Chapter three: some people never change

Cloud and Larius had far gone into the distant fog and with no light to aid them; the only sources of light were Clouds sea green eyes glowing intensely. The green plant life and soggy grass seemed never ending on either sides of the road. Again, the rain didn't let up; neither did the fog for that matter. The heavy silence that covered the air was sometimes interrupted, by the low humming sound of vehicles passing; their rubbery tires spitting up water along the way. They both walked slowly along the road, soaked to the bone, literally. The chattering of teeth soon kicked in, followed by the unfriendly noise of the sneeze. "Jeez, it's freezing out here, should have brought a coat or something."

The trees swayed vigorously and restlessly in the chilling wind, which Larius thought rather creepy. The atmospheres grip, sent chills of anxiety and wonder up their tingling spines. The pale dusty moon hung over their heads ever watchful seeing every move they made. "I use these roads a lot, and I think… there's a bus stop just ahead of us, not far now."

Cloud was deep in thought, wondering about what had happened so far and where all this was going. Shinra, Soldier and two former Turks. Cloud couldn't help but wonder that something strange was going on. The road started to incline slightly, forcing their muscles to work harder.

Meanwhile, Reno had checked just about everywhere there was to check: Car park, back entrance, front entrance, nearby hedges and small pathway. Reno accidentally stood in small hole that unfortunately was full to the brim with murky, brown water. "Oh for bastard's sake ... "

Reno began to pace up and down the rocky stoned path. "Where the hell is he?"

Rude wasn't far from the pub, he walked casually down the desolate lonely road looking for a vehicle out the publics eye. The moons set glow, beamed down on Rudes shiny polished shoes reflecting a blurred image of him. After about three minutes he stumbled upon an old red car which lay silently parked; the rain dropped onto the thin tin and made resounding dings that made it sound as if it was inflicting great damage. On the rocky road, sat a hole built into the curb, that let the water trickle down into the near by drains. Drip, drip, drip; the sound echoed deep into the ground splashing neatly into the water below. Rude stepped closer towards the abandoned car, and peered into the driver's side window, which was half frosted from the constant dropping of temperature. His face, which was half covered in darkness loomed in closer; there was nothing much to see. On the back seat lay several maps, pens, plastic cups and pieces of clothing strewn about. Now usually, members of the Turks would often carry about with them, a lock picking set, but Turks had long disbanded after the disaster.

Rude turned his head slowly from left, to right just to make sure the area was completely clear. He swiftly jilted his elbow into the centre of the window, smashing it into tiny crystals of a light greenly blue which sparkled and danced in the moon light. Luckily, no alarm had been added to this older model. He swiftly flung his arm through the gaping hole and pulled up the lock, which in turn opened the car door. He slowly brushed of the broken squares of glass, sat in and slammed the door shut; the noise seemed to awaken the landscape around with an echoing slam. Rude stared just below the steering wheel and ripped of a black box, revealing multicolored wires. Leaning over, Rude tore so many of them, and intertwining them with others, causing the engine to growl to life like a sleeping tiger. Rude slammed down the accelerator and sped of into the black curtain which was the night. The dazzling headlights seemed to part the curtain of darkness, as it beamed down the wet and lonely road. Trees whooshed by in a blur of lush green, which was absorbed by the thick black night and the white entrancing fog. A hail of rain swept across the windscreen in a useless attempt, as it was quickly dispersed by the rubber windscreen wipers.

Reno turned his attention to the upcoming beams of the headlights that illuminated were he stood. The car seemed to show no signs of stopping as it became infinitely closer.

"Is this nutter gonna stop or what?"

The car came ever closer, its headlights glaring, dazzling Reno. He started to step back wondering if the guy in the car was gonna hit the brakes. The car screeched out almost in pain, its rubbery tires trying as hard as they could to grip the watery floor. The cries could be hear from all around as they echoed. It stopped dead in front of Reno making him jump back in shock. After regaining thought he began to shout at the car, not realizing it was Rude inside it.

"You moron, get out that car now because I'm gonna kick your ass."

The window wound down and a bald headed man emerged from inside. "Rude did you find him? Wait a minute where did you get this? Is it yours?

"I … found it." Rude shifted his glassed down ever so slightly and grinned."

"You thieving git." Reno said sarcastically, with much emphasis added to "thieving"

"Get in" Barked Rude.

"Don't have to ask me twice."

