IV

IV

Marcus made his way slowly through the crowded plaza that sat near the east entrance into the city. He was in no hurry on such a beautiful late summer night. His day had been busy with what his mother would have called tinkering, in his own private haven hidden within the walls of Alexandria.

He strolled along, lost as he usually was, in his own head. Only this night his mind was focused on the next calculation or step he would have to take to finish his newest project. No, tonight he simply just letit all go. Took in the night breeze, the smells, the very life of the city.

He passed by one of countless food stands that lined the side of the plaza, sniffing the air as he passed.

For a moment he thought of stopping and seeing if he could work something out with the vendor. He was sure he could, most of them knew him well, and seemed to like him well enough. Many times, even with no money, he always seemed to work something out.

He began making his way towards the stand, raising a greeting hand when the small man behind the counter noticed him.

"Hey…" he began say at once, only for the words to be slammed from his mouth, as he was knocked to the pavement suddenly. As he rolled, he felt as his body tangled with someone else's. As he rolled over a second time to his knees, looked up to see who had hit him, now stumbling to keep their balance. As they did, the hood of red fell from their head, coming to rest on the back of their neck.

"Yo, watch where the hell you're going!," Marcus yelled after the runner, not expecting any sort of response as the words left his mouth.

"Sorry…" came the boy's voice as he looked back at Marcus, before disappearing into the crowd of people. It was just enough of a look to make the older boy stop dead. He felt his mouth drop stupidly down and his head shake slightly, as he tried to convince his mind he wasn't seeing what he thought he saw. The boy in red was a ghost. One he had only seen in pictures, but a ghost none the less.

Marcus made it to his feet, brushing himself off subconsciously as his eyes kept their gaze on the parting path that formed through the throng of people as the ghost boy rushed away.

A sudden jolt to the side and another blur of motion past him, told him exactly why the boy was in such a hurry. Marcus watched as a handful of U.C.T.I. officers shoved their way through anything or anyone in their way, giving chase after the fleeing apparition.

His eyes darted from the officers to the where he could still barely see the path of his accidental attacker. In the moment, he didn't understand why his mind screamed to follow suit, and make it to that hooded kid before his pursuers could. But screamed it did, so loudly he felt it in the pit of his stomach. And follow he did.

"Don't fuckin think about it, boy!" Ayden heard the guard coming at him holler after him, as he tightened his grip on the strap of his bag and took his first step forward. He rushed forward, shifting his body between the bodies of people directly around him. He quickly took noticed to a new fact of them as he did. Even through they were willing to step back to allow for the U.C.T.I. guard to get to him when he had been made by the absence of his ID chip by scanner; they weren't willing to attempt to make a grab for him themselves. Most seemed to stand there, indifferently. It wasn't just him who was trouble, but the entire situation.

In that split moment, Ayden took notice of a truth that would come to haunt him in the years to come.

The realization that inaction has as much of an effect as any action. Although his mind stored this thought away as quickly as it had come to form.

Breaking free from the gathered mass of bodies, that stood dumbstruck from what was happening around them, he stepped into the open, yet congested, plaza. If he wasn't in such a hurry, he would have stopped in awe at the very sight of this place alone, let alone the very innards of Alexandria itself.

He had expected for there to be life within the walls, sure, but after making his way through the wastelands between his home and here, he sure as hell wasn't excepting for that life to be so vibrate as what was now in front of him.

The smells of the various food stands the lined the outer perimeters of the plaza, hit Ayden's nose. His stomach growled in yearning for just a taste of any of the wondrous aromas. A fleeting reminder that his pathetic excuse of a meal across the wastelands hadn't done its job; but Ayden knew there was no time for thoughts of food now. Only running.

His eyes scanned ahead, taking in any openings amongst the people, he could slip through. He made a mental map of his path. A skill he learned at a young age he possessed. Both agile in body and mind,

able to adapt without a moment's notice. Intuition his dad had called it.

He stole a glance back, to see there were now at least three U.C.T.I. officers shoving their way through the unsuspecting people around them, just to get to him. He watched as the first to have noticed him, broke free from the horde, about ten feet behind him. As they both made eye contact, Ayden watched as the guard, who must have only been a few years only than he himself was, pointed in his direction.

"There's the little fucker, there!" the guard yelled to his fellow guards.

Ayden turned his attention forward, just as the other two of his pursuers fell in beside their partner.

They were yelling something more in his direction, yet their words missed his ears. There noise of the city were growing ever louder around him. The murmur of scattered conversations, the hopeful calls of vendors towards potential buyers of their various goods. The sounds of motors and machines that made their way towards whatever destination their operator had in mind, echoed all around him, both on the ground, and the air above him.

Ayden barely noticed the young couple, walking hand in hand just in front of him, as he looked forward.

His body moved on its own. Throwing his bag into the air up and over then, he dropped down and slide his way between their arms. Standing just as quickly, his eyes and hands met with the duffel. Spinning around, he was once again on his way.

