Eren’s mind takes snapshots of the nightmarish reality—fragmented moments trapped in suspended time. A body flies through the front windshield, and the world pitches sideways, grinding fills his ears. Another body is thrown from the back, before it crunches closed, blotting out the sun. Grinding, it slows, someone crawls, a foot kicks his face. Glass shatters, footsteps scrambling away—gunshots.

  Everything goes black, pressure builds around where his seatbelt digs into him. Reality returns—loud, all consuming, then snaps shut just as quickly over and over and over again.

  “This way!” someone screams, though it all sounds underwater. “Oh fuck, where’s Eren!?” Another shout, far away, so impossibly far away. Everything blurs, his head throbs, blood spills into his right eye, blinding him as it stings through to the root.

  Groaning, Eren struggles to find himself in the carnage as reality slowly settles into something close to stable. Pressure builds against his head, his neck, everything. Gasoline fills his senses, stings his throat, suffocates him almost entirely.

  “Help!—” Eren groans the words, but his voice sounds funny. He tries to shift, but can’t manage to move any more than an inch or two.

  Blinking his one good eye, Eren watches as another figure pulls itself from the wreckage, obscured by the debris and dust that refuses to settle.

  “Hey... hey!” Eren calls out, trying to reach a groggy hand at the upside down person. “Hey don’t leave me!” Eren cries, smacking his hand into the ground, or was it the roof?

  With another grunt, Eren tries to untangle himself from the seatbelt his leg is trapped in. The sound of footsteps approaching sends his heart crashing into his ribs. “Come on! Help!” Eren shouts, blood filling his mouth as it pours from a cut on his face and down over the rest of him like a warm shower.

  Gunshots crack nearby, a few at first, and then many, until they fade. “Go go go!” someone says from what feels like miles away. “Oh fuck, run!” another screams, impossibly far from Eren’s voice.

  “I'm here! I'm alive! Help me!” Eren looks up, pulling at the straps around his leg. His skin is nearly flayed off where the seatbelt tears at him. Touching it at all hurts enough to make him want to scream, but now isn’t the time.

  The smell of gas only gets stronger, the dust from the crash finally begins to settle, but the smoke billowing out from the engine replaces it quickly.

  tap tap tap

  Eren wheels his head around to stare at the trunk. The glass is shattered entirely, leaving a small opening of pinched metal leading to the outside world. Obscured in the smoke, the silhouette of a crow taps and picks at the metal with its beak.

  Picking up stray pieces of glass, Eren throws it at the bird, though he misses.

  “Get the fuck out of here! I don’t want you here! If I'm going to die then let me die in peace, you annoying piece of shit!” Eren grabs a hold of more glass, the sharp edges cutting into the palm of his hand.

  His brain stops him from throwing the shards, his arm unable to complete the motion.

  tap tap tap

  “Fuck you!” Eren uses the shard in his hand to rip and tear at the seatbelt tangling his foot. It saws apart quickly, letting the rest of his weight drop him onto the roof of the SUV with a heavy thud.

  He scrambles at the twisted metal, the broken seats, the blood soaked glass, trying to get to the window.

  A shadow blocks his view of the outside world, a face coming into view, a familiar face, a welcome face even, though it is littered with cuts and splattered with blood.

  “Hayden! Hayden help me!” Eren shouts out, reaching through the window for the boy's hand.

  “Oh my god you’re alive!” Hayden nearly cries the words, dragging himself towards the van, grabbing Eren’s one arm with both of his, and pulling.

  Eren grunts and wheezes as he slides against the roof, his shoulders barely squeezing past the mass of metal.

  “Tony! Tony, Eren’s alive!” Hayden shouts, looking backwards to where Eren can see Tony limping towards them, one shoulder pressed hard against a nearby wall to support his approach.

  “Oh my god!” Tony’s eyes go wide, and he practically throws himself at Eren, grabbing his other hand.

  “Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!” Eren can’t help but cry, and then panic as the smell of gas is replaced with the smell of burning.

