Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ time off ❯ the escort pt 2 ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

“Edea made it for me. She’s really such a nice woman. I wish I could have known her better. I wish I could’ve known the Matron you all knew.” She said with a reflective smile. Zell looked down at his shoes and said.
“Yea, even though those weren’t the best times, you wouldn’t have been able to guess it. With Matron, every day was a blessing and we felt safe. But that was long ago. And now we can keep Matron, our Matron, safe.” and patted her shoulder.
The violent hiss of a dying grat made them jump.
“Oh Hyne. One of those was in my closet!” Rinoa squeaked with complete revulsion “If Irvine hadn’t come to get me…” she trailed off and hugged herself
They quickened their pace and avoided anything that might have posed a threat. Grendels were the most plentiful creature, so much so they had been piled on top of each other about 10 feet in the air. There were charred bomb husks or just ashes where the bomb creatures once were. There were about 2 other T-rexaur corpses visible from a distance. Rinoa turned to Zell, but before she could pose her question he quickly said, “Wasn’t me.” And she left it at that.
As they passed the garage, zell stomped on a large coal black bomb husk, its body crumbling and sticking to his sneakers. He kicked the residue off, muttering.
“Those bastards gave us so much trouble. They kept getting way too close to the fuel pumps. Nida actually had to block an explosion with his own body. -He’s fine though!” Zell added, hurriedly when Rinoa’s continence changed from relaxed to horrified, both her hands flying up to her mouth.
“Yeah Nida is just fine. We managed to get to him before any serious damage was done. I think he’s actually on the flight deck as we speak. But Hyne, it was hell!”
A thought occurred to Rinoa.
“Zell? When we fought norg, there were injured people everywhere. Where are they?”
Zell’s expression was that of a mother watching her only child swim into the mouth of a great white.
“The training center!” He bellowed. And began to sprint head on towards the training center. Rinoa followed after.
On the way Zell explained his behavior. “During the first moments of fighting there were obviously a lot of injuries. There were these sabers whose job it was to ferry the injured to kadowaki. They were supposed to go counter-clockwise so they could avoid the training center. Normally the sabers, as you know, are clean cut and tidy. These were strange; their hair was long and knotted and a foul odor clung to them, I just assumed it was because of the fighting and being drenched in monster blood; also they all had these strange marks on them, like burns. Because of the situation at hand I really couldn’t pay attention to it, but after what you guys said about ‘nox’ or whatever, I’m really suspicious now. I’m suspicious because the Sabers took them to the infirmary in the wrong direction. I think those sabers must’ve… brought the injured to the training center to feed the monsters!”
Rinoa gulped hard in her throat, and a sudden surge of adrenaline caused her to run past Zell, positively charging towards the training center. As she rounded the corner a steady series of beeps signaled trouble, big trouble. They increased in speed, and the doorway exploded. As the rubble began to fall, Rinoa pushed herself to the limit and dove through the threshold. Effectively trapping her in the darkness of the training center’s hallway behind a wall of broken concrete. Alone.