It's a quarter past five and the sky's beginning to fall back towards the darkened tone that it's usually adorned in. The only visible silhouettes are from my eyes deceiving me or a figure standing near the lampposts that stands tall above the ground. Needless to say, it isn't an outstanding idea to be walking around by myself when the sun is falling back down.

I pass the empty alleyways and down the sidewalks. My gun is clutched to my left and bags of groceries to my right. I'm tense. It's an unusually bland Wednesday afternoon with nothing in sight. By now I should have been spotted by The Eccentric.

"You there!" A voice hollers out from behind me. I turn and hold my gun straight out. Just like Pete taught me: a tight grip and finger locked on the trigger. Assess the target first then fire. It looked to be like he was unarmed, but I couldn't take any chances. I can't lose my life. Not now, at least.

The male that's standing a couple feet away from me is disheveled. He's adorned in a dirty tux that's ripped and bloodied from head to toe. His hair is greasy but managed to stay in an updo style; it somehow compliments his large forehead and puckered nude lips. His eyes are coffee colored but drained of life. The Eccentric dressed like him and have similar appearances, but it looks as if he was discarded.

"Please, help me!" He raises up his hands in surrender at the sight of my gun. He jogs towards me, not saying a word when he hides behind my back. He's a bit shorter than me.

"What's going on?" I question, backing away from him.

"There! The horizon!" He shouts, his finger shaking. I already knew what he meant.

I grab his arm and start tugging him down the nearest empty alleyway. He doesn't question where we're going. If he has that much trust in a stranger, he must not be one of them. The base is a couple blocks down and hopefully we'll make it there in one piece.

~

We both arrive at the base in one piece. He's sitting on the couch, huffing out of breath. Despite his good looks and well-built body, he has the worst stamina. Jon's interrogating him at the moment while I'm unpacking the groceries I stole. This should last us about one or two months.

"So, you don't remember anything?" Jon says in surprise. I decide to butt in on the conversation by sitting next to Jon. The stranger is sitting across from us in a wooden chair that's rickety and old. It creaks under his weight.

He shakes his head as a confirmation, "I just woke up in the desert. I walked for miles until I found this town and next thing I knew there were people chasing me."

"Do you remember your name?" I ask.

He frowns for a moment, deep in thought, "Brendon. It's Brendon. Now that's I told you everything I know, could you please tell me what the fuck is going on?"

"You do the talking, I'll go get the others," Jon sighs as he heads towards the kitchen. He's taking the back door. Everyone's in the backyard doing their target practice.

"The most I can tell you is that this world is overrun by a corrupt government who's basically after us," I inform him. "They're brainwashing citizens into their own puppets and it's bullshit."

"That's—" he splutters, "—that's a lot of information to digest."

Pete rushes in with a worried look plastered on his face. Willam's next to follow, then Tyler.

"You brought a stranger in here?" Pete shouts, eyes flaring up with anger. I feel my Adam's apple bob up and down nervously. Oh, I'm in for a hell of a ride. "Especially a guy wearing some suit?"

"Relax," I frown, "he doesn't know anything about us. I'm pretty sure he's not with The Eccentric either."

"I mean Gerard use to wear suits all the time and look where he is," Willam crosses his arms while muttering, "a fucking traitor buried six feet underground."

The stranger, Brendon, is looking down at the floor guiltily. I can't imagine what's running through the poor guy's head right now. Of course, it's understandable to take precautions, especially now since our troop is among the most wanted in the country. Considering our situation and all the traitors that have been infiltrating the base lately, it's hard to trust anyone, let alone someone from the outside.

"We're going to have to throw him out," Pete cracks his knuckles. Brendon's face pales up even more. His bottom lip is quivering and his legs are shaking.

"Y-You can't just leave me out there!" Brendon pleads. "I'm going to get killed!"

"Pete, throwing him out isn't the answer," I say calmly while standing up.

That's it, I'm digging my own grave at this point.

"And why are you defending him, Ryan? Do you want the Gerard situation to happen all over again?" Pete's behind held back by Willam and Tyler.

"He already knows where our base is! If we let him go and The Eccentric takes him captive, I'm sure he'll squeal!" I respond. "You said it yourself, we look out for each other!"

That seems to calm him down a bit.