You have been there, haven't you?

Your mom calls you, and asks you to find the doohickey that she keeps in her purse.

You're like: "Mom, you don't have a purse, you have a tardis". (For reference for my non-earth readers: Doctor Who's time-traveling device that looks like a Blue Police Phone Box on the outside but has nearly an infinite set of rooms and stuff inside. It's bigger on the inside).

And then your mom looks shocked and then says "Who told you?" Then she laughs at you and tells you not to be dramatic. And then you have to look through the depths of a thousand little items in a purse that can't possible be big enough to hold all of it, and somehow defies reality and does.

That's what it was like, looking at the box of parts.

Jump Drive. Long tube. Had stars cut out.

Great. There were about forty or fifty tubes with different shapes cut out, but the inside had piping and wires stuff instead of being completely hollow. They were all different from each other too, or nearly different.

"Well, I'm in uncharted territory here, folks. Any suggestions?" Said the Chris Pratt lookalike.

James/Rock Lee clenched his fist, energetically. "This is a great opportunity for me to learn something new!"

And they both looked at me.

Well, shoot darn.

"Please! Demonstrate, and I'll watch you do it. Then I too will learn how and accomplish my aim!" Said Rock Lee. Look, I know the Chris Pratt lookalike said his name was James, but if he was going to talk like Rock Lee, then I didn't have the brainpower to call him something else right now.

I didn't know if this was a tv show logic or not anymore, especially after the exchange with the Zombie Queen. But Rock Lee punching the air was not helping me feel like I was in the real world. Also, it was not helping me figure out which was the right piece.

"Let me think. Can you look for a box with some washers and something that looks like twigs? Tridoan Filaments and Dorsal rods?" Why had Hawthorn sent me when I had no idea what I was doing?

Chris Pratt nodded, and started searching. He and James found it quickly enough. There was no confusion there. I recognized the parts immediately. They were also labeled in English (Thanks Star Trek rules where everyone basically spoke English). Mr. Pratalike quickly placed them in a spare satchel, with some other items he said might be useful.

While that occurred, I was left with my dilemma. Which was the Star Jump Rod we needed?

If this were a cartoon, the correct choice would be the one that was drawn differently. Or have a big Blue's clue paw print. Or have a lot more detail than the rest.

If I hadn't had the encounter with the Zombie Queen, I may have just followed the Movie Logic and grabbed that one with the stars that seemed a little more yellow than the others.

But we were running out of time, and I needed to go.

Come on. Top student in the class. I know I'm smart, I just don't feel smart. What could I do? How could I achieve this? I needed to think outside the box.

Outside the box...

Box.

"Can't we just take the whole box?" I said.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

They both blinked. "Isn't that...dangerous?" said Rock Lee.

I thought about how in Naruto they never seem to run with anything in their hands while they do the Naruto run. But if they were a little careful, they could probably do it.

"If we don't drop it, I think we'll be fine."

"I'll do it!" said Rock Lee, "I'm not afraid."

Chris Pratt smacked him on the back of the head, gently though. "I'll hold them."

"Is there another satchel?" I asked and the man nodded and retrieved another one. I took it and carefully and delicately dumped the box of rods into the bag.

"So....are you guys comfortable with giving piggy-back rides? Because I think we need to be at the train pronto, and there may be evil name bound things who kinda hate accounting, and by that definition, me. Can I get a lift?"

Chris Pratt snorted, looking very much like Andy Dywer in that moment. "I think we can manage to carry you But...maybe you hold on to the pack with the jump rods."

Sweet! That worked for me. I hoisted the satchel over my shoulder. And then I nearly ran into them. Because they had both stopped, intensive concentration.

It took me a minute to realize what had changed that caught their attention.

Sound had returned to the forest.

It wasn't the nice kind of sound.

We looked outside, moving around the clutter that was strewn about.

And I saw nothing.

Just the swirling mist and the trees outside the copper dome of the shelter.

There were chirps and huffs, high pitch but from a deep throat and large lungs.

Ce huff huff huff. Chi Chi Chi.

There was a moment of silence.

Then a response, from another direction.

Heah haeh ahe chi.

Then there were even more and more huffs and chi-chi-chi and haeh-haeh-haeh

"That's the steam starved, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes." Said the serious man.

I pulled out my phone. Assuming the minute was the same here as on Earth, there was still seven minutes left.

And I had the feeling Hawthorne had been safe with his estimate, that he had set the time to have the most time to get everyone to safety. He had set 30 minutes as the time to bug out, not 30 minutes until the dinosaurs came.

"There's no way to get everyone to safety. Not with the Name Bound running interference, not with the steam starved already here. Not with the saboteur working against us." I said. This was not feeling like a tv show at all. There was too much chaos.

James looked shocked. "What do you mean saboteur? Are you implying there is an emeny in our midst?"

Chris Pratt slapped the back of the young black haired man's head, more roughly this time. "Did you think the train broke at the same time as the shadow ilk attacked by accident?" But there was more worry than anger. Or surprise that Rock Lee was that stupid. I had seen the anime, so I was already clued in that he was dumb.

"So...if the steam-starved show up, we can't fix the train." I said, as more and more chuffing and sounds came from the forest.

"This must have just been a pack that was close by." said Chris Pratt. "They sound like junviles."

"And if we can't fix the train, everyone on it will die."

"Not everyone!" said Rock Lee. "About fifty percent will be able to run away. If the scouts and other foresters work together, I'm sure we can shepherd them to the shelters."

Chris and I shared a look, and we both stepped away from Rock Lee. He was not helping. Fifty percent loss was not acceptable. There were hundreds of people on that train. People who may be in danger because of me. (Well, because Deputy Constable Hawthorn and Yu Lin decided to evade the Samurai and grabbed me as a shield, and then decided to go on the train. But I had the feeling that the people on this train would not be in danger now if I had not appeared as I had.)

But what could I do?

If I stayed here, rescue may come.

But it may be those Sect guys. But those guys may not be worse than death.

Do you ever wonder what you would do in a life and death situation?

I was safe now.

But everyone else was not.

The old lady in the kimono who had cheered when I throat punched the evil pretend conductor, the man in the suit who had said "Cheerio and well done!" at my blow.

I didn't know any of these people.

Fear was real. I wanted to be safe.

I wiped away a tear, the absurdity making everything seem unreal.

If I died here, I would die unknown in a strange land. No one even knew my name here.

"We have a choice, right now." Said Chris Pratt. His face was serious. All the goofiness and easy going vanished, and he suddenly felt more like a solider than a lovable rouge.

"Either stay here in safety, or go out, there in the dangerous place. To save the people on the train."

"You have an idea." Hope sparked alive in my chest.

"Ive been known to do dangerous things before." His eyes sparkled.

I wasn't known to do dangerous things.

I was boring. I played it safe. I studied for exams. I stopped for 5 seconds at stop signs in the middle of the night, just in case. I washed my hands after petting dogs, even though I wasn't allergic and I wasn't about to eat.

I wanted to be safe.

But I didn't think I could live with myself if I was safe at other people's expense.

"Count me in." I said.