DIVISION

Nora's heart felt like it would burst out of her chest at any moment. She could barely breathe, she couldn't feel her legs, she believed she would just drop on the spot if she stopped running. William's voice resonated on her ears, mixed with a lot of other noises. Was he encouraging her? Hard to say, she couldn't tell for sure. But it definitely seemed like something was about to happen.

Suddenly, she lost her footing. She tried to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth. Then, before she could think of anything else, she felt the cold embrace of water.

Once again, she tried to scream, which caused her to swallow a large amount of frigid water. She thrashed, unable to tell up from down, left from right. There was no way to know where the water's surface ended or where the bottom began. However, she managed to briefly catch a glimpse of moonlight, coming from somewhere below her. Nora tried her best to swim in that direction with all her strength, fighting with the current. Her bones and muscles were stiffening up from the cold water.

Eventually, her face broke the water's surface. She took one long and panicked breath. Her heavy backpack felt like a giant stone slab on her back. The current was still dragging her downstream, and the turbulence in the water kept intermittently pulling her back underwater before letting her breathe again. During those swift moments of respite, she started discerning a big shadow approaching her in the darkness of the night. Or rather, she was approaching it.

She slammed against something hard. Instinctively, she held onto it for dear life, doing everything she could to stick her hands to its rough surface. It felt like concrete.

…

'A-Am I… alive…?'

Slumped on all fours, Nora kept coughing up water while trying to regain her breath. The constant coughing fits gave her a burning sensation on her chest.

'Uggh…!'

Somehow, she had just pulled herself out of the river, onto what looked like a concrete ramp. Her body started to hurt all over.

Then, she heard a male voice complaining nearby. She looked around, but she couldn't really see anything in the darkness. That area in particular seemed darker than usual, as if something big was blocking the moonlight from above.

With a lot of effort, she stood up, stumbling a little bit in the process, and tried to follow the sound to its source. She walked with caution. With her sight disabled, it'd be easy to misstep and fall back in the water.

The ramp led her onto some kind of flat surface. The grumbling voice sounded closer and closer, but the noise from the water stream made it difficult to identify who or what was producing it.

"W-William…? I-Is that y-you…?" she asked to the darkness.

There was a tense moment of silence.

'Please, don't be one of those t-things… Please, God, I'm begging you…'

Then, a sudden flash of light hit her right in the face. At least it wasn't a shambler, that was for sure. Unless they somehow knew how to operate a flashlight. Nora gasped and covered her eyes from the blinding light.

*cough* *cough* "Nora…!?" *cough* "You… made it…" she knew that voice.

"William…!"

For once, her prayers seemed to have worked. She couldn't help but smile, although it was a bitter smile. She knew they weren't home and dry yet.

"Help me out here, quick…! Grab this flashlight for me and give me light." he requested.

Wondering what was going on, Nora obeyed. She grabbed the flashlight and aimed it at William. As expected, he was completely wet from head to toe, and his clothing was all messed up and ripped in several places. His face was pale and it looked tired, probably no different than Nora's face. He pulled up the sleeve on his left arm. Nora noticed how there was a quite severe rip on that place in particular.

Her eyes widened once they had a clear view of his bare arm.

"O-Oh no…! Is that…?" she asked, with shaky voice.

A bite mark. The teeth were clearly lined up in a perfect formation on the outer side of his left forearm. But there was no actual wound or blood. The skin had a strong red coloration, yet it hadn't been pierced.

In a rush, William grabbed his bag and started frantically going through its contents, and proceeded to pull out first aid supplies. Nora gulped and observed nervously as he disinfected and bandaged the bitten area.

"A-Are you going to be okay…?" she asked.

"Beats me… But it'd really suck if I didn't."

After packing up the supplies again, he got up, wore his backpack, and took the flashlight back from Nora's hands. He aimed the light around for a bit, inspecting their surroundings. They were standing on a concrete platform with an enormous pillar rising from its center. A metal ladder surrounded by a safety cage ran up the side of the pillar.

