“Alright, so here is the deal. We will make our way through the terrace and then head to the hospital. If it is safe, you guys can stay there. I still need to go to my house and then to Lower Manhattan to try to get in contact with my father, depending on where he is at this time. But with the way things are, my guess is he is probably out on a call or locked down in the fire station. If he is still alive, that is.” Desaray laid down her plans for what she was going to do. However, the last few words were hard to say for her. She was very worried about her father, and while she was unsure if she would recognize her, she hoped that he would at least not try to attack her.

“Wait, you are just going to leave us? What happens if the hospital is not safe!?” Jake cried out. Whether he realized it or not, he could only see Desaray as a means of staying alive. In his mind, he needed her protection if he wanted to make it through this situation.

“What happens after that is not my problem. Look….” Desaray looked at the other three with narrowed eyes. “Out of everyone here, the one I am closest with is Becky. If it came down to one of you and Becky, I would save her first. I am not trying to be mean or anything like that, but I am being realistic, that is just how it is. You save those who are family first. If it is possible, I would help Yu next, then Mike. Jake would be last. I literally have one skill I can use right now, and that is my ice breath which takes five whole seconds to even activate. In that time, you can be killed or worse.”

“What kind of crap is that!? You would save me last!? Desaray, all these years I have been chasing you, I mean so little to you?” Jake did not like hearing he would be first to die no matter what if it came to others. He disliked hearing this the most. He did not want to die, and Desaray was the only thing that could keep him alive.

“Are you an idiot? Why would I risk my life for someone who was not even willing to come and check if I was alive or not? Becky came even though she was scared out of her mind. Do you think she wanted to die!? Do you think she wanted to go out into the unknown? No, she did not, but she still did. She even came over to me and treated me normally, even when I turned into a dragon. If she did not tell you ahead of time, what would you have done? Tried to kill me? Run for your life? Jake, don’t screw with me. I do not owe you anything. As for feelings, there were never any feelings beyond friendship. I never liked you more than a friend I went to school with. That was it. 

“Whether you want to hear what is coming out of my mouth or not is up to you. If you prefer to stay here hiding until you starve to death, then stay here. If you want to help get Mike to the hospital, then carry him on your back, and I will do what I can to protect you until we get to the hospital. But no matter what, I will go try to find my dad. He is all I got. But as I said, if it comes down to you, Yu, or Becky and Mike, I would save them first before you.” Desaray looked at everyone there before turning around. Jake went silent, he could not argue with Desaray since he was not as good with words as her. He could only clench his fists and grit his teeth and hope things would go smoothly. Desaray took a few steps towards the door when she heard Yu suddenly speak up.

“Desa is right, you know. We should be thankful that she is willing to go as far as she is. As of right now, we do not know what else is out there besides the goblins and wolf that she saw earlier. If we are attacked, I would understand her helping Becky before me since I would do the same if I was in her position. I would save the one closest to me first. It is not like we are heroes of some kind of fantasy movie. This is real life. There is no plot armor that will save us from dying.” Yu lifted her head and looked at Desaray with her big eyes and smiled as she continued: “So thank you. Thank you for doing so much when you do not need to.”

“Hehe….” Becky giggled. “Desa is just a big softy as it is. But I will say she is right. I would do the same. I would save her before any of you. But that does not mean we will not try to help those we can if we are not in trouble ourselves. Plus, if we help Desa kill a monster, maybe we can gain systems as well. If this is like a game, then as long as we get a hit in, we may be able to gain a system like Desa has. Although, I am not sure if we will change as she has.”

“I was thinking the same. Because even then, those who only think about themselves can protect themselves from danger.” Desaray added before shaking her head. “Let’s get going. The more time we waste here, the more likely we will not meet up with anyone.”

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Desaray, even Jake, who reluctantly nodded as well before going over to Mike, and with Yu’s help, put him on his back. The group then finally exited the entryway. As soon as they stood on the front stoop of the building, the group noticed a strange low-lying fog in the air. It was not something normally seen in the city, so it made things even stranger than before.

Desaray took a deep breath before saying: “We will first search the cars for anything we can use as a weapon. Keep it light so we can move quickly.”