Reno jogged round to the passenger side and slid in. "Drive, let's find Cloud."

Meanwhile Cloud and Larius had stumbled upon a bus shelter that was falling apart. The grey tin roof had a gaping hole; the plastic insides were covered with graffiti of different kinds; ranging from, "Midgar rulez" to "Down with Shinra".

The seats looked as thought they had literally been pulled of with great force, resulting in them both having to stand. The rain dripped down elegantly through hole in the roof, dropping onto Clouds golden hair. He ignored it and stepped to the side. "How long till the bus gets here? It's freezing."

"No idea" Replied Cloud. "There's a time table over there, but it's hard to make out ... half of it's torn. I think … we have to wait about 5 minutes but I can't be sure, it could be fifteen."

Larius combed through his wet black hair; it was neatly combed, fairly long but not shoulder length. "Great … "He began to pace up and down muttering complaints under his breath.

"Hey Larius, are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?"

"Yeah quit worrying, I've done it dozens of times, it's no problem really."

"Alright." Cloud leant against the pole that held up the sign, looking far into the deepening black; the mist remained ever thick. A large object was in motion in the distance, barely visible due to the thick fog. It came ever closer with its lights on full beam; the engine grumbled as it came closer; the gravel on the road crunched as the wheels ran over. "Looks like this is it." Said Cloud.

"Hallelujah" replied Larius.

The bus pulled up along side of the bus stop. Its doors opened with a loud hissing sound.

Larius stepped on board first followed by Cloud. The drivers brown eyes glared at them both as they climbed on board; Black bags sagged under his sleep deprived eyes as he glared. He yawned as he spoke. "Wow. Didn't expect to be picking anyone up this late, especially with the weather. So, were to?"

"Midgar" replied Larius.

"Midgar?" the diver looked confused "I wouldn't be heading there if I were you haven't you heard the – "

"Yeah, we've heard the riots, but they don't bother us."

"Hehe, it's your heads."

Larius pulled out his wallet for the second time today; out of it he pulled three golden coins out and dropped them into the metallic silver tray; they landed with a clatter. The inside of the bus was completely deserted, it seemed nobody used the buses at this time of night, and if they did, it was usually business men who'd had to stay behind at he office to finish of paper work, or just people coming back from parties. The glass windows inside were in need of a clean; the children had been able to write their names on the windows due to the thick layer of dust that covered them. The seats were no better; tears and discarded chewing gum were accounted for on almost every seat, apart from the odd one or two. The bus itself was a large double-decker; its seating capacity was around seventy. Cloud and Larius headed for the back of the bus and collapsed into their seats.

"Ahhh finally." Larius blurted. His arms now apart and resting on the header of their seat.

Cloud was sat opposite Larius, staring out of the window. The vehicles engine started up with a roar and jutted of down the desolate road. "So …" Said Larius. "You got a place to stay when we reach Midgar?"

"No … not likely, I'm counting on a friend of mine still living there."

"Well, you can always stay with us if you need somewhere to crash."

"Thanks."

"Hey, no prob."

"But, do me a favor Cloud. Tell me what you were doing out, ya know, back when I first picked you up."

Cloud sighed. "Long story."

"Long ride" Mocked Larius.

"Oh well, here goes. I'd awoken from a nightmare and went down stairs. After a while, the power to the house went out, I thought nothing of it. When finally went back up stairs, I saw four men trying to brake into my house, all armed of course. But the strange thing was, they all carried Shinra's logo. I managed to lose them in a nearby forest and... That's when you found me."

Larius looked grim. "I see." His expression seemed deep in thought or just not bothered.

Cloud turned his attention back to the window; rain smeared it making it hard to see anything, plus the dust, the black of night and fog weren't helping. After awhile, the gentle lullaby of the engine and the silent warm air sent Cloud into a slumber he didn't really want.

"Hehe, he sleeps like a damn baby, musta been tired after all what's happened, can't say I blame him. I could sure use a nap or two right about now. Wonder how far to Midgar now? Can't see a bloody thing I this weather. Ah well got nothing to do except enjoy the ride."

"Oh I almost forgot, here Cloud have this."

Larius put a black object into Cloud pocket.

Meanwhile, Reno and Rude were still in pursuit of Cloud. Reno couldn't keep still in vehicle, he always had to be messing with something, or fiddling around with some random object to satisfy his boredom. In this case it was the radio; he flicked from station to station, not being content with any. At last he made do with one, some modern rock band; He couldn't stand what he called "Rap crap"

"Yo Rude, you see anything?" Rude shook his head.

