There was a heavy silence between the two of them.

  Too much that neither of them wanted to bring up.

  ‘I don’t know’.

  Lyre, who had told them that their world was being colonized by aliens, who knew what everyone was going to say before they said it, who had no apparent limit to the things she could answer if someone just asked, didn’t know if Kiki’s family was okay.

  It was less scary when she had truly no knowledge of what was going on. When there was at least the hope of finding information on what happened to them, of getting back home, of recovering from her stagnation. She’d gotten the last thing, at least, but she’d have traded it for the other two if she could.

  It would be a brutal loss, but she wouldn’t have to live with it alone. She wouldn’t have to stay silent about it, with people who wouldn’t understand, couldn’t know.

  That being said, she wasn’t alone. For Gaunt it was even worse, there was nobody who truly understood what was happening to her, not even herself.

  Kiki didn’t really understand her, and she didn’t understand Kiki, but there was some comfort in sharing that feeling of being other. They were different, but different in similar ways.

  Her parents had evaded a lot of her questions when she was younger. Eventually, she stopped asking. They didn’t answer her brother, either, and when he asked her she’d have to deflect or outright admit she didn’t know.

  Looking back, she had a feeling they knew a lot less than she had thought.

  Maybe she’d never get the answer to some of her questions, even if she made it back home.

  Her pants were annoyingly stiff and scraped against her calves as she walked. She’d tried to wring the blood out as much as she could, but it hadn’t worked, and they didn’t have the spare water to wash them. She needed the protection they offered, so she couldn’t just not wear them, and she didn’t want to go on ahead like last time and leave Gaunt alone.

  The terrain was easier here. They were walking along an old freeway, hills and scrubby brush on either side. It went in a strange, almost zigzag pattern, with large cracks where it abruptly bent. Her best guess was some sort of large earthquake, which could also explain some of the destruction they’d seen in the city.

  She’d gone a different way to the lake, a more direct route, but not one that they could traverse on foot. This was unfamiliar territory.

  There were a few cars. A lot less than then she would expect, given the lack of them in the city. A lack of cars implied an evacuation, which implied traffic jams going out of the city, but… there wasn’t much.

  Some of them were caught in the cracks in the freeway, crushed flat. Some were flipped over and wrecked. Some were in pieces, or only part of them was left, or they were… warped in a way a crash couldn’t produce. Some were upright and intact, and they’d stopped to quickly search those but hadn’t come up with much. Even the ones with keys in the glovebox didn’t start, and when Gaunt had popped the hood, it was… an indescribable mess. She had no idea what could mess up an engine like that.

  They’d gotten a bit more food and water, at least, and a bit more medical supplies. Mostly Band-Aids, cotton balls, and some iodine.

  In one car, there had been corpses in the driver’s and passenger’s seat. She’d spent as little time as possible looking at them, trying to determine the cause of death.

  Whatever it was, it wasn’t obvious at the level of decay they were at. No broken bones or torn flesh, so not a crash, but beyond that she had no idea.

  They hadn’t searched that car.

  That was another thing, almost all the cars were unoccupied. She thought the occupants might have left, but it still… felt off. Everything about this place was off. Disjointed. She felt disoriented, not just because of the weird landscape, but because she felt the direction she was walking change ever so slightly with every step.

  Not visibly. It looked like she was going in a straight line. But with one step, she was going slightly south, and with another, it felt like going west-northwest. Even though she wasn’t turning at all!

  She was probably still wonky from all the stress she’d been under, and it was interfering with her sense of direction. It was the simplest explanation.

  The lake wasn’t much further, so hopefully they’d get here today. Assuming nothing slowed them down, they could make it.

  Up ahead was another car. Kiki squinted at it, hoping for something drivable, only to see most of the front was missing. Damn.

  The landscape was changing up ahead too. One second it was gentle hills, and then rocky cliffs abruptly jutted out to either side of the freeway. There was almost no transition, like someone had simply cut-and-pasted a new landscape.

  She didn’t like it. Kiki adjusted her clothes, loosening them where applicable, making sure she could easily slip out if she had to shift. She would have preferred to stay above the cliffs if she was alone, but…

  Gaunt’s brows were furrowed as she looked around, hand tight on her crowbar. Seems like she hated this as much as Kiki did.

  Kiki slowed down a little, drawing a bit closer to her, as they entered the shadowy canyon. Blinking rapidly, she waited for her eyes to adjust, though once they did there wasn’t much of note. Just craggy, rocky walls and an empty freeway stretching out ahead of them.

