The not quite abandoned woodshop room’s second floor door was flung open with a slight thud as I stumbled onto the platform with the boy following behind me and quickly slamming the door shut with a much louder than before taking a close look around us. The room hadn't changed a lot since I had arrived. There were still piles of broken and damaged wood all over the place. The dust was ever present.

The only thing that had changed was I had cleared out the area around a table and moved the bigger stuff to the side of the room so I could move around the room without feeling like I was trying to do parkour.

I sagged and sat down on the platform, looking myself over and checking for any actual injuries. I was sore all over, and I had a few bruises… My left shoulder had a shallow cut from that one shot that was looking ok… my right arm however was hanging limply by my side and it hurt like hell even while I wasn't trying to move it. I wasn't a doctor, but I had some experience and a few first aid courses so I was pretty confident that the auton's last blow had dislocated my arm. Lucky that it was only dislocated, really. I groaned a little, leaning my head back in defeat only to see the boy who had ended up in the loading bay running up the stairs to the platform holding a big chunk of wood in his arms.

“What are you doing?” I asked the kid coming closer after a moment of confusion, looking between him and the wood with creased eyebrows. “I am barricading the door!” He explained with a quiet but hard voice. “I don't think that would do much, those things have chopped metal pipes in half with their hands.” I commented with a sigh, causing him to curse and drop the piece of wood to the ground without a word.

He then just sighed and sat down across from me, putting his head in his hands in silence. I let him deal with what was going through his mind, staying quiet and listening to the silence.

Then the kid spoke up, not looking at me with his head resting on his knees. “Just what is going on? What are those things?” He asked in a fragile tone, as if everything was hitting him hard in that moment.

I took a moment to think through the pain of my arm for the best way to put this, before giving up and snorting. “Sentient plastic aliens. Technically, it’s a single alien controlling the bodies.” I said quietly and seriously before sighing and giving a full explanation. I went over the basics, how it was trying to invade and kill off the humans to make this a factory world. How it was trying to make better, upgraded soldiers for itself in the form of the black mannequin that I had killed in the hallway. I also went over how the mannequins worked as far as I knew, going over the connection between the mannequins and the main consciousness and the metal control orb in their head. Then I trailed away into silence, wincing a bit from the pain again.

The kid seemed to need a minute to take in everything that I had said before shaking his head and looking me in the eye. “I wish I could call you a liar. I really wish I could. But I can't, not after what I just saw you do and what they did. I believe you.” He said haltingly, and I could see the dull fear in his eyes as he remembered what had happened. He was just a kid, really… This was something that he shouldn't have dealt with. Hell, I was only taking this so well because I had some survival experience in the wild and I knew beforehand what I was getting into. But I could see in his eyes that he was strong. Temporarily banishing his fear after looking into my eyes.

“I am Oliver. Oliver Pronsky…” He suddenly introduced himself, raising a hand to shake mine. “Ah, I am Killiad. Killiad Jones.” I introduced myself as well, though I didn't shake his hand. “Sorry, my shoulder is dislocated. That last one got me pretty good.” I said, sighing as he frowned and withdrew his hand before looking concerned.

“...Do you know how to set it, or-?” He asked hesitantly, looking uncomfortable as he looked at my shoulder before looking away uncomfortably. I gave a bit of a chuckle to that, “Yes, I know how. I have just been trying to ignore it until I can work up the nerve…” I explained with a self deprecating grin.

He didn't seem to know how to take that explanation and just gave a brief nod. “So… who exactly are you anyways? How did you get involved with this? How do you know about this?” He asked hesitantly, waving vaguely around and referencing the alien factory/invasion.

I wondered what I should tell him. Tell him that I was a reincarnated guy from another universe who was on a quest from two divine beings? No, that was just plain stupid.

“I… I am just a guy who happened to be around the neighborhood. So I wound up here a few days ago.” I lied, though maybe because of the pain or what the kid already knew from me talking he frowned disbelievingly.

“You with the government? MI6 or something?” He suspiciously asked as he looked me over in some confusion. “No.” I said, taking a deep breath and giving up on my lie instantly. “Ok, you wont believe me if I tell you the entire truth, but what I can say is that I am basically a normal guy with some survival training and experience who got caught up in all of this a few days ago. As for how I know about everything… well you won't believe that either, so let's just say I was told about what was going on before I came here to try and stop the factory here.” I explained, telling the truth this time, though omitting some of the stranger details.

The kid seemed suspicious at first, before he gave a sigh of his own and leaned his head back against the wall. “Right. Aside from what you are not telling me… I trust you. You saved my life down there man, and I take my debts seriously. I owe you one.” He told me seriously, then he grinned. “So, you got any food around here?”

