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Chapter 1 – Out of the dark

The street lights offered no protection from their burn out globes as alpha squad moved silently through the dead streets that were once lined with life and beauty. Luckily the krill had not come out of their holes yet as the sun was near rising into the sky as it had done for centuries and, Dom hoped; for centuries more.

Light soon created a welcome pathway as the sun finally rose.

"So I guess 'Darkness, be my Friend' is no longer anyone's favourite book, eh?" the black haired Latino asked with a smile. The silence was beginning to get annoying and Dom wanted to talk. To someone, anyone, hell even Baird would do.

Marcus looked over his shoulder to his childhood friend with a sigh. "Can't you just be quiet for ten minutes? It's a wonder the krill didn't come looking for us with the amount of noise you were making back there." He waved his hand to point back in the general direction they had come in.

Baird and Cole exchanged a look. "Here we go again." These fights had been getting to be a regular thing on their missions (if you could call them that, they were mostly just: walk here, and make sure the locusts don't kill that guy there. Not very interesting.) In fact they had already had a fight this mission about noise.

///flashback about 2 hours///

"Hhmm hum hum hum de hum hum hum"

"DOM WILL YOU SHUT UP" the anger was evident on Marcus' face. He was sick of listening to Dom hum 'Joy to the World' on repeat for the last ten minutes. Honestly the song doesn't go that long.

"What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood. You guys look real down... around now or so" he stumbled, a little scared of the expression on Marcus' face. He took a step back and held his hands out in defence.

///end of flashback///

"It was just a question, a joke. No need to get all shitty about it Marcus."

"First I have to listen to you hum 'Joy to the World' and now ask stupid questions and jokes? What is the world coming to?" His hands flew to the skies.

"You shoulda been a girl Marcus, You ask like you got PMS or something all the fuckin' time. What's with you?"

"Well at least I'm man enough to at least try to protect the people I love" it was barely a whisper but Dom heard it loud and clear.

"WHATS THAT SUPOSED TO MEAN?"

"You heard me. I at least tried to save my dad. You didn't do anything but sit there and cry when they told us that your house was one of the first hit in emergence day." His sour tone was mocking Dom and it hurt. A lot.

"Fine then. You obviously don't want me here, I won't be here! Fuck you, I QUIT!"

And with that, Dom turned around and stormed off in the direction they had just come from.

Marcus stood there practically snarling at his ex-childhood friends back as he disappeared around the corner.

"You better run fucker, I hope I never have to see your sorry face again! ASSHOLE!"

Baird and Cole once again just looked at each other and sighed "They're gunna regret this fight man"

"Yeah I know Cole. You don't know what you got til it's gone right?" The larger man just nodded and turned to follow Marcus down the street.

///Over Dom's shoulder///

"Bastard can go fuck himself for all I care. I did try to help her, they told me she was dead and I just had to keep going out on missions with that prick" he spat at the ground.

"They stopped me from going to find her; I got someone to help me find her. I will see her again, she's not dead. My wife is not dead."

That's when something caught his eye.

A once bright yellow, teddy bear lying in a puddle. Now a soppy, tattered, stuffed toy that someone left behind. He walked over to it and knelt down to pick it up. He looked at it and remembered something.

"Just like the one I bought for Maria." He was tempted to put it back down in the puddle it came from but instead smiled at the bear, shoved it into his back pocket and he stood up.

"She loved that bear and when I find her I'll give this one to her to replace the one she lost. For old times sake"

With his head facing the wrong way, he never noticed the creature desend on him. All he knew was a tattered, teddy bear and then the world turning from full colour to black.

"Stupid Humans" the drone laughed and walked away from the black haired Latino's unmoving body.