Chapter 554: Day 5,035 – Terror Of The Unknown

Chapter 554: Day 5,035 – Terror Of The Unknown

“Orders?” Captain Francis asked me. Run or fight, that was what it boiled down to, and what all my responses had been. If I couldn’t win, then run away. If I could win, or couldn’t escape, then fight. That had worked well so far. But the problem was that I had other people I had to worry about.

“We remain calm and alert. It is best to stay near the store until Michelle recovers as well. Moving and being caught in the wilderness will limit our recovery options. We will move as one unit going forward, and limit distance from each other,” I finally decided.

The answer to this problem came in the simple fact that whatever was killing people and took out Michelle, was hiding. If it could beat me in a straight fight, then it would have already attacked. That was a great relief the moment I realized that. Whatever was out there, was either weaker or about equal to me in stats.

But then I thought of Dharma. Time to clear things up. “Fiyaz, did Dharma ever go near Michelle?” I asked him. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head.

“No. There was always at least six feet, or two meters between them. And the soldiers were nearby as well,” he said. The soldiers in question gave affirmatives at this. The fact there was one survivor was throwing me off a lot more than if there had been no one around.

Now he had run off in a panic. Trying to chase him down in the city was pointless. He was dead for sure. Even if he was a monster or a superhuman in disguise, there was no use worrying about it now. If he showed up again, I would melt him without hesitation. We were taking no chances now that Michelle had been disabled.

I really wished Doctor Katz was around. He would be much better at assessing Michelle’s situation and current state. I leaned down next to her and began inspecting her. Her energy was stable, no curse damage as far as I could tell. Her breathing was a bit weak, but steady. Opening one of her eyelids, her eyes weren’t twitching. I checked her pulse on her neck, steady as well. She was just unconscious, with no apparent damage.

“Prepare a carry pack to put her in. Brace her neck as well,” I ordered. Captain Francis quickly assigned one of his men to the task.

“So, we just wait?” Fiyaz asked me.

“Yes. Panicking won’t help. And running out of the city, won’t help either.” I then explained my reasoning about how whatever was out there, was probably weaker than me. He nodded at that explanation. The minutes ticked by, but there was still no response from Michelle. A neck brace was placed around her neck, and she was put into a carry pack.

Basically, an adult sized backpack. There were risks in using something like this, at high speeds. That was why a neck brace needed to be applied to help stability. Even then, it would be incredibly risky for me to wear in high-speed combat.

“I will take her, once we go,” Captain Francis said, and I nodded gratefully at him.

That left the worst option out of all of them. Attempt to interface with her dreams and figure out was wrong with her. Even if I managed to make the connection, the risk to me was massive, and the risk of an attack by a hostile force was also massive. That would have been the moment I would have attacked if I was the enemy doing this.

It was a tricky situation. One with huge consequences and no optimal answer. But Captain Francis was right, we couldn’t keep waiting around. We had about another hour of light left, before the light source went beyond the horizon. I looked at Michelle.

Was she really worth risking my life?

That was an incredibly hard question to answer. While my default for almost everyone would have been no, her competence was the only thing making this a very hard choice. Even Doctor Katz and the rest of the people with me, I would have said no. Clarissa was the only other person alive, that it would have been a tough decision on if I should take the risk.

“I am going to attempt a dream dive to wake up Michelle,” I finally said with a great deal of hesitation. My gut clenched up at the very thought of trying this, with all the horrible things that happened to the few people that had tested this possibility. The Ritualist was truly a mad man to have even thought about poking my dreams.

“Dream dive?” Captain Francis asked me.

“A high-risk procedure. I will be completely vulnerable while I am attempting it. And the risk...the risk is massive. Hopefully, I can jolt her awake,” I replied.

“Are you sure Michael? We can leave her and look for other options,” Captain Francis said. I had thought of that. But it wasn’t like getting injured in the wilderness on Earth. Just getting to a hospital wouldn’t fix whatever had happened to Michelle. We had to fix things ourselves.

If Doctor Katz was here, I would have consulted with him and gotten his feedback on the timing. He might have also known some medical techniques to try to wake her up. I was incredibly stressed out, but there was no other option. We couldn’t afford to Michelle. I couldn’t afford to lose her.

A slightly reclined chair with a headrest was purchased. Captain Francis set up a perimeter. Fiyaz was part of it as well. One person looking each direction, with Captain Francis on patrol. I made sure to tell him, not to disturb my body no matter what. Hopefully I could manage waking her up, without succumbing to massive curse damage and dying horribly.

As I sat in the chair behind Michelle’s head, there was a large amount of hesitation within me to attempt this. If only she wasn’t so good, I cursed mentally to myself. If it was one of these soldiers, I could let them die without getting too worked up over the matter. But her combat skills were not something that could be easily recreated.

The investment into her was immense. I had also saved her over Doctor Katz. If she died, or was incapacitated now, it would feel like a waste. I put on a black cloth head bag and stuffed my ears to try to block out everything around me. I laid back in the chair, closed my eyes, steadied my breathing, and extended a tendril of energy to Michelle’s head.