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"Now we have some more news from the tragedy that reared its ugly head at the Domingo residence last week. To recap: outside of town during a police raid on the home, twenty seven were killed and thirty five were arrested. Police received a tip from an anonymous individual that gave substantial evidence to support the fact that the Domingo family was involved in weapon and drug running as well as drug production, extortion, political manipulation, illegal weapon modification, and chemical experimentation on animalized humans. At the time of the police raid, Anthony Domingo was not inside the home; however, they did find him later that same night a half mile away from the house. He had been shot in the head from several feet away. Unfortunately police were unable to take many of the criminals in the house alive and the final death toll at the end of the night was twenty seven. Of the members in the Domingo family crime syndicate arrested, Tony Domingo Jr. and Ronnie Domingo, also known as The Wolf, were no where to be found. Authorities are requesting anyone with information on his whereabouts to step forward to assist with the capture of these wanted criminals."

"In other news, Governor Franklin Taylor has resumed his campaign for the presidency under a new strategy. The governor has hired the rock band, 'No Rule' to headline his rallies and speeches, one of which is this evening. No Rule is best known for their covers of famous classical music from artists like The Who, Journey, Boston, and Foreigner. The governor has also vowed to do away with 'the elite-ism that politics has been inundated with.' Taylor has adopted a new persona for his presidential run and so far the poles have shown that voters have taken a liking to his new acts of celebrity. Taylor has announced that he will be giving voters another surprise in his latest and upcoming rally on Thursday by revealing his 'true self' to the world; whatever that means. When questioned about his recent actions, Taylor replied, 'I'm doing it for a very dear friend who, sadly will not see any of this. He taught me to be happy with who I am and to chase after my dreams and that is what I am going to continue doing.' Back to you Rick..."

I turned off the holovision as Rocky came into my apartment. He must have been exhausted working all of the time like he was. I had managed to get him a job at least besides information gathering. He seemed to like it well enough.

"Did you start dinner yet?" He asked as he dropped his backpack on the floor; walking into the living room where I was sitting on the couch.

"No, I figured we could go out tonight. I wanted to stop by the grave to see him anyway."

"Still feeling guilty, huh?"

I nodded as he sat down next to me. He hugged me suddenly, but I didn't mind. I returned the gesture.

"I don't blame you," he said. "If anything, he brought it on himself."

I wasn't so sure, but I didn't say so. I liked it when Rocky comforted me. It was a change from the way things usually were. The week had crawled by slowly and each day I felt worse and worse. It didn't help that the news was plastered with that night every waking minute. Since then, we had just been running and hiding. In the back of my mind I had some strange notion that Rocky would be able to clear me of my crimes. He knew the most about the syndicate after all. We had been too frightened of the consequences, though that we hadn't bothered to try. In a few more weeks, Rocky would have saved up enough for us to finally get out of this forsaken city. I wondered how the weather was in California during November.

"Should we bring anything to the graveyard?"

"He liked poinsettias. He told me they bloomed in the worst conditions and it reminded him of his younger days."

"Alright. Let's get going then."

Rocky stood up from the couch; tossing me my coat.

"Where do you want to go to eat?" I asked; throwing it over my shoulders as I followed the ferret to the door. He passed me my hat.

"I'm in the mood for Chinese," he said. "What about you?"

"Chinese it is." I replied as I held open the door for him.

The outside air was bitter cold. I pulled down my hat and wrapped the coat tighter around me. The streets of Meridian were covered in a shallow fall of snow and there were no cars on the streets. Meridian forbade its citizens to use anything other than public transportation during the winter after the first snow. The sun was shining down; making the streets sparkle white. Rocky and I made our way to the Grover District Transport Station and entered the nearest car. The cars were usually more packed during the winter season. Apparently more people preferred to walk today. Good. I didn't want to risk many people recognizing me. It was unfair of the news to plaster my face everywhere. I didn't want the fifteen minutes. I adjusted my tail behind me under my coat as we sat in the plastic seats. Thankfully most people think we all look the same. The car eventually slowed down again and some people stepped out onto the platform. Others boarded. An elderly rat hobbled into the car and sat next to us. He looked like he was centuries old and barely holding on. The car sped up again as it left the station. Rocky and I would be getting off at the next stop. The rat suddenly turned to me.

"This one thinks it knows you," he said.

"What?" I didn't understand what he meant.

"Ah! A question!" His eyes lit up as if pleased. "Visiting those passed, yes? Let go a guilty conscience. Live on, question. He will live on as well."

"Uh... Thanks." I said as the car started to slow down.

