[sylvanSpider]

“Told me I was like a little sister to him,” Taka muttered, excluding the fact that he was well aware of her blood family that had died at the hands of some infected. “We were all pawns to him. Shit, some still are.” Taka stood where she was, unsure of what she should do. The wounded she'd come across, well, it was already too late for them. She'd never had a chance to actually try mending one who had a chance. “Well, that idea's not dead to him, and he'll do anything to do it. Anything. Except now? His motives aren't pure.”

Aren pressed his hand against Ian's heated cheek and shook his head, “The fever isn't breaking. We need...we need to fix this.” The man had never had a chance to actually put what he read to use, and it had been years since he tore through the medical text books. He retained little of it, but he knew a fever as high as the one Ian was sporting could potentially be deadly.

“We can't wait until tonight. I need to get there and back as soon as possible. I know the outer routes the guards take around the entirety of the populated city, and I know the schedule. I'll avoid those areas. I know the ropes. If we get caught looking at the door, Aren, you were just showing your new roommate around the complex or the district. Technically, I'm new here,” Taka protested.

Aren's lips pressed into a thin line and he glanced back at his roommate, then back to Ian, “Well, he's not in a spot to stop you, and what you do after I show you the route out is up to you.” He sighed. They were in the worst of situations, but Taka was right. Ian was going to die if he didn't get the medical supplies he needed, and fast. Her face was resolute, like one who couldn't be stopped and Aren nodded slowly. “Under my bed are canned supplies. I've been skipping meals so I have food when I go out for my studies. Take what you need for a day's journey. Do you have a gun?”

“Of course I have a gun,” Taka responded, lifting up her hoodie to reveal that she did indeed have one on her person. “You don't survive in District 3, or outside the walls, without one.” She disappeared into Aren's bed room and came back with her backpack noticeably heavier.

Aren stood up, brow creasing in worry, “Tristan, don't worry about staying here. I'd rather have the company anyway. I won't be gone long, but while I am, change the rags as necessary. Don't let them get warm. Keep them cool. We need to combat the fever as best we can.”

With that, Aren lead the way to the storage closet Ian showed him not that long ago.