Blackness consumed Frank's vision as the sounds and rumble of an engine filled his other senses. He could feel his chest rise and fall with his breaths. His fingers curled and stretched, scraping against metal as he tried to regain where he was. Metal. Engine. Movement. He was still breathing.

His mind was fogged. His brain wouldn't focus on anything; any thoughts that tried to come to the front of his mind instead swirled as an incoherent movement of colors and shapes.

A soft groan passed his lips as his face scrunched. The only constant was the darkness and the sound around him. He flexed his fingers once more, trying to focus on the surface beneath them. Textured metal that was warm to the touch. He let out another breath and mentally repeated the what he felt.

Textured metal, warm to the touch.

Textured metal, warm to the touch.

Where was textured metal that was warm to the touch?

Frank inhaled and exhaled again, slowly feeling his mind begin to ease from its spinning. After a moment of continuing to let the sensation ease, he opened his eyes.

Above him was metal. Shifting his gaze from side to side, he saw more metal with blurry lights and knobs dotting their surface. "Metal..." He mumbled to himself, looking back up at the ceiling. The details leading up to this point were... fuzzy. He could remember... Pain.

One of his hands lifted to his chest as the phantom of the blackout pain shot back through him. That marking that had spread across his chest after... after something had happened. Something back at-

"The base!" Frank shot up, groaning from pain immediately after. He was leaving the base. He was in a stolen vehicle from the base with the prisoner he was supposed to be interrogating. The same one that held a small knife against him to lead him to this point... Wherever this point was... "Did we?.."

Frank suddenly became aware of another sound that had eluded his senses before. A soft hum that wasn't mechanical. It was human.

Slowly, Frank pushed himself to his feet. He gripped the uneven metal walls around him wherever he could to steady himself as the vehicle rumbled on. Just looking ahead, he could see the pilot's chair facing a cracked and singed windshield. He couldn't see any further due to its damage, so he focused on the chair. The hum rose from it, almost pulling Frank closer with every faint note. As he reached out to touch the seat, the humming abruptly stopped. Frank retracted his hand as the chair spun around.

"Hu, so you didn't ditch me!" The redhead sitting there grinned.

"Gerard?" Frank squinted at him. "You can drive this?"

Gerard nodded. "We rework your scraps, remember? You just wake up from a nap or something?"

"Or something..." Frank repeated. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened.

Gerard rolled his eyes. "Here I was, being clever during our great escape for no audience. What a waste." He spun the chair back around to face the windshield.

Frank blinked. Had he heard Gerard right? "Escape?" He turned to the battered windshield. He stepped closer, not even hearing whatever Gerard was saying as his breath caught in his throat.

The world wasn't orange.

So many colors met his eyes, it was like looking through a kaleidoscope. Greens. Purples. Yellows. Blues. Plants stretched from the ground, reaching for the light that peeked through their large leaves and branches.

"Holy shit..." The words came out as a breath.

Gerard laughed behind him. "You act like you've never been out here before."

When Frank didn't respond, Gerard eventually broke the silence, though it was with a nearly silent question. "You've never been out here before, have you?"

"I..." Frank shook his head, trying to take everything in as the vehicle moved forward. "I was never permitted off base. I... I never knew this is what this world looked like. Are we on the same world?" He finally found it within himself to turn away from the colorful scene before them to look at Gerard. "This can't be the same place."

Gerard looked up at him with confusion. "Of course this is the same planet. You've just never left the place that your people destroyed."

Frank turned back to the window, trying to take it all in. This wasn't at all the dangerous wasteland he was always lead to believe. It was alive and beautiful.

"I... I don't get it." He turned back to Gerard, "It isn't supposed to look like this."

"What?" Gerard asked, "Thriving? Alive?" He stood, glaring at Frank, "Is it so unthinkable that beauty can be allowed to thrive where you monsters aren't allowed to touch?"

Frank shook his head, "That's not what I meant, I-"

"No." Gerard cut him off, "I don't care what you meant." The pink haze began to glow over his eyes as he leaned closer to Frank. "Your group is why more and more of my home is becoming dangerous, orange desert. Yet, somehow, you don't even know what you're destroying to make it that?"

