Tadashi twirled his machete in his hand. It was almost hilarious, how life always had a way of maintaining balance with its complex system of give and take. It didn't matter if nearly three quarters worth of its ecosystem formed over eons was nearly wiped out to extinction. It would still find a way to climb back up.

Nature had proven that time and time again.

With each extinction, a new era was ushered in. It held the promise of hope, the promise of a new generation whose offspring were hardier, stronger, more resilient. Extinction had happened before and obviously the world had no qualms about it happening again, even if the cause was something artificial. It was mankind who drove itself to the brink of extinction and now they would pay with their own kind. Nature allowed the handiwork of man to destroy it inside out.

Yet ironically nature itself gave man a leeway. Some say that which was born came by the grace of the Gods themselves, while others saw it as a freak accident- the product of witchcraft or occultism. But Tadashi was one of those who knew better. With time there came mutation. With mutation there came the "hardier, stronger and resistant". And with it came forth the very embodiment of life itself: the immunes. Sparse and scattered they were, but not unheard of. They existed even before things got out of hand. Stories of people who were supposedly infected but rose up unharmed spread like wildfire. It bred the hoax of a successful vaccine and people became complacent. After all, they had won another battle yet again had they not? Avoided yet another catastrophe, in their deluded little minds.

It filled Tadashi with much self-loathe to recall he was one of these very people. Nonetheless, the immunes gave people a reason to continue living before, and they carried on fueling it today. They were perhaps a species of human Tadashi felt the most sympathetic towards, despite their obvious advantage. Even if they were immune to the virus, they were not spared from the cruelty of the world. Immunes were subject to almost every emotion available to the human cortex. They were symbols of hope, hate, envy, fear, disgust…

And there was the Apex. Tadashi would need a substantial enough cover if he wanted to avoid the subject of possible contact with an immune. He had little clue of what the fireflies wanted with the boy and with FEDRA's current dominance, they would want little to do with anything that could threaten it. But the Apex. To say they would be interested in the boy would be something of an understatement.

"Give me the details and let's get moving. The longer the chip is there, the riskier it is for all of us."

Both his sudden voice and agreement startled Tomago slightly, but she squared her shoulders and trudged forward.

"His name is Hiro. We're supposed to collect him at the City Hall before sundown today."

"How the hell did they know the first deal went bust anyway?"

Tomago shrugged. "That girl probably didn't come alone. Anyway, the contact's some guy called Krei, so probably the boy's under his care." Tomago paused, her brows furrowing. "The rest of the details didn't really come through. I can't remember much."

Krei. The name sounded familiar to Tadashi.

It can't be.

"That guy you mentioned. Krei-"

"Yeah. He used to be kind of a big deal in the science industry before all this happened." Tomago interrupted before he could finish his sentence. "You know, the one with the huge tech company?"

Tadashi felt a soppy coldness flush down into his gut as he pictured the man, Alistar Krei. He remembered the man, with his immaculately gelled hair parted in the center and that disturbing rendition of a smile always playing on his lips. The man was huge on the science scene and there had always been something undeniably charismatic about him. Few people successfully withstood him and he even had government lapdogs waiting at his feet, giving him approval for whatever it was that he needed to conduct. Uncertainties were cast regarding the ethicality and morality behind his business transactions- Tadashi himself was no stranger to that. The profit-driven man had a warped concept of a moral compass and Tadashi doubted that fact had changed. How he ended up with the Hiro kid was one thing. But what Krei would do with his chip if he had the technology to manipulate it was something Tadashi did not want to know.

"Wha do they plan to do with the boy after we deliver him to the lab?"

Tomago flung her knapsack on the dusty ground, unbuckling the straps and pulling out a bottle. Tadashi eyed her impatiently, watching as she downed a mouthful of water.

"Well, Hamada." She began as she wiped her mouth dry. "I'm just as curious as you are. But let's just say it's a win-win deal for all of us and perhaps the whole of humanity if we get the boy there okay?"

"Almost there. It's already in sight." Huffed Tomago as she clambered across the thick wall of debris. Sundown was approaching and they had little time to lose.

Tadashi glanced over at his partner as they stood atop the mound of rubble. Her eyes were half lidded from the exhaustion but there was the unmistakable glint of determination under them. It was the unmistakable look of someone who held a hope. The journey was shorter than expected and Tadashi was definite Tomago had more than cursory knowledge of her way around this place. It made him wonder if this was even her first time doing such a dog job.

There was now a conveniently placed obstruction of rundown vehicles stood in between the City Hall and the two. They could have easily crossed the roofs of the vehicles if they were aligned in a neat row, but life was bent on making things as difficult as possible. The vehicles were strewn haphazardly, several upturned and on their sides. It reminded him of his own run. It had only been two days, but with all the sudden revelations that happened in the short span of time, it had seemed like eons to him. But perhaps it was these shocks that he needed in life. They gave him an opener for the can of worms. There was anger, undoubtedly, but it was not the same, dull kind he had felt for years. It was a renewed emotion, the kind of anger and frustration at trying to understand. What was so important to Tomago in this whole business that she would risk his wrath repeatedly?

"It's getting dark. They'll be coming out to play real soon." Tomago muttered, her grip on her knife tightening. Tadashi could feel her leaning closer in, even if she was unaware.

"Guess we gotta do some playground bullying then, huh."

Tomago looked at Tadashi with an eyebrow raised high.

"I got your back, kid."

A smile ghosted over her lips as they began their journey towards obscurity.

A wet smear landed itself on Tadashi's face as he sliced past another clicker, silencing it before any more of its brethren were alerted by its grotesque sounds. He struggled past the debris before pulling his machete towards the clickers approaching Tomago. She was doing her best to hold out her attackers; she was more than capable of fending for herself but he knew the approaching horde was definitely going to overwhelm them.

Tadashi had long already braced himself for such an attack, but he knew it came with the risk of the two of them getting infected. The chances of becoming infected increased exponentially when dealing with a horde, especially when there were more approaching from a distance. The sun was quickly setting too. Time was clearly not on their side. There was only one way they could escape this and make it to the building. The steps were now a short distance from them and there was no way he was about to let them become kin with the clicking bastards.

Finishing off the few clickers surrounding them, Tadashi quickly grabbed a small metal device from his pocket.

The other clickers were closing in fast. There's not much time left.

He pulled Tomago's face to his own, holding her jaw firmly with his free hand.

"When I release this button here, you are going to run as fast as you can into that building. Don't look back no matter what happens and you do not stop until you get there. You got it?"

Tomago nodded and he let go of his hand.

"3."

"Wait-"

"2."

"What about you?"

"1, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!" Yelled Tadashi, roughly pushing Tomago out of the way. He released the button, throwing the device with all his might towards the clickers.

And immediately Tadashi fled towards the direction of the building, watching Tomago's figure sprint past the thicket and up the steps of the City Hall. Tadashi's legs snagged past the brambles and his throat was burning but he couldn't care less. He aimed for the marbled stairway, running faster with each breath.

As he closed into his destination, a huge blast erupted from behind, sending him barreling head first towards the ground.