 
INTRODUCTION

"There are many things that happen in the world, many things that people cannot dream of. These things can be scary, amazing, strange, humorous, humiliating, or all of the above. Many people wonder why these "gifts" only are given to certain people, at certain times or places. The answer to this question is that they are given with no choice at all, just a name drawn out of a hat, just randomly. These special recipients are usually not known of their gifts until the right moment in their lives. The gifts may scare or frighten these people, but then they realize that this gift was given to them for a reason, one reason only. A reason that is beyond almost everything that mankind thinks about, time travel, zombie apocalypses, another big bang, etc. The gifts that can be given are phenomenal, astonishing. This is the story of my gift."

Gifts

a book by Ethan Marsh

Gifts

Ethan Marsh

Published by Ethan Marsh at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Ethan Marsh

I

The bench of the subway is relaxing, the most calmly planned out time of the day. I ride home to the Destitute zone everyday after the schoolhouse is dismissed. I don't take a taxi; even if I could afford it, I wouldn't. The subway is packed with people, business men, cashiers at local shops, or people I'd only seen on the streets which is not a very good thing.

It is November, much colder than I had expected that day, possibly twenty-five degrees at most. I stand, holding onto a cold, steel pole, sharing with four other hands. The ride would be about fifteen minutes before I got off the subway. I study my textbook, scanning it very carefully. Tomorrow, I will be given a test to complete. This is not like any other test you are usually given in school, much less the second year. This is not tedious, challenging, or just plain hard, nor is it on paper or a test online. Everyone takes the test in their second year of school. I guess depending on the amount of points you get, decides where you live and what job you receive. I have asked my guardian once about the test, and they said that it can decide if you live your life, or not.

I try not to think about it much. The textbook contains most of the information that I have learned in the past two years. I am not particularly sure how to study for a test where I have no clue what content is included in it, but I guess the organization that makes the test, doesn't want you to study it. I'm not sure if this is because if they want us to fail or what. I'll just have to live with it.

That is how I deal with most problems that I have, I don't think about them. Lots of things are different nowadays, much different than when my guardian were kids, I think. I don't know much about my guardian. Back in the tens' or the twenties, things must have been totally different, almost easy to live, peaceful. For me, live was rather enjoyable up to the day that the incident happened. The year 2036 was the year that nobody wants to remember. That was the day that everything changed, absolutely everything. The past eight years of my life have been the worst ones.

It's 2044 now, and frankly; quite horrid.

II

The subway stops. People from all over pour out of the subway. Some going to the other departing subway and some going to the Destitute zone, like me. The "bunch" that lives in the Destitute zone should if anything, not wanting to get out of the subway. If you lived where I live, you should be lucky if you have a one room hut. Sadly, most people don't have huts. These poor people spend their days walking around on the rather "dead" streets.

The Destitute zone is undeveloped, more than that. If this zone wants something, they have to get it themselves. I am the last one out of the Destitute zone bunch to leave the subway.

I shove my textbook in my bag, and walk towards the door leading out of the port. The subway port is nearly five-hundred feet away from where I live. It's not much of a walk at all.

When I arrive at my hut, I walk across the sandy small field that years ago was covered in grass. I walk up to the door and knock. Nobody comes to the door. I wait for awhile, then knock again. No answer. I start to get anxious an eager to get inside to see if everything is alright. Usually when I come home, the door is either already unlocked or one of my guardian comes to the door at the first knock.

I knock again. No answer.

I take my attention away from the door when I hear someone calling out violently, almost yelling. My heart stops for a second as I look over my shoulder and see someone from the streets, dashing towards me. People from the streets are quite scary, if I say so myself. I didn't bother to get a good look at him.

Instinctively, I flee from him. I run behind my hut, and sprint into the woods. I had never been allowed to enter these woods, and I am not allowed to be in them now. They always attracted me, though. I like the idea of peacefulness, relaxing up far in a tree, away from the horror which is my life.

The calling behind me continues. As I look behind me, I know that the freakish man is chasing me. The bushwhacking of trees bothers me, but I would rather get hit by a couple of trees than get taken away by a man from the streets because I like to eat three meals a day, or at least one. I run faster into the dark woods until I don't hear the mans' footsteps anymore. I pounce onto the nearest tree much like a stray cat being chased away, and climb up as far as I possibly can,

I pull out the thing that always comforts me, always saves me from sadness and anger. The round shape of the metal circle sooths my hand as I open the case to see the two blades: one red and pointy, as the other white and dull.

I have never been in a situation like this before. I couldn't see my hut or much else that I could recognize. The only thing I could see were large trees, mostly evergreen. The other trees that I saw were dead from the roar of winter. After examining the trees, I see a grassy field out far in the distance going southwest. I'm not sure which way my hut is, since my guardian had taught me to use a compass not long ago, after I had retrieved it seven years ago, when I was eight years old . Suddenly, I find myself being panicked. I make no sound, don't dare to move a muscle, not knowing what will happen to me if I do.

Will the government find me and take me away for not being supervised? Will the man from the streets have a knife and kill me? Where are my guardian? At this point, I was so scared, so anxious, so sad, that I couldn't control myself, and the compass didn't help. I slip it into my bag, as the wind blows against my face. I jump out of the massive tree, rolling after I slam against the ground. I immediately recover, and sprint toward the grassy field in the distance. There I will at least be able to see my surroundings.

I only moved a couple of paces before someone grabbed my shoulder and gripped as if I was the only thing standing between him, and living. I cry in pain, and a strong feeling of shock.

"Boy! What are you thinking?" a voice yells. I gasp with fear. This was the man from the streets that had been chasing me.

"What do you want?" I mutter, hoping he wouldn't stab me or something. I turn around and look up at him. He is about six feet tall, very big, and wearing a very heavy jacket that you could probably stay warm in ice cold water in. His beard is long, down to his chest, and he has a pony tail that was a long braid that grew to his back. His skin is dark, unlike mine, I am as pale as a polar bear. He gives me a dreadful look, but on the inside, I sense that he is scared, or sad possibly. His qualities intimidate me, which makes me even more scared.

Tears start to roll from my eyes. I am not sure if I am angry, or sad. I try to fight back the tears, but I can't help it. I don't pull out the compass.

"We have to leave, boy, we have to leave now!"

He didn't sound like he was from this zone, he had an accent that I had never heard before. But with his beard and the mostly ripped up clothes, he looked very much like he spent his days on the streets.

"Why?!" I cry out as slowly, the tears start to absorb into my skin, and stop flowing from the river coming from my eyes. I try to struggle away, but he is much stronger than me.

"You just have to trust me, boy. We are in a lot of danger," the man said. My instincts tell me to trust him. I followed him as he leads me out of the woods, or possibly further in.

III

I continue to follow the man, hoping that he knows where he is going because I'm not sure if anybody has been in these woods before, or at least this deep. The man was actually incredibly nice, almost friendly. He didn't talk to me, he just sent a nice feeling to me, like the occasional letter that comes for my guardian. I never know what they say, but both of my guardian always seemed worried after they read them. They never talked with me about the letters, which gave me a slight feeling that they were about me. The last letter came about a week ago. They haven't talked to me since.

We stop by a tree and sit down for a break of walking. After awhile, my body feels a weird sensation. I cannot focus on anything else but the fear caused my the man, even though he wasn't mean or scary at all. My whole body was shaking, shivering. I started to see a small red outline around objects.

"So what's your name, little fello?" the man asked out of the blue. I turn my head towards him, my eyes shining a beam of light straight into the inside.

I continue to shake, not able nor not wanting to answer, no matter how nice he is. My guardian always told me that I should never talk to anyone unless it is under their permission. My guardian are like leaders to me, I should follow their rules. It had been a little over a minute, I had still not answered.

"Boy? I don't bite, you know,"

"My... um..um..um..na.. um.. uh," I decided to not say anything else. The thick, bloody line around objects is now in place of the small little line.

I couldn't get the words out, or any words out.

"You okay there? Hello?"

I decided that this was pathetic. I took a deep breath and relaxed myself as if I were sitting in a quiet room, laying down on a dirt floor, with smooth jazz playing from a faint distance.

"My name... is Roman," I felt like I had no meaning. Roman, the name that I have been called since the day I was born, the day that I saw my guardian for the very first time, the days that I don't remember where life was good, and freedom was encouraged. Roman, sounded lame to me.

"That name is awesome. I'm Henry," he says, as his small, brown lips curve up to form a smile. This makes me feel a little better, knowing his name. I realize that I shouldn't be scared anymore. Now that I know his name, the red outlines are not showing up anymore. I am not sure what caused them, but the idea of it still haunts me.

"Are you from this zone?" I finally ask. I feel pushy asking this. I feel bad immediately after the words leave my mouth because I know that I shouldn't have said this. My guardian consider it rude to ask about peoples' zones probably because if you are like me, you don't want to feel bad for yourself. You also don't want someone to brag about living somewhere else, like the upper class. If Henry wasn't from this zone, I don't know why in the world he would be here, because there are many other places in the world that he would probably rather be.

"Roman, let me tell you something. I don't believe in all of this zone nonsense, its crap," he says, as the smile on his face disappears back to the straight face. He did not answer my question, but I definitely agreed with him. The world needs to come together as one zone, but apparently the government doesn't agree that at all. Neither of us speak until a big crash appears out of the sky. The crash is like a bomb, sent off into the wonders above the clouds. I startle and jump a little. Henry does not jump though. He must know what it means.

"Follow me, Roman! Hurry!" Henry shouts as he started dashing north, according to my compass, my pride. I act quickly as told. I must have hesitated for a second because when I started running, Henry was much far ahead of me, dashing off into the distance, not even looking behind him to realize that I had not even started to flee yet.

I run as fast as I possibly can, trying to catch up to him, but he is much faster than me. He probably doesn't notice that I couldn't keep up over the loud crashes. As the crashes continue, the red outline around all of the trees and individual blades of grass appear once again, out of my plain sight. I blink, rub my eyes trying to make them go away, but it is no use I look up in the sky, still running as fast and as hard as I possibly can, and I see black smoke, puffing out into the clouds, polluting the earth. Fire and ashes, tiny asteroids skydived from the beginning of the crash itself.

The crashes, they sounded like fireworks that I had once seen. It was a long time ago when the new president had just gotten elected. Red, white, and blue bursts from the sky, every person who was watching, either on their televisions or if they had been there in person themselves, had shiny eyes with oohs and aahs all around. That doesn't happen anymore. I feel melancholy whenever I think of this. When I think of anything about when I was younger. Before the president was abducted, the capital city was bombed, and the new government took over.

Eventually, I could faintly see Henry in the shadows of the trees, I keep running, sweating so much that I could fill a bucket to the brim. I was determined to catch up to him, I was not going to get lost, again.

"Henry!" I yell. He can't hear me over the polluting crashes popping out in the sky.

I stop running and put my hands on my knees, panting like a dog, spitting on the dirt floor which covered the world. Only now had it occurred to me that I was lost.

No guardian, no protection. Just lost.

IV

I sometimes think that I've hit rock bottom and there's nothing I can do about it. I am in that scenario; No food, water, nowhere to go. I don't think that I'm over reacting, even if the situation is a little bit out of control.. Not to mention the crashes in the sky are starting to kill my eardrum.

I lay down on the ground, gazing up at the sky, knowing that if I try hard enough, I can conquer the fear of being afraid. The fear of anything. I notice that the crashes were getting much closer to the ground, and I know that once the trees catch on fire, everything explodes.

A thought of a classmate that I once sat my desk next to makes me think that I could possibly become deaf one day. I wouldn't dislike it because not hearing would take me more away from the horror. Circles of thoughts run throughout my mind, different fears, different things that make me happy. This makes me start to cry because I realize, that I may never live to see and feel these things ever again.

I pull out my compass from my bag, sliding my hand past the light brown leather pouch as I reach for the round object. Due to fear, I drop it on the ground as soon as a cracking sound brings me out of my thoughts, back to reality. This was not the same cracking sound I have been hearing. This was closer to me. A lot closer to me. I act immediately and dive out of the way, not sure if I am being targeted or what. Dirt presses into my face as my whole body crashes to the ground. The cracking continues, I get up from the dirt, brush off my hoodie, and look to see that everything looks normal.

Then, the cracking creates its consistency and a constant crack sounds, a c note on the major scale if I am correct. I know that one of the trees nearby will fall to the ground of the woods, and the tree just might hit me, since I'm not sure which exact tree is falling.

I don't move. All of a sudden, the cracking stops. The tree starts to tip. I see it, it is right above me, I don't move. The tree is halfway to the ground. Still no moves from me. I want to move, I can't though.

The next minute is a blur. Something hits me really hard, and I travel fast to the ground. The tree did not hit me, though. A tree would have hurt me much more than what I got hit by. I open my eyes to see on top of me, a large body. An animal? A mythological creature? I try to get up, but I don't have the strength. The body moves, and I still can't get up. The person looks down at me.

"Roman, are you okay? Roman! Wake up!" The person waves his hand in front of my face, I guess to see if I am awake or not. I eventually realize who the person is. The only person that I know of in the entire world who is, that as far as I know, is alive.

Henry.

V

I awake at a campsite. I open my eyes the smallest bit possible, only catching a glimpse of the objects around me.

I am laying in what looks like a tent, except that it is cubical. A bowl of water and some berries are placed in a basket next to where I lay my head on a sturdy mound of dirt. The bowl is very fancy, nothing like I had ever seen before. It looks like it was freshly baked clay , with the finest of blues glazed onto the piece. It is very peaceful, as I stare at the pottery, with the beautiful flowers patterned all around it.. There is an brown animal skin blanket laying on me that must have came from the finest of species, not an ordinary deer or wolf. This skin came from a tiger. The softness of it reminded me of the days of happiness before the year 2036. The year that I was assigned a guardian, which was not necessarily a bad thing, but what else happened besides that? How did my life change?

I am now strong enough to sit up, so I push the blanket aside to the left and sit criss-cross on the dirt floor. A raging headache surprises me. I let out a long groan due to the treacherous pain. Hunchbacks may have bad posture, but they sure know how to live. I live like a hunchback most of the time, including now.

I drink some water from the plastic canteen that is contained. It appears organized, peaceful. I eat a couple of the berries in the basket. Sour. I would've spit them out, but I was starving so I didn't even care about the horrible taste of the fruit. I eat more of the berries, then lay back down and think to myself, where am I? No way this place is legal. It couldn't have been approved by the government. It''s too... peaceful.

Out of curiosity, I peek a look outside. There are about 15 other tents arranged in a circle. Just one big circle. In the middle of the circle that the tents create, a large fire lays. The beautiful oranges and blues of the fire make my eyes feast. The sight of my guardian appears oddly in the fire. He is calling out to me, saying that everything will be okay. I wince at the thought of my guardian and his location, then take my mind away from the sad thoughts of confusion.

If I had to take a guess, I'd say it was about five o'clock in the morning. I yawn as I crawl outside the tent to explore this what looked like to me, paradise. The green, tan grass spreads out in a field, and behind the magnificent nature, large, pine trees spread around in perfect alignment. This is paradise.

"Am I in heaven?" This thought haunts me several times when I realize I might be dead. This thought makes me shudder, shiver, and all of the above. I can tell that something alive is in the other tents. I hear the groaning, the moving around, everything you hear when your listening to someone sleep. I walk around, trying to be quiet so I won't wake the other people... or beings that lie just thirty feet from me. I move further outside the tent.

I pull out a compass from my pocket, which was not mine. In my pocket, there was a shiny silver compass that had a case like a pocket watch that once was buried in the depths of my bag. I gasp, in fear. Never before had I lost my compass before. I drop to the ground, scavenging for the piece. The compass that I had in my hand is an imposter. Then a thought comes across me and I stop looking for my one and only prized possession.

I would look for it now, but I am far more curious about the situation around me. Attached to the beautiful compass case, there was a silver key chain that had to have been carefully carved. I panic a little when I realize that I had lost my compass, the memories that kept me in control when the horror occurred in my life, which sadly was quite often. I look on the back only to see two letters, etched into the center: RS.

What could RS stand for? A brand? No, this is too special to be a brand. This was handmade.

Along with the compass and key chain, there was something else in my pocket as well. A small envelope lays in my hands. It is addressed to "Roman." There were only three people that I could think of whom the letter could me from, my guardian, or Henry, because those were the only people who actually knew me, besides my teacher at the schoolhouse, but she would never send me such a letter. I open the envelope, carefully peeling the paper so the pieces of the stationary don't fall to the dirt ground. I think, with all of my hope, that it, the letter, would explain where the world, or which world, I am.

Dear Roman,13/5/44

I am writing this letter to you for a very important reason. It is tragic, but... well, that's really it. This is very tragic, but you must not get angry at yourself, or other people. Brace yourself.

I stop reading the letter as my chest tightens. I knew that something was off about everything lately. Maybe it had something to do with the letters that my guardian had been receiving. I stop for a second, take a deep breath, and continue to read the letter:

It's about your guardian. I should have told you before, but here it comes. The crashes in the sky were bombs thrown by a man that you must stay away from. Read that last sentence again. Stay away from people who you do not know. Especially men. The bombs could have been thrown by various people. The military, navy, terrorists, we just don't know.

We? More people to meet? I groan.

Your guardian was at the pantry to get the weekly food for you, and lets say that... boom; it exploded. There were no signs of any bombs anywhere near the building and the bombs exploded in the sky, so there's another things we don't know. He may have been taken by the man. I am sorry for your loss. I hope with all my heart I can see you once again. Do not trust anyone. They are looking for you..

I, myself, have been through this before. My guardian was killed, murdered, when I was only eleven years old. I cried and cried, but eventually, I found the horrible person who committed this horrible thing, and I took care of them, made sure that they never saw the light of day ever again. I suggest to you that you do the same.

