22.

Dan.

I am nineteen years old. Alright, I can go with that. I've been in two wars technically. Alright, I don't remember the first ones details, but I can kinda go with that. My best friend died because I didn't think ahead, alright, I'm a piece of work for that. Apparently I have an adopted little sister, too. Abandoned her as well. What's a little sad about that, is that out of everything I've learnt about myself in the past day and a half, is that I'm not surprised that I'd hurt my little sister.

Hunter hurt me. I hurt her. One big happy Fallow family.

Oh, and the girl who saved me from the river, the girl who I'd spotted across the river before…before the tunnel, the girl who's rolling smell of roses and mint took away the clinging smell of blood in the air around me, was the one who shot my dad.

Point blank and right in front of me. Seventeen was a crazy age for me.

But she made life bearable. Weird to say considering I just met her, well technically just met her, but she drowned out the smell. Even Mei looked further away and a little more transparent. So I stayed next to Kira, but not too close. I didn't want to let go of Mei that easily.

"Hey, Dan?" Kira shifted her arm from underneath her rifle and continued scanning the Island across the river. Smoke had begun rising a couple minutes ago, acrid and darker than the sky. "Maybe you shouldn't sit so close to the edge."

"Why would it matter?" Saia said, a small silver ball dancing between her fingers as she wired, what I assume, is a small bomb. "He'd be doing us a favour by falling off the edge."

"Saia, c'mon," Kira muttered.

I shrugged. "No. I deserve that."

Tohka squeezed my shoulder. "Yeah, but don't fall off the edge of the building. Some of us still want you around."

Saia muttered something I wouldn't be caught repeating.

Kira spared a second and glanced at Saia. "What's your problem? He fucked up. He apologized. And he's hurting. You want him to jump off the bridge again?"

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, you're right." She stood up and stretched. "He apologized, I'm guessing that brings Mei back to life right? Is that something the Unit can do, Stray?"

I don't really know who this Stray guy is, but people reverted back to that whenever they couldn't look at me without their lips twitching. The old me. The me before the Island. I guess getting a little familiar with my real name would have made her feel worse if she decided to off me. And with the tiny bomb sitting between her boots, the tiny twitch of her slim eyes, she seemed like she was considering it.

Stray was a piece of work. I guess I am, too.

"He's back." Tohka pointed out across the river, more in an attempt to cut off the bubbling argument between Kira and Saia. We'd all seen them coming, and who wouldn't, the Berserkers have a habit of standing out.

"Could I ask you guys a question?" I said.

"No."

"Yes," Kira said over Saia.

"How did Hera manage to get a Berserker by her side? Because they barely listen to…to….Draco," that was his name, "and the Berserkers don't care too much about credits."

"Well," Kira rolled her shoulders and shuffled to the side as another sniper shifted as well. "Hera killed his parents."

"Excuse me?" And I thought I was deep in this shit, I hadn't even scraped the scum off the surface.

She nodded. "Yeah. Draco was about to get sold to a skin farm, and Hera killed his parents. He's small for a Berserker, so he was useless to them."

"He wasn't useless," Saia growled. "He just didn't fit into their meathead society. So he literally owes his life to her."

I flinched and waited for another remark, but nothing came this time. She had her head ducked down again as her fingers flew over wires and chips.

A silence fell between us now. We watched as the Berserkers plunged into the river and pulled themselves across the raging current. They were surprisingly good swimmers, but if you're built out of nothing but muscle and adrenaline, what would you expect? Draco brought up the back, more like he was reluctant to mix in with the others. His paddles were slower, but not labored, breaths deeper but not forced.

Wait a minute. I switched off the Unit. No wonder. A normal person wouldn't have been able to see that. Maybe…the next time I see Grace, we could make some sort of deal. She could get this thing out of me – hopefully keeping me alive – but she'd be able to make multiple other Units. That and I wouldn't want a serial killer poking around in my brain.

I have a ton of problems, and having my cousin do that wasn't one of them.

Tohka nudged me gently. "You keep spacing out. You alright?"

No jab from Saia this time.

"I should be asking you."

She shrugged and gave me a light smile. "We'd have to deal with that after all this, right?"

