A soft strum of a guitar was all I heard, I could tell I had yet to wake up from wherever I had drifted off and I could tell that my visions had returned, yet, this one was only sound. The guitar played a melody, not one I had heard before or perhaps...not remembered. The melodic playing was both close and far and no matter where I drifted the direction nor volume of it would change. Every mistake the player made in the melody would cause them to restart from the very beginning and even someone not experienced in music could tell how dull they were getting by the repeating, I was stuck here, until the very end when the player had finally gotten it right.

Compared to the other few awakenings, I had finally woken up in my actual bed, though with no recollection of how I got here, the gift that Sam had given me yesterday reminded me of something, the fact her family were still in that world plagued with infected and zombies, though they may not be DTs, they would still be helpful, them surviving this long proved that. I sat up and looked around, nothing about my room had changed, Crescent was against the wall, my revolver on the bedside drawers...though, on the drawers with the revolver, a rectangular object with a bow tied to it sat there. I picked it up and saw it was a camara, the bow also had a small note. 'Photographer eases the mind, so I can use this as a business expense! Take some photos!' Other than that, not a thing out of place. I got up and resummoned all my stuff, my holster, my sheathe all of it. I left the room and leaned on the wall beside Sam's room...and waited, for over an hour before I grew impatient, had they already gone somewhere? During that hour I looked around the entire base, not a soul was around, yet the doors to everyone's room was still closed, seems everyone was still asleep. In that case, I'll just go alone The way I had come to a dumb decision like that is stull unknown to me, maybe I wanted to do something good to make up for being an annoyance for the others. I cut open the portal and was halfway until one of their doors creaked open, I turned around and saw Nicholai half asleep.

"Where the hell are you going?" Even with the hair fuzz and dazed expression I had a dreadful feeling I was going to get scolded.

"To Earth...to look for Sam's family."

"..." Her only response was a long sigh. I was silent too, till eventually she spoke up. "You're not going alone then" With a snap her gear had come to her as well.

"You sure?"

"Yeah...I don't need you to be in a coma next time you return" I didn't bother softly laughing it off, I knew she wasn't joking. "Come on, before the others wanna come along too" I didn't know why she decided to go along with this dumb idea, but I know I appreciated it.

We both went into the portal, in the midst of the city, it was mostly empty besides for a few zombies roaming around mindlessly.

"So, got any leads or are we walking aimlessly?"

"I got an idea of where to look first"

"Oh, alright then...let's get to it" We walked, making out way towards the first place I suspected, the chance they were actually there were next to none, but there being no clues was just as unlikely.

"Here we are" We had stopped in front of a decayed store, the windows were all boarded yet the front doors were broken apart. We walked in to see everything strewn all around, anything that was food rotted ages ago, and anything left was spilled. I took out my revolver before looking around.

"Hell happened here?" She mumbled to herself, I checked all the aisles, it was a small store so it didn't take long, but every aisle I checked was another rush of adrenaline, unknowing of what would be there.

"Nothing here..." It was difficult to see anything in the corners, the only light we had was from the door and the very small beams of light through the small gaps in the boarded windows. After ensuring nothing was here, I walked over to the backdoor, I noticed Nicholai jamming the door with something before joining me. "Ready?"

"Yeah" We both nodded before I opened the door and entered, there were a few mattresses on the ground with blankets along with couches, a radio sat on the table in the corner, and unlit candles sat on a shelf. I did also notice a broken plank beside the door-frame, I looked at the door itself and saw a small hook, big enough to hold onto the plank, most likely this was how they locked the door when nothing else worked.

"DIdn't seem to work..." I whispered to myself as I continued inspecting the room, I also counted the mattresses and couches, seven, more than Sam's family had, even if we included Sam herself it would be five, there's two extras here no matter how you spin it.

"Maybe they really are building up a whole army"

"Maybe...looking for those walled districts might actually be a good idea" We left the store once we searched everything, no hidden exits, no clues, all we had to go on were the cities.

"There's one to our left, it's a walk though" I was going to mention warping to her, the thing the guy did during that team vs team fight, but still realized I couldn't do it...and I forgot to ask Raymond.

"A walk is better than nothing"

"Keep that opinion to yourself, I quite prefer nothing" I took another look at the city, the place was in ruins, any tall building was clearly on its last legs. There wasn't an overgrow which was the most startling part, I was more focused on living than paying attention if there ever was any...but there being none worried me, there was something else going on. "Holding up well?"