  “Pull!” Tony shouts, planting one leg against the overturned van and tugging with all of his strength. Hayden keeps his grip too, the two teens grinding their teeth and clenching their eyes as they rip Eren free of the crash.

  The moment Eren's leg comes free, the vehicle engulfs in flames.

  Eren and the others scramble away on the ground, their eyes locked to the roaring inferno that billows angry black smoke throughout the alleyway they landed themselves in.

  tap tap tap the crow remains, unbothered by the flames that dance around him.

  The sound of footsteps echo off the bare alley walls.

  “Fuck,” Tony grunts, helping Eren up with one hand.

  Eren looks around for anything to use as a weapon, but each movement sends a shot of pain through his head.

  Hayden brings his fists up, as if that will do anything against guards with guns.

  The shadows on the wall shift, rifles peak around the corner, and Eren’s heart nearly explodes.

  “Shit, it's you guys!” Michael gasps, finger on the trigger.

  “We can say the same,” Tony grunts, still ready to fight.

  “More guards will be here, they will see the fire and check for survivors, you guys need to move,” Jacob blathers, eyes shifting around to the adjacent roadway.

  “We can’t just leave the others, they must have been thrown from the car or ran after the crash!” Hayden tries, though the sound of distant gunfire cracking off stone snuffs out any flickering flames of bravery.

  “We saw a few people run off on the way here, but couldn’t call to them without drawing the guards.” Michael spits, shifting the rifle on his shoulder. “Come on, we need to go—now. Colin has a spot just up ahead, we can find the others later.”

  Without waiting for a response, Michael and Jacob jog back the way they came.

  tap tap tap the crow picks at the metal, and turns to look at Eren, before flying away.

  “Eren, come on,” Tony grinds the words out, hoisting Eren under his shoulder as they take off behind Michael and Jacob.

  “yeah... right.” Eren’s legs shake, blood still saturates his eye no matter how many times he tries to swipe it away. Hayden helps support Eren as the three hobble after Michael and Jacob.

  After a few blocks, squeezing through alleys and crouching in the shadows of old apartment buildings, Eren catches his breath enough to wheeze out the question tormenting his mind.

  “What happened to the others?” Eren tries to piece together his broken brain, struggling to figure out what voice belonged to who during and after the crash.

  “We got thrown early, scattered pretty quick after.” Tony explains. “The car tumbled for a while and it drew their attention, the others ran off in different directions to split their focus.”

  “Jesus…”

  “Melisa and Jess were alive last I saw, but we had to drag ourselves out of sight and hide, the guards were swarming, we were lucky the van didn’t slide very far or else we wouldn’t have found you.”

  “yeah…lucky…” Eren huffs, and forces himself to keep following Michael and Jacob as they round the next block of buildings.

  Frankly Eren can’t believe any of them survived that. The logic doesn’t track. Its too…absurd. The probabilities. The damage. The gunfire. Based on the shadows alone he can tell times passed. He knows he was trapped for at least a little while but still.

  It almost hurts to think about. Trying to find some logic to it. Eren runs through his shattered memory of the moment over and over with every step, trying to identify a logical explanation for any of their survival.

  There is none.

  A distant caw pulls his mind somewhere darker, somewhere far less logical. The bird was unbothered by the flames…the crow.

  Sometimes they are real, sometimes they aren’t. He hasn’t had his medication in weeks so why didn’t he hear or see birds or that tap tap tap once during his imprisonment. Why did he only see a crow now?

  Eren’s whole body goes cold. He watches Tony, Hayden, the two other boys as they are lead through the alleyways between simple buildings. They shouldn’t have survived that—yet they did. The only logical answer is that there is no logical answer, and that fact alone is one of, if not the single most terrifying pieces of this hellish puzzle.

  It’s all Eren can think about as they are led to a remarkably simple concrete structure in the middle of what Eren might have considered a commercial district. Four stories tall, it consists of hallways and bare rooms with no discernable features.

  Inside the largest room at the top floor, Eren lets out a groan as his eyes meet Colin’s.

