I push Nick out of the way and take control.
"Just go to sleep bud, I'll handle it from here."
"Thanks." He whispers.
I try to act tough but I'm not fairing much better. My knees are shaking and I'm struggling to hold in what little food is left in my stomach.
I'm not sure where I'm headed but I start walking. Whole houses have been taken off their foundations. The street has turned into a pool of mud and some branches from the forest are strewn around the area. But the corpses, the corpses make this quiet little town feel like a living hell. I can't look away. I've seen footage of hurricanes but this is far alien world is beyond the pale.
I watch as people struggle to scrape together the fragments of their former lives. Everything is soaked; ruined clothes and furniture are piled up on the roadside. Many injured people are wandering around looking for aid. I see a small gril half buried in mud and covered in flies, their tiny hands clutching a grubby doll. I can't even tell if she's still alive.
The houses grow smaller as I move to another part of town. The inhabitants are noticeably different as well. Many demi-humans are carrying sticks and stones to try and rebuild the remains of their homes. They watch me with contemptuous eyes. The few humans I see are wearing only dirty rags. I hadn't really thought about it but this must be the town slum. Poverty is a constant even in another world.
"What do you want?" A man with with cat ears walks up to me with a spear in his hand. He bares his teeth slightly and braces himself for a fight.
"I'm just a little lost I guess. Sorry if I'm disturbing you."
"Yeah? Well then go back the way you came and I'm sure you'll find your way,"
I nod and turn around while still struggling to comprehend everything happening around me. The cat-eared man is probably concerned about looters so I don't take his words to heart.
After meandering aimlessly for a couple hours I eventually find myself at the market square. A crowd has formed near the fountain and they are all shouting at each other. There seems to be a cart with food that's being rationed out but I can't see clearly.
Despite the destruction all around, The Adventurer's Guild is still standing tall in near perfect condition.
I walk in through the front door and find another crowd shouting even louder than the one outside. Catherine is standing awkwardly at her receptionist desk as she looks on at all the commotion.
"I'm glad to see you're okay." I say as I approach.
"Thanks, you too." She smiles.
"What's all the shouting about?"
"Some of the Mammoth trees were taken down during the storm so a lot of people want to go check it out."
"Yeah, I bet there's plenty of money to be made after a disaster like this."
"Uh huh," Catherine nods. "But Jezabel is preventing people from leaving town saying it's our duty to help with the clean up."
I take a closer look at the crowd and see the tips of the Guild Master's bright blue hair sticking out the top. Unsure of what I should be doing, I take a seat at my usual spot near the back.
"Are you finished?" The crowd goes silent when Jezabel speaks. "I understand you want to go loot the treeline but we will be paying those who choose to help with rescue and repairs. In the meantime, the rest of you just need to sit tight and wait. Any questions?"
Like a pack of barking dogs behind a fence, the crowd quietly disperses as soon as the gate is opened to the opposition. Several people line up to take on the job while everyone else crowds around the bar.
"Are you not helping?" Jezabel asks as she walks up to me. I notice an uncharacteristically glum frown on her face; I mean she frowns a lot but it's usually more from disappointment or anger rather than melancholy.
"Um, yeah, sure." I stutter.
She sighs and turns back to the crowd.
"You could be just like them in the future. You may be struggling to survive and need only one person to extend a helping hand, one moment of generosity to get back on your feet. If that happens you'll hope the world was a kinder place." Jezabel says as she looks through the crowd to all the people suffering outside.
"Yeah." I take a deep breath and numbly walk over to the counter.
"Do you have magic?" Tucker asks without really looking my direction.
"No."
"Damn. Well, head to the courtyard. We're staging the injured there so someone there will tell you what to do."
I walk out to rows of of bloody and bandaged people laid across the ground. The air is filled with soft moans and heavy breathing, only interrupted by the occasional barking order.
To the left, I see Sakura crouched down and pouring a liquid into a young man's mouth. He's got bandages over half his face and a sheet covering most of his body. I walk over to her like a broken robot.
"Nick," she says when she spots me. "Hand me another one of those potions, he won't stop bleeding."
I do as I'm told.
"Thanks." She says as she pulls back the sheet and reveals the gruesome wound cut down his side. Some of his rotting flesh is falling off and the whole area is covered in maggots.
'Bleugh'
After fighting all day to hold it in, the smell of rotting flesh finally forces the remnants of breakfast back up my throat.
"Do you do this every year?" I ask as I wipe vomit from my face.
"Since I was five, but it's never been this bad."
"Where's Josh?"
"He's helping his father repair some of the houses, you've never helped out after the storm have you"
"No."
"Hmmph." Sakura scoffs.