As for the compass in your pocket, it will keep you safe in your most times of need. It is still your compass, its just been...enhanced. Trust me. Be careful.

See you soon, hopefully.

Henry

A tear rolls from my eye. Then three tears, a sniffle, and then a waterfall exploded out of my eyes, just before the very moment.

I knew it. I knew it all along. He had died. I knew it.

I don't dare make a sound though, keeping the other tents in mind. I put the whole situation in my bag, tossing it away. I did not want to focus on sadness. Why did Henry write that a man is looking for me?

As I am placing the envelope back into my pocket, one of the tents opens. It is a tent very far away from me, almost on the other side of the circle. I hide my face in my hoodie and bury myself quickly in the pile of leaves. The compass still hangs around my neck. Something moves out of the tent and comes closer in my direction. I feel like I am about to scream, cry, yell. Then, I hear no movement at all, and everything was quiet. I stopped breathing, thinking that he or she or it heard me rustle in the pile of leaves. It was so quiet, if earthworms made noise, I would hear them like an earthquake.

"Who's there?" The voice was harsh, demanding, but most of all, fearful. I stay where I am, not a single cell moving in my body.

I freeze, even more than I was just before in the pile of dead, dry leaves. Someone uncovers the leaves that was used as my shield. My shield from the world.

"Young man! What are you doing awake?" a woman's voice says in a hushed tone. I don't say anything, or hear anything.

I scramble to by feet and dash away, looking back to see an elderly lady wearing the nicest of clothes, all made of animal skin. Her face looks rather disappointed. She calls out, I'm not sure if she calls out for something or someone else.

I stop running, turn around, and just stand there. She looks like she was physically harmless, weak even. She continues to call out for something. I couldn't understand what she was saying because she was talking in a different language. She didn't look like she was from my zone due to her extremely nice clothes and the different language she spoke, but then again, she didn't look like she was from any zone at all.

Eventually, she stops calling out and a man who looks the same age as her jogs out of one of the tents. He wears a orange robe with black pants underneath. Hid long, goatee is braided down to his chest. He comes closer to the woman, then whispers something into her ear. The woman's eyes widen and I notice that her pupils enlarge. The man then jogs back to the tent in which he came from before. The woman just looks at me for a minute, and I look at her.

"Are you Roman?" she asks in a calm tone, after taking a deep, very deep breath. I decide that I should answer truthfully. I still do not trust her, though, still keeping in mind the tragic letter that was sent to me by Henry, which makes me have to fight back more tears thinking about it. He told me not to trust anyone. I trust him, an I'm sure I can make room for one more person.

"Yes."

"Welcome. Welcome, Roman."

VI

I stand there, next to the woman. She had just welcomed me. Welcome to what? Or where? I stand in the same place with my face filled up with confusion. I am about to say something, asking her about the welcoming, but she beats me to it.

"Roman, follow me. You must travel to another area for awhile. There is no more room for you here," the lady says. It seems that she had done this before. Like she was acting routine. It confuses me, because the tent that I had woken up in, seemed perfectly spacious, even if another person was sharing the tent with me.

"Who are you?" I ask. After a long, yet silent pause, she looks at me and puts her hands over her heart.

"I am only who you think and appear me as." I didn't say anything else, thinking the same kind of answer would be given to me.

I clear my throat due to a cold that I have not yet overcome. The cold is probably caused be such a frigid climate in the world these days.

The hike is tough. The deep, (at least three feet deep, growing a little higher than my knee.) brown muddy substance spreads like a pile of sheets across the "trail". This is not mud, due to its spots of purple, which scare the living daylights out of me, but I continue on the hike, following closely behind the lady, who does not seem frightened by the purple spotted substance.

The lady looks back at me, I guess to see if I am still following from behind, as most kids (those who are spoiled, or have a very high income) would not follow behind. She must notice the look on my face, as she says, "Roman, do not be afraid. This will not hurt you. It is called sulm." Whatever it is, it sinks into me like quicksand, as I sink into it even more. I trudge through the sulm and occasional grass patches, that were just as muddy as the zones with no grass, but the new substance that I have encountered. The lady and I hike for about a half an hour, then she stops to breathe, still in the mud. I decide that I couldn't care less about how dirty I get, so I sit down in the mud, as how dirty my clothes and I get, it feels really relaxing. Neither of us say a word the whole time resting, as well as the entire hike.

While catching her breath, she tells me to head northwest for about five-hundred meters. I am not sure how far this is, but I follow her directions. She starts to hike back to the circle of tents, looking as exhausted as I am, except she has much less energy, her being elderly and all. I sigh in pain, as well as fear, praying that something, anything, will stop me from continuing the journey. I do proceed my hiking though, to the place of unknown. My hopes pray that the place is safe.

After awhile of treacherous hiking in the deep sulm, the small trail like path that I am hiking on came to a halt. A large woods filled with dead trees and lays surrounds me.

Should I go into the woods? The lady specifically told me to go northwest for five-hundred meters. There is no way I've gone that far yet. I was only walking for two minutes maximum. Who is that lady? Did she lie to me? My brain tosses around different questions that I do not know the answer to, which really gives me a headache to think about them.

The swirl of trapped thoughts were interrupted by a rustle in the woods. Something was moving. A deer? Hunter? I did not want to hike back through the sulm and mud, back to the camp, and it was risky going back to the circle of tents because I could run into someone who could be dangerous to me. I come across every thought, with multiple possible outcomes. Sadly, most of them include dying, but it seems like the woods is pulling me in, and my instincts are pushing me in further. I always follow my instincts. I trudge closer to the woods, and then into the path of darkness.

The woods is covered in trees, much more "advanced" than the woods I had been in with Henry. This place freaked me out, the darkness and the shadows of the trees that come across my face, feeling like they are the demons that have haunted me for the past eight years of my life. On the upside, at least the sulm from the trail is replaced by dry dirt. This is not woods. This is a forest.

The woodlands' trees smack me in the face often which gives me scrapes that sting and burn. They hurt, but my curiosity heals them, as if they had never been there before.

I be cautious because of the occasional rustle in the trees around me, like someone was watching me, or following me. I try to ignore it as much as I possibly can, but each time it sounds, the speed of my walking increases as I navigate through the terrain.

Eventually, I come to see a small opening in the woods. The light of the sun beams through the passageway, as it replenishes my mood with happiness, as I walk closer towards the light, seeking whatever lies beyond. I must have gone five-hundred meters by now, so I start to jog my way to the opening, my curiosity meter at an all time high.

I run out of the shadowy forest to see a once in a lifetime experience. A large grassy field spreads across acres and acres of land. The most beautiful grass, more beautiful than the grass at the circle, grows to the perfect height, not too long, and not too short. The bluest of water lays beyond me in the form of a slow flowing stream. I gaze into the stream, only to find many little fish, hopping and swimming around in the body.

A large mountain range stands over me and the body of water as the shadows of the shapes come down onto me, almost pushing me to the ground. It is beautiful, magnificent, phenomenal.

Pain starts to occur inside me as an indication that I am hungry, thirsty, and tired. I look into my bag, only to have no more than a handful of almonds, as I remember that they were supposed to be a snack for if I got hungry at the schoolhouse. Thankfully, I haven't eaten them yet. I grab them out of my bag, and savor each piece of nut, as if I had never tasted the delight of the delicious food. After I have finished, I walk over to the stream and plunge my head into the shallow water. I inhale the liquid, not even bothering to taste it. I already know how it will taste.

Wonderful. I sit down and took my animal skin shoes off, dip my feet in the water, and just breathe. The fish still swim by my feet, massaging indeed.

I lay down on the smooth grass and watch the big, circular sun and wonder how it could be so cold, but the sun could be that big. I just then remember how cold it is, and button my hoodie up.

I watch the sun and the mountains around me as the light begins to die, only to be born once again the next day. The pink and the orange colors sparkle in my own mind because I had never seen anything so beautiful. It makes me sad, as the reminder of my life glimpses in my mind. The routine, the controlling, the chaos. I hate it. Tears build up i n my eyes, but I fight them back, forcefully. How could anything be bad, when this sight makes everything better, if you could just look at it, once in your lifetime, and enjoy the peace of the gleaming lights.

Then I see the suns rather twin, as it takes the graveyard shift and shines the night with a bright white light that is almost as beautiful as its sibling. The light of the moon brings me to close my eyes, but I can still see the white glow even through my skin of my eye lids. I don't feel it, but I know that tears are just pouring out of me. The night glow causes a yawn. Then another yawn. I rub my eyes and place my arms on my chest, folded like a piece of paper. Then sleep. The most beautiful thing that I have ever seen before shoots me with a tranquilizer, putting me to sleep instantly.

"You enjoying relaxing, kid?"

I force my eyes open, scared out of my mind, hoping, praying for the small, yet large favor to not be harmed. I open my eyes and see the sky. It is different, it is normal. Just blue and plain. The clouds don't remind my imagination of anything, except for plain old clouds.

I sit up in shock, but then turn to see a man, no older than twenty-four. His nice brown hat fits perfectly on his head, as does his light brown leather jacket, with two rows of buttons that lay up and down on.

I didn't answer. I didn't want to meet anybody else, thinking that they could lead me into trouble, or something worse.

"Hello? Hey!" he says, waving his hand in front of my face, to gain my attention, to gain the leverage.

I still didn't answer, I just look up at him, blank-faced, as he looks down at me, smiling.

He is very handsome, his rectangular eyeglasses fitting perfectly on his head. I am feeling something, something weird when I look at him. The force that is driven through one another that sometimes, cannot be stopped. This force infects me with such a large impact.

Jealously.

He sits down next to me, his knees against his chest, but does not put his feet down into the water. His brown leather shoes are made of the same material as his coat and hat, are practically shoved into my face, my eyes forcing to stare at the large, rather expensive accessory, making the level of jealously increase.

"Are you Roman?" he asks, which instinctively, makes my eyes dart to his face, exclaiming many emotions, upon such a simple expression.

"How do you know that?" I demand, really starting to get anxious because with everything that has been going on, I wonder how two random strangers whom I had never met ever before in thirteen full years. They both seem like they know my name, almost if they were supposed to. It seems that his regret takes over him, due to his facial expression, but he quickly ignores it.

"You'll find out soon," he says, getting up from the field, walking north.

"You comin'?" he says, looking back at me, giving me a friendly jester for me to come along. I choose to follow, only because I don't think he will harm me. I put my shoes on, not caring if they get drenched, because I know that they will dry eventually. I quickly catch up to him, walking alongside him. I don't think that this is the smartest decision, but it is definitely the safest.

"Where are we going?" I ask, my curiosity once again taking over, obsessing my thoughts over one simple question.

"You hungry?" He ignores my question, but he offers me food, so I didn't care that he ignored my question, and couldn't resist. I nod, craving more food as my taste buds become needy. He pulls out some bread and cheese from his bag. He made two sandwiches like an expert, slipping the pre-sliced cheese under two slices of bread. He hands one of the masterpieces to me. The simple two ingredients flash before me. My eyes swirl around as if a wheel is spinning the trickiest of optical illusions. I feel as if I am drooling from the looks of it.

"Thanks," I say, trying to act calm, but my mood is everything but that. The sandwich is now in my possession. Under my control. I bare my teeth and chomp into the delightful pieces of bread with a slice of thin, white, cheese laying in the center of the sandwich. The taste is so amazing, the feeling of fainting comes upon me. I shake it off and realize that I have weirded out the man who is strangely looking at me, straight in the face.

"No problem. You know, that's a nice compass you got there." He says it slowly, like as if he thought that something wasn't normal.

"Thanks. Since you know my name, what's your name?" I ask out of curiosity, feeling pushy, but demanding, again. He looks at me first with shock, then with a sense of regret. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

"I'm Tedd. Tedd Smith," he says with a toothy smile on. His teeth are perfectly aligned, all lined up next to each other, not crammed, not spaced. My teeth on the other hand, are jagged, spaced, and tilted. My guardian can't afford straighters for me, and I can't either. He seems too nice to be truthful. Tedd. It isn't a funny name, not something to remember, just Tedd. Plain, old, Tedd.

I finish my delicious sandwich in a matter of two more large bites, trying to taste every last bit of it. The sandwich had taken my attention away from reality, so after a couple of seconds that felt like minutes, I snap out of the world of unknown, then jog to catch up to Tedd. He looks at me with a small grin. I smile back, continuing to follow him, right by his side.

We walk on the very large grassy field, that seems to go on for kilounits and kilounits. A large feeling of relief passes over me as we continue the walk on a dirt road, because at least I know that there is a small chance that this Tedd guy knows where he's going.

After awhile of walking on the dirt path, we reach a little village, or a town, depending on what it could be called. Not very big at all, but larger, and nicer than the last village that I was mysteriously at. Instead of tents there were huts and small houses, some with even a second story (I, obviously enough, have never seen a building with a second story, much less a house.) As we walk closer and I can get a better look, my mouth uncontrollably drops open. This is like the heavens. There are many people walking the roads, strolling into shops, actually communicating with each one another, which makes me sad because in all my life, in thirteen full years, I never yet came to the thought that people could communicate like this at all.

There is a bridge that lead across a moat that leads to the village. This is not what I am used to at all. I wipe my feet (they are drenched in mud and sulm, as well as water) off on the grass, still gazing at the establishment.

Tedd looks at me with a smile. The same smile he did when he told me his name. I look back at him and say nothing, but smile.

"Welcome to your new home, Roman."

VII

I am just standing there, at the border of the town. Just a little town, makes me so excited, so happy, even so anxious, I have no clue what do do with myself. I'm in shock when Tedd tells me that this is my new home. I had no clue what to say, just in so much shock my whole emotional system shut down and is rebooting.

Sure it was amazing, I'll give him that, but what about my old home? The Destitute zone is where I have lived my whole life. It wasn't exactly the best quality of life, but I adapted to it, and I kind of liked it. But from the look of this wonderful, astonishing place, I want to belong here, not the Destitute zone. I don't think that anyone should belong there.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I say happily, my voice at a higher pitch than it normally is due to the anxiety of the situation.

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

I say nothing. Nothing at all. Tedd knows that I am grateful, thankful, when a tear starts to roll from my eye. I try not to get very emotional, but at this point, when all is given to me, I can't help it. More of the tears swim up to my eyelids, gasping for oxygen.

"Follow me," he says, walking closer into the town, waving his hand like a flag that many guards twirl when sight of a government official is near.

Leading to the town, a river runs along the edges of the civilization. The river is beautiful, amazing, but not nearly as perfect as the one I gazed upon earlier. A large, man made, beautiful bridge leads across this river, leading into the heavens.

We walk together passing by all of the houses on the street that is called Main Street(the houses kind of creep me out, because on the street that we are on, all of the houses look like the exact same thing, but they are all so perfect, that I don't really even notice the imperfection.) I wave at people, in amazement when they all wave back to me. The worried and excited look on my face is replaced by a rare look, for me at least. The most calm of smiles is replacing on my face. The palms of my hands and feet are no longer salty and damp. I am happy.

I look up to the house that Tedd stops at(still the same as the other houses.) Etched into the door is one word: FOUR. I choose not to pay attention to it and continue waving at people on the walks. I stop when an object catches the corner of my peripheral vision. I turn to see Tedd pulling out a big brown key form his leather jacket pocket and opens the door to the house.

"This is where you're going to be staying. You like it?" The house that I step into is a house that I've never even imagined before. I explore the whole house. I run through all of the rooms. Living room, dining room, cooking room, you name it. My face booms as I walk all around the house, the first floor. The happiness is gone. The excitement, the anxiety, the look on my face, the sweaty palms, it's all back.

It appears that there was a story below the first floor, along with the second floor above me. But when I open the door to go down, trying to explore, Tedd slams the door so I wouldn't. He glares at me, with a sense of anger, and fear. The excitement turned to phobias, scary thoughts twist and turn through my brain, and I swear to myself that I will never go, or attempt to go down there ever again. I did not want to make him mad, because he has given me so much, so I just went along, trying to act like nothing ever happened at all, and I hope that he does as well. A bad first impression is the last thing that I need.

There is a hallway that leads to a second floor, a room with a big table, which leads to a room with cabinets and a refrigerator, as well as other large appliances, and a room with a big brown leather couch and a whole bookshelf of books to read. On the second floor, there were two bedrooms and a really fancy bathroom. Back home, we bathed in rivers nearby huts, which I realized just now is quite disturbing. I scoot back to one of the bedrooms, exploring the room for the second time. This time, I realize something. Something important.

I am about to call for him, but he comes up the stairs, as if he read my mind, and looks right into my eye. He takes off his hat to reveal his perfectly shaped hair, and in his hat, an envelope lays.

He hands the envelope to me.

It is a guardian transfer certificate. I can tell by the red decal that is keeping the envelope sealed shut. I have seen it before. The logo of the government engraved onto the piece of paper-like material.

Everything made sense now. The camp I was at, transition for guardian transfer, and this house is where Tedd, and now I, live. I cry, being reminded of my old guardian, but then think optimistic, and realize that this is better.

I will still find who killed him.

He can tell by the look on my face that I already know what it is.

"So... do you want me to be your new guardian?," Tedd says oddly, with a rather silly voice. This is where my mind takes a bit of a turn. It would be awesome to have Tedd as my new guardian, but what about my former guardian? And where does Henry fit into all of this? He knew who I was, I could tell, just by the small hint of worry, stuck on his face.

I did not say anything, but I gave him a shiny smile, just pretending that this is the most spontaneous thing that has ever happened to be before. It really wasn't, though.

After about a minute, our silence is interrupted by a loud knocking sound coming from the foyer downstairs. Tedd walks down the stairs and opens the door, while his hand gesturing me to stay back. A man with a suit coat appears at the door. Since I had never seen someone like this; professional, I decide to the room with the couch, and hide behind the wall so I wouldn't be seen.

