[h2]Zone 1[/h2] [@Delta44][@follycle]
Excitement and clarity drove Azukina and Kuuki forward, both of them breaking into a sprint despite neither of them having warmed up beforehand. But the effects of such reckless disregard for their muscles had no consequences as Hiroki’s turbines reminded them that they [i]would[/i] be left to the dust if they did not shape up quickly.

Taking to the perimeter, the two girls ran down the streets to an area much of the same as the one by the bus. Though there were still mounds of rubble from collapsed buildings and broken pavement that exposed wet dirt beneath, it certainly wasn’t as apocalyptic as any of the other scenes they had passed by, and the relative orderliness of the sector reflected the lack of dummies in the area. Stuck partway through a wall, a large dummy repeated grunts of exertion. Legs trapped in a sewer, a small dummy looped a crying soundtrack. Still more sounds could be heard within half-destroyed buildings, dummies unwilling (though more likely incapable) of leaving their shelters despite the encroaching villainous threat.

Easy pickings, perhaps, but on the other hand, these dummies certainly weren’t [i]villains[/i], were they?

[h2]Zone 3[/h2][@Lugubrious][@AdmrlStalfos19][@vFear]
With his spotlight carving a swath through the mist, Goro made his way at a slower pace than the others, his breath rising against the cold temperatures as he ran around rubble and potholes. Unlike the more desolate places that Azukina and Kuuki dashed towards, the section that the light-bearing student found himself in was closer to that of a residential area, a main street soon giving way to side streets and alleyways. Plastic garbage, lead unattended by man and beast alike, littered the narrow roads, and he occasionally had to scramble over the broken stone walls that served as fences for two-story family houses or duck under fallen streetlamps that cleaved into the roofs of neighbouring buildings.

In this area, however, with sharp turns and claustrophobic roads, the effectiveness of Goro’s light was diminished, and the ghostly silence of the residential area was haunting as well, inspiring a small bit of paranoia that a monster may jump out at any intersection. But there were no monsters, only silence, and soon enough, his efforts were rewarded. Trapped underneath a cylindrical concrete telephone pole, two adult-sized dummies laid in pained silence, the sound of their wheezed breathing hardly audible. Without his light, his downward gaze, Goro may have missed them altogether.

But mixed with the wheezing was a whimpering coming from elsewhere, the direction of the noise distorted by high walls and thick fog. A child, crying somewhere nearby.

It was simply a matter of priorities now, wasn’t it? Who deserved salvation first? 

[h2]Zone 4[/h2][@ShwiggityShwah]
Each great leap parted the mist temporarily, each grand blast of his jet sent him further away from those losers who played at friendship and heroic naivety without understanding a thing about the real world function: Hiroki above them all. Though consideration for his landings made him expend more energy than usual, the blue-skinned mutant practically sailed through areas that others crawled through.

Finally, Hiroki dropped down into what appeared to be an overgrown park, trees and weeds growing in abundance when not pruned or poisoned by human interference. Within the mist-laden forest, the sounds of destruction and screams were far-off, and instead, a different sound could be heard. [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6aQgvvaeEY]Music[/url], operatic and feminine, wafting through crackling speakers placed in unknown lands. On the ground, he could see that some differently-colored stones were scattered around, hardly noticeable if not for the temporary dispersal of mist that his landing afforded him, while around him, Hiroki noticed quite clearly that the forest he found himself in was meant to represent a ‘horror’.

Various dummies were scattered on the ground, their bits and pieces torn hungrily as if a beast had ripped through them. There was an arm here, a leg there, circuitry tossed with wild abandon, mad abandon. Other broken dummies hung from the branches, displaced and abused, while large claw marks marked a few trees. In the distance, leaning against a tree, however, Hiroki could spot a non-form leaning against a toppled tree, could hear the terrified murmurs that looped in the speaker attached within.

Heroism started with saving one ‘life’, but was this one worth the effort, if larger catches could be found elsewhere? 

[h2]Zone 5[/h2][@KoL][@Sho Minazuki]
In terms of the most damaged sector, Minami certainly chose correctly, running through the fog with feline confidence into the center. And what destruction there was! For those who wanted to make something out of their lives as rescue heroes, the density of the screams and cries were certainly noteworthy, every voice mixing together to the extent that even her finely tuned cat ears had difficulty making out what was where. Clearly the site of an epic clash in the past, huge mounds of broken concrete were everywhere, and not a single building in the area stood straight. Like dominos they leaned against each other, the further ones flat against the ground, while power lines from scattered poles crisscrossed like a spider’s web. Somewhere amidst the screams, she could hear flowing water as well, either sewage or clean water sluggishly pushing through a broken pipe.

Some dummies were pinned underneath collapsed buildings. Others found themselves trapped at rooftops, their methods of getting down sealed by broken stairwells. There were more whose voices resounded weakly in the very depths of the mounds of rubble, unfortunately trapped underground, while others still laid in toppled vehicles, doors too crunched up to open, their seatbelts binding them to their seats. Further off, a section of the road collapsed completely, opening up to the sewers that laid beneath, a gaping maw that only the brave may wish to venture into, as screams and cries wailed out like ghosts bound to the underworld.

The terrain was most certainly difficult, and even Minami, with her agility, had trouble traversing it. No doubt whatever rescue efforts were to be made here, it would require efficiency and skill rather than nebulous desires.