Thank you so much to Arrow900 for the picture on the side! She made it and all the pictures in the upcoming chapters! She's also a super supportive friend and has commented/voted for every chapter! It means more to me than you would ever understand, and I thank you so much for being the always amazing you! I love you! 

Cayson wasn't going to remain conscious for much longer. The strong ever-growing desire to sleep infected every aspect of his body. He was currently sitting next to Emery against the wall in a bare conference room, his heavy head resting on her shoulder.

Mason had taken one of the only chairs in the room and propped it up in the corner while Zane had taken the other and was presently rocking himself back and forth. Emery watched him, waiting for the second he slipped up and collided with the floor.

Another guy had arrived an hour or so earlier. His name was KJ and besides the fact that he had only revealed his name and hadn't said another word he wasn't threatening. KJ laid in the corner of the room, opposite everyone, murmuring to himself and trembling.

Though Cayson had been yelled at not even five minutes ago for shutting his eyes, he had the guts to try again. This time, instead of seven seconds of peace and then a scream in his ear, he made it all the way to thirty seconds.

Emery, then, slugged him right in the knee. He jolted forward, arm burning, as tossed his eyes open; to wearisome to fight back with his weapon of bitter sarcasm.

"Stop falling asleep," Emery furiously cautioned. Mason had spent over an hour pounding his fists against the door in an effort to get Cayson help but it proved useless: help wasn't coming. Cayson had done the unthinkable: he had beaten the elements, taken out the Hunter, and saved the girl.

If this was a movie, the credits would be scrolling as he continued out his remarkable life in harmony. Conversely, here he was; suffering in the boiling room.

The door screeched open, a girl being conducted inside. Whoever had abetted her vanished, the door slamming and the lock clicking before anyone even had time to breathe.

"Theia?" Zane conjectured, growing from his unpleasant chair. Theia, whose back was to them, glanced over her shoulder. Theia was covered from head to toe in dirt. It infested her hair, tarnished her jeans, and powdered her face. Besides a couple nicks and abrasions, she was okay. Her baby blue eyes looked as if they had increased in intensity as she sprang toward him.

The two greeted each other with a tight embrace. Cayson presumed they had both endured in Carissa's group together and they had bonded. Zane set his chin on top of her head, holding her as close as he could.

"Seems were the only ones left," she wept into his t-shirt. Zane shut his eyes tightly.

"Do I need to say what were both thinking?" Emery whispered. He was more than sure both he and Emery's views were along the line of: "So cute, get a room, you're making my heart bleed."

The door unexpectedly glided wide open.

Ezra strolled into the room, watching Zane and Theia with precaution. The two drew away from one another, swiveling around to face him. Sean advanced around Ezra so he also could cross the threshold into the room.

"It's about damn time!" Mason snapped, kicking his chair in frustration as he rose. "He needs help."

"As of right now," Ezra commenced, setting Mason's problem aside. "You're the only survivors."

"We can't be!" Emery shouted, shuddering her head in disbelief. "What about Carissa? Or . . . Or Marcy?" She clasped Cayson's hand firmly the moment she said Marcy's name.

"Marcy?" Sean queried.

"Yeah . . . she was just a little girl-"

"We're not done looking yet," Sean quickly intervened. "We'll continue until its dark and start again in the morning."

"I know you're all scared and confused, but . . . we do have some questions that need to be answered." Ezra further marched into the room, transporting Theia and Zane a couple steps backward.

"You've got to be kidding right now. We're not doing anything until-"Mason started to look after Cayson, straightaway disrupted by Ezra.

"He'll receive help once our questions are answered . . . Either cooperate or don't." Mason's lips thinned. He tensely got hold of the chair, relocated it into its original upright position, and slinked into it. "When they attacked you, did you see or hear anything? Conversations between them or names of people?"

"We saw their symbol, the one on their jackets," Zane was the first to answer back.

"They . . ." Emery vacillated.

"They?" Ezra irritably necessitated.

"They knew us . . . more like, he knew Cayson's name." Thanks Emery for throwing me to the wolves.

"What did he say to you exactly Cayson?" If Ezra's radar hadn't picked Cayson up before there was no way in hell it wouldn't now.

"He just knew my name." His voice was hoarse and he had deliberately eluded extra details. Ezra accepted Cayson's answer jadedly.

"And how did you get all the stuff we found on your person?" Sean alerted Ezra's focus to Emery.

"Cayson knocked out the Hunter who attacked us and I took anything I thought we'd need." Emery proudly smirked.