"Hey, Mr. Smith!" Tedd sounds like he knew the man, or he could just be that friendly. I continue to listen as they shake hands, passing on grins.

"How's it doin' Tedd?"

"Good good. You?"

"I'm doin' fine, thanks for asking. I just wanted to confirm that Roman... uh... Roman Smith, yeah that's it, would be showing at school next Wednesday."

School? I should have expected this, since this wasn't exactly paradise. I was not looking forward to it at all. Based on the context, the man who Tedd calls Mr. Smith, said that the school week starts on Wednesday, when back at my old home, school started on Tuesday.

Roman Smith? This new, last name, sounded better, better than Roman Kavinski. I flashback to the day at the camp, then glance down to my chest. The circular piece, still hangs, and I forgot it was even there in the first place. I grasp it in my hand, then turn it over, feeling the small, perfected, one of a kind designs throughout it. On the back, the etched RS still is there, still as big and bold as ever.

RS. Roman Smith? Maybe...

"Umm... Yes, he'll be there."

"Excellent. Now he is in the seventh-grade, right?"

"That is correct, sir."

I forget about the whole RS thing, and tune back into the situation with school.

Seventh-grade? Back home, I was only on my second year of school. I do know now that many things are different here than they are back at the Destitute zone.

"Okay! Just checkin' to see what the plan was. We are very excited for Roman to be comin' here.""See ya," Tedd says as Mr. Smith walked down the porch steps and into his what looked like a sub. It is very beautiful, it did not have flashy and retro lights like everything else that exists in the world today. I had only seen a sub once in my life. I can barely remember it though, as it was at the very beginning of the knot of my life. It loosens, then it tightens, then it loosens again.

"Rich dude," I thought, but didn't dare to say anything, thinking I could get that horrid glare from Tedd once more.

"So who was that?" I said.

"That was the administer of your new school, M.E. 34."

"Okay." I didn't complain about going to school, because I knew that I needed to learn. I didn't feel like arguing about it, so I say calmly, "Can I have something to eat?"

It hadn't been awhile since I had eaten something, but I was starving.  
"Well, it's sixteen-fifteen now, so how about a snack and then we can go to a restaurant?"

"A restaurant? I've never been to one." That was telling the pure, clean truth. I didn't actually know the meaning of a restaurant, I had just heard the word on my radio, which I had gotten for my ninth birthday, from my grandfather, pretty awesome if you ask me.

"Then tonight is going to be pretty cool for you."

I smile, then walk over to the room with all of the cabinets and the appliances, and open the one of the four cabinets. The light that flashes before me is amazing. So many plastic bags filled with food of all kinds lay on the wooden shelves, hidden behind the wooden barrier. I grab a large brown plastic bag that says: Carter's. It's good. I pop open the plastic bag and pull out a small, bite-size, twisty snack, covered in grains of salt. I carefully eat one, crunching the pieces of cooked bread in between my uneven teeth, and my eyes light up, even more than the sandwich had made me glow earlier. The taste is so powerful, so strong, I only can eat one. I use a clip to secure the bag, and slip it back into the cabinet. Afterward, I walk to the room with the couch and crash, sinking my body, a full six thousand, thirty two units, into the leather. The cold leather makes me shiver, but it is so comfortable, that I can bare. I nap, in the lightest of sleeps, wondering how all of this could happen so fast, and how it could all be so good?

Me and Tedd walk down Main street, the street where we had first walked together, at about eighteen hundred hours. Tedd locks the door with the big brown key and then puts the key into his coat pocket once again.

Main street is a long track that has many shops and lots of people walking around. The sight and sound and smell of people communicating makes me happy. It makes me really happy.

"So, Roman, what kind of food do you like?" Tedd asks me as we were walking past a clothing shop. I never knew that people had a preference on what they looked like and what they wore. Or a preference for what they eat.

"Realistically speaking, anything that won't kill me," I chuckle. This is actually true. My guardian brought me home anything that he could get. It could be anywhere from a frozen pizza to canine food. Tedd lets out a little laugh, that only lasts for a couple of seconds, then he turns serious again.

"How about sushi?"

"What's that?"

"Telling the full truth here, sushi is raw fish in rolls." I stopped and gave him an "are you serious?" look and right away he gave me the "you bet" look along with a thumbs up. He must like sushi, so how bad could it be?

"Okay. Sushi it is." I try to be calm, but I am too eager to hide it.

The sushi restaurant is about three quarters of the way to the end of Main Street. When we walk in, lights of all different colors flash in my eyes. I smack my hand over my face in shock, squinting as my weak pupils adjust.

Everything is neon. The music is electronia, I don't like it at all. The forties' music was not my favorite. My favorite kind of music that I have heard is rock. I love it. It seems so mean and horrid to some people, but it really is just the opposite. Everyone used to listen to rock in the thirties', but nobody does anymore, for some reason. Just lots of electronica.

Tedd leads me to a long table with high, purpleish stools lined up until the blue and red striped wall stands in their way. The stools feel similar to the couch at Tedds' house, but it is different. Much different.

A man in an outfit that looks just like the music walks to the are of the table and places down two glasses, which look just like everything else. The stream of fluid then passes through the air, and into the clear glasses.

"You like it, Roman?" he yells. I wince at the loudness, but I know he has to scream. The music and everything else is too loud.

"It's amazing," I reply, not really lying, just amazing in a bad way. How could the society of the zones turn into this?

"I'm glad you like it."

Before the sushi was served, I scurry to go to the bathroom because I hadn't gone since the tree with Henry. The bathroom was stored away in a little hallway next to the bar, also painted with "flying colors". As I walk in, the delightful smell of air freshener comes against my face, which smells great. I do my business in a urinal, which I had never used before. All I had ever used is a hole that I dug in the ground myself. Everything was automatic, and all you ever had to do is wave your hand in front of it. Amazing.

I turned on the sink(by waving my hand) and all of a sudden, the door opened. However, there was nobody to be seen at the door. I turn the sink off.

"Hello?" I called, doubtful anyone would answer, but there might be someone really friendly like Tedd.

No answer. A stall door opened. I check in the stall. Nobody was or is present.

The urinal flushes and I jump.

I start trembling, shaking. From fear? All of the stall doors open and all of the sinks turn on. It's wild. My body is in tremors, it hurts to breathe, but I do not have even a small case of asthma.

I look in the mirror. My eyes are red as well as my hands, they're glowing, like they are on fire.

I feel the urge to run, move. I try to slow my breathing and calm down, thinking that would help, but it was no use. The urge comes unbearable and I dash out of the bathroom, with more speed than I could ever have. The wind in my ears and hair is relaxing, enjoyable, for the few moments that I have it. I am out of the labyrinth in a matter of three seconds. The wind still roars against my ears. I stop in my tracks when I notice that my hands have turned more red and I get really hot. I put my hands on my knees, then I start to feel drowsiness. I am collapsing.

"Hel-"

I am interrupted by an impenetrable force. All of a sudden, everything is quiet. Quieter than ever. Even quieter than the time at the woods when the tree fell down. Quieter than anything could ever be. I couldn't move, not at all; paralyzed, scared. I couldn't see anything, but I swear I feel Tedd, laying down on me, wondering how this happened, calling for help, but I am perfectly alive. However, I was only alive in my own being. I am chatting away, calling for Tedd, telling him that I am alright, but nobody could hear me, except for myself.

VIII

I awake to a big bump. I tumble into the air, then fall back down. Something big and hard slams into my head. I snap my eyes open and gasp. A wooden box had hit me. I rub the knot that will soon come to be.

Who am I? What am I?

I sit up and look to the locket tied around my neck. It's still there.

Right then, I remember everything from before, the sushi restaurant, the restroom, Tedd. I look down at my hands. They are not red anymore, I assume, and hope, the same with my face. Another bump scares me. I whimper with fear, but not from the rattle. Not that at all.

I appear to be in a large box, moving very fast, maybe sixteen hundred unimeters per hour. Boxes, big and small surround me. There is a large metal door behind me that is locked. I decide not to unlock the door, not knowing what dangers could lay beyond. I am in a vehicle of some kind, I can tell my the speed. It is a lot like the subway, except for the fact that I am alone. The subway, is anything but alone.

Everything stops moving. Boxes come flying at me, but this time I block them with my fists. This time, I am not in paralysis.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I yell, hoping someone would respond, but yet not wanting anyone to. No answer.

I hear a big screech, and then the metal door opens. I throw my hands over my face, and a box is thrown into the air, slammed whatever opened the door.

"Oh.... my...." I gasp.

I don't know what to do. I jump behind a box. My hands turn red again, but not nearly as bad as before. Anxiety, fear, excitement? I do not have a clue for what the cause could be. How could I do this. Guilt. That must be the cause.

Everything is okay, everything is okay, I think. But I know that everything is not.

I peek out from behind the box and see that there is nobody there. My whole body gets really hot, like a hot flash, only I feel like I need to burn off energy. My heart pumps through me, telling me to run away, to scram and leap for as far a s a being can, but I remain calm, taking all of my energy to.

Curiosity pushes me to the door, and as I open it further so I can get out, my body takes over and I start to feel the same feeling as I did at the sushi restaurant. This feeling scared me. I don't usually get scared very often, but this scares me. A lot. I know one thing. I have to stay calm.

As I am moving closer to the freedom, a man gets up from the dirt ground. I had never seen him before.

"Roman!"

"Who is that?" I scream in fear.

"Roman! It's me, Henry! You have to follow me."  
"Wha..What? I don't even know who you are. I'm sorr-"

The man murmurs something to himself, then shoots up an offer. "Listen, do you want answers about it?" he asks, pointing to my hands.

How could he possibly know about it? I don't question him. I immediately jump out of the box, following.

Henry walks me to the front of the box, this part had seats and cup holders. It looked a lot like the subway, only one of the seats had buttons and levers next to it.

"Get in the sub Roman," Henry commands.

"Where are we?"

"I'll tell you later, there's no time."

"No! Tell me now!" I scream. I feel babyish, having a temper tantrum, screaming in someones face. I did not mean to yell at him, it just slipped out..

"Calm down. We are in the Corrupt. No man's land. Now quiet."

The Corrupt. It sounds scary, yet inviting. I have never heard of it, but apparently I have not heard of many places.

"Who are you?" I ask, feeling frightened by the stranger.

"I'm your pal... Henry."

My life flashes between blinks. I remember now, his face, the worry, the woods, my guardian. I gasp, then reaching out for him.

"Henry!" I yell, hugging him as tight as I can.

"Yeah, yeah kid. Come on."

I stop hugging him to ask an important question. "What's happening to me?" I hope for an answer. That's what I need. An answer is just what I need. Henry yawns and doesn't reply to me. I decide to leave him alone. I still feel the urge to move pumping through me, my hands are still red. I scratch at my hands, not because they are itching, but I cannot find any other way to deal with the energy that pumps through me, just begging for something catastrophic to happen just at this very moment, when I am on the way to safety

"Ignore your hands, boy," Henry demands. Since he knows more than I did about them, I stopped messing with them, but I couldn't resist the urge to wiggle my legs back and forth below my seat.

Henry takes his attention off of me and pulls a green painted lever and the whole sub starts to shake. Then, he presses a few buttons on a keyboard on which the alphabet is laid out on each key. The alphabet on the keys is not the Insorian alphabet that I use. I wondered if Henry speaks a different language than the people in the Destitute zone do. He probably needs to considering that he travels around the zones. After Henry was finished pressing the buttons of the alphabet, he pressed a red button and pulled a red lever and the sub started moving. Moving faster than when I was in the box part of the sub. I grab the leather seat, squeezing the material as much as I can.

The ride is very smooth, though it was very fast. The way that the sub moves along the single rail implanted in the track made me feel relaxed. I lay back on the leather seats and go over the events that have happened. It all seems to be okay things, until I come across the thought of my guardian. My old guardian. He is dead. I will find who killed them. And why this being would do such a thing to bring this much cruelty to me.

I wake up to the screeching roar of the sub. I blast out of my catnap, sitting up straight on the surprisingly comfortable seats. The sub was stopping. I fix my hair and look to see that Henry is still awake. Before I go to look, I hope and pray that he is.

I confirm my thought when he pulls a black lever. The large door where I had stepped in, leads me out to the destination. Henry follows close behind.

In front of me stands tall, a large chrome painted building (very fancy, in my opinion.) Glass windows lined up in stripes, all the way to the top of the building. I could see the moons' reflection off the perfectly cleaned glass, I doubt that there is one smear on any of the windows.

Henry takes a long, white jacket out of the sub and puts it on, slipping it past his shoulders. He then starts to walk towards the building, so my instincts tell me to follow him. I couldn't stop wiggling my hands, I was still freaked out about this whole thing a lot, but I ignored most of my feelings now, not on purpose. All that I can think about was my red hands and what is happening to me. I continue to follow Henry.

The automatic motion door is the wall between the building and the small lot where many subs were ported. I walk in, after Henry.

The interior is much like the outside walls of the building. Everything is painted white, including the pieces of clothing that people are wearing.

Henry takes me to a small room that branches off of the 'main' hallway that we are present in. The door squeaks softly, but I hear it as a screech, like a thousand mice, attacking their prey. The lights were off inside the cutaway room.

"Roman, put this on," Henry says in a hushed tone, handing me a white jacket much like his, only mine did not have a name on it. It seems as if he is trying to be secretive. I hesitate, but then obey the order. I took out my bag and pulled out a flashlight to see before I slid the jacket on.

My eyes are not very good in the dark. They never have been. I have twenty-five, twelve vision, whatever that means. I take off my hoodie and place it back into my bag. Underneath my hoodie, I wear a black tee shirt, which probably hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

I trust Henry right now, so I quickly put the jacket on and put my flashlight back into my bag as Henry starts to move out the door. I continue to follow him.

The lights that I walk into almost seem to blind me, as if by pupils have never encountered the strange phenomenon that is light, even though they had fought much worse at the sushi restaurant. I wince at the though of it, still keeping in mind Tedd.

The building is very large, I don't have one clue what it could be used for. As me and Henry walk through the long, rather endless hallways, there are mainly two types of rooms that I see. The majority of the rooms were small, where a person is simply sitting at a desk, looking at a screen, typing on a keyboard. Instead of typing on a keyboard, sometimes they were talking into a small device, having a conversation with someone. I wonder how they doing that. The technology of the new days...

There are a couple of rooms that intrigued me, but I am not sure why. These rooms were loaded with equipment and two or three people with masks covering there faces. They stood over a long table One or two of the people held metal tools in their hands. I can see the anxiety in their hands, which are trembling, as well as their faces, with their eyes wide and their eyebrows quivering and tilted up at a forty-five degree angle. One of the people glares at me with such anger and despise that only one who owns true hate can show. I quickly look away and continue following Henry.

Many people stare at me as they pass me by. They look like they are scared of me, or angry with me in some way. This happens a lot while me and Henry are walking. I shudder at each person who gives me a nasty stare, or any kind of grim look at all. Did I do anything to them?

Words themselves cannot even explain my happiness when Henry stops at a small door, obviously locked tightly. I look up to see a yellow and black striped sign:

CAUTION!

AUTHORIZED PERSONNELS ONLY!

I continue to stare at the sign, not daring to look down from the mystery until I have it cracked its code.

I am curious, yet freaked out by it. Mostly because I don't know what it is, but I don't think that I am an authorized personnel. Even if I am, how? I haven't done anything that I know of that would classify me as authorized.

Maybe Henry is. I look down from the yellow and black frame when I hear a click. The door is open. Henry walks in, but I just stand there, not knowing what to do. He looks back at me, and I look directly at him, then he looks at me harder, which cracks me. I walk in, cautiously creeping behind Henry's back, so I am not seen.

Inside the room, many screens scatter up along the walls, in the most ridiculous of patterns. On the glowing pieces of stainless steel, tables and charts filled with data and documents packed with words are shown.

I don't know what they mean, and I don't really want to anyway, so I take my attention away from them, focusing my mind on the many other "wonders" in the room.

There were only a couple of people in the very large room, most of them staring at me, instead of turned around in a swivel chair. I try to ignore them, but I can't help to look back at the expression on their face, the expression of their body. I analyze it, thoroughly searching for what they could possibly be thinking and feeling.

I look down at my hands. The pieces of flesh and muscle are still piercing red, like they were on fire.

"Dr. Jones! Welcome!" A woman's voice said. A rush of relief comes over me. I turn around to Henry, as he walks towards the voice. It lasts for seconds, which feel like minutes going by very, very slowly.

Dr. Jones? Is she even talking to us? A doctor is the last thing that I would ever expect Henry to be(However, he is wearing a large white jacket, and there are only so many jobs that would allow you to own one of those.)

"Hi, Dr. McKensie, nice to see you once again. This is Roman," Henry said moving away so I couldn't hide behind his back anymore. I step out of the way, trying to be brave, as I tilt my head down and my eyes looking up, trying to look as desperate as possible.

My fake expression drops when I see her. Her short blond hair lays down on her shoulders, then coming up in the tiniest of curls. Below her bangs, large, rectangle glasses rest upon her face, and back to the arc of her ear.

She is about the same height as me(five feet, six inches; I think?)

"Well hello Roman, I'm Connie. I have been looking forward to seeing you." I look back, about to greet her as she has greeted me, but Henry pulls me away for a second, yanking the jacket that I had put on earlier. The look on his face made me think that this was very important to him. He crouches down to get to my eye level.

"Roman, follow this lady, she will tell you the information that you want to know. I'll be right in this room when you come back," he says quietly, hushing his tone as much as someone could ever do.

"I will. Thanks Henry," I say, feeling anxiety pile up on my shoulders. Henry stands back up, and walks away to a screen and plops into a leather chair. That leaves me, and Connie. I turn around to her and look her in the eye. Her finger reaches up and bends back and forth, almost pulling me towards her.

