Chapter 5 - Altering

"It's already been more than a month, hasn't it?" Alice whispered. Silence immediately fell over the table. They'd already finished eating, as their meals had only gotten smaller and smaller. For the first week they'd managed with just the leftover rations they'd had on them. After they'd finished those, they'd had to resort to killing whatever wildlife they'd managed to find.

Karabell was still amazed by the amount of wild animals wandering around the Lower District. But then again, Japan'd had zoos, and the Aberrations didn't seem particularly interested in animals. Nature had reclaimed a good portion of the abandoned city, so there was plenty of food for the herbivores. That being said, hunting was a hassle. The Aberration-killing poison was practically imbued in their weapons. Even if it wasn't really dangerous for humans, they still weren't eager to eat it. Een's improvised traps, however, made procuring food possible.

Karabell looked at Alice. There were tears welling in her eyes. The same question popped up in his head once more. Why did they have to fight? Before the Superior's attack, fighting had been their only hope to move forward. Trim down their numbers, reclaim land. That had always been the soldiers' purpose. But they'd been brutally stripped of all hope that night. The message was clear. No matter how much they fought, they wouldn't be able to achieve anything.

"Yeah. It's hard to accept, I know... but we can't give up," Karabell heard himself say. He hated motivational speeches, but he couldn't bear seeing his team down in the dumps like that. "I've been meaning to say this for a while now. Those documents... I can tell for sure, they weren't in the Agency's records. Their recipes for creating the poison weren't that detailed. I'm sure Een noticed it too. Those papers we found even have suitable substitutes in case you're missing one of the components. That night, I told you I was about 75% sure about it... Now, there's no doubt in my mind when I say this. Someone's behind those attacks. Not something, but someone. Aberration or human, I can't tell. But there is someone out there that has complete control over those things... someone intelligent, who likes to mess with us for whatever reason."

His words didn't have much of an effect. The looks on his comrade's faces were serious. They'd all been thinking the same thing. They'd just had to put the pieces together. But no matter how obvious it seemed, it was hard to believe. No, they didn't want to believe it. Een's shoulders tensed, but his features remained neutral. The Captain could tell that he was angry. If all those dead people had been the result of a mindless beast's rampage... He could have accepted it. But that wasn't the case.

"Captain. I'm sorry, but do you mind if I go outside for a bit? I need to cool my head off," he said in a strangled voice, already heading for the exit.

Alice gave a half shrug as Een closed the door behind him. Shono remained quiet. He looked at the other two and his brow furrowed. The man wanted to speak, but the words refused to come out. They were all more or less feeling the same way as Een. They needed a break... but they couldn't afford such luxury.

"Do you think we could kill it?" Alice asked, although she could guess the answer. "We weren't even taught about such a possibility. All they ever told us was that the Aberrations were the bad guys and we were the good ones. For such a long time, I thought that we were moving towards a better future by fighting those disgusting creatures, but that might not be the case anymore. Sure, there's a high chance we're completely wrong. But, at the same time, we could very well be onto something... for the first time in two thousand years. We can't ignore that," she spoke, forcing the uneasiness she felt into determination.

Karabell stared blankly at the her. He couldn't help but smile. They were good people... all of them. Like any other people, they obviously had their shortcomings. But he was glad to have them on his team. Shono, the man who'd found him sleeping in that abandoned building. He was a reliable, honest to a fault soldier. Een, the guy he knew he could count on if things got out of hand. Although a bit cowardly, he was quick-witted and observant. And, last but not least, Alice... the girl he had, for better or worse, fallen in love with. He'd met many girls during those years of training. But he'd been way too immersed in his work to think about anything else. The last thing he'd wanted was to die right away when battling an actual Aberration. After spending so much time in the same team, laughing in death's face over and over again, he'd found himself thinking about her more and more. Karabell didn't know if Alice felt the same way about him or not. But he didn't care, either. Romance had no place in that world. For soldiers, those feelings were nothing more than unnecessary burdens. They would've just become each other's weakness. And he couldn't let that happen. Ignoring his feelings wasn't as hard as he'd first thought it would be. After all, he was used to it. Not crying when he wanted to, maintaining his composure even in the worst situations. He was the Captain, after all. It was his duty.

"Not to mention that screeching Aberration from earlier. Kar, do you think it was one of those Superiors that supposedly attacked the Agency?" Alice's voice brought him back to earth.

"No... We've killed two or three of those this past month. They didn't screech. Not to mention, that feathered one wasn't large enough to have been a superior. The ones we defeated were at least four or five meters tall. Remember?"

"You have a point... But what was that thing, then?"

"A new type of Aberration, probably. Though aside from screeching, it didn't seem special in any way," Shono suddenly joined in on the conversation. "Look, I agree with you, Alice, Captain. We can't just waste our lives away like this. So I've thought about something, too. It's quite the deed, but I know the location of another AAD base up north, in the Upper District. We could go there, but it would take us several days."

The Upper District... Well, they didn't have much choice. Before thinking about finding and killing whoever or whatever was behind the Superiors' attacks, they needed food and a better shelter. Naturally, Karabell was the one who had to make that decision. He scratched the back of his head.

"Then let's go. That's our best shot. Wouldn't you say, Captain?" Een said, wiping his feet on the makeshift doormat. Karabell wasn't sure how much he'd heard, but his cheerful tone was more than enough to pump him up.

"Yeah. We should leave as soon as possible." The Captain smirked, the sides of his lips flickering ever so slightly with joy.

"We'll finally be able to eat tasty food again!" Alice exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

For the first time in over a month, Karabell Ress managed to fall asleep as soon as he lay down on the old bed.