TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of dead bodies.

Water reflection danced on my face. Circles of light warped and wiggled as the bodies floated in the tank. Their blue uniforms got a shade darker thanks to the water turning red.

Like the sea at dusk.

"How much time do we have left?" Edgar panted like a dying dog.

"Ten minutes," I mumbled.

My fingernails dug into my palms. Shaking and sticky. This wasn't my blood. I rubbed them on my clothes, trying to wipe away the sensation. Nothing helped. The nausea in my gut came in waves. I crouched down and poured the contents of my backpack on the cement floor while trying to keep my dinner in. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focusing on the plan was the only thing that kept me from losing it.
"Goddamn it..." Edgar kneeled next to me, "One, two, three, four, five..." he counted, "Hold on a second."

Edgar threw his backpack on the floor.

"Careful," I said.

He looked up at me for a split second. His eyes opened as big as a pair of frisbees. I thought he would snarl at me, but he just looked down and counted.

"One, two, three, four, five... We're screwed," he whispered.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You didn't take them, did you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The bags in the garage! I put them on the side... Shit! I told you I would take them... Anyway, we won't have enough. This isn't enough."

I readjusted my glasses. They kept sliding down my nose with all the sweat. "Forty bags for eighteen thousand eight hundred and fourteen gallons..."

"That meant we won't have enough, Robert," Edgar shook his head. "That's the end of it, and it's my fault. We're screwed! With a capital S."

"No, Edgar," I grabbed his shoulders and gave them a healthy squeeze, "We just have to go through with the plan. We're here. We can't back down now. We just have to use what we have. It will be a little diluted but it will be fine. It has to. We get it done and go home."

"Hah," Edgar held his chest and chuckled. "I think I'm about to have a heart attack..."

"Just breathe, Edgar. Everything will be fine. I promise. Everything will be fine. Just. Breath."

I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. Edgar followed. He seemed to settle down a bit. My eyes then traveled back to the tank.

They were someone's sons, husbands, brothers, fathers. Just did their jobs.

The adrenaline had gone, leaving me with nothing but crippling guilt and disgust. I remembered the alarms. The hurried footsteps. The "What are you two doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" shout before the world went into complete mayhem.

***

We put out the fire and made our way toward downtown. The sun had set, leaving our concrete jungle behind in its shadow. We could see QL on the other side of the bridge, looking a lot like it always had, but at the same time, different.

A lifetime had passed since the day Lou and I'd been there.

Nova Aria's dark and empty streets welcomed us back. Technically, martial law was still in full effect, but the real reason the city looked and felt like a ghost town in only a few days was that thousands of its citizens were not here anymore. Some had escaped while many had died trying. The rest hid in their houses, hoping for the best. Rumors were that if you got caught sneaking in or out of the city, you were done for. No arrests. No trials. Only a cold, hard bullet to the head. The policy was put in place for terrorists a.k.a. Crow and his 'savage' army, but we had concluded that it was all part of Castillon and the Hansens' high-stakes game. The civilians were collateral damage.

Both sides had released countless propaganda, accusing their opponent of working with Crow's people in past attacks. That was high treason, but what did I know? I simply knew politicians lied all the damn time. Castillon was a prime example. At this point, everyone should already know or, at least, suspect that their leaders betrayed them. If not, they were willfully ignorant. Either way, all the fear and death didn't seem to deter people from fleeing. I wouldn't blame them. Seeking safety was in our nature. It was our most natural desire and God-given right. Sitting idly while fighting jets tore up the sky and the army that was supposed to protect us hunted us down was just madness.

I remembered, long ago, I had entertained the idea of starting a family. One I could call my own. One I would fight God and men to protect. It was daydreaming mostly, but as Edgar and I trekked through the abandoned city, that thought came back to me. How would that be? I was certain I would risk everything for them. Like how I was doing now.

Lou. Her little perfect face flashed in my mind, gripping my heart. I had hurt her for so long, but she had forgiven me so easily. Until I messed up again, of course. But the fact that she had forgiven me after years must mean something, right?

I could only hope.

The morning we left, Lou still refused to talk to me. She didn't even look my way. Edgar and I got into the truck with Charlie, General Hayne, and Vince's pep talk in the background. Lou came out with her hands in her pockets. I had a thousand things I wanted to say but none came out. None would come out right. We drove away, and I looked back. Lou still stood there as the line of trees swallowed Edgar's cabin...

