[rework] Minglings - chapter 3: Internal changes

Jake snuck back through the heavily damaged rooms to where Mason was kneeling on the ground, bandaging the small kobold.

"You were right. Those devolved idiots didn't even think of checking up here," he whispered as he sat down next to his friend.

"Of course I am right. I am amazing after all! But more to the point, not many people their age would go to this floor," Mason replied as he waved offhandedly at the shelves lined with diapers and other baby products before continuing to tend to the small kobold girl.

"Besides. With the main stairs blocked, how would they know of the small side staircase?" he said with a grin.

Jake smiled before sitting down, resting his head on his arms, and closing his eyes.

"I just saw some huge cat-thing with six legs stalk those goblins."

Mason didn't reply until he finished. Then he sat down, crookedly, cursing his tail and staring at Jake, who was looking back.

"That's just great. As if goblins and god know what else isn't enough."

Jake nodded, remembering the battle just now. "We need to find weapons. Do you think guns still work?"

"I don't know. So far, all we have seen points to the change being fantasy-oriented. Besides, I haven't heard any shooting yet. But I guess it can't hurt to check," Mason replied, absently fiddling with the tip of his tail.

The two sat together in silence, listening to the occasional sounds of things crashing and distant rumbling. After a while, Jake pulled out his cell phone and tried pushing the buttons again. But no matter what he did, the screen stayed dead.

"It could be something like an EMP? Let's see if we can find one of those old landline phones," he said, wondering where to even begin looking for one.

When he didn't get an immediate response, he looked over to find Mason lying on the ground.

"Mason," Jake hissed as he shot up. 

Then noticed the gentle movement of his friend's chest. He crawled closer and examined Mason, noticing congealed blood on some cuts and dozens of pinky-sized discolored scales everywhere. He sighed and stood up, walking around the room and looking at the different products for something to help his friend.

--

A few hours later, Jake was gazing at the window, his eyes constantly fluttering closed. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but someone had to keep guard. He couldn't keep the image of the monstrous cat from his mind.

He almost had a heart attack when Mason suddenly shouted and waved his arms in his sleep.

Dammit! Keep quiet, he thought as he moved next to his friend, wondering what to do.

He remembered his mom telling him never to wake people during a nightmare, but if Mason didn't shut up, someone would hear.

Mason groaned, then sucked in a breath, seeming ready to shout again, and Jake clasped his hand across Mason's mouth while shaking his arm. The world seemed to blur, vertigo causing him to turn dizzy. The next thing he knew, he slammed on his back, Mason's snarling snout inches from his face and a taloned claw clenched tight around his neck.

"Mason, stop! It's me. Wake up," Jake groaned, his voice barely audible.

As if hit by a lightning bolt, Mason's body went rigid. Then Jake saw awareness return to his eyes, and he looked at his hands around Jake's neck. Finally, shock registered on his face, and he let go while backing away.

"Sorry, sorry, I had a bad dream, and… sorry..." he muttered, a moment of panic in his eyes.

Sitting up, Jake rubbed his neck, taking a deep breath. "Must have been one hell of a dream..."

Mason didn't reply but kept looking at his hands.

A piercing howl came from the window. Both turned towards it with a jerk, expecting something to jump in and attack. A minute passed, then another, and when still nothing happened, Mason sighed loudly.

"That sounded like it came from the underground parking garage… Glad we didn't end up going there." Jake said as he shuddered.

Mason nodded before getting up.

"I don't think I can sleep anymore," he said. |Let's go see if we can find anything useful, but let's stay on this floor until the girl wakes up."

--

According to the old analog clock Mason had found, it was almost nine in the evening when the girl woke up, the last of the summer's light casting long shadows in the room.

Jake was applying more baby ointment to cuts and bruises on Mason's arms and face when they heard a soft, alarmed cry.

As one, they looked to see the girl as she crawled into the corner, arms around her legs and watching them with wide-open eyes. She coughed softly, and a mist of blood sprayed from her lips.

"Easy there, little one, we won't hurt you. We've chased off those angry monsters that were hurting you," Jake said as he carefully moved forward.

She immediately tried to back up, and he stopped, crouching down a little distance away. Awake, the girl reminded him of his younger cousin, though her wide-eyed startling purple eyes and coiled-up body also reminded him of a small animal ready to run. Her skin was a darker blue than his, with purple highlights, barely noticeable under all the bandages.

