CHAPTER 2

Four men milled around the truck, aimlessly walking in bored circles, occasionally flatly exclaiming, “Free food for those who want to hear the word of Seon.” Then quickly returning to their meandering.

Jericho expected to see a larger crowd. In the past Seon, particularly their more fanatical followers, tended to be able to drum up a crowd, even without having to offer giveaways.

But now, even with the offering of free food, they seemed to be ignored by everyone within earshot. Granted, most of the people in this village were either Brutes or Psychics, but the human population wasn’t exactly non-existent. Perhaps Seon didn’t hold the sway over people’s minds that they once did. That, or anyone who wanted to join their communities already had, and everyone else was happy to take their chances with the big scary mutants.

Jericho had been observing groups like this for some time. These roaming preachers travelled from town to town trying to tempt humans into moving to a Seon settlement. However, judging by this group’s performance, most people seem to be over the whole “Join Seon, to be saved from the demons.” shtick.

When he heard about the Seon food giveaway, he planned to hide in the crowd and take what he could when no one was looking. But that plan went out the window when the gathering of the masses he expected turned out to be more like the birthday party of that kid no one particularly liked. So now he was laid flat on his belly in the long grass just off the road, listening to these dour men complain about how boring this was.

“Yeah, me too, guys. Just shut up and take a nap or something,” Jericho muttered to himself.

The group perked up when they noticed someone approaching them, then immediately deflated. This was unusual; the road these men had parked on was just outside of town, but led to a communal farming area that had been an old golf course at one time or another, people passed by quite regularly. This reaction was normal, but usually happened after the passerby either politely declined them or flatly ignored them. But the approaching person was still a way away, meaning they knew this man.

Jericho perked up at this. “Finally, something different. Maybe this person is going to start a fight or scream abuse at them… Nope, they are giving them food. They don’t look too happy about it though.” This was probably going to be Jericho’s best chance to get anywhere since all the men were focused on the newcomer. After all, this was the most interesting thing to happen all afternoon; you couldn’t blame them.

As Jericho crept closer to the truck, he noticed that the person was an old man. The man seemed shaky on his feet, hobbling along slowly with a cane. As the man approached, he greeted the others.

“Hello, boys. What have you got for me today?”

One of the men handed over a duffel bag that bulged with the misshapen lumps of it's contents. “Here you go, Mr Hosher, preserved meats, vegetables, and fruit. We also made some fresh bread this morning just for you. Will you be all right carrying this? Would you like one of us to help you get home? Or, you could come with us today. Have you given it much thought?”

Mr Hosher took a strap of the bag in one firm hand and lowered it to the ground. "Oh no need, I might be old but I can still manage. I don’t suppose I could get some extra today? My nephew, is quite ill and hasn't been able to work much lately and I have had to support him."

All four men looked at each other with the expression that communicated "Here we go again." One of them turned back to the truck to grab another bag, causing Jericho to throw himself back to the ground.

"Look Mr. Hosher, you’ve been coming to us every day since we came to town, while we do appreciate your willingness to listen to our words, we are getting the feeling that you might not care to join us." One of the men confronted Mr Hosher. Closer now Jericho couldn't help notice that all four men seemed to be indistinguishable from each other. They all had their faces obscured by a wide-brim hat that had a thin shear cloth that hung from the brim, encircling their heads and reaching down to their shoulders.

The rest of their bodies were covered in the same set of pants and long-sleeved shirts, all in a dull uniform grey, with a black Seon logo filling their backs. The logo was a capital H, with the vertical lines being cut in half by the horizontal line. Most people now believed the H stood for humanity and nothing more.

Jericho, knew what that mark truly meant. Back when he was younger, during a time when each of the groups of humanity were dividing from each other, symbolism had become rather popular. It was a way of marking yourself as a member of a group or an easy way of communicating your beliefs. Slap a couple of symbols on the signposts outside your settlement, and you've communicated to anyone who would try to enter what the rules were, who was and wasn’t welcome, and how you’d be treated if you ignored the law.

Seon was no exception to this rule, but when they made their symbol, it was both a retort to an already existing symbol, one that was gaining popularity, and one that would denote their supremacy.

The symbol that Seon was trying to oppose was a circle that was cut in unequal 3rds, one section made up half the circle while the remainder was split into two equal smaller parts. The symbol represented humanity and meant that no matter who or what you were we are all still human. The top two small sections of the circle represented Brutes and Psychics while the bottom represented unmutated humans. It was a popular symbol for groups of people who wanted to reconnect the now fractured groups and was often on proud display in front of peaceful villages, and came to be known as the Sanctuary mark. This had been placed outside of Jericho's village, so he knew its meaning well and how much the Seon mark perverted the idea.

Like the Sanctuary mark, each part of the Seon mark represented the 3 factions of the human race. The vertical lines represented the mutants and the horizontal the "pure people" as Seon would put it. The fact that the horizontal line split apart the verticals meant that Seon saw themselves as superior to mutants, the chosen people, and the fact that their symbol made the letter H meant that they were saying in essence "We are the humans, the only humans."

While Jericho's thoughts had been focused on the marks on the men's backs, obsessing on their meaning the fourth man that had broken away to get another bag of food had returned to the group. The three men that gathered around Mr Hosher seemed to be visibly annoyed now, like the way a shopkeeper gets with a particularly demanding customer.

"So, if you won't leave this place and come to a Seon settlement why do you think you deserve all this food?" One of them finally snapped at the old man. The other raised their hand and hissed out an unsubtle hush, evidently that was something you weren't meant to say out loud.

The man frantically looked around to see if they had been overheard but their attention snapped back to Mr Hosher as he began to speak.

"Oh, so this food is payment for people who are willing to go with you?"

"No, no that's not it at all..." One of the men stammered out.

"I thought you were giving this food away out of the goodness of your hearts, to help those not fortunate enough to be born in a Seon town." the words fell out of Mr Hosher's mouth in the tone of someone who has just caught someone in a trap.

The men squabbled over each other trying to convince the old man that he had the wrong idea, that he misunderstood and they could explain it all away.

If Jericho was going to have a chance to grab a bag of food now was the time with everyone fussing over the old man. As Jericho reached the side of the truck, he noticed if he climbed into the back now, the old man would see him, would he say something? Or let Jericho do as he pleased?

