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Ep 14. Carrier

12/30/22

Hokkaido sticks out his tongue as he reaches toward the camera for something, the sky visible behind his head. Text boxes detail what he's thinking as he thinks, A disgusting pandemic hit the rings a week or two ago. It started in High Society, allegedly. The next panel shows Hokkaido and Palm Tree at a canal, refilling their water bottles. Hokkaido is revealed to be reaching towards the water to refill his. As he drinks, he continues to think, Commoners from Center Ring quickly lost everything, and took their anger out on the wealthy.
The mansion my family owned was destroyed, along with my loved ones. I fled to the city with nothing, and watched things get worse. As he continues to mentally monologue, there's a shot of two different assimilated objects, wandering a fenced-in construction site.
Hokkaido continues, Transportation has been cut, and I'm not sure what to do with myself. As he and Palm Tree sit at the corner of a rooftop eating bread rolls and talking together, Hokkaido thinks, So I've been trying to make new friends. Palm Tree reaches out to pat Hokkaido's head, a close up shot showing tiny grubs crawling onto his claw as the text box says, But.
The next panel cuts to Hokkaido and Palm Tree scavenging in an alleyway, Palm Tree lifting a box and asking, How's it hanging over there, son? I know it ain't lavish, but those bandits took over the supermarket. You don't wanna fight them over it, do you? With a scary memory of Dragonscale and the bandit party looming over him, Hokkaido answers, No, not really.
Not noticing Palm Tree suddenly freezing up behind him, Hokkaido asks, Don't you think maybe we could just, try the drug store for food? Suddenly, a creaking and snapping sound alerts Hokkaido, and he turns around to look.
Palm Tree's upper half has completely split open, a long spine bursting out from his lower torso with veins and insect limbs braided around it. His arms have completely fallen off his body, and bloody shreds of his bark lie on the ground. Rancid green coconut water splashes out from his head, and the text boxes from earlier return to say, They don't, last long.
Hokkaido cries out, What? No! and runs off around the corner, shouting, Help! Then, suddenly, he clutches his head, screaming as he feels a sharp pain.
Hokkaido continues to run, tears filling his eyes as he thinks, Where are these abominations coming from? Unbeknownst to him, one of his eyes has turned white.
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