I want a man…

"More people are getting sick"

 Riley's brow furrowed As she placed a wet towel on the forehead of a girl who was sprawled on a mat. She looked pale, breathing unsteady. The fever had gotten to her too. All the children suffered the same fate as her, some were already nearing death's door. The adults fared no better and on top of it, Hilda had been gone for hours.

'Hilda…' She pulled her gaze away again from the tarp as it kept straying towards the tarp unconsciously. She stood up, carried the bucket to the next patient and placed it down gently. She repeated what she had done to the next few patients until there wasn't a single drop left. The rest of the water that clung to the walls of the bucket was unsalvageable. 

Her brows furrowed as she watched the water finish. It meant she would have to pull out the water rations. At the start, they had had a lot of water stored but as time went on… 

She sighed. More and more people were getting sick. The water left wouldn't be able to sustain them and the Act seemed to go on forever. At the rate they were going, starvation and illness would be the cause of their deaths instead of the Act itself. 

She coughed. It had caught up to her too.

" Riles here is a blanket!" Tori said as she handed her a blanket.

" Thanks." She promptly nestled herself in the blanket as she sat crouched on the floor. She positioned herself to have the best possible vision of the sick.

Tori looked at Riley with worry evident on her face.

" Oh no! Riles, one of your braids has come undone." 

" Oh…" Truth be told, Riley had noticed it earlier on but simply forgot about it as she had more pressing matters to attend to. It did bother her from time to time, so she opted to make a simple braid which seemed to have come undone again.

She reached to rebraid her hair"I will fix it just now-"

"Wait! Let me do it"

She blinked in surprise."You can?"

Tori nodded cheerfully. "Grandma taught me and I have been practising on Mollie and Poppy!"

" You are quite the master then. So I guess it would be alright to allow you to braid my hair just this once."

"This master will make your hair look nice!" 

The little girl's words made her chuckle as they brought back memories from reading web novels. 

Tori took out a red ribbon and began braiding Riley's hair. Despite her age, Tori's nimble fingers worked like magic and soon an elegant braid was formed with the red ribbon tied at the bottom.

"Done!" 

"It's beautiful."

" I know," Tori said puffing her chest.

" Just like how Hilda would have made it" she whispered with a smile.

"I know" Tori whispered back. Riley looked at her with surprise.

"Riles, Grandma is fine. She is a tough cookie you know so no boring Act will do anything to her"

Riley smiled."Was this your way of comforting me?"

"Did it work?"

"It did. Thank you, Tori" Riley said hugging her.

" I am so happ—" Suddenly Tori burst out into a torrent of coughs.Riley, worried, made her go back to her makeshift bed for some rest. Afterwards, she retreated to her corner and promoted herself to stay alert in case of emergencies.

That was the plan, however, a wave of warmth embraced her and a small yawn escaped from her lips. Her eyelids felt heavy and the exhaustion from working was beginning to kick in. After struggling to stay awake, she finally conceded to sleep.

"Miss Riley!" She woke up with a start. Her eyes still heavy with sleep, she quickly looked around to check who had called her. Was someone sick? Was it time to cook again? Countless thoughts swirled in her mind but as she looked closer, she noticed everything was the same as she had left it when she dozed off to sleep. People were either chatting worriedly or sleeping.

No one had called her. So what was that voice? With her thoughts no longer muddled from sleep, she realised she recognized that voice.

'Sir Nicholas!' It was him. She was sure of it. He had contacted her. Did it mean he was about to come back? If that was so, it meant she could stop worrying about him. 

She calmed her already stirring emotions.

" How do I contact him?"

 He was able to talk to her through her mind. Could she possibly do the same? It hadn't worked the last few weeks when she tried it. Was it because the moment wasn't right? Or was she doing something wrong? 

Though sceptical of her chances, she clutched the broken ring to her chest and called out to him.

"…"

She had failed again. Perhaps she hadn't heard the voice at all? Was it her imagination? Had she dreamt it?"

She sighed. 'Was I hallucinate—"

"I can hear you, Miss Riley"

"Is that you Sir Nicholas?" she said with a bit too much enthusiasm in her voice.

"In the voice," he quipped.

"Where are you? Why haven't you come back yet? Why are you taking so long? When are you getting ba—"

"I apologize, Miss Riley. I have to cut the chatter short. Something happened on my way back…"

" What?"

"It's the old lady"

"Hilda!"

"Yes." Nicholas filled her up as he stumbled upon an injured Hilda at a cave entrance that linked to the bunker. He moved her to the lake where the Act seemed to have no power but she needed immediate medical attention so he had to bring her back.

"I need help. Though I am now in my human form, it would be difficult protecting the both of us"

" I will come and help you"

"No, it would be best if you stay safe in the bunker. Ask one of the stronger villagers"

"And how would I explain it to them? Let me just come and help you."

"I am supposed to guide you back and I can't do that if you are dead"

"I just won't die then"

He sighed.

"Miss Riley, what I need is strength and you don't have that so please stay in the bunker and send help. Strong help."

" I'm strong."

"You are not. Allowing you to come will make the situation riskier than it needs to be"

"What if the villagers don't know the way?"

" How could they be unaware of their territory?"

"If they did wouldn't they be hiding out there instead of in this bunker"

He sighed."You have a point"

"So can I come?" she said eagerly.

"You can't "

"Why?" She was fuming. She didn't understand why he was so hellbent on her not going. She needed to check on Hilda. She knew she shouldn't have allowed her to leave the bunker!

"If they don't know, how could you possibly know?"

"I have been here for almost a month."

"So?" It was Nicholas' turn to be frustrated.

"Knowing the way won't prove to be useful either way due to this damned mist!" he realised.

"…" Nicholas was frustrated. It seemed to stem from an oversight he had made.

He sighed. "Forget it. I will come to you. It's better that way"

Those were his last words before the world went silent. Riley was left baffled. He had called her weak. She wasn't just angry, she was fuming. And all that arguing went to waste since in the end he decided to just come. Why did he target her then?

 If he was coming, did that mean he would do so with Hilda? Or would he leave her?

She took a big breath and with a determined stride, she approached the man casually leaning against the door, a cigar dangling from his fingers. As the warm tendrils of smoke curled in her direction, she grimaced at the acrid scent that filled the air. The moment he caught sight of her, he paused, bringing the cigar down and shifted his attention to her

"Village Head, please give me a man!"