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nightlyrequiem · 1 day ago

Text

DIGEST

"Just the scattered remnants of a society frozen in its last moments."

Chapter 2. Rat King

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w/c- 5,724

Humanity has fallen, rotting monsters roam about freely, and you were bit. However, when the fever passes, you're alive and whole. For now. Soon the wound begins to fester, and you need to venture outside to get antibiotics or risk succumbing to an infection anyway. Though it turns out the dead aren't the only things you have to worry about.

A/N- Sorry for the wait! I had this sitting in the drafts for like a month. I think it would be cool to introduce different types of infected. Like the stages of infected in The Last of Us, or the variants from The Walking Dead. Also, this is the most words I've written for a single thing. Go Me.

Tags/Warnings: Tags Will Be Updated as Story Progresses, WLW, Dysfunctional Relationship, Gore, Apocalypse/Infection AU, No Use of The Word Zombie, Violence, Gore, Angst, Valeria is a Bad Person, Seizures, Mild-Body Horror, Horror, Thriller

Valeria wants to go back to Mexico. You thought she was joking when she told you, because Mexico is a long way away and safe transportation options have become very limited. But no, she wants to go to Mexico.

You curl your feet up under you. Feeling the familiar fabric of your couch. It's the last time you'll feel it. The thought saddens you. It was the first piece of furniture you bought yourself. When you first moved into this apartment all you had was a mattress and a dresser. Over time you had furnished your home all on your own, proudly bragging to your mom when you had your monthly calls. It was just furniture, but she acted like you actually finished college and got that welding degree you said you would get.

You and Valeria left the pharmacy for your apartment as soon as it got light enough out. She wanted the extra food you had, which was admittedly not much. You were still very weak but every time you tried to stop and rest Valeria was shoving you back to your feet. At one point she got so annoyed that she struck you in the shoulder with her pistol. Hard enough that hours later, you're still sore.

You rest up on your couch while Valeria loots your apartment. Bagging any food that hasn't spoiled or won't spoil for a long time. You had packed a few things on your own. You grabbed the little plush racoon on your bed and stuffed it into your backpack. It's useless, old, and torn in some of the seams. Bleeding out its stuffing. But it was your mom's when she was a girl, and it's been yours since you were one too. You weren't even thinking, you just saw it and grabbed it.

"Let's go." Valeria says. Jerking her head at you to follow. You get up and fight back nausea at the sudden movement. Valeria waits for you by the door. You step over your neighbor again as you leave. Shuddering at the memory of her teeth in your arm.

You walk in silence. Just the rustling of clothes and your bags making noise with your movements. The sun bares down on you mercilessly, making you sweat. Something clatters in a shaded alley next to you, startling the both of you. You freeze and stare off. Eyes searching along the dirt path and overgrown grass. Valeria roughly tugs your arm for you to keep moving.

You've never seen any of the... boogeys, as Valeria would call them, out during the day. You don't hear them much either. Not outside anyway. In the apartment, you could occasionally hear them shuffling around in the halls. It makes everything feel deceptively safe. The longer you stay in the sun the sicker you start to feel. You keep quiet about it, remembering how she treated you when you tried to rest last time.

You look back behind you at your apartment complex. Missing the brick and white columns already.

"If you bit someone, do you think you'd infect them?" Valeria asks. Her voice sounds unnaturally loud when there's no other sounds to compete with it, and she lowers it on the last few words, correcting her volume.

"What?" You ask. Furrowing your brows. You immediately smooth them out. Frowning it only going to make your headache worse.

Valeria looks at you. "Do you think you're still infected?"

"No," You say, confused. "If I was, I'd be dead by now." You think. Hope. The thought once again occurs that maybe you are dying, just doing it really slowly. The idea is distressing so you try not to think about. Out of sight out of mind.

Valeria reaches into her pocket and pulls out a granola bar, unwrapping it and shoving half of it into her mouth.

"What if you're asymptomatic though." She replies. Looking at you analytically. There's a gleam in her dark eyes that's making you uncomfortable. Like she's wondering what benefits that would bring her.

