Chapter 2: Morals

POV: Third Person

Seeing Tyron exit the building safely and Hien right behind him, the siblings are relieved before that feeling is interrupted by Hien frantically explaining what had happened and what they had seen down there. Listening to the horrors, everyone decides to leave this village and find a place to settle down and fortify. Everyone goes to each house one at a time, gathering whatever they can find. They finish within the next hour and start getting ready to leave. Going towards the house with the monster-filled bunker Tyron leaves multiple signs explaining what is in there and warning anyone who sees said signs to stay away from the bunker. 

Going back to the two siblings, they sit in the makeshift carriage the others made as they can't talk or even look at each other. Finally gathering the courage, Candy tries talking to Lutie.

"Hey… I'm sorry, I didn't think back there when I said that stuff." He says before finally looking at her. Only to see that she is just staring off into space with a blank look in her eyes, not even hearing what he said.

"Hey, Lutie... I said I was sorry. Look, I know I shouldn't have said that, but I just missed them. I didn't mean to push it all on you. Hello? Ugh, whatever, you could have saved Ranz anyway, so it is your fault." he says before turning away and immediately regretting what he had said. Turning back to apologize, he sees tears in her eyes as she scratches her wrist so much that blood starts to leak. Panicking, he calls out for Tyron before holding her hands and frantically apologizing. Hurriedly approaching them, he sees the blood on her wrist and the tears coming from her eyes and rushes up to hug her and starts comforting her.

"Don't worry, kid, I'm here for you, and I won't ever leave," Tyron says while hugging her as she cries into his shoulder only to fall asleep. Slowly putting her down, he goes over to the others after ensuring that Candy is fine. Seeing Tyron go down the road, Candy wonders what he is doing as Tyron starts looking around. Everyone stops as confusion spreads, wondering why they are no longer moving. Everyone looks towards the front. Getting off the carriage, Candy moves to the show to see that the road is no longer visible as flora has grown out of control, covering and hiding the road and blocking the path. Remembering the Fadewood tree the old friend group had gathered at, he yells out to escape the flora. He explains what happened with the tree and warns everyone to be careful of flora and not just worry about fauna.

Listening to the kid, everyone decides to head back and try to find another road or another way to travel without fear of everything attacking them.

Finding a path not too far away, they go out with the warriors and hunters staying vigilant. Hearing a loud bang, everyone gets ready for a possible fight. Everyone stands ready, looking where they listened to the sound, only to be disappointed as they see another carriage being pulled towards them, missing a wheel. They would have still been wary had they not seen the giant of a man pulling it towards them, holding a map.

"Hey, can I get some help? The wheel broke, and I don't have any extra ones. Also, do you know where I am?" The giant man asks in a surprisingly calm and polite tone with a voice that could soothe many to sleep.

"Sure, come on over, just help protect the people here as we could use the help." approaching the big man Uncle Tyron grabs an extra wheel from one of the carts in the back, handing it to the big man. 

"What's your name? I'm Tyron." Uncle Tyron says, introducing himself and looking the big man dead in the eye. Realizing he is trying to see if the big man really is a person and is looking at him to see if the man hesitates or shows any sign of not having a name. Basically, looking for anything suspicious.

"I'm Vallah Shortstok. Nice to meet you, Tyron." the big man says, holding his free hand towards Tyron for a handshake. Shaking his hand, Tyron can feel the callouses realizing that this man has trained a great deal. 

Pretending nothing happened, Tyron helps the man while explaining our situation and asks him to help protect everyone. Looking over here, he sees Lutie and me sitting here with Lutie fallen asleep and me just sitting there staring at them. Glancing at the other children and family members of others, only to see just one child and two women, all seemingly unrelated to each other. With a look of realization, he looks back at Tyron with pity and understanding. 

Talking with each other for a while, they bring Vallah's carriage next to the others. Going back on our way towards another Village, Candy turns toward the sleeping Lutie, still feeling regret at what he has said earlier. Deciding to leave it alone for now, he hopes she forgives him for what he said. Laying down, he turns away from her and falls deep asleep.

