I felt an aching pain in my head. I smelt dust. I slowly opened my eyes, the sunlight blinding them. I looked around, I'm in a house. There are missing parts of the wall and plants engulf the house. I could see dust shining in the air from the sunlight. "Where am I.....?" I questioned out loud. The sound of my voice surprised me. I saw a few shining pieces of mirror in the corner. I crept over to the shards and looked at my reflection. I have light brown hair that is wavy. My eyes are a light hazel. "Mark," the word repeats in my head. "Mark....I think that's my name...," I say hesitantly. I feel a gaping emptiness in my head. It's like I know something's there but it's too far away to reach.

I slowly stood up, my legs shaking and weak. I took a few steps before tripping and falling into the ground. I picked myself up and headed down the stairs. The steps creaked with rage as I stepped on them. I finally made it down after tripping on almost every step. I wandered around the house collecting items I thought useful. I tried to door but to my dismay it was locked. I thought about climbing out the smashed window but didn't want to take the chance of getting cut. I opened a door to find the garage that was open, I walked outside. I looked around not a soul was there. I felt disappointment hit me. "Why would they be in a messed up city like this, Idiot?" I thought to myself despising my idiocy.

I walked down the middle of the isolated street. Old apartment buildings and buildings were covered in vines and had plants growing over them. The city was abandoned, falling apart, and overtook by plants. The concrete in the road was slithering up and down. Abandoned cars with missing parts scattered the street.

I looked around trying to picture how the city looked originally. I felt something pound in my head as I saw a flash of light. Suddenly the street was crowded with people, cars, and traffic. I looked around all the buildings looked new, not a single plant growing out of control. But all of that vanished within a blink. I found myself lying on the cold, rocky, torn up road. "What... What was that?" I questioned in bewilderment. I decided to shake off what had just happened and continued to walk around the human deprived city.

I found myself going into an abandoned store. I wandered to the back of the store. I looked around not finding much but empty cardboard boxes. I saw a pocket knife used for opening boxes. I picked it up and examined it before putting it away in my pocket.

I wandered around the city once again. The sun was going to set soon. I tried to look around for the house I had originally come from. But I was lost. I decided to keep wandering despite my problem.

I saw trees and bushes up ahead. As I got closer I realized it was a park. Something came hurtling towards me in a flash, I dodged and looked at what was shot. An arrow. Another, another, and another. One after the other came. I dodged each one. "W-who are you!" I heard a broad quivering voice ask. I saw a male figure aim an arrow from around the tree. "Mark!" I yelled, wary of the weapon he was holding. "Mark...," I said slower. The figure walked out from behind the tree.

A guy who had dirty blond hair and dark blue eyes, was holding the weapon. You could tell he was outside a lot because of his light tanned skin. He walked over to me cautiously.

"Are you real...," I asked not wanting to be dreaming again. "Wait...If you asked me that...That must mean you're real...," He said slowly but got louder ask he continued, "you're a real person! I'm not alone!" Excitement filled his voice.

He put his bow away. When he got closer I could see he had a light stubble. He was about an inch taller than me. I could see excitement bubble in his eyes. The sun was starting to set. "I'm Josef but I don't like that name so call me Josh. Follow me," Josh said heading into the jungle of a park. "Then why not just tell me your name was Josh?" I thought to myself. "Okay?" I was a little unsure of him. I followed him not wanting to lose the one living soul I had seen.

We stopped at a small clearing in the middle of the park. "You start a fire while I gather wood," Josh started to gather wood. By the time we had a fire going it was about 10:00. I had blisters and splinters all over my hands. "So...You don't happen to remember anything... Do you?" Josh asked me avoiding my eye contact. "No...Nothing except my name...," I grimly stated. "Same..." Josh said as silence hung in the air. "Well, I'm going to bed...," Josh said turning on his side and closing his eyes. "Night," I said before slowly drifting into my world of imagination.

I saw a pale face with black raven hair. "Mark....Mark....Mark...." A familiar yet strange female voice called out.

I slowly opened my eyes to find Josh looking down at me. "Good..... I thought you died," He sighed. "Huh?...," I moaned and looked up at the sky. It looked around 11:00 in the morning. "You slept in forever, here." Josh said handing me an apple. I ate up the juicy apple before we went exploring. I felt the sharp pain in my head slowly dim down. "Josh, do you ever...um...see things?" I asked nervously. "Hmmmmm...Sort of...I kept seeing the number 15...," Josh trailed off as we ventured through the park.

We saw an old abandoned wooden house. A gigantic tree grew in the middle of the house making the tiles of roof and wooden planks staggered out in many directions. A tall figure stood in the entrance. The figure had pale skin and long raven black hair. I felt a sudden throbbing pain in my left shoulder as I looked at the figure. I looked over Josh to see him show signs of pain too. I heard swarming voices in my head. My feet wouldn't budge. I felt Josh grab my hand and drag my planted feet away as we started to run.

