Julian woke with a gasp, jerking up out of bed. His chest burned as he drew in a breath, forcing him to groan in pain. He laid his head back on the pillow, his heart racing in his chest.

A soft whimper filled the room.

As he slowed his breathing, Julian looked around the room he found himself in.

Sunlight was coming in through shuttered windows, casting a warm glow into this makeshift bedroom. The scent of antique, a combination of musty wood, stone, and fabrics lingered in the air. An old lamp sat on the makeshift nightstand, now more decorative than functional. An old computer monitor sat alone on a desk across the room.

The whimper continued, and Julian felt a familiar sensation.

“Is that you, Omen?” He croaked. His throat parched dry.

The whimper quickened, joined with the clack of claws against wooden floors as Omen appeared out from the shadows of the bed. The wolf jumped on the foot of the bed, his muzzle finding Julian’s face as he licked him, his tail wagging, though he continued to whimper at Julian.

Julian chuckled, causing him to inhale sharply as the pain in his chest returned.

Omen pulled away and laid down at the foot of the bed, watching Julian as he settled from the pain.

“I’m fine, buddy, it’s okay,” Julian whispered. He petted Omen's head, scratching behind his ears. The bond between them settled as Julian felt Omen relax, relief flowing between them.

Mumbling came from the other side of the door before it opened abruptly. “- damn dog won’t stop crying.” The old man that entered stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide as he saw Julian sitting up in bed.

Julian stared at the old man, glaring at him as he realized the man was talking about Omen.

“Holy shit, the kids awake,” the old man called out.

“Kid?” Julian croaked. He coughed, pain filling his chest once more.

“William! He’s awake!” The old man yelled out, stepping away from the door for an instant before returning with a bottle of water. He took the cap off and held the bottle up close to Julian’s lips with shaky hands. “Drink this,” he said softly.

Julian pressed his lips to the bottle, sipping the water to cool his dry throat. The water was refreshing, and somehow cold.

After downing half the bottle, Julian came back for air, gasping. “What happened? Where’s everyone?”

Running footsteps echoed from the hallway as more visitors piled in.

The old man stepped away from the bed, but not before leaving the water bottle on the nightstand. He walked to the door as two more people arrived to join them.

A woman stepped up to the bed with a stethoscope around her neck. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun. She smiled as she approached Julian, relief plain on her face.

Omen growled as she approached, and Julian felt a sense of loathing coming from him.

She turned to Omen; her smile fading. “Hush you."

Omen sat his head down on the bed, watching her as she checked Julian’s vitals.

“Seems like you’ve done this before,” Julian said, letting the woman check his pulse before moving on to listen to his heart and breathing.

The woman chuckled. “I’d like to think we’ve gotten used to each other at this point.”

A chuckle came from the door, getting Julian’s attention.

Standing in the doorway was a familiar, older man, slightly greying, his arms folded across his chest.

“That’s one loyal pup you have there. He refused to leave your side,” the man said.

Stepping around the man was a large praying mantis that stood waist high.

Julian’s face lit up with recognition. “The SOS beacons. You guys were out in the city helping people, too.”

The man smiled. “I’m glad you remember. I’m William, and this is my partner, Bob.”

Bob the mantis raised a sickle and waved to Julian.

Julian smiled, waving back to Bob. “Thanks for the help. Can you tell me what happened?”

William’s face turned grim. “You don’t remember?”

Julian stopped, gathering his thoughts. Finally, scenes from the last den raid crashed into him.

The party sneaking across the rooftops.

Matilda growing tired.

Energy.

Andre taming the den leader.

Fleeing the guards.

The streets filled with Eidos and tamers.

Gunfire.

Obi’s voice.

Energy.

Oryx collapsing.

Pain. Unable to breathe.

Andre and Kiyoka left behind.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Maria crying over him.

Julian’s face paled as his thoughts went on a loop, replaying the scenes repeatedly.

The woman removed her stethoscope from Julian’s chest. “He’s breathing fine, but I’m sure he’s in pain. I’d recommend another session or two with a healer, and it should finish the job up nicely.”

William nodded at her. “We’ll get right on it. Won’t we, Bob?”

Bob nodded his strange mantis head in response. He rubbed his sickles together.