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So it turned out that telling the kid that I didn't have any food for the last two days seemed to spark something in him and he declared that he would sneak out through an exit he knew, that was out of the way enough that it was pretty safe, and get us some food. So that's where he is now, walking to a mcdonalds for an early lunch/late breakfast. He was curious as to why I couldn't leave the building for another day yet, but when I hesitated he decided to just drop it and order for both of us.

Wow, I cannot wait for some fast food crap right now. I haven't had any… well I hadn't had any food that I didn't make myself in the woods for around two years. How time flies.

He left about an hour or so ago so he should be coming back soon, but for now I was alone in my ‘base’ and sitting on the table that I had slept on for the last two nights. “I really need to set my arm…” I said to myself, looking down and wincing as I saw the bump that was caused by my dislocated arm. Then I grit my teeth and before I could think about it any more, I just did it.

I swore a lot through my gritted teeth for the next minute or so, but aside from the pain I think I was alright and the pain of moving my shoulder did go down after a minute or so. I thought that it would be worse if I was being honest, I had seen some pretty bad reactions even with pain meds. Though I did have a high pain tolerance I suppose.

Anyways, once I wrapped up my right arm in a sling from some fabric I got yesterday I had to stop and lie down on my back to rest for a minute to think. I couldn't use my dominant arm now, not properly anyway. I could injure myself if I pushed it too far this soon, but more importantly it hurt like hell and I couldn't move it with anything resembling strength or coordination. I think that the factory is disabled because they don't have a working truck that they can use for more resources, at least for now, so that is one optional goal done. As for killing all the upgraded soldiers before the end of tomorrow… Not a chance. Not a single chance. Maybe I could if there was only one more of them or something, but this factory has been going for who knows how long. There could be an army already. I did not want to risk it.

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I was injured in a way that prevented me from really fighting, though technically I could use my spear one handed. And I don't think I could take on more than two of those things at a time without being killed even while I was uninjured. Hell, I got my shoulder dislocated while fighting two of the normals towards the end of the fight. I had a spear, and a knife. They had super strength and guns in their hands. I have to give up the wish of fighting any more during this quest. It was just hanging out/hiding in this room and recovering from here on out.

Well, I should also make a sack from the fabrics I collected to carry the wood working tools that are currently lying on a table to my right. Maybe that was a project for this afternoon or tomorrow though. I needed to relax…

“Oi, Killiad! I’m back! And I brought some friends!” I heard called out from the mezzanine, making me lean my head backwards to look up at him. Oliver was back, apparently. There was a crew of five kids with him as well. Two girls and three guys. They looked rough, like Oliver, and they looked like they were probably sleeping on the streets. They looked nice enough though, despite their hard and grimy looks.

Basically a bunch of kids that looked somewhere between homeless kids and poorer kids from a bad neighborhood.

I took the second of them walking curiously into the woodshop behind Oliver to take a closer look at them, along with finally taking a good look at Oliver at the same time.

One of the girls looked a lot like Oliver, their blond hair seeming to match along with their dark grey eyes, but while Oliver seemed a bit taller with a fuller frame the girl seemed rather short and looked maybe a year younger while also looking pretty thin. Their styles seemed pretty different as well because while Oliver was wearing a dirty white and blue T-shirt and black camo pants that contrasted his dark skin, the girl was wearing a button up white shirt tucked into her jeans, making her look older and oddly professional then she appeared at first sight.

I could see that two of the boys looked like family too, both of them big muscled guys who looked like they had more brawn than brain, both wearing matching black thin padded jackets over white T-shirts and grey sweatpants, with hard suspicious expressions as they looked around. Yet, despite their bulk they looked and struck me as stealthy enough that if they stood in the shadows and closed their eyes, they could disappear from sight. They moved steadily and smoothly, seeming light on their feet. Maybe twins judging by how similar they looked, especially while wearing matching outfits like they were, along with their matching brown buzzcuts.

The only other girl was walking beside the first girl, who I was tentatively labeling as Oliver's sister, looked like a heavy set tomboy with black hair and a general boyish look with short black hair, loose black clothes and dark eyeshadow conflicting with her pale skin.

Finally walking through the door onto the mezzanine last was a guy in blue jeans and a blue button up shirt with near shoulder length wild hair who also seemed to be carrying a guitar on his back with light and dirty, yet smooth skin.

I noted with a bit of amusement that this group wouldn’t make a bad dungeons and dragons party line up. Two… paladins? Who are probably family, two twin rogues, a tomboy barbarian and a bard. I smiled up at the group as they turned their eyes to me. “Hey! What are these guys doing here?” I asked carefully, looking at Oliver with some confusion.

