-VII-

On the way to Wiava there is a small town called Redge, this is where we stopped. She left me to the hospitals care. She has been gone for three days now. I'm all alone in Redge afraid to contact anyone. Before she left we only talked of the Brood once. I explained to her that I couldn't remember anything at all. She said that after I had changed that…

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"… you're mind became ecstatic, I couldn't follow your thoughts at all. Honestly I was scared of what you had become. So much power… Ryu. You tore through our men in seconds. Aludrad injected himself with Verotoxin to increase his own power… That's when he tried to grab hold of your mind; to control you, but... you were too powerful." She scrubbed her hand through her hair and touched my cheek. "Don't try to find me or us, it's best for you."

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That was the last I had seen of her.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The steady pace of my heart monitor filled the room as the rain clicked against the window pane. Where can I go now? It was hard to think straight with all of these tubes pumping things into my body. My side wound had been cleaned and stapled shut, it really did feel clean compared to the hours I had spent picking away at the infection on the way here. Why was Alec out in the field? Suddenly, I remembered what he had been wearing when he was murdered; he had been wearing the colors of the Army… After all of my hell, he joined anyway! That stupid bastard… I fingered the hole on my arm where I had used that god-forsaken drug.

The door clicked open as one of the nurses opened the door. Calmly, as a person who was used to seeing injured people, she unhooked some of the tubes from my body and placed them aside. "I hope you are as comfortable as you can get, I know it is very difficult to be in this situation, but please try." She must have noticed that I had had my fists clenched. "But don't worry you'll be going home soon," she said as she left the room.

The rain had stopped I realized as I woke slowly in my hospital bed. It was night finally. Where would I be going to when I was "going home"? I couldn't go back and face my parents after… Damn it all to hell! What the hell have you done Alec? Despite myself I cried not wanting anymore to do with armies or Verotoxin, Brood or politics.

Mumbling outside my door woke me again. "Are you sure it's him, ma'am," a man was asking.

"Absolutely positive, why would you say that he had died? I can't believe he is alive myself, after what his body has been through, but he is very much alive. Identical to that picture in the paper too. Some sickly looking girl brought him here." Who was asking about me? "He's right in here, sir." I heard the door handle start to turn and then it stopped. "What's this about?" There was soft thud and I looked toward the door wearily. Something was seeping from under it. Blood. What the hell? The door handle started to turn again and I rolled off the side of the bed towards the window, pulling the remainder of the tubes out as I fell. My side ached badly but there was no time to worry as I thrust open the window and rolled back under the bed. Light flooded the room as the door swung open. I heard the man walk in and stop, probably taking a look around. Through his legs I could see the crumpled body of the calm nurse. I watched the man's feet as he walked around the bed towards the window. "Damn it," he whispered and he lunged out the window. I pulled myself out from under the bed and started for the door. "I'm sorry Mr. Hito, but I can't let you leave." My head jerked over my shoulder and I saw the man sitting on the window ledge. He's features were thin, almost hawk like. A small patch of blonde hair remained on the top of his head brushed back adding to his receding hairline… It was almost as if the hair was afraid to come any closer to his face. A toothy lifeless smile joined his angular nose as he said, "I'm glad you're alive." Wasting no time I ran for the door.

"What's going on," another nurse screamed as she met me at the door. She looked down at the crumpled nurse. "Willa," she screamed. I turned again and the man wasn't there. I looked back at the nurse and decided to run for it. "Security! Help, someone! Anybody!" Her voice turned into echoes as I ran down the corridor looking for an exit. I found a stairwell and jolted down them as fast as I could missing a couple of steps. Running out into the open lobby I saw two of the town police heading my way.

"Stop where you are," one of them shouted drawing his gun. The other stood back pulling out too. I just kept running towards them. They had no idea what I had been through; they couldn't stop me, not now. Anger welled up inside, as I pushed the first guards gun away from my face and slammed the butt of my hand into his nose with a sickening thud. The other one fired at me, the bullet tore at my flesh and entered my arm. I screamed in agony, but it couldn't stop me. I lunged at the other. It happened so fast that I couldn't even keep up with myself as I slammed him into the receptionist's desk. He crumpled to the floor and I ran out the door.

As the cold night wind hit me I realized that I was only wearing a hospital gown, but I didn't care and just kept running into the night.