to a wall and propped him up in a sitting position. His head lolled forward and his arms drooped at his side. She felt his forehead and felt the heat draining away from his face. She checked his neck and felt only a very faint pulse.
She swore under her breath and felt panic starting to well up inside her. She fought hard to keep it down. She had to stay calm and find out what the hell was going on. Her mind overcame the panic for the moment and she searched his body for anything that could have caused this. She knew enough about the signs of someone being poisoned, but something was different about this. She'd never come across anything that acted so quickly with no apparent trigger. And he had been fine upstairs, she definitely knew that.
Eyes and hands raced over the slumped figure. His neck and arms were fine, and she couldn't see anything else on his body. Her mind raced through possibilities. It couldn't have been something he breathed, else it would be happening to her as well, and it wasn't something he ate, they all shared everything and he hadn't even eaten anything since this morning.
Memories of the day came back to her in hurried glimpses. The early morning start, the realization that they were out of food, the plan to 'acquire' some. No, it had to be more recent. Something at the docks? No, that had been the most boring part, nothing had happened. Running away? He had slipped up a few times, the uniform hadn't fit him very well. She checked his legs, hurriedly stripping off his trousers. There were a few grazes, but nothing that broke the skin.
The crates? He said there wasn't just food in them.
She let go of him and was staring through the contents of the crate from this morning in an instant.
It looked mostly like junk, the type of trinkets that small stalls sold to tourists. Small statues of the city, model boats, and some other strange objects. She threw things out randomly looking for, well, she wasn’t sure herself. She reached the bottom of the crate and searched wildly, there was nothing left. Her breathing became shallow and rapid, and her eyes darted around as she thought even more.
What. Had. He. Done.
She put her hands to her head and shook it. She was starting to despair, blackness crept into her vision. In a sudden burst of anger she picked up the empty crate and threw it across the room. Suddenly a memory flashed in her mind. He had thrown something hadn’t he? Something behind him, something round...
She rushed over to where the crate lay. There were various objects laying around from her throwing, bits of plaster and stone were strewn around, broken off from the various
She swore under her breath and felt panic starting to well up inside her. She fought hard to keep it down. She had to stay calm and find out what the hell was going on. Her mind overcame the panic for the moment and she searched his body for anything that could have caused this. She knew enough about the signs of someone being poisoned, but something was different about this. She'd never come across anything that acted so quickly with no apparent trigger. And he had been fine upstairs, she definitely knew that.
Eyes and hands raced over the slumped figure. His neck and arms were fine, and she couldn't see anything else on his body. Her mind raced through possibilities. It couldn't have been something he breathed, else it would be happening to her as well, and it wasn't something he ate, they all shared everything and he hadn't even eaten anything since this morning.
Memories of the day came back to her in hurried glimpses. The early morning start, the realization that they were out of food, the plan to 'acquire' some. No, it had to be more recent. Something at the docks? No, that had been the most boring part, nothing had happened. Running away? He had slipped up a few times, the uniform hadn't fit him very well. She checked his legs, hurriedly stripping off his trousers. There were a few grazes, but nothing that broke the skin.
The crates? He said there wasn't just food in them.
She let go of him and was staring through the contents of the crate from this morning in an instant.
It looked mostly like junk, the type of trinkets that small stalls sold to tourists. Small statues of the city, model boats, and some other strange objects. She threw things out randomly looking for, well, she wasn’t sure herself. She reached the bottom of the crate and searched wildly, there was nothing left. Her breathing became shallow and rapid, and her eyes darted around as she thought even more.
What. Had. He. Done.
She put her hands to her head and shook it. She was starting to despair, blackness crept into her vision. In a sudden burst of anger she picked up the empty crate and threw it across the room. Suddenly a memory flashed in her mind. He had thrown something hadn’t he? Something behind him, something round...
She rushed over to where the crate lay. There were various objects laying around from her throwing, bits of plaster and stone were strewn around, broken off from the various