  …wait.

  Standing on her tiptoes, Kiki whispered to Gaunt, “There’s something on the cliff.”

  “Hm? Like what?”

  “Hard to tell. Maybe a person or animal. Maybe something else. Pretty far away. Stationary.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Gaunt’s brows furrowed even more than they had already. “What should we do?”

  They were only a few minutes in, it wouldn’t be too hard to turn back, but… Kiki could get over the cliff. There was no way she could get Gaunt up with her. If they didn’t use this pass, they’d have to go around, and there was no telling how long that would take. There was a very real possibility that they would run out of water before they made it, and it wasn’t as though they could hope for drinkable rainwater.

  …Kiki could also try scouting ahead.

  But it would take a lot of Gaunt’s trust if she wanted to keep her secrets. She’d probably have to ask Gaunt to close her eyes while she left and returned, and that was risky in its own right. Yeah, no, not gonna work.

  So, go back and risk dehydration, or keep pressing forwards.

  “I think we should keep going for now.”

  “... I guess we have to. Maybe we don’t draw attention. We could stick to the side of the canyon, hopefully keep out of sight a bit?”

  Kiki nodded, drawing closer to the wall. She took her fire axe off of where it rested on her hip, holding it by her side.

  Damn these shadows. She’d feel a lot safer if she could see into all the nooks and fissures in the rocks.

  She looked back up at where the figure was, and it still hadn’t moved. Maybe it was just some debris, or a vein of some other stone. She’d have to get closer to find out.

  They came across another abandoned car, this one seemingly intact. No way in hell Kiki was searching this one, though. Not when she had no clue what was around.

  As they got to the front, she saw that it wasn’t so intact after all. On the other side was a massive gash, like something enormous had swiped at it with claws that could rend metal.

  She tapped Gaunt’s shoulder, silently pointing at the damage. She tensed, but stayed silent.

  Kiki was starting to reconsider their decision to press on. She glanced back the way they came. It was still clear and unremarkable. She glanced forwards at the figure. It still hadn’t moved.

  Up ahead, there was a freeway exit, branching off from the main road. Just beyond it, there was an overpass, and a freeway entrance on each side. It was hard to tell where they would lead once they curved out of sight, but it meant they probably had options.

  Unfortunately, the metal railing of the overpass was now reflecting sunlight directly into Kiki’s eyes, and she was forced to keep her head down to avoid the glare. She looked to the sides as much as she could, but there was no easy way to check what was ahead of them.

  Once the glare had faded, Kiki looked up. The figure was gone. She swiveled around, scanning the walls, but couldn’t see anything.

  “The figure’s disappeared. I don’t know where.”

  “Shit.”

  “We can still turn back.”

  “Nah, no point. It could be behind us at this point. Or gone. And I don’t think we have the supplies, so… yeah, nah.” Gaunt was right. Regardless of the risk, they probably had to keep going.

  There wasn’t any widening or opening up visible ahead of them. “Do you want to try an exit instead of the main road?” It was an option, a bit of a risky one. It could get them out faster, or it could lead them to a dead end or an ambush.

  “Um. I dunno, maybe?”

  Kiki looked down the first exit. It curved out of sight pretty fast. They’d actually have to go down it to see what was there, which… no. She didn’t want to walk in blind like that.

  “Let’s stick to the main road for now.”

  “...Sure.”

  Which meant going under the overpass. Underneath it was smooth darkness. Darkness that could hold anything.

  Or they could try and climb over it, but they’d be vulnerable while doing so, and Kiki wasn’t good at climbing. She didn’t know Gaunt’s skill level. Plus, she couldn’t see over the top either, so anything could be waiting up there too.

  Probably better to pass underneath.

  Gaunt had a flashlight. They could use it, but if anything was down there, it would definitely see.

  She could also throw a rock in there, check if anything was there before entering, but… they didn’t really have anywhere to run except back the way they came, and if there was something, Kiki would prefer not to draw its attention.

  “We could use your flashlight, but it would draw attention. Going in blind is also a risk though…”

  “Hm. Maybe… only if we think there’s something there, then?”

  “If we know something’s there, it might make more sense to stay dark unless we know it’s found us.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Going in blind, then.

  As they passed into the shadows, it was notably colder, and despite her efforts bits of gravel crunched under their feet. Every part of her was screaming to get out, to get back into the light and out of the canyon and away. Gaunt was moving stiffly, tension visible even in her silhouette.

