Meanwhile, Cloud was still walking along the upper city of Sector 8, towards the train. Cloud plodded up the stairs leading out and hit a bundle of confusion and panic among all the few citizens left in the area as a result of the Mako Reactor explosion. Several stores and tents had been shattered, leaving their residents out in the streets.
A giant girder had fallen from the Reactor and crushed Goblin's Bar after the explosion. He knew many people had died and were going to die because of his actions, but he still took the job anyway. He had killed before when he was in SOLDIER, and he would do it again now. After all, he was only a mercenary, and he needed the money.
"(Looks like the whole place is a mess. The Reactor's wiped about half of the whole city, in the area nearby it. There's debris everywhere too. Thousands of people would have been killed instantly because of the Reactor's destruction. There seem to be a few survivors, but not that many…and AVALANCHE are still going through with these methods?)" thought Cloud, perplexed, but still unconcerned about the whole situation. After he got his payment for the mission, he would be leaving Midgar, and it wouldn't be his problem. It was that simple.
He saw rotted posters for the play "Loveless", which was supposed to be a smash hit. That was why it had been playing for forty years straight. The last actress to play the lead, though, was caught and killed in an apartment fire.
The few survivors within the area were now running in blind panic and confusion across the streets of what remained of the Sector 8 upper city, not really paying much attention to watch where they were going.
They only concentrated on fleeing from the Mako Reactor as quickly as possible, fearing another possible explosion, but Cloud, knowing better, knew that another one wouldn't occur in this particular area.
Lost in deep thought, Cloud wasn't really paying attention to where he was going either, and as a result he accidentally bumped straight into Aeris, (who was still in the city, trying to find out more about the whole tragic situation), when he was just about to run right past her, and she stumbled but Cloud quickly grabbed her wrist gently to stop her from falling and then offered his other hand to help her up.
"(It's a good thing that being in SOLDIER gives you such quick instincts and sharp senses. Now though, it's about the only reason that I'm thankful for going there at all,)" thought Cloud, darkly.
Aeris looked up at Cloud and smiled, taking his hand gratefully. She slowly got back up, and then she gently let go of Cloud's hand and brushed dirt and murk off her pink dress. Aeris then turned to face Cloud.
"(Wow, this guy certainly has good reflexes. I guess I should have been paying more attention to where I was going, instead of focusing too much on what's happened here…I'm still lucky to be alive considering it, but I have to understand what happened here…what would cause the deaths of so many people…I wonder if this man knows about it…)" thought Aeris, as she then spoke up, looking at Cloud.
"Thank you. I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going," said Aeris, and Cloud noticed that she did indeed look rather distracted, seeming sorrowful about the bad situation that had happened in the city, but she smiled at Cloud all the same.
"No, it was my fault," insisted Cloud, apologizing, and then he looked at her clearly for the first time, and instantly felt his insides explode with a bizarre feeling Cloud hadn't ever felt since his childhood.
Cloud stood there, shocked and transfixed, staring at Aeris, unsure of what he was suddenly feeling. Aeris smiled at Cloud, and it was such a beautiful smile across a truly flawless face that Cloud suddenly froze for a long moment. They both stared at each other for a minute, not saying anything, gazing into each other's eyes.
Cloud was instantly lost in her beautiful green eyes that hung in front of him, staring at him along with the warm smile still on Aeris's face. Cloud suddenly felt very strange, and thought he could feel his heart starting to beat strangely, but he didn't take his eyes off Aeris, who didn't take her eyes off him either, staring intently.
"(Just why is he staring at me like that…and why am I staring at him? For some reason, I don't find it uncomfortable at all…but his eyes…there's something in his eyes that reminds me of…of him. In fact, he looks just like him, except for the colour of his hair…he even dresses like him, and even his sword looks identical to his…)" thought Aeris, clearly astonished about something, but she did not remove her gaze.
Cloud racked his brain for something to say, to break the sudden tension he now felt. Aeris finally broke the silence first, although she was still smiling at Cloud, now looking very curious about something.
"Hello, excuse me sir, but what's been going on around here? I heard rumours from the few survivors still around that it was something that happened to the Mako Reactor N01, and I saw it explode earlier too. I saw a bright light up there earlier along with this big ball of fire, then there was just a pile of rubble in its place and debris flying from it. What just happened here?" asked Aeris, curiously.
She clearly seemed a little desperate to know the answer, to understand exactly what was going on, but Cloud knew it would be far foolish and dangerous to reveal the truth about it to anyone who was not with AVALANCHE, and at once, he knew he had to convince her there wasn't anything else to it.