As he entered the center of the plaza, he found himself moving fluidly past body after body. Juking around an elderly vendor pushing his cart of some sort of vegetables from what Ayden could see as they blurred by, his eyes caught sight of a mildly busy street that ran past the plaza. Beyond it, barely visible above an incline, laid in a crowded row, were this side of Alexandria's many buildings. Though he didn't know if he could make it past the parade of cars that rushed down the street, or even how much of drop was beyond that, Ayden had hope that he was now running towards his sanctuary.

In his wake, he could hear the surprised cries of people as they were pushed aside by his chasers. A couple hundred yards to his potential freedom, he stole a look over his shoulder. He had manage to put enough distance between himself and the guards, that he thought would be enough to make it beyond the hill, and lose them completely.

A small smile made its way across his face at the thought. A quickly as it come, it was swept away. As he began to look ahead again, his entire body met with another. Both him and whoever he had plowed into went tumbling head of heel, over each other. Ayden barely managed to keep a hold of his belongings as he hit the hard ground and rolled forward. Managing to catch his composure, he stumbled to his feet and continued forward. As he did, his hood fell free his head. Behind him, he heard the angry call of the one he had hit.

"Yo, watch where the hell you're going…"

Although he wasn't exactly sure why, he turned back, still at a run. His eyes met with the dark skinned young man who was getting to his feet. He couldn't have been more than a couple older than himself, Ayden noticed. More than that he noticed how the other boy's bright green eyes widened when Ayden's met his.

"Sorry…" Ayden called after him sincerely, before pushing his way into another crowd of people.

As he pushed forward, his mind began to wander to a new thought, beyond his escape. There was something about the young man, something familiar, that his mind couldn't pin down.

He shook the thought from his head. He needed to focus on making it across the road just ahead of him.

Behind him, he could hear as more people exclaimed as they were shoved aside. The U.C.T.I. was still giving chase, and closing in fast it would seem. He could hear the voice of the original one, once again. Just the sound, no words that he could make out.

Finally Ayden broke free on the other side of the plaza. His feet caught on the curve of the sidewalk that separated the plaza from the street. Although it was much clearer here, there were still quite a few people making there way in either direction.

He stepped to the edge of the sidewalk, and stopped. His took in the two lane road, and the steady stream of vehicles that blurred by, both ways. He turned his head to follow the line of cars closest to him. A few seconds passed, though they felt like a hell of a lot longer, before he glimpsed his opening.

He stepped in the street, just as he heard his followers behind him once more. He darted across the first lane with no problems. As he hit the second one, he heard the sudden squeal of breaks, as a large carrier trucks struggled to stop its motion, and his certain death.

He threw his hands up, as the truck come to a stop a few feet in front of him. He looked up to see the driver learning forward, in attempt to see if he had managed to miss the stupid kid that had decided to play in traffic. His eyes went from panic to anger when he saw that Ayden was still in one piece. He was now leaning out his window, screaming every profanity Ayden had heard, and some he hadn't, at him. His near accident had now stopped all traffic flow on this side, giving open opportunity for the U.C.T.I. to

get to him, once an opening came on their side.

Pushing the thought of almost becoming a shattered mess on the asphalt out of his head, he jumped the small stone barrier that separated street from the decline on the other side. His feet the grass of the hill, that went down about fifty feet to another sidewalk below. Thankful that it wasn't a sheer drop, he pushed forward down the hill.

Marcus watched as the ghost in red and the officers hunting him, cut through the plaza toward the street that, if crossed, lead straight for the heart of Alexandria. Shoulder to shoulder buildings lining countless streets, most of which were lined in neon lights.

Here near the east entrance, or exit as it was, to the wastelands, it was a bit crowded. But this small plaza, this tiny market place, was just the appetizer of what the metropolis held within its endless walls.

Alexandria truly was the last home of humanity for only god knew how far.

Marcus wasn't sure exactly how big the city was. If you could even call it that. It was more like several cities, more even, all blended together and kept safe behind its protective barrier. Or prison if you wanted to look at it as such.

These walls held everything, including miles of wilderness, kept safe for not only the citizens to escape to, but for the U.C.T.I. to train their people in. Including the pilots of the giant robotic H.A.R.M. units.

An endless maze of concrete, lights, and wilderness; perfect for hiding from the world. Which is what Marcus figured his ghost aimed to do. Hit the heart of Alexandria and disappear from the world. Only Marcus wasn't gonna let that happen.

Although he didn't know his way around all of the concrete jungle he called home, he knew it better than most. Knew it well enough to know exactly where the kid in the hood would most likely break into the heart of the city, if he made it across the busy street this side of the barrier. Knew that there was a much easier, safer way to get to that side.