Just then the familiar scent of iron floated into Jericho's nose, there was a Brute nearby, but where? Jericho's eyes snapped to the old man who was glaring at him. "The old man is a Brute? He's been putting on an act just to scam these guys out of food!" These thoughts banged around in Jericho’s skull. Of course, the old man was a Brute, he'd been acting like a frail elder on the way here but the second he got what he wanted, suddenly the shaking stopped and he became as sturdy as a tree. "Damn it I should have just done something like that; these worshipers don't know right from left." Glancing back at the old man who's eye's snapped away from Jericho. Mr Hosher's eyes continued flicking back every now and then to Jericho with a slight scowl that seemed to scream "Don't mess this up for me!"

Jericho gave a quick nod and turned to climb into the back of the truck, taking care to make as little noise as possible. Once he was in, he was greeted with the sight of boxes of tightly packed food with empty bags tossed in the middle of the floor. "Damn it, I was hoping to just grab something and go." Jericho muttered to himself as he snatched up a bag and began to franticly shove what he could into it. Behind him, he could hear the group bickering with each other with the old man trying to drag out the conversation.

As Jericho finished filling a bag and was debating if he was greedy enough to fill a second, one of the four men's words cut through the air, which seemed to cause the old man's mouth to be clamp shut "I know, how about we get you another bag and we forget about this?"

The air froze around Jericho, it was like everyone in the world had stopped what they were doing and was now staring at him, well not everyone, just four identically dressed men and a fifth older man who scrambled to gather his stuff without drawing notice.

"These… These are free to take right?" said Jericho as he met what he thought were the men's gaze.

"If you listen to our sermons you are allowed to take a bag of food..." One of the men answered robotically, reading from the script printed on the back of his eyes.

The main reason Jericho had decided to try and stealthily take the food was because he assumed that anyone affiliated with Seon would be on the lookout for him. But these men didn't seem to know who he was, this was a good sign. It had been 3 months since Jericho had escaped from the Seon base, in the beginning, there had been a heavy troop presence in the areas around the base, but that had quickly tapered off.

This had given Jericho time to recover, he'd found a place to stay, plenty of food and new clothes. So instead of a gaunt pale figure with grease-tangled hair cloaked in a Seon prisoner's uniform, the Seon men saw a more normal sight. Not exactly the picture of a man doing "well" he fell into the category of what the world would call normal. His Hair was cut shorter, though it was still a mess like he had hacked away at it with a knife. A dark green canvas jacket that looked like it had been shredded and stitched back together hung off his muscled frame. Brown pants that looked rat eaten but serviceable enough led down to black boots that seemed to be a size too big for the man.

Breathing a sigh of relief Jericho turned to the men "Maybe there is still hope for the day" Jericho thought to himself, out loud he said "Sorry your... Graces, I didn't know about the order of things, I'd be happy to listen to your words." A huge grin filled his face.

But watching the men as he jumped down off the back of the truck, still clutching the bag, they stood still, like statues. Something was wrong, if Jericho could see their faces, their expressions would give him a hint of what was going on, hell just seeing what exactly they were looking at would be a help. Slowly one raised their arm and pointed at Jericho. Was this it? Had he been made? There weren't many people here would Jericho be better off running or doing away with the witnesses?

"Sanctuary" the one with his outstretched hand muttered.

"What?" Jericho stammered in confusion, then he noticed that the one with his hand up was pointing at Jericho's chest.

His eyes wandered down, to what could be on him that had these men standing there like stunned mullets. There didn't seem to be anything there out of the ordinary it was just his black shirt, with… "Oh right". Most of Jericho's clothing was just things he scrounged up either what he found or stole when he desperately needed to get out of that Seon jumpsuit. Except for his shirt, it was the one thing he had that was practically brand new. The person he had been staying with had made it for him, she was old, practically close to his age, except she wasn't blessed with his longevity. Which meant she held on to the old-fashioned fixation of symbols he did. In bright white, blazing on his chest was the Sanctuary symbol. He'd be causing less offence to the Seon worshipers if he'd told them to piss off and made a comment that debased their mothers.

Jericho already knew how things were probably going to play out, but he thought, "Hey, that was a long time ago, things have changed, maybe people aren’t as hard up about that kind of thing anymore."

"So, this isn't my shirt guys… I mean it was a gift." Jericho said with a wide grin on his face. "But I can see it's upset you, so I'll head out ok, no hard feelings" Jericho's grip on the bag tightened as he turned away from the group.

In unison, like they were fighting to be the first to say it all four men yelled "infidel!"    

Witch was Jericho's cue to kick off the ground and start bolting through the scrub back to town. Behind him he could hear the men arguing amongst themselves "No you two stay here, guard the truck, just you and I are going after him."

Well, good news that was two down, it shouldn't be too difficult to shake the rest, as Jericho easily clambered up over downed trees and rocketed up steep rock faces. He did have to tone back his athletic abilities to be seen as something that an average human was capable of. Not letting it slip that he was a Brute to these worshipers would be the best, the last thing he needed was to have them put two and two together and figure out that he was the escaped Subject their organisation is looking for. 

Once Jericho made it out of the small bit of bushland he continued to move at a brisk pace across some barren land, cutting through yards of long abandoned housing. All he needed to do now was make it across the old flooded mine that bisected the town of Broken Hill and he would practically be in the main street. "Then I can blend into the crowd and make my way home, the perfect if not clumsily executed crime." Jericho said out loud to himself as he cobbled together his next move.

"Over there!" A voice rang out from behind him.

Jericho turned his head and looked back to see the men darting from the road that led to the farmland. It seemed obvious in hindsight, since they couldn't follow through the bushland they went the long way around, back to town. Where else was Jericho going to go, if not back to the only other settlement in the area, the land around Broken Hill wasn't exactly inviting.

Again, he picked up speed and ran into the mine, most of the open cut holes had filled with rainwater, which turned a noxious green. Touching that water was the last thing you wanted to do, luckily enough of the old roadways for the mine managed to stay above water making crossing a simple task. However, in this case, it gave little to no cover or obstacles Jericho could use to lose his pursuers. All he could do was stay ahead of them and try to lose them once they got to town.

But, as they made it to town Jericho's heart began to pound wildly in his chest, "Shit, no not now, I can't stop." The sides of his vision blurred a little and he sucked in air and forced his body to push a little more adrenal into his system. This helped perk him up a little but it wouldn't last long, it seemed lately whenever he pushed himself beyond what a normal body was capable of his strength quickly drained away. At first, it only happened when he Shifted his body too often, but now it was happening whenever he enhanced his physique, even slight adjustments put a timer on his stamina, soon he would need to stop and rest.

