Blending into the crowd in the slums of Kardos really isn't that hard. At least it isn't for me. I'm just like everyone else. Pale skin, sunken tired eyes, but aware of every movement around me. My hood keeps the details of my face hidden just enough to float through as if I weren't there at all. No one even looks at me as I navigate through. Like I said, it's easy to lay low here.

  So it truly baffles me to watch this revolutionary stumble through like it's his first day.

  How can you be so ignorant? He has clean clothes, clean skin, bright eyes that can't even see the Hook junkie shuffling toward him. Even kids know what to look for down here. He isn’t completely unaware, he has a keen eye, but he doesn’t have the look of street rats like us. He’s too green. He sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s how I noticed him in the first place.

  I quicken my pace and shove the junkie away, not wanting him to scare off my prey i'm stalking. The skinny man throws his hands up and argues with me for a minute, outraged by my sudden aggression. But when I lift my head and show my face through my hood, not breaking eye contact for a second, he backs down.

  I look to my left and find the man i've been stalking is gone, and mutter a curse under my breath. I hurry to catch up to him, trying to find what turn he might have taken now. I scan the crowd evenly, not wanting to miss anything, until I find his tall, muscular frame at a food stall nearby.

  Slowly I push my way closer to him, eyeing some black market vendors casually. He doesn't take long at the food stand. He pays for his gruel being served in a cup, and continues on, shoveling scoops into his mouth if he walks. Again, what an idiot. He's practically asking for a fight eating as slow as he is.

  I continue to follow him for a while, tracking his every move for most of the day. But as time goes by, my nerves get more restless. He needs to be alone when I do this. I can't take him out in broad daylight.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, the man turns down a long forgotten alleyway, hands in his pockets and not a care in the world. My hair almost stands on its ends because no one in their right mind would turn down an alleyway like this.

  I sit and watch him for a moment, hesitant to follow him down here. He looks down at his wrist as some sort of display, typing in information for a moment before looking around to see if anyone has noticed.

  I hide behind the wall, crossing my fingers and hoping he didn't see me. When I think the coast is clear, I turn around the corner again but find the alleyway empty. I lost him.

  I jog down the tight aisle way and let out a breath. How did he disappear that quick? I just had my eye on him.

  "Dammit." I mutter to myself.

  Two hands wrap around my shoulders from behind and yank backwards, sending me to the ground before I can react. My head slams against the concrete, making the world spin. The man I had been watching all day kneels over top of me with a hardened look.

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  "Why are you following me?!" He demands.

  I force my head to clear and reach up, grabbing his arm and weaving my legs around him, twisting until I have him on the ground subdued.

  "I'm sorry, it's nothing personal." I say.

  He breaks away from my hold and shoves me back to the ground. We both twist and turn so fast that I can't even tell who's winning anymore. A fist is slammed into my chin and my head snaps sideways. The familiar taste of iron in blood overcomes my tastebuds, and I spit with rage seething.

  I send a knee into his stomach, stealing the breath from his lungs. He clutches his abdomen as I work my way out from underneath him. A hand grabs my ankle and drags me to him as he heaves me to my feet.

  My torso is shoved into a dumpster with strong hands on either side of my cloak. I bite hard on one of them, forcing him to let me go.

  Taking the back of his jacket, I shove his body backward until I hear his face crack into the rusted metal behind me. His body slams to the ground unmoving as I straighten, out of breath with blood staining the corner of my mouth. I spit the thick, hot blood from my mouth again near his head and grab his shoulder flipping him to his back.

  My hand notches itself to my blade on my waistband. I clench my eyes shut as a rush of guilt wracks my body. I don't want to be this person. I know I am better than this, but I have no choice.

  I raise my blade up, ready to sink it into his chest, when I notice a small scar under his eye and on the corner of his lips. My mind reels as my blade slowly lowers.

  "There's no way.." I whisper to myself astonished at the sighting.

  Those scars are familiar. They belong only to one person. A friend I used to know years ago. Someone I trusted. Someone I loved.

  I rip myself away from him, taking in his face. I can see it now. The angular, low set brow. The black hair. His striking green eyes. My brain is telling me this is impossible, that it has to be someone else. But my heart knows it to be true.

  I rush to his side searching his pockets. My hands find themselves empty from most of them, until I hesitantly find myself searching the pockets to his shirt. His chest still rises and falls, and is strong underneath my fingertips. Chills wrack my body as I find what I'm looking for.

  I look down at the holocard, fearful of what name i'll find etched on it's surface. The blood rushes from my face as my suspicion is confirmed.

  It's Zeke.

  I let out a breath, shaking my head at the discovery. My hand begins to shake, and I shove it in my pocket before I lose myself. I unlatch the device from his arm and attach it to the belt on my hip, covering it with my cloak away from prying eyes. I grit my teeth and let out a slow, controlled breath, not wanting to fall apart.

  I should just kill him and be done with it. It'd be safer for me if I did. I could take his card and hide amongst the newest batch of recruits. They wouldn't notice me, not among the other shaved heads that would look just like me. No one would ever know.

  But I would. I would know exactly what I did. His face would haunt me every time I closed my eyes. I'd hear his laugh from all those years ago resurface in the silence. Memories I'd locked away would follow me, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

  I stand, locking my emotions down and casting away anything I feel for him now. Hatred is the first thing that came to mind, along with hurt and sorrow to accompany it, but I cannot be distracted. I had one goal, and it was gaining access to the revolutionary's compound. I have that now, so I need to move before he wakes up.

  I have to just hope that he never finds me.