CW: this chapter will have a scene that is a little bit graphic… you can jump directly to the first system message (in bold letters) if you want to skip it.
PoV: Julia
Clara's voice arrived first, raw and furious.
"Move! Give space!"
Julia thought it was just another injured being taken to her. Just another guy with a bruised arm or a twisted ankle.
She turned to the source of the voice, to help whoever was arriving… Then she froze.
"Jule… Don't… yell at me…"
Lu's face was pale, but the worst part was her arm. The bit was not only deep, but wide, with two punctures like nails driven to the bone, and the flesh around already swelling, slick with saliva, dirt, and blood.
Julia didn't answer.
She moved efficiently like a robot, because if she didn't, she knew that she would break.
"Down."
She ordered, pointing to a bench.
"Lu, sit. Clara, hold her shoulder. Someone… Sara, you. Hold the flashlight. Daniele, more water. Now. Clean."
Lu lowered herself onto the bench, examining the wound.
Outside, a dog screamed, with a chorus behind it, hungry and ecstatic.
Julia took rags from over a table, along with alcohol and a half-empty bottle of antiseptic she always kept with herself in the BDSM club.
Her hands paused for a moment when she realized what she was about to do.
This will hurt.
Lu's eyes met hers through the pain.
"Do it."
She whispered, holding her breath.
Julia poured, making Lu's whole body go rigid.
The scream that tore out of her was nothing similar to the normal "Lu scream" everyone in her group was used to. It wasn't the flirty, chaotic sound she made when she was jumping or dancing on the pole during her performances.
No, it was the scream of a wild animal. A scream that made panic ripple through the people who weren't able to fight, the ones who were with the injured, inside the bar area.
"Oh my god…"
Someone muttered, while another started to cry.
Julia ignored them, pressing the rag hard onto the wound, muttering to Lu.
"Breathe with me."
Lu's teeth were clenched so hard her jaw trembled.
"In."
Lu inhaled in a broken gulp.
"Out."
Lu exhaled, the sound hitching like a sob.
Julia kept the pressure and the rhythm, unwavering.
"Look at me. You are not losing that arm. You are not leaving us."
Lu tried to laugh, but it came out as a whimper.
"Jule… Is it bad?"
Julia swallowed, feeling her throat dry like sand.
"It's bad. But it isn't over."
She took the rag, then finished cleaning the wound before applying another and wrapping it with the tape, pouring more alcohol around the bite.
bleeding, infection, swelling, shock… Yeah, not looking good
She ran through a checklist in her mind, remembering the sparse information she knew about severe injuries.
Lu's arm twitched violently, her fingers flexing then going stiff.
"No… No…"
She pressed her palm against Lu's forearm, right above the bite, feeling the heat and the swelling that were already spreading.
And then something inside her… snapped into place. As if an universal truth had locked inside her.
A sensation bloomed behind her eyes, a gentle warmth spreading through her senses. Then, a window appeared in her vision.
[SYSTEM INITIATION - CLASS SEED RESONANCE DETECTED]
Emotional Density Threshold exceeded.
Survivor-Caregiver Trait confirmed.
Symbol Layer alignment: Hearth / Hands / Endurance.
A Class Seed has formed.
Your actions, intentions, and psychological imprint have shaped the following outcome:
You have unlocked the Class:
✦ SUSTENANCE WARDEN - Tier A (evolvable)
A class born from:
— your refusal to let the vulnerable be discarded
— your instinct to feed and mend under pressure
— your ability to make "here" feel survivable
Accept Class?
[YES] [NO]
Julia stared at the words, blinking, then she whispered, almost like a prayer.
"Yes."
She immediately opened her stats and looked through her new skills to find something - anything - she could use to save her friend.
She took a new breath and muttered again, with a shaking voice.
"Clean Protocol."
She hovered her hand over Lu's injury, and suddenly all the remaining impurities slid out of the wound, tainting the dressing she had made.
"Jule?"
She ignored Lu's question and focused on reading the skill descriptions.
"Anchor Breath."
A pulsating light enveloped Lu's arm.
"Jule, is that a class? I don't feel the pain anymore…"
"Good."
Julia focused only on the information she wanted, and then she undid the dressing that had been tainted.
"Binding hands."
This time the effect took longer to take hold, as a golden light emanated from her hands into the wound.
Slowly, the injury began to heal, stopping the bleeding. It wasn't a full closing or reversing of the injury, but more like an acceleration of the natural healing process.
Then, she did the dressing again to protect the wound. Only when she finished did she allow herself to breathe freely again.
"Don't move that arm, or you'll open the wound and bleed again."
"Jule, that was amazing!!!"
The world around her turned into a cacophony of voices, as everyone who had been watching it all with bated breath began to talk at the same time.
The 'mother' that took care of them in the darkness of the apocalypse suddenly became a magic healer. The budding panic receded as the people dared to hope again.
***
PoV: Noara
Half an hour earlier, Noara saw her friend fall into the killing zone, without being able to do much to help her besides stopping one of the dogs for a few seconds.
She jumped from the window to the top of the closest barricade wall and walked as fast as possible to the position closest to where Lu fell. She saw Clara helping her go down to the safe ground, and her heart relaxed for a moment.
It didn't last long, though, as she saw the state on Lu's arm. But then a shout called her focus to elsewhere.
Now the one alone in the killing zone was Nando. And they had just lost their only frontline awakener.
Fuck.