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Artemis sat up suddenly, wiping tears from her face. "E-Erin? Are you awake?" she whispered, trying to keep her voice from breaking. Artemis sniffed sadly, trying to keep her emotion inside of her, and act like the determined girl she pretended to be.

Cover me in sunshine....
Shower me in good times...

she softly sung to herself, trying to cheer herself up. It didn't work, and Artemis buried her face into her pillow, her whole body racking with silent sobs.

Meanwhile, Fog was busy stalking his next victim. Crouching up behind him, he swished his blade and the body crumpled. Another one down. Wiping his blade quietly, Fog noticed some sort of camp in the park. He frowned, show he go there or not? He decided against it, and headed back to the Mall.

Erin took a second to debate whether he should answer her question or not. He came to the conclusion that she wouldn't have asked if she didn't know, the question was most likely for confirmation. "Yeah... How'd you guess..." he mumbled, opening his eyes and slowly sitting up. He neither questioned nor cared about the quiet song Artemis sang, or the very faint, almost nonexistent sobs. Once he was up, he didn't bother to turn and face her, he instead looked dead ahead as he put the pieces together. He wasn't exactly sure if he should talk to her or just comfort her, especially since he barely knew her, so he once again stayed unmoving. It must've been a dream she had, putting them both in the same situation.

---

She shrugged, "I don't know." Artemis thought for a moment, then trembled. "Erin....ever feel like someone watching you? And that something bad is going to happen? I'm feeling it right now, and I..." Artemis cut herself off suddenly, she could not show weakness. He might think she was soft, and that was a weakness. Even though she tried so hard not too, her emotions overcame her, "I'm...scared." she whispered.

Artemis shook slightly, clutching her weapons close to herself. Moonlight shone on her knife, reflecting her scared face. She shook her head angrily and trembled again.

He looked over at her to answer her questions, beginning with a subtle shrug. "Yeah, I guess so..." He mumbled again, rubbing his eyes to relieve the fatigue. Once she finished talking, he looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching them, then he returned his gaze to her, watching her tremble in fear. He wasn't sure what to do, he had nothing to say and he didn't know what would help. He had never been in this situation before, and he wasn't too familiar in ways to calm someone. "If you still want to sleep, I'll keep watch and make sure nothing happens." He suggested, soon realizing that it probably didn't help to say that.

---

Yūki and Zelda ran further and further through the ghost town of Arpia. Finally, the two came to a a building, embroidered with vines and wild plants. Once the duo entered the weathered building that it was school of some sort as she institute was scattered with old, dusty books and stationary.

"You know, I used to come here," Zelda finally said with a little smile on her face, brushing a dirty table with her fingers and grasping many lost memories.
Yūki didn't say anything just looked at Zelda whilst she continued.
"I remember me and my friend Elisabeth would always find ourselves in the headmistress's office," she said with a chuckle "And we would always get detention together," She added.
Yūki still didn't say anything.
Zelda now realising that Yūki wasn't talking turned around to see Yūki "What's the matter," She asked concerned.
"Well you remind me of my sister, Mio-Asuka Aio, when you speak," She said a tear trickling down her cheek.
"I-I'm sorry," Zelda replied.
"No, no it's fine," Yūki said "She was taken by the Harouri, Alquita's enemy and well we haven't seen her since," She said sobbing out of control.
Zelda went over to the depressed strucken girl and wrapped her hand around her.
"Tha-thanks," She said toughening up as being vulnerable was a weakness in the new world.
Zelda let go of the girl and said to break the awkwardness "Well then this should be a good enough place to sleep for night,".

Yūki nodded in agreement. Zelda pulled out two sleeping bags one blue and the other yellow, handing the blue to Yūki as yellow was her favourite colour. She unravled her sleeping bad across the weeping wooden floor and tucking herself in; Yūki doing the same and both fell fast asleep under the glistening moonlight seeping through a collapsed portion of the roof above them.

"..but I don't want..mm...huh..?"

