Renata
As the four of them fought to get to Diamond, they received an up close look at just how much the world was falling apart. Luckily, they had access to Nirvi's private jet, but on their way to it, they were surrounded by fire and screaming and blood. There were monstrous undying in different phases of the craze running rampant in the shadows of the night.
Hopefully the impending dawn would take care of some them.
On top of this new, grotesque world unfolding all around them, they needed to be as discreet as possible if they wanted to evade Angel as his endless reach. With each passing moment, Renata was certain he would rise from some dark corner, eyes black and swirling with shadows. She felt not only him, but Death.
It reminded her of when she met the elderly woman from the hospital room '414'. Images flashed by, of her life from the first days to her last. That feeling right before the first breath and the power fluctuating after the last. This overwhleming sensation of nothingness and a stretching, ever-expanding universe. That cold rushed through Renata, stronger than ever. Except, even as she looked around at her alarming surroundings, countless faces whirred past. Other details distract her senses. Wood burns. Tears. Hearty laughter. Sorrowful cries. Blood. Ash. Bone crunches. Gasp. Crash. Choke. Drip, drip, drip. Urine. Quiver. Hide. Run. Fight back. Go. Stay. It'll be over soon. Gone.
"Renata," a quiet voice whispered, breaking her out of her haze.
She looked up, having hyperfocused on the seat in front of her, not really in the present. She looked around to see everyone's eyes on her. She hated that feeling, like she was some kind of freak.
Well, considering she just faced off with Death, it's not like it was some cruel rumor. She was a freak.
She made eye contact with Keone first. She was startled by his hazel green gaze, expecting red. He's human, she reminded herself. Maybe this was all one long dream he invaded as some kind of sick joke? "There's shadows at your back."
"Like in the hospital," Tahoma added, "and it happened again when you clashed with..." The grim reaper. That moment still hadn't registered in her mind. It was more like a memory she wanted to forget ever happened, especially because her confronting Angel was probably the whole reason the world was going to shit. Her processing that she was responsible for all this death. Impossible.
Renata turned around but saw nothing. "Sorry, I can't control it."
"Is death near?" Rocio asked. She hated the fearful look in her eyes.
Renata shook her head and wanted to cry. "It's here. It's everywhere. I feel like I can't breathe." She dropped her face into her hands, feeling the literal weight of the world on her shoulders. "I don't have any answers. I don't know how to stop any of this." She felt a slender arm rest across her shoulders and knew it was her sister.
"None of this is your fault," Rocio told her. "We're going to figure this out together."
Renata sat up and wiped at her face. "I'm fine, I just want to get Diamond."
"We will." Tahoma had moved so he was across from her. He put his hand on her knee. "We'll get to her and protect her."
"What if she turned?" Keone brought up the one thing Renata hoped would be left unsaid. "Or is sick."
"She's alive, and she's fine!" Rocio snapped before Renata could.
Keone backed off.
"Listen up everyone," Tahoma began, "it may or may not be the end of the world, so it's best we keep our pessimistic thoughts to ourselves. All we can do right now is protect each other, get Diamond and make it back to Balam's compound in time. That's the plan and straying away from it won't do anyone any favors. We'll figure out next steps after that. Okay?" While Renata was wholely concentrated on the well-being of her best friend, she couldn't help but think that Tahoma made for a great leader and admired him for his calmness in the face of all this bloodied unknown.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
**********
Considering the world was in complete chaos, they were able to land much closer to Diamond's house.
Renata's heart was racing as they ran on foot toward a sort of home she'd visited and slept at hundreds of times.
On this street alone, there were car alarms going off. People running around and screaming. Some houses were already boarded off. Street lights were blinking.
The fucking apacolypse.
Then, Diamond two-story, blue house with white trimming came into view on the left as they ran up the street. "That one!" Renata shouted and pointed toward the structure. They picked up the pace and were sprinting at this point.
They were on the poarch in no time. Tahoma kicked open the door. "I smell blood. There's a straggler in here."
"No," Renata cried.
But right as everyone started to look around panicked through the discheveled house, they heard the muffled shouting, "I'm up here, help me!"
Renata remained ahead of the pack as she raced up the stairs, knowing exactly where to go. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed all of the blood.
"Renata, watch out!" All three shouted at her right as she reached the top steps. To her horror and relief, there was a straggler but not her best friend, though her calling out earlier kind of spoiled that question already. This was Renata's first time seeing one so near. Instead of recoiling back, they both remained still.
She felt the three at her back watching in question.
The straggler watched her in curiosity but didn't make any move of aggression.
Renata didn't have time for this. She was just so overwhelmed and needed to get to Diamond. She had no idea what she was doing but allowed her limbs to be led by instinct. She clutched their head between her palms and willed the mentioned shadows to seep into the creature. Black obscurred their face, invading the rest of their body until they crumpled to the ground, gone from this earth. She watched in fascination as the body shriveled up, like it was decomposing but on fast forward. Soon, it was hard to tell that anything had been there at all.
"Renata, what the fuck," Rocio muttered.
"It doesn't matter." Renata returned to her mission. "Diamond?"
"Renata?! I'm in here, I'm in here. Please, help me."
Her heart broke as she heard the terror in her friend's voice. She zipped through the bedroom and practically blew through the door, practically leaving splinters in her wake. She saw the flash of blue, the tear-stained, tanned face and she felt like she could finally breathe again. "Diamond! Diamond, I'm here!"
They embraced on the bathroom floor. Diamond winced as it hurt her poorly-wrapped shoulder. "I was so scared," she sobbed, "what the fuck is going on? Is the same thing gonna happen to me that happened to, happened toâoh god, Chikaâ"
"You can't become undead from a bite," Keone answered somewhere from the house. Though, he couldn't have been far considering he didn't have his vampiric hearing anymore.
Renata embraced her back and made a softing shushing noise. "Hey, it's okay, you're fine. You're going to be okay. Everywhere is fucked, people have become undead, and undead have become human. A lot of people are dead."
Yeah, okay, that wasn't so helpful in calming her down as she cried harder. Renata continued because they didn't have time to sit there as they did, "I'm here now. We're gonna get you out of here and we're going to figure things out. Can you stand?"
She sniffled and examined the nasty bite mark. "I think so."
"Okay, good." She ran her hand over her head and gave an encouraging smile. "We need to go."
The next few moments unfolded slowly, at least Renata processed them slowly.
She grunted as she helped her injured friend up. She looked at Diamond's face and noticed her eyes immediately snapped toward the doorway, where her sister was. Rocio looked so relieved but something about her seemed like she was...restrained? Like she wanted to say something or do something, but she couldn't.
Rocio took a step forward and reached forward as though for an embrace but stopped instantly. Renata looked back at Diamond and saw desperation, even yearning in herâthankfullyâbrown and human gaze.
Renata's heart plummeted to the ground when this shared look slapped the conclusion right down in front of her face. She recalled their argument from earlier, when Rocio alluded to finding someone new.
She just didn't think her sister had moved on with...
The guilty pair look away from each other as though that spark of a moment didn't happen at all. Rocio cleared her throat. Her voice was hoarse with emotion. "I'm glad you're okay." She cleared her throat again. "But we should really get going. We'll treat your shoulder on the way to Balam."
Renata felt like she was beside herself as she spoke with her hollow tone. "She's right. We should go."
Diamond noticed the shift in Renata and frowned. She didn't question it. "Okay, let's get out of here."
Though the world was ending, Renata was certain she was about to save hers while on her way here.
Now? She wondered if anything would ever be the same again.