"Great, that's just great; we're never going to find him in this darkness."

In the distance, Reno could hear the sound the drumming of a helicopter, faint but he recognized it. Reno pressed the switch for the automatic windows. Rain lashed in wetting him further. He stuck his head out of the window, the wind ripped against his face like a hurricane taking his breath away. "Rude! Isn't that one of ours?"

Rude took his attention away for the road for a split second, and checked his rearview mirror. "Yeah, that's one of our choppers."

"The hell's it doing? Maybe it's spotted Cloud, Rude follow that chopper."

Rude span the vehicle round in a hundred and eighty degree motion, so the car was facing the opposite direction. They kept on its trail for quite sometime, until it just hovered over a large bus, following it but hovering. "You think he's on that bus?"

"I don't know." Rude replied.

"If he is … how would Shinra know?" Reno looked puzzled. "Rude, just keep your distance for now."

Rude acknowledged Reno's request and did so.

Just then, a black metallic cargo door slowly groaned open and came to a stop. The opening of the door was shortly followed by four tightly made brown ropes; they slide down like snakes and slapped the wet of the bus roof.

"The hell's going on?" Reno shouted.

Rude slowly shrugged his shoulders.

What looked like the same four men who attacked Cloud earlier, attached the ropes to their belts. They were covered from head to foot in black, just like the ones from the house, and they carried the same type of primary weapon which was slung across their backs. A crackling sound erupted from one of the headsets the men wore. "Alright move out."

After hearing their order, they slid down the ropes simultaneously and gracefully; their leather gloves emitted a tearing sound as they descended.

"Hey Rude, front row seats, got the popcorn?"

Rude shook his head, as per usual.

The men descended on the roof of the bus, and landed gracefully with a denting thud. The helicopter was far high in the sky, so to anyone inside the bus, it would of sounded miles off. The driver did notice the thud, but thought nothing of it. The leading solider leant over the side of the bus, while another grabbed his legs to secure him. Peering through the window he saw nothing. He signaled to his comrades that, one it was clear, and two, to pull him back. The leading soldier knelt on one knee, and with all his strength, punched right through the roof of the bus. With his fist now inside the bus, he used his other to tear a wide hole, just enough for them to squeeze into. The hole looked like a large mouth with awkward jagged teeth. The four men slipped into the hole one after another until they were all inside. Even after all this, the driver hadn't noticed a thing. The leader held his weapon and trained it forward, walking quietly to the stairs. The bus came to a sharp and unexpected jolt causing one of the men to drop his weapon. As it came crashing down the stairs, it triggered the bullets to spark out like flaming knives spraying everywhere, as it landed at with a clatter at the bottom. The quiet and peaceful atmosphere was now shattered into pieces, by the thunderous echoes of the ear shatteringly loud bullets, which had indented themselves into the sides and walls of the bus.

The unexpected event caused the bus driver to panic, and in doing so, he ripped the steering wheel a sharp left causing the bus to over turn. "Oh SHIT!" one of the men shouted. Those were Larius's thoughts exactly. The came to a loud crash, windows shattered like dropping a porcelain vase, the buses doors bent violently inward. Bodies flew around everywhere as if some unseen force was throwing them about. Unluckily for them, the sliding bus was gnawing and grating the rocky road towards a steep hill. Larius had grasped a metal pole, grabbing Clouds arm in the process, in an attempt to save them both from crashing about the place. The green soaked grass was being crushed and ripped as the bus tore down the hillside at a great speed. Trees that stood firm were being knocked asunder and ripped out of the ground. The fierce winds swept through, accompanied by the lashing rain. Branches snagged and grabbed hold of the rim of the windows like nimble hand with many spindly fingers. The mud splashed and danced around the bus painting half of it a muddy brown.

Suddenly, a large tree loomed into view, and the bus impacted with a resonating thud that echoed sharply around the neighboring forest. It came to a standstill, lifeless and empty.

Everyone on the bus was either dead, out cold or badly injured. A few hours had past since that crash and Larius's eyes were reluctantly and defiantly opening; it was like his eyes were glued shut. Larius was shaken and almost entranced in a dizzy state. He slowly reached for a metal bar and forced himself up; his legs felt like the weighed a ton. He was uneasy and wobbly on his legs. Having to guide himself along with anything he could hold onto, he made his way over to Cloud. He was laid flat with his body faced down. Larius rolled him over so that he faced Larius. His face had a thin cut that went diagonally down his right cheek. A large gash on his left thigh oozed out puddles of red blood every now and then. "What a mess."

