He made his way down the darkened artery of the now dead city. It was another cold day and his breath was visible, trailing along behind him like a coal-burning locomotive.

It had been nine days since he last heard from them. Certainly enough time to reach fail safe and send off a com signal. So why no contact?

The thought persisted as he approached his first marker. What if they had been detected? Surely a purge force would have already vetted this area.

He slowed his pace, looked around the immediate area and made his way up to a bent parking meter. Using a key he opened the back plate revealing a small electronic camera.

He pulled the device from the meter, removed a small memory card from a slot and proceeded to look around the area again.

Seeing no one he slowly bent over and adjusted the stocking cap he was wearing revealing a small port embedded in the side of his head.

He took the card and inserted it. Immediately his vision blurred, then raced with static as he whispered.

“Tell me something.”