Based on the information the torturer had given me, and my own knowledge of the cathedral’s layout, I had two options. Either I could make my way through small side halls, or cut directly through the main hall in the center. Both had their advantages and disadvantages. If I moved through the smaller side passages, it would take longer, and there was a greater chance I would be recognized when I passed someone. If I cut through the larger church room, there was a lesser chance of passing by anyone close enough to be recognized, but if I was then the alarm would be raised far more quickly. There was the third option. I could simply leave, and make a run for it, but since I now knew that Mary could track me, it would mean pursuit the entire time, and she’d be far more likely to catch me unaware than I would be to catch her.

I drew my hood close, and made my way across a few halls until I came to the opening to the large anteroom. I started to push the door open, and hesitated. I moved back to the room where I’d killed the two researching deadmen and found a box. I piled it high with random odds and ends and closed it, then made my way back to the main door. I pushed it open, and started walking across the wide open, well lit hall. I made a point not to move too fast or too slow, rather focusing on looking deliberate and like I had someplace to be. One of the first things I’d learned as a Postman was that when you're carrying a lot of things, and moving like you had someplace to be, very few people get in your way, even if you’re a deadman.

I walked through a small group of deadmen who cleared the path without giving me a second look, and made my way all the way to the far door. A deadman there gave me a look as I approached the door.

“Can you get that for me?” I asked.

He shook his head, and pulled it open. I walked through. I’d made it to the other side. I inhaled deeply and kept walking, a notification appearing in the corner of my eye that I pulled up.

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in loading/unloading! Even the statue of liberty was shipped here one piece at a time!

Well that made being captured and all the torture worth it. I moved through the hallways, and started taking deep breaths through my nose. Mary had a distinct scent, and just like she had her eyes to track me, I had my nose to track her. I passed by a few deadmen, but the halls were clear by the time I got to the room that her smell led me to. Ozone, and blood, the smell was wafting between the gaps in the door. I slowly placed the box on the ground and drew my sword. I’d need to move quickly to prevent her from being able to raise an alarm. I knocked on the door and raised the sword. I listened as footsteps slowly approached the door, then stopped.

“First, is that…” She hesitated, “Wait.”

I slammed the door open, but she dodged backward before the door could hit her. She seemed faster than she had been. I activated my Freeze ability once I had her in sight, but she didn’t stop moving, instead grabbing a nearby table and throwing it at me. I rolled under it and attempted to close the distance between us. She was stronger than I remembered too. I closed in, activating Freeze again, and placing her Under Arrest, but she didn't slow down, and managed to pull a long knife off a nearby table and start striking at me. I heard noise approaching. I’d been too loud, and Mary was a stronger foe than I’d anticipated. Likely from the Eucharist she’d had earlier. She was fast and strong, but I could tell she wasn’t experienced as a fighter. I didn’t have time to kill her, but that wasn’t really what I needed to do anyway.

As the noise of footsteps grew, and I started to hear yelling, I pretended to stumble and when she stabbed at me I grabbed the blade of her knife and struck out with my own sword. She hesitated to let go of the knife, and my sword cut deep into her face, across her eyes. She screamed and brought her hands to them. I didn’t make the killing blow, I needed to move while I had time, and the more confusion about what had just happened, the better.

I approached the window on the far end. I was about three stories up, but I used my jump pack to slow my descent, and from there I bolted for the woods. I’d need to put as much distance between myself and the cathedral as possible, so I ran, not worried about creating a trail for the first several miles. Once I was certain I’d put enough distance between myself and the cathedral, I started to make an effort to cover my trail. Without her eyes, Mary wouldn’t be able to track me as easily. I’d have preferred to have killed her, but I’d take what I could get. I just had to hope she hadn’t also developed enhanced healing, but given the distance she’d kept from me when I was captured, and caution I’d seen her exercise, if she did have it, it was new, and it may well not allow her to fully regrow her eyes as they were.

I began to move through the woods, and decided to keep my laspistol handy rather than my usual 9mm. It had served me well, but with the amount of deadmen that had healing abilities around, I wanted something handy that could pack a bit more of a punch.

My head began to ache as I moved, and I remembered that I hadn’t eaten in nearly a week. I reached into my bag. I’d been out of fresh food for some time, but I was able to find a few of the Russian rations still inside. Based on the guns I’d seen being used in Eden, they’d probably seen these quite a bit in their looting of the Metal Wastes. I tore one of them open while moving, and ate whatever looked even moderately organic, putting the trash into my pack to keep from leaving a trail. It wasn’t enough to fill me, but I at least felt sustained.

I dipped out of the deadzone outskirts of Eden, on the way back to where I’d stored the explosives. I detoured slightly at the scent of an animal and was rewarded with a feral hog and its piglets that I was able to quickly dispatch for a quick snack. As I chewed through them I felt the tingle of radiation come over me. I swallowed. I hadn’t been moving, the radiation had come to me. It wasn’t as strong as a full deadzone, though it was definitely deadly for humans in the long term. There was only one explanation I could think of for the rads moving over me. The First was after me himself.

I started moving again, picking up the pace as I finished tearing into the dead piglet I was carrying in my hands, eating it practically whole. I was finally starting to feel full, and my strength was returning, but I still wasn’t sure if I could take the First in a straight up fight. If just consuming his flesh could grant abilities like the improvements to Mary's strength and speed, I was certain he had some advantages that were even more dangerous.

I was less than a mile away from the bombs when the rads build more.

“Donny! You clever fucker! Thought we couldn’t follow you without Mary, huh!?”

I kept moving, not bothering to respond even though the voice was getting closer with every word.

“Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but my eyes have a bit of a glow to them too don’t they? Maybe you could’ve put two and two together, huh?” There was a pause and when he spoke again he was even louder.“I’ve decided, I don’t think it’s going to be worth working with you after all! Too much fucking bullshit come with it!”

I was hearing a single pair of footsteps rapidly closing in. It was nightfall, and I could also see a glow slowly overtaking me. I stopped running, drew my laspistol and sword, and shot in the direction of the oncoming footsteps. They stopped, and I hesitated for a moment, then the glow grew brighter again, and I saw the First walking through the brush, one of the massive brute axes in each of his hands, that he lifted and moved with ease, brushing a hole in his black robe casually with the back of his hand, through which light was spilling.

“You know, I haven’t had to heal like that in quite a while. Good to know everything still works.”