Chapter 1

Cyrus woke up inside his tent, he got up, trying not to disturb the woman sleeping next to him. They weren't a couple, but he and Sara had been friends since they left Kalm together, and both agreed that the dig site could get lonely. Quickly pulling on his clothing, he exited the tent and walked down the dirt path towards the mess hall.

"Hey Cyrus, that was an amazing find yesterday." One of the diggers called, mocking him about his digging all day, and coming up with nothing but rock and dirt.

"Yeah, and Sara was amazing yesterday too." He responded, cracking a smile. He was the only one who had gotten any action, seeing as the only other female on the site was the medical assistant. He heard a barrage of curses as he walked past the men, and finally reached the mess hall. Entering, the aroma of badly cooked food filled his nose. He admitted it wasn't much of a place to live, but the dig site was about as far as he could get away from his controlling father and still do what he loved. He had started researching in the past while he was still living at home, but he and his father had different views. Unable to take his father's arguments about how he felt Cyrus was wasting his time, Cyrus left home. He hadn't talked to his father since then, but he kept in contact with his mother. The last letter he had gotten from her, she had told him about how he was going to have a new brother. Cyrus wasn't sure how he felt, having a brother that was young enough to be his son, but he'd find out eventually. He was halfway to the line when the scream came from outside. He immediately recognized the voice as Sara's and ran outside. He watched looked in the direction of the tent, and saw that it was surrounded by men in Shinra uniforms. He began running back to the tent when Sara emerged from it, but was caught by the guards.

"Let her go!" Cyrus demanded as he made it to the halfway point between the mess hall and the tent. He watched in horror was one of the men hit Sara with the but of his gun, her head splitting open as she fell to the ground. "Sara!" He cried out, this time the men heard him.

"It must be him." One of the men said, pointing at Cyrus. "Take him dead or alive."

Cyrus managed to dive behind a supply shed just as the men opened fired on him. Looking around for something to defend himself with, he picked up a shovel off the ground.

"Go flush him out." He heard one of the men say, followed by some soft footsteps approaching him. He waited for them to draw closer, and then he swung the shovel with all his strength. The blade of the shovel slammed into the man's face sending him to the ground. The second man started to fall back, but Cyrus came around the corner and thrust the shovel forward like a spear, sending the blade of it into the man's throat. He quickly bent down, picking up the closer man's assault rifle, and then ducked back behind the shed just as the rest of the men opened fire. Without poking his head out, he stuck the gun out around the shed, and blindly fired in the direction of the men, meanwhile sticking his free hand out and dragging the body of the dead SOLDIER towards him. He quickly searched the body, finding two more magazines of ammunition on him, and a short knife. Pocketing these items, Cyrus stood up, and ran down the alley to the back of the buildings, and vanished into the trees, running from the shouts that were raising up behind him.