His feet thudded along the dimly lit sidewalk. His breathing came in short, sharp gasps. His lungs heaved with the effort and the pain that showed on his face would have been enough to cripple anyone unfortunate enough to have seen him. He stumbled. Blood dripped from his hand where it had grazed the pavement. He seemed almost not to notice. The silence all around him was suffocating, closing in around him, trapping him. A piece of paper rustled and was then blown across the street by the breeze. The unexpected sound was enough to make him step up a pace. Fear lends anyone strength.
                Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a light. It seemed to be coming up behind him. Then another light, this time in front of him, blinding him. He stumbled backwards, and fell heavily. His pale skin was soaked with sweat. His whole body was trembling. The light continued to blind him. A shape stepped into the light, silhouetted against his vision. His breathing became more difficult. His whole body begins jerking up and down in sharp spasms. It suddenly became entirely stiff and he lets out a slight gasp. The body fell limp.
                The scene cleared. Liam looked down at the dead body. The surrounding streetlights allowed him to see it clearly.
"Oh God!"
The body was twisted at impossible angles, giving the impression of many broken bones. One hand was badly torn and still bleeding. The skin was pale and bruised in many places. There was a phone booth across the street. Liam began walking towards it.
"Ambulance" he thought, "Get an ambulance."
He started feeling a bit queasy. His hands were trembling and his legs felt like they were about to buckle beneath him. When he reached the phone booth he closed the door and slipped down into a sitting position with his back against the wall. His vision became blurred. He was not sure what happened next. He saw a large object coming up through the shaking lines and colours, that just a few Moments before had been the streets. A lot of little black blobs emerged from the large white one. They performed what looked like a simple dance before disappearing again. The white blob started to shake and was getting smaller before Liam felt himself losing control over his body before falling asleep.
              Outside the phone booth the figures were completing their mission by picking up the corpse and then placing it into the enormous juggernaut truck. They were all dressed identically, completely in black. They were carrying small backpacks that looked a lot like oxygen tanks. None of their skin could be seen because of the smooth rubber masks and gloves that they were wearing. In perfect order they all climbed back into the truck, before it raced away at neck-breaking speed.
              Pain. The first feeling that Liam experienced when he regained consciousness. Slowly his vision started to clear.
"Ooah" his voice crackled lifelessly in his dry throat. He put his hands to his head. The pain was bad but not unbearable. His temples were pounding. His throat was burning. He tried to stand, but his muscles were weak and his legs buckled beneath him. There was a slight taste in the back of his mouth. Blood. The sour taste was not pleasant and he began to choke, attempting to cough it up. He gradually felt some strength returning to his legs. Again he tried to stand. This time he was successful. He hauled himself to his feet and then cautiously opened the phone both door. The fresh air hit him with a blast. He now realised how stuffy the phone booth was and he quickly clambered out. His house was just a few streets away. He trudged down the pavement, ignoring the pain in his head as best he could. When he reached home, he fell into a chair exhausted, and fell asleep.
         The room was dark. There was on bare light bulb in the ceiling. It was almost dead but managed to provide enough light to view the two men who were talking underneath it. The first man was of average height and build. The second was slightly taller but looked and was dressed identically. Short hair, dark glasses, ugly black suit.
"What is the news on subject 547?" asks the smaller of the two.
" His body was recovered." came the reply.
"Did he make contact with anyone before he died?"
"No he was still hallucinating but someone may have come into contact with the corpse."
"Do you know who?"
"The captain of the clean-up crew said he was unconscious in a phone-booth nearby." The taller man took out a photograph.
"We ran the picture through the computer." At this he produced a small piece of paper. "His name, where he lives, family… " he looks up "Anything you need to know."
"Excellent!" said the first man, "Retrieve him."