"It's all a game," the tall man mumbled. "Whoever that guy is, he's a lunatic for sure."

"There he is, men, get him!" one of the soldiers yelled.

"No, we must tell the master so he can hunt!" another yelled.

"Why, he's been winning against us for months!"

The tall man chuckled. I shouldn't be laughing, he thought, but I can't help but make a good situation out of this. "Hey, fellas!" the man yelled.

All the soldiers turned to look at the man.

"Better hurry or else your prey is gonna be running away from you!"

"Sir, let me go after him," a soldier said.

"If you do that, you'll die," the chief said.

The soldier shook. "Who is that man?" he asked another soldier.

"One of the hardest person we've tried to kill," the soldier said. "His name is Zack Fair."

"Zack Fair," the soldier breathed. "He's killed other men before?"

"Yes, numerous ones at that. With his own bare hands," the chief said.

"Scary," the soldier said.

Zack looked over at the men and sighed. "Guess I'm going to have to run all night again," he mumbled. Zack took off, sprinting through the forest, breathing easily, the soldiers panting, trying to catch up to Zack.

The man looked back and yelled. "Try as you might, you'll never catch me!"

"You won't last tonight!" the chief yelled back.

Zack just threw his head back again and laughed until his lungs began to hurt. "I'm one of the only ones you'll never kill. I'm a Shinra SOLDIER bastard!"

X-X-X-X

In the far distance, away from where Zack was, a blonde was panting while running away from armed forces. The blonde looked over and saw a small opening in the alleyway that he could just squeeze in to.

"I saw him go this way, men!" a soldier yelled to his comrades.

"He couldn't have gone very far. That guy looked too small and weak to get anywhere fast," one man said.

The blonde's breaths slowed when he saw the soldiers go by. Once he knew they were gone, the blonde slipped out of his hiding place and ran towards the forest.

I'll have better chance in there, he thought.

He ran as fast as he could until he reached deep into the forest. He fell down beside a tree to relax. There were sirens in the city that were louder than anything the blonde could think of. He put his head in his hands and felt tears run down his face.

"How much longer can I survive until they kill me too?" the blonde whispered.

"I thought I heard something over here," a soldier said.

The blonde gasped, scrambling to his feet. He turned to run, but as soon as he did, he felt something grab him from behind.

He yelped in surprise, feeling the grip from the person tighten. The blonde heard more soldiers running his way.

"Looks like your luck has run out, Shinra," the man holding the blonde snickered.

The blonde felt tears falling out of his eyes yet again as he slumped in the man's hard grip. "I know it has," he choked out.

X-X-X-X

Zack was still running. He looked back and saw that some of soldiers had disappeared. Zack frowned. That's strange, he thought. I wonder what's going on right now.

He looked ahead and suddenly, he heard a cry. Zack raced up to where he heard the cry, which seemed like it was a cry for help. Once Zack made it over a few trees, he saw a large sturdy man, holding a small blonde boy. The blonde had tears running down his cheeks.

Zack didn't have time to think. He jumped down and slammed right into the man holding the blonde.

"Argh," the man grunted, "who the hell did that." He looked up and saw Zack. He glared, "Who the hell are you?"

Zack didn't say anything; he just pulled back his fist and slammed it into the guys face. The man staggered back, holding his face, grunting loudly.

"Damnit," the man mumbled.

Zack quickly turned around and grabbed the blonde's hand. "Come on," he said, yanking the boy from his feet.

They both ran as fast as they could until they couldn't hear the man yelling anymore. Zack pulled them into a rock area to hide in.

"Let's rest here for now," Zack said as the blonde fell to the ground, panting heavily. Zack bent down. "You okay there?" he asked.

"I'm just, out of, breath, that's it, I just need to, relax," the blonde panted.

"I'll keep watch, okay?" Zack said.

The blonde nodded and leaned against a rock so he could catch his breath.

Zack turned around. "Oh, by the way, my name's Zack, Zack Fair if you want to get technical. And what's your name?"

"Cloud, Cloud Strife," the blonde said.

"Well, Cloud," Zack said, "it was a good thing I found you, huh? If I didn't get there soon then you'd probably be dead."

