Eight years. Eight long years.

Years filled with taking out simple criminals in the dark of night, consuming the homeless to live and maybe the occasional jackass, and trying not to draw attention to myself. A few close calls but nothing that I couldn't handle.

I've finally disappeared. Blackwatch has vanished and I don't even hear the civilians asking about what happened all those years ago. The media has forgotten and the news they made of me have disappeared into the ever-growing internet. There's only problem with all of that…

I think I've gone stir-crazy. I'm always trying to explore outside of the city but when I get to the bridges, something holds me back. Sometimes I think it's Dana, other times I think it's because I have no clue what is out there. My entire life, I've never been outside of Manhattan. The only memories I have that aren't in Manhattan aren't even my own. I see more grass than concrete, more sky than smog, so much more than what I have here. I just want to force myself to go but… I just can't.

Alex Mercer, one of the world's greatest threats, can't go over a goddamn bridge.

During the first 2 years after the outbreak, Dana had her mind more focused on getting a good paying job rather than the news. She would read up on articles at the time but she didn't really care at the time. When there was a huge blue pulse one day, we got worried. Random people just up and died on the street, no warning what-so-ever. There were huge casualties across the world but it quickly died down after a year, like most things do. Nothing much after that. After a while, Dana got a few friends and a nice place, with a new job to boot. I just crashed at her place after that, letting the memories die in my head. Nothing much after that.

So, after all these years, I'll gladly take a mission someplace different.

"Wait, Seattle? Isn't that all the way on the opposite side of the country?" I asked that mainly because she would be staying back in Manhattan. I don't know if I could do it without her.

"Don't worry, I'll be in contact 24/7. Well, maybe not 24 hours. I need my sleep after all," she laughed a bit after she said that. She handed me a simple black smartphone. "Password is 197908. I've already downloaded a few apps that will help. Mainly recording ones and a tracking one so I know where you are at all times," she answered before I even asked. I noticed that she had made the lock screen a picture of us in the park. I had a scowl on my face while she was grinning like she'd just heard the best news in the world. Good times…

"Okay, so here's the thing. There's been an incident in Seattle where some people called 'Bio-terrorists' are using powers to kill and kidnap people. There's only 2 but they are extremely dangerous. It's only been a week since then and a force funded by the government called the D.U.P has already enforced marital law. Now, you're probably wondering why I would want you to go there. Simple, I have researched this D.U.P and they just scream 'Blackwatch'. So, I want you to go there and keep an eye on things. Anything goes bad, get back here ASAP. Got it Alex?"

The way she talked was nearly too fast for a regular person to understand but I heard her perfectly. "Got it. So, I'm assuming a plane ticket is in order?" I asked and she immediately handed me a ticket as she pointed towards a black luggage bag and a duffel bag in the corner.

"The luggage bag has a week's worth of clothes and other essentials. The duffel bag has a couple travel books and a blanket. Remember, keep up the appearance that you're human. I don't want the D.U.P on your ass before you even get to Seattle," she said as she gave me a small smirk. I hugged her before I took off, making a silent promise to come back in one piece. I called a cab and waited for it. Once it came I hopped into the cab and told him to go to the airport. Luckily, he didn't bother to talk to me, which would be a great if that also happened on the flight.

I had finally crossed the bridge, maybe not completely of my own will, but I did it.

After the cab stopped and I paid the driver his money, I set out with my bags into Hell, also known as the airport. Thankfully, everything went without a hitch. Once we boarded the plane and it took off, I began to listen to some music while the person sitting next to slept. Dana chose some good music, mainly stuff that wouldn't hurt my hearing. The flight only lasted an hour or so and the plane landed at an airport outside of Seattle. I got my bags and tried to get a cab but most of them said that they aren't taking their chances driving there.

I saw a bus that had some medical supplies on top of it and asked the bus driver where it was going. She said that it was heading to Seattle, the supplies for the people in the bus. I started climbing on before she stopped me. "You know what's happening there, right? You should only get on if you have something really important in Seattle," she said.

"My sister is in the hospital in Seattle," I say back to her. She gave me a sympathetic look and let me on. I took one of the empty seats, putting my luggage beside me. After about 30 minutes, we took off. I looked out the window as we drove by the coast. It was certainly different compared to Manhattan. The pine trees were so green compared to the oaks in Manhattan's parks.

As we approached the city, the best thing to call what happened to the road was chaos. Concrete pillars and walls, bright neon streaks along them, and swords that looked like they were taken straight out of a video game. Little drones hovered around as we hit a road block. The driver got out and went to get help. We waited for about 10 minutes before a guy who looked like a cop came to us with the driver leaning on him.

