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Chapter One
Zack, by all means, should have been dead by now.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if he actually was, and was currently hallucinating. He laid practically motionless on the cliff. His clothes were slashed and stained with blood and bullet holes. There was blood in his fingernails and mouth, he was a dead man even before Cloud crawled over to him.
Cloud, his best friend despite the difference in their status as Shinra fighters. Cloud had been the one to end Sephiroth’s reign on Nibelheim while Zack was busy being unconscious. But when Hojo had begun his experiments on him, Cloud went comatose and had remained that way.
Yet after over a year, Cloud was finally awake. Cloud’s eyes had changed. They were once a bright blue and now seemed to glow green. But Zack didn’t care. He was happy to see them one last time. His hand rested on Cloud’s shoulder. It seemed stronger, probably because of the Mako. He pushed Cloud’s face down onto his chest, smearing a tiny bit of his blood on Cloud’s cheek.
“You’ll be my living legacy.”
Cloud would be all that remained of the Nibelheim incident, the only one alive to remember the horrors committed by Sephiroth. That Zack knew of, anyways.
“I’m…you’re living legacy.” Cloud repeated. Zack gave him a gentle nod. He hadn’t heard a word out of Cloud in years. His voice had clearly changed since he had last heard Cloud when he was sixteen in Nibelheim.
“That’s right. You’re gonna…” Zack stopped midway through the sentence as more blood bubbled in his throat. “You’re gonna?” Cloud echoed back.
“Live.”
“You’re gonna live.”
And Zack wouldn’t.
“My hopes, my dreams, my aspirations…they’re yours now.” He trusted Cloud. He knew that no matter if he was dead or not, a part of him would always remain inside of Cloud, even if he were to forget it. Zack gripped his buster sword weakly and placed it in Cloud's shaking hands. His buster sword was his pride and joy, but it didn’t matter anymore.
Zack was going to die. He felt it, his body shutting down slowly before his very eyes. It scared him. He wanted to see Aerith again, to hug her and walk around Sector 5 picking flowers. He wanted to go home to Gongaga and see his hometown again. But he would never be able to, and he accepted that.
Soo, he closed his eyes and accepted his end. Cloud could take it from here.
Atleast, that’s what was meant to happen.
Zack was definitely supposed to be dead. Instead, for some reason, he was instead waking up in a hospital. Or, somewhere that looked like one. Zack was hooked up to some machines he couldn’t pronounce the names of and was no longer wearing his blood soaked SOLDIER uniform; but instead a clean white shirt and pants set.
He immediately shot upwards only to feel a tug at his arm. His wrist had been handcuffed to the bed frame, presumably to keep him from leaving. He inspected the room further. A make reactor was visible in the distance from the window, so he was probably in Midgar. Zack felt achy and tired despite being asleep for what was probably a while. He knew he was somewhere in Midgar on an upper plate…but other than that, Zack knew nothing.
Where the fuck am I?
The door to his room creaked open and Zack went on high alert. Inside stepped a man with long red hair and a black suit. Reno.
“Well, guess Doctor Hojo’s lab rat is awake.” Reno strolled inside, forgetting to close the door behind him. “Ha-Ha. Okay dude, where the hell am I?“ Zack asked sharply. He wasn’t in the mood for whatever Reno wanted out of him.
Reno let out a chuckle. “Straight to the point, wow! To answer your question, we’re in a Turk exclusive hospital owned by Shinra. Don’t worry, Hojo doesn’t know you’re alive.”
Well, that was one of his questions answered. One out of seventy. “Okaaay…Why am I here exactly?”
“Not even a thank you? Yknow, without us you would still be rotting in the middle of nowhere. Show some gratitude. Anyway, we brought you because we believe you could be beneficial.” Zack narrowed his eyes. “Beneficial for what? Am i gonna be one of Hojo’s lab rats again?”
Reno grinned. “That depends on how this conversation goes. Well, the Turks want you to join us in our mission to stop some eco-terrorist group from the slums; AVALANCHE.”
Zack was, to say the least, surprised. He had killed dozens of Shinra fighters a couple days ago in self defense and was now getting offers to rejoin them. Not even as a SOLDIER anymore, but as a Turk. He hated them!
Reno tapped his finger against his leg, awaiting a response. “I’ll give you a day to think about it. But just so you know, it’s not just your safety but Aerith’s as well that’s at risk if you decline.” Zack’s eyes widened. Using her life as leverage? Who the hell does that? Actually, it seemed very accurate for Shinra. Treating people like animals wasn’t rare at all.
The turk began walking out of the hospital room, hands in pockets. He had just approached the door when he heard a voice from behind him.
“Wait.”
Reno turned his head to face Zack. The ex-SOLDIER took a deep breath, not knowing if he would like the answer to what he wanted to ask. “Cloud, the blonde guy who was experimented on as well, have you heard anything about him? Anything at all about a Blonde guy with a big sword?”
Reno narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment. “Oh, THAT Cloud, the guy who didn’t make it into SOLDIER. No clue. Probably dead, found by some other Shinra mercenaries and killed. But, we could help find him for you. If you join, that is.” Zack felt sick at the thought of his best friend being dead. No, he was alive. He had to be. He killed Sephiroth, freaking Sephiroth! One of the strongest SOLDIERS Zack knew.
“I’ll join. I’ll help you take down this AVALANCHE group, or whatever, but you’ve gotta uphold your end of the deal as well, got it?” Reno shrugged his shoulders. “Will do. AVALANCHE is planning on bombing Mako Reactor 1 in two days, so your training starts tomorrow. I’ll have someone come get you.”
Zack felt mildly offended by that. “I was in SOLDIER, I don’t need training.” he glared at the red haired man, full of annoyance. Why couldn’t he have been rescued by some kind passerby instead of someone from Shinra? He probably would have rather not been saved at all if he knew he would have to work for the Turks of all people. And why the hell were they planning on bombing a Mako reactor?
Reno didn’t give a response to him and left the hospital room, the door shutting behind him. If Zack wanted to find Cloud, hide from Hojo, and keep Aerith out of harm's way, he would have to suck it up and deal. If he could survive being in a mako filled tank for four years, he could survive working for Shinra again, even if it sucked.
Zack would be fine.