Finding Humanity

Chapter 3

Twenty four hours earlier, September, Year 483, Town of Lacau, State of Nicia, North

Nobody knew who got sick first, but by now everyone knew the symptoms. The bloody coughs, breathlessness and pale complexion were only the most notable signs, but by now everyone knew to stay away from the infected. 

Though the symptoms were nowhere near contagious and it was only a matter of time before everyone got the illness and died off, the stigma was still there, especially since the disease induced delusions.

More times than not, friends became strangers and family members ended up slowly forgetting the moments they spent with each other. But becoming mere shadows of their past selves was not the worst of it.

Because of the wan and skeletal appearances of the infected, the rest of the townspeople segregated them to a section of Lacau, to the empty buildings around the town's sole pharmacy for Old Duce, the town's physician, to handle. And once the Shakings—crazed convulsions, spasming fingers and overall insanity—set in, mothers began abandoning their children, husbands threw their wives out into the forest and the population plunged. It was the cruelest symptom, only appearing when an infected was reaching the end of their life.

And as bitter as it was a pill to swallow, no one wanted to care for a deranged, dying man, especially in times like these.

It had been three months since the fog had set in but it felt even longer, the sun becoming less visible with each day that passed. Nowadays, high noon looked no different than midnight.

The town was filled with a constant sense of unease as the day wore on and the fog got closer and closer to the ground, completely obscuring the sight of anyone brave enough to wander about without the safety of a blazestone.

Food was as scarce as hen's teeth, the strange fog eating up the sunlight and stealing heat from the very core of the earth. No one left their homes after the second month to hunt for game in the forest, too terrified of getting lost in the white abyss and never being found.

The days bore the harshness of winter after weeks of absent sunlight, but there was no snow or rain, just chilly winds that howled constantly through the hours. Wildlife had become scarce and townsfolk fell ill faster than the sick were getting better.

Other than disease, starvation was also wreaking havoc on the town of Lacau. Everything touched by the fog—the crops, the people, the livestock—seemed to die in a matter of days.

The infected were dying at a steady rate and the ones left behind had to deal with famine.

"Someone has to do something about this!" By the edge of the town's forest and far away from Lacau's residential circle, sat the only children still alive in the destitute town.

The young boy and girl leaned their backs against the side of the only smithery that could be found across the sixteen states that lined the North-East border—Nicia included.

Because anyone rich enough to own holo hardwares would replace them if they broke, there were not many smithers in the nation. But since Nicia was a state that sat comfortably on the southern boundary of East and North, it was far from the capital.

Low-grade holo wares still had to be repaired because transportation costs ended up being triple their original prices. This smithery was their father's but it hadn't been functional in three months.

The once busy workshop now rested in a field of drooping weeds, its walls covered in scores of creeping vines and moss. The wooden walls had rotted quickly as a result of the dampness in the almost poisonous atmosphere, and the creepers were either brown or yellowing, slowly being killed by the fog that gave it life. 

"Why is this fog destroying everything?" Esau yelled into the milky whiteness. He reached up to his face and ripped off his mask, leaping to his feet and throwing a punch into the fog. "Isn't it just water?"

Beside him his sister gasped, fumbling to catch the old cloth before it touched the marshy ground. 

She stood up and shoved the rag against his face before he could react, her eyes widening slightly with anger as she reached to touch the cloth that stretched over her own nose and mouth. "Don't do that ever again."

"I. . ." Esau took the makeshift mask from Edythe without saying another word. Guilt made him unable to speak.

He had almost forgotten that she was there, watching out for him like she always did. It was suicidal to breathe in the fog when it was this close to the ground. He knew full well that the fog was not water.

His despondent gaze fell to the grass crushed beneath his boots. He had to squint to make out the little green blades that had barely adjusted to the harsh conditions and managed to survive. In couple of days, they too will die.

Everything was barely visible, soaked in the dreariness of the fog. Sometimes he felt like he would disappear into the fog as well. It was just a matter of time before he fell sick too. . . and died.

His gaze shifted to his sister, he could see her clearly enough despite the fog dancing circles around her feet. Her eyes were like blue beacons in the white darkness. I don't want her to die.

The blazestone pendant sitting below Esau's collar heated up as though sensing his thoughts, sending satisfying tingles of warmth into his toes and fingertips. He saw a corresponding burst of orange beneath Edythe's collarbone.

Yes, he consoled himself, we have blazestones on us all the time.

It wouldn't be that easy for them to get infected. They'd survive the longest, till there was no more fog. At least that was what his Ma had told them three months ago, when it had first descended.

Returning his gaze back to the dilapidated workshop behind him, he tried to stifle the frustration brewing in his chest. His helplessness choked him more than the fog did.

"I'm sorry Eddy, I won't do it again," he apologized. The words felt hollow coming from his mouth and he knew it; they both knew that he was lying.

"Okay," Edythe said when he looked her way, patting her gloved hand on his shoulder. "Let's hurry up and go home. If we're late Ma will be. . . worried."

Worried wasn't the best word to describe their mother's reaction to their loitering, but it was the best Edythe could come up with.

They both knew that if their Ma found out that they had spent so much time by the workshop with midnight approaching, they'd be in unspeakable trouble.

"Yes," Esau said, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the fog, "before midnight we have to be home."