  “Good job, see if you can find anyone else.” Colin clicks his tongue, and ushers Michael and Jacob away.

  Tony sets Eren down against a wall just under a window, using the light that spills into the room to assess the damage to his leg.

  “It’s not too bad, but it looks like it hurts.” Tony scowls. Hayden takes a seat nearby, his eyes unable to stop bouncing around from person to person in the small room.

  At the moment, it’s the three of them, Eren, Tony, and Hayden, plus Colin, Chloe, and Jerimiah as well.

  Eren prays that Cris and Jess and the others made it just fine, he prays that they don’t find themselves in the same situation he was in moments ago... but given the consistent crack of fully automatic gunfire echoing in from every corner of the city, he doesn’t have much hope of that being the case.

  He stares daggers into the back of Colin’s head. He hopes he looks intimidating, he hopes that his anger burrows into him, but given how badly beaten up Eren is, he doubts that too.

  Tony and Hayden aren’t in much better shape. Bruises riddle Tony’s body, a massive, ugly line down his chest is the most prominent from where his body fought against his seatbelt, and the gash along his scalp from where his head went through the windshield. Hayden is absolutely covered in cuts, blood gathering at nearly every corner of his body though thankfully none looked particularly deep.

  “So this was the plan, huh? Get rid of the people who disagreed with you and then drive home free?” Eren spits the words at Colin’s feet.

  “Something like that, though I have to admit I wasn't expecting so many guards out here. Or for there to be enough cars. I had half the mind to try and stop Tony just in case you all managed to get to the bay and drive out too, but…well, didn’t want to waste the ammo,” he shrugs.

  Eren’s breath shakes in his chest, he wants to lunge at this psycho, he wants to bring him to the ground and punch him till he breaks that cruel hatchet wound smile off his face.

  Chloe, as if sensing the intent, moves to guard Colin’s back, sparing only a passing glance Eren’s way.

  “Don’t worry, they are too injured to do anything.” Colin dismisses Chloe with a wave of his hand. “Help them get cleaned up, Jerimiah and I will scout the nearby area. We need fresh bodies if we want a chance at leaving in one piece...”

  Eren’s breathing refuses to let up, the rage burning inside him tears at his muscles, fighting against his own better judgment to rip and tear at this boy.

  Colin offers a wink in response, and vanishes down the stairs.

  Chloe is anything but gentle, but she isn’t cruel either. The clinical apathy in which she renders aid is somehow more disturbing than if she were to enjoy the process or dislike it.

  She dabs the blood from Eren’s eye, with the hem of her shirt as if it's nothing, no more significant than throwing away a piece of trash.

  Tony and Hayden are stunned in similar fashion, though as the adrenaline leaves their bodies, the exhaustion that replaces it is too much to fight. Curiosity be damned, it’s time to rest.

  The sun is already setting, casting the whole room in shades of blood red. He sees it everywhere he looks now. Under his fingernails, on his clothes, on the walls, ceiling, and floor. There’s nothing he can do to escape that copper tang and browning reds.

  Eren knows he needs to sleep, though finding the will to close his eyes at all is nearing impossible. The gunfire has slowed, though not entirely. As the sunset fades to replace the world with darkness, the occasional shot stirs his focus—reminds him that they are still fighting, reminds him that they are moments away from death at all times.

  ***

  Jacob, Michael, Colin and Jerimiah return at dark, Colin saturated in blood, none of it his own. Jerimiah's knuckles are bloodied and split, but the smile he wears is the most concerning feature.

  Jacob and Michael drop their spent weapons. No more magazines make the rifles nothing more than bludgeoning tools until they can find more.

  They return with two more people to help fill the room, Squirrel being one of them.

  “The others, are they?” Tony asks, struggling to keep his eyes open for the exhaustion working its way through his body.

  “I... I don’t know. We got shot at and ran away into a mall I think? There was another car there with people. We got split up and turned around...” Squirrel rubs at her palms with downturned eyes. Any ounce of chipper enthusiasm and energy is gone. Her hands shake, she struggles to make them stop, but it doesn’t work.

