Prologue: The Tragic Escape

Everything was…cloudy.

It seemed like a lifetime ago since they stuck him in this tube. It appeared to be made of glass, as he could see through to the room on the other side, but he couldn't seem to break out. No momentum. He was floating in something. Something…glowing?

He knew what this gunk was, didn't he? Why couldn't he remember? Why couldn't he think?

Drugged, he thought. They've drugged me for so long.

He looked again through the glass. There was a table, chairs, bookshelves filled with leather-bound tomes. Beside him was another tube with another person floating inside. Who was that? Zack? Was that right? Hadn't he spoken to me before? What had he said?

When they bring us food. I can get us out when they open the tanks to feed us.

He heard the muffled sound of a door opening and echoed footsteps. He turned as a man in a suit and tie walked in carrying a tray of food. He set the tray down on the table, took one of the plates, and brought it to the other tube.

"Dinner time, you two," he growled. "If you can call this slop dinner."

Through the murk he watched as the man opened the tube hatch and reached one hand inside. Before he could lean into the tube, he was thrown back onto the table with enough force that his head bounced off the corner before he slumped to the ground. Zack hopped from the tube, landing lightly beside the suited man and giving him a quick kick to the side of the head.

"I told you I'd get us out of here," Zack said, turning with a confident grin. He reached for the hatch and opened it. "I'll have you out of there in second. You feel okay? You look like hell."

Zack tried to help him out of the tube, but they ended up toppling together to the floor.

"You okay?"

Zack reached over and touched him just as the convulsions began. Poisoned, he thought. I've been poisoned. Why didn't they poison Zack?

He shook his head, desperately trying to clear it. When he looked up, Zack was coming back from the table again, this time with an impossibly broad sword in his hands. He reached to his back and sheathed the sword before kneeling down in front of him again.

"We're getting out of here, Cloud. There's a Soldier uniform on the table." Zack frowned. "You're not going to stay conscious, are you? No…you're not. I guess I'll have to dress you myself then. Go ahead and go to sleep. I'll take care of everything."

Cloud? He called me Cloud. Is that my name?

Blackness.

When he awoke, he lifted his head groggily. He was in the back of a pickup truck that was jostling down a dirt road. Zack was sitting next to him, his enormous sword resting on his lap. Mountains zipped by as the truck drove on. Every now and again, one deranged looking animal or another would watch them go by.

Zack got up abruptly and tapped on the glass separating them from the driver. "Hey, old man. How much further to Midgar?"

"I told you, I'm not going all the way to Midgar. Only as far as Kalm," the driver shouted back. "You're lucky I'm taking you that far."

Zack turned back and smiled. "Hey, you're up."

"Uh…"

"Still not feeling well, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. That much exposure to mako can't be good for you." Zack scratched his head. "You know what you're going to do when we get to Midgar?"

"Ugh."

"I know someone there. Maybe we can crash with her. Although, now that I think of it, her mother never really liked me much."

"Mehhh…"

Zack smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Got to make our own way. That means we need money." His face turned serious. "What do you think, Cloud? We could start a business. Mercenaries. Hired guns. That kind of thing would be a cinch for a couple of military types like us."

"Um…"

Zack turned back to the glass. "Hey, old guy. We're thinking of becoming mercenaries. What do you think about that?"

"You should find plenty of that kind of work in Midgar ," the old man shouted back. "Although two youngsters like you should be doing something else. Find a woman. Fall in love."

Zack laughed. "Oh, sure, fall in love. On the run from Shinra without a single gil note in our pockets, but let's go trolling for women." His face turned serious. "What do you say, Cloud? How does mercenary work sound to you?"

"Ggghhh…"

"Yeah, great. Let's do it then, as soon as we get to the city."

The driver turned. "You damn kids. Didn't you hear a word I said?"

Zack sat down next to him and reached out with one hand. "We're friends, right? Mercenaries, Cloud, that's what we're going to be. We'll be rich in no time." Zack punched him in the shoulder. "I sure hope you recover soon. It'd be nice if you could actually carry on a conversation. Why don't you get some rest? I'll wake you up when we get to Kalm."

They had been struggling through the hills for the past several hours. It took longer since Zack had to support his weight the entire way. The fog in his head didn't seem to be lifting. It meant they had to take frequent breaks so Zack could catch his breath. On the edge of one hillside, they both fell heavily to the ground together, the dark industrial city of Midgar in the foreground.

"There it is, Cloud. Midgar. Our future."

"Ugh…"

"Still sick, huh? That's okay. There's sure to be a doctor somewhere in the city. Maybe I'll even get a chance to see—"

He broke off as the sharp report of gunfire sounded from the direction they'd come. "Stay here," he hissed. He crouched down, unsheathed his sword from his back, and made his way back down the path.

Alone. I'm alone.

He heard more gunfire in the distance along with several whooping shouts.

I don't want to be alone. Do I?

He heard a rustle of footsteps getting louder. Finally, Zack burst into his line of vision, running at full speed and skidding to a halt at his feet.

"It's Shinra, Cloud. They must have been following us this entire time." Zack bit his lip. "Are you okay yet? I really need you to be okay, Cloud."

"C…Cloud?" he stammered. He tried to focus on Zack's face, but everything was still swimming.

"Yeah, buddy, that's you. Got it? Can you move? Can you get—"

A single shot rang out. Even through the haze he could see Zack's chest explode in a shower of blood. No one could have survived that kind of wound.

No, he thought. No. That was the only person I know. Now what do I do? I don't want to be alone.

His fury melted away some of the confusion. He was able to watch clearly as the Shinra soldiers marched past him, splendid and foreboding in their French-blue uniforms. They pounded Zack's lifeless body with another twenty rounds or so at point blank range. And despite it all, when the soldiers turned and gathered around him, he felt nothing but raw hatred for them.

One of the soldiers pointed his rifle downward. "What do we do with this other one?"

He reached up towards the soldier, his arm barely moving, limp with fatigue. "I…uh…kill you…"

Another soldier, this one with a Captain's badge on his shoulder, shook his head pityingly. "Look at his eyes. Mako poisoning." He turned away. "Forget it. Just leave him."

They left, leaving him alone. Terribly, desperately alone. Within sight of Midgar, but unable to get there. With his freedom, but the inability to function. With his friend beside him, but dead.

Zack, he thought. He flipped onto his stomach and dragged himself towards the limp body. Blood was seeping from the bullet wounds. When he reached the body, he put his hand flat against the sternum.

No heartbeat. Dead.

He felt the light pattering of rain beginning to come down.

Rain, he thought. Washing away all my sins and leaving me with a new life.

He put one hand on Zack's cheek and took up his sword with the other. Lying there, misty rain mixing with the murky blue glow in his vision, he finally felt like things were becoming clear. He looked at the sword, trying to figure out the best way to hold it.

Don't I already know? Isn't this my sword? My mercenary's sword?

He lifted it high into the air, testing its weight.

Soldier, he thought. I was in Soldier.

He was finally able to get up. He began trudging off towards Midgar, that blot on the horizon, at once magnificent and intimidating, with its metal skeleton and concrete skin. Where he knew someone he could stay with. Where he'd find work.

I'm Cloud, he thought. Cloud, the mercenary.