The girl silently looked at him, and the lower part of her lizard-like mouth shuddered slightly. Jake thought it was weird. Although she looked nothing like a human, he felt like she seemed perfectly normal. Moreover, she wasn't looking at him in fear of his looks but seemed genuinely afraid of anything. Did something change in how they regarded their new kind after the change?

A soft crying interrupted his internal monologue, and he saw the girl softly weeping.

"Can I come over? I promise I won't hurt you, but you were injured pretty badly, and moving around may have opened your wounds," Jake said softly, trying to smile, hoping if he found her normal, she wouldn't be afraid of the smiling kobold in front of her.

The girl sniffled a bit, inspecting him before she nodded, but she stayed very still when Jake moved next to her. Then, gentle and careful, Jake examined her wounds.

"You are still bleeding a little, so you need to drink and eat to recover your strength," he softly said, his attention on the girl's wounds as he ignored the blood trickling from her mouth. He was trying hard to remember what a squeaking sound while breathing meant.

"Why are you like me? Did you also make a mistake?" the girl's soft voice startled him, and he looked at her to see she examined his tail with great interest.

"No, little one and neither did you. There is nothing wrong with what you are now," Mason said before laughing softly. "It's the other way around. Those stupid green-blooded wankers made the wrong choice."

The girl's eyes widened as she looked at Mason. "You can't use those words. If you do, you won't get dessert!" she said, shaking her head softly.

Mason blinked in astonishment while low laughter came from Jake.

He tried to keep it bottled in but increased in intensity until he almost fell over as his body rocked in silence. The shock from the change, the battle with the goblins, and the hours of silently holding watch had given him a tight knot in the pit of his stomach. Now, hearing the little girl reprimand Mason just like his mom used to somehow seemed like the funniest thing.

Mason gazed at him from the side, then snorted as a grin surfaced on his face.

"You're getting snot on your face," he said as he laughed softly.

As their tension released, the girl looked from one to the other before smiling a little. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead, she coughed, and blood sprayed from between her fingers. The guys immediately stopped laughing and rushed over.

"I think she has internal bleeding and maybe a perforated lung. We need to find a doctor or…." Jake fell silent when he noticed the girl watching him with a frightened look and tears appearing in her eyes.

"Don't worry about that. Me and him? We are good at this stuff! We will find a doctor, and he will patch you right up," Mason said, putting an arm around her.

The girl seemed to freeze in shock, then she looked at him, and suddenly she began crying, huddling up against a startled Mason. Behind the girl, Jake motioned him to hug her, and awkwardly Mason complied, making shushing sounds as he held the crying and coughing girl.

--

Fifteen minutes later, Emma, which she said was her name, was sleeping in a makeshift bed, and the guys were sitting together, discussing the events of the day and trying to figure out what to do.

"After finding her a doctor, we need to go back home. Our parents will be going crazy with worry, and I keep wishing we had called them to tell them which race to pick," Jake said, looking at the darkening sky.

"You know they wouldn't have listened to us. Well, maybe your mother would have. No. Most likely, they would have tried to stop us," Mason said, sounding tired.

"We were lucky today. Those goblins didn't know what they were doing yet, and like us, they weren't as capable of using their new bodies. But soon, things will become worse. If many people listened to that stupid advice, we will be in trouble soon. It's a wonder we haven't seen more people yet," he continued.

"I don't know. Maybe they are all hiding?" Jake said, knowing it was a stretch. After a moment, he sighed and nodded. "But you are right. At the start, people will partly be holding on to old values and beliefs, even those thugs. But that won't last. And if our changes are any indication, it won't be weeks but days or hours," Jake said.

They were silent until Mason asked the question that had been in Jake's mind too.

"What do we do with the girl? Finding her parents might be impossible...."

"If they are still alive," Jake completed his sentence, noting Mason's worried face.

He suddenly realized something as he looked out of the window at the red gleam on the remaining shards of glass in the windows opposite.

"Can Kobolds see at night? And what about Goblins?" he asked.

"Well, it depends on what version of kobolds," Mason said as he frowned. But most versions I know of can see in the dark. However, so can many Goblins. I don't remember who is better at it, though. If I had to make a bet, I would say we can."

