Ralph and Lenny hopped on the beautiful horses.
Even if they weren't real, they felt real.
But what was real?
There was rumors of activity out at old Roman ruins outside of the city.
Some had disappeared there. Some bodies were found.
Villagers from the outskirt country towns complained of horrible, evil doers in masks who kidnapped and intimidated and stole from them.
Ralph and Lenny were going to head that way.
They slowly ride through the countryside, wondering where it ends.
"Have you seen every part of this copy?" Lenny asks.
"Yeah. I think so," Ralph replies.
"Howdy cowboys!"
The two look and see Glow's outline riding a horse. They also have a see through cowboy hat on.
58 is perched on Glow's shoulder.
"What are you guys doing?" Lenny asks.
"I told you. We're with you! We're assigned to you again," 58 responds.
"What the hell does that mean?" Ralph asks.
"Like we said before. We don't know!" Glow says. "We'll be there when you don't want us, and when you need us, we won't be found!"
Ralph and Lenny look at one another.
"You mean the opposite, right?" Lenny asks.
"Nope!" 58 chirps.
The two shake their heads and keep riding in relative silence.
"Do you think about your old life?" Lenny asks Ralph after a while.
"I try not too," Ralph responds coldly.
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't matter anymore."
"So can I ask you where you were from?"
"I'd rather you not," Ralph says bluntly.
Lenny nods and understands, but wishes he could talk to someone.
He turns to talk to Glow and 58, but decides not too.
The horsemen came upon ancient Roman ruins in the Spanish countryside. Or at least, some watered down version of it.
They were amazed by it and stared in silence.
Ralph turned to ask Glow something but they weren't there, and their horse was in the field.
"They weren't kidding," Ralph said.
Lenny nodded.
"What do you think happened here? I mean, in the real world. If they are trying to mimic something," Ralph asked.
"Humans are like stanzas. We repeat over and over. Nothing new under the sun," Lenny replied. "And we're not even under a sun!"
The two chuckled.
"Doesn't look like they are here," Ralph said. "No signs. I guess we camp out here."
Suddenly, an object is thrown their way.
"Get down!" Ralph yelled.
He jumped off his horse and knocked Lenny off his.
The horses reared and ran.
The device landed on an old wall and exploded, sending dirt and adobe and ancient blocks into the air.
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"Into the ruins!" Ralph yelled, pulling Deerborne out.
Lenny listened and ran with his rifle.
Ralph turned and saw one of the sacked face enemies, messing with a backpack full of explosives. Ralph pulled his pistol, aimed, and fired.
The backpack and the enemy turned into white light then flames and then wreckage, as the explosion shook Ralph and Lenny and the ruins to their core.
"You alright?" Ralph yelled.
Lenny put a thumb up, then ran deeper into the ruins.
Ralph climbed up a wall and looked out.
A small, 30s or 40s vehicle with smoke billowing out of it slowly rode up.
Three hooded men jumped out, running with machine guns and swords.
Wolfram was last. He sat by the car and watched.
As the enemies ran down the long corridors of ruins, Ralph ran on top of walls, firing at them.
One was hit dead. The other two opened fire.
Lenny came behind a wall and pulled the trigger with his old rifle and missed.
They fired back and Lenny hit the ground.
Wolfram watched intently and adjusted his uniform.
Lenny limped away from his hiding place, hurt. Blood coming from his shoulder.
Pain was still pain in After.
Lenny crawled for a while on the ground, listening for where the enemies were.
Suddenly, one of the masked enemies with a sword jumped down from a high place and nearly landed on Lenny.
He lifted his sword to stab Lenny.
Lenny spun around in the dirt and opens fire into the man’s gut repeatedly.
He fell over, dead.
Lenny pushed himself off the dirt and limped off again.
He almost cried.
It's real to me.
Ralph fired into the final enemy in the back, looking around for his targets. He would've never known he was being watched.
Sorry. The rules are different here.
Ralph then looked around for Wolfram.
He climbed up to the highest point of the ruins; probably the rooftop of an old temple.
Wolfram stood there, waiting.
He had his sword in one hand, and a huge high tech, futuristic rifle in the other.
Ralph was wondering if he could get a shot off right then, but Wolfram slowly started to encircle him.
"Who are you?" Wolfram called.
Ralph didn't respond. He had a months worth of things to ask and say and demand, but nothing would come.
He just didn't want him to get away.
"This is not your fight," Wolfram then stated.
"YOU are my fight," Ralph spoke up.
"Why me?"
"Because you are a war criminal. You are terrorizing everyone here in After. And you are trying to get back home. That isn't your home anymore."
"You don't know who I was back in the real world," Wolfram started. "This is not life."
"No. It's After."
"I'm going back!" Wolfram yelled, pointing his rifle.
"How do you keep coming back? I killed you. Others have killed you," Ralph lifted Deerborne.
"Because I was meant to go back! This game cannot stop me. I am breaking every rule here," Wolfram exclaimed. "This fake, carbon copy of an existence cannot hold me."
Ralph had enough.
He opened fire with Deerborne.
The super bullet struck Wolfram directly in the chest.
He took a step back, staggering.
His face showed agony, fear, pain, and denial.
Wolfram stepped back and fell off the top of the square they were on. Ralph knew what was coming and already took off running his direction before he disappeared.
He ran to the edge as he fell, making sure he didn't get out again.
But as Wolfram hit the ground, he didn't make impact, as a small portal sucked him up.
Ralph yelled in anger but he also was taken, much how Lenny and him were taken to see Glow and 58.
Lenny was trying to stop the bleeding as he fell into the ground as well.
Ralph and Lenny yell as they hit the hard metal ground.
The world around them shakes.
Lenny's bleeding has stopped. He is healed.
Ralph has Deerborne, but is in a strange assortment of futuristic rags and boots.
Lenny is as well. Like space pirates.
"Oh no," Ralph says out loud.
They look around their surroundings.
A cold, metal room, with futuristic lighting and a constant hum.
Their surroundings shake again.
They both run towards a window on the other side of the room.
They see spaceships and galaxies and -
Glow and 58 appear next to them.
Glow in a strange invisible uniform.
58 wearing a little vest.
"Hey! We're in space!" Glow says, laughing.