Truth:

The promised day had come and gone, but Edward was still dwelling on a promise he had broken. They had been chasing their bodies for so long he didn't really think about what would come after. The idea of succeeding in such an insurmountable task hadn't really dawned on him until the day came.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath as the sound of shuffling drew closer.

He really thought he would be walking up to that yellow house. That Alphonse, human Alphonse would be by his side and that the smell of apple pie would bring him to Winry. All of this revolved around the idea of bringing him to her, bringing him home. But they weren't home and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

This wasn't equivalent exchange.

He wasn't the Fullmetal Alchemist anymore, he was just Edward. He had returned his left arm, only to find it weak and infected. A gun now sat at his hip like a poor excuse for the armor he once hid behind. Now he was left with a fading notion of what was good and right in this dying world. It wasn't like they just gave up, both he and his brother had put their heads together to try and find something scientific to explain or remedy what had happened to Amestris, but nothing in modern science could explain the reanimation of a corpse or its need for human flesh.

Not only was this new world dangerous but it was also older. They must have stared truth in the eye for too long because by the time they returned, the world had traveled around the sun not once, but twice. The old papers they had stumbled across called it a plague while others turned to religion and the damning of civilization. Edward knew better, he knew this was something entirely different.

His breath came quick and rushed, each step echoing through the long alley. This wasn't the first time he had gone on a gathering mission, but somehow the odds seemed to tip in the others favor every time he chanced it. He had chanced it quite a few times to be honest.

The ground was slick with rainwater and residue from the previous night's storm making it harder to pick up speed. Edward was careful to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him and not the others. The young man didn't need to look at what was trailing behind him; the smell of decay and sound of distinct shuffling was enough to tame his curiosity. Edward believed in science, he believed in reason, but it was failing them and even alchemy couldn't give them a reprieve from the madness.

Scrambling through debris he came up to a dead end, a fence running up to a height of about ten feet.

Aw hell.

Ed knew he must have taken a wrong turn. Clapping his hands together out of habit the disappointing sound just sank in, a subtle reminder of how much things had changed. The others drew closer as he exhaled a string of curse words and reached for the gun holstered at his side. Alchemy had always given him a second option, one without a resounding finality that couldn't be undone. The gun burned at his side, but he didn't grab it, instead he chose to run.

Without missing a beat, Ed maintained speed and ran full force ahead. At the last second, he jumped, propelling him as far up the fence as he could manage. The metal grid rattled dangerously at the impact, his hands fumbling as he started to climb. Favoring his right arm, Ed pulled himself up as the corpses continued to gain on him. He was barely to the top when the fence began to shake, his foot slipping. Looking down Ed watched as walkers ran into the barrier, their hands clawing and reaching up in blind greed.

It didn't make sense for this to be the end. Not after saving the world from the Promised Day, not after his brother was restored to his body, and especially not before he returned home. His chest hurt, he didn't like to think about that last part, he didn't like to imagine her face gone from this world. Of the walkers that roamed Amestris he knew sooner or later he would find a face he recognized.

Grunting from effort he heaved his body up and managed to throw a leg over the top. It took the last of his strength to heave his body over to safety, nearly avoiding a collision by tucking his body into a roll. The hit stung, his beaten body protesting as he struggled to his feet. It was survival of the fittest and some part of his animalistic ancestry kicked in. The sound of his automail gears grinding against one another made him quick with nervousness, no doubt his automail leg was about to give up the fight.

Rounding another corner Edward skidded to a halt, almost losing his balance as he came upon a small group feeding on two bodies. It wasn't easy watching their hands claw and tear the life right out of them, piece by piece. Those were humans; two people who had made it through the promised day and the initial purge only to find their end in some back alley.

She came to him then, a whisper of a promise and a pair of blue eyes. Winry wouldn't be in some back alley, she would be safe in the country, she would fight he decided and brushed any other thought away. He had paused for too long. One by one the former humans began to catch his scent, the fresh blood from his fall a siren in the wind. "You've got to be kidding me." He panted under his breath.

Taking the safety off his gun he began to run, his aim on the closest walker. He shot a few times with only the third and fourth shots hitting their mark. It was hard to get a good aim with their heads lolling to the side and flesh gaping from their bones.

Edward knew he was getting close to their hideout but it didn't give him any comfort. Zigzagging through parked cars in the street he began to limp as the automail nerve connections flared and engulfed him in pain. Gripping his pant leg, he forced himself to keep moving, his lip caught between rows of clenched teeth. Then he was out of the city, running through wider spaces and taller grasses. The road gave way to a few houses here and there and then he was at a gate, its rusted exterior thrown together out of haste. He watched with growing exhaustion as the unrelenting migrating group started to catch up to him. Edward hissed impatiently as the gate jammed, the poor excuse of a barrier finally doing its job.

When at last the gate was opened and relocked, he allowed himself to collapse as he tried to process the close shave he had just escaped from. Then the moment was gone and he was hauling the bag of supplies over his shoulder and heading back inside the compound of which he had days earlier craved to leave.

The small country home just outside the city was abandoned but it was well garrisoned, no doubt the people who lived here had tried to put up a fight. He found Alphonse with a pad of paper and whittled pieces of colored pencil resting on his lap. His younger brother was fast asleep but that didn't surprise Edward. The boy barely had enough fat on his body to live yet alone make it through the entire day without exhausting himself. Removing the pad and pencils Ed covered his brother with the blanket at the end of the bed and sank into the worn arm chair nearby.

Blinking back any attempt at sleep he stared at the drawing his brother had started but had not completed. His heart thumped numbly in his chest at the flowing grasses and the familiar house off in the distance. He traced the lines drawn in yellow, trying to feed the hunger inside him.

Edward had stopped counting the days since they had come back from the other side. How could time have robbed them of so much, how could they have come back to a world he had fought to save only to find it filled with death?

Edward flipped the page and began to draw circles, each one more desperate than the last. As if he could still transmute, as if he could still undo what time had taken.

As if he could.