The long run through the snaking roads of the old mine gave the Seon followers ample time to catch up, they were only meters behind Jericho now. Luckily the metallic smell coming off the slurry of mine water clogged their lungs making breathing a difficult endeavour. Thanks to this Jericho was able to make it into the cluttered streets of the main part of town.

As he weaved in and out of the crowds and narrow spaces between buildings the sounds of his pursuer's yelling at him to "Get back here" and pleads of "Someone stop that man!" began to fade. With enough space between the two parties and Jericho’s stamina reaching its limits he felt now was the best time to make for a final push to escape the men. Turning a corner that opened up onto the main street of Broken Hill, a space filled with ancient tall shop fronts and newly erected street stalls he eyed up an escape route.

Spotting one he darted towards a solid-looking food stall that was carved out of an old caravan, building up speed and planting a foot on the old rust-dotted tow bar, launching himself upwards, he kicked off the side of the caravan, then grabbed the awning with one hand and hoisted himself upwards. The movement was so quick and fluid the shop owner hardly noticed the slight wobble that shimmered through her shop, she did however notice the two oddly dressed men screaming at her and pointing in her direction to "Stop him!". She glanced around but couldn't see anyone who might look like they were fleeing, but by this point, Jericho was already climbing up to the roof of the building behind her. Gliding up the downpipe with such ease that you'd think he was a diver underwater using a guide rope to the surface. Once he reached the roof he turned and flashed a big grin to his pursuers and gave them a mocking salute before turning and disappearing behind the edge of the roof.

The two men were left shocked and embarrassed that they had failed to capture the man. One turned in a last-ditch act of desperation grabbing a passer-by who had watched the impromptu show, pointed to the roof and yelled "Help us get him." The passer-by simply looked the man up and down, sneered, squirmed out of his grip and left without a word. That’s when the two Seon worshipers took in the environment around them. They were in a crowded street, with everyone who passed either taking great care not to look at them or locking their eyes on them with the hints of rage beginning to form on their faces.

"I think we should get back to the truck" one murmured to the other.

Not wanting to make any unnecessary noise, lest his words be taken as some kind of insult, the other made the slightest of nods as they turned back the way they came and took off at a brisk pace.

On top of the roof Jericho dropped to his knees taking in a deep lungful of air. The second he stopped running the fatigue washed over him like a wave, he would need to take a couple of minutes before he made his way home. Ripping open the bag he rummaged for one of the casts of water he swiped from the truck, seizing and gulping down half of it in one go.

Settling into a comfortable position he took stock of himself. "Things are getting worse, what's wrong with me? If this was just after my escape that would be one thing but it's been months and I keep getting worse."

After his escape, Jericho's body was so frail and sluggish, but once he found a safe place to stay and a semi-regular source of food, he was able to recover quite quickly, he even found a doctor who was able to help identify what parts of his body needed more rehabilitation. Doc, which the man insisted on being called said "Someone in your shape should take years to mend, but with your ability to concentrate muscle growth you should be right as rain in a couple of weeks.” While his body had filled out to be pretty much how he remembered before his capture, for whatever reason he was feeling less and less active. It was like he had a weight in his head that became heavier as it sucked up his strength. The more he pushed himself the faster the weight grew and the more exhausted he felt.

"I'll rest here a bit, then I'll drop the food off at Lisa's and I might go see Doc, see what he can do."

After resting for a time and feeling his strength slowly return, Jericho made his way back down to street level and wandered over to the outskirts of the south of town. Not many people made use of this part of town, it was in rough shape the road was cracked and fading to gravel, with all the buildings beginning to be reclaimed by nature, a testament to how little this area was utilised.

Jericho didn't understand why the person who decided to put him up lived in such a secluded area, maybe she liked the quiet, or maybe she just didn't trust anyone in town. Whatever the reasoning it suited him well, Jericho knew that Seon was looking for him even if they seemed to have reduced their search in the last couple of weeks. Surrounding himself with a smaller more trustworthy group seemed like a better idea than fading into the faceless masses, who knew what snakes could be hiding in the crowds.

Jericho clambered down a well-trodden path on the side of an embankment, the road met an abrupt end as it stretched over a large gully. The old highway was made to bypass the town but after nearly two centuries of neglect sections of the structure had crumbled away. As Jericho crossed the dry basin of the gully, he made his way over to one of the remaining sections of the highway, the memory from a few months earlier played out in his mind.

The first time he saw that structure it was in a rather more desperate situation. After escaping the Seon base Jericho found himself wandering through the sparsely vegetated bushland. It was a struggle to find food and water, he had to make do with the few snakes and birds he was able to catch, drinking what he could stomach of perpetual brown puddles of water.

Finding help was difficult, most of the mutants he did come across took one look at his clothes and made a run for it. Either they mistook him for a Seon soldier or didn't want to get caught up in whatever he was a part of. Jericho did consider ditching the clothes however he didn't think approaching people in the bush as naked as the day he was born would elicit a different response.

Besides the sun was burning away at his flesh, it was so soft and sensitive to the light that the rays felt like fire licking at his skin. Normally he could use his ability to reduce his skin sensitivity but doing so sucked away at his strength. He did manage to find a jacket and a pair of boots scavenging in an old frame house but the white overalls still made him a pariah. Couple all this with his paranoia of being caught again by Seon which forced him to give any settlement a wide birth.

Eventually after wandering around aimlessly, he found himself on the outskirts of Broken Hill. At this point Jericho was at the end of his rope, he decided to take a chance on a settlement and this one had all the signs of being a mixed village that might have at one stage been a Brutes-only village. On signposts and nailed to trees outside the village was the symbol of The Sentinel's Helmet. Which is a symbol that looked like a flat rendition of a Spartan helmet in profile, but as he got closer to the village newer signs that depicted the Omni-Scholarly. This symbol was the Greek letter for Psi a Y with three lines coming out of the top instead of the traditional two, with three circles floating around the symbol. Jericho knew the placement of the circles meant something different for each symbol, but he never paid that much attention in school all he knew was they communicated some form of "safety". There were even a few odd Sanctuary symbols scattered about, so there was some hope he could find help or at the very least water and a decent meal.

It was as he came into the bounds of the village; that he spotted the towering remains of the highway overpass. Nested in between 2 of the towering cement pillars was a dilapidated house. If it weren't for the fact that it appeared to be made of plates of rusted metal held together by hopes and dreams of those desperate not to die of exposure to the elements, you would think it's an opulent house owing to its sheer size.

Jericho stumbled towards the structure as he caught a glimpse of a massive sentinel helmet painted on one of the overpass’s pillars. A feeling of relief flowed over him, no matter what these people should at least give him some water and a place to sleep tonight, even if it's in a locked room while they questioned him.

