Zenohazard

A Work In Progress

I follow up the group, making sure to keep a watchful eye on our new companion. I kept my head generally clear as to not let some special snowflake recite them to the rest of the group. Willow, who had been between me and the humanoid, faltered for a second. I bump into her and my vision widens again.

"My apologies Willow, I was simply lost in thought and wasn't paying attention. Are you alright?" I ask sincerely. She nods, but she seems tense. Her eyes are dark and drooped and I get what was most likely going through her mind. I raise my voice to get the other two's attention.

"I believe we should find a place to rest for a bit." I glance at Willow, then the others. Robin shrugs lazily, most likely with little care to what I actually said. Sitka was the first to speak.

"So, we're going to take a break in this shithole infested prison. That's not happeneing anytime soon and I can guarantee that." Robin somewhat nods. I observe her a bit more carefully this time. The bags under her eyes were sagging to her cheekbones and her movements were sluggish. Sitka meets my gaze and grunts, the noise startling Robin

"Huh?" She flicks between Sitka and I in confusion. The new humanoid looks at me and I gesture to a nearby map on the wall. We observe it for a moment, coming to the conclusion that a nearby guard station would be best to investigate.

After quite a distance, I begin to feel the wear of fatigue in my body. Willow and Robin are barely draggng themselves, Sitka on the other hand presses on with great ease. My mind is so drowned out by the white noise of silence, I barely hear the thud behind me. My alert temper was reawakened, and I snapped my head towards the noise. Willow was laying on the ground.

"She probably collapsed from exhaustion." Sitka said in a judgemental tone as if I hadn't figured it out. I kneel next to the woman and lift her up. My muscles are sore, but some inner masculine instinct was acting on it's own. The two other woman looked at me with astonishment as I continued past them towards our destination. After two more corridors we come across a barrier that splits the hall and a security terminal. We approach it with no sense of worry and I stab the terminal with my tail. The barrier creeks open into a small lounge space. The area is empty of any threats, but there is quite interesting furniture to say the least. I walk towards a chair as the door closes behind us. Seconds upon sitting in it my vision blurs and the world fades away.

I never woke up, but it felt like I had and I saw everything around me. When I'd sat on the chair I had never put Willow somewhere else, so she was still collapsed in my lap. I examined the fine features of her face, only now noticing the small amount of freckles on her cheeks. She has multiple little scratches on her forehead and collarbone. Her wavey brown hair shone wonderfully in the light. I thought about the other two that I couldn't see and decided to move.

I sat up... But my body was still in the chair clutching the woman. The sight felt unnatural, but relaxing. I looked around the room and saw Robin passed out on a couch and Sitka awake in a nearby chair. For a moment, Sitka was staring longingly at Willow and I, but she soon fixated her gaze on Robin. She was drooling on the arm of the couch, which I believe Sitka had just noticed thanks to her muffled chuckel. She grinned and then finally dozed off to sleep. Maybe you have an admirer Robin, if only you knew. I glance back at Willow and I, then my vision went black again and then the moment ceased.