  It wasn’t so far to the other side of the overpass. They’d only be under here for a minute or so.

  Scrrrtch.

  There was a thud, and the crunch of gravel, as something presumably fell from the top of the overpass in front of them. Kiki froze, going still as she strained her eyes and ears to try and figure out what was there.

  Gaunt whispered, hardly audible, “Should I get the flashlight?”

  “Not yet,” she whispered back. Crouching down and feeling around in the gravel, she picked up a smallish stone, and threw it in front of them, off to the side of where the noise came from.

  Crch as the stone hit the gravel.

  Scrch scritch crrrch.

  Whatever was moving around didn’t follow it. It just seemed to be moving aimlessly.

  “Go around it. Quiet and fast.” She gently grabbed Gaunt’s sleeve, keeping them close, and led them to the opposite side as the noise. As they got closer to the exit, the area around them was ever so slowly lightening, but there was still no visibility around them.

  Scrch scrch scrch

  It was following.

  “Flashlight. It’s following us.”

  Gaunt whipped out the light, turning it on, and panned it in a wide circle around them. Kiki pointed up, and the beam illuminated the ceiling above them too.

  Empty.

  “Let’s just go fast,” Gaunt muttered.

  Kiki nodded, breaking into a quiet run.

  scrch Scrch Scrch

  It was catching up.

  Kiki abandoned any attempts at stealth, breaking into a sprint towards the light.

  Their visibility was getting better, but the thing was still outpacing them. She glanced behind them, and saw dim glimpses of limbs and joints, far too close.

  She tried to put on a burst of speed, Gaunt ahead of her, then looked back again-

  A mass of limbs and joints, too many too many far too many moving in graceful synchronicity, reaching past her for Gaunt-

  Shwoof

  Kiki flew past her into the light, dropped to the ground, and-

  She left the fire axe! Fuck! That was so goddamn stupid, she should have just kept running — too late now.

  Gaunt made it out first, followed by the thing-

  As Gaunt swung with her crowbar, Kiki threw a largish rock. As the crowbar swung harmlessly past a limb, Kiki’s stone clipped Gaunt in the side, making her stumble.

  Fuck! Oh fuck she shouldn’t have done that!

  The thing lunged, but apparently it was as incompetent as they were as it leaped over her head and skidded several meters.

  Get the axe!

  She shot like a bullet back into the darkness as talons lashed out, just barely missing her. Seeing the bright red of her axe, she landed, picked it up, and started running back to the exit. Gaunt was holding back several limbs at once, but still more were reaching for her.

  Suddenly, it ducked around Gaunt, forcing her to quickly turn, and by the time it was facing her again it had the upper hand.

  Holding the axe up as she sprinted into the melee, Kiki swung it down, missing as the limb shifted. There was a thud as Gaunt wriggled free and hit near a joint, but the thing hardly reacted.

  Aiming for a joint this time, the axe blade came down again, sinking into flesh. Blood seeped out around the head, and then Kiki’s weapon was yanked out of her hands as the limb went for Gaunt again.

  Her attack hadn’t done anything.

  Several limbs surged together, pinning Gaunt to the ground. She thrashed, throwing one off, but the others kept her held in place.

  “Hey! No! Get over here!” Kiki yelled as she scrabbled in the gravel, grabbing a rock with a pointed end. It didn’t react, didn’t seem to notice that Kiki even existed, which gave her an opening to hit at the hands restraining Gaunt.

  Fingers crunched under the rock, letting Gaunt shake those limbs off, but bigger ones quickly held her down again. As Kiki kept swinging, something grabbed her and lifted her up. She shifted, but it quickly readjusted, settling her a good few meters away and holding her securely. Not trying to squeeze or crush, just… get her out of the way.

  She did what she could to tear at the hand holding her, but she was doing essentially no damage like this. Gaunt was having about as much luck as she was from what she could tell — most of her vision was blocked by a mess of limbs between them.

  Nononononononono

  Get out get free MOVE

  Gaunt Gaunt please get out please

  LET GO LET GO L E T G O

  An unfamiliar voice. “I’m sorry. Mack.”

  Then Gaunt, quiet and trembling, horror lacing her voice.

  “Curl?”

  think humans usually have that many arms.

  that?

  was Curl? How does Gaunt know them… or is her name Mack? And with how thoroughly fucked Kiki and Gaunt seem, can they make it out without devastating consequences?