"Aaron!" Kyle yelled, standing beside Harry. "Wake up!"

And just like the many times before, Aaron jerked up from the floor, but this time without a scream. The color in his eyes had vanished, and he glared back up at his friends with a lifeless stare. He was twitching monstrously, and only animalistic screeches left his tongue when he tried to speak. A strand of saliva dangled out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Oh no," Kyle whispered. "He can't be gone already."

"I wouldn't be surprised, mate," Harry replied sullenly. "He lost a lot of blood during the attack. The Ambrosia must've had a field day taking over him after that."

A pain-filled wail escaped Aaron's throat as he fought back against the monster inside him and returned from the darkness. The color reappeared in his eyes, and he had regained control of his movement and speech. "Where the hell am I?" he asked.

"We're in the Dead Center, remember?" Harry replied. "We were attacked by the DZI."

"We were?" A shiver went down Aaron's spine. He felt colder than ever. "Where did I go? Why am I so cold?"

"I don't blame you for asking," Kyle replied. "Everything that's happened today is taking a toll on all of us. Especially what happened to Edgar."

Aaron gasped. "Where is he?!"

"Bloodletter buried him in the center of town," Harry replied. "He and Jade should still be there. Not sure if it's best to disturb them."

"Don't worry." Aaron rose to his feet and studied his mangled, blood-soaked clothing. "I'll take the evidence and be on my way. You'll never have to see me again."

"That sounds a bit much, don't you think?"

"I'm afraid not, Harry. I've already decided what I'm going to do once I've finally delivered the evidence."

A burst pipe hung from the ceiling of the destroyed building the three of them were in. Water poured out of the edge as a makeshift shower, and a pool formed on the floor beneath the pipe. Aaron ripped his shirt off and walked over to the cataract, rinsing the blood off his body. The water was freezing cold, a far cry from the warm showers he took in the last few days. All the blood gathered up in a large puddle at his feet, and eventually he could no longer see his feet through the dark crimson fluid. As Harry and Kyle awkwardly watched Aaron cleanse himself, they couldn't help but notice he was as white as paper. If he laid still enough, he could've been mistaken for an actual corpse.

"What are you gonna do once you've completed your mission, Aaron?" Harry asked nervously.

"S-s-simple," Aaron replied shivering from the coldness of the water. He stepped out of the waterfall descending from the pipe and looked down as the blood dripped down his bare chest and arms. "Once I've let my friends know the truth, I plan on ending my own life."

Harry and Kyle's mouths gaped open in horror. "You can't be serious!" Kyle shouted.

"Yes, sir," Aaron replied frighteningly nonchalant. "It took me a while to think about, but I've concluded that it is the only way I can go out peacefully without bringing further harm to my friends."

"What about me, mate?!" Harry asked. "I'm your brother! You don't want to forget me, do you?"

Aaron made his way toward the door, not even bothering to look back at Harry and Kyle. "It took you long enough to learn that," he replied coldly. "I don't want to have to go through the same thing, forgetting everyone that ever mattered to me. I'd rather die knowing that their lives have been improved than live without the knowledge that I used to see them as people and not prey."

"Aaron..." was all Harry could say before his brother disappeared out the door.

"Leave him be," Kyle said. "The kid has opinions. He thinks a lack of memories is a curse, but I personally think it could be the best thing to ever happen to us. Now we'll never know what our worst mistakes were."

"I already know what mine is," Harry replied somberly. "Learning so much yet never using my newfound knowledge for anything beneficial. That's why I admire Aaron. He knows how to put the things he's learned to good use."

He glanced out the door to see Aaron stealing a shirt and cargo jacket from a dead DZI soldier. He slid the shirt on before covering himself with the jacket, the words THE DEAD WILL FALL etched in chalk on the back of the jacket. Once he had brushed off the dust, he walked toward Bloodletter and Jade, who stood at the edge of town around a small patch of dirt.

"But I wonder," Harry continued, "if he knows if it's healthy to learn so much."

Aaron limped to the middle of the Dead Center, where multiple Deadmen lurked. Jade was down on her knees at the edge of the patch of dirt. Her cheeks were moist with tears, but she was completely silent. No breathing or sniffling. Bloodletter stood at the opposite end of the dirt, his hands smudged a dark brown. He seized a teddy bear from the ground behind him beside his helmet and slowly sat it down on top of the patch.

"Edgar?" Aaron asked.

Bloodletter nodded his head, a blot of dry blood trickling down his head. "Pretty fucked up, innit? The most innocent kid in the world, and he ends up dying twice."

Aaron slowly approached Jade, who was still beneath him. "You're the reason he died the first time," he told Bloodletter.

Jade turned toward Aaron. "And you're the reason he died the second time," she told him.

Aaron sighed. "You're right."

"Believe it or not, she isn't," Bloodletter chimed in. "They came for you, but they stayed for me."

"They didn't even know you were here for the last six years. Why the hell would they come for you?"

"They discovered the Dead Center a few hours ago. Swore they'd clean this place out. They were only partially successful."

"I'd call them successful," Jade muttered. "All they wanted to do was bring us pain." She looked down at Edgar's grave, another tear exiting her eye. "Mission accomplished."

"Y'know, lad," Bloodletter continued. "I'd say you, me, and Schaefer have a lot in common."

