#ᕚ everything on goo ᕘ

[spice-and-fire]

PARTIES: @spice-and-fire TIMING: Right at the start of the Overflow plot LOCATION: Worm Row, Wicked’s Rest SUMMARY: Devi, and a few others, help evacuate innocent civilians during the onset of the black goo’s consumption of Worm Row. CONTENT: None

A scream pierced through the night. Devi struggled to make sense of where she was. She had been fast asleep, that’s what she could remember. Dreaming about—what was it? Something about a dog and tacos? She couldn’t quite remember, though she thought nothing of it. She wasn’t big on dreams, and dreams never made the most sense to her. Devi preferred reality over dreams, even though hers wasn’t all that good.

Like at that moment in time, her vision was no good. All she could smell was smoke, and the scream—the screams were giving her a headache. Screams? She looked up, her eyes finding a set of stairs. Who was upstairs? Whose house was she in? While those thoughts tried to muddle her brain, her body didn’t waste a second, didn’t even hesitate, dragging the rest of her up those very same set of stairs. 

When she got to the end, her eyes widened in horror. What greeted her was a house doused in flames. She turned around, looked all over her, realizing she was somehow back outside. Out of the house whose stairs she had just gone up. 

Above her, the night sky that was blanketed with stars was soon besieged by the disgustingly thick smoke emanating from the fiery house. She returned her gaze toward the house as the screaming continued, but it was now nothing more than a burnt frame.

“Penny for your thoughts, soldier?” Kara dragged her back to reality, waking her up from a recurring nightmare with a plate of food. 

Where was she? Where were they? Devi looked around them as she absentmindedly accepted the offered grub, realizing the answers to those questions came much quicker this time. And were one and the same: Ah, yes, a party. Well, sort of. 

They were in a house. Lonely and empty. Apart from them. Her. And Kara, one of the girls staying back at the D’Arden House. And Liesel, another girl residing at their building, this one much grumpier than Kara. And of course Billy, whose father owned this lonely house, where they were now.

All three of them, the girls, were there to try and help Billy convince his stubborn old man to move out of his rackety shack of an aged house to somewhere safer. Liesel had a thing for Billy. It was obvious. So even though she hated the thought of doing something like this, of leaving the comforts of her settled place, she had to. She wanted to. And without even directly asking Kara, the gym girl already said yes, also volunteering Devi because why not? That reality made the tempered phoenix smile.

“Ah, sorry,” Devi winced at Kara, taking the fork on the freely given plate and stuffing her mouth with Billy’s father’s grits. Food was a luxury for her, and good food was almost a dream. “Spaced out there for a bit.”

How long has she been having the same recurring nightmare? Devi couldn’t even tell. When did she have it the first time? She couldn’t remember. Was it after drinks with that geology professor at the Wormhole? Nah, probably before that. Definitely even before that night at the Grit Pit with the grumpy wolf guy. Mmm, that grumpy wolf guy… 

Devi moaned, “This is so good!” She hasn’t had shrimp and grits for a long while, especially not shrimp and grits that good.

“Dad, please,” she could hear Billy groan at his old man. Stealing a glimpse of the living room, she could see him on one knee, pleading to the frowning senior on his wheelchair. Mister…Billy Sr. couldn’t even look his son in the eye. Devi smirked. Just like her late dad. What is it with old men and not listening to their very smart, very attractive kids? “Something’s happening in Worm Row… I need to get you out of here before—”

…that something happened? Well, something is happening now. A frowning Liesel was just about to open her mouth, most likely going to complain about how she should be back at D’Arden House working on her sixth novel attempt, when the ground shook beneath them. Devi dropped her plate, opting to catch the grumpy girl and her grandma-fashion shawl instead. 

“What the hell was that?” Kara voiced her displeasure just behind Devi. It had stopped as abruptly as it came. A minor glitch in the system? A quick reminder of everyone’s mortality? Or a warning shot that should be heeded as soon as possible?

With a nod, Liesel thanked her savior’s effort before picking herself up and turning toward the house, just in time to see Billy and his father holding each other close to the floor. “Billy?” Liesel began to walk toward the house, more concerned than anything this time. “I think you and your dad should get out here now.”

As if on cue, another rumble occurred, this time more violent and not that short-lived. Liesel screamed, instinctively dropping to the ground. So did Devi and Kara. And Billy and his father. But Liesel’s undirected scream didn’t last long. “Billy!” Despite the furious terrain, Liesel ignored the shaking earth, doing the one thing earthquake drills tell you not to do: head inside a house. 