"I'm not asymptomatic." You respond. Stepping to the left so you can walk in the shade provided by a building. "I'm like, incredibly sick."

Valeria shrugs.

Valeria leans against the side of a building as you persistently vomit onto the sidewalk. Dry heaving and quivering in both disgust and discomfort. Your body aches are flaring up and you feel nearly blind from your headache. You feel like you're going to pass out at any second. It's a struggle to keep your body upright when your limbs are full of that numb disconnected feeling.

"We're almost out of downtown." Valeria says, not at all concerned by your sickly state or vomiting. She has, after all, seen worse. "We'll keep going until we find suitable shelter. We've got a couple hours of daylight left." She glances up at the sky.

Every step brings you pain. You try to plead with her into allowing you some rest time, trying to play into her humanity, but she has about as much of that as the infected do. You come across a nice house with a view of the river. One you've passed by many times before when life was normal. It's built on a hill, with stone steps leading up to it. It's painted a faded red colour. Valeria follows you up the steps and to the door. She makes you go in first, like always. You go in and creep around slowly. Checking all the rooms and almost freezing from the fear of not knowing what's inside. Though you (maybe) managed to survive being bitten once, you don't know if you'd survive again.

You stop by one of the upstairs bedrooms, getting a peak through the cracked door. The walls are painted a light pink and you see a shelf filled with toys. a child's room, you reckon. Pushing open the door you actually freeze this time. Crouched in the corner is a little girl. Subtly swaying. Her hair is thin, almost gone completely, just scabby patches of scalp left. The shirt she's wearing, blue at once point you think, is torn in places and darkened drastically at the shoulder with old blood.

You back away slowly, careful not to make any noises. Back outside with Valeria, you inform her of the little infected kid.

"Just the kid?" She asks. looking over at the towering downtown buildings in the distance.

"Yeah." You nod.

"Okay." She nods. "We'll stay here for the night." She decides. She grabs your arm and pulls you inside. Shutting the door behind you.

The first thing she does is go upstairs and dispatch the kid. Not sure if you can stomach it, you wait in the hall. You hear it some kind of high-pitched growling as Valeria disturbs it. There are a few thumps, more growling, then a grunt from Valeria. Everything goes quiet and Valeria comes out, wiping the bloody blade of her knife on her pants. She brushes past you and walks into the master bedroom. You stay rooted to the dirty floorboards. Staring into the child's bedroom.

You cautiously step inside and approach the body with morbid curiosity. As well as pity. She's so small. The bones in her hands and exposed shoulder jutting and sharp. You look around, spotting her bed. The covers have been pulled off and hung up between two shelves. A blanket fort, you realize with a sharp pang. you walk over and inspect it. It's been pinned to the two shelves using thick books that likely didn't belong to her. You bend down and peek inside. there are more blankets. And pillows. And a council of stuffed animals. There are smears of blood in one corner. You imagine her getting bit and not knowing what else to do but retreat into her blanket fort. Going to the only perceivable place she can think of. Holding her stuffed animals close as she bleeds. As she gets sick and her mind deteriorates. You wander who bit it her, if it was her parents. There's no sign of them, infected or living. You spot a fluffy notebook and grab it, flipping through the pages and seeing the barely legible writing most little kids have.

You leave the room and shut the door. Not before leaning down to whisper an apology into the little girl's ear. She has nothing to be afraid of now, at least.

Valeria pushes the heaviest furniture she can find, blocking up the staircase.

"We don't need access to the whole house." She explains. "I locked the doors and windows downstairs; this is just extra caution."

The sun sets over the river. Making the water look like it's on fire. You pretend this is your house and that you're just enjoying a simple sunset. Pretending that the yellow eyes of cars are flashing over the bridge.

"Come here." Valeria says, beckoning you into the master bedroom. With one final longing look out at the river you follow her into the bedroom. She pulls out a length of rope and looks at you.

You frown at her.