We didn't stop running until we were out of the range of the park. We hid behind the counter of an abandoned store. "W-what was that?" I stuttered still feeling a throbbing pain in my right arm. "I don't know, A ghost?" Josh said not positive. It was silent as we breathed heavily, still tired from running. An hour passed before we started talking again. "Thanks for helping me," I told Josh. "No problem. I was just wondering why you couldn't move when you saw that...ghost," Josh asked me curiously. "I don't know. My arm suddenly started to throb and the next thing I know I couldn't run," I said recalling the frightful event, fearing what would've happened if Josh hadn't helped me. "Well, I left the bow and arrows at the camp this morning by accident. If that... ghost finds it we could be in some trouble," Josh had fear written all over his face. "You're telling me...," I sighed heavily, "So what? Do we go back to night and try to get your weapon?" "Yeah, but we should make a plan just incase," Josh said, I nodded yes.

I was going to scout the camp area for the ghost so if it was there Josh could sneak attack it. It was around 7:00.

I slowly peered at our camping grounds, from the itchy shrubs. The fire we had made the night before was still in ashes. I could see Josh's bow and arrows on the ground. A tall figure with long raven black hair and pale skin stood, their back to Josh. I whistled the signal. The figure was about to turn around when Josh knocked it out. He caught the figure before it fell to the ground.

"I guess it wasn't a ghost...," I peered at the sleeping figure.

A girl probably around Josh and I's age was sleeping on the ground, a bag used as her pillow. She had long straight raven hair and ghostly white skin. She wore a white short sleeve shirt, blue jean shorts, and a belt used for carrying weapons. The belt was empty and she had a few blood stains on herself.

I looked at her peacefully sleeping face, a sharp pain in my right arm erupted again. "So, who do you think she is?" I asked Josh curiously. For some reason I felt a strong connection to her, I felt like I had met her before and I was sorry for hurting her. "Definitely not a ghost...." Josh answered his eyes transfixed on her. "But...," Josh started and I moved my eyes from the girl to him, "There is definitely something familiar about her.......I just can't place my what's it called...," Josh continued to look at the girl. "Finger?" I quested. "Yeah! I just can't place my finger on it!" Josh said. "Same!" I almost yelled, my eyes going wide with surprise. "Really? Weird..... I guess it means we've met her before....in the past," Josh was hesitant saying the last part.

"It doesn't seem like she'll be waking up anytime soon.." I said as I put my hand on her forehead to see if she was okay, she was burning hot. "She's hot...," I said to Josh. "I know she's hot," Josh said ignorantly. "NO! I meant it feels like she has a fever!" I raised my voice almost into a yell. "Really?... She does!" Josh said feeling her forehead. Sometimes his idiocy annoyed me. "Well there isn't anything we can do right now," Josh said. "Fine, we'll handle it in the morning," I suggested laying down. "Okay," Josh agreed. It was probably 11:00, after today we would need a lot of rest.

My mind kept flashing back to the girl no matter how much I tried to stop thinking about her. "Who is she? Why do I feel a pain in my shoulder and arm from looking at her? Where have I seen her before?" All these questions crowded my mind. I opened my eyes slightly and took one last glance at the girl. An image popped into my mind. A circle with a

was pictured in my mind. A sudden urge to see what was in my pocket filled me. I decided to push it aside and wonder about it in the morning, As I was slowly engulfed into the dark abyss of nightmares.

I saw the girl, she had orange eyes that seemed flame with passion and emotion. It was as if they're stares could set me aflame. "...Mark...," A female voice called out to me in my dark abyss. I saw a flash and heard a man's voice ", Mark! Mark! Can you hear me? LH beware of the Lo-" The man's worrying voice was cut off. I saw a dog tag necklace that had the same 

symbol on one side the MARK 1 on the other side. "Mark! Mark! Hang in there!" The female voice cried out again. It was the same one as before. It filled me with the same pain in my left shoulder. I felt a lump gather in my throat as if I wanted to cry. But why? Why am I feeling these emotions? I saw someone covered a bloody red but couldn't make out who. "Mark... Wake up."

I felt a sharp pain in my forehead, I had clashed it into the girl's forehead above me. The girl held her forehead in pain. She had blazing orange eyes that could burn down a building. "Ow...Mark...," She groaned. It was the same female voice from my dreams. "What is it with you people always bending over me before waking me up...," I clutched my forehead feeling the same pain. But seriously waking up to see someone else's face near yours is creepy, not to mention Josh and this girl both woke me up that way! It took me about a minute to comprehend she knew my name. "How did you know it?...," I asked her. I glanced at Josh, who was sleeping. No way he could of told her, He was sleeping! "Huh? Know what?" She asked me.

"My name...Mark," I said raising an eyebrow. "I did? Really? I don't know. It just came to me?" She questioned while eyeing me like I could be an enemy. "Weird...Wake up." I said shaking Josh. "One more hour...," He groaned sleepily before I forced him to get up.

"My name is-" The girl started but was cut off. "So you're awake," Josh said seeing the girl. "Josh, she was in the middle of speaking," I said to him. "She knew my name without me telling it to her," I said slightly creeped out. "What?! How?!" Josh stood up. "She-" I started to say but was cut off, " It just came to me okay?!" It was silent for a few seconds.

"I'm Josh, and you already know Mark," Josh said pointing to me in attempt to break the silence. Josh started to get out some fruit. "I'm Laura, nice to meet you...I guess...," I could tell she didn't trust us. "I guess? What you don't trust us?" Josh said cheerfully. "Why would I trust someone who knocked me out?" Laura muttered under her breath but loud enough for us to here. "Hey! It's not my fault I thought you were a ghost!" Josh said defensively. "One, You wouldn't be able to touch a ghost. Two, shouldn't you have known I was a person when you saw what I was wearing?" Laura said back.