However, as he approached the building Jericho also noticed something odd, there was a continuous flash of a small light coming from the top of the house. It didn't quite make sense it was the middle of the day, so that light would have to be quite bright, what would the purpose of something like that be? The light was also sitting in a small box that crowned the house propped up on stilts making it only slightly shorter than the overpass above it.

"From up there I bet you could see for miles around." Jericho thought to himself before a massive pain ripped through the right side of his chest. It felt like a hot iron poker had slammed into his chest and was now sticking out his back, with the middle of the rod burning his insides. As he tumbled backwards the unmistakable sound of a gunshot reached his ears.

"Oh, a Sniper" was the only thing that he could think of as his head slammed into the hard dry ground, causing his brain to rattle around in his skull. Dazed and now in shock from the fire raging in his chest all Jericho could do was gaze up unthinkingly into the bright blue sky.

After what seemed like hours or maybe it was just minutes Jericho could hear echoing voices coming towards him. At first, it was hard to make out the words, they seemed to melt into an incoherent mess but as they got closer, he could make out the speakers. One voice came from an older woman, she sounded panicky, on edge and frankly annoyed. The other was a small child, maybe a girl, she had that tone of voice kids have when they are naive to a situation and can't understand why they are being excluded.

"But I want to see." The young voice screeched.

"Taz, I said no! Go back to the house now, the other kids need you there." the old woman barked.

"But you’re always telling me I'm the oldest and I need to start taking, more responsibility and to grow up." Taz shot back.

The older woman sighed heavily, clearly, she wasn't a fan of having her words thrown back at her. "You've already come this far I guess, just stay behind me and if anything happens you run back to the house and get the others inside, understand?"

"YES! Thank you, Lisa." Taz said giddy with excitement.

"You're coming to look at a corpse kid, not having your pick of candy at the shop…although I guess I'm not quite dead yet." thought Jericho. He heard the shifting clicks of metal plates of something moving around, it was probably the gun being aimed at him again. Not that it mattered his body felt like it was suddenly made from stone, and his lungs felt like they were on fire it was all Jericho could do to stay awake.

The two figures came into Jericho's vision, to him they looked like massive dark pillars stretching into the sky, bright blue dots in their heads told him they were indeed Brutes like him. He went to speak, but between the heavy breaths, he only managed to choke on the blood pouring into his lungs.

"Well, what did a Seon soldier think he was doing walking onto my land? Huh? Were you after the kids? I bet you thought they'd be easy pickings." The taller one hissed at him.

Taz spoke uncertainly "Lisa, I don't think he's…"

"Taz! What are you doing get behind me who knows what tricks he has hidden up his sleeve."

Taz reached for the gun, pulling it away from Jericho ignoring Lisa, "No! Lisa, I don't think he's Seon, he smells like us!"

Trying to push Taz away and regain control of the gun Lisa screamed "What are you doing girl, of course, he's a Seon soldier, look at what he's wearing. Now let go of the gun, it's not a toy."

The two continued to argue as Jericho watched the scene play out, hoping the gun wouldn't go off by accident so close to him. Just then the hammer of the gun clicked back, the slightest movement would set it off. Out of reflex, Jericho grabbed the barrel of the gun to force it to the side. The two women's hold was strong but he just needed to move the barrel away slightly and "BANG".

The gun went off in the struggling women's hands, both stood wide-eyed and shocked. Jericho's hand was wrapped around the barrel of the gun, his flesh hissing as the heat of the rifle cooked his skin. Next to his head was a crater in the ground the bullet had dug out. But all of this went unnoticed by Taz and Lisa, their eyes were firmly locked on to the bright blue orbs glaring at them through messy hair deformed by the viscous rage their owner displayed.

"I am not Seon!" Jericho managed to bark out at them, with that Lisa released her hold on the gun, Taz managed to catch it and placed it to the side.

"I'm sorry I didn't..." Jericho didn't catch the end of that sentence, his ears were ringing from the sound of the gunshot and the loss of blood had made the choice of remaining conscious an impossible one. He fell back in silence and with the fact that he was still alive he gathered Lisa must have gotten him to a hospital.

Now as he approached the orange-dusted house that same flashing of the sun reflected on Lisa's rifle glimmered at him. But this time when it stopped, he could see a figure waving at him from the crow’s nest.

The inside of the house was as you would think it would be from the outside. Everything was worn down and barely holding itself together. Chipped paint, cracking floorboards whose grain had disappeared under a torrent of incalculable scratches and marks. Furniture was mismatched and hastily repaired with whatever was on hand at the time. But one thing you couldn't say was that it was dirty. Lisa ran a tight ship and was quite proud of her home, every surface was covered in evidence of a happy life; toys, drawings and photos of children hung on every wall and surface. This place was peaceful, Lisa ran a home for orphans, who loved her like she was their mother. That's why the sudden fight that broke out between Jericho and Lisa shattered the air like a glass cup falling on a tiled floor.

"Where did you get that food!" Lisa barked at Jericho as he opened the bag in the kitchen preparing to put the food away like he had just gone on a shopping trip.

"These guys near the farm were giving it away, said they had too much." Jericho said avoiding Lisa's gaze.

"Bull, there are Seon markings in that bag, you stole that didn't you."

"No, I didn't steal it, they were giving it away."

"The Preachers! They would never give food to a mutant, what did you do?"

Jericho sighed heavily and turned to Lisa, "They aren't exactly checking if you're human or not, seems they assume you're just a normal human if you pretend to listen to them. Some old Brute was there two doing the same, Hosher I think his name was."

"John Hosher? He's always been a sly one, he's been taking food from Seon? I guess that would be something he'd do."

"He managed to get the Seon guys to give him two bags today." Jericho said, glad Lisa was calming down. He didn't like lying to her, but her caution was making things hard, they had been running low on food for weeks. What Jericho could bring back working at the community farm wasn't cutting it. With no money to buy more food the list of ways to get some was growing shorter by the day, taking food from Seon seemed like the most ethical way to Jericho.

"Yes, that's something John would manage, still I don't want you going anywhere near the preachers, if they found out there was a group of mutant kids here, barely protected by an old woman who knows what they would do." Lisa turned her head and yelled in the direction she knew the kids to be hiding.

"Kids, come help put the food away!"

"To be fair, I'm here too they would have their hands full." Jericho said through a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, because you’re a beacon of reliability." Lisa shot back.