"No." You say. Stepping away. She steps forward.

"Yes." She replies firmly. "I don't want you running off in the night, or worse."

You stare at the rope dubiously. Vision swimming in and out. You're exhausted and want to lay down, you couldn't pose a threat to her if you wanted to.

"If something gets inside I'll be trapped." You argue, frowning at her and shuddering at the thought of not being able to run or fight back as a hungry infected tears you open. Valeria, completely unsympathetic, stalks forward and grabs your arm roughly. Fingers clamping around your tender bicep and making you flinch in pain.

You don't struggle too much. On account of your sever dizziness, headache, and overall weakness. Valeria securely raps the thick rope around you, tying down your arms. She forces you to sit and even ties your feet together. Something you think is completely unnecessary. You're learning firsthand that Valeria is a paranoid woman. The room is swallowed in darkness and she flicks on her flashlight. Flashing you in the eyes for her own amusement. She moves away from you and crawls onto the bed, rustling around with the blankets and laying down, turning off her flashlight.

Your back and ass ache from the position you're in. The noise of the awakened infected bleeds through the walls. Some cry out and sound like coyotes, some call out for loved ones.

"Can I have a pillow?" You whisper.

"No." Valeria answers. A disembodied voice in the dark.

"Please?" You ask. Voice pathetically cracking.

"Stop talking. I'm trying to sleep."

You try to ask a few more times, but Valeria stops responding to you. You shift around and throw yourself onto your side, grimacing at the loud thump you make. You try your best to fall asleep but it's not an easy task.

You simply lay there. In pain, and with the sound of dead people for ambience. You think Valeria may have finally fallen asleep, though you're not certain. It sends a pang of loneliness through you. When you were young, you had issues with not falling asleep first. Your parents would put you to bed at 8PM and you'd fall asleep within the hour. But sometimes you didn't. You'd lay there until the sound of the TV in the living room went silent and you knew your parents were asleep. It was those moments where you felt an indiscernible, overwhelming loneliness. You don't like being the only one awake.

The older you grew the less frequently you felt that way until you forgot about that feeling all together. Even after moving out on your own. It probably helped that you had many nocturnal neighbors. Now though, that feeling has returned tenfold and you can't help but cry a little. Soft tears that dry out your skin and leave you congested.

The harsh, unnatural sounds of the dead give way to the gentle singing of birds as the sun rises high and proud in the sky. The sky is a vibrant cerulean with a few wispy pale clouds. A gentle breeze sends ripples over the river's surface, disturbing the reflections of the sky and trees. A boot nudging you in the ribs rouses you. Your eyelids stick together, and you struggle to open them. You can tell by the headache developing behind your eyes and the scratchy quality of your throat that you're not in for a good day today.

"Rise and shine, Niña muerta." Valeria says. Bending down and helping you sit up. She makes a face at you. "You look awful. Smell awful too." She begins to saw at the rope with a little switchblade to free you. Accidently nicking your wrist.

Valeria doesn't help you to your feet. Choosing to watch you struggle on your own, using the wall for support. Valeria reaches into her pocket and takes out a bottle of anti-biotics. Rattling it at you like a cat toy. You reach for it, but she retracts her hand. She pops off the lid and shakes out two little white pills and hands them to you. They may as well be made of barbwire. That's what your throat thinks, anyway.

"Come on," She calls, clicking her fancy little belt back on. You ponder if she even has anything in all those little pouches.

You spot the little notebook on the floor and bend down, grabbing it.

"What's that?" Valeria asks

You look up. "It's the little girl's diary," You tell her. You stuff it under your arm.

Valeria wrinkles her nose. "Why'd you take it?"

You frown. "I don't know," You say a little self-consciously. "she was a little girl, and I don't think she should be remembered as a monster." You picture her running around her yard, her parents looking out the window. She was clearly loved, judging by her room.

"She's dead, I doubt she cares about how she's remembered." Valeria snorts. She gestures for you to walk ahead of her, done with talking now.