"Sorry....Here," Josh tried to change the subject and offered Laura an apple. "No thanks.....I't not that hungry...," Laura acted like the food was poison. "Your loss," Josh bit into his apple. "You're sick, you should really eat," I force an apple into her hand. "How did you know that!" She almost yelled. I was startled and flinched a little. "I felt your forehead while you were sleeping, you had a fever," I said before I continued to eat. "If you don't want that apple I'll take it," Josh said eyeing the fruit. "I'll eat it, but only because I'm sick," Laura said before eating it.

After finishing our meal of fruit I asked Laura something, "So, do you remember anything?" Laura looked at us with a serious expression. "No, nothing except my name. But I do get weird visions and everything seems familiar. I just.... can't place my finger on it," Laura said glumly. "Us too...," I said as I saw hope drain from Josh's face. "I also remember the number six...," Her voice trailed off. "Number fifteen. I remember the number fifteen!" Josh's face sparked with joy. "I remember one...," I stated quickly after that. We were all speechless. I remembered the urge to check my pocket from the night before.

I stuck my hands into my pockets, shreds of hope filling my heart. All I felt was the worn out inside of my pockets. I slowly slid my hand into one of my back pockets. Same result. With almost all of my hope ripped apart, I stuck my hand in my last pocket. I felt a cold metal in my pocket. I slowly opened my hand to see what it was. A misty glaze of fear and curiosity filled me.

A dog tag necklace. On the front side it had the 

on it and the other had a MARK 1 on it. I held the shining necklaces in my hand, something sparked within me. A shard of my true identity, the necklaces from my dream.

The longer I started at it the more hypnotic it became. All of my senses dulled as a sense appeared before me.

A flash of light. I looked around people everywhere, as before. Everything started to dissolve. As if it was sand, the grains falling through my fingers. "Mark, are you positive you want to do this?" A male british voice asked me. "I'll do anything to save them," Another voice replied. My voice. There was an unpleasant feeling when I heard it. My voice but not my voice at the same time. Like something was bubbling under the surface wanting to pop. It scared me.

Slowly I found myself in an endless abyss. It was empty except for a giant

The same symbol I had seen so many times. My ears rang. I felt the same sharp pain in my arm, I clutched it.

I blinked a few times. Josh was shaking me, tears daring to fall from his eyes. "What?" I looked around. "Finally! I thought I lost you!" His voice on the break of yelling. "What?" I was confused and panicked. "After you took that necklace out of your pocket and you and Laura saw it...," Josh took a breath, "You and Laura froze." Josh had said it so quickly I almost couldn't make out what he had said.

I looked over at Laura. She was staring, not moving at all except for breathing. I felt a weird state of panic flow through me. It was some sort of fear that seemed I had forgotten about. I soon forgot about everything the pain in my shoulder, the necklace, where I was. Only one thing mattered at that moment. I walked over to Laura, and Josh shook her. Nothing happened. "See...," He whined like a little kid. My throat felt as if it had a lump in it. I felt an ease go over me. I don't know how but I knew I had to put the necklaces Laura. I slowly put it on her. I felt like a force and been broken. "What?" Laura said shaking her head. She had finally been let out of the necklace's grasp. Josh's face lit up with relief.

"So, what happened to you when you stopped moving? Get any memories back?" Josh was getting straight to the point. We had explained to Laura what had happened. "Slow down! I didn't really see anything but I did hear a voice. It told me that we shouldn't trust THREE," Laura recalled everything. Something in her voice was different, fear. "I saw everything. I was outside, and-and people! Everything! Fixed! But it all disappeared, dissolving before my eyes," I took a break in the process of remembrance. "It felt cold...and...I remember hearing a voice, "Mark, are you positive you want to do this?" It asked me. Then I heard my own voice, "I'll do anything to save them." Then I saw a giant 

mark and my shoulder started to hurt-" I was interrupted. "Same. About the shoulder thing and the number but mine was 

 ", Laura said gesturing to herself. My mouth would produce no words. "Maybe the pain in your arm meant something?" Josh suggested. "Maybe," Laura thought, "actually I think you're right!"

I slowly pulled up the left sleeve of my shirt. The shirt I wore was an unknown color brown, black, red, white. I was wearing blue jeans covered in dust, dirt, blood, the blue was so faded it looked gray. Of course everything had holes in it. 

There was a giant 

on my left shoulder. It was like a tattoo but I could tell it wasn't. "Woah...," Josh gaped at the sight of it. "Incredible," Laura stared. "My turn," Laura decided.

She started to pull up the dirty white sleeve. A 

was on her left shoulder the same spot as mine. A feeling of sadness and nostalgia filled me.

"I wonder what it means?" I wondered. "Hey, if you both have them I should have one too." Josh had hints of excitement in his voice. "Okay then," Laura and I watched him. I had a feeling of doubt and wished I was wrong.

Josh was wearing a black tank top, it was a little too big for him. Two bandages were on his arms. One on the left and one on the right. The right one had less blood on it than the left. His pants were a little big too, being held up by a belt. The pants were a light brown and similar to jeans.

