"And I knew your father too." A stunned silence filled the room. "Although if you're standing here, I did a disservice to them both." Dr. Remerez's voice had a defeated tone.

 "Dad, too?" Stella seemed only mildly interested, which was understandable because Stella's dad had died before she was born. "I never heard of you before." Stella seemed to mull over the notion. Then she straightened up with resolve. "Never mind that. Do you know where my mom is? Is she…."

Dr. Remerez shook her head. "All I know is that she isn't here, but she should still be alive."

Stella became excited. "She's still alive. I knew it. I can't wait to tell Lillie." Then she slumped. "If we get out of here," she said.

 "Lilie?" Dr. Remerez asked.

 "My sister, she's…." Stella rushed in.

Dr. Remerez's eyes widened with alarm; she held up her hand to stop Stella from speaking further. "Enough, speak carefully." Her eyes roamed the walls. "This is not a safe place to speak freely."

 "That means you could only speak about what they already know." Rachel surmised.

Her gaze fell on the older woman with speculation. She must know about Lilia's origins. Something that Dr. Spencer only knows about. But then why was the Doctor here? There were only but a few reasons why.

"Or maybe just a part of it." Rachel wondered. "Because if you are Dr. Spencer's mentor, your expertise must be groundbreaking."

Dr. Remerez stopped, then turned to Rachel. "A good assessment. Too bad."

"About what," Rachel didn't like where this was heading.

"Because Inspector Lui, you're about to experience firsthand my greatest failure." The Doctor's voice was devoid of emotion, not because she didn't care. It was more like her emotions ran dry a long time ago. "And I apologize."

She knew my name and rank, so I was also a target. Her thoughts were bittersweet, but I had suspected that. Still, my resolve hadn't changed. No matter what happens to me, Stella must escape this.

"And Stella?"

"The child may be…."

Suddenly, a banging sound echoed through the cell. The door opened abruptly, and two guards came through. "You two, you're coming with us." Grabbing onto the two girls and dragging them.

Rachel could hear Stella crying out. "Rachel, Rachel!"

"Leave the child," When the old woman's words were. She started hitting the bars. "If not, take me too."

But it was no use. Soon, Rachel will meet her fate. All she could hope was that Stella would be spared… somehow.

***

Andres and Shadow retreated to get a better viewpoint, and what they saw was daunting. There weren't only Zombies either marching or standing in a neat line. There were also humans; working like being surrounded by Zombies was no big deal, although they kept their distance.

"Maybe it isn't a Lumeye?" Andres inquired imploringly. "Maybe it's brainwashing or something like a remote control. Anything else."

"Something like a remote control? It's too unpredictable, especially in the Wastelands and brainwashing. Come on, their Zombies. The only sure thing is a Death Elemental," Shadow explained.

"Damn, I was afraid of that." Andres sighed. "They also have the same Vine markings Lilia described. I don't like this."

Shadow looked at Andres impatiently. "Why are you hesitating? Our objective is still the same."

"That's not why," Andres denied. "Because if there's one Lumeye, there will be others, and we're delayed enough just getting past that without getting detected," She swept her hand toward the clearing and the robust activity. "And who knows what awaits us once we get inside." She stopped looking closely at Shadow's face. "I don't like that look on your face."

"What look?" Shadow played innocent.

"That look you have when you want to tear everything apart." Andres's eyes were knowing. "And enjoy every minute of it."

Shadow's eyes turned feverish. "Fighting another Death Elemental and finding out who's better and knowing that they were involved in kidnaping Lilia's sister and… friend. They deserve to be cut into pieces. And I freely admit that I find that hard to pass up." Pulling out one of his daggers and ran his finger against the blade before reluctantly placing it back. "But you're right. Now is not the time. Getting the girls to safety comes first."

Besides, there might be a better time later, Shadow thought with glee. I can't let them pass by without saying hi, now can't I?

Andres paused, then nodded her head. "Agreed, what we need is a distraction."

Shadow spotted something moving quickly through the brush. "I don't think we need to wait long."

Suddenly, Va jumped into the clearing, attacking Zombies and humans alike. She hid and reappeared in another location. There was shouting and screaming everywhere. As well as gunshots and stomping feet. It was utter chaos. But in Va's case, she was the one in control. They were chasing after her… and away from the cave entrance.

 "That works; let's go." Then Andres added quickly. "Quickly."

Shadow watched the fighting cat and the destruction left in her wake. And he had but one thought. How envious.

***

Ruined City

"Just one more," Lilia mumbled as she finally untangled the last piece, falling to the nest below. At that moment, she wished she could fly like Heather, but all she could do was adjust her body and hopefully land on her feet. Instead, she couldn't help but hiss as she landed hard on her injured ankle, rolling to reduce the impact.

She slowly got up, limping, but she kept going. She had to leave the nest as soon as possible and didn't want to meet the bird who had made it.

Lilia' felt water drops landing on her face. Lilia's head was so messed up. She had strange visions, and she didn't like what she saw. Lilia couldn't shake this bad feeling like she would lose someone… and felt hopeless. "I need to find them. First, there was the incident with Bryson and Druid. Then, seeing Stella and Rachel, they were so scared. Terran was running from something, but I didn't see Heather, which worried me. A lot. And Shadow, he felt so close!" Lilia whispered. She wanted to leave the nest as soon as possible to ensure they were alive and safe. She hated sitting at the sidelines, only glimpses, but not knowing what was happening. "Ah, it's frustrating as hell." Lilia groaned out.

Then Lilia stopped and turned, placing her hands on her earphones and adjusting the volume. "What's that sound?" It was hard to see too many buildings blocking her line of sight. But there was something—a charged crackling in the air. Lilia didn't like it.

Suddenly, the ground started rumbling, and Lilia widened her eyes with shock when a dust storm spilled between the cracks of the buildings, groaning at the force. Lilia sprouted out. "Crap." She managed to protect her face and braced herself before the storm hit like a freight train, and she went flying.

Lilia hit the ground with a thud. She only had a second to breathe before something broke beneath her and buried her alive.

She woke up with a scream on her lips, trying to get her breathing under control. Lilia didn't know how much time had passed, seconds, hours. All Lilia wanted was to get out, although that was tricky. Her handholds crumbled under her hands, and down she'll go. Then she went again. Finally, Lilia managed to break through to the surface. All she could do was flop over, exhausted.

Maybe this nest was her fate because it felt like she would never leave.

Then, if she wasn't already having a terrible day, she heard something strange. It differed from the distortion, which was still there but thinned out, probably due to the explosion.

What she heard now... the music was beautiful, drowning out everything else.

"I heard this before, L… Oh no!" Lilia widened her eyes. With newfound energy, she quickly got back on her feet. Her eyes searched. Lilia's instincts were to run, but she knew it was too late.

A screeching sound echoed, and then a turkey vulture, enormous, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And it didn't look happy to find Lilia in its home.