Valeria isn't in a very talkative mood. The silence is only interrupted by the sounds of your footsteps on the ground. You drag your feet. You chalk up your lethargy to barely getting any sleep last night. It feels like someone slipped bricks under your clothes. The sun beats down on you mercilessly, sucking up all your energy. Like reverse solar power. Valeria walks behind you, not as bothered by the light or heat as you are. When you start walking too slow for her comfort, she prods you in the back to keep you moving. Denying all your requests for breaks.

The city around you seems to swim as you observe it. If you didn't feel so ill you might even let yourself appreciate the architecture. Not that it's anything particularly impressive but you still admire the sight of the towering buildings in the distance. Your thoughts cut off when a dangerous, numbing chill settles into your limbs. The joining nausea warns you of an oncoming seizure. You know this feeling well. After being bit that was just your existing state. The chill, nausea, static vision. Then you'll collapse and be rendered unconscious for however long. Your reward for all that is waking up in a puddle of vomit with an extremely bad headache, and sometimes soiled clothing.

You don't say anything to Valeria though, even as you get progressively worse, and the dread of seizing gets heavier. You're just hoping that if you fight it hard enough the feeling will go away but you know it won't when your mouth begins to water.

* * *

Valeria watches you closely. She's been studying you since leaving the river house. Watching as your walk becomes more and more unstable. The delicate sound of your panting reaches her ears. It makes her a little nervous. Are you finally succumbing to your bite? Just as the thought floats through her mind your legs buckle and you collapse, convulsing wildly. It startles Valeria, who immediately lunges down, shaking you and calling your name. Your eyes have rolled back and your teeth are bared in a grimace. You make an awful choaking noise and she realizes your choking on your own saliva. She rolls you onto your side, not being able to do anything more than watch.

The twitching stops and you finally go still. Skin slicked with sweat and taking on a sickly pallor. she leans over you and shakes your shoulder.

"Hey." She says. "Wake up." She's never seen a seizure in person before and doesn't know if this is normal. In the movies, people just wake up like nothing happened. She checks your pulse to make sure you didn't just croak on her and relaxes a little when she finds your heartbeat. She looks up at the sun, squinting at its brightness. It's almost noon. Roughly. She looks around, what for she's not sure. Then she looks back down at you. She doesn't want to stay here, it's exposed and she's not sure for how long you'll stay unconscious for.

Carrying you probably wouldn't be too taxing. Food isn't exactly in abundance anymore. Valeria herself has lost a significant amount of weight. She doubts you've been eating any better than she has, not only that, but the infection must have been eating at you as well. She reaches down and grabs ahold of you, finding that she's actually struggling a bit. She relents that she won't be able to carry you and decides to drag you instead. She does you the curtesy of tucking your shirt into your pants, so she doesn't scrape your back raw. Something groans from under a car and makes Valeria go still.

She drops you and stands tall. Looking towards the abandoned vehicle.

"What the fuck is that?" Something calls out. It sounds human but Valeria is familiar enough with the unfeeling tone of the infected to know it's not. She unholsters her pistol and clutches it tightly. A part of her feels a little ashamed at how afraid the voice is making her feel. Valeria strayed up to the great white north to sniff out prospective business partners. Back then Ruberoculus was only a passing rumor. It was obvious to anyone with critical thinking skills that it would turn into something more but nobody was prepared for just how fast it spread. Valeria was only here for a week when the world went into a state of emergency and countries began closing their borders, effectively trapping Valeria.

She consequently ended up in the hospital for a minor flesh wound she couldn't patch herself. Having to share a room with six other non-emergency patients because the building was just so overcrowded. Probably the worst place to be when the pandemic reached its climax. Valeria worked hard to make herself strong and threatening so that she'd never have to afraid again, but when the alarms started blaring and that godawful red light began flashing, Valeria Garza froze with fear.