Out of the corner of my eye, Kira's jaw flexed and she leaned against her rifle some more. I'm no body language expert, but I know when to shut up. So I gave Tohka a nod and smile back, and kept my lips shut. Too much flying in the air: smoke, venom from Saia, Kira's wrap around presence, and screaming.

Screaming? No. Shouting.

A haze hit me. Like TV static scrambling my head. I staggered back and clutched my hair. It was disorientating, my stomach flipped and I dropped to a knee. And almost as fast as it had come, it disappeared. I sucked in air and stood up. Tohka was in my ear, Kira was crouching and asking me something, and even Saia was saying something. But I couldn't hear them over the ringing in my ears. I'd felt that before, when I'd been sprinting through Grace's building.

"Tohka," I said, cutting her off from what she was asking. "That guy in the hallway. That you shot. Did you kill him?"

She thought for a little, crossing her faint eyebrows and finally saying, "Oh, that guy. No. He almost killed me, and then Hunter came and saved me."

"Which guy?" Kira hissed, her rifle pressed against her chest as she scanned the Island. There was more activity now, from both the Gray and the Island. Storms of people shouting and bellowing.

"He had a red arm," I said, scanning the dark buildings as well. I didn't want to switch it on just yet. Kira could see across the river. The less time with this thing on, the less of a chance I have of hurting anyone else.

"Red arm," she muttered. "Japanese? Strong cologne?"

Tohka and I nodded.

"Shit," Kira and Saia said in unison. "Jin."

"Who's Jin?" Tohka asked.

"A problem." Saia stuffed the small silver ball into Tohka's hands. "Don't question it, just take it. A welcoming present." She turned to me. "For you, though, I have a question."

Fingers crossed it wasn't going to be something degrading.

"What was that just now? The whole staggering and panting act?"

"I don't know." Another shrug, nothing yet on the Island, barring a bright flash a minute ago from a tall building's windows. "I just felt weird. Like something was scrambling my brain."

"The Unit has a problem?" Kira asked.

I'm the one with the problem. "No. I felt that when I came across Jin."

"Wait a second." Tohka rubbed her temples. "Dan was the only one with the Unit. But, what if he isn't now?"

"You think Jin has it as well?" Kira asked.

"I mean, I never saw him on the Island. But by the way you guys talk about him, he's probably been there for a while."

"And so has Grace," I muttered. This was bad, really, really bad.

I didn't want to, but Jin had practically spat in my face and slit my throat. And if he was on the other side, then that was a massive problem for all of us. Two Units. One of us wants to use it, the other one is perched on a building's ledge about to fall to their messy and quick death. I had to, though. It would be the bane of my existence until I can get it out of me, but right now wasn't the time for intrusive thoughts. I switched it on.

"Crap." I swung my legs over the ledge and dropped onto a rickety fire escape.

"Dan!" Kira shouted. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Hunter's on the other side of the river!" Jump over the rusted hand hold, catch the grill, and swing to the fire escape below it. "He's carrying Hera!"

The ground shook, the fire escape creaked, and heat washed over us. Choking heat that stole every ounce of clean air from the atmosphere. I shot a look to the top of the building, the snipers were in disarray, and Tohka, Kira, and Saia were alright. Kira was already clambering down over the edge and shouting orders to get in contact with Sergeant Ryan.

I glanced behind me and faced a wall. But with the Unit, I saw passed it. Through the worn furniture, rusted bots, thrown away toys, and out the other side. A chunk of the Gray was missing. Not a massive chunk, but a chunk nonetheless. A bomb had been set off. Who would set it off? Hera had the Gray on lock, and she was a little out of it right now, so she wouldn't set off a bomb in her own city!

"What was that?" Kira swung down to the catwalk I was on. For someone who didn't have the Unit, she was freaking agile considering she had a gun strapped to her back. Like a deadly ballerina. But her golden eye was working overtime, a tear of blood was running down her cheek.

"A bomb." Swing over the bar again, land on the next catwalk, and continue for a few more floors. She landed on the pavement next to me a few seconds later.

"What?" she shouted as we broke into a sprint across the road. The Gray was also shouting, screams and blaring alarms, and the chatter of gunfire. Whatever had happened had gone extremely wrong.

