Eve took in a breath. Or, she tried to. Her chest barely raised at all, and she had to release the air almost immediately, rolling to her side, then her front, and barely pushing herself up off of the ground before the bile came.
It gushed from her open mouth like water released from a spigot, spraying out onto the ground like there was a devil behind it. After a few seconds, it faded.
Eve looked up hazily. Was she back? Or had she fought someone who could defeat her? One of those was a very good thing, and the other very, very bad. Eve pushed herself to her knees, watching most of the black foam slowly sink to a place among the grass, then pause. It would soak into the ground, eventually, but it would take a while.
Eve looked up and over. Zoe had her own puddle, though naturally it was much smaller. Eve always leaked faster than others.
Wait... Zoe. Zoe had gone with Luke, hadn't she? Then they were still together. That was good. No, it was wonderful. Luke had taught her to express more of her emotions in words by using a stronger vocabulary. Eve hadn't known what that meant, but now she did, probably. SHe was decently sure it meant the words you use to say something, because after giving her a dictionary and insisting on teaching her a few words and how to use her judgement about which to use, he gave up and had just told her a few things to memorize in case she ever needed them.
Eve very nearly cheered, looking up and around, finding Luke first, then Michael...
Michael wasn't there.
Eve's heart stopped. How? She didn't remember what had beaten her, and it looked like it had beaten Zoe, too. As far as she was concerned, those were the only mortal members of the group.
But Michael... he wasn't her, and he wasn't Zoe. And he certainly wasn't Kane, who was standing with his arms crossed like nothing had happened. But he also wasn't quite Luke. So what would she do?
Well, there was nothing for it but to find him.
Eve grabbed hold of her hammer. She had fallen and released it. Unacceptable.
The voice in her head made her flinch, but then she closed her eyes and shook her head. He was gone. She was alone now. No, better than alone. She had Luke.
She looked up and met his eyes. Wordlessly, he pointed.
The direction of the city. Eve blinked hard, trying to remember. Something had been in front of them, blocking their way. A boulder or something. An absolutely massive boulder. Then she had been hit, and she didn't remember anything else.
Eve tilted her hammer upright, then slid her knees a few steps closer, inch by inch, and levered herself to her feet.
Eve looked down at the black foam, and spit on it.
The effect was somewhat lessened by the fact that her spit was also mostly black, so it was invisible nearly the second it touched the bile, but it was defiance nonetheless.
Eve didn't care that Luke snorted softly. She had to find Michael.
"Which way did he go?" she asked. Her voice was demanding and inconsiderate, the sort of tone that made it obvious you didn't care what the person who answered had to say, unless it was the direct answer to your question. And that was exactly how Eve felt.
She already had Luke right here. She could easily protect him. And she wasn't about to let Michael go, especially not so soon.
Luke pointed forward. The direction they had been going, she thought. Towards the checkpoint.
Eve said nothing, nodding grimly. She forced herself to stand on her feet and begin marching that way. If she stopped, she might collapse. Eve hated being weak, more than anything. She normally didn't know what that felt like, unless she was being pummeled by a dozen or so brutes. She would cough up the black bile with a smile on her face then, because she knew that they would never defeat her without a relatively large group of people. Eve had even defeated grunts up to about eight or nine at a time. Although she took pride in that at the time, now that she realized there was a world where she didn't have to be beaten into submission, she was not willing to let it go.
And Michael was a crucial part of her tether. If she lost him now, she would lose herself.