{chapter 7}
Erika turned around to face the healer as he shared the news. The grim news. Her eyes widened and her jaw fell limp. She tried to speak, but her voice failed her as she stepped back, slowly shaking her head. Emil had been watching through the window with Tuuri, but now fell back and sat on the floor, slumped against the wall. Tuuri sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. Reynir tilted his head and glanced out the window to see the girl cleanser collapsed in the snow, hiding her face in her hands.
She had tried to take off into the Silent lands, but Ivar had caught her by the wrist first. She was now sitting on the ground, sobbing quietly in to her hands. They would either leave her here to mutate or die, or they would shoot her. Either way, she wouldn't be going back home. She wouldn't see her family again. She wouldn't get to apologize to them for everything she was sorry for. Never hear their voices again. She wouldn't even go back to say goodbye to her teammates. This was no brave or valiant death, this was pathetic. She was being euthanized, like a horse with a broken leg. She was deemed broken beyond repair and killed off, just like that. She had done nothing wrong. Never hurt anyone. Never stolen. The only thing she had ever done was to help. Sure, maybe minor mistakes... But bruises healed. Books were replaced.
She flinched as she felt an arm around her shoulders. It was Emil, who had come out of the tank to sit with her. Sigrun was getting herself decontaminated, Lalli was going back inside. Like someone hadn't just gotten a death sentence. She barely looked up as her friend spoke.
"I'm sorry... I-" Erika shook her head. He sighed and shut his mouth, head on his hand.
"At least it's pretty, here..." She mumbled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve."I'll be -" she paused, laying back and looking at the sky, "- fine... Do you know who's the one taking care of me? Or are you just going to leave me here?" The questions were monotone.
"Ehhh, we probably won't just leave you here..." Emil frowned. He didn't want to think about who would shoot her. Not him... He fell back to lay beside her and look at the sky.
Bright bands of scarlet stretched around the horizon, fading in to a rainbow of colors before reaching a bold dark blue on the other side of the sky. Mikkel and the two older cleansers were talking quietly about what to do. The snow glistened, sparks of the sunset dancing about the surface as the wind stirred. The chipped and broken glass of the home windows reflected the pure flame of the crimson sun. The homes themselves were tinted with the light, many of them with collapsed roofs or walls.
Greenery flourished in these spots. Growing from every small fracture in stone brick or drywall, every unprotected book page, every small tear in the fabric of furniture. The small buds were tilted to the dying red light. Lichens grew on the tattered drapery of windows, some clung to the russet bricks. Mosses crept across any and every surface they could. It was peaceful here, in this circle of old houses. Long forgotten, but not lifeless.
"So this'll be the last goodbye, huh?" Erika inquired, holding her friend's hand. Emil sighed and closed his eyes.
"I suppose it will be..."