The woman nodded before turning back to Julian. “It’s good to see you awake, young man. We were all worried you wouldn’t make it.”

Julian shook his head, letting his thoughts drift away for a moment. “Where are my friends?”

The woman looked at William, who nodded at her.

“I’ll fill him in. Thank you, again.”

Julian felt his stomach drop.

The woman patted Julian’s hand before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

Bob approached the bed slowly, his eyes glancing from Omen to Julian.

Omen growled softly, more for show than an actual threat.

William sighed. “Hush, pup. We're here to help.”

Bob’s sickles started glowing a soft white and green light. They pulsed, sending waves of healing over Julian.

He felt the pain in his chest lessen, but he couldn’t focus.

“Please, sir, what happened?”

William sighed, and walked over to the desk that held the computer monitor, taking a seat in the chair before it. He turned to Julian. “Your friend rushed into the safe zone with you on the back of her raptor, screaming for help. We rushed over and found you bleeding all over her. She was inconsolable.”

Julian’s eyes grew wide as he listened.

“At one point, you flatlined in the yard. We called every healer we had in. However, if it wasn’t for that girl’s mental type removing the bullet from your lung, we wouldn’t have been able to bring you back.”

Julian’s head suddenly started spinning. He laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. “You mean, I died?”

William nodded. “For a moment, yes. The bullet broke your rib from the point of entry in your back, and both the bullet and rib pierced your right lung. It was touch and go for two days.”

Julian opened his eyes at that, turning his gaze to William. “Wait, how long have I been here?”

William watched Julian carefully. “You arrived here six days ago.”

Julian closed his eyes again. “Where’s Maria? And the others?”

Bob’s sickles stopped glowing, and he turned his attention to William. He nodded at his tamer, finished with his work for now.

“If Maria is the one with the raptor, she took off three days ago, after we declared you stable. We didn’t know when you would wake up, or if you even would. She hasn’t been back since. As for other people, I know nothing about them. Maria said nothing.”

Julian lifted his arm and tapped his bracer screen.

Two notifications were waiting for him

[Den Raid Complete}

[View Rewards?]

[Yes] [No]

——

[Maria Ramirez has dissolved the party.]

“Shit,” Julian whispered. He dropped his bracer arm back to the bed.

William stood from his seat. “You don't know how lucky you are, kid. That you’re alive and breathing is a miracle. You were dead to rights.”

He walked towards the door as Bob scurried over to follow him. “I don’t know what you’ve been involved in, but you’re welcome to rest and recover. Once that’s done, you’ll need to leave. I can’t have whatever you’re dealing with following you to the safe zone. We have enough to deal with as it is.” With that, William and Bob left the room, shutting the door behind them.

Julian’s thoughts were as scatted as his party. Andre and Kiyoka were left behind in the middle of a firefight. He abandoned them, and Maria abandoned him.

He needed to know more.

“Omen, fetch,” Julian whispered.

Omen raised his head from the bed and looked at Julian. He cocked his head sideways, questioningly.

“I need Obi. Where’s my gear?”

Omen shifted carefully off the bed and trotted towards a closet. He shifted into the shadows under the door, disappearing for a moment before returning. Julian’s backpack was in his mouth.

The bag was covered in blood.

“Bring it here,” he whispered, patting the bed.

Omen dragged the bag across the floor. Growling, he started shaking the bag like a dog toy before using the momentum to toss the heavy bag onto the bed.

Julian felt a wave of complaint from Omen.

“Sorry, I know it’s heavy,” Julian said. He sat up in bed, propping his pillow up and resting his back against it. He unzipped the blood crusted backpack.

Inside, Julian found his extra clothes soaked through with blood because of the bullet hole. He sighed. He had never been through so many clothes in his life, and now the apocalypse had ruined even more clothes.

Tossing them to the floor, he dove into his bag, looking for the Eidos capsule holder, and hopefully, Obi’s capsule.

After dumping out the contents of his bag, a stack of supply capsule containers clacked together onto the blanket. Taped to the cover of one container was a folded piece of paper.

Julian grabbed the paper, peeling it off the container. On the front of it, scrawled in Maria’s familiar handwriting, was his name.

He unfolded the paper, seeing a letter written in Maria’s hand. He noticed small blotches over the ink that had caused it to run in places.

