Sunlight streamed through the window, hitting Shana's face, and she instinctively tried to cover her eyes with her hand, but the gesture sent a searing pain through her head, "Goddamn, that hurt! Why does my head feel like it's gonna fucking explode?"

"Maybe it was because you got so drunk that you threw up on yourself and passed out?" a voice answered before a hand came to rest on her forehead.

Shana tried to pull the hand away from her, but not only did her arms not budge, but the pain increased exponentially, causing her to let out another groan of pain.

As she struggled to open her eyes, which was the only thing she could do, Shana caught a glimpse of a pale, golden-haired figure sitting on the bed next to her.

"Barb..." Shana started to say before she had to stop herself. Her throat was as dry as a desert, making her cough and adding to the pain she was already in.

In an instant, the hand moved to the back of her head and lifted it slightly. A glass of cool water was brought to her lips and slowly poured into her mouth.

Shana drank each sip eagerly, feeling the soothing effect on her throat as she began to feel better.

"Thanks... I... needed that..." Shana said slowly as she looked back at Emily, her eyes able to focus on her this time.

"Don't worry about it." Emily answers in a low voice so as not to aggravate Shana's headache, "Just try to get better."

Shana tries to nod, but the pain soon makes her change her mind, and she just manages to let out a grunt of acknowledgement as Emily rests her head back on the pillow.

Several minutes of silence pass between them before Shana, bored with the silence, asks the question that has been bothering her since waking up, "Where's Maya? It's weird that she's not talkin' my ear off… especially after what I said."

"She's sleeping in your room." Emily replied, accidentally stroking Shana's head before realizing what she was doing and stopping herself, "She was worried about you, so she stayed with you for a long time. She was so tired that she fell asleep around midnight, so I took her there."

"What the fuck?" Shana yelled, trying to get to her feet, but all she managed to do was give herself a splitting headache.

After holding her head for a few seconds as the pain subsided, Shana continued, "Is she OK? And how long did I sleep for, damn it?"

"Don't worry about Maya, she's just tired and worried about you," Emily said, giving her a warm smile, "She'll be more than fine once she gets a few hours sleep and sees that you're okay."

Then, glancing at the clock on her wall to check the time, Emily continued, "And it's almost 6am. You've been asleep for over twelve hours. I have to say, I'm surprised. I thought you would be more resistant to alcohol."

"Why should I be? I'm a damn teetotaler." Shana replied in an irritated tone.

"That shit is toxic to the body and it affects my athletic performance." she pointed out before looking at Emily, "And for someone like me who lives off it, it's suicidal."

Emily let out a heavy sigh, disappointed in herself, "I'm sorry... I let my biases take over and I insulted you again..."

Shana had a hard time not rolling her eyes, "Stop acting like a goddamn saint. I'm a fucking bitch and you hate my guts. Just admit it."

Biting her lip, Emily remained silent.

Shana was correct. She did indeed hate her.

Emily had never really tolerated Shana. She found her too unpleasant to be around, but after what had happened with Jane and the discovery of her countless murders, all that was left was disgust.

"That's true. I... I hate you." Emily admitted through gritted teeth, "I've never liked you, and after you almost caused Jane to die in such a horrible way..."

Getting out of bed, Emily walked to the window and leaned her forehead against the glass. Her eyes were closed and her lips pursed as she gripped the windowsill tightly to keep her anger under control.

"There have been countless deaths as a result of your carelessness, but you don't have a care in the world! You are indifferent to all the people you've killed!" Emily shouted, tears streaming from her eyes as she turned around to face Shana, "But now you turn out to be nothing more than a poor, misunderstood victim, living a terrible life of loneliness and hardship just so your little sister could have a better life?! How am I supposed to hate you at this point? How am I supposed to feel about you? Do me the goddamned favor of explaining it to me!"

Shana sighed, barely stopping herself from shaking her head, "What the fuck am I supposed to say? I did what I did for Maya, not to be pitied. If you want to hate me or not, that's your choice... But,"

She scratched her head embarrassedly, biting her lip as she looked at a spot on the wall opposite Emily, "I ain't happy about it. Hell, the first time it happened, I discovered it when I got home. I kicked off my shoes, and... Seeing that bloodstain with... the remains..."

The thought of it made her want to throw up, but Shana swallowed it down hard, "It was... Not pretty, to say the least. I even tried to look down or change my path to avoid them, but the fucking moment I looked up to see where I was going or to avoid hitting something or someone, I inevitably ended up squashing one..."

She gritted her teeth, frustrated, "It had become unbearable. The thought of what I had done kept me awake at night. Finally, I came to the point where I would either hang myself or learn to live with it."

Her eyes were hard and determined as she looked back at Emily, "And my sister is more important to me than they ever were."

Wanting to stay angry with Shana, but not knowing how to justify it to herself, Emily began to pace around the room.

In her heart, she understood where Shana was coming from, but in her mind, she couldn't agree with her. “And what about these poor little folks? Do they really mean so little to you? Their deaths... What kind of justification can there be for that?”

Before Shana could say anything, the sound of a cough drew their attention to Jane, who was looking at them with a guilty look in her eyes, “There... might be a reason…”

“Jane? Sorry, did I wake you up?” Emily said, feeling guilty for yelling, but Jane smiled at her, although it didn't reach her eyes.

“I was already up... don't worry…” she said before lowering her eyes, “Not that I would be able to sleep after last night…”

“What are you talking about?” Emily asked perplexedly, while Shana looked at her with narrowed eyes, “Explain.”

Swallowing hard, Jane nodded in agreement, “Ok, um, it's just a theory, but thinking about it the last few days, I can't help but think that maybe… it's possible that…”

“Stop stalling! Say it!” Shana said, gritting her teeth as she wondered what it was that she was going to say.