Larius tore of a piece of cloth from his jacket and wrapped it around Clouds leg to prevent any further bleeding. Larius felt quickly other parts of Cloud to make sure there were no other injuries he missed. When he reached the stomach area he paused and felt nervous. On the side of his stomach it felt deep and wet. "Shit, not good, if this keeps up he's not going to last more than an hour or so."

His opened Clouds jacket to reveal a deep hole that spewed out a sickly black colored blood. Larius fumbled around in his pockets and pulled out a mystical glowing green orb; s radiance illuminating the insides of the bus, which cast shadows all around them. Even the rain seemed to turn green. He held the orb above Cloud on chanted in his mind. "Oh ancients, oh ancients, lend me your power. Your magic is wisdom, your magic is power, please grant this man to live, o grant him one more hour."

The orb began to glow vigorously; its green light blinded Larius. The orb made a strange sound as it was going to work, almost as if it was singing. Green light shot out as it twisted and curled along Clouds wound stopping it from oozing out anymore blood. The injury remained open, yet no blood came out; it was as though an invisible barrier prevented it from flowing out. "This is all I can do, we'll have to fix you up properly back at the base."

Larius tried to rouse Cloud, but to no avail; instead he wrapped Clouds arm around his shoulder and gently lifted him up. He then bent down to pick up Clouds sword … and with no difficultly lifted it with one hand. Larius's attention was quickly distracted by soldier on the floor. With his arm trembling, he reached for his automatic on the ground. Larius dropped the sword and reached into his inside pocket revealing a slick black pistol. Larius aimed the gun directly at the soldiers head and gently squeezed the trigger with no hesitation or remorse. He didn't bother to look at the soldiers remains he merely put his pistol back inside his jacket, then picked up the sword.

Reno and Rude had stopped awhile back, witnessing the whole event. "I have witnesses it wasn't me."With his hands up sarcastically,Reno blurted out trying to humor the whole situation. "And I'm not taking the rap for this one." Come on we better check it out, if he's dead we're screwed."

They both exited the vehicle and slammed the doors shut. "Hey aren't you locking the car Rude?"

"….With what? It's nicked."

Reno scratched his head. "Good point."

They both jogged for a couple of meters until they reached were the bus had veered off. Reno walked up to the edge of the hillside and peered over. "Can't see any movement, not a good sign."

"If he is dead, we might as well consider our asses as good as fired." Rude thought.

"Hey Rude, maybe we should go down and take a lookski."

Rude nodded.

The Sky grumbled with erupting thunder and black ominous Clouds seemed to gather. Lightening soon followed, illuminating the sky with a white presence. The hillside was steep, and the wet grass and slippery mud were making it more difficult than it needed to be. There only source anything to hold on to, were trees that protruded out at different angles. Reno nearly slipped a couple of times on the way down, usually followed by cursing. Rude however, just tried hard not to show that even he found this task quite difficult.

After five minutes of sheer struggle, they reached the bottom. Apart from the wrecked remains of the bus, the area showed no signs of life, at least not from the outside. Reno searched the outside of the bus and the neighboring area, while Rude searched the inside.

"Christ …"

Rude began examining the bodies. "Strange, this one's been shot …"

He heard the sound of twigs snapping and crackling outside. "Yo, you find anything?"

"Looks like he managed to get away."

"Well look on the bright side, at least we won't get fired."

Reno grabbed the sides of the bus and crouched his way under. "Shit what a mess."

"Are these our boys Rude?"

Rude indicated the logo of Shinra. Reno took out his silver phone from his jacket pocket and punched in a few numbers. He put it to his ear and let it ring for a few seconds.

"Sir, I'm afraid the squad you sent is eliminated. Yes, yes there heading towards Midgar? How do you know? … Ah I see clever sir. Shall we continue to pursue? Right. Reno out."

"What is his request?" Rude asked.

"Well first we get outta this jungle before we get attacked by local savage Amazon women, and then, we follow Cloud. Orders are we don't attack him until he's inside Midgar."