I follow Connie into a much smaller room. There are much less screens and a bed, with layers wax paper piled on it. Lots of equipment covers the walls. I sit down on the bed, hoping that I am supposed to.

"So Roman? Are you from here?" she asks, as she is gathering papers, then finally shuffles them and then sits down in a swivel chair, that looks like the same one that the others outside in the larger room are sitting in. I do not know how to respond to the question. I guess I should tell the truth.

"No," I answer simply.

"Oh, really! Where are you from?" I want to say I live where I was with Tedd, but sadly I didn't know where that was.

"The Destitute zone," I say, and right away her eyes widen a little and I can see by the look on her face that she felt sympathy for me. That sympathy, I need badly.

Connie is the only person who sees sympathy for me. I don't see that same look in other peoples' eyes. She quickly ignores the topic, but I feel as if she still wants to discuss it.

"Okay, Roman, I am just going to do some simple tests, so you just lay down and relax," Connie says. She is very laid back. It seemed like stress didn't bother her.

Relaxing was not easy for me to do. It probably wasn't a good thing, but I hadn't gotten used to the urge that I have been feeling, so I always shake my hands or feet and ankles. I continued to do this since I couldn't help it. Eventually, Connie notices that I am uncomfortable, in a way.

"Everything okay, Roman?" she asks. I decide to tell her the truth since she might reveal something.  
"No, actually. I've been acting really weird lately. Its really...odd. It only happens at random times-"

"What's going on?" she asks with enthusiasm, probably not caring if she interrupted me. She leans closer, her elbows on her knees, screaming for an answer.

"Well, my hands and sometimes my face gets really red. Like on fire, burning red. It's like a really, really bad case of eczema, only its not that at all. But when it does happen, I have a strong, urge, that I need to exert energy, move, run, anything."

Connie does not say a word after I stop spilling words out of my mouth. She has a small relieved look on her face. She takes a deep breath, then opens her mouth to speak:

"Okay, Roman. Since you already know a little bit about what's been happening to you, I will add to the knowledge that you have." I sat up from laying down on the wax paper bed, now my elbows on my knees, my eyes grabbing the information out of her skull.

I don't say anything, because it would boost my excitement level. I wait for her as she pulls down a screen and grabs some little suction cup like objects from a drawer. She walks over to me, sticking them onto my head, and I didn't bother to move them off, the energy in me was going crazy. The screen flashed to life.

"So, I am just going to tear the whole bandage off here, basically this is a normal brain," she says as she points to a blue picture. It is fascinating, but nothing compared to the image to the right of it. "..and this is yours." A large orange picture of a brain shows up on the screen. It looks very different from the first picture. This brain has more veins in it. It also was much larger than the first picture. This is my brain?

"Roman, this might scare you, but don't worry. There is a certain substance located in your body that gives you this 'energy' feeling," she informs. I lean in even further, begging for more.

This is all news to me. I want to say that it was good news, but I don't think I can answer that yet. "so your body is most likely having a reaction to this odd substance, causing this. The scientists that have been studying this call it adrenalin."

Adrenalin. The word echoes in my mind, spiraling around the phenomenon.

It is odd to know that I am different from other people. I always thought that I am normal. I go inside my head for a second and think how this substance is affecting my brain.

I wonder if the adrenalin has been in my body for my whole life. If it hasn't, when did I get it? And why? I have so many questions to ask.

Connie eventually points at my hands. "If I had to make a prediction, you will learn to be very happ-" Henry slams the door open. He doesn't make any noise, just grabs my arm and pulls me out of the room. I pull my arm away from him, but he gives me a glare. I choose to cooperate.

"Wait! Connie!," I scream, crying for more information on this adrenalin. Henry is much stronger than me, pulling me out of the large room, and out into the hallway.

He stops for a second, as I freeze, about to load him up with questions. There is no time to.

"Run!" he says as he's dashing away, not stopping to tell me anything about what is going on. I wasn't taking the chance to lose him again, so I follow him, running as fast as I can. Henry is much faster than I thought a fifty year old man would be. I have to remember to trust him.

Both of us sprint down hallways, back the way we came. I continue to look at the fascinating rooms. They are acting as everything was normal, and so was everyone else. I am the outlier.

Henry and I sprint out of the building, and onto the drive-in where we walked in. I stop for a second, not because I'm tired, I am not tired at all. I just had to think for a second, put together all of the facts and all of the information that I have received. Henry stops moving as he climbs into the sub. He looks at me. I hesitate for a second, then dash to the sub, and leap in. I pull the door shut, then lock it. I sit down behind the drivers' seat and glare at Henry, not trying to show much anger, but the strong and powerful emotion escapes me anyway. I take a deep breath, and try to relax. I am too stressed out.

"Okay, what is this about?" I demand, slowly, making sure that he gets all the words processed into his mind.

"They're here," he says.

"Who? Who's here?"

"We don't have time for this, Roman!"

"Who is here, Henry!?" I scream as I look him straight in the eye, squinting a little.

"Tedd."

IX

Henry breathes in deeply, then out. I don't think for a second.

"Why is Tedd here?"

"He's here..." another deep breath. "...to find you." I ignore his answer. There was something more that I wanted to know at the moment.

"How do you know Tedd?" I ask, now my questions move fast-paced, I feel the energy is starting to take over me once again.

"I used to work with him. Here," he replies, which kind of shocks me. It seems odd that Tedd used to be a doctor. I wouldn't even try to guess what Tedd does for a job. He seems so perfect. I want to be perfect, too.

"Of course he's here to find me. I'm here sitting in a truck after I blacked out on Main Street, wherever I was. He is my guardian, supposed to protect me," I blurt, just saying whatever sounded right in my head.

"Sorry Roman, but in the Corrupt, nobody has a legal assigned guardian. The government doesn't care for the Corrupt. Also, Tedd is not really here to find you, but to take you. To kill you."

This rattles me all over. I don't even hear a word out of Henry's mouth until he says this. To kill you. Tedd, the nicest guy I've ever met, and I was just told he was out to kill me? I couldn't believe it for a second. I don't believe it. But I will have to play it safe.

No questions asked, Henry pulls the levers that start the sub, and speeds down the tracks we came from. No destination in route. The ride is quite frightening, especially because I have no clue where we are going, and I'm not sure Henry does either. He drives for about ten minutes on the dirt tracks, then drifts onto a speedway. The sub was moving at least ninety kilounits per hour(twenty kilounits per hour faster than the speed limit.) I notice that Henry had not even out his safety belt on yet. We gain speed, zooming down the speedtrack as the speed throttle was almost as far as it could go. I am done with silence.

"Slow down, Henry!" I shout, not really caring in what order the words come out. All I want is for the sub to slow down. Stop.

"I have to keep you safe," he says, keeping his eyes on the road. His eyes are bloodshot and hair was in a 'rats' nest'. He had probably not bathed in weeks, but neither have I, so I won't criticize him.

"Just slow down a little. Nobody is behind us. It's only two hours right now, and you shouldn't be driving," I say hopeful, praying that he will slow down, or stop. Stop..

He ignores my suggestion though, like I thought he would when I proposed the idea.

A siren alerts Henry. It is faint, but he hears it. It is as if his ears were already ready for it.

His hand reaches for the speed throttle so that it touches the max limit. The sub could not move any faster. At least we will stay at this speed.

"Henry! You need to slow down the freaking' sub!" I shout. I have known since the beginning that Henry is a dangerous, shadowy character, but I never thought that things would become this horrid.

The sub shakes along with a big crash. I shake in my seat, wondering what in the world the crash was. Henry does not get startled. He swifts onto the next track, continuing at the fast speed. Maybe someone wrecked the sub? I start to cry because I am not nearly as courageous as Henry. I am scared.

"God damnit!" he mutters, swerving through the different lanes of track. He extends his index finger, then slams on a small blue button and lights in front of the sub turned off so the track could no longer be seen.

"Henry! Turn the lights back on!" I scream. All he does is continuing to swerve. I wonder why he was doing this.

If he was trying to keep me safe, why would he put me in danger?

Another crash alerts me as well as Henry. The windows that protect the side of the sub are now shattered, leaving bits and pieces launched into Henry's arms.

I have to do something. I am in danger, and I am not going to die in a sub crash.

Not here. Not now.

"Hen-"

"No! I said no! Do you want to die? No, I didn't think so. So trust me god damnit!"

A tear falls from my eye. It is not because I am sad, but because I am scared. I can't show my vulnerability. I won't.

I unhook my safety belt, then stick my head out the window behind me and and see that there is a large grass patch coming up off the side of the track in about a quarter thousand units.. I know that this is the best thing for me. I turn the lock and pull open the door.

"What the fu-"

I say nothing, but simply, "Goodbye. I hope that I can see you once again."

I climb to the outside of the sub and shut the door closed. I hang on with dear life to the handle that could open the door again. The grass patch was coming up very very soon. I now grab onto the handle with one limb, the other hand gripping the compass, my compass, as I think, did Tedd write that letter? I let it go.

I only think one thing. It repeats itself over and over again in my mind.

"Will I survive?" There was no way to know yes or no, so I go with yes. My heart races as I come to decide.

I jump.

X

I have never experienced flying. This changes. Now. Everything is moving in slow motion. I see Henry cursing up a storm still sitting in the seat that he was, blood on his face from the glass bits that launched into his body. I can't hear him at all, though. I feel bad for what I am doing, abandoning him. I imagine that he is disappointed in me. I think of his guardian, how he/she was murdered. He is just like me, only without being special. I feel the wind pressing up against me as I float in the air, falling slowly to the grass patch below. I have my compass in my hand, the locket is no longer around my neck. The compass will keep me safe. It has all along, and it will now.

I turn my body behind me, and see sirens yellow and purple, which I have never seen ever before, and I don't think I am alone in that vote. They are not the colors of the police department, fire department, or anything.

I look down to the grassy patch. It does not like the comfiest grass in the world, but dirt is underneath, which is a lot better than concrete. Beyond the grassy patch is a cliff that leads to a canyon. I hold my breath and my chest tightens when I realize that...

I am jumping too far. Into the canyon.

I cry. Shout. Nothing works. After I am certain that death would come soon, I wonder why Tedd wants me, or if he does. I look down at my hands. Same as always.

This could be why. The adrenalin. The adrenalin.

Everything made perfect sense now. The crashes in the sky, my guardian dying. Tedd killed my guardian just to get to me. He is jealous. I thought I was jealous of him, but really, he was jealous of me? I want to cry, bawl, but it is not worth it at this point. I bet the lady at the campsite was talking to Tedd before I hadn't even shown up. It wasn't a guardian transfer camp. It makes me sick.

The good thing is, Tedd won't kill me, because I won't let him. I will kill myself before he can have the chance.

A fiery burst shoots out of my hands. Gravity no longer pushes me into the wonders of death. I am flying, except I don't know how. I wiggle around for a second, trembling around in the blind air.

I scream. Nobody is around. I would like to be happy, I am happy, but I am the most frightened that I have been. Even more than the time where Henry told me that my guardian had been killed. Even more than the time where the bombing of 2036 happened. I am even more scared.

The sirens have not reached me yet, nor will they ever will, I hope.

Before I am able to learn to maneuver the blasts, the sirens come closer to me. They are speeding in what looks like mini-subs, faster than Henry was ever going on the speedtrack. I don't know how to use these fiery bursts, but I have to learn. Quick.

I move my arms out in front of me. I fly back into the canyon. I start to shriek because of the sight of the deep, deep canyon that stands below me. I calm down and put my arms behind me. Sure enough, me and the fear that glows off of me hover back to the grassy field where I started.

The ringing of sirens stop. It startles me and the blasts that carried me into the sky turn off. I fall about twenty feet and land on my leg. I cry out in pain, but it is have been better than plummeting to the bottom of a deep canyon. At least I fell in grass, and not rock. Still, I don't dare to say anything, even with the pain that curses my bottom limb. Tedd knows I'm here.

A sub door slams.

"Roman?" I recognize that voice from anywhere. I don't even have to look up from the grass that I am laying in. Tedd is here. He is here for me.

I have to think. If I try to turn the miracles that came out of my hands on again, I might succeed or fall on my butt again, in even more pain than I am in now.

"Roman?!" he shouts again. He was getting closer. I stand up and get close to the cliff. He expects me to trust him, he thinks that I think that he is a good person.

"Roman! There you a-"  
I stand up, ready for negotiations: "Don't make a move or I jump. I know why you're here." I watch the look on his face. He smiles and looks like he cares a lot about me.

"What are you talking about?" he says, trying to act stupid.  
"I know you want me! Because of what I can do. What I have. Henry told me everything. I outsmarted you. I know it," I say, starting to get fierce. I won't jump off the cliff. Unless he forces me to.

"Okay. Fine. You win." He places his hands above his head. I think that he is actually giving up and was going to back off until I hear a whistle tweet. Tedd is the one to blow it. About fifty armed soldiers pour out of subs and other vehicles and circle around the grassy patch, surrounding me.

His smile grows bigger, closer to the side of his cheeks. Without thinking, I run at Tedd and launch my fist into his jaw, then forcefully snatching his neck. I lead him close to the cliff that falls into the deathly canyon. He cooperates, even though his alternative is being choked.

"One move and this disgusting man will die," I say to the soldiers, in quite a firm tone for me. I continue to clench Tedd's neck. Not enough to kill him, but enough so he will be in outrageous pain.

The guards don't move. They do keep their guns up and ready to fire.

"You-"

"Shut up!" I yell. I punch him in the gut, using all of my strength to make sure that pain inflicts him. He cries out. I throw him down onto the grassy patch, stomping my foot onto the skin of his quite long neck. The last thing I see is the first thing that I have seen. I look down at Tedd, and with all of the pain that I put him through, his smile just won't quit. I wonder what makes him so sick, so cursed, to make him come this far, to diminish a poor boys' life to the even more little. Thinking about him makes me more furious.

I begin to lead my forceful thoughts to Tedd, getting ready for him to free fall into the canyon. But I see one of the guards squeeze the trigger of the large gun that they carry. Then, the pain in my shoulder begins.

XI

"Space and time revolve around me. Pain strikes me like getting hit with a metal club against your bare heart. I knew I was shot, but I am not sure where. I could see, but everything was blurry. My sight was bulged with red and orange, probably from all of the blood that poured out of me. I felt pain everywhere, not just where I was shot.

The soldiers came around me, disbanding from the circle that was once formed. They looked at me through there such, dark, goggles, only afterward they picked me up and carried me above their heads. It seemed ceremonial. Their face masks looked even creepier than before up close. I wondered which one of them had shot me. The camouflage painted van soon came to my vision. I did not like being unaware of things at all. I tried to struggle out of their hands, but it is no use. I cannot move.

For the part I could see of myself, it was like my hands earlier. Red and fiery. The only difference was that everything hurt. Stung. Badly.

The soldiers placed me on the floor in the truck. Three of them sat on benches beside me, and the rest of them went somewhere else. Did the soldiers know I was awake? Alive? I notice that the soldiers were having a conversation with each other, but I was too busy freaking out I couldn't make out what they were saying.

The van started to move. Not very fast, a pretty smooth ride and quite relaxing. I had no clue how I could have been relaxed. I thought of the last time I had gone to sleep. I could barely remember it with all that had happened in the past couple of days, or weeks. I tuned in to the soldiers conversation, thinking none else could be done with the useless time in paralysis.

Soldier 1: "So, what did the boss say we are supposed to do with this kid?"

They did know that I was alive. I continue listening in on their conversations.

Soldier 2: "We're supposed to run him through one of the MRI's at the main facility."

MRI? I didn't know what it was, and I didn't want to. I would escape before that could happen. I zone out of their dialogue, and back into my own conversation. I didn't want to hear anymore anyway.

Since this "adventure" started, I have not kept track of time. I only kept track of two 'times': day and night. The thought of time made me even more tired as I laid on the cold, metal floor. The tread in the floor felt as if it was cutting into my back. Surprisingly, the weak pain felt amazing.

Drool started to fall from my mouth as I dozed off, and honestly, it was the best sleep ever that I had ever gotten."

I wake up on a bed, much like the one at Connie's office, but I was not there. Wax paper lays under me on the tan, leather bed. I am able to move again, thankfully. I wiggle my hands with excitement, and fear. When the habit forces me to look down at me hands, the sensation continues. My hands were normal, thankfully. I wonder if this whole adventure had all been one big dream. But it would not have been a dream. A nightmare. This deep thought gives me a headache. My body still stings a little, but I can deal with it. I sit up on the bed. The crinkle of fresh wax paper annoys me. As I sit up in the room, I notice that lots of equipment are crammed tightly in the room, which is not that big.

Where am I? Where did Tedd and his people take me? I hope that none of the "adventure" had never happened at all in the first place. What about the blasts that came out of my hands and feet? I hope that didn't go away, because can really come in handy one day.

How am I not dead? I remember the guards shooting me, how did I survive? I went through more pain than I have ever been through before. Then, an urge sneaks up on me and slaps me on the face. Not the same urge, to move, though.

I feel the need to explore. If I find out where I am, it will make me a lot less anxious.

Standing up is challenging. My muscles feel like over heated noodles. Only noodles don't hurt with every move that you make. I wince as the pain in my bandaged shoulder begins its constant work. I try to keep my balance as I get closer to the door, grabbing and holding on to anything I possibly can.

The door opens.

"Roman! Your awake!" he says as he opened the door and closed it again behind him. He holds his stomach hard from where I punched him in the gut.

I do not feel bad for him.

"So, Roman, how ya doin' today?" he says, so politely I almost couldn't tell that he was the meanest being on Earth. I ignore him, refusing to answer. I keep the rage on my face, though. I know that he notices it, but I cannot tell why he doesn't react to it. I can't move, thinking I will fall.

"How are you doing today?" he asks again, with a threatening look on his face, his teeth smashed together into what looks like one row of teeth.