Jake got up and walked towards the stair. "Ok, then I will go downstairs and look for supplies before it gets completely dark. It's shadowy downstairs, so I'll find out soon enough. If we can see at night, we should leave as soon as it's dark and hope the goblins aren't up at night."

Mason made a motion as if to stop him, then seemed to think better of it. Jake couldn't blame him. They needed supplies badly, and both had not eaten in almost a day.

"Cats are nocturnal, though," Mason whispered after him.

--

Heading down the stairs and into the narrow, windowless corridor, which should be almost pitch black, Jake noticed he could see the walls and some debris lying around. It was as if a small amount of light was always present, even if there was none.

Well, I guess that answers that, he thought. A few days ago, he'd have been thrilled at having the ability to see at night. Now, he only knew it would help them survive. Hopefully.

Arriving at the lower floor, he noticed only a few shelves were still standing, most lying in a jumbled mess on the ground. Clothing, women's articles, bottles, and random kitchen utensils were everywhere, littering the ground as if a giant had shaken the shop.

He found his way around by a vague memory of having been here long ago; he eventually located the fresh foods department. To his surprise, most was already spoiled. It had to have something to do with the changes, but what? As he gazed at the heavily molded bread, he sighed. If everywhere was this bad, it would be a long time before he would taste bread again.

After glancing at the pies, covered in a wet layer of goop, he went towards the isle with the packaged food. He grabbed a plastic bag and began filling it with things he could eat without heating them. While putting more and more in the bag, he stopped when he saw what he was holding.

It was a chocolate bar, and his stomach started growling as drool filled his mouth. He'd not even noticed how ravenous he was.

Seconds later he spat out the pieces he had put in his mouth, a look of disgust on his face.

"What the hell…" he whispered, looking at the chocolate bar's date. It wasn't even close to being expired.

Jake blinked as a sinking suspicion crept up and walked towards the nearest shelf. In record time, he tasted dozens of things, cake, cheese, and even some fruit, but no matter what he tried, it was as if he put either poison or garbage in his mouth. The foul and sometimes even painful tastes made his mouth tingle.

Eventually, he arrived at the canned supplies and opened a can of sausages. Very carefully, he bit in one, and it was as if he bit in the greatest thing he had ever tasted. Within seconds he finished the can and opened and finished two more before he could stop himself.

As he slowly got his senses back, he started thinking. He was a Kobold. What did he know about their diet? Nothing really, only that they ate meat. Looking at the bag in his hand, he saw all the nutritious products he had so meticulously selected. He dropped it with a sigh of disgust and filled two new bags with all the canned meat he could find. As he passed some chips and other things he'd loved before, he tried them all but eventually had to get to grips with reality.

Only the meat tasted good.

He grinned when he thought of his vegetarian mother. How angry she would be if she did pick kobold. Then his grin faded as he realized he didn't even know if she was still alive. Or any of his friends back home.

For a moment, fear and weariness grew, but before it could become stifling something inside washed it away. A strength and resolve that was almost surprising.

I'll get back, he thought.

The resolve deepened with the thought, and he nodded. He'd discuss it with Mason, but he was sure the other would agree. They needed to find their parents! Then the reality of the situation hit him. Traveling to the city his parents lived in would take almost a week without a car.

Wait, how sure are we that vehicles don't work? he thought. They might! In some games and novels, they did.

With a little hope, he grabbed the bags and headed back towards the stair.

A low, uneven growl came from the entrance of the building.

Jake froze and held his breath as his heart began pounding. With a sudden dry mouth, he ever so carefully moved his head to the side.

He could barely make out the entrance through the shelves, but in front of it, something was moving—something with a long tail and glowing green eyes.

The cat, Jack thought as he felt his blood freeze.

His mind swirled back into action instantly. His night vision wasn't as good as that of a cat, and he silently cursed himself for his carelessness. Stepping behind one of the shelves that wasn't knocked over, he lowered the bags he was holding as gently as possible. He placed them on the ground, trying to refrain from making noise.

A second growl, much closer to where he was hiding, almost made him jump in fright.

Soft tapping, as if something was slowly walking through the store, came from nearby.

Jake resisted the urge to swallow and crawled around the shelf, trying to keep it between him and the sounds. Then, the footsteps stopped behind the shelf, and the sound of faint breathing came. Realizing that if he could hear the cat, it could hear him as well, he instantly held his breath.