He took off his left bandage. The bloodied cloth revealed a deep gash. It went from a raw pink to brown and looked a little infected.

Josh wasn't concerned about that at all. "No fair! Why do you get to have something in common and I don't?" Josh was a jumble of emotions. Disappointment, jealousy, anger, sadness, but one thing seemed most present. You had to listen closely but I heard, fear. The fear of not knowing who you are.

"I think it's cool you don't have a number, original unlike us," I tried to cheer him up. "I'm fine...Just disappointed, that's all," Josh said calming down. "Are we all going to ignore the fact that the cut looks INFECTED!" Laura raised her voice when she said infected. "I'm going to get more food," Josh just walked away. I hadn't noticed before but a blazing rainbow of pinks and oranges painted the sky, texture of milk.

"I had a feeling that Josh didn't have a mark, Mark," Laura said when we were sure Josh was far away. "Same, but I feel we are missing something here, big. Something big about Josh," I let out the whole truth. "Yeah, he's different...But is it a good thing?" Laura wondered. It was shown plainly on her face she had known him in the past. "I think you two met before we lost our memories," I said bluntly.

"Maybe, we might never know," After she answered it got pretty awkward. Josh came back a little while later with some more fruit. "Nothing but fruit," I was kind of getting tired of it. "Nope. Except birds, but not the kind you can eat," Josh answered as I started a fire. We all went to bed shortly after that. After minutes of struggling to fall asleep it was fairly peaceful, no dreams at all. But if I didn't have a nightmare something must be different. I had an unsettling feeling.

I felt a smashing pain in my hand. As if it was being crushed. I woke up to find Laura squashing my hand with her foot. "Don't ask any questions. I'll tell you later just help me move Josh,"Laura stepped off of my hand. I could still feel a throbbing pain in it. All of our stuff was gone even the leftover ashes from the fire. I walked over to Laura and Josh. Laura seemed more agitated and annoyed this morning. Probably Josh's fault.

We worked together to move Josh behind huge bushes. I was surprised to see our stuff there as well. She bent down behind the bush and pulled me down too. We crouched behind the huge bushes waiting. I could tell she was on edge about something, I could sense something bad was coming our way.

Four people made their way into our cleaned camping sight. One was a woman. She had long straight red hair held back in a pony tail. Her eyes were a watery sky blue. She was extremely tall, her heals adding about 2 inches. She was probably still tall without them. Her skin was pale and she was skinny. Her outfit consisted of long skinny black pants, that seemed to fit her perfectly, a black coat, a white long sleeve shirt, her heels white as well. She had a gun alongside it was a knife. I could see the handle of another gun in her coat.

There was a tall man standing next to her as well. His hair was such a light blond I thought it was white. His eyes looked more like a bright red than bright brown. His shirt was white and probably long sleeve. He had a white lab coat meant for a scientist or doctor on. He wore work pants, and shoes not meant for running. On his hands were gloves. Black, spidery gloves pointing to death. Gloves I never wanted to go near again.

"How di-" I started to whisper but Laura put her clapped her hand over my mouth. "Seems they're not here, Emily," the man's voice was cold as stone. "Wait Brad, lets search the area," the woman I suspected who was Emily said to the man. Her voice was like a sharpened blade. The other two people looked like bodyguards and I doubt they were named Brad.

Laura and I kept still. I could hear my heart pound threatening to reveal our hiding spot. Could they hear it too? Not likely but my mind was too fogged with fear. They looked around for a bit; for once luck had not betrayed me, yet.

I watched as they turned to leave. I unclenched my sweaty hands. "What's going on?" Josh yawned as he woke up. The group turned around and had taken out guns. "Josh!" I felt fear run through me. "What!" Josh said defensively as we ran.

Past buildings, roads, and the park we kept running, the group on our trail.

We entered a building, the stairs were broken, having a huge gap missing. We climbed out a window, on the side of the building using vines as ropes. We got onto the second floor.

"Not my fault! I was asleep!" Josh was defending himself. "Well, Mark and I both had a bad feeling! You should of had one too!" Laura was letting off steam. "Not my fault I'm not like you!" Josh yelled angrily back.

It was silent. Josh sat down out of anger. "Laura, I did have a bad feeling before bed but I didn't know this was going to happen," I told the truth, Laura sighed. "I had a vision of those people. We can't trust them." Laura sat down with Josh and I. "Well, what is it?" Josh asked. You could tell he was still annoyed a bit. "I can't really remember... But I do know something bad is going to happen if we stay with them," Laura said, "Especially the woman."

We heard footsteps head up the stairs. The group had caught up. The missing stairs made it so they couldn't reach us, but they had guns. The woman was holding a gun, but the other was still in her coat pocket.

We used the vines help us climb down the side of the building, escaping. We kept running. My to my dismay, it failed.

I woke up in a bright white room. A feeling of panic flooding my thoughts.My palms swaety, heavy breathing, and my head throbbing.

It seemed like a puzzle. It was a puzzle, a voice told me. "Feel around the wall!" It said. I moved my hands against the cold white metal.

I pushed one of the light emitting, white metal squares. A dark passage opened. Another door opened revealing guards. I ran through the corridor, running for my life.

I lost track of them found myself in an empty hallway. I met up with Laura and we started to look for Josh.