"Well..." I start. "..I'll be doing a lot better once I put your eye out!" I say angrily as I pounce onto him like a tiger, seeking its prey. The impact of the tiled floor makes his head whip back. Laying on him, I grab his neck, this time, ready to choke him.

"Listen, you get me out of here right now, and I won't shatter your throat. That would be doing you a favor," I whisper, firmly.

"Roman, you can help me sa-"

I punch him hard in the face. Blood peeks out. I don't wipe it away though. I enjoy seeing him suffer after all that he has done to me that has made me go through.

"Get me out of here," I say, slowly, making sure he hears all of the words loud and clear.

"I'm sorry, Roman, but that's not going to happen."

Tedd pulls a gun out of his jacket pocket. I do not have the fastest reflexes in the world, so I cannot grab the weapon from him. I stand up in a hurry, releasing him from misery. I stare at the gun, examining it. It is the same gun that I got shot with. I'm not sure how I am sure of this, but I know that this was the one. Tedd was the one who shot me.

"Don't move, Roman," he says, winking at me with a smile. He blows a whistle. The same whistle that he blew. The same outcome happens. Four heavily armed soldiers come pouring in and grab me by the arms, pulling me away.

"I'm not done with you! I swear to god, I'll kill you!" I scream. I try to fight the soldiers away, but their combined strength disables me to be free.

The soldiers pull me out of the room. Three of them aim guns at me, while the other one stares at me, and that is when I notice that these soldiers were the same soldiers that carried me to the van. I know they won't kill me, because I have something they want, and they can't take it from me. The soldier who does not have a gun pointed closely at my face puts handcuffs around my wrists. They close tightly around my wrists, which hurt them a lot but by now, I'm used to pain. I even enjoy the pain that is weak.

The soldiers escort me down several hallways, guns still pointed at me. If I am to make one sudden move, they would fire, and it would be all over.

All of the other citizens look scared when they see me. I don't blame them at all. Blood spattered on my face in all directions, as well as the adrenalin pumping up my skin, I would be scared of myself, looking in a mirror.

I memorize the turns of the hallways so I won't get lost when I escape. Right, right, left, straight, left, straight.

That combination could be a matter of life or death.

I hope I don't die.

The turns lead me and the soldiers to a room with a very bright light on the ceiling. A chair and a table sit in the middle of the room. A soldier grabs my arms tightly which makes me flinch, and pulls them behind the chair so I have to sit down, and ties a rope in a knot around my wrists and the chair so I am stuck and can barely move. The soldiers stand by the door.

Even though this is not the time, I decide to have some fun. What else could I possibly lose?

"You know.. you guys don't talk much," I say in a playful voice. I used to use that voice all of the time when I was younger.

"Your interrogation will begin shortly," a soldier replies.

Interrogation? That freaks me out. I decided not to talk to the soldiers anymore because they might reveal more information that I don't want to know at the moment. Like an execution to go along with the interrogation.

I sit in the chair for awhile, my hands hurting from the small diameter of the cuffs. The peace ends when Tedd walks in, with a bandage covering half his face. He hair is still shaped perfectly. He continues to hold his stomach tightly. He stands by the table, across from me. It quivers, but his smile is still there. Still there to haunt me forever.

"Hello, Tedd," I say.

"Don't say anything unless you're answering a question asked by me." This seems harsh. I start to see Tedd's mean side. I knew that he had one, but he kept it on the inside of him.

"Do you know about yourself?" he asks.

"Do you know about yourself, you mindless piece of-"

A hand buried in a heavy black glove comes across my face in a fist, inflicting pain against my jaw.

"Do you know about yourself?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what you are capable of?"

This one stumbles me. Truly I don't.

"I would, but you came in trying to kill me before I could receive that information. So that's your fault."

I try to get in his face. Make him feel the shame that he deserves. He deserves to die. I watch his face crinkle up, in anger, or relief?

"Who told you about yourself?"

I tried to think of Connie's last name. I couldn't remember it though.

"Dr. Connie.." I say. "..she told me just before you came and tried to find and kill me."

Tedd thinks for a minute. He rubs his finger against his clean shaven chin. Then, his face lights up and his eyes widen.

"Oh yes, Dr. McKensie! We used to work together."

"Used," I mumble, trying to insult him.

"Shut up!" he screams at me.

Another fist slams into my face, this time straight for the mouth.

I cry out in pain, then do as he says.

"I also used to work with your good friend, Henry."

"I know that."

"Do you?"

"Yep. I do."

"Do you know what I do for a living?"

"Besides ruining peoples lives? No never mind, that's a full-time job," I yell, with rasp in my voice.

"I'm a scientist. I'm working on improving humans. Improving the world. "

"And you want me because of the adrenalin that I have, which you want to try and use it on other people," I say, trying to get him to realize that I knew all of this before he told me.

I knew all of this before.

"Please, Roman," he begs. I have all of the leverage. I am in control of the situation. Kind of.

My thoughts lead to the up side and the down side. The upside, humans would be faster, stronger, and more efficient. The down side, what if it only works on certain people, and the rest of them, die? Also, if it does work, people could rebel against the government with their new powers, which I would be okay with, but I couldn't stand another revolution. I'm not sure if I want to be experimented on for countless hours either.

"Lets see... I'll think about it, but if you want any chance of me saying yes, I want to talk to Dr. McKensie first," I say, trying to gain more leverage than I have already.

"And why should I let you do this?" he says, trying to suck up. He knows why he should let me.

"Because I have something you need."

"And what's that?" Still sucking up.

"Adrenalin."

XII

He turns around immediately after the word leaves my mouth, stamping his feet on the ground, turning towards the door.

"Thirty-eight, get Dr. McKensie on the phone," Tedd demands. I wonder if the soldiers had names.

The soldier without the gun, who I think has a higher rank than the other soldiers, runs out of the room.

"Do you work for the government, Tedd?" I ask.

He ignores me. I still think he does.

I continue to sit in the chair until my wrists become numb. The ropes squeeze against my wrists. Where is Connie?

Tedd walks over to the table.

"You listen to me you little bastard. If you try to escape in anyway, I swear to god, I will cut your head off myself," Tedd says as he walks out of the room. He probably went to get Connie.

That leaves me, and the soldier; with a gun. I know while he's gone, it's the perfect time for me to escape. I can deal with the soldier, but how do I get out of the chair? I have to think quickly. Time is running out. I'm not sure where Tedd went, but he'll probably get back soon.

I think of something. Maybe if my hands could shoot fire, maybe they could burn the rope; and the handcuffs.

How did I turn them on, though? I flex my hands, over and over again, hoping for a huge blast of fire to escape out of my hands, but nothing works.

Then I think of something brilliant. I was mad when the flames turned on. I have to get mad. I thought of things that would make me mad. Tedd, living in the Destitute zone, sure these things all made me really mad, but it wasn't enough.

Then, I think of the one thing that made me want to grab somebodies neck and ramble it until it falls off.

When my guardian was killed. Just the thought of it makes me scream loudly, overflowing with anger, I started to get sweaty as the soldiers stare at me. It wasn't enough. Then I look to my chest. Just a shirt. No compass. That does it. Tedd took it, the last thing that I had on him. He made it, though. That...little...liar.

My hands get really hot, piercing the rope, and the handcuffs. In about half a minute, I would be free. I feel veins nearly popping out of my body.

Sweat dripped to my face and that's when the soldier reaches for his walkie. He is probably alerting Tedd.

I wait for a couple of seconds, basically standing up, ready to fly out of the trap, into freedom. The rope and handcuffs broke and I charge out of the chair. I tackle one soldier to the ground and rip his helmet off, revealing his face. I launch my fist with great force hard against his cheek.

I turn around, only to see the other soldier, his gun aimed straight at me. I grab the tip of the gun, snatching it from his hands. I toss it to the other side of the room, then throw him to the ground, punching him as I did to the other.

After the blow, my hands press against their chests, piercing skin. Blood starts to flow as an indicator for me knowing that they both are hurt. A lot.

After I think I have hurt them enough, I grab his walkie, burning it within my hands in a matter of seconds.

"Don't make a move," I command. I don't want to kill him, but he could survive the burn I gave him. I decide to spare him. I want to be simply civil.

I swipe the gun from him that he had in his pocket and run out the door, which was oddly enough unlocked(stupid Tedd.)

Thankfully I had remembered the turns to leave the building, or to where I was in the first place. Left, Right, Right, Left, Straight, Left. I slid down the hallways, passing by all other people in the building. They probably didn't know who I was, or why I am here.

The turns lead me to a hallway. If I choose to run down the hallway to the right, I could see a hallway that eventually, leads to a dead end. If I dash down to the left, I can see a door to the outside world. The paradise, in comparison to what I am in now.

Of course, I run to the hallway leading outside, to freedom. As I start to run down the hallway, a large voice sounds, echoing all through the building:

"Roman! Do not leave the building! If anyone sees a boy with brown hair, five and a half feet, do not let him leave!"

I suspect the voice was Tedd, even though it is disguised by the speakerphone. Of course I don't listen to him, I run down the hallway and into the room with the door. I am so close. So close to what I have always wanted.

As I am about to run out the door, a man stops me with his hand. He has probably heard the announcement that had come on through some kind of speaker. I couldn't care less for who it is, so I grab the gun from my pocket and point it at his face. Then I realize who the man is.

XIII

I put the gun back immediately, acting like it was never up against his face, "Roman, what are you doing?" he asks.

"What am I doing here?! What are you doing here, Steve? I thought that you were dead, that Tedd killed you," I ask in confusion. I wonder why he doesn't look in shock, even with the ridiculous redness on my face and on my hands, which are waving in the air with emphasis. The expression on his face is blank, empty, like nothing is on his mind.

"I'm here to sign forms for the experiment," he says which shocks me. I look at him, raising an eyebrow, and I usually do that for when I don't like something, so I assume that he knows what that means.

"Roman, Tedd is a very compassionate man," Steve says, "I know about you, Roman. Tedd will make sure you are safe during the experiment. Also, I hope you didn't make me come all the way from the Destitute zone just for you, for nothing."

"No! I don't want to be in the experiment!" I yell, pushing past him. He stops me again, grabbing my shoulder.

"Roman, you doing a little something for Tedd could change humanity forever," he says grabbing me by the arm now. I try to struggle away, but Steve is much stronger. This is when I have to again look at the upsides, and the down sides. If I participate in the experiments and agree with Steve, Tedd will experiment on me and who knows what will happen. The only other option is to hurt Steve because that is the only way that I will get past him. But Steve, the one who raised me. I will get away, but I will never forgive myself. My brain feels like it is twisting in to knots, one by one. I have to make a decision. If I don't, Tedd will find me soon. I pull the gun from my pocket. Immediately, Steve backs down and gets on his knees, begging, "Roman, Roman. It doesn't have to be this way."

"Humanity doesn't deserve to change."

My hand squeezes on the gun. I squint my eyes as I start to cry. I don't want to shoot him.

"Roman, you don't have to do this. We can work it out," he croaks.

There is no time for working things out. I pull the trigger.

IXV

"Sometimes you may think you've hit rock bottom. That may be true, but you always have the chance to climb back out of it."

His body lays on the ground. Blood piles out of him like a parade, exploding out of the wound that I made. And all I can do is flee. As I run out of the building, I look back to see my guardian, the one who raised me, the one who cared for me, laying on the ground holding his chest, people surrounding him, trying to help.

I walk down the streets, crying, sobbing, not knowing where I am, where I am supposed to be, or where I want to be. I don't want to be anywhere, to tell the truth. My clothes are splattered with blood, blood of my guardian. All I can think is that I have killed my guardian. An innocent man who had done nothing to me, but loved me.

After awhile of pacing up and down street the same street over and over again, hiding in the bushes nearby so I can stay hidden from the rescue sub that had come for Steve, I come upon Connie, or Dr. McKensie. She is walking to the building that I was just in, probably to talk to me before the experiment. That will not happen though.

I catch her as she is just about walking into the door. I pull her away, not wanting to be seen by anyone.

"Roman! What are you doing here? You must get-"

"No. I'm not participating in the experiments," I fire back, knowing how she would finish her sentence. "I've been experiencing more of the things." I expect that she will want me to say more.

"What?" she asks, like she is confused. She takes my hoodie off, due to the dirty blood. She doesn't ask about it. I will not tell her about Steve. I pause, sealing my lips shut best I can.

"Roman, you can tell me. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

I crack. I tell her everything, the burning, the how I broke out of the building, and how I killed him. I do not tell her about the blasts that came out of my hands and feet. That is a secret that one person, one person only should know.

She stares at me for awhile, blank faced, almost exactly how Steve had looked. Only I can tell that there is a lot on her mind.

"Come with me, Roman," she says, walking past the door. I don't follow immediately.

I think and then tell myself, she is really the only one that I can trust. Tedd is idiotic, my guardian are dead, and I think Henry is going crazy.

I decide to follow her.

We get into a sub, much like Henry's, only much smaller and lower to the ground. It is something that I have really never seen before.

Luxury. The vehicle is luxury, no doubt about it. Connie looks at me in a funny way because I guess I was stargazing at all of the flashing lights and buttons inside the sub.

She laughs.

I smile back at her, but do not laugh. I do not think that I will ever laugh again after what happened.

A big rumble sounds and then the sub starts to move. I notice that the levers are the same colors as they were in Henry's sub. The sub moves pretty fast, but not as fast as Henry was driving. I wonder if he is okay. I pray that he is, because I don't want to lose anybody close to me for a long time.

"So, do you think these "things" are dangerous?" she asks, hands still on the throttle.

"Yes, that's why I didn't participate in experiments, because..."

A pause. Then her eyes widen and her expression beams.

"You thought it would be dangerous if other people have it," she says like a light bulb had been flickering, and just now tightened to realize the truth.

"Yes," I confirm.

Another pause. "Let's go back to my office," she says. "I have something to show you."

"Hey Connie? Where am I?" I ask.

"The Prevalent zone," she replies. "where the common people live, like people who have some money, but not a lot."

"Okay, thanks."

We head down the same speedtrack that Henry drove me down. It haunts me to think about that moment.

How could I have ever done that? I would never, ever think to do that now.

The throttle on Connie's sub was on;y halfway to the max limit. It makes me feel much more comfortable to be riding with her.

Eventually, we arrive at the chrome building where I met Connie. The same features consist. non-smeared windows, shining glass, people walking in and out.

"Well...Welcome back!" Connie says as we walk in the door. I don't wear the lab jacket anymore, and I'm not sure what happened to it or why I was wearing it in the first place.

We arrive at her office, after walking through the series of hallways. These I don't memorize, because I know Connie will lead me out of them eventually. The yellow and black caution sign does not bother me this time. Walking into her office seems like deja vu to me, except for the fact that Henry isn't here with us.

I sit down on the bed as I was sitting before.

"So? You've been going through more of the things?" she asks, sounding like a professional, turning back into the serious version of herself. She chuckles after she says this. I smile, but still, do not and will not laugh.

"Yes," I say, again.

"Is there more than what you have already told me?" Connie asks as she puts on a pair of her big, round eyeglasses, instead of the rectangular ones that she normally wore.

"Actually, yes. It seems in the moment of danger, I seem to have ridiculously fast running speed," I reply, which wasn't the entire truth because I have not yet actually experienced this, but I felt that I was moving much faster than I could ever move before.

"And also... there is something else," I say, getting ready to sweep some real dust off of my shoulders.

I tell her everything that happened in the events that occurred with Henry. The jumping, the falling, the capturing, and the flying.

She gazes at me for awhile.

"You.." she begins. "..are a very special child, Roman." It bugged me that she called me a child. Technically, I am, but I am thirteen years old, I think I should be called something else besides a child. Being called this makes me feel small, powerless, feeble, and worst of all, tame.

I have known that I was special for awhile, ever since I was told about the adrenalin, and I know that it is true when someone says it themselves. I smile at her, this time my teeth showing. I feel like she actually cares for me. I wish that she could be my new guardian, instead of...

"Hey, Roman," she asks.

"Yeah?" I say.

"Would you mind if I performed some experiments on you? Just some basic scans. I think this 'adrenalin' is a very interesting topic."

My eyes dart to her, at first with anger, but then excitement. My automatic answer would have been no, but Connie is the only one I can trust. The only one. I have to really think about other people here, not just myself. I might be a hypocrite for doing this, but Tedd is a maniac. The slightest smirk appears on my face; I know I am doing evil.

"Sure. I'd be glad to."

XV

Connie has me lay down on the bed, and she straps me down so I couldn't get up. This frightens me, but I stays calm and remember that I trust Connie. I trust her with my life.

"Okay, I am going to test your reflexes," she says.

I nod, hoping that worry doesn't find its way to my face, even though I can feel it inside.

She places little suction cups all over me. It is a little bit embarrassing and scary for me since she had me undress before I was strapped down to the bed.

She walks over to me and puts a little keypad in my hand. In the middle of the keypad, a large red button pops out, almost screaming for me to press it. I resist, and listen for more directions.

"Okay, Roman. When you feel a shock, press the button."

"Alright."

She went over to a screen and I hear a click. I wait for the shock, frightened because I have know idea how powerful it might be. I am prepared though.

I wait a couple of seconds, then a blast of electricity zooms through me, I feel like a rush of energy passed through me. My hand slams on the red button, as it tumbles to the floor. Connie makes more clicks using the technology, then she looks at me with a blank face.

I look at her, with the same expression.

"How'd I do?" I ask curiously, pushing the words toward her, wanting an answer.

"I will tell you all of your results at the end of all of the experiments," she says, sounding more serious than she was before.

She pulls off all of the suction cups from my body which stings, but not nearly as much as what I have been through in the past.

She gives me a hospital gown to put on, so my naked body is not shown. Next, we walk out of her office, straight across the big room outside. Everybody is gone. Unlike before, people do not sit at the screens, typing away. Instead, abandoned chairs lay across the wall perfectly pushed in, as if nobody had sat in them before.