“Get Billy and his dad out of there!” The retired soldier inside of Devi blurted out as she followed right behind her grumpy friend. Kara nodded in agreement behind Devi, even though no one saw her do it. Adrenaline was gushing inside of everyone involved. 

As soon as Liesel could, she grabbed Billy, who was very surprised to see her. “What are you doing here? Stay outside!” 

But it was already too late.

A furious Liesel screamed back at him. “What are you still doing here?! Come outside!”

If Devi had the time to spare, she would’ve enjoyed the scene. Billy and Liesel were two people who would never admit they cared for each other, even though that was obvious beyond the occasional flirting when intoxicated. Unfortunately for Devi, she had other things to worry about. Like whatever the fuck was making that strange sound further inside the old man’s shitty house. “Are those the pipes?”

As if on cue, something gross gushed out of the house’s plumbing. Most of it flooded out of the toilet area. Or at least where Devi assumed the toilet was. She peed at her place before they came here, so she never got the opportunity to check the toilet. But Kara did. “Yep, those are definitely the pipes. Come on!” 

The muscled miss didn’t waste time pondering the strangeness of the liquid that was pouring out of that area. Instead, she grabbed the old man’s wheelchair, with the old man still on it, and yelled at both Billy and Liesel to get the fuck out of her way, knowing the two were more capable of saving themselves than the senior. Devi herself only had a few seconds to steal a glimpse at the invading goo before her more powerful sense of self-preservation dragged her out of there.

The goo. She didn’t know much about it. Only heard and read a few things here and there about the damned thing. For all she knew, it was just a prank. Some sort of viral marketing scheme. A campaign by conservationists against the mining corporation or whatever. Between those two sides, Devi would choose the former, only because her knowledge of both were basic: Nature is good, money from danger is bad. Basic.

What wasn’t basic was what they saw when they finally got out of the old man’s house. More of the goo, the ooze, was dripping from cracks in the ground, potholes, even the crevices that already existed as well as the fissures newly made. “What the fuck is going on?!” Liesel screamed, more pissed off than usual.

Before Devi could throw an uneducated guess at her friend, they heard screaming. The first one came from the right side of the old man’s house. A child. Devi found a mother already outside, being held by an older woman—the mother’s mother? She screamed her daughter’s name, and Devi felt her feet already moving toward their house.

But then a second scream came from the left side of the old man’s house. That of a woman. And the barking of a dog. “Shit,” Kara scowled, her hands already freed of the old man and his wheelchair. Billy was now preoccupied with his father, trying to make sure he was all right. When Kara’s eyes met those of Devi’s, they simply gave each other a nod. Liesel joined in before quickly moving closer to both Billy and his father, holding them together.

Devi wasted no more time. She ran into the house on the right side of Billy's dad’s house while Kara ran into the house on the left side of Billy’s dad’s house, the latter giving Devi an unnecessary salute that the latter didn’t even notice. Not that Kara noticed her gesture went unnoticed. There were more important things to notice.

Like the ooze that was eating most of the first floor of the house that Devi ran into. She hopped her way onto the stairs, narrowly avoiding the gross liquid as it tried to have a lick at her feetsies. Gross. Once on the stairs, Devi steeled herself, grabbing the railing so as not to fall back down, straight into the waiting ooze’s gooey surface. She used her own momentum, from preventing her slip up, to launch herself upward, straight into the second floor. 

“Great,” she mumbled under her breath when she realized the same oozing goo was already spurting into this floor through the toilet’s pipes. “Nothing grosser than getting thicker piss all over you.” It wasn’t piss, of course. Devi knew that. But the disdain was the same, if not worse. She could’ve gone with the word ‘poop’, too, but she was starting to get pissed off, and her brain wasn’t that big. “Where are you, kid?”

The child in question answered her with a scream, pleading for her help. Devi beat the ooze, the goo, to her, but with the stairs already swallowed and the door to the child’s room barely liquid-free, there was only one way out of there. Devi turned the girl around in her arms, making sure their faces met. She needed her to look her in the eye, distract her from everything else. “Listen to me: You like superheroes?” She didn’t wait for the girl to answer. Kids like superheroes. Even the kids who don’t. “Well, we’re going to play superheroes, okay? Just for a bit. When I say ‘close your eyes,’ you close your eyes and imagine Superman flying you off to safety, okay?”

“I hate Superman,” the kid replied despite sobbing like a snot-nosed, ungrateful kid Superman would not hesitate to save.

Devi smirked, “Everyone does… For some reason.” 

