(Links to previous chapters in comments). "Can we count on you?" Mattaus stared up at the ceiling, Mirim's words from what seemed a lifetime ago echoing in his head. He blinked away the last vestiges of sleep and looked around him. He was in the same room as before, but the tube was gone from his arm. He rubbed where it had been, wincing at the ache from the bruised skin. Slowly he sat up, breathing hard as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Gripping the sides of the bed he waited for it to pass. When it had, he pulled the covers off himself and swung his legs off the side. Taking a deep breath, he eased himself down and stood upright. [i]So far so good.[/i] He took a step forward and immediately felt his legs wobble. He quickly leant back onto the bed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a walking cane with a ball shaped tip propped up against the wall beside his pillow and just within reach. Using it to stabilise his weight, he found he could take small steps without fear of falling. Looking up, he saw that the door to his room was still open. He shuffled towards it. Felicia was sitting on a discolored, ripped fabric couch in the small room behind the closed wooden door at the end of the corridor beyond his room. Her feet rested on a battered wooden coffee table and a jug of water sat on a waist-high heavily scratched metal stand beside her. Apart from that, the room was empty. She was drinking from a metal cup and wearing an oversized pair of brown pants and a large dark t-shirt. She looked small and frail in such ill-fitting clothes. Her face was pale in the harsh light cast by a bare lightbulb hanging by a long wire from the ceiling. She smiled thinly as he appeared. "How are you?" She asked quietly. He saw the hardness in her eyes and the tension in her shoulders as she spoke. She might care how he felt, but probably not. He shuffled over to her, watching as she warily moved aside and made room for him. "I'm sorry" he said simply. Felicia's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You can count on me. You can all count on me". He shook his head and looked away. "I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm trying to stay alive and keep all of us alive..." His eyes were red and filled with tears when he looked back at her. "I'm sorry about what happened. I... I just lost it. I can't switch off. It's like a sickness. I can't ..." Mattaus swallowed and visibly tried to compose himself. "You [i]can[/i] count on me". She stared at him for a long while, then nodded slowly. "Prove it" she said. A door in the far wall opened with a loud squeal of protest and two men, one large the other small walked in. The smaller man Mattaus recognised from his room before, though he now wore faded denim pants and a yellow checked shirt loose over the top. The larger man had close-cropped red hair and a soft round face dark with burnt orange stubble. A green t-shirt with 'EDEN XXV - The Future of The West!' branded on its front in big white letters stretched across his belly and over faded black shorts. "How are you feeling?" the small man asked. Mattaus raised his cane in the air. "Weak, little dizzy too". The man nodded. "To be expected. You will feel much better after some food". Mattaus felt his stomach clench at the word 'food'. "You have enough to share?" The two men looked at one another and the larger one grinned as he slapped his stomach. "What do you reckon?" "We are here". Miskorix found itself holding its breath as the Vandals shoved past the Dregs and into the large cavern the passage opened into. It stumbled as it crossed the threshold and reached out a clawed hand to rest against the wall. The pain in its chest had spread throughout its body and it felt as if it's very bones ached. Inside its mask it smiled. [i]It's here![/i] It dragged a ragged breath through its lungs and stared at the twisted struts of metal reaching out from the far cavern wall. At first glance they looked as if they had sprouted organically from the rock, but on closer inspection it was clear that the metal spars were from a hull buried beneath. Anticipation, excitement, anxiousness and trepidation all blossomed within the Dreg. After so many years, after so much sacrifice it was so close. [i]Now I just need to get inside. [/i] A sharp flash of pain burst in its head. [i]And stay alive.[/i] Gartan, as Mattaus had come to know the larger man was called, led them from the room to another small corridor that opened into a large space filled with different electronic machines, liquid drips, boxes of wires and others of bandages and various other objects. What appeared to be window spaces were set in the far wall but had been sealed with wood and plastic. Double doors with a horizontal lever running their width at waist height were set in the centre of the wall between the windows. "A few months ago we moved what we could from the old hospital to here", Gartan explained as he saw them looking at the cluttered space. "Generally we have had little use for it all, but the hospital is at the edge of town and we can't keep patrols out that way. Not that we have much need to patrol, but you know, it made sense to bring it in. This", he said gesturing about him and to where they had just come from, "is our new medical facility". The smaller man grunted. "Oh come on Alfren! It's not that bad!" The bald man shook his head. "I am not having this conversation here. We will discuss it in The Council meeting". "Wait a minute", Felicia interrupted. "You don't need to patrol? What about the Fallen?" Alfren and Gartan exchanged looks. "We need to wait for Petrisen", Gartan said quietly. "Hold on", Mattaus interrupted. "We have been either fighting or running from the Fallen our entire lives. What do you mean you don't need to patrol?" Gartan walked to the double doors and paused. He frowned and visibly collected his thoughts. "Petrisen is the one to speak to, I don't want to say too much until you can speak with him". He turned back and smiled at them. "I will tell you though that you are safe here". He turned away and pushed on the levers of both doors, opening each outward. Bright light spilled inside and for a moment both Mattaus and Felicia were blinded. When their vision returned, they found themselves before floor to ceiling dusty windows through which the city imposed itself in the bright afternoon sun. Broken towers of different heights surrounded them, each with upper levels of jagged twisted reaching metal struts and strewn rubble. Felicia walked to the nearest window and peered out. Around the broken towers surrounding her were much smaller buildings in similar states of ruin and at their feet, wide streets choking with debris. She stared around her and surmised she must be thirty or forty stories high. "We've been here for a couple of years", Gartan said turning back to them. "Most of us live in a small part of the city and have barricaded the surrounding area. The first few years we were frantic and then..." "Gartan", Alfren cautioned. The larger man turned to the smaller. "We need to wait for Petrisen", Alfren said firmly. The Hunter watched the Dregs from a small shadow-filled niche in a cavern wall. [i]I need to get inside[/i], he thought. [i]Analysing[/i], his Ghost whispered in his mind. [i]Its not a full vessel[/i], it continued. [i]It must have broken-up on impact. Command section and minor decks only.[/i] The Hunter suddenly felt nauseas and lurched forward, almost falling from his hiding place. Greyness clouded his vision and his head felt thick. [i]What is it?[/i] His Ghost hissed frantically. The Hunter shook his head trying to clear the fog clouding his thoughts. [i]Suddenly felt sick. [/i] The Ghost moved a little closer and its eye-lense rotated as it focused and refocused on him. [i]There is something wrong with you[/i], it said softly. [i]I need time to...[/i] [i]No time Ghost[/i], the Hunter replied, tightening his grip on his pulse rifle and breathing hard. [i]Can you plot a route to the Command section?[/i] [i]Of course, but...[/i] [i]Leave it. We worry about me later.[/i] [i]Very well. On it.[/i]