When we arrive at the room, the lights are not on, which made everything extremely dark. I could not see two inches in front of me. I wave my hands in front of me just in case I run into anything.

Connie quickly walks over to a wall and the lights flash on. My pupils barely have time to adjust, again.

Inside the room, everything is painted chrome(just like everything else in the building.) Tiles run across the floor. It was mostly empty, except for a large tube in the middle, also painted chrome. I know that this is another test and I also know that I don't want to do it. I'm not doing it for me though.

I want to help Connie, because I can trust her. She sets a clipboard down on a desk not far from where I was standing. There were two "sections" in the room. One was the actual room with the large tube in the middle, and the other side was a small zone that had walls of blue tinted glass. Lots of buttons and screens are on that side of the room.

"Okay, Roman, this is an MRI scanner," she says, still leaving me still to no clue what it is.

"What does MRI stand for?" I ask.

"Magnetic resonance imagery. Roman, don't worry one bit, this won't hurt you at all. In fact, I myself have had many MRI's in my lifetime," she says, coming over with a large plastic bin, filled with a lot of equipment, none I know what it does.

"There are a few preparations that might sting you a little, but you'll be just fine. Trust me," she says, placing the bin down on a small table like platform that leads to the MRI, which I assume that she is going to pull equipment out. A large syringe like object with a needle sticking out of it(at least three inches) comes out of the bin. She comes closer to me.

"Put your arm out in front of you."

I obey her request and extend my arm straight out in front of me. She points the large needle at me, as it slowly floats over towards me.

I wince at the pinch of the piercing metal, drilling a hole into my flesh. The second of pain feels like a whole minute, but then it is over.

I let out all of the air contained within me, I could move a turbine with the great power.

"Would you like some water, Roman? It might make the side effects less noticeable."

Side effects? Had I been drugged? I hope whatever was put into my body was not harmful.

I take the water carefully out of her hand and gulp the liquids down, the clear consistency slithering down my throat. After I swallow, a sense of drowsiness comes upon me.

"Roman? Can you lay down on this platform?" I do as she says, trying as hard as I can not to fall over. I collapse onto the conveyer belt, my back jerking and twisting from the impact.

Connie comes over to me and places a full body mold on me, only leaving holes where my nose, mouth, and eyes are. The mold is a light green color, and it is the very opposite of smooth. The scratchy substance rubs upon me. I wish that I could scratch myself to rid of the itches all over me.

Connie gives me one last smile, but this time, I don't even give her a smile. Then, she presses a few buttons, each corresponding to the same frequency of beeping. The belt of moving leather moves me into the tube. Outside of panicking, I see Connie as she walks to the other section of the room. I watch her as she talks into a microphone. Her voice echoes throughout the whole scanner.

"Roman, I'm going to be right here the whole time, okay?"

I gulp at the even the thought of breathing. The side effects of the drug that she had injected me with are taking over me. It is hard to control. But I manage to get something out:

"Okay. How long is this going to take?" I hope for an answer of five minutes or less because I am not in the most comfortable position laying down in an itchy container with a rough surface planted on top of me.

"Precisely, twenty-five minutes," she replies.

I sigh.

"You ready, Roman?" she asks.

More focusing to succeed at speaking, I say, "I guess."

She pushes one of the many buttons in the room, then makes a few clicks on a screen, and I a loud noise sound and I move slowly deeper into the tube, or scanner, as I should call it.

The belts, and me halt to a stop when I reach about the end of the tube. It is very bright, and I have to squint when I open my eyes. After about a minute the noise gets louder which gives me a raging headache, which I can't ignore no matter how hard I try.

I can't tell over the headache, but I think a large groan escapes me. The side effects don't bother me, the noises keep me awake and alert as I could ever be.

On top of the occurring buzz, some louder sounds come in with little beeps, at intervals of about two seconds. This annoys me even more the buzzing did, but I am so scared that I couldn't care less about an annoyance.

I start to feel weird after about ten minutes of the scan. It feels like electricity flowing through me, fast. I am uncontrollably shaking and I feel like the life is escaping out of me itself. I thought this was normal for the MRI to be doing this, but then I thought, "I've felt this before,"

I've felt this before. But what is it? Then I know and gasp at the picture in my mind. The orange, large, infectious picture.

I feel the adrenalin.

XVI

I feel the adrenalin. It's all I can think about. I feel the adrenalin, I feel the adrenalin, I feel the adrenalin! I am panicking. Full out panicking. Sweat beads start to form on my face, I can feel everything in my body. I feel my blood pumping, my lungs expanding. I try to think of this as a good thing: Maybe it will help the testing if I feel the adrenalin now. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe this will help figure out what the adrenalin is, and how to get rid of it. I remember what is it that I need to do.

Staying calm is a challenge, as it was when I felt the adrenalin before. My body continues the shaking

"Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm," I think.

I can't resist to the power of the adrenalin. My whole body is in tremors; I cannot stand to not being able to move. It seems that if adrenalin pumps through me than blood.

I hear the loudspeaker.

"Roman! Are you okay? Try to stay still, it's not over quite yet," Connie calls, which reveals that she has no clue that I am uncomfortable. I am more than uncomfortable though. I am irritated, stressed, pained, strained, and anything else that could mean disoriented.

I wish to reply and say what I feel, but I cannot even think to do two things at once, even if she could hear me. My brain feels like a glob of nothing, absorbing the adrenalin.

The adrenalin is taking over me. I realize that I have to alert Connie. I cannot stay here any longer. The face mask is bolted to the cart, even though it didn't seem that she bolted it when it was placed on me . I am stuck here. My body continues to be in tremors, large explosions blasting in my chest. It is so much pain, I can't stand it.

Maybe the adrenalin could help me escape? If the adrenalin made my hands burn other things, why couldn't my hands burn the face mask? After all, it is plastic, I think. If they were burning, I could burn through the whole scanner if I wanted to. I could focus on my hands.

All I had to do is stop moving, and focus.

Everything stops. The noises stopped. Was I in relief, or horror?

I wait for a couple of seconds then come to see Connie, in obvious horror. She rushes over to the scanner, presses a couple of buttons, then the conveyer belts rushes me out of the tube.

"Roman, what happened in there?!" she asks, prying off the full body mask, with the help of the screwdriver. I knew then that nobody wanted that to come off during the procedure.

I step out of the cart, and she sees what happened. She sees my sweaty face, the worried look on my face, she sees that. She also sees something else. Something else far more important than sweat. More important than feelings.

She knows what she sees. I can tell. She doesn't say anything at all, all she does is nod her head, back and forth. I see many things in her emotions, but the one thing that sticks out to me is her excitement. I can feel that she is excited, even though that she doesn't show it.

"I'm scared, Connie," I say, telling the full-out truth. I did not think this through. I simply spoke my mind.

"I know, Roman. There are many reasons that you may be scared in this situation. Don't worry. We will find what is going on with you," she says, her big eyes stare down at me, which makes what I am about to say a little more difficult.

"No, Connie. You don't understand. I am scared..." I take a large breath. It scares me even more just to say it. I know that there is no way that I can escape it. "...of myself."

You may think that being scared is hard, but overcoming your fears is even harder. The only thing that is harder than that is the feeling of having no fears at all.

I stand in the scanner room next to Connie. I can't see normally. My sight is bulged with red and orange, fiery almost. I wonder what Connie is thinking.

My sight is not the only thing that isn't working normally. My ears hear a ringing that has a constant sound. Like the doorbell that I heard at his house when the man, Mr. Jones, reminded me and him of education. I wonder how long it has been since then. Days? Weeks? Months, even?

Connie stands there, looking at me. She sees that I am uncomfortable, and I couldn't care less. I glare down at my piercing arms.

"I am scared of myself; I am dangerous. I am scared of myself; I am dangerous," I repeat. I have to keep everyone save, because of one thing.

The adrenalin is taking over me.

I can't stop it.

XVII

"I have to leave," I mutter.

Connie gets an anxious look on her face as the words come out of my mouth and twirl around her head, but then she looks angry. "What do you mean?" she asks, starting to get the anxious look back on her face. I continue the nasty look on my face.

"I have to leave! It is not safe for me to be here with you!" I scream.

"Please stay here for the rest of the experiments, Roman. The world is not safe for you, Roman! You could go mad, or hurt many people. You don't understand what you're capable of!" she says, firmly. She was trying extremely hard to convince me not to leave.

"I already am mad! Look at me! I can't even stand still, not to mention the fact that I killed almost five people! It's not safe for me to be here either! Tedd will probably bust down your door, looking for me. He will kill you if you know where I am. He will." I reply. I feel the need to just scream at very top of my lungs. To let all my anger out, roaring in the middle of a large field, is the least that I deserve.

My life has been ruined in the past couple of days. All because of one person. One person that brings the most strong despair to my life at the thought of his actions, and that inferior smile.

I run out of the room in my hospital gown, into Connies' office and grab my hoodie and my bag. I put it on, quickly, then strap my bag on, then I fly out the large door, down the stairs, down the hallways, not even caring enough to see if people are still staring at me, and out of the building. Nobody in the lobby even caught a glimpse of me. I run out the door. It painfully reminds me of the building that Tedd had me in earlier today. Where I shot my guardian. Tears drip from my eyes as I look back and remember the sight of him, laying in pain, on the ground. It is all my fault.

The tracks that I run on are like my hometown, only asphalt. I run down the track, not even caring if there is anybody walking; they probably wouldn't notice me anyway. The thought of Steve makes me want to punch myself in the gut, making sure that I suffer the worse than he did. I clench my fists, trying my hardest to not resort to violence. Violence is never the answer. Unless the people who are being given violence deserve it.

I find my way to the same speedtrack that Tedd found me and Henry on, Interstate twenty four. It was already dark out, and I would have been exhausted by now, if it wasn't for the adrenalin, giving me stamina and speed.

The adrenalin inside of me gives me astonishing power, that no other being could ask for. I finally realize that I should enjoy this power, and make good of it, instead of being scared of it.

But there was one thing. One thing that I was done with.

Tests. I am not an experiment, even if I am special. Even if my guardian himself came back to his living self and wanted to perform them on me.

No.

I walk until the sun rises, then I stop and take a breather because I start to get a tired. A couple of hours back, I had taken a merge off the speedtrack. The sign that led me to it read Prevalent zone 13. On top of being tired, a mighty beast of hunger pounded on me. I hadn't eaten since the tasty curly snack, with him. The sandwich with him. I remember the berries and nuts from even before that. They tasted amazing. The thought of food pains me inside and I couldn't live with it. My hands still bleed with adrenalin, as well as anger, they are clenched with both, not letting go.

Most of the time in my life, I had enough food so I wouldn't starve. Right now, I've past the limit of starving. At this point, I was on the verge of dying.

XVIII

The pain of dying is worse than the pain of being dead itself.

-

I know that. I feel lots of pain in my stomach and I know that I have to get food soon. I walk down many tracks, double-tracks, and quad-tracks. It puzzles me why there are not many people on the streets. It confuses me because everyone I see walking along, seems like they are having the best time of their lives. For the things that have happened to me in the past couple of..., I don't think it is even possible for me to think of peace. To think that life is considered a good thing.

I continue the painful walking until I come across a rundown building. All of the windows are boxed with wood. The building was not very big, and the building made me think of my last day at the school. We were learning about the three needs of life: food, water, and shelter. I speculate these three things.

I have zero out of the three. I think automatically.

The building will provide me shelter.

This building will help keep me alive.

I run across the four lane track to the other side of the street where the building is located. I run as fast as I can, as if there was a feast laying in front of the building, to give me whatever it is that I need. As I am crossing the next street, a red sub(actually identical to Henry's, even at first I call for him, but then I realize it is not him because a small white symbol is painted on the front of the sub: the symbol of the government) comes zooming down the street, I'm guessing much faster than supposed to. I dash across the remaining of the distance, and have to dive in order to not get hit by the larger object. My face smashes into dirt.

The adrenalin saved me. Again.

I get up from the ground, only to see that the red sub had stopped. I am not looking for trouble, so I quickly run to the building. I still try not to resort to violence. Violence is horrid. I look back to the red sub and see that nobody has gotten out. The truck is stopped simply on the road.

I bang and bang on the door, but it is boarded up with wood that I can not break. That is one thing the adrenalin does not give me: strength.

Someone gets out of the sub. I didn't know who it was, all I heard was a sub door slam. I press on the door hard, seeing that the boards were starting were starting to burn, but far from perishing.

"Hey kid!"

I press harder. I know the adrenalin will save me either way, but I did not want to fight this guy. I won't fight anyone. Not again.

"Kid! What do you think you're do-"

Fear crawls up on me, seeking the violence hidden deep within me. I dash up to him, tackling him to the concrete ground, then smash his neck onto the steps. I press my hands against his chest, until I see the burning of his heart. He falls to the ground, twitching rambunctiously.

I fall to my knees as I see him dying. I can't stand to know that I killed someone. This wasn't the first time that I couldn't stand to know something.

I feel like I am dead. No food, no water, no heart. I have killed people. I am being hunted. I will die, before old age.

I forget about everything that I did in that time, and busted through the door to the building, using anger and sadness, no strength at all

Pieces of wood slit my arms, revealing blood, but all I can focus on is staying alive. I don't pull the wood out. Inside, everything is one big room. No furniture, no windows. It is frightening, haunting almost. No light travels in the building, making the feeling of something crawling up behind me even worse.

To start, I find a piece of wood lying on the ground, held it up, and placed my hands near it.

Sure enough, it caught fire, which startles me, the ashes flying out of the piece of nature. I carried it around with me, so I could see the building more clear. A smile appears on my face. It is almost as if something had gone my way for once. For once.

I finished my shelter need. Two to go.

I place the torch on the ground, hoping for my life that the building will not catch on fire. I walk out of the building on the search of food and water. I turn around I walk onto a street in which the building is on. A street sign reads Elm Avenue. I turn left on Elm and stop. Beyond me, many shops and houses lay and the streets are packed with people, and happiness.

I figure that the food in at least one of the shops, out of the many. I walk to the nearest building to me on the side of the road that I am on, as it labels,

MIKE's GENERAL STORE

on a very large sign. I am about to open a door to Mike's when I realize that my face has the adrenalin look as well as my hands. I didn't want questions, they would eventually lead me back to him. To resolve this, I pull my hood over my face tightly and walk in. I don't cover up my hands at all. I couldn't care less.

I was right.

Shelves of items including food and beverages fill the store. I gasp in relief. I grab a basket from the pile next to the door to carry energy that I hopefully will purchase. I walk over to grab stuff that I will get, then run into another problem. How in the world will I pay for this? I grab my bag immediately as I think of this. I drop it on the floor, prying open the small, beat up pouch.

After searching through everything I have ever owned, my total in money is thirty-four bolts, which to be honest, I have no clue where I got it.

Thirty-four bolts, however, is barely enough to buy two loafs of bread.

Since money is limited, I think quality over quantity. I use the snapped strap to attach the bag back over my shoulder, keeping the small amount of money squeezed tightly in my hands. I scan the hallways, looking for the food with the most amount of protein; so I won't have to eat as much.

I find many things that I would love to eat, turkey breast, salmon fillet, and pasta, but I can't afford them.

Then I find something: cheese. I know that cheese contained lots of protein, and it wasn't that expensive either. I took three of the largest blocks of cheese off of the shelf and placed them into the basket. Altogether, the cheese would be fourteen bolts.

I need a beverage. I was thinking of juice or milk, since I had only gotten to drink those on occasions, and I love the taste of both of them, but water was only five bolts for a gallon. I grab two gallons of water and placed them in the basket along with the cheese.

I save ten bolts for emergency, just in case I need them.

Now that I was finished, I walk up to the register, and swipe my items. Then, I place the bolts in the collector and press the button labeled PAY. A little piece of paper comes out of a slot. It didn't seem important, and I had no clue what it was, so I shoved it in the bottom of my bag.

I walk out of the store, smiling on the inside, not on the outside. There are still many things that ruin my life, but it is really good knowing that I will live long enough.

Long enough to kill Tedd.

IXI

I walk back to the building, and walk through the opening in the door. Eventually, I will have to board it up again, and find another way in. I can't risk people coming in. That would put me in danger, and more importantly, they will be in danger. Of me. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, though.

Coming to another problem tears me to pieces. The cheese will grow spoiled and bad if it stays in a warm zone. I have to explore and hopefully find a nice cool place to put the cheese

But first I will eat.

I tear open the cheese package as I sit down criss-cross on the wooden floor, which looked like there had been a large fire in this building before I had "claimed" it. I grab the water and chug a quart or two.

I have to be careful on how much cheese I eat .

I break one block of the cheese in half, and then in half again, and shove the remaining of the cheese down my throat. For the part that I did taste, it was mind blowing to my taste buds.

Even though I was still hungry, I put the cheese back into the grocery bag. This is challenging, to not eat when I was hungry.

I glug a few more sips of water, then I set the bag down on the floor and go to explore the building more.

The building isn't that big. Next to the big room I was just in, there were two smaller rooms. Both completely empty.

In one of the rooms, a passage way led to a staircase, mostly broken down. I went down the staircase, having to hop down two or three steps at a time, because most of the stairs had fallen down. The passageway leads me to a fairly large room with a huge door leading across one wall. I walked over to the door, and saw that there was a flashing green button near it.

Out of curiosity, I push the button, and immediately hear a loud buzzing sound. The door is opening.

Outside of the door, there was a very small track leading back to the road which I came from, and straight in front of me, an immense forest stands.

I stare at the forest, my mouth wide open, tilting my head so that I can see the tallest tree. I run away to the first room I was in. An idea floats up to my brain. I shall implement it.

