Lost In Lucidity

Asphalt Fossils

"If anyone is out there listening, please respond. We are in desperate need of help. We are from the Fairway community but have been separated due to an attack. Only four of us remain now from when we fled, and we are in dire need of assistance. We are currently holding out at the Damascus bus garage and are quickly running out of resources to survive. If anyone is hearing this, please... please, send help."

Six sits there with a hand on the bottom of her helmet as if it was her chin. She stares at the floor while Val and I keep our eyes glued to her.

"Well?" Val eventually asks as the transmission starts to loop again.

"How did you two find this?"

"Wes was working on fixing up those helmets you gave us. He managed to turn it on for a bit."

"Why were you fixing those?" Six turns to me.

"Just for fun." I tell her, "Need something to do since we can't go out anymore."

Six doesn't respond to that. She just sits up and turns down the radio, "We usually only switch between our own frequency or the city. This is running off an unlisted one. That's why we haven't heard it until now."

"So... what can we do?"

"Well, we can send a report into the city, but that's about it. It's like I told you last time. We don't have the people or resources to send out a rescue team."

"You said that about a search party, though. They have an exact location now. They can just go straight there and back."

"And that might happen, but it's not for us to know. The city only gives us orders on running our compound and events that could potentially affect us. They don't tell us about the ops they carry out. Hell, for all we know, they could have already heard this signal and sent out a team. The survivors might not even be there anymore."

"What if they are? Can't you check with somebody at HQ?"

"Look, Valentine, if it would really make you feel better, I can send in an info request, but that's all we can do, alright?"

"They said they were running low on supplies, captain." Val warns, "Who knows when this message was made? They could have run out by now."

Six stands, "You care about people, Val. That's a trait we need in the world, especially how things are. But we've always done our best to protect everyone, so I need you to trust that the right calls will be made."

"Six, you don't even have faith in the City. You question their orders all of the time. They were just going to leave our compound to die until we started giving them intel."

"Val." Thirteen suddenly chimes in from the corner of the room, "It was a long day. We'll put in that request, then we can talk more about this later, okay? But now isn't really the best time."

Tension grows over the room, and a look of guilt takes Val's face as she makes a connection, "Did... The breach earlier..."

"Don't worry about it." Six dismisses. "Just get home and go to bed. It's late, and we have to be back to our posts in a few minutes."

I can tell Val wants to press for more info, but she just nods her head, "I'm sorry to be so abrasive, captain. I'm just worried, is all. C'mon, Wes." Val tells me.

We both stand and then cross to the barracks door. We step outside, look at one another, then start down the stairs.

"It was Ten." We hear a voice call from below us. Eight leans against the deck support and flicks her knife open and shut. As we reach the bottom of the stairs and get closer to her, she continues, "One of those blanket creatures found a gap under the fence near the North side that was big enough to writhe through. We were low on fuel for the thrower, so it couldn't shoot far, and Ten... well, she got too close." Eight flicks her knife out one more time before hucking it into a nearby tree. It sticks perfectly.