  Eren’s guts twist. They aren’t confirmed dead yet, which means they still have a chance. But given how bad Cris’s leg was...

  He shakes his head. He can’t think about stuff like that now. Right now, he needs to plan, he needs to find a way out of this, they are so close, they are so fucking close he can almost taste it. They just need a single solid plan.

  “We will see if any of the vehicles are still working in the morning. Let's have pairs of two go off and scout the area to locate anything working,” Colin starts, pacing passively around the small room as he picks the nail of his thumb with a canine

  “No.” Eren shakes his head, garnering looks from the others.

  “What did you say?” Colin gives a half turn to face him, his eyes staring daggers through the corners.

  “I said no, that's a stupid plan.”

  Colin faces Eren entirely then, crossing his arms with a smile. “Please, enlighten me then.”

  “The guards still have guns. The full auto fire we took in the vehicles wasn’t from something like those rifles. It had to be big, right?”

  “Heavy machine guns, it looked like. Turrets mounted to the back of SUVs.” Jacob says, resting against the wall.

  “They also have more rifles,” Michael adds.

  “If we split up into small pairs like that, we are fucked. Your sacrificial lamb strategy won’t work again.”

  The room remains silent, save for Colin who shrugs. “Oops, thought I would get away with it, my bad.”

  “Fuck you,” Tony spits, but Jerimiah moves in to stop any further advance.

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  “How the hell do you get such loyal guard dogs out of these two?” Tony tries to chest up to Jerimiah, but he is nearly two full feet taller than Tony.

  “Easy, I promised a way out. Playing hero is cool and all but it really doesn't win a lot of favors with people actively dying.

  “Selfish fucking—”

  “Vehicles obviously draw their fire. That's what they are looking for,” Eren picks up again, forcing the conversation back to topic. As much as he hates Colin and is pissed about this too… like Tony himself said, they didn’t help anyone by being at each other's throats.

  “Spit it out.” Colin narrows his eyes.

  “Squirrel, is that car you saw in the mall still running?” Eren asks

  “Uh... yeah. It got shot a lot but only like, the windshield and seats and stuff. The engine is still fine I think.”

  “Then let's use that to get the hell out of here.” Jacob says matter o’ factly.

  “And get shot to hell while doing it? No...” Eren draws on the ground, using the dust to make a small top down view of the city.

  “We load the vehicle up inside the mall with bodies. Make it look full of people. We can turn it around to aim it back out the door, rev the engine a bit, draw the attention of the guards. It should echo a lot inside that space so we can almost guarantee someone will come for it.”

  Eren draws a car inside the space representing the mall.

  “Squirrel, what are the surrounding buildings looking like?” Eren gestures to the drawing.

  “Uhhh, something like this, I think.” Squirrel scoots in next to Eren and draws a collection of buildings to the left and right of the mall's entrance. A parking structure blocks direct line of sight to the front doors as well.

  “Perfect. Once we draw someone's attention, we set a weight down on the gas pedal and watch the car roll to the entrance. The guards will light the whole thing up as soon as they see it move. And they will keep lighting it up until it stops moving. Which it won't until they blow the engine or something.” Eren draws out a guard vehicle and makes dashed lines pointed towards the decoy vehicle.

  “We plant our people in the parking structure, one floor above. We also get people hiding in wait nearby. Once they start opening fire on the decoy, our people rush the guard vehicle from every angle. The two people on top hit first and take out the turret. The people inside won't be able to draw their rifles and they wouldn't risk shooting up at their own guys. We have one person in the back, and one for each door to take out the windows or open the doors and pull these guys from their vehicles, get them out and on the ground or whatever we need to do.”

  “You make it sound easy...” Tony chuckles, backing off of Jerimiah to turn his attention to the plan.

  “No, it won't be. But being able to acquire a fully functional guard vehicle complete with their clothing, their guns, and their turret will be more than worth the risk.... Our vehicles draw fire. But they know what theirs look like. We cram in, disguised as them, and drive out. Anyone asks? We have people with critical injuries and need to evacuate or something. If they don’t buy it? We light em up.” Eren dusts his hand off on his bloodied nurses scrubs.

