They were a few steps ahead of me. It wasn't out of cowardice, but I didn't see much point in keeping up. We all end up with the same fate. When life condemns us to a uniform punishment, it's pointless to outrun the rest of the doomed. "Neral, hurry! People are starting to wake up," a tall man called out to me, pointing to a passerby at the corner of the street near the library. What was that tall man's name? I'd forgotten it. I hadn't been careful to remember it from the beginning. I'd stopped storing information long ago. He was right, though. People were starting to wake up. The distinctive color of dawn began to filter through the windows, telling them that they had to welcome another one of those things they called days. They had to get through another day somehow, to look for a bite to eat, a jacket, and laughter to entertain them, until it was time to sleep, until the next dawn came, or the final dawn came. Those were the cruel rules of the game, somehow everyone had accepted them. I didn't hear anyone object. I would object.