"Did Jericho start a fight again?" said a little boy of about 8 with bright red hair as he entered the room.

"Thanks Aaron" Jericho deflated falling into one of the mismatched chairs around the kitchen table.

Aaron was the youngest and came to Lisa as a baby, so he's only ever known this place as a home. Which made him sarcastic and rather bossy, partially the personality you would expect Lisa's son to have. His abilities had yet to manifest, but judging by his smell and ability to learn so quickly Lisa guessed he was a Psychic, which did make Lisa worry, his powers could be more destructive when they manifested than the other kids, which caused her to dote on the boy.

"Wow, where did you get all this food." Aaron said with over played surprise.

"You already know, I know you've been hiding in the laundry with Issac and Taz since Jericho got here." Lisa shot back with annoyance; Lisa was still Lisa she didn't let Aaron just run the house as he pleased.

Lisa's ability as a Brute gave her hypersensitive senses ones that far exceeded the average Brutes, with the bonus of being able to turn them on and off at will. This meant nothing happened around her without her knowing, coupled with her years of experience, she practically always had a living map of the house in her head. This came in handy when looking after a gaggle of children, the kids would even say to each other "Careful Lisa has eyes in every room" whenever they were up to mischief.

Aaron turned and looked back at the door he just come out of as Issac and Taz sheepishly wandered into the kitchen avoiding eye contact with Lisa. However, when they caught sight of the bag full of food they brightened up.

"Oh, wow there's so much food." Isaac said with glee. Isaacs was only a little older than Aaron at ten however he towered over the boy. Isaac was just a normal human boy who just showed up one day, Lisa asked where his home was and if he should be leaving soon. However, he never answered and just stayed in the house, his parents never came looking for him, so Lisa ended up letting him stay. Isaac was a quiet boy, never really spoke much and only hung around Aaron like a protective older brother.

"Oh, oh there's enough meat here for me to make Pot Of, Lisa, Lisa can I make Pot Of." Taz said as she jumped up and down in excitement.

Pot Of was slang around the house for a dish Taz made, it was short for Pot of Food. It was a soup that mostly contained a random assortment of vegetables and some kind of meat. No one pot contained the same ingredients, but somehow the girl was skilled enough to make it taste good no matter the mixture.

Taz was also the oldest of all the children Lisa looked after at fourteen. Although you wouldn't know from looking at her, she was small for her age and thin as a rod, covered in scars left over from the rough life she lived before she came to Lisa. But she had matured under Lisa's care, she helped out the most around the house and often joked she was going to take over the place when Lisa died.

"Sure Taz, just don't use all the meat, leave some for the rest of the week." Lisa said smiling at the excited children. It had been a rough couple of months. The Vile Plague had made its way to town and many of the kids in the orphanage had caught it. Usually, fourteen children were running around the house, however, eleven had fallen ill and were now staying at the hospital full time.

There is a chance most will recover; however, the long-lasting effects of the disease could still be devastating. A few might not recover they had been hit quite hard and were currently comatose. A fact that haunted Lisa even now as she stared blankly at the children fussing over the food hurriedly packing it away.

"Lisa..." Jericho said softly placing his hand on her shoulder.

Snapping back to the present Lisa's gaze locked on to Jericho's, a hint of sadness playing across her eyes. "Jericho... Could you go and sit in the crow’s nest for a while, someone should be up there."

"Yeah of course," he answered with a smile.

As he turned to make his way to the roof, Jericho could make out the quiet voice of Lisa muttering a "thank you" before it was drowned out by a loud and furious banging.

Jericho spun on his feet and his eyes darting from the direction of the front door where the noise had come from and back to Lisa. Lisa's face was a mixture of fear and shock which quickly collapsed into rage.

"They followed you!" She yelled at him.

Behind her, the kids bolted from the kitchen and down the hallway to their rooms. They knew if they heard any noise, that could be dangerous they were meant to run and hide in their rooms.

"No, they couldn't have, they ran off when I got into town..." Jericho tried to reason his way out of Lisa's hate-filled glair, but Lisa shut him down.

"Then who's at the door huh? Anyone that's allowed to come here knows not to bang on the front door they wait outside until someone comes to them."

Lisa was right, only someone who doesn't know the rules would think they could just approach this place like any other house. But could it really be the Seon worshippers, Jericho could have sworn that he lost them in town.

"I'll go take care of it." Said Jericho he avoided looking at her.

"To right you will!" Yelled Lisa as she bounded up the stairs to the roof to grab her gun from the crow's nest.

As Jericho approached the front door, he braced himself for what might be outside. Once ready he pushed on the large metal door. It took quite a bit of strength to force open, it was heavy and was rarely used which made it stick. The banging from the visitors however had managed to loosen it. Not knowing this when Jericho pushed to open the door it flung open with a loud slam as it bounced off the exterior wall. The noise caused the two men cladded in grey with wide brim hats and veiled faces to jump back.

It was indeed the Seon worshipers, who were quite jumpy coming so far into territory they believed to be controlled by their 'enemy'.

"You!" one of the men yelled as Jericho trotted out from the dwelling "Give back the food you stole!"

"It's not meant for demons like you, it's for the clean to have. So that they might have the strength to make it to the safety of our settlement." the other howled.

These two seemed to be the more militant type, the kind that truly believed in the mission of Seon, not just the ones that joined out of their sense of self-preservation. This made them cocky, thinking that they were somehow under the protection of some higher power, Jericho relaxed placed his hands in his pockets and smiled, this wouldn't take long.

"Sorry boy's food gone. I didn't know I needed to use it for a journey, maybe next time I'll save it for a trip." Jericho said in a cocky tone, this only stirred up the men even more.

Both men reached into the backs of their shirts where they had blades strapped, pulling out long sharp knives. "You know, I bet you think we are afraid because you’re hiding behind that symbol." One of the men pointed to the large symbol of The Spartan's Helmet that loomed over Lisa's house. "But the way we see it, if you had the power to beat us you would have done so at the truck. So, you're all show just barely stronger than a pure human."

Jericho laughed at the men as he approached them "Yeah, that's true I should have just taken the truck." Jericho activated his Release his eyes flashing Blue as he launched at the men. One faltered for a moment, not expecting Jericho to just run at them, while the other now running on pure adrenaline leaped forward to meet Jericho.

The Seon worshipper stabbed blindly at Jericho, but thanks to Jericho's heightened awareness the movements seemed as slow and telegraphed as a child's play fight. Stepping to the side Jericho grabbed the man's arm stopping it in place then with the other arm drove a fist into his forearm. The Seon man's arm rang with a muffled snap as his forearm broke causing the knife to fall to the ground. Jericho pushed the now screaming man back a step, spun on the spot and delivered a kick to the howling man's head knocking him to the ground unconscious.

