Even after they were far from the village – or what Layne assumed to be far from the village, as he didn't maintain a grip of time nor distance – the smell of the burning flesh still lingered in his senses. It was a part of him, now, and he wouldn't have pictured his daily life without it. Coden and Iker kept tugging on his forearms, urging him to keep moving – and he did so without complaining. Even while his vision blurred beneath his eyelashes and wobbly feet refused to rise further than a few centimetres above the ground.

Every once in a while, his head shot up with a wave of pain. Right after hearing a high-pitched, girly scream somewhere in the distance. Coden, nor Iker never as much as raised an eye, and the screams kept repeating – in all the directions surrounding them. Sometimes they were louder, sometimes – just about as audible as the buzzing in his ears.

"We'll have to stop," Iker said after a while. "Can't keep dragging him much longer, he's obviously not well enough."

Dragging, Layne's thoughts stumbled on that one word. Iker was lying. He was moving just fine by himself. Yet when Coden nodded and the two of them sat him against a tree trunk, he felt as if he belonged right there in that spot.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Coden. They squatted right in front of Layne and for a moment, he wanted nothing more than to see them gone.

"Nothing's wrong with me." He frowned and turned away from them. "Where the hell is Malia?"

His companions looked at each other before Iker let out a long sigh. "I've told you. I'm not really a doctor. I don't know. Doesn't look like he's wounded or anything..."

"What are we supposed to do, then?"

"Even if I knew what was wrong, what do you imagine us doing here?" Iker snapped.

Coden shook his head and motioned his hand to Iker. They moved away and although Layne saw them whispering, he didn't hear a thing. At first, he tried his best to listen in, but soon enough he lost interest.

Layne tilted his head up ever so slightly and noted the balding treetops. Even looking at it, the thought of winter coming entered his mind and caused him to wrap his oversized jacket tighter around his body.

Iker and Coden were still talking between each other, unlikely to be paying much attention, when Layne heard faint footsteps closing in. Victor, of course, was his first thought. Although Victor's never been that careful about anything – quite on the contrary, his footsteps were always heavy with confidence. Malia? One of Victor's unaware 'minions'?

Even so, he couldn't be bothered to alert the others.

The nearby spruce trees' branches moved around and soon enough, Alana's face peeked from behind them. Layne smiled at her and the woman pushed the remaining greenery away from her with more force than needed.

"Coden, Iker, Layne!" she exclaimed.

Quite unnecessary, Layne thought to himself. He remembered his name. He was sure Coden and Iker did as well. It did get the fools' attention, though. They wouldn't have noticed an actual man-eating beast jumping at them otherwise.

The three exchanged hugs and some more sweet, yet meaningless, words. Layne took it upon himself to keep watch of the surroundings – since they wouldn't.

"Are you ok?" Alana knelt in front of him. Too close. "You're too silent. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

She didn't believe him – he could see that in her expression. The way she furrowed her eyebrows and squeezed her lips together. The way she tilted her head.

"Gee, Alana, I just saw those assholes throw a bunch of corpses into a bonfire," he added. "I'd like not to be interrogated."

"He'll be fine." Coden's voice almost resembled a chuckle. Layne didn't find anything funny. "Where are the kids?"

Alana swung her arm to the direction she came from. "I left them with the others. Been trying to find as many survivors as I can. Haven't been too successful, as of now."

"How many are there?" inquired Iker.

"Just four children, two adults."

"The forest's big... Wouldn't be surprised if the rest tried to get away as far as possible."

The woman nodded with just a tad bit too much enthusiasm – as if hope had re-entered her body. "Yeah, you're right."

. . .

To Layne's relief, they didn't have to walk for too long before they got to meet up with the people Alana had talked about. He refused to let anyone help him move any longer. That wasn't the time for him to be weak – on the contrary, it was the time all of his strength will be needed.

Also, he couldn't let the children think bad of him.