Waking up, Candy hears nothing. Not the rattle of the wheels of the wooden cart, not the shuffle of the hunters' and guards' feet, and not the little talking of the hunters and guards communicating. Slowly getting up, he sees something he wished he never saw. 

He saw his Uncle Tyron standing there with everyone right next to him. Having that beast on their necks again. To not alert them, he looks to where Lutie should be and sees her still sleeping, deciding to leave her alone. He wonders how they haven't been caught yet. Only to realize that there is a powdery white circle surrounding the wooden cart that they are on. Looking at him and getting confused, he hears a voice.

"It's salt. I found out by accident that these things are deathly terrified of salt. So don't worry, we are safe for now." looking to where the voice came from, Candy sees the new person Vallah leaning against the cart, holding his bleeding stomach. Talking to Vallah a bit more, Candy finds out that these things attacked in swarms from every direction, and the only reason they were not woken up is that the guards and hunters were assaulted during the night as the siblings had slept for hours. Hearing this, Candy looks at them in worry hoping the wind does not doom the last three surviving people.

"Wait, we had seen these things before, and they could talk at the time. That means they have some intelligence. So I think you should start finding a way out for us before those things get past the salt." Speaking in a panic, Candy explains to Vallah in a hurry urging him to hurry and find a solution before they meet their end.

Hearing that, the man gets up in a panic, still holding his stomach. Moving to the front of the cart, he lifts three big bags. Dropping it inside the carriage, he goes closer to the line of salt keeping us alive and rips a shield off the arms of one of those things. Going back to us, he gathers whatever wood he can get and starts fire after a few minutes. Heating up the shield's metal, he pours tons of salt on it inside of those bags and then uses this weird goo from a pouch at his hip to add salt to different parts of his body. Seeing what he is doing, I get up to help him, and we start preparing to get out of this damn circle before they find a way to get past the salt on the floor. Almost done, we hear a deafening and high-pitched scream. Looking towards the source, we see Lutie holding her head as she considers the things surrounding us. Trying to calm her down, we start adding salt to her. Having only used one of the three bags of salt, we grab the other two. Cutting one of them open, Vallah calls me asking for help to hold it. Going to him and grabbing the other end, Vallah explains the plan. He wants to throw salt onto as much of them as possible and run through any opening we can find. Saying that means he is basically leaving us to die. He says one more thing.

POV: Candy

"Be grateful I'm giving you a way out to live. With how things are right now, you either save yourself or die. I only helped you guys the first time cause you were next to the salt, and now I help cause you told me about those things having sentience. So I'll say this once, save yourself and forget everyone. If you treasure your sister more than yourself, then be ready to die for her cause that is what's gonna happen." He throws the salt onto those things with my help, and I run, holding Lutie and not looking back. Going between the gaps between the things, I keep running while pulling Lutie. A while later, when I can barely even walk, I stop and look back at Lutie, only to see her holding one of those things in her hand. Scared and confused, I look at her before asking.

"Why do you have that thing in your hand? What. What are you doing?" In response, I hear her whisper to me, saying something that will forever cause me pain in the future.

"These things are mine to control. They aren't dumb. They could have jumped over the salt or maybe even put something on top so they could make it to you, but no. I made them wait, and now, Vallah is dead. I had him chased, so it's just the two of us. Candy. You are my brother, and I could never hurt you. But do not come between me and my hive. We will kill that hive that destroyed our home. Don't worry. You can go back with us and live in safety." Slowly getting louder as she speaks, I hear her voice start becoming distorted as she says.

Slowly backing away, I trip on a rock and crawl backward in fear before stopping as a tree is right behind me.

"Oh Candy, you always were so weak. I guess it's time I get rid of you, then. But don't worry, you are still my sibling, so MY hive won't hurt you. So run, run until you can't even feel your legs anymore. Cause as my sibling, all hives will hunt you because once they take over your body, they can strengthen the hive since you have my blood. A hive queens blood. Also, one more thing, I'm not the Lutie. You know I come from far further than now. Goodbye." Lutie says before walking away back toward the destroyed place we just left.

