ROGER (Read Until 7/31)

E I G H T E E N

I couldn't believe how fast things had gone wrong. The plan went to hell. Polk was a Host to his dead wife. Matthews was stuck behind. And I, against my will, was back outside.

It was like I'd blinked and the stairs changed from concrete to stone. There I was, dropped flat on my ass outside Provincial Hall, trying to catch my breath, and no one came to check on me.

Douglas yelled and ordered someone to bring around the van, while Erica rushed to the entrance with a device in her hands. For me, everything was distorted. The blaring alarm in the air was the city's distress siren. For me, it was like a dying cry in a distant realm; a cry of defeat, of death. It hit my chest, echoed in my ears, and blacked out the sound of static.

With a groan, I pushed myself up and stood, planting my feet firm on the building's stone steps. I looked at the Peace members who scurried through the streets. Some wiped blood from their jumpsuits, others shook dirt and glass from their hair. My heart raced as I looked up and down the street, recalling Douglas' word, "The Hosts are gathering to attack."

"Hey!" He pushed me behind him as he called to Erica, who placed the device she'd carried against the glass entrance. "How's that lock coming?"

"Lock?" I gripped his elbow. "Why are you locking it? Matthews and Roger are—"

"Stop." I'd never seen Douglas so red. The color spilled out from his eyes and into his ears; I nearly saw smoke on top of his head. "Stop talking," he said.

The small box turned red as Erica punched numbers into its keypad. The doors fought against the device, but the beeps counted down the seconds as it was forced closed. Locked.

I gulped and reached for Douglas' arm again. "They're inside!" I cried. "They're alive, they're—"

Douglas grabbed my hand, then my arms, and held me tight. "Roger can ghost out of there whenever he wants," he hissed. "I don't want to hear it!"

I bit my tongue. "But Matthews! He's stuck in there!"

"I know!" He growled this time, squeezing his eyes tight as he pushed me to walk away. That red on his face, that was pain; I saw it. Having to leave Matthews behind was a hard decision to make, and yet, what I couldn't understand, was that he was right there. He'd pulled me, right? He could've pulled Matthews, too.

Why leave him behind?

"We can get him." I reached forward, catching Douglas by the pocket of his jumpsuit. "We can go back!"

The van he'd ordered came around the corner, its brakes screeching to a halt a few feet away from us. Three members opened the back, dropping weapons onto the sidewalk. Others went to the driver's side window and spoke to the woman behind the wheel.

"We can't." Douglas refused to look at me, lifting an assault rifle in his hands. "He told me to get you out, and I did. He knew this could happen. He was willing to make this sacrifice."

"W-what?" I took three steps back, nearly stumbling on one of the steps. "You can't!"

"I can." He looked at me. "This is more than just him, you, and your goddamn machine friend. This is the whole world we're talking about, and damn it, I won't lose because you want to run back inside. You need to—wait, come back!"

I ran.

I knew it was more than Matthews, more than my goddamn friend. The reason why I'd run for it was because it was more than the whole world, too. There were abandoned souls the nation forgot about; broken promises never kept. Zara had said it, that file I was meant to delete could bring someone back as a human. How? I didn't know. But if I deleted it, I'd never find out.