It was death, settling in, waiting.
—
My eyes burned as I scanned for shelter. The toxins affected everyone differently—some had mild symptoms, some worse, some dropped dead the second they stepped into the light.
Even for a grown man, this was a nightmare. We kept running, Eliana close behind, Lily wrapped in my arms, her coughing growing worse with every breath. I searched desperately through the thick smoke—nothing. No signs of life. Not for miles.
Lily's coughs grew weaker, her tiny body trembling. Panic clawed at my chest.
I didn't care if I made it, as long as they did—but right now, our chances were dropping fast.
Eliana coughed, her pace slowing. Fear crashed over me as I looked back, unsure of what to do. I fell in step with her, gripping her arm like it'd somehow keep her moving. The others—people barely hanging on—followed behind like I actually knew where I was going.
Then Eliana staggered.
And collapsed.
Her weight dragged me and Lily down with her, sending us crashing to the ground.
Hopelessness swallowed me whole.
Before I knew it, a prayer slipped past my lips.
"If you're out there… if you've been there all this time—don't let us die today. If we make it out of this, I'll search for you. I swear it on the lives of everyone standing here. Show yourself!"
My voice cracked, raw with desperation.
Then—
I saw it.
Something moved through the haze, a quarter-mile away. Then a voice—
"Women and children first! I repeat, women and children first!"
It rang through the chaos, crackling from speakers mounted on armored trucks barreling toward us, their headlights slicing through the smoke.
The men inside—armed to the teeth—looked military.
No one hesitated. People stumbled forward, shoving their loved ones onto the trucks.
Eliana still couldn't move. I scooped Lily back into my arms and signaled for her to climb onto my shoulders. Soldiers were the last people I wanted to see—but with the stakes higher than ever, I didn't have a choice.
I picked Eliana up too.
She was… light. Too light for a grown woman.
Didn't matter. With both of them in my arms, I ran.
"Please—help us!" I begged as we reached the trucks. Five out of seven were already full. Some of us weren't making it.
A soldier pulled Eliana and Lily up into the nearest truck, but their commander—
He locked eyes with me.
I couldn't see his face behind the mask, but I felt his stare. Cold. Unforgiving. The mask itself was hideous enough, but the way he looked at me... like he had already decided my fate.
Men were now allowed in, but as I tried to climb up, he growled.
"Not you."
I froze.
The weight of it hit me.
I had finally found Eliana again after all this time. Three months wasn't that long, but in those cells, it felt like three years.
"You. Stay. Back."
His voice was cold. Unyielding.
And then I recognized it.
"Malik?"
The mask slid open, shifting like it was made of nano-materials.
And there he was.
Malik.
From the look in his eyes, he still carried the scars from our last encounter.
The engines reved in unison preparing to leave.
"Now you'll understand what it means to be left to rot. Tobi!"
His words stung. His masks slowly slid shut. Signalled their disend and steadily they Barrelled off. I could hear Eliana slowly whispered my name as they drove off.
Malik s words sank deep. My mind raced to recall our last encounter.
***********************************************
Three years Earlier
I remember grinning under my mask, even as my lungs burned from running. Malik had a point—the cops weren't playing around anymore. But if I'm being honest, neither was I.
Malik scoffed, throwing me a look as we sprinted through the neon-lit streets. "One of these days, you gon' learn, bro," he muttered.
Sirens wailed behind us, bouncing off the slick pavement. We'd been here before—ducking down alleys, vaulting over barricades, barely slipping past the police drones. The neon still buzzed in my veins, making everything sharper, louder. Too loud.
I remember how the city felt that night—like it was alive, pulsing with energy that didn't belong to us. The flickering holograms, the smell of burnt-out circuits and damp asphalt, the way Malik's breathing hitched when we took a sharp turn.
Then, the flash of a floodlight.
I didn't think—I just reacted. Grabbed Malik's arm and yanked him back, pressing both of us into the shadows. The drone hovered past, scanning the alley with its piercing red eye, before drifting away.
Malik shot me a look, half annoyed, half impressed. "That was close."
Too close. But we weren't out of the game yet. Man, I was so damn high. Everything felt too sharp—like the city itself was alive, breathing in electric blues and reds. My heart was racing, but I wasn't scared. Nah, I felt untouchable.
Malik, though? He wasn't feelin' it the same way. "T, we gotta lay low," he muttered, his breath ragged. We ducked into an alley, and I could see his hands shaking—maybe from the neon, maybe from the fact that we had half the damn city's patrol units on our ass.
I wiped my forehead, grinning. "Relax, we lost 'em."
Malik shot me a look. "Man, you always think we lost 'em."
And maybe I did. Maybe I was too high, too cocky. Maybe I should've listened.
Because that's when the whole alley lit up like a damn stadium.
BZZT! A floodlight snapped on, blinding as hell.
"Freeze!"
My stomach dropped. We weren't just caught—we were boxed in. Shadows moved on both ends of the alley, armored figures closing in fast. Electric batons, pulse rifles—they came ready to put us down.
"Tobi, what the fuck—" Malik started, but I was already moving.
I ran.
Didn't think, didn't hesitate—I just bolted for a gap between the buildings. I was fast, faster than I should've been after a hit of neon. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was instinct, but I didn't stop.
I barely made it. My shoulder scraped against the rough brick as I squeezed through, hitting the pavement on the other side. I turned, chest heaving, ready to reach back for Malik—
But he wasn't there.
He hadn't made it.
I could see him, trapped in the alley, his back against the wall. A patrol officer shoved him down, his knee pressing into Malik's spine. More of them swarmed in, locking him in cuffs, barking orders.
Malik lifted his head, and his eyes locked onto mine.
I'll never forget that look.
Not fear. Not anger. Just betrayal.
Like he knew I wasn't coming back for him.
I wanted to move. Wanted to rush in, do something—anything. But what? There were too many of them. I was high as hell, barely holding myself together. I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms as I backed away, my gut twisting.
Then I ran.
And Malik spent three years in that hellhole because of me.