It was like Zero's entire body just shut down.

He couldn't hear anything around him and his gaze seemed far off. It was the outcome he thought he was prepared to hear but had hoped with every fiber that it wasn't the case. Part of him hoped this was some sick joke that they were playing on him. Maybe they just really hated the military and wanted to freak him out.

But the look on the man's face across from him told him that this was no joke.

It was a nightmare.

The man was still speaking to him, but all he could hear at this point was his own heartbeat that had begun beating faster and faster. Zero ran out the door and left the man in his wake. He stopped over at a trashcan situated by the sidewalk; it was here that he vomited up all he had eaten that day.

Why would the military do something so…so evil?? He thought to himself. Tears began to leak from his eyes and roll down his cheeks.

"She was just a girl….she was…" Zero fell to his knees in anguish. It was like his spirit had just left his body and all that remained was this hollowed out fragile shell. Guilt started to seep in through the cracks - this only happened because he stepped in, he thought.

"Haji was right. I shouldn't have done anything. I should have..oh no.." Zero buried his head in his hands. "Ahhhhh!!!!!"

The people in the area looked over to him as if he was having an episode. Those who waited in line outside the clinic looked towards him with a deep sadden look. They knew why he wept. They also knew there was nothing they could do that would fix what broke inside him.

"Hey, don't just sit in the middle of the sidewalk." A woman said as she walked past, slightly bumping against him on purpose. "Idiot." She mumbled under her breath.

Zero looked over his shoulder at the woman. She must've felt his eyes burning through her back since she looked back as well. Her face momentarily changed to slight fear as she saw Zero's tear stained face glaring at her with his mouth slightly agape.

She quickly picked up her pace and moved along.

"No….it's them." Zero looked down at his open palms; his fingers were shaking. Not from despair, but rather…from a budding rage deep inside him. "This is their fault. I saved her FROM THEM. Then they….they…."

He tightly clenched his hands into a fist to the point that he was starting to draw blood from his nails sinking into his own flesh. "They will pay."

Zero dragged himself down the street to the western part of the city. The man said her family lived off 5th street. He looked up as he came upon an intersection and saw the sign for 6th street. He was coming up on it.

With the adrenaline of sneaking out of the base and rushing to the city now wearing off, he was starting to feel the pain radiating from his injuries. His leg was well enough to move on but it still wasn't 100%. He could feel each footstep slap against the pavement. It was like everything around him had slowed down and he was all alone in this dark dreary world.

He looked at the next sign - 5th street.

Zero looked down the road and was able to easily spot a large bluish apartment building. It definitely needed some work done to it from a few cracked windows to the paint either discolored or peeled off in many places. Not just the apartment building, but quite a few of the surrounding buildings and houses were in dire shape.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

He made his way into the building and up to the 2nd floor. Room 21 was immediately to his right once he got off the stairs.

*Knock* *Knock*

Zero wasn't even sure what he was going to say to them or why he was even there in the first place. He had the answers he came looking for. There was no reason why he should reopen the poor family's wounds.

A tall slender man opened the door. He had on a work jumpsuit that was covered in some kind of filth. "Um, how can I help you?"

Before he could even form a thought, words just fell out of his mouth, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

The man seemed taken back by Zero's rant of apologies. With each sorry he could feel the water welling back up in his eyes.

"Hold up, hold up. I'm 'fraid I don't even know what you're apologizing for. Do I know you?"

Zero stopped and looked the man in his eyes. He had to be Nora's father, Oliver. The man looked back in his eyes with confusion and concern. For a moment no words were exchanged. Then, the man's expression softened and he let out a small sigh. "Please, come in."

Zero sat in one of the two chairs in their living room. They had a couch and an armchair off to the side. Both pieces of furniture had seen better days. He looked over the rest of the apartment - there was an older style tv that was currently off, a bookshelf overflowing with books, a coffee table with several miscellaneous stains, and a few family pictures hanging above where the TV was. He saw one with Nora and quickly looked away.

Oliver pulled up a chair from their dining table and sat across from Zero.

"So. I have a feeling I know why you're here."

"....I…."

"...it's…it's ok, kid."

Zero looked up at Oliver in surprise. He let out another sigh and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs.

"That day, I had told her to stay with me. But with how long those lines at the clinic move any kid would get restless. So I told her that she could play for a bit in front of the building until I at least checked in. But I…I didn't think.."

His voice trailed off as he brought up his sleeve to his face and wiped his eyes.

"This city isn't kind to us. I assume even you know that despite being in the military."

"...."

"I work overnight over at the plant and my wife works as a house cleaner during the day. So it's not often that we got to spend days as a whole family. But Nora…she never complained. She would find the best in just about anything, that child." A gentle smile came over his face.

"...Listen, sir, I didn't mean to-"

"Stop. Don't think for a second that any of this is your fault. When they brought her back, she ran into my arms and told me allll about a superhero who had protected her from a mean man. The joy on her face…I'll never forget it. Then one of them came up to me and said that she was involved with an altercation involving a citizen That the other person ended up with a broken arm. They said that they couldn't have such violence happening, especially not in front of citizens. So they needed to….." Oliver cut off and looked behind him for a moment. Zero could see the small shakes from his body to know the pain he was feeling inside.

"It shouldn't have been her. It was my fault that he broke his arm. If anyone should've been….well, it should've been me." Zero said with no hesitation.

"Yeah, that's the thing though. *sniff*" He turned back towards Zero, his eyes a little irritated. "They knew full well it wasn't Nora that sent a full sized man flying into the street. They never even accused her of being the one to do it. But, they wanted to make an example. And to them we basically might as well be all the same. As long as they can kill one of us, that's good enough for them."

Zero looked down at the floor. He clenched his teeth. His eyes seemed to be twitching from the pure anger building up inside him. "Those fucking bastards. Fucking evil bastards." He looked back up at Oliver. "I'll make them pay."

"No!" Oliver jumped out of his chair and grabbed Zero's shoulders. "Listen to me. PLEASE. They won't even bat an eye at putting one between your eyes. Or even worse, they could punish everyone else in response. You…you have to let this go."

"Let it go?! I could never-"

"YOU HAVE TO. I know you live out at the military base so you don't know what it's like day to day. This kinda stuff happens everyday. It was just that day…we were the target of this city. It doesn't want us here but we're here damn it. If we don't learn to move on we'll end up with the same fate. Nora wouldn't want this, kid. Promise me. Leave this alone."

"But-"

"Promise me, please. If not for me then at least do it for Nora."

Zero didn't know what to do with this anger he had. He wanted nothing more than to let it all out at the military, no matter the consequences. But he looked Oliver in the eye and saw the beaten down depressed man he kept inside. He realized that whatever he was feeling, Oliver was probably feeling it times ten.

So he pushed it all to the side. For now.

"...Ok. I won't get involved."