Aaron clenched his fists. "Don't compare me to either of you," he muttered. "Out of the three of you, I'm the only one who isn't a monster."

"Oh really?" Bloodletter retorted. "You seem to leave behind a trail of destruction that rivals my own."

"He's not wrong, Aaron," Jade added. "The DZI did this because you led them to us."

"I was nowhere near here when this started!" Aaron shouted. "For fuck's sake, Jade, you helped me explore that abandoned lab!"

Jade abruptly shifted her head toward Aaron, as if he made a huge mistake by saying that. He didn't understand what the problem was until he saw Bloodletter with his eyebrow raised. "So you went to my old resting place, eh?" he said. "Tell me what you've learned and I'll check for errors."

"Listen, sir," Aaron spoke carefully, worried one mistake could mean the end of his life. "I've learned of the Ambrosia Project. All of it is Schaefer's fault. Self-healing nano-robots, endless torture, Sarah's death."

"She'd prefer if you didn't bring that up," Bloodletter interjected.

"She?"

"Look down beside you."

Aaron hesitantly tilted his head down. He could feel a soft, almost ticklish feeling around his waist. Blue mist had formed around him and seemed to be embracing him. The longer he looked at it, the sooner he realized something—or rather someone—was hugging him.

"What's going on?" Jade said. "I can't see anything."

The blue haze materialized to the form of a little girl who looked about eleven or twelve. She had brown hair wrapped up in a ponytail and a small timid half-smile plastered on her face. She rested her head against Aaron's stomach before slowly parting away from him.

"Sarah," Bloodletter spoke. "This is the boy. He can finally see you."

"Hi!" Sarah greeted.

"What the hell is going on?" Aaron said, staring at the ghost of Sarah with utter disbelief. "I know I'm losing it, but..."

"I've allowed my Revenant visions to become visible to you," Bloodletter explained. "At least for a moment."

"What do you mean 'allow'?"

"Given the fact you, Jade, and God knows who else were roaming around the abandoned lab, I'm guessing you've learned that this nanites infecting us have one hell of a communication system. My thoughts have commanded the Ambrosia in my body to contact the ones in yours to see the illusions I see. Long story short, you're now equally as insane as I am. You're the only other person besides me to see her."

"What's the point?"

Sarah grabbed Aaron's hand, which looked like Aaron was raising his hand without support in the eyes of the other Deadmen. "He told me there's people out there you care about," she answered in a shy voice. "That you see them the way Daddy sees me."

"How does he see you?" Aaron asked hesitantly.

Sarah turned toward her father. "He says I'm his only reason he has to live. I gave him a purpose. And he failed it."

Aaron froze in his tracks. He theorized multiple outcomes to this situation, and this conversation seemed to be going toward the worst case scenario. "I'm just a burden," Sarah uttered.

"Sarah, you are not a burden," Bloodletter spoke as calmly as Aaron ever saw him. "I've told you hundreds of times. You are my world. You are the best thing to ever happen to me."

"If I'm the best thing that ever happened to you, then why are you still acting like a monster?"

Now it was Bloodletter's turn to remain silent.

"You say I'm still here," Sarah continued. Her tone never grew angry, but the lack of emotion in her voice kept her disappointment subtle. "Then why do you behave like I'm not? Why are you so violent?"

"Sarah," Bloodletter croaked.

"You told me you have control over your actions. Why don't you control them, Father?"

"Sarah," Aaron said. "I'm not sure if now is the right time to—"

"I'll talk to you later, darling," Bloodletter muttered.

Sarah's ghost faded away, returning one more glance back at Aaron before vanishing into the air. Bloodletter stood in front of Aaron. As usual, he didn't look happy at all.

"I regret letting you meet her," he growled. "She was sympathetic, wanted to meet a person who still had a bit of their mind left intact. But there really was no purpose in that encounter, other than to insult me. So why don't you just take your shit and leave?"

Aaron gulped. "I didn't mean anything."

"Get out of here. Go be a monster somewhere else."

"I told you. I'm not..." Aaron choked on those last words as the Ambrosia grew more aggressive in his body. His eyes were deprived of color for a moment, and all the sinister-looking veins popped right out of his skin. He fell to the floor on his knees, growling like a hungry wolf.

"Aaron?" Jade asked, finally showing some sympathy.

Aaron snapped out of his monstrous daze and stood back up on his wobbly legs, seconds away from reuniting with the ground. He was desperately gasping for air as if he were drowning.

"I rest my case," Bloodletter added. "Now do us a favor and disappear."

Aaron hung his head low, still twitching in a frightening manner. He walked away from Edgar's grave and the others, ignoring Jade's pleas for forgiveness for blaming everything on him. He passed by Harry and Kyle for the final time without a second thought. The thought of saying goodbye didn't cross his mind at all.

He arrived at the same jeep that brought him to the Dead Center, or at least what was left of it. A steel beam had impaled through the hood all the way into the street, essentially pinning it to the pavement. He moved some of the debris away and yanked out the suitcase, quietly glad it survived everything.

Then he disappeared into the forest toward the remnants of Longridge, the sunset reminding him of his humanity slowly departing from this world. But unlike the sun, Aaron wouldn't be returning the day after.