As the man slammed into the ground the sound of which snapped his companion out of his stunned state. Like a switch being flipped the man lunged forward at Jericho, how dare this filthy Brute lay his hand on one of Seon's worshippers. It was hard for the man to remember what happened next. It seemed to be a blur of tumbling, weightlessness and a sudden pain radiating from the back of his head. Debate had concluded that the Brute had kicked his feet out from underneath him 'as per the bruise on his legs'. Then as he fell, he was caught by the front of his head 'notable by the odd bruising on his face, which looked like a hand had snapped around it like a Vile trap around a mutated leg/tentacle/tail. Finishing by hefting him up and back the opposite way he came, slamming him into the ground.

"You didn't kill them, did you?!" Screamed Lisa as she burst through the door smelling the faint smell of blood that lightly peppered the air.

Jericho was rummaging around in the downed men's pockets and gathering up their knives. "No of course not, last thing I want is Seon troops poking around looking for missing worshippers... Damn, these guys travel light, barely anything on them."

Relaxing a little Lisa commented, "Well they are devout worshippers, they probably believe material possessions distance themselves from God or something."

With a smirk on his face Jericho held up a hand full of plastic chips "Well, they are about 100 chips closer to God now."

After the sudden destabilisation of the world, the currency of the day was almost instantaneously worthless. Most people had their money wrapped up in a bank and accessed it digitally. With the banks down, physical money became too scarce for the average person to put any value in. So, to the dismay of those who hoarded money and rare metals a new form of currency popped up. One reliant on IOUs as a form of borrowing and another that involved gathering colourful pieces of plastic and melting them down, pressing them into little rectangles with a number value engraved with intricate details. These colourful rectangles bore a resemblance to old poker chips, and quickly were branded as such. These Chips worked the same as money, meaning you could convert your labour into a universal currency.

"You know, you're going to have to share that, it's your fault they came here in the first place." Lisa thrust her hand out to Jericho expectantly.

Jericho grimaced, sure Lisa was right, but he had so little money as it was, couldn't he keep this lot just this once? Still, he did feel guilty, he had put the kids in danger. "Yeah alright, here." Jericho handed over half of what he found. "So, what do you want to do with these two? Want me to drag them back down the road?"

Lisa nodded back to the now stirring men "No need, looks like they are waking up now, just scare them off."

As the men regained consciousness groaning from their wounds, the man with the broken arm let out a scream of pain as he tried to use the mangled appendage. Jericho grabbed them by the scruff of their shirts and yanked them up to their feet.

"Now boys, don't let me see you around here again!"  Jericho barked in their faces.

"You'll either get more broken bones from me. Or the Old lady will shoot you before you get close." behind him Lisa made an exaggerated display of loading a round into her rifle.

One of the men turned and began to stumble away before Jericho started speaking, but the one with the broken arm decided to try and get in the last word. "Listen you..." He started before Jericho flung one of the knives in his hand at one of the cement pillars on either side of the house. The air snapped with the strength behind the throw, and a loud crack rang out as the blade buried itself to the hilt in the solid mass.

"Go!" Jericho shouted causing the man to stumble backwards, almost falling, but managed to right himself as he ran to catch up with his companion.    

"See that wasn't too bad" Jericho said as he turned back to Lisa, with a cocky smile.

"Old lady huh? I'll take the rest of the money you stole thanks." Lisa shot back at Jericho.

Jericho laughed "Not even if you shot me again..." Something wasn't right suddenly Jericho's head felt heavy, he had trouble keeping his eyes open and standing upright became a struggle.

"Lisa I..." Jericho stammered out as the edges of his vision began to fade to black and he crumbled to the ground.

Time for Jericho seemed off, one moment it felt like he was in an endless sea of black that dragged on forever. Then an instant later he was staring up at a blinding light with three silhouetted figures towering over him. It was like he was staring at Lisa one moment and within the blink of an eye, he was now in this world of light.

Something about the scene filled Jericho with fear. It stirred a memory in his mind of a horrific time he had buried in his subconscious. With the memory came the recollection of pain, fear, desperation and dread. Instinctively Jericho launched up at one of the figures, going for their throat. He would not let that torture happen to him again.

But before he could reach his prey a massive hand closed around his outstretched arm clamping it in a vice-like grip. One so powerful it threatened to snap the bone. With a second equal massive hand latching to his shoulder forcing him back down. With his free arm, he flung it out to the side ready to snap it into a spear to drive it into his captor. As Jericho's mind came up to speed defrosting from his stupor and confusion, he suddenly became aware of the cacophony of noise around him.

"Jericho, Jericho, no stop, calm down! You are safe just breathe. Kent watch that arm, he might try to stab you!"

"Breathe, Breathe, Breathe."

Until now Jericho didn't realise, he was holding his breath, maybe this voice had a point, and it did sound familiar so maybe it could be trusted. As Jericho took in deep breaths, still struggling against the massive grip pinning him to the bed, his vision of the environment around him came into focus. He knew this place, he was in one of the plainly dressed rooms of the hospital and the people around him he knew them as well, most of them at least. 

Before him stood Lisa, with a saddened expression on her face, next to her was a Tall slim man with a practical, yet dishevelled haircut with dark circles around his eyes, dressed in blue hospital scrabs and a white coat. Doc was a frantically busy man; with the sudden influx of plague victims, he had seen his nights robbed of what little sleep he could muster. The one towering over Jericho however, he did not know. The bulky monster with hair shaved down to the scalp and small eyes that gleamed the dazzling blue of a Brutes Release. He did look a terrifying sight, which was lessened by pastel pink scrubs stretched over his rocklike muscles, they were also dotted with a pattern of strawberries and clouds, the best guess was he was a nurse.

As Jericho's eyes locked on the tower of muscles, he let out a long breath and stopped straining against his captor. To which the hulking man gave Jericho a wide smile that practically heated the room. "You'll be alright now" Kent said to Jericho releasing his grip on the tiny man.

"You should be able to handle this from here Doc, I need to go back and check up on the kids." Kent said as he turned and left the room.

"Yes, thanks for your help, Kent, let me know if the kids need anything." replied Doc.

Kent stopped in the doorway and looked back "No, get some rest you don't have to monitor every patient here, let the rest of us do our jobs" Kent then proceeded to slam the door closed, though this could have been by accident, his tone was more of a jovial gest rather than an annoyed snipe.