  Colin snorts. “Right, just like that... no, I don’t think so.”

  Eren casts a hard look at Colin who ignores him entirely. “If you want to go on a suicide mission you are welcome to, but I plan on making it out in one piece...”

  “Then what is your plan, huh?” Tony challenges, struggling to stand, placing himself between Eren and Colin.

  “My plan? None of your business. You all seem so keen on following Eren to an early grave, and I'd rather not compromise my own ideas with the likes of you morons.”

  Colin looks out the window and sighs. “Jerimiah and I saw a better spot not too far. Much more comfortable. I’m going there. Let's move.” Colin snaps his fingers and heads towards the stairs.

  Jacob and Michael look to one another, sharing a passing glance with Eren and Tony as they decide who to follow.

  “Chop chop!” Colin calls, stopping in the stairwell and looking back at his people, all of whom give pause.

  “Well?”

  “Tony’s wounds have reopened.” Chloe states plainly, moving to once again remove her shirt to dab up the blood.

  “Well when you are done playing doctor, you know where I’ll be.” Colin rolls his eyes.

  Jerimiah stomps his way across the room, narrowing his eyes at Chloe who ignores him. Watching Jerimiah leave, Jacob and Michael follow behind, leaving with Colin down the stairs.

  Tony lets out a sigh and looks down at the plan, wincing as Chloe taps the wounds on his back.

  “The mall, was there anything in there?” Tony asks Squirrel, who shakes her head.

  “No, not really.”

  “How do you know it was a mall?”

  “It looked like one I guess?”

  “But no stores?” Tony winces again, and shoots a look back at Chloe. “Can you please try and be a little more gentle?” He offers the suggestion in as sweet a voice as he can muster through the pain.

  “I apologize.” Chloe lifts her hand up and stares blankly down at Tony, waiting for him to turn back around.

  Chloe continues to dab, being no more or less gentle than before the comment, making Tony wince again.

  “No stores, no, just walls and halls.” Squirrel shrugs.

  Looking to Eren, Tony lets the words hang for a moment in the space between them.

  “This whole city is barren, isn’t it?” Eren chews his lip.

  “If we are where we think we are, it's possible this place is Rats Den isn't it? I remember hearing that the abandoned city was somewhere in the Nevada desert, so it would make sense right?” Hayden asks softly, not wanting to bring his voice any higher than a whisper.

  “Abandoned and incomplete are different,” Eren notes, tapping the drawing of the mall.

  “It would be one thing to see decrepit buildings and rotting wallpaper but this place is empty.”

  “Oh... you’re right.” Hayden realizes too. “I thought, maybe we would see stuff right? Like couches or TV’s.”

  “Or floors, different construction material, hell even traffic lights...” Squirrel notes with a raised finger.

  “Maybe they just didn’t get around to installing them yet?” Hayden offers.

  “No... you don’t build a city, buildings and roads and all without any traffic lights, fire hydrants, or telephone poles.” Eren corrects.

  “There are no telephone poles...” Tony comments, straining his neck to look out the window.

  “And then there is this.” Eren pats around his scrub’s pockets for the piece of paper he stuffed away there, and shows it to the others.

  “What's that?” Squirrel asks.

  “Lorem ipsum, its nonsense text, it was printed all over the stacks of papers in that room we fought the guards in. Cris, Jess, you and me.”

  “This was on all the papers?” Squirrel asks, looking at it with a sideways glance.

  “This isn’t Rats Den.” Chloe says in a perfect monotone as she puts her shirt back on.

  Everyone looks at her, equal parts curious and terrified by the implication her statement carries.

  “How do you know?”

  “My home was located in Mission Woods, Kansas. The city of Oasis that later became known as Rats Den was meant to be located three points two miles south of Warm Springs Nevada. Not only is the distance traveled off by approximately 200 miles...”

  Chloe points directly up to the ceiling, pulling everyone's attention upwards to stare at the plain concrete.