She had to fight her way out of the hospital. Up against hostiles that just wouldn't stay dead. She watched people tear open other people. The thing that disturbs her the most about the infected are their affinity for speaking. Mimicking human cries to lure out prey. A sallow, spotty arm suddenly reaches out from under the car. Its fingernails long and yellowed. Some missing entirely leaving just a blackened bed. Another, just as grotesque arm joins it. The wasting muscles flex as the thing pulls itself out from under the car. Revealing a sunken face and clumpy, greasy hair missing in patches. Bloodshot eyes meet hers and it screams. Valeria's heart kickstarts and she shoots in on instinct. The screaming is cut off abruptly and Valeria's ears are left ringing.

The area around her starts coming alive slowly. Growls and laughter echoing from the shadows. In the window of a building a face darts into view, watching with wide, glazed eyes before darting away. Valeria grabs you and hauls you off, dragging you down the street and zigzagging between cars. Going as fast as she's physically able to. A few boogeys venture out from the building. It's weird seeing them out during the day. These ones don't speak, instead rushing for her. Wobbling and stumbling but far too fucking fast for Valeria's comfort. She fires more shots, sending them sprawling into the cement.

Valeria learns two things today. The infected can go out during the day, and they're very attracted to loud noises. It feels like they're pouring out of every shadowy crack and seam. Running at Valeria and you. Valeria is tempted for a split second to leave you, make a run for it. You're already bitten; would they bother with you? Working on adrenaline and autopilot she grabs your ankle and drags you to a disturbed manhole cover, kicking it aside and throwing you down into the sewers. Your body lands with a loud thump and Valeria quickly crawls down after you, pulling the cover in place just as mottled fingers reach for her.

Breathing heavily proves to be disadvantage down here. Each lungful pulling in the smell and taste of sewage to coat her tongue and throat. Valeria pats herself down for her flashlight and turns it on, the great white beam cutting through the darkness. Little glowing dots dart around, followed by high pitched squeaking. She leans down to check on you, making sure the fall didn't snap your neck. You're alive and will probably be very sore when you wake up. If you wake up. Valeria's mouth forms a thin line. She spots the notebook beside you. She was a little girl, and I don't think she should be remembered as a monster. Valeria grabs it and slips it into your bag, pausing when she spots a stuffed racoon. She furrows her brows, wondering you if you took that from the girl's room too.

* * *

It's not until hours later when you begin to stir, eyes peeling open, nose assaulted by the rancid, potent smell of the sewers. Your head swims but you sit up anyway, wrinkling your nose in disgust.

"Ugh." You exclaim. Looking at the rat shit sitting in piles along the stone platform.

"You're awake." Comes Valeria's low voice. "Good." You turn to look at her. She pushes off the wall and approaches you, an agitated expression on her face.

"Why are we down here?" You ask, confused. Struggling to recall what happened. Bright lights, walking, the river. You know you must've had a seizure.

"You had a seizure, and the noise attracted the undead." Valeria says sharply, like it's your fault. she also fails to mention her trigger-happy finger had actually set them off.

You stand up and lean against the wall, feeling weak. Valeria gazes at you with no sympathy whatsoever.

"I'm surprised you didn't leave me." You say, eyeing her curiously.

"Don't try to twist this into me being kind to you," Valeria scoffs. "There's still some use I can get out of you that makes you worth keeping alive." She continues ominously.

"Okay." You shrug. Too tired and too in pain to argue. You wince at a sharp throbbing in your back. "Are we going to go now?" You ask.

Valeria doesn't reply. Instead climbing up the metal ladder and slowly pushes the cover away. Dim light of dusk falls through and spotlights you. You must have been out for longer than you thought. The idea of losing that much time fills you with dread.

Valeria climbs back down and sighs irritably.

"We can't go anywhere now. We're going to have to spend the night down here." She says angrily. Her form is tense and you instinctively inch away from her. She kicks the rungs of the ladder and curses loudly, her voice echoing off of the stones. You aren't too keen on the prospect of bedding down in a sewer either. Especially not with rats. Valeria's voice finally goes silent. You start to relax a bit when a noise jolts you right back into a stress response. A low gargling groan. Valeria's head whips to the direction the noise came from, reaching for her gun and resting a hand over the cool smooth metal.

