"Get out of here! Whatever it takes, get out!" I yank away from the person in a frenzy, desperate to free Jesse. "Leave me if you have to! Just-"

I freeze, all my blood replaced by utter dread. Jesse's head trapped in the piston, a prison being built around his mind. I can feel tears start to well up. Jesse is... Jesse might never be the same again.

The pistons stagger back up, and Jesse's bright green eyes always bursting with life are now a dull red. A sick unnatural red.

"Welcome Jesse. Yay." Jesse doesn't move, it's almost as if he's a statue. Not blinking, not moving. Only a moment before, he was thrashing and every limb wildly throwing itself around anxious to get out. All of that energy, poof, gone.

I stare at the red eyed statue, this... this can't be happening. Jesse's fought Wither Storms and psychos, he can't be taken down. He's Jesse, he's... he's undefeatable.

"NO! What did you do to him!" Petra's fight increases, you can see the pure rage in her eyes. An enraged animal taking over Petra.

"He is now useful. His head is full of so much wonderful knowledge, as I'm sure yours are as well."

Petra gasps, and digs her feet into the ground. Her person starting to move. But then just stops. I turn back to the screen, smoke is raising from the sides and the screen glitching out.

"...so many worlds..." The dots appear again, and nothing moves. We're frozen and in shock, everyone else just doesn't have the ability to.

Ivor breaks the silence, his whisper incredibly loud though in the silence. "We have get out of here now, or who knows how long we'll be trapped here."

"...a powerful block that commands living storms..."

Petra whips around and glares at him. "Not without Jesse! We don't leave him!"

"We might not have a choice!" I hate my mouth, it's not allowed to say such vile things. "We'll- uhh, we'll get him back somehow." I sound so unsure, so worried. How does Jesse manage to always sound so determined in these situations?

"...killer mansions... floating cities..."

Ivor looks back up to the green dots. "Now is the perfect time to escape while P.A.M.A. is distracted."

"...blueprints for stronger swords..."

"So what?!" Petra growls at him, her whispers becoming much louder. "These people aren't exactly loosening their grip!"

"...theories about how people think..."

"Stop arguing and start thinking!" She snaps her head towards me, angry as ever. "Can you guys reach your swords or anything?"

"...fighting technics against nearly any kind of foe..." The screen starts to spasm, flickering through faces and signs as smoke plumes from the sides. "Data bases overloaded... Error..."

The people suddenly just let go, and I dart out of their grasp before P.A.M.A. can do anything else. Petra does the same, but Ivor only peers at them shocked and puzzled.

"Diverting power..."

"Wow, I've never seen anyone overload P.A.M.A. before."

That gets our attention, we all whip around and stare at the strange women. The one who vanished once P.A.M.A.'s people came to the house. We all jog to the edge, but I look back Jesse. He hasn't moved at all, it's like he's dead. A thought that makes my stomach twist.

"But I would get moving if I were you. P.A.M.A.'s made to handle a lot of information quickly."

"Data pending." The screen glows with P.A.M.A.'s face again. I scoot back again, much more scared of it than I was five minutes ago when Jesse was standing up to it.

I don't feel very confident anymore. I feel like I'm back in Gabriel's temple, too frightened to do anything against the huge threat. I thought I snapped out of this, but now that Jesse's gone... Well, there's not much I can do to get rid of this heavy fog of hopelessness.

The strange woman grunts and turns her back on the screen, her shoulders visibly shaking with fury. I'm not surprised that she hates P.A.M.A., she said these chipped people are her friends. But she doesn't look afraid of the computer, more like bitterly seeing an old friend that has stabbed you in the back.

I know that feeling all too well. 

"Gasp! My Creator! Have to you finally agreed to merge with me?" Creator! This women definitely needs to be approached with a suspicious eye, there could be all sorts of things about her that can cause us grief.  

"Oh don't even START with that again!" She turns to look at us before she jumps to the ground. "Come on you guys! This way!"

"I'm sensing some history here." Despite the situation, Ivor doesn't panicked at all when he speaks. I remember his own words to us in the Nether, 'There's a fine line between bravery and foolishness...'

"Please do not leave Creator!"

"Not the time Ivor!" I push him forward, foolish or not I can't let him be turned useful. "We gotta get out of here!"

Petra grabs my arm. "What about Jesse?" We both turn to look at our red eyed friend starting to walk. Slow, as if not comfortable in his own skin, and yet smooth, like a machine.

"Something tells me that he'll be following us!" I run down the steps, hearing Ivor and Petra right behind me.

I glance behind me, just in time to see my friend leap towards me. My blood drains from my face. My best friend, the one I turned to when my old friends left me, is trying attacking me. Aren't I allowed friends that have no chance of doing that? Or won't be in a position that they forced to?

