Sci's P.O.V

I think FC made the right choice about staying in that cave for the night. The bus doesn't smell and it's much more pleasant to be in now. I'm worried about Fell though. The infection has been getting worse and at a scary pace. Just one day it took for him to get like this. At this rate, he won't make it to the surviver camp. I'm staying close to him, I don't want him to get hurt. Last night I told FC what had happened. She promised not to tell anyone, which I was thankful for. She said that she would do her best to keep it a secret, but if any of the others did happen to find out, then she would have no choice but to let them kill Fell. I hoped it wouldn't come to that. I had some hope that I would be able to fix this.

"Sci, are you sure I'm ok?" Fell asked weakly.

"It's probably just a cold." I lied.

Fell looked down at his hands. He looked pale, even for a skeleton. I hate lying, but it's to protect him. Or, am I just putting everyone else in danger? Oh, why can't I just be sure about something for once? I looked over at Fell. It scared me a little when I saw him that time. He was still staring down at his hands. His expression with blank, but his eye lights had gone dim with a creamy colour. He was there, yet not quite there. The infection had taken another step forward, now it was trying to fully take over Fell's body. His every move, the infection wasn't planning to give up any time soon.

"Fell? Are you ok?" I asked.

Fell didn't respond. But, his hands were shaking. He's scared too. Maybe he didn't know it, but he was. I put my hand on Fell's shoulder and gently shook him. He snapped out of it, his eye lights returning to their red colour. Now his whole body was shaking.

"S-Sci...w-what's happening to me?"

I pulled Fell closer to me in a kind of hug. Fell put his foreskull against my chest and weakly held my hands.

"It'll be ok..." I whispered reassuringly. "Everything will be ok..."

I wasn't so sure of my own words. Once again, we felt the bus stop. Only this time, it was slow, calm stop.

"Hey guys, come look at this!" FC called out.

Everyone got up to see why we stopped. I helped Fell stand up and walk over to the front. We were at the top of the mountain. It was a kind of crater, the tall stone walls guarding a large hot spring at it's centre. It looked perfect to relax in.

"What do you say guys? Wanna take a break from driving and go for a swim?" FC asked.

"We don't have time for this, FC." Nightmare replied.

"Come on, Nightmare. Lighten up a bit."

"We haven't really gotten a chance to properly relax yet." Dream said. "A little break won't hurt anyone."

"Swimming! Swimming! Lets go swimming!" Asy agreed.

Nightmare huffed, crossing his arms.

"Well, you're the only one who has a problem with it. So...swimming it is!" FC announced.

Everyone except Nightmare cheered in response. Nightmare simply growled something under his breath. This was good. Some nice hot water will be good for not only Fell, but Blueberry's injury. Maybe Geno too, but he doesn't seem too bothered by the eternally bleeding slash wound across his chest.

"Just one question." Nightmare said. "What exactly are we going to be swimming in? We can't go in our regular clothes, we've only got one set each."

"I always come prepared!" FC announced proudly. "There's a whole box of board shorts up the back."

Everyone stared at FC.

"Why? Out of everything you could've packed, why board shorts?" Dust asked.

"At this point we've learned to just not question why she does anything." Error replied.

FC smiled. "Come on, ya wanna go swimming or what?"

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. Nightmare muttered curses and growls under his breath. Everyone went ahead and grabbed a pair of board shorts that fitted them. Except Nightmare, of course. FC couldn't, because she's a human girl. That wouldn't go too well. She seemed fine with staying away from the water, actually. Once everyone was ready, we stepped outside into the cold air. The warm hot spring was welcoming.

Most of us ran into the water with a playful mood. Ink helped Blueberry limp over to the water, then went to join Error. Blueberry sat at the edge of the water, only putting his legs in the water. At first the stung against his wounded leg, but after a bit it almost seemed to be healing him. Dust waded over to Blueberry.

"You seem a bit lonely there." He commented.

Blueberry shook his head. "I'm not lonely." He smiled happily. "You just came over."

Dust blushed lightly and smiled back. Funny, that's the first time I've seen him smile since we set off on this adventure. I stayed close to Fell. Most of him was submerged in the water. His head and arms were above the water, his head resting on his crossed arms.

"How do you feel, Fell?" I asked.

"Much better." Fell replied.

That's good. But I don't know how long that'll last.

"Horror, when did you get in a relationship with Lust?" Killer asked.

He must've caught them kissing or something. Horror and Lust had their arms wrapped around each other, cuddling.

"Since last night." Horror replied, smiling.

"Ooo," Error teased. "Did you go anywhere beyond making out?"

"FC interrupted us before we could." Lust answered.

FC playfully stuck her tongue out at them, Lust did the same to her. Horror laughed and kissed Lust's cheekbone. Error opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Ink splashing him with the warm spring water.

"Oh, I see how it is." Error said, turning to Ink.

Ink had a mischievous smile across his face. "Come at me then, Glitchy."

Error smirked. This was going to get quite messy. Error ran surprisingly fast through the water. Seeing that Error seemed to be built to run in water, Ink tried to run away. Error tackled Ink down, Ink's cry of surprise was muffled in the water. Some of the water went flying out the spring and towards Nightmare, who was sitting close to the edge of the spring. Nightmare hissed loudly and backed away quickly. Small drops of water still managed to hit him, they seemed to burn him.

"Hey! Watch where you're splashing!" Nightmare snapped.

"Scared of a little water, Nightmare?" Reaper teased.

"Shut up!"

"Geez, chill out Nightmare." Error said.

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

At that moment, Buddy came charging out of the bus. He leaped and hit Nightmare. Nightmare lost balance and fell forward into the water.

"Brother!" Dream called out, running towards him.

Dream pulled Nightmare back onto his feet. Nightmare coughed and run out of the water, back towards the bus. But he collapsed part way. Nightmare didn't quite look like Nightmare anymore. The goop seemed to have washed off of him, as well as the tentacles that once protruded from his back. Now, he looked like a regular skeleton. He looked a lot like Dream, actually. His eye lights had gone from a teal colour to a bright purple and he somehow looked shorter. But, he was still out usual short tempered Nightmare.

"Nightmare, are you ok?" Dream asked, walking up to him.

"Don't look at me!" Nightmare yelled, getting back up and running into the bus.

I noticed from the corner of my eye light that Killer had been staring at Nightmare, a bright blush on his face.

"Was that really Nightmare?" Cross asked.

"Yep." Error answered, crossing his arms. "Not so threatening anymore, it he?"

"He's cuter now." Killer said.

"Somebody's got a crush!" Horror teased.

Killer huffed, looking away. "You can't say nothing, numbskull."

Well, this is going well.

"Hey nerd."

I looked over at Fell. "What's wrong?"

"You seemed worried when for that short moment on the bus. Are you absolutely sure everything's ok?"

He had a serious look in his eye lights. I wish he'd stop asking that question, it hurts to keep lying to him over and over again. But I suppose he has every right to be asking it so many times.

"Yes. Everything's fine. You're ok." I lied.

Fell didn't look convinced, but he didn't question again. Someone's going to find out eventually. I have to go something about it. I won't let Fell die.