Josh looked around; he was in his home town. A boring little place with so little to do, but that aside a rather peaceful place to live. Life before the outbreak, before he knew what he was. He looked around at the rows of houses, the trees rustling in the wind and blowing his own brown hair slightly on his head. The smell of pollen and fresh water wafted in the breeze and the sun was warm on his skin and wings.

'Wings?' he thought. Of course he had wings, how could he forget that this wasn’t before the outbreak, that really this place and everyone in it where gone. Still the vision of it all stayed, so very real in his eyes, even the wind on his skin. He could feel it as each hair on his arm waved in compliance with the breeze.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Cool air began filling his lungs and he opened his eyes. The summer day had suddenly become cool, clouds stretching over the sky about to rain. He felt a brush of warmth on his chest and looked down. Marie was there holding him tight crying into his chest. She too, was grown from the last time they had both been here, her own wings white and beautiful in the dim light of the day. He took hold of her and held her close petting her softly.
"Don’t worry Marie, it will all work out, everything will be ok." Josh said reassuring her.
She looked up and kissed him softly. "I don’t know anymore Josh, but at least we'll see each other again in about a year." A tear still streamed down her cheek. He whipped it away and kissed her forehead.
"A year is so long though, but I know we can do this." he said calmly, even though he truly was unsure himself.
Suddenly she vanished from his arms, the warmth he once held gone and replaced with cold. He cried softly closing his eyes cursing himself for not cherishing every moment he had spent with her in his arms. He opened his eyes, with vision still blurry he saw he was no longer in his home town, but in a battle field.

'That’s right' he thought 'the war'. It had been five years since that day. He had lost contact with his beloved Marie after the first six months and had been fighting and looking for her ever since. He had been lucky this time; too many friends however, had been lost on this field. He looked down at Dan. What was left of him was painful too look at, his body and face dismembered and his face contorted. Josh looked away. The sky was pure blue, no clouds to be seen, as though the gods were ignoring the plight of all those on the earth below.
Taking a deep breath he leaned down over Dan's remains. He pulled the spearhead shaped necklace Marie had given him placed it on Dan's head with his hand over it and kissed the top of his hand.
"Rest well old friend." he said putting the necklace away.

The environment spun around him in a blur changing from the broken battle field to a forested region. He was being escorted by HASSK soldiers toward a detainment camp. The shackles they had put on him dug at his wrists. He had been discovered somehow. The briefing for the mission ran through his head.
“We believe that a spy has been coming and going from our higher strategic facilities, this compound is believed to be the station where the spy meets.” He said pointing at a map on the table. “While we were able to track the files to this location we still do not know the identity of the spy or their motivations, but this is a rare instance where humans have embraced and used a sub for such work. Your mission is that of recon, stake out this site and find out who our spy is then report back, do not take any actions!”
He had overlooked all the files and been very careful to avoid detection but it was like they knew he was there regardless of all the measures he took.
They fitted a blindfold over his eyes as the brush began to thin. He kept walking as best he could but tripped. It cost a few kicks and a punch to the face but he sucked it up and kept walking avoiding all the threats and questions being thrown at him by his captors. A series of creaks and squeaking noises told him he was being lead through a series of doors and finally sat down on a cold hard chair. The next voice he heard filled him with joy, fear, and overwhelming sadness and longing.