I scramble out of the way. Running towards the buildings the strange woman disappeared into. There are red eyed citizens blocking the path, and I quickly change course.

Adrenaline floods my veins, my vision sharpening but sounds blurring together. I can't see the women anymore, and I don't know my way around! I could very easily lead us into a corner!  

Thankfully, Petra takes the lead, Ivor and I right behind her. She seems a lot more confident in herself. We sprint through the houses, avoiding a red eyed citizens that tries to come out and grab us. Ivor is slightly lagging behind, and I have to help haul him up the stairs to keep up with Petra.

We pause on a roof, a whole crowd marching towards us in perfect unison. I look up, other P.A.M.A. controlled people are coming down the mountain towards us. Fear is prickling my muscles and I desperately scan the area looking for escape.

My eye catches someone leaping at us. Quickly, I step back and push her off. She falls somewhere, Petra and Ivor already jumping off.

I feel a twinge of guilt. These people are following the whim of P.A.M.A. and getting hurt because of it. Will I be able to push Jesse aside like that if he were the one to attack us?

I land, hard. Petra managed to roll safely, but Ivor plopped on the ground, just a heap lying there. I help him up, yanking him onto his feet and already starting to dashing after Petra.

The zombies block us off, and we frantically turn around. Although the crowd is closing in on us. We plant our feet and scoot back, right before Jesse lands right in front of us. 

We're backing up, edging closer and closer to the cliff. Petra draws her sword, but Ivor and I just look at each other worriedly. There's no way we can fight our way out.

Ivor grabs her sword arm. "We'd never survive fighting them Petra!"

She just scowls at him and shrugs him off. "And we'd never be able to walk away from a fall this high up!"

I look down, there's a couple of ledges we can jump to that would lead us to the stairs. We'll have to be fast, and we'll have to land them, but there's hope for us yet. I nudge Ivor's and gesture him to follow before I jump down.

"Your running makes me sad." That's Jesse's voice, but it's been corrupted. Wrapped in a vile monotone robotic voice, with no emotion whatsoever. Sorrow slams into my heart when I think of how much life was in that voice, such optimism in his words.

I leap across another ledge, and another, and another. I'm gotten pretty good at parkour ever since I've met Jesse, and Petra is following me swiftly. Ivor though... Ivor's bad knees aren't going to be happy with him.

We finally reach the stairs and start to book it down the steps. For a town that was so desolate when we arrived, it sure is now crammed with creatures trying to get us to stay. Thanks to the adrenaline and fear are pounding through my system, I barely feel tired at all though.

"Why isn't Jesse following us?" I glance back at Ivor, who's panting harder than me and Petra.

The warrior glares back at him. "Don't question it and just keep running. Maybe we surprised it."

"I actually have to agree with Ivor. P.A.M.A. knows Jesse can do anything we do. Even if it were surprised, Jesse would be chasing us by now and not just zombies."

We stop at the base, glancing back and forth. We all look at each other, hoping another one would have the answer. No one knows what to do now that we've escaped. I check on the zombies, they're closing in on us rapidly.

"Ha! Maybe you got a shot after all new guys!" Startled by the rushed voice, we stare at the strange woman even as she blots away. "You better stick with me though!"

Ivor continues to stare at the running woman. "She is amazing..."

I look over my shoulder, and see the zombies right there. "Run Ivor!" I push him and start to sprint after her myself.

Petra was already chasing after her, the warrior didn't bother to notice that we weren't right behind her. Although I am far from even slightly trusting this suspicious women, she's probably are only hope.

Are only hope to get away from P.A.M.A., and are only hope to get back Jesse.

I stumble a bit, my thoughts screeching to a halt. I gulp and try to focus entirely on running faster and faster out of this town. To only worry about getting as far away from that town as possible.

That doesn't work though, it has finally hit and has left me numb. I can't even feel afraid of P.A.M.A. right now, nor am I concerned about Ivor anymore.

We lost Jesse. He's always the one to get us back together safely no matter what situation we're in. Now he's gone, now he's being used against us.

Tears start to slip through my eyes, as the gruesome thought that we may never get Jesse back latches onto my heart. Despite how angry Petra was earlier at him, Jesse is a great leader. He always did everything he could to do what's best for us.

Does, he always does everything he can for us.

I groan and force my feet to move running quicker, might as well since I my legs have gone numb anyway. I can see the end of the valley, and a whole lot of nothing past it. No trees to shelter us from the raging sun, no firm ground that supports running better than sand.

Only a very bleak horizon with nothing promising at all. Nothing that gives me a shred of hope for anything. Just a barren depressing land. 

More tears fall from my face, as I hopelessly look to the sky. If Jesse being gone is already affecting me this much, what is it doing to the others? Jesse was closer to Ivor than the rest of us and Jesse was the first person that Petra trusted.

How long will it take us to slip up since Jesse's no longer here to hold us together?