Jericho struggled to sit up still breathing heavily and his heart pounded in his head, Doc's attention quickly flicked back to him. "Jericho, are you ok? Take deep breaths I bet that was a bit of a shock... Turn that off now!" Doc sentence punctuated with a shout.

At first, Jericho was confused by his meaning, but then the clarity of the room, the overwhelming colour of Doc's shirt, the oppressive smell of disinfectant and the thin wall he shared with his crying neighbour made sense. Jericho had his Release activated, and despite the surge of energy from his panic state, he could feel his stamina draining quickly. Letting things fade back to normal the room seemed to dim as the colour and clarity faded away, the walls seemed to thicken, and the air became dense. Everything seemed to speed up around him as his vision began to cave in like the world had halved in size.

"Good, can't have you burning what energy you have left, you need rest now." Doc said with a warm smile.

Lisa approached Jericho's bed now that it was safe. "You gave me quite the scare there boy, thought you'd just dropped dead on me, how are you feeling now."

"Alright, feels like my body is made of lead, I feel so heavy, but I think I'll manage." Jericho said trying to reassure Lisa, truthfully, he did feel wrong, it was like he hadn't slept in days and his body was screaming at him to stay still.

"Is he going to be alright?" Lisa turned to Doc looking for reassurance.

"Oh, he should be, looks like the start of scurvy, this one hasn't been eating his fruits and veg, too much meat perhaps."

Doc shot Jericho a mocking grin.

"I knew it, he's been running off with the hunters so often lately but hardly brings back any food. No wonder you haven't been eating with the rest of us!" Lisa turned on Jericho like she had caught one of the kids sneaking food after bed. 

"Well maybe I would eat with you if you're food didn't taste like boiled boots." Jericho shot back.

"What!? Fine, you can cook your own food if you’re such a good chef."

"Now, now, you two you can take your domestic home with you. Lisa if you don't mind, I'd like to go over Jericho's treatment, why don't you go visit the kids, Kent said some of them are awake today." Doc interrupted, trying to avoid a larger fight.

"Fine!" she said in a huff as she turned and stormed out of the room.

As she left Doc sat on the edge of Jericho's bed, his face practically collapsing under the weight of his exhaustion. His eyes now looked more sunken as the lids seemed to be straining to stay awake.

"You still haven't told her?" He said turning to Jericho.

"No, how would she deal with knowing the homeless guy crashing with her is also dying."

"She's a strong lady, she seems to be handling the plague well enough so far." Doc said trying to build up the strength for a faint smile.

Snapping at Doc Jericho raised his voice, "No she's not, I hear her crying when she thinks everyone is asleep. She isn't handling it at all, she's afraid all the kids are going to get sick. They practically have already that house used to be full of kids, now there's only three left, the house feels soulless now."

Doc's faint smile petered out as the energy he had for his bedside manner faded.

"Sorry..." Jericho muttered, "Let's get to my results, shall we? How much longer do I have left?"

Doc took a deep breath and brightened a little bit, he didn't have the energy to reassure patients, but talking frankly about test results that he could do with ease. Talking with Jericho seemed to come naturally, he had a dark sense of humour that blended well with the defence health care professionals developed when caring for patients.

"Well, the good news is you're probably not dying yet." Doc began to flick through the notes on his clipboard. "Results came back normal, no organ failure, blood looks good, pressure is a bit high you should watch that, but all in all you are looking fine." Doc tossed his notes aside and clambered to his feet stretching out his muscles.

"That can't be right?" Jericho said scanning through the paperwork to no avail, while doc saw an orderly breakdown of Jericho's health, all he saw was a confusing mess of numbers and letters he didn't know made up real words.

Doc started to pace around the room "No it's not right, something else is wrong with you but I don't have the tools or expertise to pinpoint it, I'm sorry. What I can tell from our test when you are 'hunting', when you use your abilities, even just your Release your body starts producing large amounts of melatonin. Which is why you keep passing out, your brain thinks that you are exhausted and wants to rest."

"Wait, no, I can control my hormone levels that shouldn't be happening."

"I know that's what's so odd about it, your body shouldn't be able to act reflexively like this without you knowing or being able to stop it. Did you get much sleep last night?"

Confused Jericho tilted his head "Yeah, I even went to bed early because I felt exhausted, I probably slept for nine or ten hours."

"Well based on your results you have the levels of someone who hasn't slept for days. Looking at your past results it looks like you are suffering from severe insomnia." Doc picked up the results again and pointed at numbers that meant nothing to Jericho.

Jericho shook his head "No that's not right I sleep fine, in fact I feel like I've been sleeping better than ever, the second my head hits the pillow I'm out like a light, I even have trouble waking up."

"That’s what I'm afraid of because you seem to be sleeping fine but you still present as exhausted, I fear Seon did something to you to make sure you were easier to recapture." Doc said his tone becoming bleaker.

Jericho suddenly felt wide awake fear was speeding up his heart, panic forcing energy into his body. Could Seon still be coming for him without him knowing? "What, what do you mean? What did they do? When are they coming for me!?" he practically shouted.

Doc placed his hand on Jericho, gently pushing him back down into the bed "Calm down, I don't know, but I believe the exhaustion is a clue. What I think is; whatever they did to your body makes you exhausted and it gets worse whenever you use your abilities, I believe it will eventually cause you to fall into a coma."

As the news slammed into Jericho his eyes widened and tears began to form at the edges of his eyes. "I thought I got away from Seon, but they had their hooks in me this whole time. Is there anything I can do to stop this?"

"Well, no, not if you stay here." Doc turned and walked over to a small cooler on a table near the door Jericho had neglected to take notice of before. "I can't do much for you here, but maybe a doctor in Melbourne could do something for you. But I won't just let you walk out of here empty-handed; I have something that should keep you out of trouble for a while." Doc proceeded to pull out six bright purple metal cans with obnoxious black lettering which made up the words 'Heart Cutter' scrawled across them.

"Those are bad for you" Jericho said out of reflex, on seeing the cans clap onto the table.

Since the rise of both Brutes and Psychics, they found sugar and caffeine were a great way to stave off the exhaustion that came with prolonged Release use. Energy drinks and pre-workout were gobbled up on mass early on. But because their manufacturing pretty much disappeared overnight the supply disappeared just as quick. So, an enterprising individual started to make their own version of the stimulant. They however didn't do a good job, the resulting brew tasted like a bath of chemicals with artificial grape flavouring polluting the drink. Not to mention the swill is too thick the consumer practically has to choke down the sirup and sometimes mastication is needed to make the process easier.