"A freaking bomb!" I'm pretty sure I was shouting in English. "It took out a couple blocks. Middle of the city."

"What about Hera?" We slid down the cement banking, sliding past bums trying to scamper up the smooth concrete.

My boots slapped against the level ground of the river's bank, I used up my momentum and continued in a sprint, diving straight into the river. That would give Kira an answer. She hadn't followed, she was crouched behind a pillar and picking off Island soldiers. They spent hundreds of bullets, the bronze raging above me and into the Gray's dead buildings. Hers were sharp bangs that took out two people at a time. Apparently she was a bounty hunter, thank God I didn't have a large enough bounty on my head.

Hunter was crouching at the bottom of the hill I'd tumbled down a few days ago. My leg ached with numb pain at the sight of the sloping green. He didn't look hurt, but he was covered in blood. Hera's blood. Her arm was twisted in a way that humans shouldn't be able to twist, and her leg was…I nearly threw up in the river. He was ripping apart his t-shirt and wrapping it around her thigh, but the blood gushing from her thigh soaked it immediately.

The Unit: Survival chance: 3%

"Fuck off," I growled. Negative all the freaking time.

I paddled faster, ignoring the thunderstorm behind and in front of me. I trusted Kira to keep me safe, and I hadn't been hit once. Maybe I had, and I was pumped full of adrenaline and numb because of the river's cold, but I trusted that I hadn't been hit. Was the survival rating for me or Hera? I'll go with Hera. I wasn't going to switch on the Unit to finally help someone only to end up dying before I could actually help them.

I reached the other side. The earth's shudder was staggering. How many freaking bullets did Grace feed these bastards?

I punched my way into the thick concrete. Metal arms for the win. I clambered onto the damp grass to Hunter's surprise. Hera was worse off than I'd thought. Thigh in a mangled mess. Shoulder clearly shattered. It was too clean of a shatter to be a normal break. Only the shoulder itself had shattered, not the collar bone, or the shoulder blade, just the joint. Only something like the Unit was that precise. Jin's doing.

"Stop gawking and help me," Hunter barked, a mix of desperation and fury frothing in his mouth.

The Unit: Survival chance: 2%

Suck my balls, Unit. I'd proven you wrong before, I was going to prove you wrong again. Piece of crap wasn't even that useful. Always underestimating a Fallow.

A small jolt of electricity down my back. Was it becoming sentient? God forbid that catastrophe.

"Okay. Stop, Hunter, I said STOP. If you keep moving her around like that she's going to die." She was cradled in his arms, he'd lost his rings, but his axes were still with him. Their crosses touched and glimmered in the flashing gunfire above us. "We have to get her back." I ripped the bandanna off of my neck and wrapped it where the Unit showed me. It didn't look like the blood slowed down, but the survival chance bounced up by two percent.

"I'll carry-"

"No." He shot a look at me. "I'll carry her. Show me how to, and I'll do it."

His eyes were balancing between slaughtering the soldiers behind us and slaughtering me. I'd seen him angry, but he was bordering on rage.

"Alright." There was no arguing here. We didn't have the time, the soldiers had begun slowly breaking through the wall of buildings and coming to the top of the hill. A few fell from bullets coming from across the river. Tohka was with Kira now, not as accurate, but keeping up nonetheless.

I showed him what to do. Twist her around so her thigh pressed into his abs, her shoulder was in a make shift sling and pressed to her body. She stirred briefly, wincing, groaning and cursing. She occasionally muttered a name, Nero, but her eyes remained shut.

"Follow me into the river," I told him. He nodded, lips pressed and eyes dark.

I jumped into the river, coming back out and helping him slide/climb down using the hand holds I'd punched in. The soldiers were edging closer. The thing we did not need was for Hera to go into shock, because that would lead to a very abrupt death with how much blood she lost. So I guided him into the river slowly, it was nerve wracking. The guns were getting closer, and Hunter was going a little too slowly. But I couldn't rush him. He wasn't in the mood or mindset for that.

She was finally in.

I paddled away, and Hunter followed. If Hunter had the Unit, he would have been a problem. Even more of a problem than he already was. Because he kept up with me, even if one arm pressed Hera against him, kept her head above the water, whispered to her and at one point even managed to paddle faster than me. Adrenaline can do a lot of things to a man. But love can do even more.