The tempered phoenix whispered assurance to the girl that she would be safe, told her to close her eyes, and held her head close to her chest. With one final look at the goo, the ooze, that was slowly making its way toward them, Devi clenched her jaw, and carrying the kid with her, crashed out of the room through the window, making sure to fall on her back, the back of her left shoulder, to keep the kid relatively safe. 

The adrenaline wasn’t enough to keep Devi safe, however, and the fact that she had fragile bones, well, both of those things combined to ensure that as soon as she hit the ground, she felt everything hurt and everything faded to black.

“...completely overtaken by the mineral…” 

“...emergency protocols…” 

When Devi came back to consciousness, slower than she would’ve liked, she felt herself being dragged somewhere, through her arms, a pair of hands latched on her pits, as her back and butt felt the scraping lawn try to resist her. 

When Devi looked up, she saw a scowling Liesel grunting, obviously not a fan of all this. The former soldier smirked, and when the unsuccessful novelist noticed her catch was now conscious, she stopped dragging her, mercilessly leaving her on the ground. “You need to lose weight, Devi,” the woman with the scrawny arms callously pointed out. “I can’t save you when you’re this heavy.”

Devi groaned, chuckling, as she pulled herself off the ground. “Where’s the kid?” She looked for her, and it didn’t take her long to notice she was with her mother and grandmother. Kara was with them, and with her, was another older woman carrying a dachshund like it was her baby. 

“She’s fine,” Liesel needlessly answered, going down on her knees and taking out her shawl to try and use it to wipe stuff from Devi’s face. “And so are Kara, Billy, Billy’s annoyingly pigheaded dad, and most importantly, me.”

Liesel went on a rant about everything, but even though Devi had a smile on, mostly because of the fact that everyone was safe and sound, that smile quickly turned into a frown when she slowly noticed the horrors around them. Some of the houses had now been swallowed by the sludge, and worse? There were statues inside of them—on their balconies, through the windows, in their yards—statues that looked like people, statues that were positioned like they had tried to escape but weren’t able to. 

“Liesel… What are those…things?”

Liesel swallowed air. She suddenly couldn’t speak. Devi turned to her, eyes still wide with fear. She had an inkling of what the answer was but couldn’t confirm it for herself. Wouldn’t. “We need to go,” Billy suddenly appeared behind Devi. He then walked closer to Liesel and put a hand on her shoulder, as if to reassure her that everything would be alright.

“N-No…” Devi protested, suddenly feeling the pain all over her body magnified as she forced herself back to her feet. Her shoulder was definitely broken. And if it wasn’t, it sure felt like it. She turned around her, unintentionally spinning in place. “W-we still need to help others… How do we… How do we save the rest of the town?”

“Devi, please,” Liesel held her right arm, pleading. She was almost crying now. Close to, or her eyes were already too tired to pour, no one would’ve been able to tell. “We need to get out of here.”

Devi shook her head, which was still spinning, before freeing herself from Liesel’s grasp. She can’t just go. She still had people to save. She can’t quit now. People need her. But Kara soon joined them, agreeing with the other two. “Talked to everyone else and they’re ready to go. Come on.”

Kara tried to help Devi by holding her arm but the latter pulled away. “No, we still need… There are others left… We need to—”

“We need to regroup, soldier,” Kara interrupted the disoriented soldier with her steely eyes and an even steely pose. “And you need to rest. You just jumped out of the second floor, landed on your ass. You can’t save everyone, not when you’re all banged up.”

Devi tried to protest, to resist, but Billy chimed in. “My dad needs to get checked by a doctor.” He didn’t, but that was a good enough reason for Devi to acquiesce. One life, the life of many… All life is sacred. Her friends were right. They needed to go. They can’t save anyone else, especially not in her current condition.

As they got inside Billy’s car, with the rest of the survivors following behind in their respective vehicles, Devi found herself in a haze. Billy was driving, which meant his old man was beside him, in the passenger’s seat, while the girls were seated together in the back. 

Devi struggled to keep herself awake, her eyes open, but caught glimpses of the Row’s current state, parts of which seemingly inaccessible now, once open alleyways and paths fully consumed by the black goo. There were more statues in places once devoid of them, too. She could hear bits and pieces of alarmed updates and concerned news from the phone conversations in the car: Kara was telling people to get out of the neighborhood while Liesel was checking in on their building’s status. 

“...completely evacuating Worm Row until…” 

“...stabilized.” 

The last thing she heard was Liesel telling everyone in that car that D’Arden House was unscathed. Then everything around her was also consumed by a (less icky) blackness.

Devi found herself back in the dream, the nightmare. Only this time? She was also on fire.