We ran up stairs and found ourselves on the top of a building, guards surrounding Josh. "Josh!" I yelled without thinking. The guards noticed us, forgetting Josh.

Guards surrounded us. None of them were close enough for me to cut with the pocket knife I had stolen from the store, way back then. Josh took this chance and stole a gun from a guard and shot. Surprisingly me missed and shot the generator. I heard a loud hissing sound. The guards turned and looked one of them accidentally pushing us down the stairs.

Everything was ripped apart as the generator exploded. I smelt fire as everything shook. I finally woke up, the building's roof in ruins. I shook Laura awake.

I looked around for Josh. Metal and rubble was everywhere. We stepped over the corpses of the either unconscious or dead guards. I saw a giant pile of rubble and started to dig.

There was Josh. "Laura! I found him!" I yelled as Laura sprinted over. We both had huge cuts and were covered in dust and ash.

I felt his pulse. It was on the tip of despair, just waiting to be plummeted into darkness. His skin was cold. "He has a pulse but it might not last," I shook with fear.

He slowly sat up coughing. "Don't sit up!" Laura said worried. His breaths were short and quick. "Guess what?" Josh weakly smiled. "You shouldn't talk." Laura said. "What?" I asked calmly even tho all of my emotions were boiling. "I'm not normal," He coughed. "We know already," Laura got up and looked for water or medicine.

The bandage on his right arm was loose. I slowly and carefully took it off. It revealed a 

"This is what he means," I said to Laura who was still looking for medicine or water. Josh started to cough roughly which soon turned into choking. "Josh!" Laura and I yelled with worry. Tears finally started to pour down my cheeks. "Thanks," Josh barely whispered. Josh's pulse slowly rose then plummeted. "Josh! Josh!" I yelled my tears a stream. Laura shook him not wanting to believe it. As if she could wake the dead. I told Laura to stop as we kept weeping.

I can't recall much more but guards came, somehow we escaped, and got away. That was a blur. But the whole time I clearly remember holding Josh's bandage.

Laura and I sat in a graveyard mourning and crying. I didn't know him that long but I did know one thing, he was my best friend. I felt as if I had known him my whole life. He might of acted like idiot but he was still my friend.

I wrapped the bandage around my right shoulder, just were Josh wore it. I noticed something strange about the graves. The graves didn't have names. Instead they had numbers one to thirty.

In front of each grave was a small box. They had numbers as well. There were four gaps in between the graves. Four graves and numbers missing. The numbers of the graves there were 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.

Laura and I stared at the graves in shock. One, three, six, and fifteen were missing. Me, Laura, and Josh. Were we the same as these dead people? Something that could be killed off easily and be replaced? I idea sickened me. Who would make something as horrible as this? Why? My thoughts were directly pointed at Emily and Brad.

It was their fault Josh was dead. They are the people who killed all these people, and my friend.

I realized what the feeling I had felt every time I looked at Emily and Brad was. Not fear, no, something worse. Death, I could sense all the pain the put these people through. I opened the box of two.

Stable heart

Insanity

Death

Three words on the page. Words I loathed. I walked over to eighteen's box and opened it.

Unfinished

Insanity

Death

Those words, words I hated so much the sadness from my best friend's death, it was almost as powerful as it. I wish I could kill these words. Make them disappear.

"Why would someone do this?" Laura tried to stop her tears. "I don't-" I was cut off.

"An experiment, a super human project to save the world." A man with a british accent interrupted, walking out of the fog in the damp graveyard. The tall man looked in his 20s, around 23. He had dark brown curly hair almost black. His eyes were a navy seaweed green. He wore black work pants and a muck green shirt under a labcoat. His skin was fairly pale.

"Another scientist," Laura and I stood up in shock. "Slow down, I'm not a scientist. Well, I am but not the type you are thinking of. I'm on your side," The man with the accent stated calmly. "How do we know you're not tricking us?" Laura asked cautiously. "Because of this," He pulled up his lab coat and shirt's sleeve. A

 was on his left arm.

All Laura and I could do was stare in awe. "Number Three," The man reassured us. Laura and I gave an untrustful glance at him. He sighed. "My name is Gareth," I looked at Laura. What should we do? Trust him? I don't think Laura trusts him. "Mark...," I finally had the courage to say, "and this is Laura."

Laura scowled at him. "I'm not your enemy," Gareth said to Laura. He walked over and held out his hand. Laura hesitantly shook it. "Like he said, Laura." Laura still didn't trust him. "I'm One or M1," I pulled up my sleeve. "Six," Laura pulled her's up as well.

We heard footsteps coming. "It's them. Follow me," Gareth said and started to run. We followed him. My mind went back to Emily. Her eyes. There was something deadly about them. I felt a dark cloud of pain hover over her, going where she goes. I knew that if we go near her, someone would die.

We stopped at a large hole in the street. It was gaping into the ground leading who knows where. We all huffed, trying to catch our breath. "Use the layers of rock and vines to help climb down," Gareth started his way down.

I started to climb down, Laura soon following. I put my foot on a ledge. It broke.It was dark but the vines helped me not fall. "Are you sure this is safe?" Laura yelled down to Gareth, who climbed with ease. "Not really! Probably not!" Gareth yelled back up.

