Secrets

Zero let Heather's words sink in for a moment.

"Bertram…that's right!" He exclaimed. "I heard that name at President Salvatore's rally the other day. So your dad is the one running against Victor Anderson?"

"Yup, the very same." Heather replied.

"But I still don't understand. Why do so many people hate him just because he's running?"

Heather leaned her head back and looked up at the sky. "Well…that's definitely a story for another day. But the main reason is that he's a hybrid sympathizer. He believes they should have all the same rights as everyone else. Which I agree with of course."

That explains the uproar of the crowd that day, thought Zero. But…but this is good! There's someone trying to be President that could actually change everything for the better!

"Sadly, his numbers are trailing right now. People are falling in line with Anderson's fiery rhetoric. They want a different change than the one my Dad is campaigning for. A not so good change."

Zero scoffed. "That's because people are afraid of things they don't understand. I mean, there's been no proof that citizens with the dormant Reaper gene can even change. It's…unjustified fear."

Heather observed Zero's face as she could tell he was frustrated by this. She couldn't help but smile.

"You're a good guy, Z."

Zero's eyes widened and his cheeks blushed a little. "U-um, thanks." You're kinda cool too, is what he wanted to say back but felt too embarrassed.

"Well, I gotta get going, but it was nice meeting you." She said as she held her hand out to him.

"Yeah, same to you." Zero smiled. As he reached out and took her hand to shake it, he couldn't help but notice how nice and soft her touch felt. He wished he didn't have to let go.

"Next time you're in the city you should come see me! I work at the coffee shop most days."

"Sure, sounds good!"

Heather waved goodbye and disappeared off into the sea of people on the sidewalk.

Zero stood as he stared after her. He never thought he would meet such a person as like-minded as her. Not to mention that her Dad was in the same pursuit as he was, just in a different manner.

"Oh shoot, I should probably start heading back."

*******

Meanwhile, back at Alpha Base, One decided to call a meeting for all the other team members to explain what the Major General had told him about the new changes in the city.

Everybody began to file into the room as One sat waiting. His thoughts were elsewhere however. He couldn't help but think about the Major General's words: I did what I had to for us to complete the mission. How could he confidently, as their Captain, lead them into battle knowing that those above them would gladly sacrifice one of them as a means to an end. It's not like they thought the top brass saw them as valuable people to protect, but they did figure that maybe….they weren't as expendable as the military made it out to be.

"Anyone seen Zero?" One heard Three ask everyone.

"No, last I saw was he was outside with Five earlier doing some clean up." Two replied.

Heads turned in Five's direction.

"Oh! Um," Five was nervous as he couldn't exactly tell the truth of where Zero probably was at the moment. "I believe he said he needed a nap or something. I can just relay all the info to him later!"

"Hm, okay." One stated.

He went on to explain all the changes that went into effect. As expected, no one was happy about it. While it didn't greatly affect them it was just another step in the wrong direction. They also realized that they would be the ones under the most scrutiny when visiting the city as the Vice-President already suspects it might be one of them.

"That's all I wanted to talk to you guys about. Just try not to give any reason for any unneeded attention to be thrown our way."

"This is some bullshit.." Five said as he angrily walked away.

"I need to hit the gym to work this off. NO ONE comes in." Three said with intent.

Two and Four quietly walked off as usual.

After everyone left, One decided that he should drop by Zero's room. He walked down the hallway of bedrooms with his hand trailing against the wall as he went.

Something has been bothering me, One thought to himself. Anderson and Zero's interaction at the meeting the other day. While it's not exactly weird for our kind to be excused of just about anything, that seemed almost…targeted. Not to mention Zero seemed unsettled during the whole thing.

One reached Zero's door and knocked gently against it.

He waited.

And waited.

He knocked again. "Zero, it's One. Just need to talk for a second."

He waited again.

Still no response.

"Hmm." What nobody knew was that One's key-card gave him access to all of the rooms on Sub-level 2. He didn't like using this as a way to break into their bedrooms, but something was itching at the back of his mind that he should check in on Zero.

One took his key-card and pressed it against the sensor next to the door.

*Click*

The lock released and the door slid open.

"Zero?"

One listened, but couldn't pick up a trace of anything in the room. With his enhanced senses he could hear the tiniest of breaths and even the pounding of heartbeats as long as it wasn't too far away. Within the area of their bedroom is perfecting within that range.

For the most part all of the room layouts were the same aside from little personal touches. So he could get around the room pretty easily.

He walked over to where the bed was and felt around it. "Zero, are you asleep?" He ran his hand over the blanket but didn't feel Zero at all. But his hand suddenly brushed over something hard. One ran his fingers along it to figure out what it was.

"Is this a book he's reading?"

What felt strange to him was the binding and the cover. The material felt…familiar.

Where do I know this book from? One thought to himself. Feels like I've held this several times before now. I'm sure…Zero wouldn't mind if I borrowed this for just a moment so I can find out what book this is. It'll keep eating at me if I don't.

One took it from the bed. "The question still stands though…where is Zero?"

He left the room with the book in tow. One didn't realize at the moment, but he currently held the former Zero's journal in his hand.

***********

**Elsewhere at an undisclosed location**

In the ruins of what used to be an old train yard, Leo had set up camp in one of the abandoned rail cars.

He had managed to find some clothes that had been through the wringer more than once - a dirty brown shirt and a pair of blue jeans that had several holes throughout. He had ditched the pair of shorts he wore prior.

Leo sat in the train car as he downed some water that he pulled from a nearby lake out of an old tin that was lying around the yard.

"Gahhh this will probably give me dysentery for sure. But I'm too damn thirsty to care right now."

He had managed to escape the clutches of Alpha Base and was far enough away that he felt comfortable staying in one place for a bit.

*Clang!*

Leo threw the tin aside after finishing his drink. "Well, now what. Still don't have any food. Suppose I could somehow sneak into one of these cities…but that might be the BEST idea."

*Knock* *Knock*

"Come innnnnn." Leo called out towards the door.

The door slid open to the train car and a large shadow cast into the car.

"Heading out?" Leo asked the person who stood outside the car out of view.

"Yeah I think so. Probably not wise for us to stick together anyways in case they decide to show up. Easier to hide out."

"Pffft I'm not hiding. I'm just regrouping."

"Yeah, okay. Anyways I appreciate the help with getting out of there. Wouldn't have made it without you."

Leo picked himself up and dusted off his clothes as the floor of the train car was filthy. "Oh, I can't take all the credit. Our little…benefactor definitely helped us out before the alarm went off. You saw it too, right?"

"Yep. I saw him clear as day. No idea what his endgame is with helping us out, but I'm not going to question it. Especially with these power upgrades we seem to have now." The person said.

"Exactly. I think it's time we 'gave back' to those who gave us sooooo much. Wouldn't you say?" Leo said with a twisted smile.

"Perhaps. In either case, best of luck out here. It's definitely changed in the past years."

"Ohhh, I can't wait to see what's in store for me." Leo said.