"AHHAHH!" A guttural scream pierces our conversation and I see a man brought into the courtyard on a stretcher.
"Sakura, over here!" He father shouts and the pink-haired girl runs away leaving the young man to roast under the scorching sun, his wound left open to the air.
'I should have been helping. I never knew it was this bad.' Nicks says softly from within me.
Not wanting to make things worse, I leave the young man as he is and walk over to a man in a guild robe who appears to be giving orders.
"Can you carry something?" He points at me and shouts when he sees me.
"Yes."
"Good! Sampson, he's with you!"
"Roger!" The familiar blond-haired guard trots up to me with a half smile. "Long time, no see."
I nod.
Sampson grabs a stretcher from the ground and we head out into town to look for more injured. We come across a young boy missing one of his arms and deathly pale from blood loss.
"Help." he gasps when he sees us.
"Leave him, he's too far gone."
I nod and we keep going.
'Wait, you can't just leave him there! You have to help!'
"..."
'Go back and help him!'
"..."
'Please, you have to.' Nick begs but I don't respond. I don't know how. What could I even say?
Nick and I silently help move people the rest of the day. Sampson even compliments me on my speed.
"You did good. We saved a bunch of people today thanks to you." He says. I feel numb. He's only saying that to try and cheer me up. So many people died today, too many.
I walk back home and open the door. Carroll runs in from the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" She asks as she crouches down and grabs my shoulders. I look up. When our eyes meet, she gasps and swallows her saliva.
Silence.
"Thank you for helping today." She whispers and goes back to the kitchen. I go straight to bed. I'm not hungry.
Nick stays hidden as we continue helping with the town recovery. He doesn't even ask to read at night. Carroll doesn't speak to my either. I don't blame them, I don't feel like doing much myself. After several days, some semblance of normalcy returns to the streets. People begin walking to and fro, chatting without a care in the world. I can't believe it. How can anyone go back to normal after seeing the devastation left by the storm.
It reminds me of how I felt after my mother died. I went to school the very next day after I found out. My Dad said I needed to move on with my life, that I couldn't sit around moping forever. It infuriated me that everyone went about their day as if nothing happened, as if nothing changed. I guess it hadn't. People die every day and the rest of us have to move on. I stopped being mad after I realized that; her death didn't matter because nothing mattered.
On our way home, after the last day of recovery work sanctioned by the guild, Nick finally speaks up.
'I want to see my Mom.'
I fall back and leave Nick standing at the door to his home. The last week has been rough, I can only imagine what he's going through.
He gently knocks and Carroll bursts through the door. She wraps him up in a bear hug and carries him back inside.
"Oh, sweety."
"I'm sorry, Mom." Nick says as tears well up in his eyes.
"No, it's okay. Everything is okay."
I fall back into the darkness of the mind-sea to give them some space. It only makes me feel more alone. I'm just in the way, a burden.
They both cry for a while, just holding each other in the kitchen. Eventually, Carroll offers to make food and Nick slowly cheers up as the smell of the Sambuusa fills the room. They chat about this and that while the world slowly goes back to normal. After eating, Nick heads to bed and reads for the first time in days. I suppose it's my turn to stay silent.
"Alright, Let's go!" Nick says excitedly before he leaves home the next day. Children certainly are resilient. His Mom made him Kac Kac, his favortite food, for breakfast and sent him out the door with a cookie for later. He walks out the door but stops when I don't respond. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I say as I reluctantly take control of our body. It suddenly feels so alien. I bury the emotions whirling around in my chest and head to the guild like usual. The same people are sitting at the bar and the same people are standing at the counter, just like usual. The only thing that's changed is the new woman at the receptionist desk, named Cindy.
I sit down next to the kids who are already sitting at our usual table when Catherine walks over to us.
"Good to see you, Nick."
"You too. Did you get promoted?" I say and nod in Cindy's direction.
"Oh, no. I'm just filling in for Ashley. She hasn't shown up for the last few days."
"Did she get injured in the storm?"
"No, she was here with me and all the other guild staff. We always stay here during the storm so we can act quickly when it ends."
"So, it was only after she went home?" I say with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, she said she might be gone for a few days but I'm still worried about her."
"Yeah, me too." The image of her bruised eye flashes through my mind. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, right. Jezabel said to wait here as she has something else for you to do today."
"That's terrifying." I hear both Josh and Sakura gasp behind me.
"Oh, here she comes."
Jezabel marches into the hall and the room goes so quiet you could hear a pin drop. She talks with Travis for a moment and then does the same to the people manning the counter. All the eyes in the building are glued to her.
"Listen up." She shouts. My blood goes cold with anticipation. I guess that's back to normal as well.