"You know, Sam just asked that yesterday"

"She was asking about your mental health, as she does, I'm more worried about your body breaking, those cuts, corruption, the fact you got flung into a tree ect ect, you know what I mean"

"Yeah yeah...I think I'm doing fine, I won't lie and say I'm all dandy, but I'm not taking last breaths over and over here either"

"So long as you're alive" Though starting only as a small chill, my breath was visible once the air got colder. I couldn't help but look up slightly, the sun rising and the orange hue it created in the sky. I took out the camera and snapped a photo, there was something off with it, yet I couldn't figure it out. "Oi! Up ahead" Zombies had noticed us.

"Well, nothing we can't handle"

"Obviously, especially now" Nicholai had an uncharacteristic smugness and cockiness feeling to her, there wasn't a plan needed for this, it's zombies, I doubt we could get infected anyways...maybe I'm the cocky one...? We both rushed forward with our own ideas in mind, my shotgun blast was strong enough to launch me, as such. I swung around, with the curved and sharp hilt, it pierced through the shoulder of an infected. When another one got close I pulled the trigger and tried pulling it straight towards the right while expecting resistance, however, there wasn't an ounce of it, the hilt tore through the throat of one and jabbed into the head of the other. The one pierced in the head began to fall forcing me to plant my feet as it hit the ground to not fall over, I pulled the hilt out and slashed behind me on the off chance there was one, to my surprise there was, it staggered them back, I saw a few infected behind them, so I reloaded the shell and jabbed the barrel into their chest, once they had gotten into a group I once again pulled the trigger. Pellets from the shell flew all around in a cone of range, cutting through the closest, and heavily cutting if not killing the ones behind. "Coming your way!" I heard Nicholai from my left, I was getting ready to slash in that direction assuming she meant one was getting the jump on me, but when I turned I instead saw a flying corpse which collided with the others like bowling pins.

"Good one"

"Right? Against sentient people it may be unconventional, but against things like these where it cuts easily? Goddamn does it feel good to use!" The doc is certainly having a sense of bloodlust. Most of the bloodshed was from Nicholai, every swing of her scythe was her letting off built up steam, I could tell with that harrowing smile. I did my part, but left most of them to her, it's very obvious she wanted that. Every obscene thing she said was sworn in russian, and along the way, that's all she started speaking.

"Crescent, do your thing" Crescent left my hands as I took out my revolver and knife, slashing and shooting anything in the way up until every last infected in the area was killed. Crescent returned to its sheath with a click and Nicholai's panting became the only audible noise. I walked over. "Hanging in there?"

"Y-yeah..." She cleared her throat before standing up right again. "Now...we should get back on track."

"Alright, doc knows best" Though we did continue the path, I couldn't help but pay mind to Nicholai, her movement was somewhat shaky but not enough to interfere with her actions. She also kept a death grip onto the scythe with its blade dripping blood. Once we had walked for half an hour, her shaking went away, and she had finally put away the scythe. "You holding?"

"Holding fi-" A bright searchlight shined on us, if I was looking up I might've gone blind. "Course I get interrupted."

"Identify yourselves"

"Heya!" Though covering my face from the light with my hand, I responded. "We're not trying to cause issues"

"Not what we asked" It was a different voice.

"Right, right...I'm Lee, this here's my buddy Nicholai, we're just looking for some people alright?"

"Why?"

"They're the parents of a good friend of mine, we haven't seen them in a long time"

"Their names?"

"Baker and Cali Calstianos" There was murmuring between them "So!?"

"They're not here anymore"

"That implies they were here before, when?"

"Months ago, they left for some reason, though some reports do say they went that way" The searchlight was aimed towards our left. "Considering how long it's been, if they really are the parents of your friend, I hope you find them, they're good people."

"Trust me, I know" I gave them a wave before heading in the pointed direction.

"Cautious yet friendly, guess it works"

"Exactly how Cali and Baker work too, so they've definitely been here as they say"

"Hmhm..." Something was on her mind, but before I could ask, she spoke it out herself. "You know we probably gotta turn this into multiple trips right? If we're gone too long the others will know, and the two of us being gone too long is suspicious enough."

