𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.

𝖳𝖾𝗋𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗎𝗌.

The sun peaked through from above and below the corten steel doors, casting little rays of light to appear within the otherwise dark space. "That's enough! Knock it off in there!"

Flinching from the banging coming from both inside and outside of the single train car, Eugene shoved himself farther into the corner. A pool of sweat engulfing him, he watched the marine through frightened eyes.

"Please stop. You're making things worse." Rosita barely could get the words out before Nate's roar echoed throughout the room.

"I mean it!" The voice aggressively fired back. Unsurprisingly, just like all the times that came before, the loud thud that served as a warning was challenged. Nate's willingness to continue came in the form of his boot as he repetitively kicked the wall of the structure.

"It's not his fault." Sasha said, helping Bob maintain his balance. Every time the former army medic tried to help reason with his friend, he was roughly shoved backwards.

"What?" Rosita asked.

"He's having an episode. It happens sometimes." Confused by Sasha's choice of wording, Abraham's brow was raised.

Momentarily, his gaze shifted away from the angered soldier to find Glenn, who had been trying to talk his friend down for the last fifteen minutes. "What the hell is she talking about?"

A troubled sigh expelled from between his lips as Glenn then began to explain. "Sometimes when he's angry or dealing with PTSD, he'll blackout."

As their conversation was interrupted by another sudden explosion of yelling, Rosita nearly jumped out of her own skin. "Is there something that we can do to make him snap out of it? We could hold him down till it passes or something."

"That would be a negative." Eugene stated, sharing his knowledge soon after to strengthen his argument.
"Berkserker, or shall I say Blind Rage Syndrome, is a disorder characterized by an excessively violent reaction to physical, verbal, and/or visual abuse."

"Yeah, he said that already." With the snarky remark, Rosita's arms crossed. But in typical fashion, her attitude was met with similar energy.

Eugene corrected his posture to stand tall as he spoke condescendingly. "What was not previously noted
was that often times, the person suffers total and complete amnesia, abnormally high strength, and most significantly, targeted violence for the duration of said episode."

Giving the scientist his victory, Rosita was the first to abandon their shared gaze. Glenn's arm was outstretched to block her path after he saw the woman start to head over. "Hey, stop. You guys don't know him. We do, and I'm telling you, it's not a good idea."

"Well, we have to do something. That guy already said that if he didn't stop, they'd come in here. If that happens, they'll kill him."

Just as he was about to respond, Glenn caught sight of Abraham from the corner of his eye. Prior to taking matters into his own hands, the sergeant muttered,
"To hell with this."

Being the only one brave enough to step up, the fight between two of the country's finest was kicked off by a nasty left hook.

"No!" Glenn yelled, watching the sergeant bounce back quickly to block the second strike.

The third punch, however, was his to deliver when finding an opening. Abraham's fist connected with the side of Nate's face before the marine could recover from the missed swing.

At last second, Bob wrapped his arm around Sasha's waist. Being denied movement, she shouted from where they stood. "Stop it!"

"Abraham, stop!" Another powerful blow landed when Rosita's demand went ignored much like the others.

"Fucking assholes. What the hell is going on in there?!"
The guard on shift was barely heard.

What once would've been considered the match-up of the decade was ultimately hindered by the marine's lack of self-awareness. It was challenging for him to effectively defend himself against his opponent because of that unresponsive behavior to external stimuli. Essentially, information from outside the body that our senses detect went unnoticed in his trance.

"Get off of him!" Maggie threw her closed fists wildly. Hitting the sergeant formally belonging to the United States Army in the back repeatedly.

Glenn's comment about the risk of approaching someone who is unruly was validated when things quickly escalated further. When he tried to yank Abraham off of Nate, who was pinned against the wall, he was shoved, sending him reeling backwards and unfortunately making him collide with his wife.

Being fiercely loyal, the sight of Nate as he was being beaten relentlessly had Glenn's concern for her quickly dismissed. Without giving her own wellbeing a second thought, Maggie tried to stand. But after hitting her head during the fall, she was guided back down once overwhelmed by dizziness.

Everyone's best efforts were a waste. All but Rosita, who managed to do the unthinkable. Alongside Tara, both girls fought to stop the next punch from being thrown. "We need him! Abraham, stop! We need him to get out of here!"

Stunned, the ginger's head turned. His chest heaved, trying to catch his breath as he listened. No one else dared to utter a word, being too worried about possibly triggering another wave of violence.