I stood up; pulling Rocky up with me as the car entered the station. We stepped out onto the platform quickly.

"Who was that?" Rocky asked.

"I have no clue. Just some old homeless guy."

Several military officers ran passed us from the entrance to the station. We turned to watch where they were going. They leaped into the car that we had just left and dragged the rat out of it. He was kicking and screeching gibberish at them. His foot landed in one of the officers chests and the officer flew backwards from the blow. Rocky and I both stared with wide eyes. Finally, the officers managed to sedate the rat and carried him from the station.

"Apparently he was a bad guy?" Rocky said.

"Let's just go, quickly."

I didn't want the same thing to happen to me if I was recognized. We left the station and headed for the graveyard. We were in one of the wealthy districts. There was a flower shop on the way there and Rocky paid for a poinsettia that hadn't bloomed yet.

"I hope it looks beautiful when it blooms," he said.

"I'm sure it will. He'll love it." The old rat's words were bugging me.

The graveyard was quiet as we entered. Graveyards were the only thing that had remained relatively unchanged in the progress of technology. The graves were still made of stone and caskets were buried in dirt. All graveyards were indoors, however. The air was kept fresh by intense filtration. A funeral procession was making its way towards a new grave. I didn't recognize anyone in the group, thankfully. We respectfully waited for them to pass before we continued to his grave. It was a small stone. One that he would have been pleased with. He was also buried far away from any of the dead syndicate members. Rocky waited on the path as I approached the grave and placed the flower down next to it.

"I know it's not much, but I hope you like it," I said choking back some tears.

Rocky walked up behind me and put his hand in mine.

"You're doing fine, Wolf," he told me. "I'm sure Nate loves your gift."

"Rocky, I-"

"I didn't think anyone else visited this grave," a female voice said behind us; interrupting me.

Michelle was sitting on the path, holding a poinsettia of her own under her good arm. The other was still in a sling. She was sitting in a motorized wheelchair; her leg still in a cast. She smiled at us as she rolled up to the small stone.

"Would you put this down for me, please?" She asked as she offered the flower to Rocky.

He took it and put it down next to the stone on the other side of mine.

"I think he would have loved this spot," she says. "When I heard his name on the list, I cried for a long time. I guess a part of me still loved him."

She sighed.

"Do either of you know how he died?" She asked.

Rocky turned to me expectantly. But I shook my head.

"I was with him when he killed Domingo, but he took off into the forest right after. I guess he was afraid of getting caught by the police."

She nodded.

"Good. I was hoping that was the case."

"Why?" Rocky asked.

"Because it means he could still be alive. There was no funeral. I haven't seen a body or pictures of one. The news didn't have any problems smearing pictures of the other dead victims up everywhere."

"I hadn't thought about that," I said.

"See, Wolf," Rocky smiled. "There's no reason to feel guilty."

"You're right," I said.

Michelle smiled again as she turned her chair around.

"If you two wanted to join me, I was going to go to the Taylor Rally this afternoon. I hear No Rule is really good."

"Well we were headed to dinner," Rocky said.

"Oh of course." Michelle turned onto the path. "I'm feeling a bit hungry myself, do you boys mind if I join you?"

"That sounds fine," I said. "As long as you don't mind Chinese."

"I love Chinese." Michelle grinned as we left the graveyard.

I looked back one last time at Nate's stone. I decided right then and there to not let it bother me. If he was alive, I was sure he would contact us sooner or later.

***

My vision slowly came back into focus as if I had been asleep for a very long time. I could hear people talking, but their voices were jumbled in my brain and sounded far away. I was cold. The light shining in my face made it extremely difficult to see who was talking. Several masked people were standing over me. One of them forced a pill into my throat and I had to swallow it. Great, I was going to wake up with a monkey on my back. They grabbed me by the arms and pulled me roughly from the cold bed and held me up under a shower head on the opposite side of the room. I shook myself; trying to get my hearing back. I looked back at the pod in which I had been laying. It had the numbers 17691 on the side in large black print. The room was made entirely of metal, which wasn't a surprise. The masked people that were holding me up under the shower were all dressed in security uniforms and all of them were animalized. That worried me. As my hearing began to clear up, scalding hot liquid poured over me and I winced at the sudden heat. I tried to get out from under it, but the guards held me fast. I had a very bad feeling; like I was going to get another case today.

"Try not to drink any of it." I heard one of them say.

I immediately closed my mouth. After the liquid finished dousing me, they dried me off.

"Where am I?" I asked.

The guards only chuckled.

"In here for fifty years and he doesn't know why?"

