Let Your Shadow Fall Behind You

Summary: But what if this time Neo found him? He settled his fingers on the keyboard and carefully entered a name: Noah Collins. AU, oneshot. Rebirth Webtoon, by 69michi.

The only things in the hall were broken glass, blood, bodies, and ripped clothing. Those who had managed to come back from the grave were easily dealt with, at least for the zombies not lurking in corners or behind locked doors.

Amidst this scene of carnage stood a teenager with a long coat and black hair. The most notable part of his appearance was the mask covering his mouth and the single red earring he had worn for years. He pulled out a bottle of water and a small solar powered flashlight, seemingly out of thin air. His name was Neo Collins, and the name of the large black beast beside him was Hail.

The electricity was still running, thanks to the ruined military base's backup generator. Lightning was still inconsistent around the place, as some of the light bulbs had been smashed in the chaos.

Neo flicked his flashlight on. He still stumbled at times, and cursed, as he walked through the cluttered hallways. Hail found it easier to navigate, possessing better night-vision than humans. He was on guard now, ready to maul anything that jumped at them.

After pocketing a few key cards and a janitor's key ring he found on the way in, Neo could get to pretty much any part of the facility he wanted. He used the maps on the wall to get to the base's store of food and threw everything in his earring's space dimension without much care. It was always helpful to have more food, and he had been getting low lately.

Seven minutes later, Neo was staring at a door. He didn't have anything that would open the lock, so he simply took part of the door into his earring. Neo turned on the computer in the office of. . .well, he didn't know, whomever was in charge of the base. He sipped at his bottle of water, idly searching for scraps of information on what the government has been up to. Neo has been wandering around, avoiding them, for the past few years. . .since the split. He knew perfectly well what the researchers would do with him.

The teen's fingers tapped the desk for a minute in a rough staccato. The hope in his chest wavered. He would only be hurting himself if he kept obsessing over what happened.

But what if this time Neo found him?

He settled his fingers on the keyboard and carefully entered a name: Noah Collins.

Search.

The document results came up. They were from before Armageddon, back when he ran the Arc Company.

Neo scanned over the titles and dates with bitter disappointment. He got all the way up to the top and. . .choked as he saw that the newest dated file that showed up was several months after Armageddon. It was titled "PROJECT NOAH" in all caps, as most military officials had little sense of style.

Neo clicked on it.

The file opened up to show that. . .the information there was mostly blacked out. The picture was blurred, but it was definitely of Noah Collins. The items confiscated and stored here included his glasses and heart monitor.

Neo's nails dug into the wooden desk. They had taken away his heart monitor? Were they idiots or did they just not give a d*mn if he died?

Neo forcibly relaxed his hand and picked out the wood under his nails before he had to deal with splinters. Infections and diseases of any sort were much more deadly these days, with the public's inability to get professional medical attention.

He turned his attention back to the screen and continued reading. Afterwards, he searched through the base's archives and storage room. Information was his best alley and he doubted he would get a chance like this again.