"Wait wait," Mason jeered. "Cayson took out . . . a hunter? By himself?"

"Any and all details about them need to be told to me. I understand the trauma you're all facing. If any come back to you, find me immediately." Ezra huffed one he was completed his prepared speech. "Fill them in," he drilled Sean, advancing toward the exit.

"That's it?" Zane cast distrust which lead to Ezra regressing to his former locale. "We're dropped off in the middle of a freaking war zone and the supposed 'good guys' lock all of us in a room, including the guy who has a freaking cut in his arm! And you're just going to leave?"

Ezra flashed ahead, looming over Zane as he propelled wrath downward upon him. He gritted his teeth and tapered his eyes. Cayson waited for steam to upsurge from his ears.

"First rule, don't ever question me. The last person who did ended up on the other side of that line and didn't make it past the first R.E.M cycle-"

"Ezra, sir. You have a lot of work to do, I'll take it over from here." Ezra contemplated Sean's words, passing on a scowl that could make Arnold Schwarzenegger tremble and at that point fumed from the room. Theia jerked Zane backwards and into his chair, Zane going along like a zombie.

"I know you guys are going crazy and almost certainly want to kill Ezra but he means well . . . As you could probably tell, there are some rules you need to follow. These aren't just rules made up for the sake of having rules. They'll-"

"Get us out of here?" Cayson came apart, incapable of monitoring his fluctuating internal fury and external temperature.

"Keep you alive," Sean cleared his throat. "When the sun starts to go down, you're not allowed to leave the Innocuous."

"And what is the Innocuous exactly?" Emery grasped a piece of Cayson's hair and returned it to its correct spot at the same time as she talked.

"The field were in now. As Ezra said so . . . nicely, do as you're told. He's been here longer than anyone. Though you might not agree, he knows what he's talking about. More of a suggestion than a rule, do your part. Find somewhere to fit in around here, it'll make living here easier. No fighting is allowed ever within Base grounds. But the most important rule is to never cross the Base line under any circumstances."

"How come you did?" Theia probed.

"I'm a guard. I check the boundaries and go out every so often to find . . . new people." Pain flashed in his eyes. "I know that this . . . it isn't easy. It's scary and all you want to do is go home. We'll find a way. For now, you need to focus on keeping yourself safe."

"Who were those people chasing after us?" Theia put pressure on Zane's shoulder, instigating the upsurge of questions that was about to arise.

"They're Reapers. Normally, they let the incomers find their way here and . . . well . . . they're like sharks. Deadly only if you get into the water-"

"And in our case they attacked first," Mason provided.

"Exactly. We don't know why. We've already started looking into it.

"Why are we here?" Emery asked the million dollar question, the one everyone desired to know the answer to yet were too afraid to say. Sean uncomfortably wavered back and forth.

"I wish I could tell you." He dawdled in silence for some time. "We all showed up a lot like you guys. One day we were normal people and the next we-we were here."

"So, if were all the same, why did you lock us in here like animals?" Mason sneered.

"For your safety." Mason scoffed. "We've lost more people than you'll ever know because they couldn't accept this life. I don't want that to happen to any of you." Mason sunk further into his chair. "We've figured out how to survive here. But this isn't a utopia. Everyone here is feeling exactly what you're right now and if they were to ever find out what happened to you," Sean roughly ran a hand over his face.

"Don't tell anyone, we got it." Emery offered for security.

"For the first couple nights, this is going to be your room. I know it isn't the homiest but it's a way for us to keep an eye on you. Plus, it's probably the safest place to be inside the camp. People don't come up here unless it's an important reason."

"What about the others?" Emery's voice was rough.

"We'll keep searching . . . If a few of you want to come with me, we'll find you some blankets and clothes to change into. Doctor should be here any second."

"I'll go," Mason presented.

"Me too," Zane and Theia virtually articulated in harmony. Sean steered the volunteers from the room. Cayson couldn't handle sitting in that room any longer. He looked-for some kind of respite before the doors fastened for the night.

He fed off his fear and congregated the strength to thrust off the wall and to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Emery deliberated. "He said the doctors coming." Cayson's entire world alternated. His vision darkened and his body felt like it'd been trolled by a steamroller; his head excruciatingly throbbed.

Before he could even utter an agonizing groan his cheek was pressed to the floor.

"Cayson!" He knew Emery was right next to him, yet she sounded a million miles away. The lens of his visualization was conquered by a black haze. He could see shoes returning to the room, dashing to him.

His vision was infested by the vapor and he lost his battle: deteriorating into obscurity.