I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

Follows on from 'All that is lost'; some months later. Different genre and no crossover. Thanks to my beta reader.

METEORA

TODAY

At first there was nothing, then screaming. Human, animal and something else. Sometimes it was quiet and other times he could hear Reno or Rude but couldn't make out what they were saying. They were worried. Worried about what was outside.

When he could understand what they were saying, he wished he couldn't.

"If he is not awake by the time we run out of food, we have to leave him, Rude."

Silence.

"That Thing will kill us all, Rude."

"I know."

Then it was quiet again.

It was the sound of something heavy landing on the roof that caused Cloud to force open his eyes; they resisted at first but he opened them. A small light lit the gloom where he could see Reno and Rude crouched, staring up at the ceiling - ready to attack or flee. Reno's right hand and wrist were heavily bandaged with what looked like a shirt while Rude had a similar first aid attempt around his head. Both were dirty and dishevelled with torn and stained clothes; mud matted the ends of Reno's hair. Their eyes followed the footsteps of something that moved across the roof outside, there was a pause before it landed on the ground. Everything was quiet and tense; Reno glanced at Rude who gave a one shouldered shrug.

Then there was scratching at the boarded door, both Turks froze and stared at the barricaded door till it stopped – it didn't last long before they all heard the footsteps leaving. Only after they faded did the Turks relax slightly but their weapons weren't put away.

Cloud tried to move but he barely had control over where he could look let alone move his body. Speaking seemed to be out of the question as well. After a few minutes of watching the door, Reno sighed and looked around. He made a disgusted grunt when he saw Cloud's eyes were open but just about leapt to his feet when Cloud blinked.

"You're alive," he said surprised. "You looked quite dead with that stare."

Rude had looked up when Reno first noticed Cloud was awake. He was relieved that Cloud had woken and that they wouldn't be forced to leave him when they ran out of food.

"Oi, are you okay?" asked Reno when Cloud said and did nothing.

All Cloud could do was blink and stare at the two Turks. After a pause Rude said,

"Blink twice if you can hear me."

Cloud did so.

"Great," muttered Reno. "You are awake but can't do anything."

"Maybe he'll be able to move later," said Rude. "We've still got food for two days."

Reno nodded and leaned back against the wall cradling his injured hand against his chest; staring into space. Rude got himself comfortable up against the door and closed his eyes. Cloud looked around the room, apart from the door there was a small window on the back wall; it was hastily but securely boarded. The room must have been a store of some kind as there were piles of boxes that had been stacked in the middle of the floor, away from the window. Cloud spent some time forcing his body to move but all he could manage was moving his head.

Reno looked around and picked up a bottle; shaking it he saw it was empty.

"Rude," said Reno causing the man to lift his head. "There is no water left."

Both looked nervous and uneasy.

"Do you want me to go?" asked Rude.

"No," said Reno shaking his head. "Just don't sleep while I'm gone."

Rude said nothing as he looked at his watch,

"It will be daylight now," he said.

"Well, I see better in the light anyway," said Reno as he stood and went to the door.

Rude leaned forward and turned the light off causing Cloud to blink in the sudden darkness, he could hear something being moved and a thin strip of light appeared where the bottom of the door would have been. As Cloud's eyes adjusted to the dark, he could make out Reno lying on the ground looking out under the door. He stood and unlocked the door; again he peered through the tiny crack before slipping out. Rude didn't turn the light back on but instead secured himself behind the door ready to either lock it should they be attacked or open it in case Reno needed a hasty retreat. All they could do now was wait.

XxX

Reno stayed pressed to the side of the building making sure nothing had seen his exit. He knew where to get water but so did the Creatures. He briefly toyed with the idea of getting some extra food now that Cloud was awake but he told Rude he was going for water – if he took too long Rude might come looking for him. Or rather he would be causing Rude unnecessary worry as Rude wouldn't leave Cloud defenceless.

The main water supply line to Junon had been destroyed and a large pool of water had formed. Reno and Rude had been getting their water from it while they tried to find the other Turks. So far there had been no sign of Elena or Tseng, then again there hadn't been any sign of other survivors either. Reno carefully moved along the side of the storage unit, keeping a look out for anything that moved or more importantly, moved toward him. Moving from shadow to shadow Reno made his way to the pool of water. The constant gloom was disconcerting and distorted the groaning sounds made progress slow. There was an overhang that served as a look out for the pool. Reno waited a few minutes but nothing moved so he crept forward, eyes darted left and right. Actually filling the bottle was the most dangerous time as his attention would be diverted. Only when he was back in the look out did Reno release the breath he had been holding. Even as he started to leave he spotted movement on the far side of the pool but didn't stay to see what it was. He didn't want to see what it was. He was sure it was The Thing. He had started calling it that ever since he saw it – it chilled him to his core.

Half way done, thought Reno as he started back. He was within sight of the hideout when he heard something coming down the alley. Reno waited with his back to the wall, as close as he was to the hideout if he ran he would cross the alley and whatever was in it would see him and give chase. It might be faster than him and then he would be finished. He stood still and waited for it to pass him. He was hoping that it was more metal than humans otherwise someone in it might see him.

The scraping got closer, now he could hear the moaning – pain and agony. The closer it got the more he could make out individual voices, so far he counted seven people but what were they fused with? Reno waited some time before it started to come into sight. The main body appeared to be a truck that was pulled along by the desperate arms of those fused with it. It looked like the people had been dipped into liquid metal and left half in half out till the metal cooled; the burns that covered the parts that stuck out did nothing to dispel that imagery – one face was just an eye that moved relentlessly back and forth. Reno didn't try and guess where the rest of the body was but seeing that the creature was moving torturously slowly with worn down fingers, he decided to risk running for the hideout. First he checked that it was the only Creature in the area before setting off.

He missed the smaller Creature trailing along the side of the truck. The man's back was arched back so that his hands dragged along the ground and a dog's torso hung from his chest, snapping at the failing arms that pulled the truck along but turned its attention to Reno as he ran past. It growled and leapt forward. Reno caught the movement and picked up speed.

"RUDE!"

Both Cloud and Rude heard Reno's scream. Rude was on his feet, gun drawn before the yell had died down. He threw the door open and aimed, he ignored the truck and hit the dogman in the chest; it stumble backwards giving Reno time to literally dive into the hideout. Rude slammed the door shut and threw the bolt followed by the barricade. Cloud hadn't been able to see much of what was going on but he heard the moaning and the dog growling from outside and in the darkness he could hear Reno's harsh breathing and the thuds as the dogman threw itself against the door. Cloud stared at the door – what had that creature been? Where had it come from?

"Wh... what..." he managed after some effort.

"Oh, yeah," said Reno with mock surprise, "you don't know what happened. I'll tell you if you like?"

Cloud nodded.

"You remember the 'package', right?" asked Reno.

Cloud's mind immediately jumped to the incident with Squall and Tidus. The artificial way of calling Meteor.

"Yeah, that one," said Reno reading Cloud's expression. "It's was found. Or more accurately it found us by exploding."