"I see where you're coming from, I agree with it too, we'll get one more lead before we head back"

"Alright, well, it's been a few months since they left, so I don't expect much."

"You're expecting obvious stuff, people leave a trail behind, and unless they know how to cover it, it doesn't matter how long it's been"

"Course you'd know this"

"Well, when you're the one catching and cooking the food, you gotta know how to find things"

"Who would've thought catching and cooking would be so helpful for other stuff" There was minor banter between us until I noticed something while passing a few stores. "What's the pause for?"

"The way this store is boarded up, it looks almost the exact same as that other store"

"So you think they were here too?"

"Well, it's not really an effective way of boarding up a window, too many planks and there's still gaps, Cali and Baker would be the type of people to keep using the same idea"

"Ain't broke don't fix it"

"It wasn't broke, but they certainly became broke out of wood if this continued" The comment got a small chuckle out of Nicholai. When we went to enter this store, it was locked.

"Be my guest" She stepped aside, while I went to the door and faced my back to it with my pistol drawn.

"Ready?"

"Ready" Priming a kick, I launched my foot backwards into the door, the door buckled and the hinges creaked, but the door didn't open, I kicked again, this time breaking whatever was holding the door closed apart. I quickly turned and faced inside, there wasn't anything at the entrance so I stepped inside, glass was shattered along the floor so I did my best to shift it out of the way with my foot. "Wonder what happened here..." She stepped inside with me, taking her own look around.

"Might be able to figure that out" I crouched down inspecting whatever I could.

"Alright mister detective, if you need me let me know, I'll be looking around" Nicholai began checking the rest of the place, making sure nothing could jump out at us while we were focused on other matters. The first obvious thing was that the glass was inside, not out. So the windows were boarded up after something broke in...but that wasn't the case in the other store, could they have entered this one in a hurry? Or did they just never bother cleaning it up when they got in...but then why wouldn't they? I took a few more looks around, there weren't any places to sleep, even the rooms Nicholai were checking had none. Considering the door was still locked nothing could have been stolen, then again the mattresses were still at the other place, they could have just slept on the floor...but I think they only used this place as a safe haven, not to stay for long. "The place is clear" Nicholai rejoined with me. "Whatcha got so far?"

"Well, the glass being on the inside implies that not only was someone breaking in, but that it happened before the boards were put up, meaning that either A. They came here after some looting party did, or B. They were using this place to get away from something"

"Mh...I wouldn't put it off the chance that it could have been those creatures we dealt with at the train"

"If it was..." I paused, I could feel like I was missing something...but how...how could I feel as though something was missing when I don't see anything else, intuition maybe? "Something isn't right...The door is locked...was there a back door?"

"Boarded up heavily, but yeah"

"Then...how did anything leave?"

"Thinking there's something we're missing?"

"Exactly what I'm thinking" I started to shift more of the glass with my foot, trying to see if anything was hidden under the shards, yet nothing came up. "Something in another room then..." I waltzed into what looked like an office, once more, shards of glass, seeing all the glass made me want to try something, so I went back into the main room. Due to my shifting it was a bit inconsistent, but I saw that the glass was a trail. "Alright... now we're getting somewhere"

"Heh?"

"The glass" I started following the non shifted glass, it led through the office I was in before, then leading to where the back door was, stopping in a small corner.

"We don't really have lights here..." Nicholai felt around using her foot, both of us noticed that it grazed something. I crouched down and felt where it happened, soon touching a handle. "Well, this was more complicated than it needed to be" I lifted the handle and below the trapdoor was a ladder leading downwards. "And now we're descending into a horror cliche, fantastic"

"We never got far being like that" I started to descend the ladder, dropping down once I was close enough. The tunnel seemed well maintained, yet it looked like a maze, too many paths, I walked forward and heard the ground behind me shift as Nicholai set foot too.

"I say we take the middle"

"Hm? Why's that?"

"I feel it's a more concrete way, think about where we were, if we go left or right we'll be heading into the outskirts of the city depending how far these tunnels go"

"That can be said for the middle too"

"But it has more space to go"

"I...that's right, middle it is" Going with Nicholai's idea, the two of us started heading through the middle, once we realized it would take a while, I started to make conversation. "So, still studying medicine?"

