The Search

Aoto stood in front of the bars of the station Higa, Himari, Carla, and He had been staying at before quickly being betrayed. Things had escalated so quickly his mind couldn't help but move millions of miles an hour. Himari looked over at him in complete horror, her body shaking just as he had been. This wasn't anywhere near what he asked for. He didn't want her to explode right in front of him, especially not in such a gruesome manner. He touched the blood that had flung onto his clothes, it was cold by now though it'd been a few seconds.

Nobody spoke a word, Nobody but Higa that is. He and Aoto had both been making eye contact since Delilah had died, it just couldn't have been real, but then again, what was anymore? Aoto couldn't have been the cause because he said "Kill Yourself," right? That isn't killing yourself, that's dying against your will. Higa couldn't shake the feeling that something bigger was behind this, and he would've been right. Higa knew a lot, probably more than he should've.

Aoto picked Carla up from Himari's hands, lifting her onto her back as he looked around to see if there would be any shelter from there. They couldn't sneak back into the station because it'd been shut from there, and without a weapon to break in, there was no chance they could be there. Along with the fact that everyone had been on edge after the whole incident.

"H-how about we just try to leave? Tokyo, I mean...If this is where all the zombies are at least..we don't know where the crystal could be now. But our best bet could be leaving here.." Himari pointed west, she wasn't sure if she knew how to leave but neither did anyone currently awake. Leaving had been their best bet.

The three nodded to each other as they began their journey west, Aoto held Carla's legs tightly so as not to let her slip from his back. The headache and freak out she'll experience would've been worse than anything they would've felt today. He knew she'd be heartbroken, it was her flesh and blood. They walked through the desert, the heat waves beating on their skin like a bunch of needles piercing through their clothes. Their clothes were drenched in sweat as Higa wiped some from his face.

He tensed up, the sand crunching under his feet as he trudged wearily through the sand, each step sinking slightly before the grains crunched under his weight. The sun beat down mercilessly, casting shifting mirages across the horizon. He could feel the tension in his muscles, it made him sick. He looked at Himari for confirmation of the same feeling, she looked as if she'd been prepared to pass out and die. Hours stretched into eternity as he pushed forward, determination was the only thing keeping them all going. The landscape offered no respite, no shade sun. The only sound was the occasional whisper of wind carrying more sand across the dunes.

Finally, a shape emerged from the heat haze. As the group drew closer, the form sharpened into the silhouette of a military base: fortified walls and watchtowers with flags fluttering in the wind. Relief flooded through them all. it looked as if it'd just recently been abandoned, the entire place had been deserted. Aoto beamed cockily as he dashed over to the gate and turned around, gathering the attention of the group

"Alright! Listen, Listen..." Aoto called out to everyone, He felt the need to try and raise morale through them being amused. Aoto had a bad habit of underestimating how bad a situation is when reading the room, but now? He needed to get his group up and running again before they ran into another big threat. "A-Anyway...we all see that base over there, right? It looks to have recently been deserted, we had our weapons stolen before but we should be able to get a few here, no? By the grace of God we found another base!!"

Aoto half joked, maybe. Nothing would really surprise him now, it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for it to have helped him out this time as well. Aoto shifted Carla off his back a bit, turning her posture to the front of himself, her head resting gently on his chest as he slowly made his way over to Higa, passing the girl over to him and adjusting her position into more of a cradle carry. Himari scuttled over to him, making sure Higa didn't drop Carla. How paranoid.

With what little strength he had left, Aoto began to climb the gate to the military base. The barbed wire hard cut his hands and tore his clothes, causing him to inhale sharply through his teeth. He was worried about his previous wounds reopening, the ones that Carla had patched up so carefully. Aoto pushed himself off the gate, tumbling onto the other side as he had landed awkwardly landing on his feet, his balance being disregarded as he smacked his elbow into the gate. a slight pop side was heard as he watched his arm very clearly dislocate. Luckily, the others hadn't noticed yet. They were discussing what they'd actually find in here, and if this place was as barren as Aoto had figured. 

So Aoto did the one thing he'd always been doing, he lowered his head a bit, almost to whisper a prayer as he held his arm with his bloody hands. "Help me out once more, I need healing." He wasn't entirely sure this would work since he wasn't yelling out as he would usually do, but he couldn't have anyone notice...more than they had already have. The Delilah incident was already a chance for alarms to be raised, if his friends got suspicious of him, there'd be no way he'd have the will to keep surviving out here. Alone with a voice in your head was never a good way to live, especially if you're alone. Just as soon as his words were finished, his arm began popping back into place painlessly, the wounds on his palms closing as well as he looked to be completely unschathed! Just what was this god?

Aoto tested his recovered joint before opening the gate to the base, watching the group walk in. "I think we should all go inside and search for food first! That way we have basic necessities down pact and then--" Himari'd voice was strained and tired, everyone had been walking aimlessly for lord knows how long and had stumbled upon a random base while relying on luck and luck alone, but the feeling of being watched was a feeling she couldn't shake off for the life of her. What was going on? 

Himari began to look around frantically, as if to pin point the cause. Aoto reached out to her and try and calm her down, but as soon as he reached for her, Aoto has disappeared! A gust of wind had blown past her hair as Himari couldn't even change her facial expression! Nobody had realized, but Higa had been staring into the distance, did he...see what happened?