"We're on the foundations of the bridge we crossed earlier."

Nora's legs started shaking the moment she set her eyes on the ladder. Before she could say anything, William handed her the flashlight back.

"Listen… I'll go up. Do not follow me, no matter what."

"What…? B-But…"

"The most obvious symptom of the infection is dizziness, followed by a temporary loss of consciousness. It can go unnoticed if it happens while you're sleeping. It's not safe for me to stay down here with you. If things take a bad turn… Well, let's just say I won't be able to hurt you too much after taking a drop like this." he said, staring up at the bridge. "Tomorrow morning we'll know for sure if I'm screwed…"

Nora didn't like the situation, but she said nothing. She just stared at the ground and nodded. She knew what he was talking about, she knew about the implications, and she knew there was no way around it.

"You need to get those clothes off. There should be a small dry blanket in your backpack, cover yourself up with that instead. Remain wet and hypothermia might kill you before the sun rises." he threw a quick gaze at her bag. "Also… try and eat something."

William turned around and went for the ladder.

"W-Wait…!" Nora was now shivering so much it was hard to talk. "Y-You should grab something to e-eat too…!"

"I'll figure that out myself. Don't worry about me right now. It might not be worth it. Just focus on taking care of yourself and resting, you need it more than I do…"

Then, he climbed up. The sound of his steps on the ladder rungs got weaker as he got up, until they became an echo in the distance, and then silence. Nora stood still for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened. Her entire body was shaking.

…

Nora finished wringing water from her pants and laid them down on the floor, along with the rest of her clothes. Every move was a struggle. Even though the weather wasn't particularly cold or windy, even the slightest breeze against her bare skin felt like piercing daggers.

She sat down right by the metal ladder, trying her best to make herself as small as possible. The blanket wasn't too big, and it was partially wet from drying herself moments earlier, but it was still better than nothing, and definitely better than her drenched clothes. The shivering wasn't stopping, but at least the blanket gave her some degree of comfort and protection.

She suddenly started feeling tired. So, so very tired, as if all the efforts she made during the entire day were taking their toll all at once. Deep down, she was glad William chose to go up the ladder and leave her behind, because she was absolutely sure she wouldn't be able to climb it herself. She lacked strength on her limbs, all she could feel was pain. Every single muscle on her body seemed to ache. Her head felt heavy.

'Oh god… Please, let me make it through this…'

…

'Lilian, Claire, I hope you're okay…'

******

*Grrrroooooooowwwwllll*

Claire got unintentionally woken up by her own half-empty stomach. She opened her eyes, but she didn't see anything nonetheless, it was pitch dark inside the apartment. It was already hard enough to sleep under the circumstances they were in, doing it while hungry was just an added handicap.

'Oh, damn… Shouldn't Nora and that man have come back already…!? I hope nothing bad has happened…'

She felt a shy tugging on her left arm.

"Clairie…" the incredibly soft and low voice came out from somewhere to her left. "You've got to eat, Clairie… Here…"

Claire could hear Lilian fumble around with a half-full can of beans.

"Stop it, Lilian, that's your portion…! Seriously, you need to eat too…!"

"Not hungry… But your tummy is."

"Aw, come on… I refuse, keep it!"

Lilian mumbled in complaint, but eventually stopped trying to feed her the beans. What was her deal? She hadn't eaten anything in so long, yet she wasn't hungry? Claire wasn't buying it. She let out a sigh of both resignation and frustration, and tried to fall back to sleep.

"Mmh… I hope they don't come to eat it instead, I don't wanna give it to them…"

"Yeah, sure… Just eat it yourself…" answered Claire, trying to disregard Lilian's antics.

Yet something caught her attention.

"Wait, hold on, who are you talking about…?" she asked.