The cans themselves don't give you any idea of what is inside them. Long ago there was a wall of text printed on cans like this breaking down the exact chemicals of the liquid you held in your hands. This one had nothing just the black lettering "Heart Cutter". So, the name coupled with the rumour that not even the top Psychic scholars could identify what was in the can was enough to turn away most people. The increase in heart attacks and diabetes in the drink's more rabid fan base was also enough for most doctors to tell people “Yeah you probably shouldn't drink that” also helped with the negative perception.

"Normally yes, I'm right there with you, but we need to stop your brain from being flooded with melatonin. The caffeine in this will block the receptors in your head and trick you into thinking you’re not sleepy. The sugar should also give you plenty of energy to make it to Melbourne in one piece." Doc placed the cans back in the cooler and handed it to Jericho.

"So, there's sugar and caffeine in these?" Jericho said as he held up a can.

"I mean I guess so, or at least chemicals that act like it, but there is one more thing" Doc looked sternly at Jericho his voice dropping to punctuate the seriousness of his next sentence. "Jericho from now on you can't use your powers, not even your Release."

Jericho's head snapped away from the can and his eyes locked on the Doc's "You can't be serious! You want me to walk from here to Melbourne without using any of my abilities!?"

"You don't have to go to Melbourne; you can stay here and pitter about until you inevitably hit the ground one day and never get back up."

Jericho sighed, his eyes dropping to the floor. "I don't have many choices, do I?"

"Unfortunately, not, I'm sorry" Doc placed his hand on Jericho's shoulder.

"How much of this stuff do I need to drink?" Jericho said with some resolve returning to his voice.

"Drink one a day, move to two if you feel you're starting to build a tolerance." Doc said as he began to move about the room putting things back in place. "Now go ahead drink up, you need to finish the whole can before I let you leave."

Jericho looked at the can in his hand, even though it was still sealed he could smell the faint hint of fake grape in the air. Cracking it open flooded the room with the smell making him gag.

"Hold your breath and down it, won't do you any good if you let it sit." Doc said with a smirk on his face.

Taking a deep breath Jericho lifted the can to his mouth and began to guzzle the thick liquid. To his sensitive tongue, the substances tasted like a sour mix of soaps with a hint of grape. Forcing the drink down he coughed and splattered and struggled to stop his body from throwing it up.

"You know they say a spoonful of honey helps with the taste of medicine" Doc mocked.

Jericho shuddered last thing he wanted to think about was more sugar "Shut up, you know you're not meant to make fun of your patients."

"Well, you're not a patient anymore, you can go home now. Oh, but before you go, you owe me chips."

"What are you talking about? You never charged me before."

Doc wagged his finger at Jericho "It's not for you, it's for those Seon men you pummelled, two concussions, a broken arm and a fractured skull, not cheap fixes."

Jericho jumped to his feet in shock "You treated them? Why? They are Seon."   

"What do you mean why?" Doc stopped for a second remembering Jericho may look like a young man, but he had a full century under his belt.

"Jericho, things aren’t like they were a hundred years ago, sure back in your time you could have slapped around a Seon worshiper, hell even killed them and see no repercussion. But things are different now, we've all settled into a delicate peace with Seon, they leave us alone we leave them alone. How do you think it would look if two Seon Worshipers were smacked around in a mutant settlement and didn't at the very least get some medical attention? I don't like seeing to their needs, I've lost people because of them, but for the good of the rest of the community I'll happily slap a couple of bandages on them."

"I… umm" Jericho wanted to protest, but he couldn't help but think maybe he didn't handle the situation as well as he could have.

It was hard after all, when he saw the Seon emblem he couldn't help but be filled with rage. Seon had taken so much from him, a raid on his town, the death of loved ones and his capture and prolonged torture still burned in his mind. To him, this all had only just happened and felt so personal, but to others, this all happened a long time ago to people they never met. Did he have the right to put others in danger just because he had been wronged?

"Anyway, twenty-five chips should be enough" Doc spoke up to capture Jericho's attention.

"What!?" I don't have"

"Sure you do, Lisa told me you took a hundred from the worshipers, time to pay your dues" Doc mocked.

"But what about the Heart Cutter? I won't have enough to buy more when I run out." Jericho pleaded with Doc.

"That stuff? No, it's cheap as chips, merchants have trouble getting rid of their stocks, one chip should buy you six, you probably succumb to your illness before you run out of money." Doc laughed.

"You need to work on your bedside."

"I will, now get out of bed we need it for someone else." Doc laughed. "Lisa is probably waiting for you in the kid's room."

Jericho climbed out of bed pulling on his beaten jacket and gathered up the cooler with the remaining cans of heart cutter. "Do you want this back?"

"Hmm, oh yeah, just send it back with Lisa."

Jericho made his way to the door, stopped and turned back to Doc "You know this might be the last time we see each other."

Doc's face slackened as his smile fell from his mouth. "Yeah, I know, please take care and write to us when you can. To me you were just a patient, granted one I got along with better than most. But to Lisa and the kids you meant so much more, they'll miss you dearly."

A smile creased Jericho's lips, though his eyes began to water a little "Yeah, I'll do that, thanks again Doc, I'll see you around hopefully."

"See you, Jericho and if you find anything of use to me out there send it back, ok?"

Without turning back to look at Doc Jericho raised his hand and waved back in acknowledgment as he walked through the door.

As Jericho walked through the corridors of the hospital, he turned over the situation in his mind. He needed to leave town that was certain, but could he make it to Melbourne? The Heart Cutter was helping he could already feel the heaviness of exhaustion lift from his body.

"But what if there isn't anyone in Melbourne that can help me? ... No don't think about it like that, just take it one step at a time, First I need to get there." Jericho's thoughts swirled around in his head.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the children’s ward. Through here was a large room that kept most of Lisa's kids that had contracted the Vilepox. Entering the room always hit Jericho with this uneasy feeling. A brightly coloured room with childish paintings of landscapes bordered the room spotted with scribbled drawings made by the children. This contrasted horribly with the lines of beds cradling the sleeping children wheezing, covered in horrible green, weeping wounds. Amongst all of them stood alone figure hovering over one of the beds, Lisa.

As Jericho approached her, she whispered "Is my cooking really that bad?"

Jericho shook his head and quietly responded "No."

Lisa smiled and whispered, "Are you leaving us?" tears falling from her eyes, 

Jericho looked down at the ground, he couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye "Yes."