"N-Nothing. No really, it's just nothing. It was just a Mako Reactor blowing up, scattering debris all over the city, as far as I know, there was nothing more to it than that. It's nothing to worry about, I'm sure. You'd better get out of here though, it's still not safe around this area," replied Cloud, with sudden concern for her as his sarcasm vanished.
"(Why do I feel so concerned for a complete stranger whom I've only just met? Sure, she's really attractive and all, but since when have I been interested in that sort of thing anyway?)" thought Cloud, rather bewildered about it. Although she was still smiling brightly, Aeris now looked politely puzzled, but not suspicious.
"Really? Well, I don't really know what's been going on around here, but alright, I'll get out of here if you say so," said Aeris, and she started to walk off.
But to her and his own astonishment, Cloud suddenly ran in front of her and quickly stopped her and stood in front of her, finding himself wanting to try and get to know her, but he couldn't think of anything to say.
"(What…just what the hell am I doing!? Haven't I got other things to be doing besides this!?)" thought Cloud, irritated with himself, but he didn't move, and did not show a sign of irritation to Aeris at all, and felt none towards her.
Aeris stopped, and she stared at Cloud, clearly puzzled, but her face was still smiling and kind, not in the least bit irritated or impatient. Annoyed with himself, Cloud finally came up with at least one more thing to say, noticing (with some surprise) the basket of real flowers that she hung over her wrist, thinking of it as another distraction from the Reactor.
"Hey, listen, um…you don't see many flowers around here in a city like this. I thought that it was impossible for them to grow in Midgar," said Cloud, finally.
Aeris's smile widened across her flawless face, and her emerald green eyes sparkled joyfully, causing Cloud's heart to somehow beat even more strangely.
"Oh, these flowers? Do you like them? They're only a Gil each. And yes, it is impossible to grow flowers here for the most part. But for some reason, I can manage it alright," said Aeris, grinning. Cloud raised an eyebrow, but found that he did not doubt her words in the slightest.
"Well in that case, I'll take one," replied Cloud, with a shrug, despite wondering what use he of all people would have for a mere flower, but seeing Aeris' eyes light up happily seemed to make it all worth it.
"Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you very much. Hey, who knows, maybe I'll see you again sometime. Midgar's not really as big as it seems at times, I may just see you around some day. Anyway, here you go," said Aeris, smiling gratefully, holding out a flower.
"(And just when I started to give up hope of selling one of these tonight. Even if it is only a gil, it's still a relief to know that my flowers can be sold…at least that's some comfort for me in a terrible day like this,)" thought Aeris.
Cloud took out a gold coin from his pocket, and handed it to Aeris. Aeris smiled, and handed the flower over to him. Aeris thanked Cloud again and again, clearly very grateful, then she left, glancing back at him once for a while, and then she was out of sight.
Cloud watched her leave, staring after her until she was out of sight. As much as Aeris, who would be poorly yet accurately described as beautiful (as she was simply beyond beautiful), held him entranced, he needed to head to the Sector 8 train station at once, before it could leave.
Feeling stupid and angry with himself, Cloud stuffed the flower gently into his pocket instead of tossing it away, and continued to walk along the Sector 8 upper city, lost in thought once again, but now he found that he was completely unable to get his mind off Aeris, thinking strangely about her face, her eyes, her hair, her smile and her sweet, gentle nature.
As he passed under a huge archway that had managed to avoid being hit by debris, broken and snapped electric cables crackled and buzzed, sending random showers of sparks down to the rubble-littered ground below.
A fountain was set in the middle of the courtyard. The water had turned murky with all the ash that had rained down from the explosion. Cloud looked up at some graffiti on the wall, reading the words:
Don't be fooled by Shinra!
Mako energy doesn't last forever!
Mako is the Planet's life source!
The end is in sight!
Protectors of the Planet: AVALANCHE!
AVALANCHE…that was the name of Barret's rebel terrorist group, of course, so it had to one of the rebels that put up this message. How could anyone honestly believe that they were going to overthrow a corporation as powerful as Shinra with such a pathetically small group of members? Then again, they had done well so far, considering that fact, but Cloud still highly doubted that they would go all the way.
Then he suddenly realised that he was wasting too much time, as he might miss the train to Sector 7. Cursing himself angrily, Cloud quickly ran along the remaining streets of the Sector 8 upper city to the train station, which he and the others knew had been untouched by the explosion and debris.
