Глава 13

I first came here with a few other Infected. We found this ruin.

Later, more people came, including some... less than honest folk. We don't take anyone else in anymore.

I'm glad to see you, Reunion comrades, but I don't want to worry anyone here.

Worry?

That you're conspiring with us to wipe out the uninfected in our midst.

Whether or not it's just a pretext to get us to open our doors to you, we can trade supplies. But let's leave it at that...

There are plenty of uninfected here, so I get what you're saying.

But I still think it would be a good idea to talk it over with your people before you come to a decision. As long as we can get back to making medicine here, we can come to a long-term agreement—

No, no thank you.

Now, off with you. It was nice meeting you.

If you want to take this place, you're welcome to it. So long as you <i>can</i> take it.

I can't see her expression behind the mask.

Maybe she's just bluffing.

Alright then.

But I turned around, nevertheless, getting ready to leave.

Hey, Reunion!

Yes?

Is Talulah with your group?

...She is.

Another Talulah worshiper?

Sure enough, she's our banner, and that's her cage now too.

I hear she has a nomadic city.

Does that city of hers only take Infected?

If you haven't been infected, are you allowed to go there?

I've heard... from the passing caravans, I've heard it's a nice place.

We—There's some people here in less-than-ideal positions, refugees from the wilderness, orphans without a single relative. Talk of that Reunion city has everyone full of hope.

But... you only stand with the Infected, right?

A... city?

There might be a misunderstanding here—

Mays! Do you know what they did?

Did you tell them to do it?! Have you gone mad?!

What are you talking about?

They—Those idiots!

He might've been a fighter in the war here! Or some big important figure, here to doom us all!

We might be just a couple hours out from a battalion of Sarkaz coming in here to wipe us out!

What's going on?

You... Are you with Reunion, like Mays?

It was you, your people—

Those Infected, they killed a Sarkaz in the warehouse!

Bollocks!

He... He was Infected too... He's going to explode, right?

We need to deal with him!

I'll take a look.

Go, quickly! You should be able to help!

On the ground lies the corpse of a Sarkaz.

I... know this guy.

The Sarkaz who rode a motorbike, he was a junkman, going around selling stuff he took off the dead.

He was clearly beaten to death, limbs twisted up in unnatural ways.

His hands are tied. He must've tried to break free, judging by his bloody wrists.

The gathered crowd is mostly silent.

I feel a chill, leaving me briefly speechless.

He... he's dead. The Sarkaz aren't so strong.

Here... the medicine he had on him, and some stale bread.

The one who did the killing doesn't look well. He indifferently breaks off a piece of bread and hands it to someone beside him.

He deserved it.

Someone spits on the ground.

One of them notices me, approaching me while chewing a piece of bread taken off the dead man.

You! You're with Reunion, aren't you?

Mays never told us how we could join you!

I remain silent for a while, calming myself down. I lower his hands for him, spotting the Originium crystals growing on his arm.

Why did you do it?

Did he threaten you? Try to hurt you?

Huh? Why?

It's as if he suddenly loses interest, stumbling over to a nearby crate and taking a seat.

When the Sarkaz burned our farm and humiliated my daughter, did anyone ask why?

He wasn't a soldier. He wasn't a murderous devil from Kazdel. He was just a wandering hawker, selling his wares on the battlefields.

He... even helped you.

Huh, what does he mean? Was he Reunion too?

I <i>am</i> Reunion.

You lot must know what it is Reunion fights for.

Sure, you're fighting for all the Infected!

This man that you tortured to death, the one who never even got a chance to share his name...

Wasn't he an Infected?

But he was Sarkaz.

'Medicine and compassion cannot help the Infected in a way that matters, but solidary and strength can.'

Solidarity... solidarity.

Infected have no homeland. We share the same fate, the same sorrow.

These people don't understand... they've never thought about it.

But, what about us?

Will the veterans from Ursus on the team treat the Infected from Kazimierz well? Can Sankta Infected coexist with Sarkaz?

Even at Rhodes Island, I...

What about the future? If we succeed one day, and the Emperor of Ursus vows to stop massacring the Infected, if he agrees to grant us land and cities...

In this beautiful, seemingly impossible future...

Will Reunion, will the Infected, start killing each other?

Will we fracture, collapse, and give them another chance to butcher us?

Hey, Guard, his corpse... it's glowing, he's about to disintegrate!

I had no idea his condition was so serious.

Or did he really not leave any medicine for himself, trying to save money for some future that would not be his own?

Get out of here! Now!

Run! Run!

Mays! How do you process the Infected here?

That room, the innermost one!

Hurry, we have to throw him in there!

Damn it, damn it all... I need a second, protection... for the nose, mouth, and wounds...

Mays and I lift the Sarkaz's corpse and kick open the door.

Upon opening it, my personal Originium monitor started beeping incessantly. I've never heard the alarm going so intensely before.

Just...

Just how many Infected were processed here?

Every inch of the room is covered with a thick layer of Originium dust, crystal clusters forming in the corners.

'Danger' is no longer sufficient to describe the urgency of the situation.