A patrolling Humvee drove past the alley where Edgar and I hid, drowning every nook and corner with its high beam light. We dove behind a dumpster barely in time, holding our breath. The alley was filled with trash, and our hiding spot was exceptionally bad. A heave of discarded, dampened, and rotten unnamed things assaulted our senses and polluted the night's crisp air. Gunpowder and exhaustion fought hard to come on top, but they were not winning.

We sweat like pigs in July, straining ourselves from inhaling too much. Whoever drove the vehicle finally sped up, but we knew now was not the time to relax. The patrolling vehicles came in five-minute intervals, each carrying a group of four to five soldiers, as we had learned in the past few days camping and observing. This area was also riddled with CCTVs. Not that it mattered when the electricity had gone out, but we could never be too careful.

We waited for the Humvee's rumbling engine to fade completely and counted to ten before dashing across the street into another alley.

This one was just as delightful as the last. Our noses detected something that made our stomach sink. In one corner, a mysterious large mound was covered in a blue tarp. We exchanged one look before moving forward in unison. Edgar covered his nose as the smell got a hundred times worse with each step closer. He looked back at me and swiped the tarp decisively with a stick.

Two decomposing bodies, one man and one woman, hurdled together as their belongings were strewn around. Their soulless eyes and agape mouths pointed at us and the starry night above us, fixed in a half-surprised-half-sad expression. The man's left leg twisted at a horrible angle, and his jeans were crusted with a dried dark substance. The woman, on the other hand, looked rather untouched except for her bloated features.

The couple's greenish-grey skin was luminous under the moonlight. I stared at their open mouths. Had it been a gasp or a scream for help? Who knew? Salvation had not come to them as it had not come to many.

I held back a cry. I couldn't stop now. I had to end this, all of this.

"Come on," Edgar sighed. "Let's move."

I blinked at him.

We jogged in silence to a high metal fence that separated us from Main Street. It would be a short distance from here to the company's headquarters.

Edgar climbed on a pile of pallets to check the other side. "All clear," he said and pulled himself over the fence.

The man was deceptively agile considering his age and build. No matter how many times I watched him pull one of his stunts, I couldn't help but be amazed.

I followed suit and walked alongside Edgar for half a mile before the subway entrance appeared in front of us.

"Keep out, my ass." Edgar pushed the warning sign out of the way and cursed as it hooked on his sweater.

The contents of his backpack rustled, reminding me of what we both were carrying. ISO13 was no joke, but if we were careful, we could make it to QL without hiccups.

The first steps down the stairs felt unreal. It was not for the faint of heart. I had taken the train a few times, but, now, in this sea of darkness, with uncertainty and danger lurking, the ground under me and the very oxygen molecules in my lungs seemed to evaporate. I switched my headlamp on and stumbled ahead. An endless stretch of white tiled wall with a giant red arrow pointed us to the train platform.

Edgar looked back every once in a while as if to make sure that I was still there. I decided to focus on his back. Millions of tiny footsteps marched around us like a band. The rats were brazened. They knew we didn't belong in their underground kingdom. Many rushed past our feet in communal, savage excitement to God-knows-where.

"Goddamn it!" Edgar jumped to avoid one, right into a mysterious black puddle.

The smell it evoked couldn't be described in words. I wiped my nose aggressively, hoping to erase the stench, but it was no use.

We walked among the stream of rodents for another forty minutes before reaching a new blocked-off section.

"Right there!" Edgar pointed excitedly. "That's where we go! The company should be right above."

I had lost count of how many times he announced that we were near or almost somewhere, so I only nodded. Cement ground ended, giving way to gravel, and then sand. Construction materials and tools lay forsaken. It was not hard to see that the workers had left in a hurry.

Edgar and I continued walking in the unfinished tunnel to a metal ladder. Light pouring down through a metal grid cover made its rusty steps sparkle like ruby.

"They usually don't lock it, but we'll see." Edgar turned off his headlamp and climbed up.

He reached for the metal grid cover. Edgar wiggled it from left to right before lifting the piece of metal with a grunt. "Just as expected," he peeked through, "Hounds are everywhere."

"Let me see," I said.

Edgar gestured, "Be my guest," and climbed back down, making space for me.

We were in a drain hole directly across from the company's main loading dock. All trucks were parked there as usual, but the number of security guards seemed nearly triple. They all carried automatic guns which was something notable.

Not far away, pressed carton boxes were stacked neatly in humongous cubes near a series of fire doors, waiting to be recycled.

"You think what I'm thinking, Edgar?"

"Maybe, if it involves what's on your three."

"Then let's make some noise, and run like hell."