Cloud spun on his heel, and quickly ran through the downtown square and streets that were covered with even more AVALANCHE fliers and anti-Shinra propaganda. Evidently, it seemed that Barret and the others had chosen this moment as an opportunity to discredit Shinra Incorporated, before heading to the station and leaving on the train.
Adding insult to injury, AVALANCHE had spread their logo in peeling blue spray paint across a Shinra billboard along with another anti-Shinra message, and other Shinra advertisements were also vandalised by the rebel group.
Uptown though was an entirely different scene. Well-built brick houses with lush shrubbery lined the clean cobblestone streets, with black metal fences adding to the calm and well-placed scene.
The town streets were slightly damp with the evening chill and yesterday's rain, and a thin fog hung around the streetlights of the town. The Reactor's explosion or the debris, it seemed, had not reached this particular area of the city, to the fortune of its citizens.
Without pausing once, Cloud ran straight along Sector 8 as he came to another small road with houses nearby, and still he did not pause to stop, sensing that he was close to the train station now.
But as Cloud reached an arch bridge that was right over the train tracks that were nearby the train station itself, he felt a sudden sense of danger in the air around him, and he stopped in his tracks.
"Hey! That's the guy from the warning we got! Blow his head off! Stop right there!" shouted a rough voice that he didn't recognize whatsoever.
Cloud turned to see that two Shinra soldiers were running quickly towards Cloud, armed with guns, either about to capture him, or about to kill him. But either way, Cloud was determined not to go down easy.
One of the Shinra soldiers fired his machine gun at Cloud, bullets firing towards him. But Cloud managed to quickly block them using his large sword with ease, the bullets hitting the sword and just bouncing off it in front of him, to the blank astonishment of the soldiers.
Cloud then raised his large sword, charged to the soldiers quickly before they could react, and he slashed one of the Shinra soldiers with his sword, going right through the man's armour and stomach, gutting and killed the soldier instantly, as the bloody corpse fell to the ground, its insides spilling out onto the pavement from the bloody wound.
The other soldier, terrified, quickly used his machine gun and fired it at Cloud. Cloud lifted his sword in front of him and it blocked the bullets from hitting him again, and caused the bullets to just bounce off the sword. Cloud then charged towards the soldier, raised his sword, and slashed him right through his body with it, killing him in one blow, and sending him to the ground in two bloody pieces.
Cloud ran back along the path, but two other soldiers were right behind him. Cloud quickly spun around before they could react and killed one of the soldiers with his sword instantly, slashing him through the chest with it.
The other soldier fired his machine gun at Cloud, but Cloud managed to block the bullets with his sword. Cloud then raised his sword, and quickly killed the soldier in one blow with his massive sword, right through the soldier's mid section.
But now, eight Shinra Soldiers in a circle had suddenly cornered Cloud on a bridge, and had him trapped, all of them aiming their guns right at him, each of them ready to fire at a moment's notice, at any sign of resistance.
"This just isn't my day," muttered Cloud, dryly, thinking dully to himself that he had never said a truer word.
"That's as far as you go, criminal scum. You are under arrest for terrorist activities. Alive or dead, you will come quietly, but co-operate with us, and you will not be shot down dead right at this very moment," stated one Shinra soldier, flatly, as they all aimed their guns at Cloud.
Just then, Cloud heard the loud, shrill whistle of the train blowing before and below the bridge. He snarled to himself when he realized that he had missed the train, it was just about to leave the station!
And it was one heck of a long hike back to the lower city and Slums of Sector 7 without going there by train. There was only one thing left to do now, and he had to do it fast. Cloud fully focused his attention on the group of Shinra soldiers, an idea occurring to him.
"Hey, I just don't have the time to be playing and messing around with useless weaklings like you guys. I've got far better things to do with my time," replied Cloud, coolly, seeming indifferent and unconcerned towards them, which seemed to irritate them, just as it had with Barret.
"Enough talk and enough of your babbling, you terrorist scumbag! Now all of you grab him, place him under arrest!" shouted another soldier, to the other Shinra soldiers.
Obeying, they all quickly lunged at Cloud, which was just the escape opportunity that Cloud was looking for. With the guns no longer aimed at him, Cloud dodged their grasp and quickly jumped onto the edge of the bridge.
Wasting no time, he then quickly jumped off the bridge and landed right on the roof of the train just as it was travelling under the bridge, and the train then travelled down a subway tunnel, with Cloud still holding on tight to the top of it so he didn't fall off, allowing Cloud to escape.
Stunned and angry, the Shinra soldiers on the bridge all quickly fired several bullets after him, but all of them missed as the train had already gone down the subway, and Cloud had escaped safely.