I finally got to the bottom where I was greeted by Gareth. He had been using a stick that had been set on fire with his lighter to help us see. Only a tunnel was down there. I heard Laura scream a bit, the ledge she was on had broke. I ended up catching her, since it was only four layers up. It was still a huge distance she had fallen. I ran over to the spot, tripped over a rock, and slid on my knees. The force from her fall made my arms feel like I had just punched a bolder. I don't know why I know the feeling of punching a bolder but I do.

We continued on, stopping at a door. It blended in with the dark stone wall. Gareth was somehow able to open it, revealing a clean white laboratory. It had maybe two overgrown plants but that was it. There was another room with a kitchen and couch. More like an apartment room.

"You guys must be starving, here," Gareth handed us plates. There was fruit, vegetables, along with something that looked like chicken. I ate it, trying to savor the flavor. "What is this? How'd you get the meat?" Laura asked. "Do you really want to know?" Gareth asked. We shook our heads no. "Thought so," Gareth continued eating.

We explained to Gareth what had happened so far. "Why do they want us?" I asked Gareth. I wanted to know but didn't at the same time. Gareth let out a deep sigh. "We aren't normal people. We can do something that normal people can't. We are experiments that were created to save the world. From the infestation," Gareth had a grim tone to his words. "What is the infestation?" I tasted the word in my mouth.

"I'm getting to that. The infestation is when the plants on Earth started to grow uncontrollably. It would ruin everything humans created, ruling. We think it is a chemical reaction to some gas or chemical humans made. We are humans who were experimented on so we could use the DT," Gareth looked at a machine in the mini lab.

"What's the DT?" Laura followed his gaze. "Dimensional Teleporter. It was created for a human to go back in time and stop the chemical from being created. But it wasn't the machine that teleported you, it was an activation for the experiment's powers. Unfortunately the machine and experiments have kinks in both of them," Gareth continued. "Like what?" I asked as all the information seemed familiar. "Well, the machine can activate your powers but you won't have any control over where it send you. The experiments, us, have problems too. Side effects, weak heart, sickness, death, insanity, memory loss, and becoming overpowered are side effects. The experiments are numbered 1-30. Experiments before 15 had a mark on their left arm like us. The ones 15 to 30 had it on their right arm. The ones closer to the end weren't strong enough, died, or lost memory, the side effects were stronger. The ones closer to 0 had less side effects. There is one more side effect," Gareth eyes wavered with sadness.

"Why did they kill all the other experiments?" I questioned not positive I wanted to know the answer.

"One year an experiment went psycho, almost destroyed the whole facility. It happened with a few more. So to be sure that died they killed us off. Everyone except One, Three, and Six died. But in the process we lost our memory. I finally figured out what happened," Gareth explained. "What about Josh, Fifteen," I tried not to whine. "Fifteen? Someone else lived? That's the first time a number after ten lived," Gareth had a surprised look on his face. "Did survive...," Laura grimly stated. "Did?- Oh...Sorry," Gareth apologized.

"Then why am I one?" I was confused. "You didn't show any signs of side effects plus you were healthy and strong. So you would probably withstand the mission if Zero didn't. The mission was canceled and they were ordered to destroy all of us. It was canceled when the experiment went bazerka. But it has one loop in that conclusion. Why can only the scientist Emily and Brad remember what happened? A experiment can only erase their own memory as a side effect, not others'," Gareth seemed hung up on this question. "One of life's many unanswered questions," Laura said.

I looked at the clock. "We should head to bed." "Yeah," Gareth agreed, Laura nodded. I couldn't shake the feeling off of me, the feeling I would soon get used to. I drifted off to sleep thinking about who I am, and why I was created. But then again is this the truth? Can we trust Gareth? As Laura said don't trust Three.

I woke up to the delicious smell of breakfast. "So, Gareth what are we going to do today?" I talked between bites. "I was thinking we could go and gather plant samples. To figure out if there is another way of undoing what happened. I also what to know why when the humans died and only some lived. I already have a guess tho," Gareth gathered his things. "What do you think?" I asked curiously. "I think only some humans lived because they had a higher adaptability rate than others," Gareth inquired.

We walked down the city streets ready for a fight if we ran into Emily and Brad. We gathered more samples and let down our guard. Gareth had given Laura a gun. We were taking a break from gathering samples.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, I saw something in the corner of my eye. "Laura!" I realized it was a security camera. She turned around and sniped it. "A security camera, who knows how long it's been watching us. We need to leave," Laura said as Gareth started to run, us following.

We entered the forest hearing the sounds of the scientist. How are they so fast? We took second long breaks to breathe, we were only human, no way we could run that far non stop even with our lives on the line. To my bad luck in those few seconds they were able to catch up.

Emily and the two guards were on our tail, I guess they split away from Brad. I jumped over a over a hedge of thorns as well did Laura and Gareth. The thorns reached out and grabbed Laura's shoe. Gareth and I stopped for a second and looked at her with fear. "Laura!" I cried. We shouldn't have stopped.

One bodyguard snuck up on me and the other on Gareth. We struggled to get out of their grasp. But neither Gareth nor I could. "Laura! Run!" I yelled, Laura's ankle was cut all over.

She had finally gotten free and was standing up. She took out her gun and aimed. I tried biting the bodyguard's had to make him let go. It didn't work.