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Yeah, there are some things still not solved by magic, and I don't wanna drop it incase issues arise again"

"I get ya, we've done our missions well so far, but I feel as we get more known by The Reunion we'll be having more difficulties"

"Hmhm, how bout you? Still opening a bakery when this is over?"

"Hehe, Sam actually wanted me to help her open a Cafe"

"Right, I recall, think you mentioned it before"

"You may recall that part...but Sam's dream for it is a bit...not possible really, as much as I want it to be real"

"Oh god..what is it?"

"She wants it to either be really cheap or free for those who are kind to one another, or those that don't cause issues while they're drinking or eating"

"It's commendable, but...the money you'd need"

"Yeah, I told her, yet she still wants it. I will say...if we can convert our money here to actual money in this world...it could be possible"

"Possible, but not assured, do either of you even know how to make drinks?"

"She does, and my job would be handling the food"

"Guess that's one way to give back to this city, if only it wasn't infested"

"Aww, miss doc can't find a solution for this?"

"My solutions stop you from getting yourself killed last i checked"

"that would be right..."

"Oh, while we're on the topic, when the hell did Sam get cards?"

"Could've been the stuff we got."

"We had game cards for those gimmick games and all that, not flat out poker or 21 cards."

"Guess she bought em then"

"She'd definitely do that" We soon made it to the ladder and began to climb it.

"We should wrap them in a present when we find them"

"They'll suffocate"

"You know what I mean, with the breathing holes, that way we can present them to Sam instead of just showing her"

"I don't think everything needs your pazazz...hang on...we were meant to leave by now damnit!"

"We can spare some more time"

"You said that before!" I pushed over the cover at the top and was greeted by three rifles aiming at me, their wielders, people who had half their face covered

"Uh...hey guuuuys?" They only stared at me.

"How'd you find this place?" They had a deep voice and spoke with conviction

"Well, the glass was pretty obvious"

"The building it was in, its location, and which route to take weren't"

"Well, I might know two or more of your people, Cali and Baker? Maybe Alice and Yuki?" They continued aiming their guns. "Listen, I know how sketchy I may seem, but I mean it, I know who they are, Cali and Baker? I know their daughter and I'm just looking for where they are so I can bring them to her"

"Your sword and gun, place it on the space in front of you, any movements above your head will get you shot, understood?" I nodded before doing as they said. They didn't mention Nicholai as she desummoned her weapon ages ago. "Come on up" I finished climbing the ladder, standing on solid ground again, I looked around, there were a bunch of shipping containers, seemingly all around the walls of the place...No...those are the walls...no wonder they have hidden entrances, this entire place is hidden. Of course, most shipping containers have empty cars, or metal parts, no one but elites have any reason to check them, thus, never checking that there was a self-made city behind it all. One of the masked people took my stuff, I could just resummon it if I needed, so who cares? People were roaming around the place, seemingly treating our presence like any other.

"Ugh" Nicholai stretched as she finally got up the ladder.

"Considering your cooperation, I'll assume your intentions here are as you stated"

"Thank you" I nodded my head a bit.

"Can't say we haven't met a Baker or Cali, but I can say none are here anymore" I was ready to curse out to the sky until the deep voiced man continued. "We do know where they went, a settlement just out of the city, they used the same strategy as here, the shipment containers, however, theirs is much less hidden, they're obvious on purpose, a place where people tend to gather, and they're always expanding, you can probably find a group of them roaming about looking for more abandoned containers."

"Thanks for the help buddy, we'll be heading out no-"

"People at the front!" One of the people on top of the shipment containers yelled down to us.

"This place doesn't seem to be that well hidden anymore" Nicholai had her arms crossed.

"We still get visitors from time to ti-" Interrupting the man's sentence, the front of the 'gate' exploded, and a barrage of people started rushing through.

"Shoulda told us those visitors were raiders" I looked back to the man who ran into cover, along with some other people joining him. I picked my sword and revolver back up as we prepared ourselves. "Non-Lethal Nicholai"

"Roger that" My sword's edge became more blunt when we switched to the mode. One of the raiders, who seemed like their leader, walked over.

"You kids got balls to stand out on our red carpet" Either they hadn't noticed, or were unafraid of the giant, electrocuted, scythe that Nicholai had. "But maybe it's your first time bowing to those better than you, so I'll give ya another chance to get outta our way as we take what's ours"

"This guy sounds like an asshole, Lee, permission?" She didn't look over to me, probably knowing how I'd respond.