"Gerard, the wheel." Frank pointed to the steering wheel, but Gerard slapped his hand away.

"How could you not know what you're destroying?" Gerard yelled. The pink haze flared, sending swirls towards Frank's face. "How?"

"They never said we were destroying things!" Frank flinched, "Our mission is to... to..." He looked down, trying to think. It was too fuzzy to remember. It was almost coated by a black fog in his mind.

Gerard grabbed Frank's shirt collar and yanked him close. "To destroy my home!" He yelled, staring straight into Frank's eyes as he he looked up in surprise.

Before anymore words could be exchanged, the vehicle lurched suddenly, sending them both off balance. Metal crunched and glass cracked as both boys fell to the floor. Frank covered his head, feeling things bounce off his arms as the vehicle roared and crunched against something. It lasted a few seconds longer before the vehicle silenced.

Breathing heavily, Frank lowered his arms and raised his head. Gerard was doing the same, the pink haze now gone from his eyes. They looked at each other silently for a moment before beginning to push up to their feet.

The vehicle had crashed into a crevasse between a large green tree and brown cliff-face. The windshield had buckled under the latest pressure, now glittering on the floor beneath them. Gray smoke rose from the metal that had been crushed by the impact.

"We crashed." Frank gulped.

Gerard turned to him. "No shit we crashed." He pushed a hand through his hair with another swear. "There goes our ride... Guess we walk now."

"Walk?" Frank repeated as Gerard shrugged and moved towards the back of the vehicle. "Is that safe? This planet..."

"I've survived such trips well enough." Gerard shot back, harshly.

Frank flinched, but didn't respond. He instead followed behind Gerard. It took a moment to navigate the vehicle, but they made it to the back without too much of a struggle. Though he still seemed irritated, Gerard held his hand out to Frank to help him onto the ground from the vehicle. Frank, however, hesitated. He had never touched the planet's actual surface before.

"Are you coming or am I leaving you?" Gerard asked, motioning Frank forward with his hand.

Frank nodded as he reached for Gerard's hand. He could feel a cool breeze rush past his exposed skin. He gulped as he swung his leg out to plant onto the ground.

The smallest cluster of spores rose as his foot made contact. They glowed for a brief moment before dissipating. Frank brought his other foot down as Gerard encouraged him forward with a tug. Another small cluster of spores rose and dissipated. The breeze wrapped completely around him now as it passed. He looked up to see a large canopy of leaves blocking the sky with countless colors. Small creatures moved within the canopy, but not slow enough for Frank to fully register what they looked like. A soft awe escaped him as his hand slipped from Gerard's to turn and observe his surroundings.

"It's beautiful..." Frank finally brought his gaze back to to Gerard. His brow furrowed as an animal's cry drifted through the air. "We we're destroying this?"

"You are." Gerard replied. His expression was unreadable as he looked at Frank. "Ever since you landed here."

Frank looked over the forest again. "I was born here, and I never knew it looked anything other than orange." He shook his head, "I don't understand..."

Gerard tilted his head. "You were born here?"

Frank nodded. "On base, at least that's what my father told me."

"Lot of bullshit he's told you." Gerard scoffed.

"Yea..." Frank looked down at the ground. It was a patchy mixture of green and brown. He crouched down, reaching a hand out to feel its smooth, tickly texture. It was cool to the touch, and damp as if a rain had hit it recently. He thought about his quick glimpses of the orange world outside the base. The lack of life. "Lot of bullshit."

Gerard kicked the ground, sending a small wave of dust up. "Yea... well, we'd better get moving."

Frank looked up at him. The unreadable expression had shifted into one of uncertainty. He reached a hand out to Frank, avoiding his eyes.

"Where are we going?" Frank asked.

Gerard shrugged. "Just trust me. You have this far."

"You also had a knife to my side." Frank frowned.

Gerard held his hands up, "I don't have a knife to you now." He replied, "Just better knowledge of the terrain than you."

Frank nodded. He was right. Frank had no idea where he was, or even how long they had been traveling. Trying to think of it for too long made him feel dizzy, so what other choice did he have? Stay where they crashed and rot? "Okay. I trust you."

Gerard grinned. "Okay. Let's go."