Laura shot at Emily who simply dodged the racing bullets. "I'm not leaving you guys behind! I never would!" Laura answered. Emily shot at Laura till' her bullets ran out. Laura shot and hit Emily's left arm. "I've had enough," Emily took out another gun.

But this gun was different. It had a different aura about it. After all it was the gun that was always in her coat pocket. I looked over at Gareth, his eyes shrouded in pure horror. I sensed the dark presence.

I felt my blood go numb. I knew what it was called. Emily shot the gun but instead of bullets it was a strange blue metal thing. It was able to barely scratch Laura's cheek but that was it. I used all of my force and bit the guard as hard as I could.

I could taste blood flowing out of his hand. Laura's eyes went blank. The presence, its name, DEATH.

I stabbed the other guard in a matter of seconds, freeing Gareth. I turned to Laura. But I was stopped by Gareth. "She is dead, run," Gareth dragged me along. Tears splattered my cheeks. I could taste the leftover pain in my mouth. I felt betrayed. Laura and Josh both betrayed me, they left me alone.

I cried Laura's name as we lost Emily. I felt the feeling again. The next thing I know I'm back at the underground lab.

"WHY! Why did you leave HER!" I pounded my fist on the table. "Calm down." "CALM DOWN!? WHY-" "SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Gareth yelled. I was about to say something but closed my mouth. "That was a Nurogun. A Nurogun doesn't shoot normal amo. It shoots a microscopic virus into your body. The virus shuts off all of your moving functions including brain activity. In other words it kills you, instantly. It doesn't matter how little virus gets in you or touches you. It still instantly kills you. Laura was practically dead when Emily took out that gun," Gareth had hints of sadness in his voice. I could tell he wanted to cry too.

I took a deep breath. "You said that the machine over there is used to activate our powers?" I asked wiping my tears away. "Yes, It could send you to another dimension or the past. Why?" Gareth avoided my eye contact. "I'll do it. I'll go in the past and prevent their deaths," I blurted out. Gareth's eyes widened in shock. "It's too dangerous!" Gareth shouted. "Nothing you say can change my mind," I said stubbornly.

We kept arguing. "I might let you. But tell me one reason you would risk you life for these people." Gareth stared at me. "Because.....Because we're family! I don't care if I die!" I was keeping my ground. I saw disappointment flutter in his eyes. He gave a deep sigh, "Fine."

I stood in the machine as Gareth got ready. "Mark, are you positive you want to do this?" Gareth questioned me. It seemed as if he had asked me this before. "I'll do anything to save them," The feeling I had gotten used to filled my voice, anger. The same feeling I felt when they died. "To operate it we both have to use our powers. I have to focus mine into operating so yours will activate so you can go into the past. I can't fully use my powers okay, so I will be depending on you to do this as fast as you can. On the count of three I'll send you in okay?" Gareth was starting the machine up. "Okay," I tried to be brave. I admit I was scared. "One...Two...Three!" Gareth said and everything dissolved in a white misty blur.

I slowly opened my eyes to the bright world. I was standing on the dock of a ship. A man with a startled face approached me. He had gray hair and rounded glasses. He wore the suit of a general with a sword on his belt. "Who are you?" He had a fearful gaze. "'Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! I'm not supposed to be here!" I panicked. I opened my mouth to speak but it wouldn't work. "Who are you?" He asked again this time his voice a pointed needle. He drew the sword out of his hilt. I dodged his shining blade. For an old guy he was good, I guess, this seemed like the first time I had seen sword play. Yet swordplay seemed familiar to me. He lunged forward and I felt the force of the blow bounce off my neck.

I heard a weird beeping noise. In a flash I was back inside the machine. "Sorry, I'll try again," Gareth yelled over the noise.

Abruptly I found myself in a huge field. Trees lingered in the field of tall grass. The wheat like grass reached out and tickled my legs. I jumped a few times, suddenly getting itchy. What I suppose was a barn wavered in the distance. I got ready, knowing I would soon be teleported again. This time the flash was short and didn't surprised me as much. My mark was starting to pound. "I must be getting used to it," I told myself.

The door to the machine opened and Gareth handed me an ear piece, "We'll use this to communicate. I can only work my power so much without side effects." I was sent back in again.

A girl with black hair and green bangs was sitting next to a boy with blond hair and blue bangs. It looked as if I was in a classroom. No one seemed to see or notice me. It gave me the chills, everyone looking right through me. "Hey-Gareth...Get me out of here," I said nervously, it seemed like our dimension before the plants grew. But I knew it wasn't because they couldn't see me. I was flashed out again.

I was in a jungle. Lush green trees and plants were everywhere. "Gareth, It's the wrong place again," I said as I spun around to see all of my surroundings. "O-Okay, I only have a little power left," I could tell Gareth was grinding his teeth in pain. I had an unwavering feeling I was being watched. A figure came out of the shadows. It had orange fur with black stripes, and sharp white fangs. "GET ME OUT NOW!" I yelled. He seemed to hear me and I was flashed out again.