"Hold" Though, I had another idea.

"I ain't seeing you bow to your superiors" I took out my knife and cut my hand, it was incredibly painful, I clearly cut something wrong, but no matter. "A blood gift!? Hehe! Now we're talking"

"Oh it's a blood gift alright"

"Lee? The hell?"

"You'll see" I brought my left hand to my right shoulder before swinging my arm so my left hand faced forward as though I was ordering an army, yet, nothing came from it.

"Iiiii think I'm seeing an idiot at play"

"uhh..." I kept my hand where I was, clenching it into a fist instead and swinging my arm down. Immediately, I felt something drain as my blood went into the air.

"ooooh! Didn't know we had a magician"

"Yeah, you wanna see my next trick?" When the blood reached its max point and formed into spheres, I opened my hand and instantly, red tainted spears appears, jabbing into the raiders, but not killing them, instead almost acting like a paralyzer, it didn't get everyone, but got a decent chunk. "You're good Nich" A few seconds barely passed before all I could hear were sounds similar to someone running into a tesla gate, and all I could see from Nicholai was, she was definitely slower than before, she wasn't going on that same rampage, but the raiders were too stunned or terrifyed to retaliate.

"Fall back!" The raiders in any cars began to leave, firing a few shots at Nicholai, I couldn't tell if any hit but Nicholai seemed to be doing well. I took out my revolver and made sure I shot a tire, though they didn't stop, that wasn't my intention. Soon, only the leader remained.

"Of course! The gods left just me, to prove my worth to them"

"God this guy is ill in the head" As the leader faced Nicholai, I started my way over to him, and once I got close, I jabbed him in the side, sending a shock charge through him.

My god...what was all that!?" The deep voiced man got out of cover and came over to us.

"Long story, really"

"Is it possible to gain that power?"

"Eeehhhhh" I didn't want to give the actual answer on how we became like this. "No...it's more of a...exclusivity to certain people"

"Ah, I understand, not everyone could possibly bear something like that. To carry a scythe so easily too...It probably didn't matter you put down your weapons"

"Yeah, that's actually true, though we probably would've gotten a bit hurt" I reminded myself and looked at Nicholai, she had a few spots where she bled from but she seemed unfazed by it.

"It'll heal, no need to keep looking at it, I'm not dropping dead that easily" Nicholai rolled her shoulders after the statement.

"Hey" I looked back to the guards of this place. "Thanks for the tip, I'll do my best to drop by every once in a while if you all need help, but, if you could, can you look for Cali and Baker?"

"Oh oh, don't you worry, sending those raiders off is enough...but...there is the chance they could make another attack."

"Then I'll be there"

"Thank you, I could tell Cali and Baker have been around you a lot, you give off that feeling."

"You should see their daughter"

"I have no doubts about that."

"Come on Nicholai" The two of us left, this day kept getting more hectic as time went, but I had to agree it's time to call this an end here. When we were out of sight I cut open a portal back to the base, and we left with no further issues.

Once we had returned, I saw Nicholai holding her shoulder, I could tell it affected her more than she let on.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I am, if you can handle all that...I refuse to believe I can't"

"Well...maybe I can just tank more hits than you"

"Let me guess, like a video game?"

"You sorta have to agree though"

"Yeah, fair enough...damn shame we don't gotta XP bar, I'd just farm till I was max level."

"There you two are" Sam came around the corner with puffy hair and loose clothing carrying a bag of chips...yet wouldn't you guess it, it was still in a ponytail. "Thought I heard you all in the bath."

"Do you ever put your hair down?" Nicholai stared at Sam.

"It just was down, hairstyles are included in the outfit thing" I saw surprise even in Nicholai.

"Really? Well, this HUD is pretty handy..."I didn't understand the comment, Nicholai's hair never really was stylized in any way, or, could it just be in a way I couldn't see.

"So..." She ate a chip. "Where..." She yawned "were you two?"

"Well, we took a stroll around earth, it's about the same as we left it, no surprise" I lied by omission, I technically wasn't full on lying, but, still was a form of it. "I also took a photo" I summoned the camara and showed it to Sam.

"Aww, I always love these photos, though...It's a bit fogged no?"