Keep moving. There's probably a mouse on the other side. Or a goblin to eat, Jake thought, hoping some of those stupid goblins would run passed again.

After a few precarious seconds, the footsteps moved away.

Jake didn't move, though, but remained as still as he could. He'd seen too many moves to make that mistake now. Only when he heard something shuffle out of the entrance, brushing passed some of the toppled shelves, did he slowly let out his pent-up breath.

Shaking all over, he peeked around the shelf to find the shop was again empty. Trying to hold back the desire to run, he snuck back to the bags and quietly carried them towards the stairs. Halfway up, he took a final look into the dark store. He tried not imagining monsters everywhere, failed, and quickly headed back up.

Arriving in their temporary hideout, he was surprised to see Mason having a whispered conversation with Emma.

"You're pretty tough for such a tiny girl!" Mason whispered, apparently amazed at something Emma had said a moment before.

"I am not tiny! Next week I turn nine!" Emma shot back.

She looked a lot less scared than before and more than a little annoyed at Mason's words. When she noticed Jake was back, she looked at the ground before waving at him.

Jake shook his head in disbelief and walked over, trying to control the terror he was still feeling. "So I see you two became bestests of friends already."

The girl looked up and shot him a glare before bending her head down again. There were fresh bloodstains on her lips and chin, indicating she had had another coughing fit after waking.

Mason looked over and must have noticed something on his face as his eyes narrowed and a worried frown warped his face. Almost too fast to see, he hid it with a grin.

"You say that now, but she is a tough one. She told me a little about herself, and she went through one hell of a childhood," he said, mock-shaking his head and making a weird blowing sound.

"Yah... you can't whistle with those lips," Jack said, trying hard to paint a grin on his face.

Still, something in Mason's eyes told Jake he wasn't joking about the girl and that he should be careful with his words. It was something they had been able to do since childhood, communicate non-verbally, and it seemed the changes to their bodies hadn't changed that.

Jake walked over and handed Mason a couple of cans.

"Eat that. You will need it."

Grimacing at the cans, Mason looked up. "Seriously, bro, I know your mom can be a pain with the greens, but this is taking it too far, don't you think?"

A chocolate bar flew through the air, and Mason snatched it with gleaming eyes. He had always been a sucker for chocolate.

"That's more like it! Next time I'm doing the shopping," he said, not noticing Jake's carefully schooled face.

Unwrapping the bar, Mason put half of it in his mouth and started chewing. A second later, he coughed and spat it back out while Jake had a nasty grin on his face.

"I knew you would say that. But I, of course, tried a lot downstairs, and we can only eat meat now," Jake said smugly as he put the bag filled with canned meat next to his friend.

"Now, now. Stop looking at me like that. You would never have believed me without trying."

"Bah, that might be true, but then I would have tried a small bite. It's like I just bit into a rotten egg! I'll remember this," Mason said with a glare.

Ignoring the remark, Jake opened a can and gave it to Emma. "Eat a little. After we have all had our fill, we will go out and find a doctor to fix you."

Emma took the can and looked at it in disgust before opening it. She frowned as she examined the sausages inside and shuddered. Eventually managed to take a bite. As soon as she did, her eyes flew open in marvel, and she began to eat the entire can, stuffing half of it in before chewing.

"Easy, easy. If you eat too fast, you will get sick," Jake said, suddenly worried as he watched the girl gorging herself.

"You say that now, but if we truly only eat meat, we might not get sick from overeating. Remember how snakes eat?" Mason said from the side, his mouth filled with canned meat.

"Ow, and thank you very much for that lovely image. Do you propose we swallow an entire cow if we find one?" Jake shot back, annoyed by the unbidden images that flashed through his mind after the remark.

Mason shrugged and continued eating, quickly clearing out six cans. When he finished, he wiped his mouth with the remnants of his sleeve and burped loudly. "God, I feel so much better now. Did you think of looking for weapons?"

"No, I brought you the meat first. I know how upset you get on an empty stomach," Jake said, his fake grin turning into a real one. His friend did get grumpy when he was hungry.

A slight wet cough interrupted whatever Mason was about to say, and as they both looked over, they saw Emma holding her hand to her mouth. Blood was dripping down, and her facial scales had turned ashen.

Jake hissed as he moved towards her. If it was the food or the excitement, he couldn't tell, but she was getting worse. She looked at him, wiping her lips, and he could see she was trying to hold her fear inside.