"What? In where?"

The large bear rubbing my head with the towel answers me finally.

"This is the Meridian Municipal Prison. You were incarcerated for killing a lot of people, one of which was Anthony Domingo. But today, you're being released. Your entire sentence was supposed to be for one hundred years, but it seems you have friends in high places. We've kept your clothes for you and if you want it, there is a rehabilitation course geared towards cons with your particular sentence length. The world may have changed a lot since you were frozen."

Cryogenic freezing of criminals for extended sentences was a common practice. Frozen people didn't have to be fed and they didn't take up much space. I guessed that this prison probably housed over a million condemned criminals all serving different sentences. A female tiger guard brought a large trunk over to me and I opened it. Inside sat a clean pair of clothes as well as my trench coat and fedora. Thank god. I put on the clothes and looked through the rest of the items in the trunk. There was a Readycell that I strapped to my wrist.

"Do you remember your name?" The bear asked me. "Sometimes long sentences can mess with you mentally."

"Yeah, I'm Nate Wesson," I say confidently. I was starting to remember turning myself in and getting the sentence.

"Good. We were also given a gun with your belongings. The military has given you leave to keep it."

"The military?" I asked.

"Yes. In fact General Domingo is expecting you in the waiting area."

"General?"

I picked up the rest of the contents of the trunk. The pistol greets me warmly, twitching in my hand excitedly.

"Hello my old friend." I said. The guards looked at me strangely, but I didn't care. I walked from the room, following the bear to the waiting area. The room was also walled in metal and a reception desk was embedded into the wall next to the door we entered from. Plastic chairs lined the walls and a rack of vintage newspapers was on each wall behind the chairs. My mouth fell open as I saw Ronnie, The Wolf, Domingo in full dress uniform sitting in one of the chairs. He was reading a newspaper. His features had changed with age; leaving wrinkles in his forehead and bags beneath his eyes under his fur. He looked every bit as official as a general should, though and his yellow eyes still had that sparkle that had been there when I first met him. He looked up as we entered and his face broke into a wide grin.

"Wesson!" He said; leaping out of his seat. "Boy it's great to see you! You haven't aged a day!"

I tried to smile, but I was too confused. The bear turned on his heel after giving The Wolf a salute; leaving the room.

"I... I'm sorry about your father," I said."

He waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't be, Nate. He was a prick. I've gotten passed it, you should too."

"Easier said than done, Wolf," I replied. "I made it personal. Personal kills are the hardest to forget."

"Nate, think of today as a new start. A fresh start. Didn't you learn from all you went through that dwelling on the past isn't smart?" He put his arm around my shoulder.

"I suppose your right," I said. "But look at you! A general? How did that happen?"

"When you're friends with the man who saved the president elect, people tend not to care about your permanent record too much. Granted, I still had to work for it and training was hell, but I had the best support team in the world cheering me on."

"Rocky, I'm guessing," I said. "Who else?"

"Taylor, Burke, and Michelle, of course."

My heart fluttered slightly in my chest.

"So Michelle made it through just fine?"

"Physically, yes. She's still a bit scarred by it emotionally, though. She never gave up on you, Nate. Even when others said that you were dead, she still believed. She doesn't know I'm here with you right now, though. I figure it would be best for you to tell her yourself."

"Great," I said. "Put all of the pressure on me, why don't you."

He grinned and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"So now that you're out, I can help you get acclimated to the new Meridian if you like," he said.

"Hang on a sec, I still have a few questions," I replied. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Well when I became a general, I gained access to top secret information. Your incarceration was part of that information. It was all I could do to get your sentence reduced."

"Is it really 2297?" I asked.

He nodded.

"That it is, and it is a sunny day in June."

Then it hit me.

"Why did you get my sentence reduced?"

He frowned. I knew something was going on.

"I see nothing can get passed you, Nate. We need you."

"I knew it," I said. "Who's 'we?'"

"I'll give you the details when we're safely away from here. Don't you want to see what the world is like after fifty years?"

"Not really. I liked 2247 just fine."

I was surprised that the world hadn't ended yet. The Wolf laughed.

"Come on, I'll buy you a drink," he said as he opened the door to the warm outside air.

"Are we still at war?" I asked.

"Not anymore," He said as he stood in the doorway. "President Taylor saw the end to that. And thanks to you, virtually all crime in the city has been eliminated. Meridian City is at its prime, Nate."

Meridian at its prime, but there was still a need for me. As long as I still had a job I might as well enjoy it. My pistol twitched in anticipation under my coat as I stepped out of the door.