Cloud looked up wide eyed until he frowned and looked down.

"Ahh, sorry about that," Zack said, scratching the back of his head.

Cloud shook his head, "No, I know. I've been too lucky for too long. My time was bound to run out sooner or later."

Great, Zack thought, I'm stuck with the guy who's ready to throw in the towel. He'll only slow me down, but… "So what were you planning on doing?" Zack asked.

"Huh?" Cloud looked up at Zack.

"Did you plan on dying soon? Don't you have someone important to you that you want to see again?"

"Not that I can remember," Cloud said. "I've been on the run for so long. What about you, do you have someone you want to see?"

Zack nodded, "Yeah, a close friend of mine left before everything happened. I want to find him to make sure he's okay."

"Who is he?"

"I don't suppose you know a guy by the name of Angeal Hewley?"

"He's one of the high SOLDIERS?" Cloud asked.

Zack nodded, "Have you seen him?"

Cloud shook his head, "No, I only heard stories when I was part of Shinra."

Zack tilted his head, "Were you in SOLDIER?"

"I was only a Shinra infantryman. I never got into SOLDIER," Cloud said. He looked at Zack, "Where were you ranked?"

"Me, I was a 1st class SOLDIER before we won the war."

"I see. I don't get it, why are they hunting us even though we helped them back then?"

"They hate what Shinra did," Zack said. "I can't say I'm happy with them either, but killing anyone and everyone who had something to do with Shinra," Zack shook his head. "It's pure madness. Destroying the planet comes with a high consequence I suppose. "

"But if we almost destroyed the planet," Cloud said. "I think we deserve some of the stuff that's happening."

"All the killing," Zack exclaimed, "all the murders of innocent lives, you think we deserve that? Everyone was slaughtered who didn't get away. Nobody held back, even children were killed!"

Cloud flinched at Zack's outburst. He looked down at his feet. "I, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get angry."

Zack looked over at Cloud and saw something. He was shaking like a scarred child. He's just scarred, Zack thought, it's something he can't help. "Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled like that. You're scarred and I can understand that."

Cloud kept looking at the ground not saying anything to the other man.

"Hey, Cloud," Zack began.

"I saw those two go this way, men!" a soldier yelled.

Both Cloud and Zack looked up.

"Damn," Zack mumbled, running over to Cloud, taking the blonde by the arm, pulling him off the ground. "We've got to hurry," Zack whispered.

Cloud nodded slightly.

"I found them!" a soldier yelled from atop the rocks.

"Shit!" Zack exclaimed, pushing Cloud against the rocks, blocking him from view.

In a mater of seconds, ten soldiers surrounded the two Shinras. A few moved forward with guns in their hands. "Your time is up, you Shinra bastards," a soldier said.

"Is that what the people who saved you all are being called now?" Zack asked.

"No," the chief said, walking forward, "that's what we call the people who nearly destroyed us all by killing the planet."

Zack stayed quiet, backing up more so he covered Cloud.

A few more men moved forward. "There's no way to go, SOLDIER."

Zack grinned, "You really think that?"

"What are you planning?" the chief asked.

Zack fiddled with a small orb in his hand. I was saving this in case of an emergency. I guess this situation counts as one, he thought. Zack threw the orb into the air and it began to glow. A monster suddenly appeared before all the men; it roared at the sight of the soldiers that were the monster's challenge.

"A summon?" A soldier yelled.

"Why does this guy have a summon with him?" another yelled.

"Come on," Zack whispered to Cloud, who was staring in disbelief at the scene before him. Zack began climbing the rocks. He looked down at Cloud and outstretched his arm. "Take my hand," he said.

Cloud was hesitant at first but grabbed onto Zack's outstretched arm.

Zack heaved the blonde up with ease. He laughed to himself. This guy's really light at his age, Zack thought.

"They're getting away!" the chief yelled as he fought off the monster. "Go after them, men!"

A few soldiers tried to get through, but they were stopped when the monster swung its claws at them. Zack pulled Cloud up the rest of the way and stood on his feet. Cloud got to his feet and the two of them ran away from the soldiers.

