Andrew felt cold. Really cold. It has been raining for days now. And the only protection were the trees and the tents they built with branches and big leaves. But the water often found its way through.

 

A lot of the people didn’t look good. Many had blueish hands and feet. And the clothes made out of tree bark started to wound the skin after turning wet and shrinking.

 

Two people got fewer yesterday. Yesterday their bodies were extremely hot, and today they felt even colder than the others. In the beginning, the group tried to help them. But as they lost consciousness and got colder, everyone started avoiding them. No one had the ability to help them. Like the comatose people that died long ago.

 

"This can’t go on like this," whispered Denis next to him. "If this goes on, we will all die here."

 

"The rain must stop eventually." Andrew responded. He knew that they had to do something. But they had no other option than to wait for the rain to stop under the trees and tents. They couldn’t even make a fire anymore because everything was drenched in water. It was a pretty gloomy situation.

 

It was absurd for Andrew to think that they survived so long, only to be brought close to death because of rain.

 

Just as he was sinking into his thoughts again, the gruff looking man named Alex, who became their scout, came rushing into their little camp.

 

"I have found caves." He said curtly with his deep and raspy voice. He was one of the few who weren’t bothered by the cold. He was the only one out of the 78 people here who got the Mutation specialization. He underwent horrible pain when he used the corresponding skill. And he was often apathetic after it. But he pushed through it, and it was worth it.

 

"Please not so loud," said Andrew in a hushed voice, looking over to the ragged group of people. They were sleeping tightly packed together on the ground. "What kind of caves have you found?"

 

"I'm not quite sure," Alex started explaining, "but they seem pretty big. Big enough for us to stay in."

 

Andrew’s eyes lit up, and Denis laughed happily. But Alex held up a hand and looked a bit troubled. "The problem is that the caves are located in the rocky hill. On the other side of the river."

 

Andrew’s and Denis’ mood plummeted immediately, thinking about the raging river that separated them from their hope.

 

"Why have you even told us about this?" Denis asked angrily. "It is suicide to try to get over the river. Especially now, the current is insanely strong because of the heavy amount of rain."

 

Alex shrugged his shoulders, looking a bit angry. "Do you have a better solution?" he asked in a tense voice. "Two of us are already dying because of the cold. Another five people lost some toes the other night. And we grow weaker and weaker with every day." Alex looked over at a particular woman named Kendra, who was sleeping like the rest of the others. Andrew didn’t know what was going on between them, but it was pretty obvious that Alex took a liking to her.

 

Denis looked back angrily at Alex, and they started a hushed argument so as not to wake up the sleeping group.

 

Andrew agonized over the situation, while using his ability to calm the two arguing people a little bit. Denis was right. It was suicidal to try to swim through the raging river. But Alex was also right. They would get weaker and start dying one by one if this went on like this. Andrew also felt the toll on his body but tried hard not to show it to the others.

 

Andrew looked despondently at the sky. It didn't get much brighter, even though the sun should be coming up at the moment. There were nothing but thick clouds in the sky, spewing out huge amounts of rain as if they tried to drown them.

 

"We have to take our chance with crossing the river." He said this to the two people standing next to him, and they immediately became silent. Denis looked at him with fear-filled eyes but didn’t argue against him. He also knew that they had to risk it.

 

"But we will not just jump headfirst into the water. Let’s make a plan."

 

They went a bit further away and talked for quite some time. They talked until everyone was awake and started to curiously come closer to the group.

 

Andrew nodded to the other two and stood up in front of the crowd. Alex went to Karen to take her in his arms, trying to ward off the cold.

 

Andrew swallowed and took a deep breath. "Alex found some caves," he started explaining, which elicited excited shouts from the crowd. Like Alex did before, Andrew held up his hand and explained the circumstances.

 

The crowd started to look gloomy and fearful. But contrary to Andrew’s expectations, they were also quite determined. They seemed to trust Andrew more than he thought.

