The rumbling of footsteps accompanied him as Ed felt the cold hard ground pressing against his face. He had a throbbing headache from when his head slammed into the ground. Why did he have to drop me? The prick.

He kept his eyes shut as he pretended to lie there unconscious. The headache actually helping him, because he didn’t want to get up at all. He focused on his recovery while taking in the sounds happening around him. The footsteps. The phone call. And the quiet grumbling of one of the men.

Nobody said a word outside of the conversation on the phone, which made him nervous. Why aren’t they saying anything? He had no way of knowing that they had been conversing mentally this entire time. So he had no choice but to stick to his plans, hoping they would all go inside so that he could escape.

A few minutes passed as the headache subsided, and people gathered around the door. He stopped himself from tensing up despite his nervousness, not wanting anyone to notice something strange. He felt himself struggling to breathe. Whether that was because he was afraid of getting caught, or because he had landed awkwardly with his nose pressed against the concrete, he wasn’t sure.

But he dealt with the discomfort nonetheless. He waited for the door to open and for the sound of footsteps to slowly dissipate, but he still didn’t move. Waiting a few more minutes after the door closed, he opened his eyes slightly and looked around.

Adjusting to the light, he looked around without moving his head, instead sticking to the limited field of view he had from how he landed. Surrounded by silence, he scanned the surroundings for people. Good. There’s no one.

Despite the fact that everything felt right, he still chose to take his time, lest his head got blown off before he could react. He didn’t know how many people they had. If they had left one behind, he would be in deep trouble.

He slowly shifted, pretending as if he had just woken up from the pain. This was easy, considering he was actually hurting. Damn, this is gonna take ages to recover from. This was not fucking worth it.

He winced and looked down at the self-inflicted stab wounds. Definitely not worth it. In order to make it believable, he knew he needed to add some blood alongside the scrapes and bumps. And with no other options, he had to turn his own knife on himself.

Thankfully, he knew just where to stab and how deep to push the knife in to make it believable without causing himself any long term problems. It just meant that he would have to take it easy for a few days.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

And probably find some fabric to patch up his coat.

He struggled to his knees, then to his feet. Nobody stepped out of the darkness, much to his relief. He was alone. They had believed him.

I need to get out of here. Money be damned, I’ll sort out my debt when I get to it. I’m sure I can convince Mr Dimarco to delay the payment. He shuddered at the thought of what he might have to do in exchange for the delay. But, he was all out of luck and there was nothing else he could do.

Looking around to confirm he was still alone, Ed slipped into the darkness and moved towards the exit, his eyes locked onto the door in case of any changes. He hugged the walls to make sure nobody could see him, slowly making progress towards his escape.

Reaching the exit of the carpark after what felt like an eternity, he breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes left the door as his vision wandered across the empty street. He was in an unfamiliar part of town, and more than anything, just wanted to find a place to sleep. He was tired and hurting, and would sort out his problems later.

Not finding a café or diner open anywhere on the street, he resolved himself to sleeping on the ground. It wasn’t his first choice, but its not like he hadn’t done it before. And its by no means the worst part of town to be sleeping in.

Finding a dark alley to rest in, he huddled up in a corner and closed his eyes. I should be able to get some rest here. I don’t think they’ll find me.

Suddenly, the street was drowned in a harsh light, blinding Ed even when his eyes were closed. What the fuck is that?

“Everyone stay where you are! Criminal activity has been detected in the area. If we see anyone moving outside, we will assume you are working with them and will have you arrested.” An authoritative voice boomed, penetrating the walls and echoing through the entire street.

Buildings lit up across the street as people looked out from their windows to watch the commotion. Sirens blared as armoured cop cars filled the streets, cutting off all means of escape. Drones flew overhead, scanning every inch of the ground on route to the warehouse.

Ed could hardly breathe as the drones flew through the alley. One stopped just in front of him, scanned him up and down, then flew away. What the fuck is going on? What did they do? I only sent them in there so I could escape?

Gunshots rang throughout the street, the sounds coming from the warehouse. Everyone immediately stepped away from their windows and turned their lights off, no longer wanting to know what happened.

Police officers ran by, their full-body mechanical suits causing the ground to shake as they moved. It was like a thunderous, never-ending stampede. These weren’t ordinary lower city cops. This was an army.

Ed started panicking. If something happened to that man, he had no chance of escaping. The police would find him. He had no doubts about that. If he was lucky, he would die a quick death. But if he wasn’t? Well he would probably just kill himself, that would be for the best. He had seen what the government does to criminals. And it was not pretty.

He paled at the thought of turning into one of their experiments. But at the same time, curiosity bloomed in his heart. What’s going on in there?