Canna's eyes flutter open, awoken from a gentle nudge against her leg. Her vision was fuzzy from exhaustion, but could just about make out the short grey figure in the darkness before her. Mumbling some incoherent words, Canna's arm blindly swats away the thing that had woken her from her slumber. After several attempts to 'shoo' it off, her hand suddenly makes contact with the creature, causing it to yelp.

"Faolán..?" she murmurs, the sound like nails on a chalkboard in her ear, "I'm sorry... I..."

Using the back of her hand, she wipes the sleep from her eyes with a yawn. The dog in question sits at her feet, tail wagging as he pants. Ruby eyes stare down at him blankly as Canna tries her best to rattle her brain into working out what the dog could want.

"You want food..? ..No? Water?"

Water. Canna would have rolled her eyes if she hadn't been as tired as she was. Of course, the one thing she'd forget to look for would be water. However, she settles with another groan, burying her face in her hands, cursing to herself. Faolán paws at her leg, a gesture of begging, which Canna always gave into. She reaches for the bag around her torso, fumbling with the stubborn zip, before feeling around for the plastic water bottle. Several months old, the plastic had been crushed in several places, but up until now, Canna had been unable to carry any more. She concluded, by its weight, that it still contained some water, but it couldn't have been any more than a mouthful or two.

"Let's move over there. I don't feel like falling off of this swing in my sleep.."

Her legs wobble slightly as she stands, crumbs of trail mix falling from her lap and onto the ground as she did so. She points, with a sharp click of her fingers, over towards a nearby bench, indicating where for Faolán to move to, in which he does with a bark, racing over jumping onto the wooden fixture. Carefully, she follows behind. Canna throws down her backpack against the armrest, it was soft enough, thanks to the spare clothes inside, that she could probably use it as a pillow. Then she sits down, loosening the cap on the bottle and taking a small sip, enough to wet her mouth, before pouring the rest in her palm for Faolán to drink from. Faolán now satisfied, Canna dries her hands on her leggings and the two lay down to rest.

"Goodnight, Faolán."

Artemis winced at his words, "No, it's fine. I'm not going to sleep anyway..." she said, sniffing sadly.

Suddenly a figure emerged from the shadows, a tall young man. He stepped into view smiling,

" Artemis? Is that you?"

Artemis stood up suddenly, smiling happily, "Leo!" she cried and flung herself into his open arms, "Oh, I missed you so much!"

He hugged her tightly, " Well...I didn't.

Artemis stopped suddenly, "Wha-....what do you mean?" she shuddered nervously. He squeezed her tighter, and she started to gasp for breath. "Leo...I-i can't move. I....can't breathe!"

He smiled wickedly and took something out from his pocket. It glinted in the moonlight, something metal. Artemis let out a bloodcurdling, shrill scream and staggered backwards, the metal object protruding from her side. Crimson blood stained her shirt, spreading across the green material.

"Leo...why?" she whispered, blinking yellow spots from her vision. But he'd already gone. "E-....ERIN! H-help..." she screamed, as the world went black, and she collapsed.

Erin watched in shock as the strange man appeared out of seemingly nowhere and proceeded to stab Artemis. "What the..." From what he could tell, they had previously known each other, presumably having a 'good' relationship from what Artemis said. He got up and tried to reach them but he wasn't fast enough, the deed had been done and he was gone. He was too late. He couldn't do anything to save her, and now she might die due to his incompetence. He didn't try to say anything, any loud noise could be fatal, if Artemis's screams weren't enough to attract any attention. She was already unconscious, but not dead. Yet.

He propped her up against one of the bags and quickly scrambled to get some medicine and gauze, as well as alcohol to clean the wound and a rag to apply pressure and help slow the bleeding. He wasn't sure on what to do, he was blindly doing this. Sure, he had taken care of his own wounds, but this was completely different. He tried everything he could but he was sure it still wasn't enough. He decided that doing more wouldn't help and wrapped the area, then checked her pulse. She was still breathing and her heart was beating, but he was worried it would soon stop. He sat down close to her and pulled one of his legs up and rested his arm on it, then leaned his head back. All he could think about is looking over and seeing her dead, blaming it on himself even when he knew it wasn't his fault. He let out a deep sigh and took a sip of water, wondering what he should do now while he waited for her to wake up. He couldn't leave her here, and there wasn't much he could do with the weight of the situation on his mind.

