"No. I wouldn't have gotten out if not for you. I'm not leaving you behind, and whatever that thing is, I'm not letting it get you." He still wasn't that big of a fan of Lina, either, but he owed her too much. They never should have tried to cross the river. Now that thing was going to get them.<br/><br/>More importantly, his hand felt like it had been burned down right to the bone. He was not going to let her go down, not after he'd suffered that much trying to save her. It wouldn't be easy, but there had to be some way out of this.<em>Think, Nolan. That thing is water vapor and radiation. You can use that...</em><br/><br/>Of course. Water. It was made of water. It was huge, angry, and far more radiation than water. And that was assuming he was even right in the first place. But he had to give it a shot. Had to breath deep, try to feel the water in it, to freeze it, to...<br/><br/>"AAarrgh..." The scream he let out matched the one he heard from it, but while his was quiet and died off quickly, the thing's cry seemed to split the very air in two. It was unbearably loud, unbearably painful. He fell to the ground, unsure if it had even worked. His hand was aching, his head was aching, everything hurt. Except the ground. The ground was soft and cool...<br/><br/><em>All I have to do is lie here, and it will all be over, right? Either it ran away and we're safe, or it didn't and we're dead.</em><br/><br/>Too much running. Time to just lie down and let someone else sort it out.