 

Andrew felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. But he wouldn’t let himself get nervous because of it.

 

After the discussions in the crowd died down, Andrew started to explain his plan.

 

"We will use the ropes Tobias made. We will tie them together, which should give us a rope more or less the width of the river. Alex will swim over the river and attach the rope to one of the trees, while we attach the other end on our side. With this, you will be able to pull yourself over the river without having to swim."

 

He waited a moment for everyone to memorize what he just said, and then he continued: "We have some people here who won’t be able to go over with their own strength. Do we have volunteers who can bring them over?"

 

The crowd nervously looked at the two ill people, but no one said anything. Andrew guessed as much and steeled his resolve.

 

"I understand you. I am also not confident enough to do this myself. But we can’t just leave them here and be eaten alive by the rats, as they did with one of the comatose. Do we have volunteers to give them…" He paused for a moment, not wanting to believe what he would say next. "Do we have volunteers to give them a quick death?"

 

This question shocked the crowd even more. But no one said anything against it. Everyone looked to the ground until a woman called Melissa stepped forward.

 

She looked really afraid, but she held a sharp and pointy stone in her hand. She clenched it so hard that a little bit of blood trickled down to the ground. "I can do it. I have a skill to temporarily shut off my emotions." She said in a silent and trembling voice. But everyone heard her nonetheless. The crowd gave her thankful and pitying glances. The people around her even held her shoulders and back, trying to somehow support her.

 

Andrew nodded to her and spoke again. "Alright everyone. Get the ropes and follow Alex to the river. Melissa and I will stay here and… give them their well-deserved rest."

 

The crowd looked nervously at the two but started to pack up faster than necessary. As they didn’t have much stuff, the whole process went quite fast. And Andrew and Melissa stayed behind alone, silently looking at each other.

 

"Let’s get it over with." Said Andrew, preparing his active skill to calm the unconscious people and himself. They started walking over to the place where they had laid the sick people down.

 

"How.." Melissa started speaking, swallowing hard. They were now standing in front of the two pale and unconscious people. "How do you think they would die the quickest?" And the least painful?" Apparently, she had started her skill because her voice became monotone and her gaze was empty.

 

"I’m not quite sure myself." Andrew admitted it, crouching down next to them and touching their heads. His skill would be stronger like this. "Do you know where the heart is?"

 

She thought for a moment, then nodded. "More or less yes. Let’s get to it."

 

She crouched down without hesitation. Andrew hurriedly used his own skill to calm himself and the unfortunate guy while she rammed the rock right into his chest.

 

He immediately woke up and started coughing blood. He looked shocked and delirious, trying desperately to pull out the stone in his chest. But it was no use. He was too weak.

 

Andrew looked away until the man stopped struggling. He coughed out one last mouthful of blood, and then he died. This whole process took what felt like an eternity. It was horrible for Andrew, even with his calming skill. But they had to go for another one.

 

Melissa's gaze trembled as she pulled out the stone with a sickening sound. Her skill seemed to be reaching its limits.

 

"Quickly." She said while they moved on to the next man. This time she seemed to have hit better, as the man only whimpered a little and died soon after.

 

Andrew and Melissa backed away and ran towards the river for a while. Melissa had long thrown away the stone. She was sobbing by now, making it evident that the skill had completely lost its effect. Andrew was also deeply disturbed, but his passive skill didn’t allow him to despair like Melissa did. His skill was often worrying, but in this situation, he was relieved to have it.

 

After a while, they stopped running. And Melissa silently cried for a while, her shoulders shaking heavily. Andrew stood next to her, holding one of her hands. There was nothing that could make this situation better.

 

Andrew wanted to let her grieve some more, but he knew that they were on a schedule. "I’m sorry, Melissa, but we have to leave now. The others are waiting for us."

 

Melissa nodded and took some deep breaths. "Alright." She said in a raspy voice, and they started walking again.