When the moon goes up, the fog comes down, he reminded himself, even though he knew they'd be back home long before the fog fully descended and navigation became impossible.

Day and night were only guesses based on the hours they managed to measure in their spare time and the distance they could still see ahead of them. The darkness that descended with the fog had destroyed all visual concepts of time—not like anyone needed it anymore.

You rise with the fog and descend with it as well. If you did otherwise then you'd be unquestionably dead the next morning.

Picking up the bundle that leaned against the door of the smithery, Esau smiled at his sister. He wasted no time, taking her hand in his as he secured the straps of the bundle across his chest.

His other hand now free, he pressed his mask tightly across his nose, not bothering to waste the effort to tie it on again.

"You have to get something good this time or we'll have to go hungry for a while," he joked as they walked, his real worries hidden just beneath the humor. Food is going to run out soon anyway.

A nod was Edythe's only reply and after a stretch of comfortable silence they eventually reached the first circle of stone houses. She moved quietly alongside her brother as they squeezed through the tight spaces between houses and the gaps that separated alleyways, a basket of herbs held firmly in her left hand.

By clinging to the shadows and avoiding the main road, they had managed to evade the eyes of the aimless infected who still wandered the near empty streets, keeping their presence concealed for the time being as they snuck their way into the center of town.

"Here we are," Esau announced quietly as he peered up from behind one of the barrels that rested in front of them in the dim alley. His gaze settled on the small building in front of him and he decided that it looked especially ominous tonight.

Inflamed blazestone ignited the torches that dotted the townsquare, but the the illumination only kept the fog at those specific spots.

It had been Esau's mother who discovered that blazestones kept the fog away. And for these past three months she had been the town's sole supplier since she was the only one who knew how to artificially produce them.

It's the only reason they haven't chased us out of Lacau, Esau thought bitterly and pressed the blazestone he wore into his skin. He only let his hand fall when the heat became unbearable. Pa should come back quickly and take us away.

Ten torches surrounded Duce's Pharmacy, making it the most brightly lit establishment for miles—and the most visible. It's exterior was colored a bland, peeling beige and it's only windows, the two large ovals stylishly cut into the front wall, were smeared over with black paint to keep curious eyes unaware of the happenings that went on in the building.

Esau had always found the place daunting, but the pharmacy was more portentous now than it ever was, with rolling waves of fog licking at its metal roofing, not daring to descend any further.

He shuddered at the sight. "Edythe, I should go in with you."

As Esau stared at the crooked sign that sat above the pharmacy's front door, his lungs inflated with undescribable dread and he felt the need to speak up again.

"It's not safe," this time he let fear taint his inflections. "The infected are in there," he said, as though he hadn't realized that for the past three months.

But his sister only shook her head, pointed at the group of suspicious looking men lingering across the street then motioned slowly to herself.

But you won't be fine, Esau stared at her blankly, ignoring the rest of the signs she made with her dexterous fingers.

Edythe had never liked talking where anyone but her family could see her, and most of the townspeople had long gotten used to her silence. But right now her gestures only served to irritate her brother.

"Just don't go alone!" Esau shouted unhappily, unable to express the terror he was feeling with the words. "I don't care if they know you, I still don't trust them."

Still, Edythe only smiled, taking off her blue scarf and wrapping it around her brother's bare neck in a reassuring manner.

Esau got the message and reluctantly turned away as his sister walked briskly towards the pharmacy to buy their dinner for the next seven days.

He knew that Edythe had already hidden the herbs in her skirt. She would leave the empty basket at the door as she went inside to sell the medicinal plants to the pharmacist in exchange for dry rations that would last their family a week if used scrutinously.

The process was a bit tedious but the secrecy was for her safety.

Their mother's herbs were in large demand at times like these, being the only thing capable of easing the suffering of the infected, and Edythe could easily get mugged for the plants by a desperate family man.

Usually, by the time his sister was done with her trade, Esau would be halfway across town going door to door selling powdered blazestones. When he was done, he would meet up with Edythe at their father's smithery and they would walk home together.

This time though was different. This time Esau stayed behind.

And regardless of the fact that he knew that he was cutting it close with time, he watched the pharmacy very closely because something felt undescribably wrong.

He didn't need to wait long to find out what it was.

When he saw the blank look on Edythe's face, dried herbs clutched tightly in her pale fingers as she stumbled out the shop's front door, his almost felt his heart stop. Something bad is about to happen.

Something really bad is. . .

His feet moved on their own before he could even register the slight shake of her head as her eyes widened at the sight of him rushing towards her, or the way he saw Edythe's lips form the word 'run' before the syllable even sounded out.

As he dashed to her side there was only one thing going through his mind. Edythe. I have to save her.

Where is her mask?

Why is she covered in blood?

What are we running from?

But then it came, answering all of Esau's unvoiced questions in a single moment.

Strangely visible in the thickening fog, it sped out the door, letting out a deafening wail just before sinking it's teeth into his sister.

Edythe's shout was accompanied by a burst of vivid red that rose towards the sky then splashed against the stones by her feet. "Esau, run!"

So he ran.

He ran straight towards his sister without a shred of hesitation, because at that moment Esau knew without a shred of doubt that he would give up his life if it meant saving her.