The Fallen Ascending 01 -- Rebirth
Finding the Others

It was an effort to open my eyes when I finally awoke. My mouth was parched, my head throbbed, and I felt like an elephant had danced on my skull and then pissed all over me. Cracking my eyes open, I was greeted with the sight of bare breasts above me, flickering light making shadows dance erratically over them. Wherever I was, the light was dim and feeble, and the area was hot, sweaty, and smelled of sickness and perspiration.

“You’re finally awake, My Lord.” Crystal bent slightly and I could see that hers was the face above the boobs, leaning down to look at me. My eyes were watering from the throbbing pain in my head, but I was slowly beginning to make out more of my surroundings. Currently, I was lying with my head in Crystal’s lap, and tilting my head left and right I could tell that we were in some sort of small stone chamber. Dino was off to the side, resting soundly, and Jess was bent over another pair of figures over in the corner.

“Just two survivors?” I asked Crystal weakly.

“Four, My Lord,” she told me, shaking her head from side to side. “At least four that we know of, though two may not survive. Two others are currently missing from the main group here.”

Watching me struggling to force myself to rise, Crystal finally helped tug on up arms and pull me upright so I could lean against her. Looking around, I could now see two other figures that I’d missed before, sitting leaned up against a stone door which appeared to be the only exit. Both were males, wearing nothing more than a pair of stained underwear, and they were covered in dust and grime to such a point that it was hard to make out such features as the color of their skin or hair in the dim light. A small rotting looking bundle of cloth and scraps of wood burned in the corner of the room, giving off no more light than a candle as it flickered and sputtered. Glancing down at myself and Crystal, neither of us were wearing much more than the two boys. I was in my shorts, while Crystal was in nothing more than a stained pair a string panties.

Seeing the confused look on my face, Crystal half laughed. “It’s been hot as hell, with all us people being cooped up in such a tiny space. Even the small flame we’ve been trying to keep for light and cooking, has kept this room sweltering hot. Jess and Dino might be stupid enough to worry about modesty in such a place, but I’m not. Overheating can’t be good for anyone, and the moment I started stripping, the other boys over there did the same.” Moving her head slightly, she indicated the two sleeping against the door.

“Mongo and Skeet,” she replied to my unspoken question. “You managed to replace your roommates,” she said with a slight chuckle. I wanted to try and get a better look at them, but my head throbbed too much. I could barely force myself to keep my eyes opened as I leaned against her and she stroked my hair.

“Jess’s been tending to the others,” she informed me, quietly. “The other group was on their last legs; they wouldn’t have survived much longer. It was all they could do to move the stuff they had piled up against the door to keep the dead out, and let us in. We’re now trapped in the same space where they’ve been for the last couple of weeks,” she half chuckled ruefully.

“How long have I been out?” The stiffness and ache I was feeling made me believe that it’d been for several hours at least, and the empty feeling in my stomach made it think it might be even longer.

“It’s hard to tell the passing of time down here,” Crystal shrugged. “Best as I can guess though, I’d say for a whole day at least. Maybe two.”

“Two days?” I blinked, trying to process the information. “No wonder I’m so hungry,” I muttered, almost in disbelief.

“I’ve chewed some of what we’ve had and worked it down you,” Crystal told me. “The other team hadn’t eaten or drank anything for several days, so they’ve been eating what we carried with us to try and get their strength back up. We’re not going to have food for everyone for more than a few more days, but Jess says she can make fruit and water easily enough.

“Our biggest problem at the moment isn’t the dead,” Crystal muttered, “but the other team’s illness. The two girls here are sick with something, and Jess doesn’t know what it is. For all we know, it might be the plague! She says we can’t leave and take something like that out of here with us. If we do, the sickness might wipe out who knows how many people!

“Jess says we’re all under ‘quarantine’ until she can get a hand on what she’s dealing with here,” Crystal informed me. “So you might as well rest and get your strength back as well. I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere for a while.”

“Peachy. For now, that honestly suits me just fine,” I admitted.

“Well good!” Jess’s voice interrupted the conversation Crystal and I were having, as she came over and placed a hand over my forehead. “You need to eat, if you have to force something down,” Jess demanded. “You’ve over extended your magic, and you need to get your strength back. You’ll be lucky if you don’t burn out your talent, pulling stunts like you did the other day!”

“Sorry,” I groaned truthfully. Her sharp, worried voice cut deep into my headache and brought tears back to my eyes. “How’s the others?” I questioned, as best as I could.

“Alive,” was Jess’s simple answer. “I think the boys will get their strength back in just a few days – they mainly seem dehydrated, exhausted, and malnourished. The girls though seem to have been affected by whatever the corruption is that’s all around us. They’re pale, they’ve lost weight. Their hair is starting to fall out in patches, and even their nails are cracking and ready to fall off. I’ve never seen, heard, or read about anything like they’ve got.

“I’ve been treating them almost non-stop with as much magic as I can spare, and I can’t tell if it’s helping or not,” Jess lamented. “For all I know, I might wake up in the morning and they’ll be fine; cured by the magic I’ve expended in them. They might be dead. They might even be some damnable combination of the both in the morning. I honestly don’t have a clue about what’s going on with them, and I don’t have a clue how their illness is going to progress or regress.

“I just know it frightens me,” Jess admitted slowly. “Frightens me worse than any sickness I’ve ever seen or read about.” Half shivering, she slowly moved away to go lie beside Dino.

“That doesn’t sound good,” I whispered to Crystal. “Not good at all.”

“It doesn’t, My Lord,” she agreed, “but there’s nothing you or I can do about it anyway. For now, eat this, rest and get your strength back.”

Too tired to even open my eyes from the throbbing in my head, I simply opened my mouth and let her shove something in it. I chewed as much as I could – each movement of my jaws made sparks flash behind my eyelids as pain shot up into my temple as my head throbbed with each time I swallowed. I’m not even certain what I was forcing myself to eat. The pain in my head drowned out any taste the food might have, and I was truly grateful when Crystal finally quit feeding me and gently stroked on my hair.

It wasn’t long afterwards, before I thankfully drifted off to sleep once again.