Kaiser couldn't allow himself to stay here; these people where traitors when they left people like him on the Surface to fend for themselves. He needed to reach Florida, he had too.

Kaiser couldn't believe that he had talked to Akita, years and years of not talking and this pretty little thing walks in and gets him to talk. Sure, she was attractive. Hell, she was the prettiest thing Kaiser had ever seen and she was one of them; if only she wasn't one of them.

His mind when back to frantically looking throughout every single room he could find, they were empty. Was this even underground? Could the gang that was chasing after him, be playing a cruel joke on him? Punishing him for running without talking.

He stumbles over a cord causing him to buckle over in pain as he slowly raised his shirt to see a bruise that grazed over his ribs, he cursed to himself.

He needed to find his guns and his keepsakes that rested in his bag. Kaiser could have dealt with the pain but the flash that ignited in front of his eyes wasn't like a simple flashlight it was more like a laser, everything became fuzzy; then he saw nothing.

Kaiser's dreams took over taking him back to the rainforest. In the soft light and humid air, he would tune into the noises like they were an auditory jigsaw puzzle. On each conjuring of his sacred place, he felt a frisson of joy. The leaves would feel wet and tougher than they appeared, the aroma went right to his brain, intoxicating, rich. Then with a steady gaze, he'd pick one small place and stare until he had unmasked the camouflage of the creatures hidden in plain sight.

The creatures; were nothing like the Beast. They were how mother nature intended them to be, they played amongst themselves as he watched them prance around joyous. He loved this dream, it was the one his self conscious always returned too. The dream comes often and only the ending changes

In the dream, the sky remains blue, but the birds sing and there is a bee on clover nearby. The streams run clear and there are fish in the river. Next to Kaiser is a small boy and he tells him how he sees the world. His answers to Kaiser questions are so precious. He asks him if we should care for the world. He says "Yes" like he's surprised Kaiser should even have to ask. He asks him if we should be nice to animals, his response is the same. Kaiser asks him if we should kill or harm animals and his eyes fill with tears. He then asks him if humans should kill one another and he runs, runs like he just saw a monster. Kaiser calls after him but he won't return. He's a child, and like all children he's still able to see through the light of the creator - he was never taught the answers, he feels them within.

***

I reach the navy double-doors with their plastic band fastened midway and their dull chrome handles. I pull my eyes from the highly polished linoleum floor to catch a glimpse of the hallway that stretches beyond, cut into tiny squares by the thin wire in the window panels. Without pause, I push with my body weight, but I needn't have, it swings open soundlessly and with ease. A draft of air hits my face, warm and with a significate sigh as I see Kaiser laying on the bed unconscious., with restraints holding him down.

I take a deep breath in and sigh, he's still alive.

The Doctor Steven was in with Kaiser, he would appear too young for the job, in board shorts and an old t-shirt he could be a surf-bum I mean he was only seventeen. He was at the end of Kaiser's bed, he paused to check the chart and then allowed his face to crack into a wide grin as he greeted me.

"Morning Akira, did you sleep well?"

I visibly relaxed and as my face broke into a rare smile, one almost large enough to mirror the doctor's, "Better now, how is he?"

I direct my head over to Kaiser, wrapping my cardigan around my body. He was sitting upright his face dripping with sweat, his eyes shut tightly in pain.

"We've pumped him with every drug we've got and still his temperature climbs. Akira, no-one who goes past three days of fever makes it and this is number four."

I muffled my hands towards my face, rubbing the tiredness from my face, "Doctor, isn't there anything we can do?" I pleaded with him.

"There nothing to be done but let him ride it out." Steven says resting the chart against the end of the bed, and placing a hand on my forearm for comfort, "You need to sleep Akira, have you been taking those pills I gave you?"

"It's just been two days since I last took them, I'm fine." I was tired as hell, weary with the burden of long-closed eyes; I could have easily pulled off being a walking zombie, dead on the inside but subconsciously awake. Every night I tried to fall asleep straight away at ten p.m. but it was next to impossible. My head was filled with several thoughts and "what ifs" constantly flooding into my brain.

"Akira, you've been working at all hours of the day and then you come to visit the Surfacer. Where do you find time for yourself to sleep? I understand that Arthur must be putting a ton of stress on you, dealing with the Surfacer and being near steps to finding a cure. But, in the end, your health needs to be a top priority. So, under doctors orders, you won't be working for the next week." Doctor Steven's voice gruffed, as my face turns to shock.

"You can't do that, Doctor I'm so close to helping the world," My sadness is a hollowness. I can't tell you what's worse, the fact that I can't help us find a cure or the fact that doctors ordered here are taken so seriously that even Arthur can't do anything about it.

It's not like I wanted Arthur's attention at this time, ever since our little spat in the kitchen, I've been taking orders from Arthur through Willow. Our relationship was broken, he couldn't trust me again ever since I went against protocol, but still, he hasn't made an effort to call the higher-ups and I'm thankful for that.

"Akira, please go get some rest. I'll contact Arthur right away, and don't linger long. I don't want you getting attached to the Surfacer since we will have to return him." Doctor's eyes show sympathy as Steven places his hand on my shoulder before wielding the door open and leaving.

I glance over at Kaiser, resting on the round chair placed beside his bed.

"Everything is going to be alright." I look right into his eyes so that he knows I mean it. I stroke his unruly curly hair so drenched with sweat as he curls hot fingers into my right hand.

After three night shifts and only a few hours sleep in the day, you'd think I'd be out but my mind but the thought of Kaiser making it through this had my thoughts drifting into a welcome free-fall I'm reaching for the pills. My mind is intent on second-guessing every damn thing I did for the past week and I'm going batty fast not slow. In the morning I will taste nothing but metal, that's the tradeoff, eight hours of blissful ignorance for the ruining of your food for the whole of the next day. But without sleep I can't function, no functioning means mistakes and with Kaiser's life on the line, I couldn't afford a mistake.

***

For seemingly no reason the girl's hands swam back into Kaiser's mind as he took his usual route home. As the car engine sung to the lone country roads, Kaiser relished in the roaring as he glanced over to see, Her. The winds from to open window twirled her long blond hair and cracked a beautiful smile on her lips, she was like a stunning hurricane so wild beyond disbelief and she sat beside him in his old red pickup truck.

She reached for his hand and it felt like her hands were the missing puzzle piece to his. Hers a tiny palm with long, thin fingers, she was so delicate with the gesture, that it almost shattered his heart to know. That in a perfect world, she would've been something to him, but the world wasn't happy no more.