leads during the end of days.
Can mankind ever claw its way back to the Golden Age? Or at least a time when the CPFs still worked like they should?
Those inimitable, intricate machines... We only remember the extent of their contribution when they stop working.
Maybe I should just die. No one can fix the CPFs anyway.
Maybe I should just die. No one will give me hope anyway.
Maybe I should just die. No one will come and save me anyway.
If I charge out this barricade, I can die.
If I—
Ahhhhhhhh!
Commandant, over here!
Please don't go—
Shadows dance in front of her eyes, obscuring her vision.
She charges headlong into the shadows!
...Commandant!
Plop.
Like falling forward into a soft bed of quilt, she faints.
After Liv performs a quick check, the team moves the girl, who had charged right into our arms, onto a cot.
...What now?
Malnutrition and severe sleep-deprivation contributed to her current state...
...But those aren't the main issue.
Liv rolls up the hem of the girl's pants. The wound on her leg oozes black blood, a typical symptom of the first stages of Punishing Virus infection.
Does she have a chance?
...if we amputate in time.
It's that serious?
Do you want the truth, Commandant?
Tell me.
Amputation might be too late.
Yes.
What about you?
?
I see now. This girl doesn't look like she was living on her own in a den full of Corrupted. Someone probably left her here.
Perhaps that someone is still around.
I clumsily piece together the electromagnetic rifle and make sure that the tungsten steel cartridge is installed correctly.
...It's been a long while since I last used what I learned in my first year at F.O.S. I'm getting rusty now... I'll have to start practicing like Chrome when I get back.
What's the next exam on? Minesweeping in the bushes? Haggling with locals?
...Found footprints and the track of something being dragged.
...I thought we'd have to look further. Turns out it's not the case.
We're on our way back, Commandant.
Commandant, what are you doing there?
...No, wait, I shouldn't have asked.
The team and I are en route.
