A woman's voice calls out from the darkness ahead. "Your friends think you're dead." I reload my gun. "You here to make that a fact?" She grunts, "Just saving an asset." The woman rushes away, "Wait!" I run through the dark only to trip over one of my now dead captors.

The power flips back on as I get back up. My eyes widen upon the sight of a bottle of whiskey. I sigh and scratch my head, "It just keeps getting harder, huh?" I stand up straight, Tango! I run out.

My muscles tense up as I hear my other half in my head again, "You don't even know where she is." "I don't care!" A Peacekeeper jeep rolls down the street, so I wave them down. They halt and get out, "Holy shit!" I get to the passenger seat and grab the radio,

B0L7; Bolt to Raid!

RAID; Where is Gladius, your team?

B0L7; I have no clue, but I managed to escape some facility.

"Would you like a shirt, sir?" I turn to the soldier, "Why would I need a shirt? My team has disappeared!" He grabs my shoulder, "It's snowing!"

RAID; Bolt?

B0L7; How long have we been gone?

RAID; Three days. You were presumed dead.

Stolen novel; please report.

I smash the mic into the main console. "Fuck!" "You done breaking our shit?" I clench my fists, "Yeah!" My stomach grumbles and I shiver, "You got any money on you?" He sighs, "Here's a twenty." "Next time I see you, you get forty." While walking away, Garvey comes back, "Food first, you animal."

After walking into a grocery store, I rip out a bag of cereal and shove handfuls into my mouth. "What? Not even a curse word?" A kid and his mother stare me down, "What? Never seen a man eat cereal?" They walk away and I look down at my torn pants, my chest, "Right." I grimace and march towards a section where they donate clothes.

I grab a shirt that's a little too baggy for my taste and a pair of baggy pants. "Back to being homeless?" "Can't do that

now, they know I'm alive, Garvey." He laughs, "Ain't my fault." I point at him as people stare.

"You're the one in my head, always poking." A kid looks to me, "Who are you talking to?" "No one!" He smiles, "I have voices in my head too." I grab my knees, "Oh yeah? Don't let the one telling you to do bad things take over or you'll end up without legs." I smile wide as the kid yells, "Mom!?" I look back at Garvey before walking through him. "That kid's voice was waaay too nice."

I finally make it to a fountain and choke on some water. "Why do most people have a voice in their head?" "It never bothered you before." I turn to him, "I asked you a question." "You'll all die soon anyway. Ok, some dark entity infected this world." I raise my brow, "You're insane." He laughs, "You thought you got rid of me."

I dive into the bathroom and gaze into the mirror, breathing heavily. Cuts and bruises line my chest. Half my body's

blackened. The smell of rotting animal fills my nostrils. "You've been corrupted so much already by those black creatures, it's a part of you now. The world forgets but you refuse to." I close my eyes, shaking my head and my skin's normal again, cuts, bruises and all.