He picked up his pace as he made his way through the back alleys tucked in behind the sides of the plaza. Light wasn't as abundant here, almost no existent in some places where the buildings overhead almost touched at their tops. Yet Marcus kept his pace, navigating with ease. Soon he came to his crossing place.

His path widened, as the building surrounding it dispersed, and made its way under the bridge made of very street above. As Marcus made his way under, began to speed up to a run. As he cut into the heart of Alexandria himself, he turned his direction back towards the area he expected the ghost to appear again.

As Ayden slide, or surfed, down the hill towards the vast maze of alleys and buildings, he turned to see one of the guards at the top. He appeared to speaking to the palm of his hand, though Ayden couldn't see any visible device within it. As the man did so, his eyes never left Ayden.

Finally Ayden's feet hit the sidewalk below, just in time for two new U.C.T.I. lackeys to come from either

side of the city block that rested just below the slope behind him.

"Come on kid, give it up." One of them said, his voice calm. "Just come with us, and we can figure this out together," he beaconed Ayden towards him, like a master would their dog. Fake smile and all.

But he was no dog, and sure as the hell wasn't gonna fall for a tactic as simple as that.

Ayden nodded in agreement towards the officer, his own attempt to get his guard down. He stood there, watching as the man's body relaxed, thinking he had Ayden right where he wanted him. Walking slowly towards him, arms stretched out in reassurance.

At this point Ayden lowered his head towards his feet, and pull his belongings in close to him.

"It's okay, I know you're scared son,"

Ayden watched as the self appointed negotiator drew closer. Stealing a 'nervous' look back at the guard behind him, Ayden could see that he had his hand hovering over the grip of the gun, that hung off his waist.

Ayden drew a breath in through clenched teeth, as the man in front of him came with five feet of him.

As he took his next step, Ayden stepped forward as well, and shot the duffel bag out from his chest into the face of the unsuspecting negotiator. Ayden watched as his head jerked back, and his feet came up.

The officer hit the concrete, quite hard. Coming to rest on his back. Before he could think about getting up, Ayden was moving past him, duffel in hand.

He ran towards the nearest alley, barely making it as he heard a loud pop behind him, followed by part of the brick wall above his head exploding, ever so slightly, as it ate the bullet meant for him. This time he didn't dare turn to see what was happening behind him.

Marcus heard the gunfire nearby, and knew instantly that it must have come from one of the Coalition.

He sucked in a nervous breath as he quickened his step. Hopefully there was still time to get to his target. If there was a target to get to at this point.

Making his way towards the direction of gunfire, Marcus turned onto the street where he could see one Coalition officer getting to his feet, cursing something to himself as he did. Another was disappearing into a nearby alleyway. He watched the remaining guard follow suit into the alley, resuming the chase of the boy in the hood.

Marcus bolted into the nearest alley himself, running parallel with the others. He pushed his legs forward, hoping to make it in front of the group, and to the boy the before the others could. Hopping over an overturned trash can, he broke onto the intersecting street and into the adjacent alleys across it.

As he crossed the street, he looked for any sign of the others, to no avail.

Making his way through the next parallel alley, he turned left at the next intersection. Drawing closer to the path of the others, he could hear the calls of the Coalition, and the sounds of feet slamming off the concrete, approaching fast. A large dumpster blocked his view to the entrance of the alley ahead.

Ayden knew he had made a fair amount of distance now. At least a hundred feet worth of a head start.

Up ahead, he could see the glow of another street and the buildings that lined it. More shouts came from behind him, but thankfully no more gunshots.

He fell forward, his feet catching something in the dark. He shifted his body back, balancing himself out before he lost his footing completely. His eyes could make out dim shapes in the darkness. Just enough for him to avoid from here to the light ahead.

Behind him, it sounded like the guards where having the same problem, their footsteps slowing into the distance. As the light drew closer, his mind began to wander again, to what his next move would be. He could try and continue through the back alleys as he. That would be too obvious though, wouldn't it?

He could make his way into one of the near by stores, hope that he wasn't spotted by any U.C.T.I. He could…

The thought was cut short as someone grabbed his arm, and jerked him to the right. Before he could think, let alone yell, there was a hand over his mouth. He was being dragged from behind, and fast.

He went to bring his bag up and over his head, in attempt to hit his assault and hopefully break free. Has he did, the grip on his mouth tightened.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, kid," a voice he recognized whispered in his ear suddenly. "If you wanna get out here, don't move."

Ayden felt his body being lowered, till he was almost sitting on his heels. To his left he could see the side of a dumpster, and the street he was aiming to make his way across in front of him. His mind raced, not sure if he should fight or do as he was told.

The answer came in the form of the two guards who had been chasing him. Ayden watched as they exited the alley and continued across into the next. A few seconds passed and he watched as they disappeared from view. As soon as they did, the grip on his mouth was gone. He was suddenly being helped back to his feet.

Ayden turned slowly and looked up at his savior. His eyes met the same jade colored eyes he had knocked to the ground earlier.