“Hello Josh.” Said Marie’s soft voice. His mind screamed no, this is fake, just a dream she would never! But a moment later the blindfold came off and his eyes fell on her. Her brown-red hair parted down the center laying softly on her shoulders, plain but beautiful face, and her emerald eyes looking right back at him. Her wings extended out, the same angel white he remembered. Around her neck was bare however.
“Marie, what are you…”
“Unfortunately I can’t answer any questions that I know you want to ask. Just know this, this is my choice Josh, I’m sorry.” She said softly.
Marie was the spy, but how, she was never in any of the personnel sheets. Perhaps they knew of his and Marie’s connection and kept it secret to prevent anything from happening between them? No that’s too far fetched, but how? Josh kept staring at her intensely trying to figure it all out, read her thoughts, and understand why she would make this sort of choice.
“Well, you got the information you came for, now its time to help us Josh.” She said snapping him out of his trance. He threw a vacant stare at her and shook his head. She asked question after question, but Josh took no notice. He simply watched her lips move and the way she brushed back her hair. His heart was shattering with every passing second. After what felt like days of thinking everything over in his head Josh slammed his fist on the table.
“WHY!?” he yelled. He never got the answer to that question; the rifle butt on the back of his head had cut it short.
He woke up in a cell, the floor was cold and the walls of stone where damp. It looked medieval in style, even the large metal bars were rusted and had a skeleton key lock. The window was covered with the same type of large medieval bars, though instead of floor to ceiling it was a simple two by two foot bar design. He started to look around but then did a double take on the window. The bars of the window were at an angle, under closer inspection he realized they too where a small door, a door to the outside. He looked outside his cell then back at the window and swung it open. Quickly he pulled himself through, barely squeezing through the small opening.
Once he was free, he ran, as fast as he could. ‘Marie’ he kept thinking ‘how could you? Why would you? Just what the hell is going on?’ He had reached the forest, leaves and branches rushing past him. As he ran he felt his blood pulsing in his head, he was breathing heavy as well. The pulsing grew to pounding and it kept growing until he couldn’t run anymore because of the pain. He stopped and leaned on a tree, everything still rushing past him as fast as when he had been running. He couldn’t feel his legs, then he realized with fear that he couldn’t feel anything at all. He tried to move his facial muscles to express his fear but even those were frozen. Before he could put it all together he was passed out on the forest floor.

“Heheh, thought you could get away didn’t ya?” Josh heard coming to. He felt a pull on his head and realized someone was holding him up by his hair.
“Too bad, we use a nice cocktail of sedatives, gives a nice delayed effect.” Said another, this one sounded like the one holding him up.
“Shame ya ran,” said the first one “we woulda let you live, but now, ya see, we have orders to kill those who run.” He said with a chuckle. “But,” he said almost with a sigh “your little girlfriend at HQ decided if you were no threat that we were to just take ya back.”
“Lucky you we’re in a good mood and that she’s our superior officer.” Said the one holding him up.
His vision was blurry when he opened his eyes but he didn’t waste time. As soon as Josh was sure the one in front of him was a target he lashed out. Unfortunately the man holding him had a strong grip and he was yanked back. The force knocked his necklace out of his shirt.
“Eh, what do you we have here?” said the man he had just tried to attack. He reached for Josh’s shirt and grabbed the necklace. Josh reacted with another violent jerk in the mans direction.
“Well then, if your going to be pissy about it ill just take it!” the man said in reaction jerking the necklace and breaking the chain. “its mine now.” He said with a smug look on his face.
Josh lashed out again and again, each time being jerked back, he could feel his hair being ripped out, his scalp was on fire.
“Ya know kid, your girl friend back there risked her own neck to keep you alive but you just keep pushing it.” The man said pulling out a pistol. “What can you do about all of this right now huh? Do you really think you can be the big hero and all that?”
Josh couldn’t think straight, he just knew he had to get that necklace back, he didn’t care what the man said, he was going to get that necklace. Using all his strength he jerked again, he felt the mass of hair being pulled from his head and he reached his arm out grabbing at the necklace. He felt his fingers scrape the smooth metal, then the most profound silence he had ever experienced.

The man stood over Josh, the barrel of his gun smoking.
“Damn bastard, that girl stuck his neck out that far for him and still, just what the hell?”
“He’s a sub, what could you expect.” Said the other shaking the clumped hair out of his hand.
The man took one last look at Josh’s body then threw the necklace on his chest. “Rest in peace ya bastard.”

The necklace had fallen upside down, a simple set of letters engraved on the back for anyone to see if they had looked close enough; J and M.