 

It didn’t take long, until they started to hear the sound of the raging river. The group of people already stood there, shuddering slightly in the heavy rain and cold wind.

 

They already managed to tie the ropes together, and one end was already attached to a big tree trunk.

 

Andrew pressed Melissa's hand consolingly, and went over to Alex.

 

"Are you ready?" he asked the gruff man, who had the other end of the rope tied around his waist. Karen held his hand, looking at him worriedly.

 

Alex nodded, took a long look at Karen, and went to the river.

 

Andrew looked at him, staying there in the heavy rain and in front of the raging river. He looked so infinitely small and weak in front of the powers of nature.

 

Alex took a leap into the river without saying anything else and started swimming. He was immediately washed away in the direction the river was flowing. But he kept swimming, and the rope kept him from being washed away completely.

 

It took an agonizing amount of time. And sometimes he was pressed underwater by the heavy currents, but he actually managed to do it. He crawled out of the river, breathing heavily for a while and coughing out water.

 

Andrew was already starting to worry, when he stood up and started walking to the tree closest to the river. He seemed to be limping, but Andrew had no way of seeing what was wrong with him.

 

Alex fastened the rope to the tree and let himself sink against it, not moving apart from his breathing.

 

"Alright," Andrew said with a steady voice, "I’ll go first."

 

Everyone looked at him thankfully, apart from Denis. He looked at him with a fearful but determined expression. And before Andrew could react, he ran to the river and started pulling himself through it while holding on to the rope.

 

"You idiot!" Andrew shouted, but didn’t dare make a move. They agreed to allow only one person at a time to go over the river so as not to overburden the rope.

 

Even though he had something to hold onto, it seemed pretty exhausting. Denis was coughing and struggling, until one hand slipped away. He could barely hold on to the rope with his other hand.

 

With a roar, he pulled himself to the rope again, gripping it tightly with both hands. After a while, he also managed to cross the river. He wasn’t as drained as Alex, and he raised his fists high and seemed to shout something. But over the sound of the storm, no one heard him.

 

After him, Andrew went over. The river hit him so hard that he nearly let go in the beginning. It was insanely exhausting, but luckily the rope had a good grip. Clenching his teeth, he also managed to cross the river. He forced himself to stand up immediately, waving to the crowd on the other side to encourage them. He shot a glance at Denis, who just smiled at him. Andrew nodded thankfully and turned his attention back to the crowd on the other side.

 

One by one, they crossed the river. Andrew started to think that they could all manage it. But not everyone was so lucky. A whole ten people got swept away. They couldn’t even scream, as the river immediately pushed them under water. Every time this happened, the people clenched their teeth and looked down with pained expressions. But it couldn’t be helped.

 

Against Andrew's expectations, the rope held true until the end. Sadly, they couldn’t retrieve it right now, but that was the least of their concerns.

 

Alex seemed to be in better condition again, but he had a ghastly cut on his left leg. "I have no idea what happened." He just said to Andrew, who just wanted to ask. "But let's not waste any time. We have to get to the caves. It shouldn’t be far.

 

The tired and silent group started walking behind the limping Alex, who was helped by Karen. But luckily, Alex’s guess was true. They didn’t have to walk for long, until they came out of the woods and saw the caves in front of them.

 

The people started cheering and ran towards the caves, out of the forsaken rain. Andrew also felt really happy, helping the last stragglers to enter the caves.

 

It was amazing to have a roof over ones head and not constantly feel the water dripping on it. Even though some of them died today, the people were just relieved. They had survived and now even had a dry and safe place to sleep.

 

As the people started to hug each other, laughing and crying at the same time, Andrew went to Melissa. She sat right at the entrance of the cave, holding her knees tightly.

 

He sat next to her, laying his right arm around her.

 

"We have survived." He said this to her, pressing her shoulder tightly.

 

She just nodded with a slight smile, having some tears in her eyes. "Yeah, we did."