The guy came onto the bus, laying the driver down on one of the seats. It looked like her leg was broken so she obviously couldn't drive. A couple people started putting a splint on her leg as the guy called someone on his phone, telling them to hurry up then hanging up. Soon enough, a kid with a beanie and vest came up to the bus. He said something to himself as he walked up to the concrete walls and shot a blast of smoke out of his hand. A wall was destroyed as he went on the clear the rest of the way. The people in the bus started freaking out a bit, mumbling something about the guy outside being a Bio-terrorist. When he came back to the bus, he knocked on the door. The people started panicking, saying that if he got on, they'd get off.

The guy who helped the driver pulled out his phone and made a call. The kid outside checked his phone and gave the guy a glare. I guess they knew each other. I focused my hearing on the guy in the bus and his phone, hoping to catch some info on what's up with the kid outside.

"Delsin, we got a problem. Some of the people on the bus, they saw you doing your super-thingy to clear the way." I guess the kid's name is Delsin.

"And?" Delsin replied. From the sound of his voice, he was way younger than me.

"And… they're afraid of you." The sound of the guy's voice had a worried tone to it. Maybe these two were related? Getting a closer look at their faces, they certainly had similar traits.

"What?" Delsin said with what sounded like disbelief.

"Look, I told you, man. Bio-terrorists aren't… especially popular." The guy quieted down near the end but I heard him just fine.

"So, what am I, like Rosa Parks and they want me to sit in the back of the bus!" Delsin's tone certainly sounded a bit angry at the end. I don't blame him but if I were him, I wouldn't even bother hopping on.

"No, they want you to sit… outside of the bus," he guy said with a sigh at the end. "Look, they don't want you in here, alright? They said if you come on, they're gonna get off."

"Then let them walk, I don't care! You think I can't take this door down?" Delsin said and I couldn't help but let a smirk grace my lips. Now this kid is thinking like me! Although, he did scare quite a few folks when he slammed on the door.

The guy pointed towards Delsin with a slight glare. "You are not gonna do that. These people have never seen anything like you before and they're scared," he told him with a harsh tone.

"Alright? And I can't blame them."

A random guy a couple seats behind me loudly said, "He said he's going to break down the door, GO!"

The guy in the driver's seat pointed and yelled back, "Sir! Just give me a second!" That prompted the guy to shut up tighter than a clam. He still watched the kid outside though.

"Look, just let me run them across the bridge, I'll come right back for you, alright? It'll take five minutes," he said. The way Delsin looked at him was certainly depressing and reminded me of what Dana did to me sometimes. Guess these two are related in some way. I'll ask them if I ever see them again, which is more than likely. Delsin moved towards the door a bit before the guy said,

"Come on man, I can't let you on the bus," he said with a slight pause. "Five minutes…" he said before making what seemed to be a gesture towards Delsin. Delsin then put away his phone along with the guy. He started driving and I looked back at him. He kind of stood there for a bit, in what I'm guessing is disbelief. As we continued forward, I looked back towards the guy driving. He was going kind of fast compared to the lady before and then I realized why. There were abandoned cars all along the tunnel to the bridge. He had to go fast to knock them out of the way. As we crossed the bridge, there were guys in yellow and black uniforms standing on concrete pillars sprouting out of the ocean. Then I heard the announcement that sent a slight worry throughout me entire being.

Attention: the scheduled decommission of the 520 bridge by order of the D.U.P

will being shortly. All vehicles and individuals are ordered to immediately evacuate

the roadway.

When we parked we quickly got off, with the first on being the lady with a broken leg, and got off all the supplies up top. We quickly entered what seemed to be a checkpoint. One by one, we got our hand scanned. When it was my turn, I thought I was going to set off something, but luckily nothing did. Guess the scanner is for Bio-terrorists and not viruses.

I quickly made my way to a random alleyway and dumped off the bags, making sure to remove the plane stickers. I tossed them in a nearby trash can and ran up to a building overlooking the bridge. I watched as the bridge get destroyed by the concrete coming out of the water. I saw smoke moving towards the city then the smoke turning back into Delsin. Guess his brother didn't come back for him, but seeing as how he tried to get across the bridge with it being demolished, I couldn't help but snicker at him hanging precariously while Delsin had to help him back up onto solid land.

The two of them tried to get through checkpoint but Delsin set off the alarm, making his brother have to run as to not be caught in the crossfire of Delsin and the D.U.P people. He killed a couple of the D.U.P agents but the rest were restrained under smoke. He started making his way to someplace else with his phone next to his ear. Once he disappeared from my sight I looked back out to the destroyed bridge.

So, I guess I'm stuck here, huh?