---

.....
.........
.....

"....I-....I-m....I'm going to kill him.."

Artemis sat up suddenly, and screamed as the pain hit her. She glanced down at her bandaged side and winced.

"T-thanks Erin," she whispered quietly, as she realised who treated her wounds. Artemis grimaced at the memory of her being stabbed, as everything came back. A tear ran down her face, at the betrayal she felt.

She trusted Leo, loved him, even. They were going to fight the Apocalypse together, he...promised. She should've known, here, promises were made to be broken. Still, her heart was shattered.

Tendrils of pain creeped along her sides, and Artemis had to bite her lip to keep herself from screaming. The pain...she wanted to black out. She almost did, once.

She was determined to kill him, she must. Artemis glanced at the slashes on her wrist, and grimaced. She picked up her knife, gritted her teeth, and cut a small line, above the others. As the ruby-red droplets splashed on her clothes, on the floor, and ran down her wrist, she knew, with a smile...

That Leo was already dead.

Alcipius looked at the City of Arpia with distaste. He had been part of an elite squad whose job was to protect Drasino, king of Rectaros. The city of Arpia and the kingdom of Rectaros had been enemies. After a revolt in Arpia, a new king was crowned, and Drasino and his elite squad had visited the city of Arpia to try and negotiate peace. But the new king had hated Drasino, and ordered his men to kill them. They had escaped, but barely. After Drasino was killed and the land started to become a wasteland, the elite squad of Drasino had been hunted down, and all were killed except for Alcipius and the leader of the elite squad. They had parted ways, and now Alcipius, after hearing that there might be a legendary weapon designed to kill monsters and people, had decided to visit the City of Arpia again, or what was left of the once grand city. He entered the city and saw a shopping mall, but decided against entering it. There might be people in there, he thought. He wasn't worried about people attacking him, but it was better to be cautious. He felt coldness and movement behind him, but didn't bother to turn around. He knew who it was, and if he got into trouble, he knew that she would protect him. While walking around, he heard a scream. His head whipped around towards the direction of the sound. Who could that be? He thought. He wondered if someone was in trouble, and headed towards the sound...

---

Erin let go a sigh of relief when he heard her scream, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. She was still in a lot of pain, which wasn't ideal, but it was expected. He was just glad she woke up again. "You're welcome" he spoke quietly, turning to face her. He wanted to ask what that was all about, but he figured it was best not to do so until she was at least a little better. He watched as she pulled out her knife and drew blood from her wrist. He had only just now noticed the scars, which filled him with concern. He had seen those marks before, he knew what they meant. He tightly closed his eyes as he turned back towards the sky, finding best not to think about it anymore.

---

As Alcipius headed towards the scream, he told his partner, "stay close, but stay out of view." As he looked back, he saw his partner nodding her head. After a while he saw two people ahead. He moved behind a boulder and saw that it was a boy and a girl. The girl looked like she was unconscious. He wondered if he should approach them but decided to just stay where he was and see if they were friends or enemies. After some time, he saw the girl wake up, and then make a slash on her wrist with a knife. Yes, it was better to just follow them...

---

After a few hours of recuperation, she started to get better. Breathing a sigh of relief, registering the fact that the pain was less, Artemis smiled slightly. She got out her small first aid kit, and medical supplies and unravelled her bandage. She winced at the sight of the wound. She took a deep breath and began to stitch the wound together, using stolen supplies from the Pharmacy. Every so often, she would have to stifle a scream, when the needle pierced the skin.

After a few minutes, she was half done, and she looked at her crude attempt at stitching. Artemis sighed, annoyed at her poor attempt, but continued nevertheless. Artemis frowned, she felt danger nearby. "Erin....I think someone is near. I...sense danger afoot," she whispered to him, nervous.