Meanwhile Larius was carrying Cloud over his shoulder with Clouds sword in the other hand. The forest got a lot clearer with less bushes, trees and braches to bar their path. Rain dripped of the tips from the slender green leaves, which hung high up in the trees. Birds sang to each other from one end of the forest to the next vibrating merrily. Rotten sticks of wood snapped beneath Larius's feet as he walked. Larius began working up a sweat; after all he was carrying a fully grown man, not to mention a large sword.

After about half a mile, they came upon a steep cliff leading upwards. The naked red rock should have glowed a fiery color, and should have been crispy and hot to touch. Yet today, the color was drowned out by the dismal weather. "Don't you worry Cloud, you're gonna make it."

Cloud made some muffled noises, but non that could be counted as vocabulary. Larius struggled as he went uphill, his legs having to work harder, but luckily, he used the sword for support. As Larius climbed higher, he could hear the sounds of people in the distance; cries, shouts, gun fire and rising black smoke devoid of direction. The rock became steeper and it became harder to walk. Sometimes he would often have to rest for a minute or two before carrying on. The water slid down the hill often carrying eroding mud along with it. Breathless and aching, Larius finally reached the top. The moons eerie gaze lit up the surface below to reveal a gigantic city. Its foundation was like a gigantic roundabout. There were eight enormous reactors embedded into the city, each one of them coughing out towering steams of green mist that polluted the air. Also encircled around the city, were eight steel gates all big in size; they were all numbered one to eight. Outside of these gates were large steel barriers painted black and yellow; most of them managed to keep firm, but others started to keel over. Several olive green army trucks were parked on odd angles to reinforce the barriers. Swarms of angry citizens were protesting, even in the miserable conditions. Groups of them all had separate motives; some wanted to demonstrate their objections through peaceful means, while others preferred a more violent take.

Fires were ablaze high; crowds of people were throwing custom made bombs, varying from petrol to explosives. Squads of soldiers stood grouped together with a specially made custom shields, advancing forward pushing back crowds of the dangerous ones. Rectangular lights repeatedly flashed a red light; they danced continually as if possessed. In the centre of the city an ominous building loomed over everything; the top of it being barely visible. Huge search lights, easily the size of normal cars, beamed extremely powerful rays of white light that battled with the settling green mist and prevailed, illuminating the sky above. The reason for the eight steel doors is because the city itself is divided into eight separate sectors, mostly consisting of slums. After the catastrophe that hit Midgar, Shinra felt no need to waste money on the poorer people of Midgar; instead, they concentrated on the wealthy. So in effect, the poorer people were literally left to rot. They had to make do with what they could get their hands on to build houses: Wood, scrap metal, sheets anything like that.

Larius pondered as he gazed thoughtfully into crowd of anger. "It's getting worse …. Rufus has gotta do something about this."

The shouts became louder and more frequent, as the sector six gates churned open, grating the dirt and scraping the sides; the rusty hinges craning to work harder from inside. The sound was quickly muffled by the stamping of what felt like an army of marching ants. Their feet perfectly in sync with each other, it was like a well orchestrated band. The men that appeared out from the gate wore protective white clothing, complete with the latest equipment, which included gas masks. Underneath there thin white overalls, body armor wrapped around their entire bodies, but allowing them to keep a well balance of durability and flexibility. As they marched out in a four by four order, they dispersed into a long line that spanned across the gate entrance. A voice appeared as if from nowhere and ordered the command "Fire!"

With their weapons raised and their fingers on the triggers they aimed there weapons high up. The chambers span and out of the barrels shot an endless number of cylindrical brass canisters. With the air soaring behind, they rotated as they flew sluggishly through the opposing wind. A few seconds went by and nothing happened. Just then, the canisters all began to emit sprays of gas, complete with what sounded like a thousands snakes violently hissing. Clouds of gas began to form, and in mere matter of minutes, spread around the area of sector seven, it was even half way to sector eight. People began to flee in all different directions, leaving behind any signs or bombs they were holding.

"Now's our chance." Thought Larius.

He began jogging down the hill, and on several occasions losing his footing. The night was even worse than before; the black curtain of the night, the layers of intimidating fog and now tear gas. He got to the bottom of the hill and started moving away from the ensued panic and gas, not to mention the access way was near sector six. That's were they'd meet Kilo who'd guide them through the sewers. The gas acted as perfect cover for them; as long as they didn't walk directly into it they would be fine. Several panic induced people ran past frantically, but none showed any signs of hostility towards them. The perimeter of the City Midgar ran a total of twenty three miles. "Better get you there quick, you won't last much longer."

