Vox Mentis

You peer over the edge of the roof at the street below. Your head throbs. Eliot had hit you. He had frowned at something on your rifle, and you had looked to see what, and woken up slumped in a doorway. Now Eliot is gone and you are on the roof of a furniture store, trying to see what's going on.

A few minutes ago, a soldier walked toward the burger place, then another emerged from the front door and approached with his pistol drawn. It seemed like they were going to have a confrontation, but they stopped at three feet’s separation and stood there as if communicating telepathically. Then they both ran back to the burger place and plenty more soldiers appeared and there was gunfire. Eventually a young woman emerged and sat down at a table. You're staring, because the woman is Elise.

You began to doubt that a little, because of Eliot. Whether she's still the same. But now everything is clear. You wriggle back from the rooftop. It's always been this way: The more people talk, the more they obscure. You don’t need to argue for the truth. You can see it. You'd almost forgotten that. You grip the rifle and go to get Elise.