  “There is a 2.89 degree difference in the position of the stars. We are 200 miles south of Rats Den.” Chloe concludes.

  “How... what? How can you see the stars?” Hayden asks, trying to narrow his vision as if it would give him the ability to see beyond the ceiling.

  “I saw them at sunset when we first left the vehicle bay,” She says casually, and then points out the window to the dark sky. “And I see a few of those now, which means Orion is there.” She points up at the ceiling. “When it should be there.” And she points instead a few degrees off to her left.

  She says that as if it isn’t the most insane statement. Eren has a pretty decent memory, but being able to recall the position of stars in the sky from seeing just a few, and knowing the rotation of the earth among any number of possible factors is borderline superhuman.

  “Are you sure you aren’t a robot?” Tony sighs.

  “Is that a concern of yours?” Chloe looks at him.

  “At this point? Probably.”

  “I can prove to you I am human if you would like.” Chloe, without hesitation pulls a jagged knife from the back of her pants and places the blade against the back of her forearm.

  “No no no! Don’t do that!” Squirrel waves her hands wildly, grabbing hold of Chloe's arm and bringing the knife away.

  Chloe, emotionless as ever, watches her do it, though doesn’t give up the knife.

  “You… I don’t understand you.” Tony places a hand on his chest and lets out a heavy sigh.

  “I have heard that often.”

  “Really? I'm shocked.”

  “It’s true,” Chloe confirms with a nod.

  “That... yeah I know it’s true.”

  “Then why say you are shocked?” Chloe blinks innocently.

  “It was...sarcasm.” Tony sighs.

  “I do not compute. Beep boop.”

  Eren presses his hand to his mouth, suppressing a chuckle at the display and Tony’s utterly dumbfounded expression.

  Chloe’s face never once breaks as she stands and puts the knife away.

  “Headed over to Colin I guess?” Squirrel asks, sitting down against the wall to let herself rest.

  “No,” Chloe responds casually.

  “No?” Squirrels eyes light up. Evidently the depressive episodes don’t last long with her. Eren wished he could have her energy, or at the very least a fraction. He would never have a bad day again...

  “No, Colin’s plans have failed. Eren’s plan is dangerous but the most logical in terms of long term success. I will follow him.”

  “And here I thought you were just obeying him because you liked the way he operates.” Eren chuckles, half ashamed at his estimations of her.

  “I followed him because he asked me to, during your talks with the person from wing 2, and was the only one to devise a plan to escape that offered the highest chance of survival.” Chloe says it all so matter o’ factly.

  “Even though his plan involved lying to us to make room for the people he supported?” Tony tests.

  “It was the only escape plan proposed.” Chloe takes no offense, or if she does she doesn’t make it seen. “The likelihood of the first wing being alive was minimal to begin with. Going back to save them, towards the guards, was too dangerous for little return. There was nothing anyone in the first wing could have offered us not already covered by those gathered with Colin at the time.”

  “If you already knew the first wing was dead, or likely to all be dead, why didn’t you say anything?” Tony rubs the bridge of his nose.

  “No one asked me what I thought.” She shrugs.

  “And now, what, you calculate Eren's plan has the best chance of working?”

  “Exactly. Colin’s selfishness was beneficial when it meant escape as quickly and efficiently as possible. Given the current situation I believe selfishness is likely to end poorly. Cooperation and teamwork is required and Eren is offering that.”

  Tony blinks, and looks as though he has more to say on the matter but Eren cuts him off.

  “Lets, try and get a little rest. We have been up and fighting all day, and if we have any hope of making this plan work we need sleep.” Eren taps the drawing of his plan.

  “We should take watches, just to be safe,” Tony proposes, rustling to stand, only to be stopped by Chloe’s hands on his shoulders.

  Tony is forced back to the ground with a huff. He looks annoyed, but a single glance to Chloe's apathetic expression has him too confused to speak.

  “Rest, if your wounds open again I won’t be gentle.”

  “You were being gentle?” Tony sighs and hangs his head.

  “Very much so.”