The both of you fall silent and listen. Your ears ring from the effort of trying to distinguish the sounds of the rats and water to... other things. You cast a sidelong glance at Valeria, a look which she ignores. She suddenly doesn't feel like the biggest threat down here and you shift closer to her. Comforted by the fact that she has a gun. Something shuffles along, just behind the corner. You want to tell Valeria to turn off her light but you're too afraid of speaking. A bloated arm snakes into sight, the skin bubbly and charred. A hand clamps down along the wall. A third slaps down on the floor and pulls. A hulking beast lumbers into view, a horror of multiple bodies melded into one.

The beam of light shines onto one head, reflecting milky eyes and a gaping mouth of teeth. It cries out at the sight of the both of you. A shout of discorded screams. A second head stuck onto the shoulder watches with one wide eye from the side, jaw opening and closing, clacking it's teeth at you. The monster, surprisingly speedy stalks forward. Tripping over it's own, many limbs. It's blocking the only way forward. Terror squeezes you and threatens to overwhelm you. You could go up but you won't climb fast enough to escape and there's more infected running around above.

You imagine this thing crushing you into the ground with it's deformed body. Pulling you in like it's flesh is made of playdough and absorbing you, dooming you to join it. You're going to die down here, in the sewer. Valeria grabs her gun but you know she won't be quick enough. Without thinking you slam into her and throw the both of you off the platform into the still gray sludge in the canal. Barely missing being grabbed by swollen fingers. Sewage slimes to your face but you ignore it. Wading through it as the monster crashes down behind you.

Valeria hauls herself back up onto the platform and you try to join her. Your fingers, slick with sewage, slip off the edge. The infected draws closer, reaching out it's arms towards you desperately. You jump and scramble, trying to escape. Strong hands clamp down on your hands and pull you up. Valeria gives you no grace period, pushing you forward. Furious screaming follows you down the tunnel as you limp away. You look behind you, alarmed by the thing slithering back up onto the platform with barely any struggle. It's hulking body glistening.

It crawls after you like an animal. The way it uses it's many hands to move along it's stomach reminds you of a centipede. You and Valeria come up to a gate. She grabs it and shakes the metal bars.

"Fuck!" She hisses. You think you're going to be sick. You're not sure if it's from the infection, being covered in sewage, or the fear. Valeria turns and fires at the infected. Emptying her clip into it but it's not perturbed. You spot a broken pipe and grab it, trembling as you ready yourself.

You pull your arms back and use momentum to slam the pipe into the thing's head. You hear the harsh snapping of it's jaw when the bone shatters on impact. It squeals and jerks to the side. You don't hesitate to bring down the pipe onto it's hunched back. The charred, blackened skin splits open and begins to bleed. You try to swing again but it rears up and grabs the pipe, pushing you onto the ground. Saliva and blood drips down onto your neck and face.

"Help me!" You gasp, barely keeping one of the heads away. "Valeria! Do something please!" It stumbles away and growls wetly, the growl turning into a loud screech as Valeria digs a knife into it's back and rips downwards. The arms on it's back uselessly flail, trying to grab her. She knifes one of the heads. You crawl out from under it and blindly swing the pipe at it. It falls and you mercilessly beat it's head, cracking it open like a watermelon. Valeria grabs you and pulls you away.

"It's dead. Stop." She says hoarsely, very out of breath. You tremble, staring down at the lump of orgonic matter.

You and Valeria don't speak as you walk. Sticking close to one another, exhausted and sore. Wandering through the elaborate sewer tunnels you come across a gaping hole in the ceiling. The surrounding area destroyed and black with evidence of a fire. Valeria leads you away from it.

The night in the sewers comes to an end. You and Valeria emerge from a different manhole, greeted by the soft light of morning. You ignore the urge to crawl back into the dark and pull yourself up. Your back throbs with an almost excruciating pain. The sewage is starting dry and it's making you itch. You desperately want to get clean. By the set of Valeria's jaw you can tell she wants the same.

