Survival of the fittest

"My ability only works twice."

Will's world started to spin again. Not because of his concussion this time tough. It was despair. 

'I already took the bullet once and it almost killed me. If it wasn't for me the girl would surely already be dead. I'll tell them.'

The two Listeners looked at each other as if they were trying to decide what to do or if they were debating something. 

'I am the one that needs healing. If they don't heal me the girl will also die alongside me.'

Will was correct. Right now he was the girl's lifeline. He realized that and with that came the realization. The man, if he decides to waste one usage of his abilities on them, is definitely going to heal him. It was the only way.

The feelings only arose in Will because he thought that they were still in society. If a doctor had to choose between Will and the girl in a hospital setting. He would choose the girl. Her chances of making it were not necessarily higher than Will's. However, she was younger and well a small defenseless girl.

Don't people tend to choose the weaker individual? An instinctive desire to help the weak. Almost like a mother who sees a small kitten and feels the desire to help and take care of the fragile animal. 

But right now, Will was not restricted by the bounds of society. He could selfishly claim the healing process for him with the bleak outlook that the girl still has a chance to survive on Will's back. 

'Am I the gruesome one here? A moment ago I was ready to argue about whose life is worth more.'

"Alright, I'll first heal you, Steven."

With that, an uncomfortable silence settled in the group. Everyone except the girl knew what was about to happen.

The man with the hat put his hand on the wound of his partner and it immediately started to close. The hat-less guy looked a little bit better afterwards but was still visibly beaten.

"I'll heal you now kid, as my partner wanted."

The man turned towards Will and ignored the eyes of the small girl. She was just standing there. Silent.

Will was debating with himself what to do right now. This situation of being powerless pissed him off. He hated it.

'It's always the same. But I am not going to let my morals play a trick on me. I need that healing. I would be lying if I said that I wanted the healing to save her. I want it because I need it even if I hate to see the little girl like that. I did not want any of this.'

So, in the end, Will remained silent and let the military man heal him. He put his hand on Will's head and a warm feeling rushed through Will's head. His pain was washed away. He could see clearly again and the world stopped spinning. Did his despair leave him as well?

No, it was still there, standing in front of him. The little girl witnessed the entire scene without saying a word. She and Will had the same thought. 'The world is unfair and unforgiving.'

"We should take a short break the next branch is again far away. So you can recover from the poison and the boy can rest. Additionally, we have to wait for the other man."

The pencil pusher was still climbing down however he was still far away from the group. He was currently 40 meters above them. 

"At this rate, it will take us a week to reach the bottom of the tree. We can't wait that long."

"Come on partner, you are overestimating the size of the tree a little bit."

The group had to wait for another hour. The pencil pusher eventually passed out about 20 meters above them. He was close enough that the two Listeners could skillfully catch him. They ran up the wall a few meters and intercepted the short downfall. 

Will was surprised that the military guy with a hat even agreed to help the pencil pusher. Until now he never freely helped a member of the group. Only when his partner asked him to. His partner even asked him to catch the guy. The hat-less military guy could not do it. The poison was still weakening him. 

Now it was time for the pencil pusher to rest a bit. So, he took a nap. He must have been very tired. There wasn't much talking only the two Listeners exchanged a few words here and there. Will sat next to the girl. It was one of these uncomfortable situations. 

"Thank you, for helping me climb down to this point."

Will was a bit surprised that the girl suddenly spoke. She always had that timid look. Even when Will was healed, she had an expressionless face. Even the pain did not seem to bother her.

'She must be a girl that grew up in those gutters of New Berlin. I get it now, why she did not cry. When we were transported to this realm and when we fell.' 

"It's fine. I'm sorry that he had to heal me and could not heal you."

She did not answer him.

'Normally I would try to continue the conversation. Find out her name and where she is from.'

'Hey, I'm Will what's your name?'

'Ah, that is a beautiful name and where are you from?'

'New Berlin? I was born there as well what a coincidence.'

'You know. I'd try to make a connection. As an exercise for my future career as a teacher. But now a connection might affect my judgement. A bit earlier I lamented that I could not help her even though there are bigger concerns right now. Didn't I want to help people like her at some point in my life? Well, apparently I became more selfish. Maybe it's this situation. I hope that it's just this situation.'

A scream ended the silence that settled in the group. The pencil pusher woke up and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Calm down we can't afford it to make so much noise."

"Shut up old man."

The two military guys tried to calm him down. Well, in their own weird way. However, the pencil pusher would not stop screaming.

"Calm down or I'll kill you"

The military men rushed to his side and put their hands over his mouth. He screamed on under their hands but his screams were now a little bit quieter.

"Shit, I see why he started screaming just now. Do you see this? We might be fucked."

"You hit the nail on the head with Shit."

The weird assessment of the situation by the Listeners intrigued Will.

"Hey, what is it."

The hat-less military guy turned around.

"We have a big problem. This guy here woke up because blood dripped on his shirt. Do you know what this means?"

"Shit, the old woman?"

"Yes, she is probably dead we don't know what killed her. We are not entirely sure but I can't come up with another reason for this blood."

"Is it possible that this is an ability of a Shadow or something?"

"Unlikely, why would an enemy announce his presence or make us worry?"

The other military guy turned around.

"You guys can stop coming up with theories. I confirmed it. I am a bit stronger than my partner and my eyes are therefore better as well. I saw a hand laying on the edge and blood was dripping from it. We have to get moving."