"That was it...I felt something was off"

"We should have another photography session on earth!" Nicholai and I went into a mini panic. The chances that one of those guys appear again, raiders or the settlement men, are slim, but not nill, they'd realize who Sam is by the hair...that would ruin the surprise.

"Wouldn't recommend it, there's still a decent chunk of zombies roaming" Nicholai covered for me.

"Oh, alright..." I could tell Sam was still partially out of it, I wouldn't put it past her to fall asleep in the bath. "Mmhalso...why is Nicholai's shoulder bleeding?"

"You didn't bandage it?" I mumbled in her direction.

"Sure, I'll set a world record for bandaging three bullet wounds, how about giving me more time when I get shot again"

"Shot?"

"Nicholai had an incident with a few people while we were walking about, it was handled though, and she'll be fine."

"That's good to hear" Sam plopped herself on the couch, eating while watching whatever was on. I couldn't help but sigh quietly. "We taking a mission today?"

"Maybe, depends if we get one worth it or not, we could also get hired to do something" I leaned on the couch, just mindlessly gazing at the TV.

"I've been thinking" She only talked when she wasn't eating. "If we can go into other worlds, wouldn't that include games, shows, even animated stuff?"

"Probably" I gave a quick response.

"We should go in one, see what the world is like through their eyes"

"Oh god no..." I could hear Nicholai complaining. "If we go into their art style I don't want my eyes to bleed" Sam raised a chip into the air and waved it around.

"Hey! Not all the art styles are bad!"

"I'll give you that" Nicholai sat down in her chair.

Before any of us could get comfortable, our HUDs opened.

Bunker

Sender: Kai

Recipients: Bravo Team

'We've started to notice bunkers in a few worlds, as far as we know, they've been there for ages, this isn't time sensitive, as we made sure it didn't connect to The Reunion or Corrupted, as such, take your time to do this, and when you do, don't fuck it up.'

"So Rude" I heard Sam say below me.

"Eh, he's like a war general, can't blame em" That's the impression I got, as such I spoke it.

"Guess not" Kai sent us a list of where the bunkers are, one of them was on earth, I would probably save that one for last as I feared doing them would effect the place heavily.

"You all get it too?" Kenneth came from the hall where our rooms are, scratching the back of his neck, he wore a blacksmith's apron, which had oil splattered here and there.

"Yeah...what were you making?"

"Just experimenting, I convinced Raymond to get us a vehicle to use too"

"Huh!?" It came from all of us.

"What? Last I checked Nicholai and Lee were able to legally drive when we were alive, what's the issue now?"

"None" Sam sat up. "Just...where are you fitting that?"

"Our base had a massive unused portion, as such, there's two doors leading to it, from my room, and the corner in the end of the hall-"

"No wonder I never saw it" I stopped leaning and stood up.

"Right, either way, that stuff that Raymond brought in? Some was for this room, most of it was for that, I basically got a massive workshop to myself now"

"I can tell where your expenses are going"

"Well Nicholai, I still have unused sections, we can probably turn it into a lab for you" Nicholai's expression changed.

"Alright then, I'll get to it" She stood up and headed off with her HUD open, probably to buy stuff.

"I can tell where your expenses are going" I heard Kenneth comment to Nicholai before she went.

"So, we got a company car is what I understood" I walked around and sat on the couch's arm.

"Yeah, I'm just improving it to the best of my ability, we don't have to worry about gas, it's electric, it can run for hours and even if it does run out mid mission, I can charge it by myself with my spear and arrow."

"Handy" Sam sat up.

"You wanna take a look, Lee? Considering you're probably gonna be the main driver"

"Why not" Getting off the couch arm, I followed Kenneth as he led me to the workshop, like he said, it was in the corner of the hallway, practically out of sight of anything else. When we entered, I was met with a decently room, in the direct middle was a vehicle similar to a humvee, yet with very clear changes, it was larger, with more space and seats, beside the driver seat was a built-in laptop, the doors seemingly more durable, a lot of other things were missing though, yet I assumed they were being worked on.

"Not gonna deny it, after we got reincarnated I felt a bit smarter, I'm not complaining though, pretty handy for this stuff." Nicholai was in her own corner, anything we said was most likely inaudible for her even with the minor echo in the room. "Cars are pretty easy once you got it down though, you tend to know what's broken or not working after a while without even thinking about it. Main issue comes with making new things, stuff that won't break down or turn on us." Part way through his sentence I could see Dave flying around, transporting things. Little guy can be anywhere huh?

