ROGER (Read Until 7/31)

T W E N T Y - N I N E

We waited for silence to settle above us before we opened the door and stepped back out into the hall. To me, it felt like hours—sitting, waiting, watching the monitors for a sign of Bessel. In actuality, it'd only been twenty minutes—that was all it took for the Hosts to attack us.

Twenty minutes, and our team were all that remained in Dome B.

Roger led the way through the smoke-filled hall and up the stairs of our base. Behind me, was Matthews, groggy but well enough to fight—despite my being against it. The meds within that syringe may have been out of date, but they worked the way they should have. Matthews was left with nothing more than itchy bandages and a headache.

Now, with Roger, it was different.

As we walked over our fallen comrades, kicking away mess and empty weapons, I watched him. He moved the same, spoke the same, but the veins visible on his skin at times emitted a pulsating glow; I could see the medication still travel through his bloodstream. When he knelt down to pick up a discarded shotgun, and a blue line shot up the ripped tears of his suit, I couldn't help but think... his nano-bots healed tissue for him, so why take the shot?

"He had to have used contact lenses to hide his eyes," Roger said as we stopped at the entrance. It was blown in, with the right door gone, and the left dangling on its hinges. "That's how I didn't know."

"Can't you feel them?" Matthews asked, rubbing the corner of his eye as he came around us to look outside.

The streets were empty. Quiet. Not even the air blew. The corner lights had been shot out by gunfire, leaving us with just the glow of the moon. Staying inside the hall, I watched the slim clouds slide over the night sky.

"I can't... not like I used to." Roger shifted his head outside the door and eyed both ends of the street. The handgun's metal squeaked in his hand. "If I'm not looking, I can't find them."

"And his team?" Roger looked back at me as my voice cracked. "His whole team wore contacts? Just... sneaking around the Domes, hiding, making us believe—"

Roger shushed me before my emotions spilled out in words. He let his hand linger over my lips. "Relax," he whispered, pressing down.

I gulped and nodded.

So, did he. That nod was meant for both Matthews and me, and when Matthews caught it, he stepped out into the empty street, staring left, then right. Roger followed. "We won't know who knew what until we get there," he said.

Get where? To Provincial Hall? I gulped again.

We used the shadows behind cars to duck and cover. The grime on our suits kept us blended with the night. As long as we held our breaths and were light on our feet, we were invisible.

And, so were the Hosts.

"I can't see anyone," I whispered as I looked over the back end of a blue convertible. My eyes scanned the streets, the buildings, but there was nothing and no one. Not even the sound of feet. It bothered me because what I'd seen on camera was complete mayhem. And yet, now... the city was dead. How could a city filled with millions of people be so... quiet? Had someone snapped their fingers and called their soldiers back into the shadows?

"They're probably in buildings, hidin'." Matthews came beside me, his eyes wide as he looked around the streets, too.

"What about Peace?" I looked at him, then at Roger. "Where are they? Not all of them could've fallen, right?"

"No, Doll." Roger shot me a small smile before pressing one hand over his ear. In mine, static started like a sparking candle. That built in receptor he had, the one that connected to me, wasn't just for me; it was for everyone.