  “You... should probably listen to her.” Hayden taps Tony on the arm.

  Tony nods and remains sitting.

  “I can take first watch. I still have a lot of energy.” Squirrel offers with a raised hand.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Eren yawns and leans back on the ground, bringing his arm up to cover his eyes.

  He really wishes he can fall—

  A hand on Eren's shoulder wakes him up. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he spots Chloe hovering over him. Her cold, emotionless eyes startling him in the half awake—half dream-like state he still finds himself in.

  “You scared the shit out of me...” Eren groans.

  Everything hurts. His whole body from head to toe is stiff and sore. His muscles pull taught in protest, begging him to return to the cold concrete ground. His bones creak—actually creak—as he struggles to his feet.

  Chloe moves backwards to avoid their heads colliding, and offers Eren a hand, a hand he graciously takes.

  In one quick motion he is up and nearly stumbling forward under the shocking amount of strength Chloe has built up in her slender arms.

  “You’re strong...” Eren gasps, spinning his own arms to try and prevent himself from taking a fall.

  “Yes.”

  “And talkative.”

  “Yes.”

  Eren chuckles, but stops himself after a few breaths as Hayden stirs on the ground.

  “The ground floor has the best view of the streets without being too exposed. Several guard vehicles have been seen in the distance. They are likely forming a perimeter and slowly circling inward.” Chloe suggests, remaining standing while Eren stretches himself out to try and loosen up his muscles.

  “Alright... try and get some sleep.” Eren rolls his neck out and heads towards the stairs, making his way to the lowest level with heavy steps.

  Chloe is right. The ground floor has two doorways both easily visible from the stairwell, which hangs in darkness. The moonlight spreads its arms out across the small single lane roads, visible from the windows as well. The stairwell itself is hugged in a heavy blanket of shadow, offering itself to be a somewhat comfortable space hidden from view with a great line of sign to the only possible points of entry.

  Eren sighs, and settles himself in for a few hours of looking at nothing more than headlights in the distance, passing between the gaps in the facade buildings.

  He wants time to think, to consider what the hell all of this is. The pieces just feel so scattered still, with no clear picture to be made out yet. It’s almost like he’s working on a puzzle and has managed to fill in everything but the exact center. Only the vague illusion of larger shapes on the outskirts gave a suggestion as to what the whole might be

  There is also the biggest question hanging over him, the question of ‘why?’. Why would the government do this? To what end? What goal could any of this possibly accomplish?

  “Why…?”

  “It is an experiment.”

  Chloe’s voice nearly sends Eren out of his skin. He didn’t hear her approach at all, and she is so close. She has to be right behind him.

  “You scared me!” Eren whispers the scream after feeling it rise in his throat. Wheeling around, he spots Chloe with her shirt in her hands, taken straight from her back yet again.

  “I apologize,” Chloe offers.

  Eren turns his face around to quickly remove his gaze from her. He had seen plenty more before, but now with a moment to rest and breathe, the very simple reality of the sight before him has his mind a little fuzzy.

  Staring back out at the roadway, Eren winces as her shirt makes contact with the side of his neck and head. The fresh cuts sting as she dabs blood away.

  “What do you mean an experiment?” Eren coughs, trying not to let his mind wander too far.

  “I do not know.”

  “How helpful.”

  “No, not very, but it is helpful enough.” Chloe spits into her shirt and uses the saliva to clear away the crusted blood at the back of his head.

  “Ouch!” Eren winces away.

  Chloe doesn’t continue, nor make any comment. Instead she waits patiently for Eren to return his head into her hands to allow her to continue.

  “An experiment huh...” Eren ponders the thought. It could be possible. So many pieces of the puzzle were missing, and saying this is all one big experiment could turn those shapes into objects.

  “Consider that the government has conducted a number over the years on a variety of different subjects. Tuskegee Syphilis Study 1932, Human radiation experiments 1944, Operation Sea Spray 1950...”

  “Right, I get it.” Eren stops her. She probably would have gone on to list every experiment ever conducted in chronological order if he let her... “Where do you get all this information anyway?”

