Wendell was roused from his not-so-peaceful slumber through the sounds of loud, crashing thunder. It was raining and pouring like no other day they had experienced. Wendell in his perspiration stained garments stood up. He had been having reoccurring nightmares ever since the incident. He could remember it clearly, sprinting home desperately only to have his heart-broken with the witness of his deceased parents. Their gleam of apathy, their eyes like dead fish. Their appearance viciously transformed into hideous beasts. They meander slowly towards him. Moaning, yearning for his sloppy intestines. And he died in that revery. Only to be reborn in a dead world. The rain still pelts at the tents like tiny bullets. The thunder ceases not. And again Wendell would try to fall asleep and again he would be successful only to wake up about an hour later. Eventually, he gave up and headed out.

His thoughts were flooded with convoluted thoughts. Usually, when it rained, nightcrawlers would surface upon the dirt. They usually do that to move safely from place to place. This does, however, lead to their doom if a churlish child decides to step on them or a fisherman like Wendell picks them up for bait. Lucky for Wendell today, this was very much the case and he benefited greatly, picking up every worm he could find.

Soon enough, it stopped raining but clouds still covered the sky. Talia wakes up and fixes herself some cereal.

"Hey, Vishnu- I guess he's not awake yet,"

"I wonder where Wendell went," she pondered "He usually has breakfast with us,"

Talia went back to her tent to retrieve her weaponry and comes out. She decided to head after Wendell for she sensed trouble. It wasn't really a decision supported by logical reasoning. She just had a hunch; a bad feeling in her gut for what was to come. She raced towards the pond, with her black hoodie and faded ivy coat.

"Oh there you are,"

Wendell's eyes darted back at her with urgency. He held his forefinger to his lip and gesticulated for her to come with him.

"Listen," Wendell whispered "there's a faint echo of voices"

Talia tried listening harder.

"Yeah, I can hear that,"

"Wanna go investigate?"

"I don't know about doing that without Vishnu,"

"No, he'd give away our position anyway,"

Wendell and Talia creep towards the sounds until they see some people inside the fenced pond. It was blurry but a few figures were visible. There was a girl, possibly in her late adolescence or early adulthood. Surrounding her were some dubious men with linen masks covering their mouths and noses. They seemed to be doing some kind of ritual with the girl. On closer inspection, they about to violate her. She screamed with premonition. Hoping that someone somewhere would help her.

The other group had considerable gear. They consisted of a 15 some bulky men. Some with assault rifles, some with submachine guns. Others had hideous tools of massacre. Horribly blood stained and unpolished. Wendell and Talia had no choice but to pull back.  They manhandled the girl, forcing her in the direction of the pond. She continued to scream but no one could help her. The gang leader seized her by her silky dark chocolately hair and submerged her beautiful visage into the cold water. And he held her there as bubbles began forming over the surface. One man caught sight of the two high above and they were forced to leave the pond for they had their own lives to worry about. The gang leader, however, stopped his gang as they completed their objective.

As Wendell and Talia were silent as they backtracked. The sounds of the blind woman being drowned; her hoarse ululations, they were all fresh in their memory.

And they regretted each and every step back.