Price could barely stand the high pitched tweening in his head. At first, it was nothing, just a slight ring and he figured it would go away. But it hadn't, it only got louder and now he couldn't just shrug it off. It was just down right aggrivating now. Finally he just decided on trying to go to sleep, hoping that he'd feel a little better when he woke up.

He closed his eyes, trying to calm his racing thoughts. But somehow he couldn't keep them closed. He had to open them again. But the moment he peeled his eyelids open, he found himself somewhere else entirely. Below him was a lake, the surface only barely disturbed as he placed his hand towards the water. It was weird, there was no glass, nothing between him and the water, as if the liquid were a solid and he could sit on the surface without falling through.

"Well I'm surprised, it actually worked." A familiar voice chuckled. Price twisted himself at the midsection to see behind him. There stood Soap, just as he remembered him before his demise. The same face he had grown so used to, the same voice, and the same coy grin was there. Mentally he kicked himself, this was just some dream, Soap was dead.

He knew it couldn't be real, he was sitting on water! Water! He should have fallen through! But somehow he hadn't. And that could only confirm that this was just a dream. And Soap was another, it was just his mind holding onto the man, unwilling to let his memory rest in his mind.

Soap's grin faded by the lack of responce. "Let's not get too excited." Still no responce. "Price?" Now he appeared worried.

"This is just a dream..." Price sighed, partly to himself. And to the spectur before him.

The man walked towards him, only disturbing the water with light ripples that went out in all directions. "I know, but I couldn't find another way to contact you." He explained, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But it's really me."

Price shook his head. "You're just my imagination. My mind's just haunting me..."

With this, Soap sighed heavily and kneeled in front of him. "If I was just your imagination, could I do this?" He then took hold of Price's forearm, fingers like ice. It made goosebumps rise that the man himself could feel to his bones.

But it didn't mean he was convinced. "The mind plays many tricks. Some hallucinations more real than others. I know you're not here."

"No. You THINK I'm not here." Soap corrected. "Face it, old man, you're just surprised. I'm really here, just not in person."

"If it's not in person, than I know it's just a dream or my greif is messing with me..." Price stated flatly. He was in denial. And he thought that if he kept telling himself once that if he believed Soap was alive then he might just come back. He had come to terms with the man's death, so why was it he wanted to believe this was real. It felt real. "This is just a vivid dream..."

Head in his hand for a second, Soap grumbled something. Probably annoyed by Price's reluctance to accept what was going on. Finally he met his eyes. "I'm running out of time, don't make me waste it. I'm here to tell you that you need to kill Makarov. Rid this world of that disaster. If not to avenge me, then for the sake of millions who are still at risk, and for the people who he's already killed."

Price nodded.

"And Price, Yuri..." His voice was starting to fade, his figure just beginning to vanish. "Shite. I- You need to-" And with that he was gone. Price stared in shock.

"No. No, Soap! Come back!" He was just realizing what his neglecting the truth had brought him. Now Soap couldn't tell him whatever it was that he needed to know. What was he going to say about Yuri? He couldn't be sure. If he had listened, if he just accepted what was there... Again he lost Soap because he did something wrong. If only he patched him up when they stopped, he'd still be alive. This was his fault!

Suddenly he fell through, water bubbling around him, leaving him submerged as the surface escaped him. He found himself sitting up in his bed, head throbbing, and sweat trickling down the back of his neck; feeling frozen in the cool autumn air. He put his head in his hands and just tried to comprehend what he saw. What he heard.

Soap blinked dazily and groaned in discomfort. The ground was moving, the world was moving slowly. A dirt trail was right under him, his toes scoring a trail in the path as he was being dragged. Slowly he lifted his head to see through unfocused vision Shepard walking ahead. He barely even turned his head to see the side of Ghost's mask, and turn the other way to see the opposite side of Roach's young face.

"Whass goin' on?" Some drowy effect had taken over, where his words were formed rather slurred.

Ghost and Roach both stopped moving at once when they heard him, and then rushed to a tree at the side of the path to rest Soap up against it. The former was first to ask, "Are you alright, Captian? We thought we lost you."

"I'm fine..." He told him groggily. "Wha' happened?"

Roach answered before his friend had the chance. "Ghost caught you and brought you back up to the other side. Seems those Lost are really trying to get you. When he got you up, you went into shock and thought you were a goner."

"I did?" He barely even remembered what happened. Only the screaming and the sense of falling, and trying to tell Price something he couldn't even remember anymore. But he knew it was important. But what? He'd remember later if it was really important.

He pushed away form the tree, attempting to stand on his own, only to find his knees weak. Ghost steadied him, "Are you sure you'll be able to walk?"

"I'll be fine, Ghost." He assured, voice loosing the slur. "How close are we to those Sealer people?"

"They aren't actually people." Ghost corrected. "And we're only a few days walking. It'd go by faster if we could fly though."

Soap's mouth went dry. "No. I think we can deal with the extra time."

Roach narrowed his eyes then gasped, "I don't mean to alarm anyone, but you might wanna look at yourself."

He knew by the alarm in his voice that it couldn't be good. So he lifted his hand up, and surely enough, there were cracks beginning to form. It felt almost uncomfortable. Shepard had taken notice and stepped him, examining Soap's hand.

"We're running out of time. He's turning into a rougue." He stated. "If you want to get resurrected, then we need to hurry."

Ghost nodded. "So we fly?"

"Like we have any other choice?" Roach concluded.

Soap stared wide eyed at all three. "But can't we just-?"

"We need to go, and we need to go now." Ghost reasoned. "Just hang on, I won't drop you this time."

"I find that hard to believe..." Soap grumbled to him, and found himself pulled upwards off the ground. Roach and Shepard behind them. At this rate, they should be there in a couple of days.