Among the gas and fog, Larius's eyes sharpened as the manhole cover came into view. "Finally, we're nearly there."

By this point Larius was just about to keel over, but his determination was telling him otherwise. He laid Cloud down next to the cover, and vigorously began pulling at it. After a couple of minutes of non stop pulling, he stopped and took a flick knife from his pocket; the handle was made of a finely polished oak, that felt smooth and slender in the sweaty palm of larius's hand. He slid it into the side and began edging it upwards; the weight that was being put on the blade was tremendous, it even began to bend. After the knife had done as much as it could, Larius took over and slid his fingers underneath lifting it up, and sliding it to one side. Larius took the sword and flung it into the hole causing a loud clattering noise at the bottom; obviously he couldn't do the same with Cloud. He put him on his shoulder and climbed down significantly slower, the reason being, he could only use one arm.

Down below, broken light bulbs flickered violently with swarms of moths dancing and flickering around them; it was like they were magically entranced. To the right of the concrete path, polluted moldy water swam in its one way direction, the green and yellow swirling together to make a murky brownish color. The smell was almost gut wrenching, as it aggressively invaded the senses. The walls were covered in layers of moss and damp. Of the ceiling cobwebs hung, that nestled hidden in the shadow. Rats marched forward following the current of the water; their skittering feet and squeaking noises echoed around the sewer system.

Larius picked up the sword and began wondering were Kilo was. As he headed down the echoing tunnel he noticed a silhouette in the shadows. The light bulb flickering revealing a man stood with his back to the wall and his arms crossed. Half his face remained obscured by his long wispy brown hair. The eye that could be seen shone a crystal blue; his mouth remained unmoving and calm. His left arm remained bare with three pouches strapped to it, usually to hold extra bullets, while the other arm was covered with a black sleeve; on the arm that was covered, his hand wore a black fingerless glove, with four steel stones embedded into were the knuckles sat. His short opened jacket blended in well with the darkness, with it being black. Underneath he wore special body armor, which he had carefully stolen from a Shinra compound a few weeks back. Kilo stepped out of the shadows and slowly approached them; as he walked, the heavy boots tapped on the floor.

"Your late … "Kilos voice was fairly deep and calm.

"Yeah, the traffic was terrible." Larius grinned.

Kilo looked in Clouds direction.

" … Who's the dead weight?"

"Long story, all I know he's got a severe wound that needs attending to, and if we don't … he'll probably die."

"How do you know he's not just another Shinra spy?"

"He's just not, now hurry up and get us out of here."

" …… Follow me."

Kilo un-strapped an automatic from his back, and began guiding them though the sewer system. They climbed through several rusty old pipes, waded through rotten sewage water and climbed up ladders for what seemed like forever. After ascending for quite a while, they began to take simple left and right turns. Often, streams of moonlight would glide down through grids up above lighting the path for just a while. Sometimes strange noises would make them slow down and proceed with caution, but it usually turned out to be nothing. The torch which Kilo had taped to the side of his gun, provided only minimum light, but light nonetheless. Eventually, they reached the ladders which would take them directly out of the sewers, opposite the church. Kilo switched off the torch and flung the automatic back over his shoulder. His arms reached for the rusty ladders, and step by step he climbed to the top. Instead of just rushing out he slowly lifted the cover, just enough to see out of. Checking the coast was clear; he slid the lid to the side and slowly climbed out, the sudden rush of fresh air and rain overcame him; he took a deep breath, being thankful that he was out of that shit hole. After a few seconds of inhaling fresh air, he gave his hand to Larius, helping him out with Cloud and the sword.

The area around them was indeed one of the poorer parts… the slums. Huge piles of scrap metal and rubble towered around them. The land was a strange toxic sandy yellow, and there wasn't any sign of vegetation in site. In the distance there were large pipes that led to different areas of the slums. Opposite the manhole cover, the decrepit old church sat buried into the mounds of rubble and scrap metal. The gaping hole in the roof was covered by a large plastic sheet that wavered in the wind. The wood showed signs of rotting in several places, and the doors were barely holding together, as big as they were.

Kilo, shortly followed by Larius, advanced towards the old church. Before they entered, Kilo made another quick check to see if any Shinra troops were in site. Having noticed the all clear he opened the doors and strode in. Larius lagged behind and wondered, "I hope I've got him here in time … I guess I've done all I can do; now it's up to Samantha."