Back in the Dead Zone, the Deadmen were wandering through the woods like lost hikers. Only a few remained back in the ruins of the Dead Center, which had been in a worse state than before the DZI attacked. Many of the buildings were still on fire, and the ones that weren't burning could collapse into the dirt at any second.

Bloodletter had found what the Commoners called the City of Stone, the graveyard near the Dead Center. He found solace at the edge of the cemetery and sat there quietly as if he were meditating. The other Deadmen ran rampantly among the gravestones without a care in the world, almost as if yesterday's massacre never happened.

Harry, Jade, and Kyle, however, would never forget it, especially since it meant the loss of their newest friend.

The past few days were just as eye-opening for the three Deadmen as they were for Aaron. From spending so much time with a human, they felt like they were rediscovering the feeling of being alive. Despite their friendships with each other, none of them even understood what it meant until they met Aaron. Harry didn't know what a family was until he discovered he was Aaron's brother. Finding Edgar's corpse was the first time Jade had ever cried. Kyle wasn't much for showing emotion, but he was beginning to understand it more, especially when he felt fear for the first time when that infected robot attacked them back at the lab.

However, they also couldn't help but notice the opposite effect on Aaron. As they grew more human around him, he began embracing the monster inside him. He still felt empathy, but the thought of resorting to violence no longer disturbed him. And now that he was an Abnormal with no need to consume flesh, violence was the only thing that satisfied him.

"I still wonder how he's doing," Harry said, laying against a gravestone as he gazed up at the early morning sky.

"Aaron is fine," Jade replied. "He's a survivor. He lost his arm like twice and shrugged it off as if it were nothing more than a scratch. I'm the one who should feel guilty, though. I blamed him for Edgar's...for what happened to Edgar."

"I don't get it. Some human brings a huge arsenal of weaponry to the Dead Center and burns half of it to the ground, yet we're the monsters."

"He's a monster because his actions benefitted his people at the cost of our lives," Kyle said. "Trust me. If we were on his side, we'd call him anything but a monster."

"You're right, Carlyle," Bloodletter chimed in. "Everything would be different if we weren't his targets."

"Really? Carlyle? Now you're just being a dick."

"Are you lads confident O'Connor made it back safely to the tower?" Bloodletter continued, ignoring him. "And even if he did, do you really think he would come back here? They'd probably just execute him on the spot."

"Sir, he's my brother," Harry replied. "And even though I barely found that out yesterday, I can already tell that determination is one of his definitive traits. If he desires to survive, then you can bet your arse he's gonna survive."

"Wait, guys," Jade chimed in, staring into the forest. "Something's coming this way."

Harry and Bloodletter rose from the ground and looked toward a humanoid figure limping in the distance. Bloodletter prepared to attack by forming a ball of red energy in one hand. The approaching person seemed to be carrying something in one hand, and the closer they came, the more the others noticed how red their clothing was.

"Wait a second," Kyle said. "It's..."

"Aaron?" Harry asked.

Their old friend came into view. His entire shirt was dyed red with blood and riddled with bullet holes, and his face was dirty with soot and dry blood. He lost his left boot during the ambush by Richmond's men and spent the last hour wandering without it through the forest. His hands were drenched red with blood, as if he had finished painting a massive project. And the object he carried was revealed to be the severed head of a DZI soldier.

"Is he okay?" Jade asked. "He seems different."

"He looks angry," Kyle whispered. "Almost sick."

"I'm not detecting any heat signature from him," Harry said. "Do you think he's finally gone?"

"Nope," Aaron replied, his voice raspy but sounding more like his old voice. "I'm still here."

The three of them gasped in unison. "You remember us?" Harry asked.

"I brought food," Aaron added, and he tossed them the severed head.

Harry had to force himself not to give in to his hunger, and he held back his friends to prevent them from doing the same. "We are not monsters," he told them. But the head was then stolen by an incoming swarm of Deadmen that ripped it apart in seconds, not even the skull left behind.

Jade and Harry threw their arms around Aaron. "We were worried about you!" Jade said.

"Are you alright, mate?" Harry asked. "You feel so cold."

"Harry, that's me," Jade replied.

"I know, but you're cold in like a sexy kind of way. Aaron here feels like a damn icicle."

"Why do you look so cold, Aaron?" Kyle asked, but he got no response. "Aaron?"

Aaron ignored them. He was too focused on Bloodletter, who stood next to a gravestone with a smug look on his face. His helmet lay beside him on the dirt, and he chuckled to himself as if he had finally remembered the punchline of a joke. "Guess you really miss this place. Isn't that right, O'Connor?" he asked.

"Certain elements," Aaron replied, but he looked like he was seconds away from exploding.

"Well, you clearly remember us. I'm not sensing any life force in you. I'm guessing your so-called safe haven wasn't as safe as you hoped. I mean did you really expect them to welcome a Deadman back in with open arms?"

Aaron remained silent, still sporting his frightening agitated look. The veins trailing around his head and neck only made him look scarier.

"Did you really think you still had a place in this world now that this Ambrosia shit is clogging up your arteries? Immortality has no place in the hands of a human. If you wanted to be immortal, you should've changed the world, lived on in the memories of your loved ones. Being remembered for the good you provided the world with is the best way to live forever."

"That's what I intended to do," Aaron growled. "But I only make things worse."

