Someone on the network said they ran into a monster. One that flew and could take out three of them at once.

[ Jim's talking even as he's shifting from hugging Zell to having an arm wrapped around his back, under his arms, and gently guiding him over to a dilapidated couch where Jim can awkwardly draw Zell back into a hug. He pulls Zell's head down toward his chest, ear close to Jim's heart.

He can see the red tips of Zell's hair easy from that angle, and it's hard to believe they were messing around with stuff like that just yesterday. Everything'd seemed so good when he could see again, and now... ]

Al... back when I arrived, Al was one of the first people I talked to. He was the first of us on the network, too, a few weeks before I got here.