I fly up the stairs and sprint into the first room. I grab the food, and the torch that I had made, which was still burning strong, and run back down to the room with the big door. Another thing in my life goes my way.

Hot glue. Sitting on the floor in front of me, waiting to be used, by anybody, anything.

I pick up the bottle of hot glue and stick the torch to the wall, along with two more that I manage to make out of other pieces of wood, just begging to be used.

I walk back to the green button, and close the large door that kept me from the outside. While it is closing, I notice a single track laid out in the center of the room, as well as the small track outside.

It was time to train.

Train.

XX

I sit on the concrete, cold floor, meditating. The coldness does not bother me, neither the texture of the grit in the rough gravel.

Everything around me is quiet and still, except for the orange flames that come out of the torches. Ashes pop out of the piece of wood, helping me stay calm and complete.

Meditating is hard. Especially with the adrenalin. I try my hardest to stay still, and do one thing at a time, one thing only.

In and out.

After about thirty minutes of deep breaths, in and out, the objects around me start to bulge red, just had they done earlier, after the scan. After I ran away from the one person who could help me. I know what the bulging red is, and what its cause is.

The adrenalin.

Connie had told me about this, she never warned me, so I think of it as a good thing. To have these powers, it was in fact, a good thing.

I lose track of time. My world starts to swirl around me as I sit there still. I am falling through a trap door that leads to a wormhole, taking me to another place. The color red flashes on and off in my sight, frightening me. I would wake myself up, but I have no idea how.

It gets to the point where I can't go for much longer, but I cannot wake myself up. I panic, imagining myself to be shaking, in tremors, but I feel no movement at all.

I feel nothing. Everything is quiet. Again.

When I awake my cheek lays flat on the concrete.I still focus on my breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

I sit up from the "dead" state that I was in for the past... time. I don't worry about the time.

I need to learn to activate my powers, to protect me, or to attack. I stand up, and look at my hands. Small active flames spark from them. I do not feel any pain from the fire. Phenomenal.

I flex my hands, bringing them out in front of me. I move slower, feeling dizzy, as I start to see my hands on fire. Embers spark, which make me flinch my hands, I put all of my focus into my hands, I start to sweat, I can feel the flames in my hands, they are just trapped within the flesh. Embers spread farther down my arms, to the point where my clothes start to catch on fire. Thankfully, they don't.

Then they release.

The flames smash out of my hands, and my chest tightens, as I keep them lit, starting to feel weak. I fall to my knees, and then my hands, and now arms, slowly turn back to the normal state, red and fiery.

I stand right back up.

I flex my hands, doing the same motions, trying to ignite the flames that came from my hands again.

Sweat downpours from my hair, onto my face, my eyes start to water, then the embers come, just as they did before.

I am trying as hard as I can to keep the embers awake. The flames do not burst though. I struggle for about a minute, then I relieve all of the pressure that once entered my body, as I collapse onto the ground, laying there, as I feel the disappointment of failure. I lay there for awhile, then close my eyes as sleep comes crashing down on me.

I am conscious.

I am sleeping.

But I am awake.

I see the insides of my eyelids, as I sit there, in paralysis. I am unable to wake up, no matter how hard I try.

I am stuck, in my sleep.

I lose track of time again.

I am conscious again.

I know that I am sleeping, same as I did earlier.

I am freaking out.

I awake to a loud rumble.

I sit in a chair, fairly large.

A white jacket secures me tightly so I cannot move. I shake my body uncontrollably. I exhale all of the air that had ever been contained in me.

I look up from staring into my lap. I am in a small room with weapons sitting on racks on all four walls, as well as the ceiling.

Guns, knifes, and some things that I have never seen in my life before.

Another rumble. It sounds like the ceiling will crash down.

"Hello?!" I call.

Nobody answers me.

"Hello?! Is anyone there? Help me!!" I scream, hopeful that someone like Henry or Connie will come running through the door in front of me, that they will save me from this mystery of misery.

Anxiety takes over me until the door to the room opens. The person in front of me is not Henry, nor Connie, nor anyone I know.

An armed man with a full body suit, looks much like a SWAT team, walks in, and stands next to me.

"Your execution will begin now," the man says.

"What?" I ask firmly.

"Of course, I will not be doing the performance. He will be here in a minute," he says, oddly enough with a chuckle.

Psychopath.

It was odd how he referred to the execution to a performance.

He aims the gun at me as another man walks into the door.

Tedd.

My mouth is wide open as he walks over to me.

"Hello, Rom-"

"Shut up! Don't act all nice. Inside, you are a no good piece of shit!" I scream, trying to gain control over him. I don't apologize for my foul language, he deserves it.

I just notice that I am sweating, more than I ever have before. More than I was when they released. The sweat droplets spill onto the floor, creating a small puddle on the blacktop.

Tedd glares at me as he walks over to one of the walls and grabs two knifes.

I start to cry.

"You can't do this to me!" I yell, all of my anger exploding out of me, charging for him, but my anger is too weak.

He ignores me. He thinks that he can do this to me, that he has the right to.

He brings the knife closer, and I try to struggle away, but the chair is bolted to the floor. I am bolted to the chair.

A slit across my face sparks, as blood waxes and spills onto the floor. The tears add to the puddle of blood and sweat on the ground.

The pain in my left hand strikes with such great force as the knife enters my body.

I cry out.

Spit slobbers out of my mouth and onto the floor, I feel destroyed.

Tedd won.

He holds his other knife up, and stabs it into the back of my right hand.

I have never experienced this much pain in my entire life. I can't do anything about this, he has all of the control. My neck is bent over my chest, with my hands beside me, tied to the metal chair, they spewing out blood, as the pond of body liquids turns more red than clear.

I tilt my head up to watch, as he grabs a third knife from the ceiling, this one much larger than the two before, which he had stabbed into both of my hands. He walks behind me, and pulls the knife next to my throat. He starts to pull, I can feel the blood creeping out when I can't breathe any longer, but then I feel nothing. Nothing at all. I see one thing, wrapped around his neck. A compass. My compass. Not his. Mine.

I wake up covered in sweat on the floor that I fell asleep on. A headache follows me as I stand up from my doze. I have to catch my breath for some reason. I walk over to the bag of groceries and drink gulps and gulps of water.

The liquid refreshes me, which is exactly what I need right now. I do not know what time it is, same like I have for the past couple of weeks, or months.

I press the little flashing green button and the door opens. I am not taking a break from my training. I walk over to the forest that lays in front of me. The forest reminds me of happiness, I'm not sure why.

I focus on my hands. They seem to spark easier this time. I don't have to try as hard, which is fine by me. I press my hands firmly against the nearest tree. After about ten seconds, I can see the tree perishing, burning to ash. I know not to burn too much of the tree, a result of it falling.

The burn is extremely effective, which I enjoy. I am able to control my adrenalin powers. Now I have to learn how to fight.

XXI

I find a small yet thick tree in the forest, not too deep in at all. I spark the embers again, and burn the tree down, leaving a large log in front of me. It is light enough that I can lift it and carry it back to the building. I need some rope. I don't want to even try to make rope, so I will buy some

I have ten remaining bolts. I will look for rope. I am okay on food and water, since I have decided that I won't be here much longer anyway.

I run up the small track that leads back to Elm Avenue, and I look for a shop that would carry rope. I try the shop I was in earlier.

I look in all of the aisles, but no rope was to be found in that shop.

I walk further down Elm and walk into a couple other shops that could possibly sell rope.

Nothing.

Then I come to a hardware store. I figure that they must have rope in there. So I walk in casually, with my hoodie, my bag, and my hospital gown.

The hardware store is like the shop I was in first, with much more for sale. I walk up to the desk where it looks like I can be helped.

"Do you sell rope?" I ask the lady sitting in a chair.

"Yes we do, young man. You will finds many different types of rope in aisle fourteen," she replies.

"Thank you," I nod as I walk away.

I find aisle fourteen, in the very back of the store. There, sitting in that aisle, are different shapes and sizes of ropes. I examine each one. I want something long, but not too long. Thick material would be nice.

I find the perfect rope. Twenty feet of sturdy rope. It costs seven bolts, which is almost all of what I have.

For the cause, I think that it is a great deal, even though I will be even more broke after the purchase.

I walk back up to the lady at the desk and lay the rope in front of her. Her eyes stare into my soul, pulling me out of myself.

"I'd like to buy this," I say, calmly, trying as hard as I can not to draw attention to myself.

She zones out, then "wakes" herself up, shaking her head.

"Okay. Is your guardian here with you?" she asks, which catches me off guard. I take as much time as I can, then she waves her hand in front of my face.

"Umm..." I start, trying to think of anything. I can't say my guardian are dead, because she will call the government, and they will say that my guardian is Tedd, which is true, but I hate his guts. His dead, slimy guts. I see that she had already scanned the items, so I knew that all I had to do was pay for them.

Nervously, I slam the seven bolts onto the desk, take the rope, and dash out of the hardware store. As I am running, I look back and my eyes focus on her, straight in the eyes. She sees my face. I can tell. My burned, adrenalin face.

I gasp with relief once I know that the lady won't come after me anymore. I run back to the building, and right into the room with the big door. I am lucky because none of the food or water was touched by bugs and/or other animals. I should be more careful the next time I leave.

I take the rope out of the package, and toss it on the floor. After moving the log that I obtained before I got the rope, I tie the rope to two things: a pipe running along the ceiling of the room, and the log. I make sure that it is secure nice and tight, and then I go back to the forest and find a log just like the other one.

Thankfully, it is not that hard to find at all. I drag it back to the room, and tie the remaining rope to another hook and the log. I stand back to look at it.

Now I shall learn to fight.

I hit one log with my fist. The pain is not as much as I had expected. It swings back to one wall, then comes back even faster than I hit it. It slams at me hard in the stomach. I fall to the ground.

I groan, but get back up, urging to try again. My stomach is in lots of pain, but I must continue. I hit the log again, and this time when it comes at me, I duck under it, diving on the gravel. The gravel scrapes against my leg, which bleeds horribly. I scramble to my feet to get back up, and when I do, the log hits me smack in the face, forcing me to slam onto my back.

I lay on the ground for awhile, then I realize that the same thing will happen unless I use something. Something that no other human has, I think.

The adrenalin.

I sit on the ground, "Indian style", meditating, as I was earlier, except in more pain. I feel the pain, but it doesn't hurt at all.

My location is the top middle side of the room, so I can focus on both of the tied up logs. All of my focus is on the logs.

In hindsight, somebody could right now sneak up behind me and I would never notice. I watch the shape of the logs, as I flashback to the moment where they had hit me. The pain. The cuts.

I watch the logs as they swing back and forth.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Across my being.

I stand up, to try again with the logs. Not only will I try, but I will succeed.

I ball my fists and face the log. My right fist launches forward as if an isolated rocket ship, shooting toward destiny. The pain in my hand is not as bad as it was the time before, since I knew what was coming.

I see it move back to the wall in front , then I focus on it and as it is coming back to me, I bring my hand out in front of me, and defend myself from the swinging projectile.

My hands aren't as strong as I would like to be, I look down at them and they look like they could start to bleed at any minute, they sting, and look more red than they have ever been. They look like they are bleeding, but they are as dry as ever before. I hit the log again, and the same thing happens, I hit it hard with my hand, with a tear coming from my eyes. I am not sad, yet in so much physical pain that it can't be explained. I know right away that I made a mistake hitting it as hard as I can. It comes back to me in high speeds, but I see it moving in slow motion. I see it flying towards me. The action of bringing my foot up against the log doesn't come until the projectile is at less than two or three inches away from me.

Most of my life, I have walked bare foot everywhere(including the time ever since I woke up on the bed in that building,) so the impact of the log hitting my foot was not nearly as bad as the log hitting my hands. My foot slams into it at an angle, so it swings to the right and smashes into the other log.

Both logs come at me with speed. The motion of slowness does not come this time, yet the logs seem to be coming faster at me than I hit it. I drop to the floor and dodge both of the logs. I did not want to be whacked on any part of my body. I don't want to stand up, but my feet push me up from the concrete, forcing me to continue. Forcing the excitement to grow larger.

I obey my feet and continue the method of hitting and blocking until I can barely move. The pain is so excruciating, it was as if all of my bones had been twisted at one-hundred and eighty degrees. I look down and see that my hands bleed from the wood, as well as many splinters are launched into my skin. I can sense that the sun has gone down. It is a feeling of cold, sadness.

My bloody hands rest on my knees, as I pant until I realize that I need to do something. I need to sleep. The only reason that I haven't yet is because I remember the horror that happened last time I fell asleep. I know that it is not real, but everything seems like it is projected into reality. I shudder at the thought of the nightmare.

I have to be strong though. I slowly lay down on the cold concrete floor, all of my muscles creaking, like an old rocking chair that was once in my hut. I just have to close my eyes, and go to sleep.

This action troubles me. I can not think of the unbearable pain that happened to be in the lucid dream that I was experiencing the night before.

I force my eyes shut so hard that after about a minute, I start to see different patterns and different colors, green ,blue, orange, checkerboard, stripes, and other things that cannot be explained.

I relax my eyes once it gets too intense.

And I fall asleep.

XXII

I wake to the sound of yelling.

"Anybody here? Hello?!"

A woman's voice. I thought that it was Connie, but how could she ever find me, in this abandoned, blown down building? I wish to keep sleeping, but my eyes open themselves. I see the ceiling of the room, and a wave of relieve flushes over me as I realize that I am still and the same place I was went I had slept the night before.

"Roman! Are you here?"

Now I am sure that Connie is here. It is her voice and her tone. And she knows my name. Only a small amount of people know my name.

I sit up from the concrete where I was sleeping and look at my hands. They are bleeding, but they look and feel better than I thought they would be, after what I've done to them. I don't even think about food and water, I just dash up the stairs and into the rooms on the floor above.

"Connie?" I call, hoping for dear life for an answer.

"Roman?! Where are you?" she says, after a pause of a matter of seconds.

"Are you on the first story?"

"No! I'm upstairs. Come find me!"she says, after another puzzling pause.

"Okay!"

I run up the stairs, two at a time, and upstairs I come to find rock bottom again. Only I have fallen deeper. Deeper than the world of possible.

Connie is here, sitting in a chair, but someone else is too.

Henry.

He carries a knife, pressing it tight across Connie's throat. Connie had been calling for me, to lure me upstairs. My brain twists into two. Why is Henry here?

"Roman! Help-"

"Shut up!" Henry yells, pulling the knife closer against her delicate skin. My heart feels like it has stopped. I love Connie, she is pretty, kind, and caring. But also, I love Henry.

"Henry! What are you doi-"

"Listen, Roman, you don't understand!"

"I perfectly understand everything, Henry! You're just going crazy! A helpless old man! That's what you are. Let her go!"

I let out all my anger on Henry. How could he do this? My sight begins to bulge up red again.

"Roman, trust me," he takes a deep breath, the same kind of deep breath he took when he told me that Tedd was here to kill me. "Connie is working with Tedd."

At first, I have trouble understanding what came out of his mouth. I didn't know if I was hearing him right.

"Roman. I know that this is a lot to take in, but Connie, is working with Tedd, the guy trying to take advantage of you."

I look at him straight in the eye. My mouth drops open as the words tab me in the chest, releasing all happiness and hope that I had ever wanted.

I didn't want to believe what just came out of his mouth, but is Connie just an act? Is she trying to pretend like a good guy, just like Tedd is doing? It makes sense, but I still don't believe it. Henry has surprised me a lot in the past, but I still trust him. But did I trust Connie more?

"Lets ask her," I suggest.

"Are you working with Tedd, Connie?" I ask, firmly, like Tedd did to me. My lip quivers, the thought of betrayal is taking over me.

"No! Why would I ever betray you, Roman!?" she replies. I see the anger in her face, which makes a tear fall onto my cheek. Her large glasses fall onto the floor, shattering because of the impact.

Henry pulls the knife closer to her very much delicate skin.

"I'm not working with Tedd!" Her voice is more raspy and grim, now that she is in danger.

Henry pulls another knife out from his pocket and stabs it into her left hand.

Just like Tedd did to me.

Connie screams in pain, as much as I want to take the knife out of her hand and stab it into Henry's face, I can't save someone who could be trying to kill me. Coincidences bounce all around my skull, mind-boggling.

"One more time, please tell the truth Connie. Are you working with Tedd?"

I stab my voice into her ears, just like the knife in her hand. My teeth clench, with anger, but I am more sad than I could ever be. Tears fall from my eyes consistently.

Henry pulls the knife the closest it could ever be to her neck without her bleeding to death, her blood would spill out, down the wooden steps. She knows that this is her last chance.

"Are you-

"Yes. I am."

XXIII

I feel pain in my stomach. Nausea creeps up on me, crawling over me, like a monster that I have always been scared of. One of the two people that I could ever trust, is a fraud. I puke in my mouth, then swallow it again, trying to gain the upper hand with myself.

Henry lets go of the knife, dropping it on the ground. Henry looks at me with sympathy, the same look that Connie gave me. For the first time. I don't look back at him.

She sits, tied to the chair, as I watch her in disgust.

"I'm sorry, Roman, I really am," she says.

"Sorry doesn't make everything go back to the way it was!" I scream back, which in this situation, she has a lot more to say than sorry. I am crying, I wipe the tears away from my cheek.

"No, I'm sorry about this. I truly am," she says, reaching for a gun, a gun that she pulls out of her pocket. She holds it firmly at both of us.

"Untie me. Now," she commands, giving a jester to Henry to do so.

He stands like a rock, hard and strong.

"Doctor. I'll give you one last chance."

He doesn't take the chance. He doesn't move. Instead, he crouches down, reaching for the knife that he had dropped.

The gun fires.

"Henry!" I scream, as I see him falling to the ground in pain.

I dive onto the ground, trying to help him, but I know that he needs real medical help to restore him. As I stand up with a knife to finish Connie, I notice that she is gone. Gone.