Julian,

I’m so sorry you ended up getting dragged into this mess. When I started my internship at Artino, I never once imagined my dream would cause so much pain for you. These past few days, as I’ve watched you sleep, I realized how selfish I’ve been. You have been a pillar of friendship, the best that has ever been, and a great wingman when I needed one. Nobody could have predicted the world would have turned out like this, but regardless, my actions and irresponsibility got you killed, and most likely caused the deaths of Andre and Kiyoka as well. If I hadn’t been so careless with my Eidos, if I’d been more responsible like I know I need to be, you wouldn’t have taken on the burden of defense on your own, and you would still be by my side.

If, by some miracle, you wake up; I hope these supplies will help you find your way back to Missouri. I don’t know where I’m going to go, but I can’t stay here in the safe zone. If you don’t wake up, hopefully these supplies will repay the debt I incurred by dropping you off at Fort Winfield. I’m sure they can use them.

Forever sorry,

Maria.

Julian felt tears fall across his cheek. Maria blamed herself for this mess. He couldn’t image what she felt, or the guilt of everything she now carried. How could he let her down so horribly?

He tapped his bracer, looking for Maria's contact information. It came up empty. Her information was gone.

Julian tried to compose himself as he looked the stack over. He patted his now empty bag in frustration and felt something in the smaller side pouch. He unzipped it, finally finding his bandolier with Omen’s empty capsule, along with Obi’s green and purple swirling one.

Pulling the bandolier out of his bag, he tapped Obi’s capsule. Purple and green particles flowed through the room and onto the bed. Soon, the familiar carapace of Obi glistened green and purple in the sunlight that filled the room.

“Obi! You’re okay!” Julian said, holding a hand out to his beetle.

Obi didn’t respond. He looked Julian’s hand over, tilting up to look into Julian’s face, before turning his back and walking across the bed away from him.

“Obi?” Julian called.

The beetle was silent.

“Obi, please talk to me. I’m sorry,” Julian pleaded.

The beetle turned quickly to Julian.

Huh? You’re sorry?! I’m the one who failed! I wasn’t strong enough to protect you”

Obi shot up from the bed, flying to be face to face with Julian.

I felt you die, boss. I’ve felt nothing more horrifying in my life. You were here, and then, suddenly, you were gone!

Obi landed on Julian’s shoulder.

I’m so sorry, boss. I’m so sorry.

Julian patted Obi gently. “You’re fine, Obi. I dropped the ball. I wasn’t prepared. The system changed so much after the tutorial.”

Obi went silent again, but he stayed on Julian’s shoulder this time.

Julian allowed the silence to fill the room for a moment. Then, he got an idea.

He grabbed Maria’s letter. “Obi, Neural Network. Connect Omen, you, and myself together.”

Obi complied, but stayed silent.

Julian searched the nightstand beside his bed, sifting through the drawers, and finally found a pen.

He turned Maria’s letter over, writing a message.

Come see me.

He folded the letter back up and handed it to Omen. The wolf sniffed the letter deeply before moving to the capsule containers Maria left in Julian’s bag.

“Omen, fetch.”

-----

The sun was setting by the time Omen returned.

Using Obi’s ability, Julian watched Omen scour the city, looking for Maria. The scent trail was abysmal, practically nonexistent, but they both knew it was there.

That said, they never came close to finding her. Matilda’s suppression was now working against them.

Omen slumped onto the foot of the bed as a knock on the door caught their attention.

“Come in,” Julian said, his hopes up.

He slumped back down when the old man from before came in carrying a tray of food. “Hope you’re hungry! Made it myself!”

“Oh, umm, thank you, really,” Julian said, doing his best to hide his disappointment.

The old man sat the tray on the nightstand. “Eat up. I’ll be back in an hour to collect your dishes.” He turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Julian looked the tray over, noting the fresh vegetables and fried fish. It all smelled delicious.

As he prepared to dive into his plate, taking up his fork, a strange noise filled the room as the old computer monitor suddenly hummed to life. The screen flashed brightly before turning back to black.

Julian dropped his fork in surprise as a familiar cackle filled the room.

“Well, well, Julian Koste lives.”

“Izun?”