Before he could answer though, the girl who I had pegged to be his younger sister gave a little squeal as she looked at me and started running down the stairs, pushing past anything in her way until she stopped in front of me and started examining my shoulder and my arm with some noises of consternation.

I looked between her and Oliver in confusion as she looked my injuries over. “...That's my older sister. Olivia.” He seemed to sigh, looking embarrassed and shifting on his feet. “She’s studying to be a doctor. Just… let her take a look and get it over with or she will bug you until you let her.” He explained with a note of annoyance and amusement at his sister as he reached the floor and walked alongside her, “She made me let her tag along when I was talking to everybody about coming to help.”

“When you were talking about doing what?” I interjected quickly, getting over the surprise that Olivia was and starting to realize why the kid had invited his friends over here with me and the aliens literally the next room over.

“Right! So, you have met my sister Olivia-” The shameless kid said and ignored me while starting introductions to the other kids, trying to turn my attention. “And this,” He pointed to the guy with the guitar, “Is Noah.” The kid smiled brightly and gave a wave.

“June.” He pointed to the large muscled girl standing away from everyone who gave me a brief nod.

“Finally, Aaron and Darin.” He pointed to the twins, who both gave me grins as they were introduced.

“Ok. Well, I am Killiad as you know, and you all need to leave.” I said seriously, and seeing the glances of confusion of the kids to Oliver who shifted on his feet again, more uncomfortable than ever. “Killiad, what-” Oliver asked me after a moment, before being cut off by Olivia, his sister as she took a step back. “Ok, I need to know just what the hell you dragged my brother into.” She demanded of me, looking pissed. “You clearly just had your arm injured and probably dislocated. The top of your shoulder has a bullet wound that has not been cleaned at all. And you have a damn stone age spear!” She shouted, putting one finger up after another before snatching my spear from beside me with a look of disgust like she took it as a personal insult.

I sent a look to Oliver, that made him look abashed before I turned my attention to Olivia. “Your brother didn't tell you anything?” I asked the girl, who snorted at the question. “He was saying some shit about aliens, area 51 and MI6. Honestly, like you expect me to believe that.” She said dismissively, making Oliver look a little mortified. Noah, the twins and miss muscle behind them didn't seem to care though, with Noah looking interested, the twins sharing a seemingly knowing look, and the rugged tomboy didn't seem to care as she sized me up.

“Ok, so first off-” I tried to interject quickly, keeping my voice down and serious, but this time one of the twins cut me off. “So…” Started the twin I was pretty sure was Aaron, with the other continuing and finishing the sentence. “Where are the drugs my man?” He said, looking around interested, “Must have some good stuff judging by Oliver…”

I let my head fall in my hands as Oliver's sister started screeching at me furiously. God, why..? “Please just let me explain!” I shouted over the red faced woman, the snickering of the twins and the groans of Noah and Oliver. June just seemed to be relaxing for the show as she took a seat by the stairs.

Then I heard a dozen sets of stomping footsteps out on the first floor. I realized that we were in the same building as a factory that made a small army of living plastic soldiers. We were shouting in a building full of aliens. Not very smart. Admittedly, I was pretty sure that they didn't have ears before this… but they didn't care. Both Oliver and I leaped to attention in the instant we heard the sound in the short silence, with the others seeming to have various reactions. June seemed to straighten instantly, snapping to attention and turning her head to the door. Noah turned slowly in some confusion to the door. The twins looked at eachother and started making their way slowly and carefully to the door in the background, ready to bail. Olivia… well I don't think she even noticed.

“We got to move! Second floor, down the hallway to the left as fast as we can!” I called out instructions instantly, and together Oliver and his crew with the exception of his sister who was looking pissed and had just started to realize something was going on, but having no idea what,

I grabbed my spear back from the girl with my working left hand in an instant as I threw myself quickly to the ground from the table, making her recoil. Oliver was shepherding the others up the stairs to the second floor door before he ran over and grabbed his sister's arm and started dragging her away.

“OI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?” She shouted, struggling against her brother and me as I grabbed her other arm, dragging her away from the danger. Then as we didn't answer besides a quick whisper shout from Oliver to stay quiet, the woman seemed to hear the sounds of the marching Autons coming this way. “Wha-” She started speaking, going slacker in our arms before we all jolted as a loud banging could be heard coming from the door.

Then the door splintered, and we could see five upgraded black Auton soldiers standing in the doorway looking in on us as Oliver and I struggled to get the shell shocked girl up the stairs. I grunted, before lowering myself down in a squat in a split second decision to hoist the smaller girl up onto my shoulder in a one arm fireman's carry in a flash of pain and adrenaline before I started sprinting alongside Oliver up the stairs.