From time to time, Erin would glance over at Artemis to see what she was doing, and making sure nothing happened. The stitching wasn't all that great, but if he knew how to do it, he would've done so. Before Alcipius had wondered over her and caused the two to be on alert. Erin decided to try and take a small nap. Of course, it didn't last long, as he began to hear noises, presumably from another person. He ignored it until Artemis spoke up about it, in which he responded by opening an eye and a careless "Ok." He figured it wasn't anything, since nothing had happened in the last few seconds, but the nervousness in her voice convinced him to at least do something. He started by opening both of his fatigue-filled eyes slowly, looking around to try and find the source. He shifted his position so that he was on one knee, giving him more room to move around.

---

Zelda woke up in her surprisingly peaceful slumber free of the usual nightmares that were still terrifying despite the fact she had been a victim of them for what felt like her whole life. She propped herself upon her shoulder to peer at Yūki 'She's looks so pretty' ran through her head. She stood up with a smirk and a twinkle in her eye to scout out the surrounding area to see where to go next.

She was about to leave the rotting room until she heard a "Good morning," I a similar voice.
"Oh, good morning," she replied turning around to look at the Yūki.
"Where are you going?" Yūki asked rubbing her eyes.
"I was just going to see what was around," she said.
"Okay then, let's go!" Yūki said enthusiastically packing her sleeping bag up and handing it to Zelda to pack it away in her backpack.

Zelda followed Yūki as they exited the once children flourished place now empty just a building rotting as a result of the war and yet again off they went through the crumbling city.

Gino strolled along the path that led to the second park, their mind still wandering over to that peculiar boy. They decided that one day they would help him find a proper house. Until then, they would watch from afar, to see if he really did need help or if he was just as clueless as they presumed. Arrow darted ahead of them, and they smiled. The energetic dog three years of age had been their companion throughout the entire apocalypse. They had found him trapped under a fallen lamp post, his leg nearly broken, and had taken him in and nursed him back to health. Ever since then, he had been following them around, and the two had formed a bond unknown to many. The bond between a human and their dog. Gino glanced up from the pavement. They had a habit of focusing on the path directly in front of them and never actually looking at where they were going. Nevertheless, looking up they realized that the park was right in front of them. There was a rusty swing set that creaked in the wind, and the ever-setting moon shone on a rotting sand pit and fully deteriorated and wrecked play structure. This must have been a children's park. The few trees left around were brittle and lacked their branches full of leaves, and the whole sight was as depressing as they first remembered it, except maybe more now.

Gino noticed a figure on the swings. It appeared to be sleeping- that was good. Gino felt incredibly tired themselves, but did not dare fall asleep out in the open. The figure, which Gino assumed to be another survivor, had another something beside it. It didn't take long for Gino to recognize the shape- they had one of their own. It was a dog. How another dog had managed to survive out here was beyond them, but they figured it simply found a human to care for it. Maybe the survivor was its owner, then. Gino watched Arrow carefully. They had trained him using barely not expired dog treats from a raided pet store to not bark unless they commanded, for it attracted unwanted attention, and he always looked to them for instructions. However, due to the lack of life during a literal apocalypse, Gino was never able to properly socialize Arrow, and they worried how he would react to another dog. Arrow sensed the dog almost immediately, and his entire body tensed, his ears perking and his fur bristling. Then, something that sent a wave of relief to Gino, Arrow turned to look back at them for direction. Keeping their face clear, they gave him the signal for no, and he looked as though he understood. His fur lied back down flat, but his ears remained alert. Just to be safe.

Gino was proud- they had done well in training him. With a soft whistle, they called him over to them, and quietly made a wide arc around the two sleeping figures, careful not to draw attention to themselves. Once they were out of earshot, they headed for a covered space in the play structure, and set up a small area to rest. This park was not too far from Coby's pitiful tree house thing, and they figured it would be easy enough to watch his progress in this world without drawing attention to them or anyone else. Speaking of which, Gino now worried how they would be able to inhabit this park without being noticed by the figure on the swing set. If all goes well, the survivor would simply move on once morning arose, and would take their dog with them. Knowing their luck, though, that was less than likely to happen. With a sigh, Gino curled up in a makeshift bed under the structure as Arrow remained on watch, and slowly fell asleep.

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