I gripped the seat tightly and gasped for air. The shadow figure loomed over me. No, a demon was the right word. I stared into it's cold eyes and feeling the fear build up in my stomach.

   "Ezra!" Sabine shouted, worried, "What'a going on?"

   "She's not worried about you. She is using you, just like the others. Lies. Deceiving. Confusing. Don't you just want all the stress to end. Feel better. Don't you hate all the secrecy? Even your own parents didn't trust you enough to tell you. They don't see how special you are..." the shadow leaned in closer then whispered into my ear.

   "...but I do..."

   "S-Stop," I demanded, gasping for air.

   "Go a...way."

   "Ezra, speak! What's happening? Ezra?" Sabine sounded like she was panicking. That's the first, I thought bitterly. She can't see the dark entity above, choking me.

   "Yes...give in to the anger. Make her pay for all that she's done to you. Don't you want her to feel this pain?" It questioned.

   I swore it was smirking as if it knew the answer. Black spots invaded my vision just as the thing disappeared and leaving Sabine yelling my name in its place. Chopper floated a bit a ways and watched as I fainted into the waiting darkness. The sweet air filling up my lungs and heart beat echoing in my ears.

   I groaned and sat up. Blinking a couple of times, my eyes scanned the small area. The bench that I was laying on trembled as if the room was moving.

   "Ezra," a soft voice came. I slowly looked over to see Tua, blankly tending to a medical kit on the floor.

   "W-What happened?" I asked.

   "You passed out so I checked on you then we decided to begin to head out in on these two carriage carts," she explained. I nodded understanding.

   "May I ask you a question?" She asked me.

   "Depends on what the question is?" I was very skeptical about Tua. Honestly, she was only trust worthy to Dr. Crazy. Whatever she was going to ask may be known by Cornelius.

   "How did you pass out?" She asked.

   I thought over the question. I couldn't tell her that something choked me or she would think I was crazy. Maybe hyperventilating or the stress kicked in to the point of fainting? Now that I think about it, that's a horrible excuse.

   "Stress," I said, shrugging.

   "You know what I find fun?" She asked.

   "You having a sense of humor," I answered.

   "That you are a terrible liar," she insisted.

   "What? You going to sue me with evidence you don't have?" I said, annoyed. Calm. Stay calm!

   "You clearly don't know what happens after being choked," Tua informed, blankly. I stared at her for a moment and was about to ask how she knew that. I was a little slow since oxygen was probably still filling my brain.

   "You have hand marks on your throat," she answered, dually. My eyes widen as my hand reached up and gently brushed against the flesh of my neck. I gritted my teeth when feeling a bit of a soar spot.

   "You are very lucky to be alive and I'll inform your friend that you are awake," Tua informed before putting the kit under the bench. Then stood up and opened the door to reveal the dead trees. Once the door was closed, something squirmed next to me.

   I quickly averted my head to my side to see Chopper cuddled up next to my hip. I smiled a little, warmed to see the small robot sleeping soundly. It seemed that he wasn't mad at me. More of worried and that brought a sense of comfort to my mind. I shyly petted his head a bit like he was some sort of cat. I was surprised to hear a small hum.

"At least you're not trying to rip and harvest my guts," I mumbled in a joking manner to the sleeping robot. A low squeaking noise brought me out of my thoughts and turned to face the door. Sabine pokes her head into the room before walking in entirely and shutting the door behind her.

   "How are you doing?" She asked.

   "I'm fine," I responded, looking at Chopper. The tension in the air filled the room to the point where I wish she wasn't here. Her presence was not soothing unlike Tua's. Even though I met her like...a day ago, something about her eased the tension. I wonder why?

   As if reading my mind, Sabine opened the door and without a word and left the room. I sighed and laid my head against the wall, feeling the vibrations as it moved down the bumpy trail.

Then a thought hit me. Where are we even going? Well, wherever we are going, Sabine was obviously there to help agree on it. I need to put a little more faith in her since she's the only one I can trust. Even if we don't like each other or...do we? Man, this is so confusing.

Yelling came from behind us then gun shots. The room shook so much that I fell off the bench. I felt the cart moving faster as the road became more bumpy. More yelling came from everywhere making me more confused. What was going on? Did we stumble upon a group of Infecteds? Did those cannibals find us? I shivered at the thought.

The door swung open to reveal a frazzled Sabine. She looked around until our eyes met.

"Are you and Chop okay?" She asked. To speechless to talk, I nodded. More yelling came from behind.

"What's going on?" I asked, still a bit hazy on the situation. She was about to say something when the cart was pushed to the side. Everything tumbled until we landed on the wall of the cart. I could feel it sliding on the ground slow coming to a stop. I groaned and slowly sat up with Sabine doing the same. Chopper woke up looking cranky then surprised when seeing his surrounds.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck. It wasn't from nerves but from pain.

"I think so," Sabine answered. Chopper warbled in confirmation. The door, which was now above us, opened. We all looked up to see three shadows but the sun was to bright to make out anything else (No, it's not Team Rocket, but nice try).

"Who are you?" I growled, glaring at the figures.

"Cease them and make sure they don't escape...again," the figure in the middle spoke.

"Yes, Sir," the two on the outside said, almost robotically in sync. At that, I knew that this was much worse than a group of Infected or cannibals. It was the Empire.

   One of the troopers pointed a Canceller at me and fired.

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