When they made their way through thorny bushes into what seemed to be a very lousy camp, the four kids jolted back as if they'd seen a monster. Alana's chuckle brought them back and they rushed into her open arms with a slight childish screech. She really was quick to earn the sympathy of everyone around – the little ones, especially. Layne smiled to himself, when he remembered how they started out.

He was glad to see the little girl Oscar had entrusted to them among the kids, as well as Mary's son, Phil. Even more glad to see Rose as one of the other survivors.

Everyone smiled at each other and exchanged worthless news and some chatter. Encouragement, mostly. Layne didn't care for that. He didn't see a reason for such joy, anyway.

He could still smell it.

He sat further away from everyone and let his head rest against a sturdy tree. It ached less if he didn't move. Even with everything going on around him and with all the fear and tension building up with every minute of apparent safety, it didn't take him long to drift into a slumber.

. . .

The next few days passed without adventures. To everyone's disappointment, they didn't manage to find any more survivors, although Alana did her best to keep up their hopes. It's a big forest. It's only natural, especially since no one could be sure who's a friend and who's a foe.

The few adults in their camp took the risk to return to the village in which the massacre took place in hopes of finding food, clothing or blankets. Layne wanted to go with them – he was feeling a whole lot better, although not one hundred percent yet. Sitting around, being useless while everyone else did their best to ensure their survival would only make it worse, he thought. Yet when Alana firmly voiced against that, he knew to do as she said. To his own disbelief.

He never would have thought he'd ever give up so easily.

He was left alone with the children. To babysit. The only thing he was good for, just like back in Eumain. The kids in their camp, however, weren't as perky and loud as Rissa. For most of the time, they sat in a tight circle, playing something with pinecones they found on the ground. They barely even talked, and when they did, it wasn't much more than a whisper. As much as Layne was proud of their bravery and maturity, considering the dangerous situation, he couldn't help it but think that kids weren't supposed to be like that. They were supposed to cry when they were scared and yell when they're cheerful.

He was used to Rissa clinging to him whenever he'd visit. Dragging him around the flat, showing off her new toys and teaching him new games. He scooted over, closer to the children, who gave him a few glares.

"So what are you playing?" he inquired.

They only shrugged and huddled closer together. Layne backed away – the signs were clear enough. He didn't expect anything else - they wouldn't even tell him their names. He wasn't Alana or Rose and they didn't like him. Couldn't blame them, either.

It wasn't too long after that that the sounds of people chattering became audible. They couldn't have been far. Layne jumped, at first, but after some closer listening, he determined it could only have been their group. He was right about that, too.

When they saw each other, Coden and Iker smiled and lifted up a couple of bundles. Blankets, just like ones they had when they were staying there. The man, whose name Layne never even bothered to ask, carried another one. Alana and Rose had something in their arms, although it wasn't much. Their faces were pale, their posture – stiff. They barely had enough time to set down the few pieces of meat and a few vegetables before they were swarmed by children. Even wrapped by their tiny arms, they didn't liven up.

"They saw the remains," Coden whispered, squatting next to Layne.

"Figured that out."

"There's nothing left. Everything's either gone or destroyed."

"Guess Victor and his assholes made sure we didn't have anything, huh." Layne bit into his lip and ripped off a dry chuck of skin. It didn't even hurt, yet he could taste the metal.

"Alana says other survivors might have been faster than us."

"Alana's too optimistic." He shook his head. "There might not even be other survivors."

Coden squirmed in place and turned away.

"I'm just saying... Speculating doesn't help."

He didn't answer. Layne looked over the very little food supply they had and the four hungry children, as well as the adults.

They were playing a survival game in the forest with not enough food nor warmth and actual murderous beasts hunting them down. Who did not make the loud noises to scare off their victims, nor relied on the time of the day.

"A few zombies would surely be a nice addition," Layne whispered loud enough for only Coden and Iker to hear him. They exchanged glances and looked at him with worry in their eyes. He snorted at them and closed his eyes, smile on his face.