After awhile, Zack spotted a small cave in the distance. He ran towards that with Cloud right behind him. There was a small opening and Zack slipped in as the blonde did the same.

They were both panting and Zack pulled up a rock to block off the entrance. "We should be safe here," he breathed. Zack looked over at Cloud, "You holding up, Cloud?" he asked.

Cloud held up his hand to wave the other guy off.

Zack went over and crouched down next to the blonde. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Cloud said, breathing heavily.

"You look flushed," Zack frowned. He held up his hand and placed it on Cloud's forehead. Cloud jumped at the touch. "It seems like you're running a fever," Zack said. "I wonder how that happened."

"Well, I," Cloud started.

"What is it?"

"A monster attacked me and it had poison with it. I was hit recently and that might be why I'm sick right now."

"Shit," Zack said, scrambling from his sitting position. "You should have told me sooner." Zack dug in his pocket until he pulled out a bottle with some green liquid inside. "Here," he said, "drink this and you'll feel better."

Cloud tried to take the bottle but his hands were shaking too much.

Zack sighed and pulled the bottle back. "Lean back against that rock over there and I'll help you."

Cloud nodded and leaned his small body against the cold cave wall. Zack pulled himself close enough to Cloud to be able to put the bottle up to his mouth.

"Open up so I can pour it in," Zack huffed when Cloud still didn't move. "Come on, man," he groaned.

Cloud slumped to one side, breathing even heavier.

Zack looked worried at the blonde. He quickly took the liquid into his mouth and pressed his lips against Cloud's. He sat there for awhile, pouring the liquid from his mouth to the blonde's.

Cloud opened his eyes wide and knocked Zack back. "What are you doing?" he exclaimed.

"Well, you wouldn't open up so that was the only way to get that medicine in you. Now, lay and stay still so it can work faster."

Cloud blushed as he did what Zack told him.

"I'll watch out for those guys, you just rest up for now. If you need anything then just call, okay?"

Cloud just nodded as he curled up on one side of the cave. When Zack was far away from the blonde, Cloud put his fingers on his lips and felt where Zack's had brushed against them so softly.

The blonde blushed again and shivered. The cave was cold and he hugged his legs closer to him. After a few minutes, Cloud heard Zack walking over to him.

Zack took out a few things from around the cave. Soon enough, the man made a fire next to Cloud, which helped him to stop shivering.

"Hey, are you doing alright there?" Zack asked.

"Mmm hmm," Cloud mumbled as he shivered again.

Zack sighed and sat down nest to the blonde. Cloud looked up confused as Zack pulled him against his chest. Again the blonde blushed as he pressed himself against Zack's body.

"You'll stay warmer by sitting here," Zack said.

"Oh, okay," Cloud mumbled as he laid his head on Zack's shoulder. "Didn't you say you would keep watch?"

"I can keep watch from here," Zack said. "You just need to sleep."

Cloud nodded and relaxed a little in Zack's arms. He soon felt his eyelids droop as he took in Zack's scent. The rough scent of a SOLDIER was feeling secure.

This is nice, Cloud thought as he slowly fell asleep next to the other Shinra.

Zack looked down at Cloud and smiled. "Man you are going to be quiet the hassle, aren't you, Cloud?" he mumbled to himself.

Zack put his arm on Cloud's waist and pulled him closer to him. Cloud nuzzled Zack's neck, which made the man jump a little. He moved some blonde strands from Cloud's face. Zack was surprised when Cloud giggled and moved closer to him.

Zack sighed, "Yeah, this'll be interesting with you with me." Zack looked up into the cave's ceiling and found himself smiling. Something he hadn't done in a long time since the other people had started hunted him.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Yes, and the winner of the poll was Zack and Cloud! Now I know I said I would start this later but I couldn't wait XD

I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I'm excited to see how it progresses in the time it's here. Annnnnnnnnnnd it'll be longer than "An Eternity" WOO HOO!

And I know that Zack seems like a flirt and oh boy he is lol but I'm not giving out an spoliers so shhh =3

Thank you for reading and the support. Please review so I remember to write more D