I felt something weird that time. I heard a muffled "Jack!" being yelled over and over again. I opened my eyes slowly. I was in the wrong place again. A man who could've been Gareth's twin was shaking me and calling me Jack. He even had the same voice as Gareth, but his eyes were blue not green. "Who's Jack?" I asked him. I saw anger rush through his face. "This is not the time for jokes!!! We need to save Will! Come on!!!" He yelled at me. I followed his pointed finger, a volcano erupting. "Why do we have to go there?" I asked. "TO GET WILL!!!!! TO SAVE WILL FROM HIM!" He yelled with a loathing anger in his voice. Before I could ask him who HIM was, I was flashed out.

"Gareth? What was that?" I asked him. Instead of being in the lab I was in darkness. He didn't answer. I guess it was alternate version of ourselves. "Gareth?...," I was starting to worry. "I'm...I'm here...I can't...hold it back...," Gareth choked out in pain. "Hold back what?! Gareth!" I stood up in the dark abyss. "SIDE EFFECTS! The side effects! Insanity!" Gareth blurted out in pain. "Insanity? Does that mean-" I couldn't finish my thought.

I was in a place that smelt of burning wood and ash. The ground was a red hellish stone, there was a ceiling made out of the same material. In some spots the red stone was ablaze, in other not. Lakes of lava surrounded the red island of hell stone. A sword made of blue crystal was next to me.

I saw Gareth standing a few yards away maybe a kilometer. A bright white aura surrounded him. "Gareth?" I asked sweat soaking my body, not to mention being in Hell didn't help at all. He laughed, "I'm not Gareth, I'm Clark."

His eyes glowed a color almost white and he floated in the air. "What happened to Gareth?" I asked the man who looked like Gareth. "The human? My vessel. The poor guy, the side effects just made it easier to control him," Clark laughed. I could feel power emitting from Gareth, or Clark. "Give Gareth back now!" I was fed up with losing my friends. I could feel something burning me me, fueling my rage. "No chance, I've been trying to contain this vessel ever since he locked me up. Finally Three let me," Clark's voice could split souls in two.

I didn't know what to do."If I can beat you, you will give Gareth back and if I lose, I die," I proposed to Clark. My mouth moved on its own. He looked at me for a few moments before his mouth curled into a bewitching grin. "Okay. You can use that sword, I'll use mine," Clark was now holding a golden sword.

I picked up the blue bladed sword that seemed to call my name. A dark purple shimmer shined over the blade and handle. I pulled the sword out of the hellstone. "This must of been how Arthur felt when he pulled the sword out of the stone," I thought as I gripped the handle of the sword. I felt an unwavering fondness cling to me when I held it. Almost like I had used it before. In a past memory.

Clark came at me with his golden sword, it shone with a fiery black mist. I blocked the blow with my own sword forcing the blade away. I used the chance to take a few steps back, surprisingly I went farther back than I had actually moved. I looked down at my body. The purple mist had spread from the sword and was giving me power. I wouldn't hurt Gareth or at least his body. What if what I hurt Clark and it hurt him. I could kill him unintentionally. I should've thought this out.

Our blades clashed over and over again, the sound of war burning my ears. I kept up with Clark but I didn't know how long I could keep it up. My body somehow knew what to do, but my brain did not. In other words Clark had the advantage of strategy. The sweat grew thicker and thicker the longer we fought and as my power was depleting. "How much longer can I keep this up?" I asked myself multiple times. I was able to avoid the blade and falling in lava but how much more until I fall? I didn't need to ask myself this, after my legs started to quiver. One second, that's all I need to save Gareth.

I had cuts all over myself, and could taste the invisible blood in my mouth. I paused for one second to get a better hold of the sword.

In a flash Clark's sword was hurtled towards my face. I swung my sword to block it. All I cut was the burning air. "This is it. I'm going to die," I thought as I got ready for the blow. I wondered how death felt. Instead of a blade greeting my throat I was met with something much worst.

Red. Dripping onto the ground before evaporating. Red, the color of death and love. I wish the blade had been pointed into my heart. Gareth. The golden sword made to cut my neck laid on the ground. The blue majestic jewel sword, made of justice, drenched in blood. I was shocked. Right before Clark was about to kill me Gareth had taken control of himself. He had stabbed himself with the blue sword. "Gareth...?" My voice was sore and squeaked. "I'm sorry, Mark," Gareth's voice was soft like drift wood. I looked at his eyes, the dull navy, seaweed green. That's when it happened. I lost my grip. I BROKE. "GARETH!!!" I screamed his name to the heavens.

With my shattered heart I let go, I let go of my feelings. I could see all the fractures of my heart dissolve into the Earth. I was shattered, broken, and lost. My conscience slowly faded away, out of my range. I sat there in my confronting darkness. I just wanted to start all over, to forget it ALL. I was and will still be.

FORGOTTEN.

I felt an aching pain in my head. I smelt dust. I slowly opened my eyes, the sunlight blinding them. I looked around, I'm in a house. There are missing parts of the wall and plants engulf the house. I could see dust shining in the air from the sunlight. "Where am I...?" I questioned out loud. The sound of my voice surprised me. I saw a few shining pieces of mirror in the corner. I crept over to the shards and looked at my reflection. I have light brown hair that is wavy. My eyes are a light hazel. "Mark," the word repeats in my head. "Mark... I think that's my name...," I say hesitantly. I feel a gaping emptiness in my head. It's like I know something's there but it's too far away to reach.