"You don't say. From all that blood on your hands, I'd say you do more damage than good. You're just a monster like me now."

"Shut up," Aaron hissed.

"Sir, please, the boy's had a hard time," Harry chimed in. "Just leave him alone."

"Why the hell are you even here, O'Connor?" Bloodletter asked. "Did you somehow think you were welcome out here just because you weren't welcome back there?"

"Aaron, you are welcome here," Jade said. "Ignore him and come with us. We swear we will never leave or abandon you ever again."

"That's the problem, lass," Bloodletter chimed back in. "I'm not too thrilled with his return and I wouldn't doubt if he felt the same way about me. And given the fact he still remembers all the pain and suffering," he paused as crimson blades emerged from his arms, "I think I'd be doing a favor killing him right here and now."

"Do your worst, arsehole," Aaron said. "I killed seven men with my bare hands to get here."

Bloodletter chuckled. "Is that supposed to impress me?"

He quickly slashed his blade at Aaron, who leaped over it like nothing. Already caught off guard by his sudden dodge, he took another swing, only to miss again. No matter how fast he swished his blade, he never made contact with Aaron's body.

"You think you're so powerful, huh?" Bloodletter declared hysterically. "Take a fucking shot!"

And right on cue, Aaron's talons burst out of his fingers. "My turn," he replied.

Just like Richmond, Aaron sliced Bloodletter's arm clean off his elbow and impaled through the other one, shattering his crimson blade to pieces. Once his arm was out of the way, he ripped his claws out and lobbed off Bloodletter's leg like nothing, removing everything below his knee. And for the final blow, now that he was down on the floor with a bloody stub representing the missing half of his leg, he jammed his talons into the monster's throat. Harry, Jade, and Kyle all shrieked in unison, surprised to see their friend display such frightening and sudden power.

"From all the blood on your clothes, I'd say you're weaker than you think you are," Aaron said as he yanked his claws out of Bloodletter's neck and let him fall to the ground bleeding out. "I may be a monster, but at least I'm not the one going soft."

"Holy shit," Kyle muttered.

"What the hell was that?" Jade asked in utter shock.

Bloodletter tried to speak, but only gurgling noises exited his mouth. Once his arm regenerated and the wounds in his neck healed, he coughed up the blood flooding his throat after that little kerfuffle and let out another out-of-place chuckle. "Not gonna lie," he said. "You managed to impress me. That never happens."

"I wasn't looking for your approval," Aaron replied. "I just wanted you to shut up."

Bloodletter grabbed a gravestone and used it to support him as he stood back up, his leg finally regenerating. "Well, you and I both know you didn't get those powers because you won a genetic lottery. Where was the final blow?"

Aaron grabbed his collar and yanked it to the side to reveal a small hole where his heart was, the bullet still lodged in there. Jade gasped in horror at the sight.

"Gunshot to the heart. How unfortunate. And tell me, O'Connor, did my statement come true? About the three most tragic deaths in the world?"

"The deaths of innocence, beauty, and unity. I remember." Aaron's claws retracted back into his hands. "Edgar Schaefer, a little boy unaware that his father was the most dangerous man in the ruins of England."

"Death of innocence," Bloodletter said.

"Jonah Franklin, my best friend. He's the reason I actually talked to the others at my children's home."

"Death of unity."

"Nika Koslov." Aaron paused. He would've shed a tear, but the Ambrosia prevented him from doing so. "In all honesty, I feel like her death could've represented all three. She was innocent, afraid of violence and skeptical of the darker nature of humanity. She was absolutely beautiful, hard to believe she'd end up with a failure like me. And as for unity, I broke down when the Outbreak started—the disaster you started—and she helped me put myself back together. She was the reason I even wanted to live another day in this corpse-ridden shithole. Just so I could see her beautiful smile and hear her wonderful laugh again."

"Wow," Bloodletter said. "That was quite the soliloquy, lad. And I'm just gonna pretend like I actually cared about any of what you said." He cleared his throat. "So tell me, now that all your loved ones are gone, is that tower even worth protecting anymore?"

Aaron looked back into the forest beyond his undead friends in the direction of Matheson. "No," he replied.

"And who's responsible for all this? We both know this isn't your fault. Or mine. Or any of the Deadmen. Whose is it?"

Edgar died in the fires started by the DZI's Molotovs, Aaron thought. Jonah was shot by Schaefer, even though it should've been me. And Nika...

He caught on to Bloodletter's manipulation. He knew he was swaying him toward making Schaefer the main enemy. And after everything Aaron had been through...

It worked.

"Schaefer killed Nika," he told himself. "It's all his doing."

"Could you say that a little louder, lad?" Bloodletter asked.

"IT WAS SCHAEFER!" Aaron screamed. He threw another punch, his talons bursting out of his fingers once more, but Bloodletter blocked the hit. The claws dug through the other side of his hand, yet he felt nothing.

"Simmer down, O'Connor. I kinda like this arm. I'd prefer not to lose it again."

Aaron pulled the claws back out of Bloodletter's arm and let them retract back into his fingers. He was incredibly angry.

"So," Bloodletter continued. "What do you say? Would you like to return the favor to the man who took everything away from you?"

"Aaron, what's going on?" Harry asked.

"Hope you three are hungry," Aaron replied. "You'll get your food and I'll get my revenge."