"We need to clean up." she says tiredly, echoing your thoughts. With no clean clothes, you and Valeria are forced to wander into a nearby store. There are a few dormant infected clustered at the back in the darkest corner of the store.

Cautiously, you and Valeria grab new, clean pieces of clothing as well as extras. Leaving before you alert the sleeping boogeys. Valeria makes you hold all the clothes.

"We'll wash up in the river." She says. "Do you know a quicker way down there?"

"No." You mumble. You didn't spend a whole lot of time over here. With a pang of regret, you realize you should've. You truly don't know what you have until it's taken from you. You and Valeria walk along the steep muddy bank. Finding a suitable place to wade into the water. You hesitate, wondering how you're going to do this. You look towards Valeria to see her stripping down without a second thought.

You look away, caught off guard. Then look back at her. She pulls everything off. You're surprised by how comfortable she is being nude around a stranger. You turn away politely, wanting to give her some privacy. You slump down into the dirt, listening to the sounds of her scrubbing herself clean with a balled up shirt. She walks out of the water and approaches you.

"Clothes." She demands. You turn, greeted by the sight of her crotch. Looking up quickly and hoping embarrassment doesn't show on your face, you hand her the clothes for her to pick from. It's your turn. You're excited to get clean, but you feel a little nervous about being naked in her presence.

It's a little hard not to, when exposed to her body. She clearly took great care in herself before the end. You pause.

"Don't look." You tell her sternly. Valeria rolls her eyes and turns away.

"Wasn't going to." She says flatly. you're relieved, and a little offended. you pull off your shirt, gagging at the smell. Your bra and pants following. You discard them on the bank and shuffle into the water, relieved by the coolness. You didn't realize how hot your body felt until stepping into the river. The muscles in your legs relax too, making it easier to move. You glide your fingers over the sparkling water, watching it ripple. You lean down and dunk yourself under. Pleasure washes over you. You resurface and scrub off the sewage, cleaning yourself thoroughly. You check over your wound, it's already infected but what if it's worse now?

You gently prod the edges of the inflamed teeth marks and hiss in pain. It's still tender and hot to the touch. You hope neither the sewage or the river water make it worse.

Valeria barks your name from the sand.

"you've been in there for twenty-minutes. Stop wasting time and get dressed!" She snaps. You're sorry to leave the river. This is the first time since being bitten that your body hasn't been in pain. Even the light seems more tolerable. Your skin prickles with self-consciousness as Valeria watches you wade out. You put on some clean clothes and try not to go too fast. Not wanting her to see how embarrassed you feel.

There's no time for rest. Valeria wants to cross the bridge. You're not sure how she plans on making it back to Mexico. Even if she had a vehicle, driving there would take over a day. You can't imagine how long it would take to walk.

"It's less packed up here." Valeria comments, looking around. There's more space between the abandoned vehicles.

"We should start checking them, see if any still have keys in the ignition." you suggest. Eager at the thought of getting out of the sun, even if it's just by getting into a car. you're tired of walking, too. This is the most walking you think you've done in your life.

"Yeah." Valeria mutters her agreement. Valeria walks towards a little white sedan and tries the door.

Unsurprisingly, they open. She looks around, fishing for keys.

"Will it still have gas...?" You ask uncertainly. Gas expires after a while, has it been long enough?

"Maybe." Valeria answers. "Assuming the owners left for another reason and not because they ran out." You slip up behind her, watching silently. She searches through the glove box and pulls out the keys. She looks behind her at you, smiling triumphantly. She crawls into the driver's seat and inserts the key into the ignition, pressing the start button. The engine purrs to life. Giving you and Valeria a shared moment of joy. You shove yours and Valeria's bags into the backseat and get in beside her. Settling into the warm, sun-bleached leather seats. Valeria sets the car into drive and expertly pulls out from between the two cars it was parked between, setting off towards the bridge.

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