Movement was coming slowly back to Maya Dem, the mother of both Amy and Gary Dem. Having been in a coma for a long time, she was regaining her movements, but her muscles still weren't listening to her.
Right now, White was on one side, and Amy was on the other, both of them pushing and lifting her up together. As they did, they managed to settle her into a wheelchair carefully.
“Did I gain weight while I was in the hospital?” Maya joked, seeing the two huffing and panting.
“No, we're just not used to this stuff. If anything, you look like you’ve gotten lighter, Mum,” Amy answered, which was true based on her inability to eat a decent meal for a long time.
Once again, a loud sound could be heard, and the floor started to shake. They were unsure if it was noise from the outside or from within. It wasn’t as bad as the last shake they had felt, but it was still worrying.
“I don’t think staying on the top floor is safe. We have to get you down lower with the others and see if we can find a nurse who can still check up on you,” Amy suggested.
Pushing her mother, White held the door open as they went into the hallway. It was a complete mess. There were abandoned medical carts, fallen-over potted plants that had been smashed, and even some of the lights were broken.
Pushing her mother, White held the door open as they went into the hallway. It was a complete mess. There were abandoned medical carts, fallen-over potted plants that had been smashed, and even some of the lights were broken.
They had experienced a couple of heavy shakes. Seeing all of this just confirmed that it was better for them to go lower.
“If this whole building collapses, we're going to be in serious trouble,” Amy said.
“Wait, but are we going to take your mum down the stairs? That’s ten floors. Can we actually do that?” White replied. “You know in situations like these, taking the elevator is even more dangerous.”
At this point, hearing the two girls squabble over her, Maya wanted to tell them to just leave her, but the last time she said those words, Amy had gotten very angry at her, and she didn’t want to see her daughter upset.
Looking around, Amy was trying to see if there was anything they could use or perhaps an easier way down. Her eyes lingered on one of the other rooms, and that’s when she realized something.
“Crap, isn’t Austin on this floor as well? We can’t just leave him here!” Amy said. “He’s an important friend of my brother’s.”
She was already rushing to the room, and White was now following her as she pushed her mother along.
“Wait, we’re already struggling with how to take one person down the stairs, and now you want us to take two... and Austin... is a bit on the big side!” White shouted.
Regardless, the three had entered the room, and when they had done so, they were stunned for a moment at what they could see. The hospital bed they were looking at, there was nothing left but an imprint of his body.
There was no person in the bed, but that wasn’t the only shocking thing. A large breeze had hit the girls, and they needed to cover their faces. A breeze in a room so high was unheard of because the windows were sealed shut and thick with multiple layers of glass to prevent easy breakage, yet there was a large crack in the window.
Amy walked forward slowly towards the large crack. She was a little worried that the gust of wind would pull her away. As she moved closer though, sounds could be heard from outside.
It was clear what was going on. There was fighting.
“Careful!” White called out as she moved closer but even slower than Amy.
“It’s Austin... he’s fighting outside against the attacker, and it looks like Xin as well,” Amy said, watching the chaos unfold and keeping an eye on the enemy fighting against them.
As White came closer, finally, the two of them were able to see who was attacking them as well, and an audible gasp escaped from Maya’s mouth.
“Mum, what’s wrong? What’s going on? Is everything okay?” Amy called out, looking at her mother, who was shaken up. Holding onto her hand, she could feel that it had gone cold.
“That one, the face... even though it’s different, I can recognize it,” Maya said, pointing at the jackal-looking Altered. To White and Amy, the two of them couldn’t recognize him, but the same couldn’t be said for Maya.
Scenes flashed in her head of when she was in the supermarket, when she was protecting that poor young girl. The last thing she remembered before ending up in this place.
“That’s the person who attacked me... that’s the person who attacked me before I passed out,” Maya answered.
“It was him!” Amy turned her head and was gritting her teeth as she looked at them. Of all people to attack them now, why was the person who had put her in this position, why had they returned?
She was extremely angry. She wanted to ask the person who had done this to their mother all sorts of questions. Why attack her? Why, when her mother hadn’t done anything to harm anyone.
However, now, realizing that he was part of a gang that was causing a rampage in Slough once again, it felt like there wasn’t really an answer. Her mother was just one of the unlucky ones.
That still didn’t quell her anger though... if she could, she would love to have hit this attacker herself, if she had the power to.
“Come on, we have to get out of here,” White said. “Austin is down below, so we don't have to worry about him, but who knows how much damage their fight will cause.”
There was something else as well. As White turned away, she had never seen Amy make an expression like that, and it was scaring her. It reminded her of the first time White had seen her brother, on the day that she was saved.
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