trekgate:

_{That’s a sad story, Jetrel, but let me tell you another one. A man goes back to Rinax after the Cascade. Back to what had been his home, to look for survivors. But the impact of the blast has set off hundreds of fires, and there’s nothing there. Just smouldering ruins and the stench of seared flesh. But in the distance, in the middle of all that emptiness, from out of this huge cloud of billowing dust, he can see bodies moving, whimpering, coming toward him. They’re monsters, their flesh horribly charred, the colour of shale. One of them comes toward him, mangled arms outstretched, and he can’t help it, he turns away frightened. But then the thing speaks and he knows by the sound of her voice that she’s not a monster at all, but a child. A little girl.}