With a sigh, Jane looked at Emily who still had a confused look on her face as she had no idea what she was talking about. It was at this point that Jane began to have second thoughts about what she was about to say. “I'm sorry, Emily, that I didn't say anything. But I didn't want to burden you with something that could only have been a speculation on my part.”

Taking a deep breath, Jane finally revealed the thoughts that had been swirling in the back of her mind for the past few days. “My species, as you well know, lives under constant threat. In order to find food, we are forced to embark on dangerous expeditions. Often these expeditions end in the death of one or more of us. Even the least violent of these options can easily end in tragedy. People who provide us with food and materials might well have ill intentions or worse, and leave us at their mercy. In other words, every resource is precious and cannot be wasted…”

And then she looks down, not wanting to admit it, but it was what she owed to both of them. “We don't have anything like hospitals or retirement homes. Our support is only for those who are useful to the group, such as hunters, craftsmen, sages. Or those with promising prospects, like young people and pregnant women. As long as they are worth the risk to us, we will support them. But the moment that someone becomes more of a burden to the group than anything else, then we…”

And then she looked away. “That is the moment when they will be left to fend for themselves.”

Emily gasps and puts her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock, “Are you letting them die?!”

Jane clasped her hands in front of her and looked down. Even though it was a necessary evil for the survival of her kind, she still felt a pang of guilt... But she couldn't keep it to herself any longer, either. “Yes, that's how it is. If someone is injured or sick and can't be cured, or if they are too old to work and don't have enough experience to become a master, or if they are simply not useful or beneficial to the community, they will be exiled. Unfortunately, this often means that they are going to die. If they are still able to walk, they can choose to be sent on what is called the ‘Great Journey’. They will go on a quest in search of something that can be of great help to the community... or they will die trying. At least that is my understanding. For others, like the dying or the infirm, they are just taken out of the village and left somewhere to... What did they call it? See the last sunrise or something…”

There was a moment of silence between them. Then Shana let out a sigh, “While this is a sad matter, it is also an understandable one. It is dangerous to invest in something that is not going to pay off when you have such limited resources at your disposal…”

Shana felt the eyes on her and turned to see that both Emily and Jane were looking at her in bewilderment, prompting her to blurt, “What the hell's that look? I'm a business major! I'm not a total inbred, you know?”

Emily and Jane nodded their heads with a look that said, ‘Yeah, it's still her,’ before Emily sighed and recovered from her surprise, “You are right about that. No matter how... unpleasant the situation may be, it is still necessary for them. It's extremely unfair to them to be judged morally for doing what they need to do to survive, just because it's easier for us to live…”

“Yeah! People like that should keep their mouths shut if they don't know a damn thing about what other people have gone through.” Shana nods her head in agreement. Then she grimaces in pain and rubs her forehead, “Anyway... what does all that have to do with me stepping on them? It's not as if…”

Her eyes widened for a moment in horrible realization. Then they narrowed in anger, “You little shits! I can't believe I actually felt sorry for you for a moment!” Her forehead was throbbing with pain, but she was too angry to care about it.

Startled by the sudden reaction, Emily asked her, “Why are you so upset?! What happened?”

Pointing an accusing finger in Jane's direction, Shana replied “Didn't you hear what she just said? Those bastards are leaving their dying people all along my training path so I can squash them to death!”

“That's just a suspicion!” Jane tried to justify herself, but Shana just flipped her off. “You can take those excuses and shove them up your ass until they come out of your mouth!”

As the two argued, Emily rubbed her forehead, her head aching from all the revelations that had recently taken place. After watching them continue to argue for a few more seconds, she clapped her hands together to get them to listen. “Okay, okay! Stop it, both of you! As I have said before, even though their actions may seem cruel and irrational to us, we cannot condemn them for what they are doing in the name of survival.”

Shana's face grew angry again, and she opened her mouth to speak back, but before she could get a word out, Emily made a pre-emptive strike. “First of all, I owe you an apology, Shana. As much as I like to think of myself as a good and kind person, I have never bothered to try to understand you. Or even think about you at all, except to label you as someone that I was trying to avoid... like a true hypocrite. For that, I'm truly sorry. I hope you will give me a chance to earn your forgiveness…”

That took the wind out of Shana's sails. Her anger melted away like snow in the sun and she began to babble incoherently, “L-Like I give a damn, you moron! I have no interest in your opinion of me, idiot! It's all the same to me, you fool!”

Then she looked away, covering the bottom of her face with her blanket, “But, well... Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll accept your apology. Not that this changes anything! I still think you're lame, Emil-Barbie!”

Emily had a momentary thought of banging her head against the wall in frustration at her newfound personality, but she stopped herself and smiled at Shana, “On the plus side! At least now we know that you were never really at fault for what happened, you were more of an innocent victim of events.”

Shana nodded shyly, which made Emily smile even wider as she continued, “Now get some rest. Jane and I are going to have a little chat.”

Jane cocked her head to the side in confusion, “Huh? A chat about what-”

But she didn't get to finish the sentence before Emily grabbed her in her hand, and walked out of the room with a forced smile on her face.

Shana looked at the scene in surprise and muttered to herself, “Ok... maybe I do feel a little sorry for her now…”

Shana laid her head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of relief, ‘Well, now that I'm alone... Maybe I should take the opportunity to get a little bit of rest…’

A series of knocks rang out on the door of the room before a voice could be heard, “Big Sis? It's me! Maya! Your little sister... yes? Is it okay if I come in with you?”

‘Or maybe not…’ Shana commented in her mind before she answered, “If there has been no recent changes, then yeah. Now move your ass and come inside, you little squirt!”