"We can't wait any longer. The hospital is twenty minutes away from here, and we need to go there and hope some doctors stayed behind," he said.

"That was before. We have no idea how long it might take now, so you are right. We need to get going," Mason agreed.

He walked towards Emma and extended his hand to pull her up, but as soon as she tried to get up, she became deathly pale. The scales around her lips turned almost white, and she started coughing loudly. Scared, the boys sat down next to her, waiting and hoping she would be alright. A minute of coughing later, Emma was lying on the ground like a wet towel, her eyes closed. She was breathing slowly and unevenly.

"She can't walk, and we are idiots for thinking she could," Mason exclaimed as anger and fear warred across his face.

"How could they do this to her? She is just a little girl! Weren't they still human yesterday?"

Jake had been wondering about that for a while now, and he had come up with an idea. Trying to distract himself from all the blood, he began explaining.

"I think they could do that because they changed into goblins, and I'm not just talking about appearance. They were too young to be hardened criminals, which is what it would take to do this. So that leaves only the recent changes to explain this. Remember how they said goblins care a lot about race? If you turn that around, doesn't that mean they don't care at all about others? Or perhaps they care about all races, just not in a good way? Also, now that I think about it, don't goblins follow orders really well?"

He fell quiet as he realized what he had just said. Was that possible?

Mason calmed down a bit while listening to him, and a scowl formed on his face.

"Dammit, you might be onto something. In some games and books, if you are stronger than other goblins, they will follow any order, no matter what. And I think I understand what you are getting at. You think the order to choose goblin was so they can control us easily?"

Jake nodded but then frowned. "Yes, but I don't know who 'they' would be. So let's not think up too many conspiracy theories just yet. I mean, to do that, they would need to become goblins too."

"What if they lied?" Mason hissed as he glared out of the window. "What if there were other options, orcs, trolls?"

"I only remember seeing a few options," Jake said slowly.

As they both fell deep in thought, the room became silent again. The harsh breathing of Emma was the only thing they could hear.

Finally, with a shuddering sigh, Mason kneeled next to the girl.

"Do you think we can pick her up without making it worse?"

Jake shrugged as he looked at his friend.

"Do I look like a doctor? I don't know, but we can't leave her here like this. And we've got more problems. When I was getting the food, something entered the store. I think it was the cat, though I didn't get a great look. I managed to hide, and it left, but there are things out there, hunting."

Mason nodded as he gently put his arms under the girl. She was so small his biceps could almost hide her from view.

"So that's why you looked like you had seen the devil when you came back up. Good thing you didn't say. I'm not sure she would have been able to handle it."

Mason got up and cradled the girl to his chest, only one of her arms dangling free. He looked at Jake, a stern look on his face.

"Jake. If anything happens, I won't be able to help you without dropping her..."

"I know. We will be fine. But if anything happens, try and get Emma to the hospital-" he tried to sound heroic, but Mason interrupted him with a firm shake of his head.

"No, you idiot, you don't understand. I know this girl is young, but... I can't let you die for a girl we just met! What I mean is, make sure you don't need my help, so I don't have to drop her. Because I will if it means saving you," at the end of his sentence, Mason's voice began breaking up.

Then he sniffed and turned towards the stairs.

Jake was stunned as he watched his friends back. He felt horrible, and not just because of what Mason said. But because he could vaguely relate with his friend's words. Something inside of him was telling him she wasn't family. Not pack. Not worth... dying for? But, old, deeply rooted feelings shouted, she is a child! She should be the most important thing to protect. Right? Or wasn't it right? He felt new instincts try to assert themselves, warring with his memories of what constituted right and wrong. She wasn't family... but she was a child! He tried to get a grip on his roiling emotions, but as he did, he felt his new instincts begin to win out.

"Are you coming or what?" Mason hissed, snapping him awake, and he nodded abruptly as his emotions flushed away as quickly as they had come.

As they did, he realized there was something else—a vague sense of what could be, like his new instincts were handing him an olive branch. Emma was not family yet... but she could be!

Jake got up, not sure how someone was supposed to become family, but happy.

"Yeah, yeah, but I had to figure out if what you just said was a hidden love declaration," he shot back when he saw Mason's worried, tense look.

Mason grinned and shook his head with a laugh.

"You wish. First, grow some tits and then ask me again!"