Sitting there in shock, I bring my hands to my face wondering where everything went wrong and where Lutie was no longer Lutie. Only to realize Lutie was constantly murmuring in her sleep. It happened in her sleep…

Getting up, I start walking in the opposite direction of her. Finding a good piece of wood to use as a spear, I hold it and use it as a cane to help me keep going. Only to hear clicking and crawling noises behind me. Keeping calm, I crouch down and start slowly and quietly moving away. Listening to the noises getting louder, I finally hear it speak.

"I can smell you~ YOU CAN'T RUN, HAHAHA."

Running, I pull some thin branches here and there and entwine them onto the stick I had. Slowing down, I start brushing where I leave tracks and avoid low branches and brush, so I don't break them by accident, leaving a trail. Making sure that my tracks are starting to disappear, I spot a river. Making my way towards it, I stop for a second, feeling where the wind is going before jumping in and swimming downstream. Getting out around two miles down the river, I take my shirt and pants off and wring them to get rid of as much water as I can. Making sure I'm downwind, I sigh in relief and start going away from the hive, still making sure to hide my tracks as best I can. Walking stream, I watch for any fish I can snatch before seeing one staying in one place by swimming upstream. Walking towards the trees, I rip a branch off one of them before looking for a sturdy enough rock that is also sharp. Searching for a bit, I find a pretty good one and start using it to sharpen the branch into a wooden spear. Finished with the head of the spear, I move to the body to make it more comfortable to hold. Once I'm done carving, I get some of the larger healthy tree leaves and wrap them around the shaft of the spear. Doing some testing thrust, I feel the leaves slip a bit, but I decide it works well enough. Getting ready, I stab into the water, barely missing the fish. Trying a few more times, I get annoyed and decide to wait till it jumps out of the water.

After waiting a bit, it finally jumps out, and I stab straight through it. Getting it off the branch, I gather some wood and try to start a fire like how I saw Vallah do it. Rubbing some sticks together, I keep trying before getting annoyed. After leaving that alone for a bit to kick a tree, I start again, and I have a fire going pretty soon. Cooking the fish a little too much, I remove the skin and start eating, only to remember a bit too late to get rid of the guts and bones. Throwing up a little, I go back to the fish and spend some to make sure everything is removed before eating the fish. Satisfied, I get up, grab this weird sticky part in the fish's guts, and use that to hold the leaves onto the branch a little better.

Continuing my walk downstream, I see a chimney peek above the trees in the distance. Getting excited, I start running towards it. Reaching the building, I know that it is empty but well kept. Probably the owners died somewhere out there. Deciding this house is my new home, I close the front door and start barricading it and any other entrances into the house. Almost finished fortifying the place, I see a bunker door in the living room. Getting nostalgic, I grab my spear and get ready to kill whatever I find. Opening the door, I back away and bring my spear up, only to see a family shaking in fear, with the father holding a bow ready to fire and a sheathed sword at his waist.

"It's safe up here if you want to come on up. Sorry for messing your house up, but I think fortifying it is doing you a favor." I lower my spear and motion for them to come on up. 

"The hell do you mean doing us a favor! Get out of our house, you fucking asshole!" The father yells before releasing the arrow, almost hitting me.

"Wait! Your gonna attract the hordes here if you draw blood!" I yell, trying to calm him down. 

Not hearing it, he unsheathes his sword before rushing at me. Putting my spear back up, I thrust it forward, hitting him in the stomach before pulling my spear out and backing away. 

"Sorry, but you made me do that. I will get out of here before those hives start making their way here. Good luck, and remember, if you hadn't attacked, what's coming would not have happened." I say before removing the barricade for the back door. Running like my life depends on it, I make it a good way away before hearing the screams of terror and pain from the family there. Holding in the urge to vomit at what I just did, I keep running as tears start running down my face.

'Why…'