  “I have a good memory, and like to read.”

  “About the Tuskegee syphilis study of 1932?”

  “Libraries are large, and I have no friends.”

  “Well... I guess I get it at least a little.” Eren chuckles. She is well above and beyond his own level of niche interests and unique library of facts, but the principal he understood. Without many friends you make a habit of finding hobbies you can do by yourself. That usually means a lot of reading or documentaries in Eren's case.

  “I knew you would.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?” Eren teases, sticking his tongue out.

  “You have no friends.”

  Looking back at Chloe, her expression remains neutral as always. She pulls her hands away, patiently waiting for Eren to turn back around.

  “You are actually pretty funny, you know that?” Eren turns around, and pauses.

  “My comedic genius knows few bounds—”

  Eren holds a hand up and she cuts off her words in a second. Though it doesn’t appear she understands the reason, she reads Eren's body language well, and pulls the knife from the back of her waistband, awaiting Eren's word.

  “I'm gone for a few hours and you’re already flirting with a new girl?” Jess’s voice carries quietly over the room, and Eren relaxes with a heavy exhale.

  “Go get em tiger.” Cris grunts, and the two figures emerge into the light of the roads beyond the doorway.

  Cris’s expression drops slightly, and Jess nearly drops Cris as they make out Chloe's face behind Eren.

  “Shit!” Cris stumbles and has to prop himself up against the wall, pulling the stun baton from his pants pockets while Jess simply freezes up, her eyes locked to the blade Chloe wields.

  “It’s fine, it's fine! Don’t worry... she ditched Colin.” Eren explains, standing up and rushing over to help Cris regain his bearings.

  “She is a psychopath,” Jess nearly hisses, and Eren finds himself remembering that knife she threw into the guards throat without a care in the world, expression blank, as it always was.

  “She has been taking care of Tony, me, the others all night, trust me she is fine. Literally using the shirt off her own back.”

  “yeah, I can see that.” Jess scowls as Chloe puts her shirt back on.

  Jess’s eyes are heavy with dark bags under them. Her breathing comes in shallow, shaking, exhausted and unsteady rhythms.

  “You are running on fumes, we all are... let's get you up stairs and rest. I have a plan to get us out of here.” Eren explains as he looks through the doorway. “Did you see anyone else we recognize?”

  Cris shakes his head. “No idea. After the crash we split up. I heard some whispers from our hiding place and asked Jess to check it out with me.”

  “I didn’t think we were talking loudly.” Eren sighs.

  “You weren’t. I just have good hearing.” Cris winks. “I’m glad I did, and I'm even more glad it was you... you said you had a plan?”

  “yeah. I do, I can go over it again in the morning, for now you two should sleep as much as you can.”

  Jess doesn’t let her eyes off Chloe, though Cris seems more than eager to lay down.

  “How's the leg?” Eren asks, helping guide his friend up the stairs.

  “I’ll probably end up losing it...” Cris offers a sad chuckle. “Pretty shit right? The bleeding just won't stop and with no more stims, it’s bleed out or lose the leg to the tourniquet.”

  “Fuck, I’m so sorry.” Eren lowers Cris down as gently as he can in the room with the others.

  “yeah, it’s fucked, but oh well. You said you had a plan, right? If it all works out, I'm sure I can apply for... worker’s comp or something.”

  “I don’t think that's how that works,” Jess snorts.

  “A man can dream.” Cris shrugs. “Sue the government, become wealthy, something fun.”

  Eren stands back up and brushes his hands off. “What would you do then, if you got rich?”

  “Buy a new leg.” Cris nods sagely.

  “And after that?”

  “Retire to the Bahamas."

  “You are fourteen years old.”

  “And rich! Early retirement would look good on me, and so would a robot leg.”

  “Get some rest dude, I need to continue watch.” Eren shakes his head and pats Cris on the shoulder. “Glad to see you’re okay, mostly.”

  “Glad to be okay, mostly.” Cris closes his eyes, yawns, and passes out cold.