"Them… I heard noises… I don't want to feed them too, I only want to feed you…"

"Lilian, are you sure you heard noises…!?" Claire's eyes widened up all of a sudden. She wasn't feeling sleepy anymore.

"Mhm…"

Should she disregard it? Maybe she had been dreaming about something, and mistook it for reality? She wasn't sure. If Nora and William had come back, they would've come and say something, but nobody showed up. So, if it wasn't them, then who?

Claire's legs had started shaking nervously. She had never been too brave, but this time she needed to do something. She made a promise to Nora, and it wasn't a promise she was willing to break.

"Lilian, stay here, okay?"

She got up and felt around the room. They were in the bathroom, and she had a good idea of the apartment's layout, so she walked blindly along the wall until she reached the doorway leading to the main room, which connected with the entrance door. It was almost absolute darkness. Some faint rays of moonlight seeped in through the boarded windows, but it was barely enough to tell apart anything but blurry shadows and shapes.

Claire walked up to the entrance, measuring her steps with caution. She felt around, and her fingers gripped the door's cold metal bars. But she could immediately tell something was wrong. The door was wide open.

She froze on the spot.

Who was it? Who opened the door? Why? Was it Nora, why didn't she say anything? It couldn't have been Nora. What was going on?

'Oh god, what's happening…? Fuck, are you serious…!? W-What do I do now…!?'

She noticed her breathing getting heavier and her heart pounding like mad in her chest. She had to protect Lilian. She needed to get her out of there, somewhere else. That apartment didn't feel safe anymore.

Claire turned around and started backtracking her steps towards the bathroom. Every step felt like it took an unnaturally long amount of time, as if the slightest sound she made could alert something of her presence, something lurking in the darkness of the building.

*ba-dum, ba-dum* *ba-dum, ba-dum* *ba-dum, ba-dum*

'Why did this happen…!? Who could have–!?'

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted. Something grabbed her waist from behind, and her mouth and nose were covered with some sort of soft material. Fabric? She couldn't tell. But it was wet, and it had a strong chemical odor.

"Hmmmmmm!!! Hmmmphhmhhhp!!" she tried to yell, but her shouts were muffled. She struggled and tried to break free, but the difference in strength was abysmal.

"Keep it quiet, would you? You just had to make it difficult…" a male voice whispered behind her. Claire listened, terrified, as she kept attempting to fight back.

"Hmphghfghh!! "

"We were surprised when we noticed this room was occupied, didn't expect anyone home… And this is exactly the kind of ruckus we wanted to avoid. Oh well… Come on, go back to sleep, we can't be making any noise now, you know?"

"Hmmmgh….!" Claire felt her strength waning bit by bit. Tears of pure terror streamed down her face as she hopelessly attempted to break free from her attacker.

A couple of minutes of struggle went by, and it quickly became clear to her that she didn't stand a chance. Her arms fell down like dead weight, her legs started to failed her; and despite the darkness, she could feel her sight getting hazy.

"Clairie…?" Lilian's voice emerged from the bathroom, alerted by the noise from outside.

'Oh, Lilian…! Run away, please…!'

"Hey, grab the other one too." said the man, speaking to some other unknown person.

'N-No…! No…!!'

…

******

[Feeling alone?]

'No, I'm not… Leave me alone…'

[Oh, but you do. You've got nobody to cling to now. You thought saving him would bind him to you, didn't you? Deep within, that's the only thing you care about. Because you can't keep going alone.]

'Shut up… Please, shut up…! I can do it… I'm not like that anymore, I can do it now! I will keep going, for them…'

[And what if something does happen to them? Can you still say the same thing? Can you still go on without clinging to someone out there, one way or another?]

'Leave me alone…!!' "Leave me alone…!!"

Nora woke up shouting like a maniac, sweating but cold at the same time. Was all that a dream, or just her own inner dialogue? It wasn't clear. The morning breeze felt chilling on the exposed parts of her skin, and she wasn't even sure she could feel her feet or her hands. She could still move them, so that had to be a good sign, right?