It's like she was never here.

The chair that she sat in is the only thing left of her presence.

I start to cry again. It is all way too much to bare.

My life is now worthless. All I have is the adrenalin. I couldn't care less about it, anyway. I don't want it anymore. I want things to go back to the way they were, in the Destitute zone, my home.

"Roman," he says, in a raspy voice. I can tell he is in a lot of pain.

"What?" I reply back, sniffing because of the sadness.

"I need you to save me. You can get the bullet out of my leg."

"I don't think I can."

"You have to try. I know you can. I'll help you."

I think for a second, then I make my decision.

"What do you need me to do?" I ask, hoping that he knows. After all, he is a doctor.

"Downstairs, my big white coat is down there along with a first aid kit. Bring that up here," he says.

I nod as I leap down the stairs, scurrying for the first aid kit. They are both sitting by the front door, or where a front door used to be.

I grab the first aid kit, and trample up the stairs. I put it down next to Henry.

"Okay, good. Now get the skinny metal tool and tweezers."

I open the first aid kit and see that there are lots of tools, all which are metal. The tweezers were easy to find due to their distinctive properties.

"Skinny metal tool," I repeat in my head.

I eventually found it. I had to move fast. Henry was bleeding out quickly. I hold up the two tools that I found and he nodded.

"Okay, Roman, here's the tricky part. I need you to use the tweezers to grab the bullet."

It freaked me out to even think about performing surgery. If he dies, I will never forgive myself.

Overall, after what I have done, I will never forgive myself anyway.

"Are you sure I can do this?" I ask, knowing what the answer will be, at least coming from the man that I am performing the surgery on.

"You can only try," he says with a smile on his face. He seems so laid back considering he could die in a matter of minutes. If I was in his shoes, I would be panicking the life out of myself.

I focus on his leg. I put the skinny metal tool which I think was called a precision knife down. I stuck the tweezers into his thigh.

He groans, which frightens me because I am scared that I did something wrong.

I continue to work though, regardless of the sounds that he makes, even though the fear grows larger. I search around for the bullet, until I see a little bit of it launched in between a large piece of tissue. I can't tell if it is the bullet or not, because most of what I can see is red. Blood red. Pure, blood, red.

I stick the tweezers softly into the tissue and try to grab the bullet with the tweezers. As the puddle of blood on the floor gets bigger and bigger, the more scared I get.

I am still crying, which does not help my confidence. I think with every tear, I see a glimpse of Henry's corpse, lying on the ground in front of me. I will not let him die. I have known him since the beginning of this 'adventure', and I want him to live till the end. I snag the bullet with the tweezers but it is stuck in the tissue.

"You can do it, Roman," Henry croaks. "I'll be okay."

I pull harder and harder but it is no use. Then I have an idea. I grab the precision knife and use it to cut the tissue so the bullet is loose. Using the tweezers, I snag the bullet out of the limb, and toss it on the ground.

I did it. I saved him. I wipe the sweat off of my forehead and let out air. Lots of air.

"Roman, your almost done," he starts, in between breaths, "there is bandage in the first aid kit. Wrap it around the wound. There is no time for stitches."

I take a deep breath(mostly in relief, because I did not want to give stitches to Henry.)

"I'm almost done, almost done, almost done, I can do this," I think.

I scavenge for the bandage. I notice the puddle of blood has turned into a lake. It spills down the wooden staircase, staining the hard, ashy material.

I find the bandage at the bottom of the kit. There is also some tape.

I wrap the bandage around Henrys' leg two or three times, then I rip a piece of tape and secure it tightly.

I take a deep breath. I start to laugh, oddly enough.

"You did it, Roman. Thank you," he says.

"Can you walk?" I ask, hoping he says yes, even though I know that is unreasonable.

"Walk? I got shot in the leg! Not for awhile," he replies with a small chuckle.

I laugh again, breaking my promise, again.

My mind goes back to Tedd. And Connie. I will kill both of them. The thought of them makes me clench my fists. But, where are they?

"I think I know where Tedd is going," Henry says, sitting up with both of his legs plopped out in front of him.

"Where?" I ask anxiously.

"Main Street."

It makes sense that he would go to Main Street. He is going to the house labeled FOUR, in the story below the first one. The one that he would not let me go down. Something is down there, but I am not sure what. Or why.

I look down at Henry.

"Do know where Main Street is?" I ask.

He doesn't say anything, just pulls a piece of paper that is rolled up out of his pocket and tosses it onto the ground.

I kneel down and pick it up, and it is a map of where everything in the world was.

In the top left section, it was the Authorities zone, much bigger than the other zones. In the bottom left section was the Corrupt. In the top right section lay the Prevalent zone and Opulent zone. And then there is one left. My hometown. The Destitute zone.

Along with all of the zones, it shows most of the tracks and speedtracks. I search for Main Street in all of the zones, until I found it in the Prevalent zone. It was straight smack in the center. I looked at the other streets until I found Elm Avenue, where I was right now.

It is just down the street from here.

XXIV

"Henry, I gotta-"

"Go Roman. Go." he replies which makes me think if he knew where I was going in the first place. I run down the staircase and out of the doorway. I run all the way down Elm, passing by many strangers, some even bumping them on the shoulder. I feel bad for doing this, but I have a lot more on my mind right now. I pass by all of the shops that I previously went to, before I found out about Connie working with Tedd. Before I found that Tedd was a liar. An idiot. A demon.

Every time I think of this, him, her, it angers me. Thankfully, the anger gives me a burst of speed. The adrenalin helps a lot with speed too.

Eventually, I see the turn to Main Street. At this point, my sweat turns into a garden hose, spraying all over the sidewalk. I fall and scrape my knee as I turn onto Main Street, tumbling as I turn the fast corner, and immediately recover. A little scrape wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other injuries that I had received in the past couple of times.

I freeze my tracks as I see it. Main Street is so beautiful. It makes me even more angry at Tedd. I continue to run, faster and faster. I watch the houses as I sweep by them:

Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five.

Four.

I stand in front of the house. The house where I thought I was the happiest I could ever be. It makes my cry, bawl. I fight back the tears, though. Now is not the time to start getting emotional. I walk slowly up to the door. I don't knock. I carefully twist the knob only to find that the large, fancy door, is locked. I have a solution, though. I do not have the big, brown key that opens it.

Lighting my hands with embers seems to be much easier this time than the two times before. The adrenalin seems to work easily with anger. I press my hands against the door, and automatically see the piercing burning in the door, the ashes falling to the ground. It is a beautiful sight.

After I know that the door is weak, I pull my hands away. I walk back about twenty feet, then charge at the door. I hear the wind in my ears. I run faster than I ever have, and I bring my fists up and charge at it with my side.

More splinters. I fall onto the floor once I am inside. Pieces of wood fall on me and give me scrapes, but I barely notice them. I run down the foyer and open the door to the story below. I inhale, wait seconds, but do not exhale.

The staircase is very dark. I cannot see. I light my hands and use them as a torch. I slowly walk down the stairs, trying my hardest not to creak the rather weary wood. Tedd and Connie are down here. I can feel their presence. They are being careful not to move, so they can perform a sneak attack. I won't let that happen, though. I am being cautious. Very cautious indeed.

I continue down the staircase. I look for a switch to turn the lights on. There is one at the bottom of the staircase.

I have to move quickly. I exhale my breath, then jump down the remaining of the stairs, and land on my feet, crouching the slightest bit. I slam on the light switch. The lights roar to life and I turn around to find that Tedd is not here.

Connie is, however. She is hanging from the ceiling in chains. A piece of paper like material is in her mouth, tied around her head, so she cannot speak, or request help. Her left hand is still bleeding out horribly from the knife. Someone managed to pull the knife out, though, probably Tedd if I had to guess.

The room is painted all chrome, very much like the building that Henry took me to where I first met Connie. There are many machines and scanners crammed into a room too small for all of the equipment, in my opinion.

I walk over to Connie and pull the soggy material out of her mouth.

"Roman!" she yells in relief.

"Save it. I don't have time for this."

"Tedd tied me up here. He used me." This doesn't surprise me. I know now that Connie is not as nearly as bad as him.

"Where is Tedd now?"

"He said he was going to a circle. That's all I know," she replies, which is not that helpful. I try to think back to everything that has happened to me. Where have I seen a circle? Circles have no significance to me. I have never been to a circle. That I know of...

"Also, he told me if you came here, to give you something," she blurts, and I can tell that she didn't want to say it, guilt reaching her face, as well as fear.

"What?" I ask.

"It's in the box on the shelf in the corner."

I jog over to the corner and pick up the box. It is not sealed shut . There is a basket inside of the box. In the basket, it is filled with red berries and a card. I open the card and it says simply:

Behind the Woods.

-You Know Who

I have no clue what this means. It has to be a place. I scavenge through the box more, hoping something else is in there, giving me an obvious hint. I find something. It is in a small leather case. I open the case to find my prized possession, the wind beneath my wings. My compass. Not the knock off that Tedd had "given" me, but mine. The one my guardian gave to me.

Then I thought of the tent where I woke up after I lost Henry. The same berries were in the same basket, they tasted the same. But where did a circle come in? Then, I look to see the small note again. I have seen this handwriting before. Tedd wrote that letter from supposedly Henry. More lies.

It comes to me.

"I know where he is. I know exactly where he is."

XXV

I run out of the house, sprinting further down Main Street. I hop across the bridge that leads out of the Prevalent zone. I run to the grassy field where I peacefully soaked my feet, before he came to me. Before he ruined me.

I stop and look up into the sky. I am a very lucky boy. The yellow, the orange, the pink. The impressive stream still runs below the mountain range, as the shadows fly down on me. I quickly forget it, and move on, getting ready for the fight of my life.

I run back into the woods, where the lady had told me to go. I find the pathway that leads out of the woods and I stand, my hands on my knees panting.

I am close. Too close. I finish catching my breath and sprint down the five-hundred yard trail that I had once walked with the lady. I notice that the sulm and mud is replaced by damp dirt that only stretches to the bottoms of my shoes(a lot easier to run in than the two hundred unit high sulm.) I know the circle is within fifty meters. I grab my compass and hold it into my hands. I will kill him. Right. Now.

I see the circle. I see the tents. And most importantly, him. I see him.

XXVI

"Tedd!" I scream, letting out all my force, feeling the adrenalin go through me, I don't think about anything else but him. He turns around and looks at me. My voice is raspy, loud, and hoarse. Just how I want it to sound.

I stop. Just stop. I don't move any longer. He has destroyed me. Just by the look on his face. I know when he smiles the same toothy smile when he first told me when he told me his name that...

...that he has the adrenalin.

"Roman! Nice to see you too," he says, grim.

"How did you-"

"Oh yeah! It turns out your not the only one with the special 'adrenalin'," he says with a smirk on his face. "..and it's all thanks to my special assistant, Dr. McKensie."

Connie. She must have performed experiments on me. She said it was basic but she was doing the same thing that Tedd would have done. I can't be mad at her, though. I can't. She was tied up. Why did she lie?

"You used her," I say, not really feeling anger anymore.

"You bet I did."

I hate it. He seems so confident that he will always win, but he will not win. Not this time. Not a chance.

I charge at him, lighting my hands with embers. He just stands there, with his stupid toothy smile. I launch my fist into his stomach, but he grabs it and uses the adrenalin to burn it hard.

It is hard to fight fire with fire. It is harder to fight a large fire with such a small one.

I slam my knee into his gut, which makes me able to struggle away. While he is still recovering, I grab his neck and tackle him to the ground. I burn his neck hard, but he throws me away(twenty or thirty thousand units? Has the adrenalin given him this massive strength?) I don't see how he can possibly survive. A skin like substance forms back on the wound, it is red and fiery, blue and red purple veins replaced with red. The adrenalin heals his neck. He stands up perfectly.

I cannot fight fire with fire. So I will fight it with anger. Verbally.

"You ruined me!" I say, as my voice starts to get raspy. Scary.

"You ruined me! Look what you have done? Why would you ever do this? All just for your selfish needs? You sicken me!"

He turns around. He doesn't look like it, but I can tell that he is wounded.

"You think this is my fault. You gave this to me!" he screams. "You gave this all to me!"

He is right. I did give this to him. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have followed Henry, I shouldn't have interacted with anyone that I did. I shouldn't have.

I focus on my hands, and think of all he has done ever to me.

He used me, he wants to kill me, he lied to me, he wasted the use of my compass, he killed my guardian.

Flames shoot out of my hands.

He killed my guardian.

"Just remember, Roman. You're not the only one," he screams, in a diminishing voice. He repeats it, your not the only one, over and over again. His scream sounds louder, as flames that had come out of my hands, cover his entire body. I jump back onto the ground, crying. I know that I can't win. But I will at least try.

Out of anger, sadness, and friendship, the same scream comes out of me. The same flames cover the rest of my body, just like they had done to Tedd. I use the adrenalin to fly towards him. He doesn't even notice me.

YOU KILLED MY GUARDIAN!

"You! You killed me! You turned a poor boy into this!"

I smash onto him, tackling him to the ground. I kick and punch him until I see the soul escape out of him. The first drop of blood that I see across his face, I feel a sense of happiness. The first puddle of blood, spilling onto the ground, I feel sadness. The first sign of death that I see deep within his body, I feel memories. Memories that only I know.

I look to his chest, as the locket is still there. I grab the compass, breaking the key chain. I hold out my flaming hand, and place the compass within. The compass is curled, burned, and is rid of anything that it ever meant, to me, and to Tedd.

I stand up from the red ground. The flames leave my body slowly. I watch the ashes of him lay on the ground.

I did it.

I killed Tedd.

XVII

I am in a different world. I zone out, thinking of what I did, what I accomplished. What I went through to achieve this. I see nothing, but a whole world of adrenalin. The orange and the red and the fire, but also the yellows and the pinks and the blues and the grays. The flying and the beating and the burning. All things that I did.

The circle of tents around me fade away as if they were never even there in the first place. My world spins around me, as I see and remember everything that has ever happened to me ever before in the time called happiness. The time that was so short, but it was too long.

Then all fades before me, and all I see is black.

For the readers who just want more. Page 133 is not the end of the adventure.

XVII

I wake up on a bed. The same one fell asleep on. I sit up, and exhale loads of air, relieving and refreshing myself instantly. I see everything that I remember the night before

The lucid dream really got to me last night.

"Roman! Your awake!" he says as he walks into the room from the large wooden door. I push the plaid blankets away when I remember everything.

I remember the adrenalin.

I remember Tedd.

He rolled slowly in his wheelchair, creaking the floor with each movement of his hands.

I have my memories stored into one thing. I hold the leather case up in my hand, open it, and pull out the packed item. The adrenalin is in this piece, or at least the mixed memories of it. I could feel the warmth and power as I squeezed it within my hands.

"Yes, I am awake. And I've never been more happy, Tedd."

I slip out of my bed, and into my chair, rolling away to the kitchen, where I will feed myself a snack before Tedd cooks breakfast for me.

In the cupboards, I find the same pretzels, the same exact snacks I found on my journey. The identical bag was even the same 'Carter's. It's good' brand. And the couches, the same cold couches from that house in my dream. I rolled over to them and dropped myself on, falling into the freezing cold leather. Amazing.

I remember something. The basement, the dark, dirty menacing basement.

I quickly get back on my chair and zoom away to that hallway. I open the door and fly down the ramp, excitement and curiosity taking over me. Adrenalin. That's what I feel.

I freeze in my tracks when I see the room. It appears to be an office, the office of my father. Equipment much the same as in my dream crams the room to the tightest.

In the corner, a little girl sits, crying, facing the wall. I double take, making sure I'm actually seeing this correctly. I am.

I walk over to the girl and say, "Hey," softly and nicely, trying not to disturb her sadness.

She turns around, wiping the tears away from her face. Her large, rectangular glasses stared into my insane mind.

Connie. Connie was this little girl. Connie is this little girl. My jaw drops open, but then I remember she has no indication of my lucid dreams. Nobody does.

"What... What happened?" I ask, trying as hard as I can to act sympathetic, but all I can think about is the dream.

"I was chased... by a crazy man," she croaks in between sniffles and cries.

I completely amaze myself sometimes. I knew who this man was. I knew who this man is. Henry.

XVIII

"Connie. What was this man's name?" I eagerly blurt, trying to get the information out of her.

"I.. I don't know." Crap.

"Did he say anything to you? Anything at all?"

"No, well not to me," she begins. "When he was chasing me through the woods, he kept calling out 'Boy!' or 'Adrenalin!' at random times. I was so scared."

This, this is scary. There is no other word for it. Scary.

How would this even be possible? Is my dream turning to reality? Or am I just going completely insane? Either way would be horrid.

"Oh! Now I remember something! As I finally got back, he was calling a name like, 'Roman! Roman!'"

I didn't even know what to say next.

"What's my name?" I shout, for no apparent reason.

She startles then says quietly, "You don't remember your own name, Steve?"

Steve. My guardian. My dead guardian. Is me? I inhale fiercely, sucking in air, trying to make some sort of weird sense to all of this. I can't.

I pass out, falling straight to the floor, unconscious. Impossible.

When I awake, I really awake. I really am awake. It's not another dream, the inception is over. I live my life, alone with no family. No Tedd, no Connie, no Henry, if he ever even did exist.

I figured out everything. Everything that made this situation messed up. This was all a mere fantasy.

Roman, is based on my son. My striving and succeeding son, Jimmy. Connie, my sister. My younger sister, a veterinarian at a local pet hospital. Tedd, my father. My disappointed father. He's disappointed in me, for not living the life I could have lived.

That leaves me. I, am based off of Henry. A crazy, insane man who roams the streets, looking for an adventure to go on, a life to live.

I have not found it quite yet.

For the readers who even want more, you'll just have to wait. Wait. Not long. Not short. Just wait.