Bullets split the water next to my head. A whizzing sound that boiled the water a little too close to my ear.

Hunter paused.

"Go!" I shouted. "I'll deal with them." I grabbed his axes and he continued to pull forward. "Sergeant Ryan should be waiting."

Okay, Unit. Let's buy our brother some time.

No killing, but I could knock a few out. I only had two shots, but if I could deter enough of them…

The water splashed behind me. I spun round, Hunter was near the dock. Tohka was leaning over and ready to pull him up. Draco as well. And what had splashed behind me you ask? Saia's bomb. Perfect. I had a plan.

It was already ticking down though. I'm not surprised.

I grabbed it before it could sink. Ten seconds, alright, let's hope there's no shrapnel in here or else that would top the list of shortest defensive plots in history. I in haled and dipped down into the river. I swam forward, the bullets cut into the water, but far away from me. They were still aiming at Hunter and the others, but white explosions were making it hard. Saia again. Flash bangs, telling by their short and ferocious explosions.

Four seconds left. I think it's time to go.

I exploded upwards and threw the bomb above the soldier's heads. It flew into the night time air, catching the moon's silver glimmer on its edges. Everything was slowed down. Because of the Unit, or because I was slowly going into shock, I don't know. But it was strangely beautiful. Watching the bomb expand first, the casing splitting, the fury of white light coming out of it, and then the ear shattering bang.

Time sped up, and I dropped back into the river. It wasn't filled with shrapnel, it was more of a large flash bang than anything else. But large enough for my Unit filled eyes to have flash spots dancing in them after a few blinks. The soldiers were all incapacitated. Either staggering around or unconscious. Perfect. No deaths. Good job, Unit.

I paddled back to the other side. Hera was already gone, Hunter was shirtless and covered in blood. He'd gotten new rings from the Major, and a new pair of combat knives. Wickedly long and darker than the shadows underneath his cold silver eyes. If whoever was causing havoc in the Gray thought the Unit was going to be a problem to deal with, then they hadn't yet met my brother.

Draco pulled me out of the water with one easy grab.

"What's going on in the Gray?" I asked, sucking in air and fighting off the slowing flow of adrenaline in my body. Couldn't afford to crash right now.

Hunter's fists flexed. "A few of the soldiers were working on the inside for Grace."

The Major hefted his large rifle, his tie was tucked into his shirt and his mouth was in a thin line. "I knew bringing new blood was a mistake." He raised a hand to Hunter before he could growl something. "I am not blaming the LC."

"Is she going to be okay?" Kira asked, slamming a new clip of ammo into her sniper rifle.

He shrugged. "I do not know. But one thing I know, is that you never doubt Hera. If she-"

"When," Hunter corrected. "When she comes back, she's coming back with Grace in her sights."

Now wasn't time to mention what the Unit had shown me. Her survival rating had dropped to 0.5% when we were crossing the river, but what was there to do in that moment? Just have to hope than she pulls through, because Hunter didn't look like he was in the frame of mind to lead.

"What happened with Grace?" Tohka asked.

"She should be coming soon." Hunter turned his scarred back to us. "It makes sense, and if I hadn't been so rushed we wouldn't be in this situation."

More explosions. More rage of gunfire. Bright flashes of yellow and orange reflecting off of sky scraper windows.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Grace was working with Kingston. Who took over Lara's position because she isn't in the Gray right now." He thumped the side of his head with his palm. "Kingston had rung in my head when Lara had said his name. I should have fucking said something about it." He let out a frustrated swear masked in a shout, we all took a collective step back.

"So Kingston took charge of transportation," Kira muttered.

"So Grace was able to get her soldiers into the Gray right under Hera's nose," Tohka finished.

Hunter started up the banking.

"Hunter," I called. "What're you doing? We need to-"

He glanced back at me, his contacts catching the bright yellows bouncing off of windows. His hair wet and mattered. "The only thing we need to do is take out each and every one of these fuckers. Because I swear to God himself, if Hera dies, I'm going to rip Grace apart with my bare hands." He turned his back to us. "Her and everyone one of these spineless cowards," he growled.

The Unit: Chance of success: 98%