She fought through the muscular pain all over her body, and got up. The breeze intensified, as if mocking her efforts.

"F-Fuck, it's so c-cold…" she muttered, almost clacking her teeth.

It was no wonder she was cold though, since she was almost completely naked, wearing nothing but a small blanket. Her clothes on the ground weren't completely dry yet, but somewhat moist. She figured it would be wiser to just wear them nonetheless. While she did so, she couldn't take her inner thoughts out of her mind.

'If we really got separated… What then…? Do I have a purpose on my own? I do… right…?'

'The purpose to live on, of course. I don't want to die…'

[Why?]

Nora shook her head. She really didn't want to keep thinking about anything at that moment. She focused on the chilly feeling of the clothes against her skin. Hopefully the warmth of her own body would help them finish drying soon.

As she finished getting dressed, she looked up. Was William okay? Should she go up the ladder to check on him?

'Now that I think about it, I kind of got separated from him last night… As much as I hate to admit it, I don't know what I'm going to do if he's not with me… Can I even make it back to the shelter on my own…?'

She gulped nervously, remembering the words he told her the night before.

[Tomorrow morning we'll know for sure if I'm screwed.]

She started packing up her things and getting ready to climb up to the bridge. No matter what had happened, she had to go up one way or another. She had to face the truth waiting for her above, whatever it was.

The ladder seemed surprisingly sturdy, as if it was impervious to the last six months of abandonment. It allowed William to climb up safely, and he was way heavier than she was, so it should be safe enough for her as well. Nora took a deep breath and started climbing.

Step after step, she got closer to the catwalks. The wind blew harder as she gained altitude, as if trying to knock her back down, and she felt stinging pain on her arms and legs due to the previous day's exhaustion. She tightened her grip as best as she could and kept going up, gritting her teeth in discomfort.

"W-William…? Are you there…?" she asked once she was a couple of meters away from the metal platform. She didn't raise her voice too much, but it was loud enough she was sure it could be easily heard from up there.

There was no answer. The catwalk itself was made of grating, and therefore see-through, but some areas were obscured due to the viewing angle. It was difficult to tell if there was someone up there from her position, specially if they were laying down or crouching.

She popped her head past the floor level and looked around. The entire platform was empty, from side to side. Some distance away, she saw the structure where they had taken refuge from a shambler horde when they entered the bridge the day before. They'd probably have to pass through that place again on their way back.

'I don't think he's gone back into the city, that'd make no sense… Maybe he took refuge from the cold in that room?'

She approached the door, which was closed. She had a bad feeling about the entire situation. When she was about to reach for the doorknob, she noticed something affixed to the door itself with tape. It was a piece of paper, with some words written on it with a black marker.

[WAIT HERE

LEAVE IF I'M NOT BACK

BY THE AFTERNOON

W.]

"William… So, this means… you're okay…?"

He wouldn't have gone away if he wasn't in good condition to do so, right? Or perhaps he did it because he guessed she would eventually come up, in order to not put her in unnecessary danger? If there wasn't any danger of turning anymore, then why did he leave? Nora didn't have the answer to any of those questions. She hoped that hearing from him would calm her down, yet it further aggravated her worries.

She opened the door. Not a lot of sunlight reached under the bridge, but it was still enough to light up the interior of the structure. She knew that room all too well. The blood stains were still on the floor, but the corpse of the shambler wasn't there anymore. Maybe William had dropped it off into the river? She hoped so. The thought of a shambler still surviving and wandering around pretty much with no head was terrifying.

She tried not to think too much about what had happened there, and put her bag down on the floor. She sat down beside it, opened it, and grabbed a can of food at random. Her stomach had been complaining the entire morning, to the point that it was physically hurting. She was famished.

It turned out to be canned meatballs. They were foul, exactly as she remembered them, but given her hunger, anything was delicious. They didn't last long.

Then, she waited.