"I got an idea"

"Hm?"

"Unless you got things in mind, how about you mainly start making things when we ask?" I whinced slightly when I realized how rude that sounded, yet by Kenneth's expression, he took it the way I was hoping for.

"So, like, if we need special gasmasks, then you'll ask and I get making?"

"Yeah, that way parts aren't wasted, the only issue would be time,"

"We can always back out a mission so long as we're not being told to do it, however I can't get my parts back without ripping things apart, being too quick with it will cause issues as well"

"Yeah...guess there's always a con"

"Just the downside to making stuff."

"By the way" I looked back at the Humvee-like car. "Most of our missions have been stealth no? Why are we getting a war vehicle?" There was a pause from Kenneth, as though he was registering what I was saying, he looked at the car, then his eyes went slightly to the floor. He took a breath through clear building anger before opening his eyes and looking back at me.

"Let's hope we get another" He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Hehe...Well...it's better mentioned now than later"

"hmhmph" He cleared his throat. "Right, we can test it on a mission that's pure extermination, there have been some of those popping up recently"

"What a coincidence"

"I dunno...more so timing...I'll make sure this thing is running by the time we get a mission" He pulled over a small stool, standing on it to get an overview of the front portion of the vehicle.

"I'll leave ya to it then"

"Alright" I walked off, towards Nicholai, her section of the room was much different, tables of different things in vials, cups, beakers, all the sort. "You work fast"

"A lot of things are moving fast" She sat down on a swivel chair with wheels before checking everything again.

"Probably going to need a wall here if I do start researching corruption, everything here right now are basic things."

"Heh, we're practically a military of our own, we got a good tech and engineer, we got a research team, then the fighters."

"That's not a good thing I hope you realize" Using the table, she used it as a boost to get to another part of her corner with a computer. Before I could ask, she answered. "Inventory, making sure if anything goes missing or breaks I'll know."

"Ah...alright...reading my mind again"

"You're just predictable, it's Sam who's a struggle, she'll bounce from a wall one moment, then be passive the next."

"Well, it's helped"

"In school, not here..."

"What?"

"Thinking back on things I guess" She tapped on the keyboard once more before turning towards me. "You do it too"

"I do, nothing wrong with preferring then over now"

"Course not, PE and festivals be damned, it was still preferable over getting cut, shot, all this and that."

"Hey, the festivals helped us work together"

"Didn't stop you from getting punched"

"Kyle is a unique case"

"You got that right" She slowly went left and right slightly, never going too far on one side. "Wonder where he is now"

"He'd be helpful, that's for sure, main issue would be if he'd listen"

"I feel like he respected you before the outbreak happened"

"He punched me"

"Because you rallied people on you, and he saw no reason" She paused before continuing. "Maybe he understood before everyone got separated" She held out her hand before putting it back.

"Expected something?"

"Sorta, figured after a while you'd get pocky again"

"Ah, and because we're talking you expected some?"

"Exactly why" Well...if things can be warped, summoned around, and all that...if I buy something... I went to the HUD, it took a while, a real long while, long enough that it was embarrassing, but eventually I found a store menu, typing it in, I got Pocky and bought it, checking my inventory right after, and wouldn't you know, it was right there. I took it out, opened it, and held out one. "Thanks" I started nibbling on my own. "I'll be here if you need me." She turned back to the computer, and I left her alone, leaving the room and heading back to where Sam was.

"Hewwo again!" Kaz was sitting beside Sam, curled up. Our HUDs popped up again, this time however, it was Nicholai and Kenneth.

Ken: Forgot to mention, Nicholai and I have considered staying back on missions, acting more so like handlers.

Lee: Oh?

Nicholai: Yeah, in the books we brought over I noticed all of them have maps that are up to date, even including Reunion and Corruption high zones, and Kenneth can stay behind to bring you needed supplies or vehicles...and maybe soon he'll learn to fly a chopper.

Ken: She's kidding on the last part, we can get someone else to do that...eventually

Sam: We'll probably have to be more known though right?

Nicholai: Yes...regardless, if it's a dangerous mission of course we'll go, but for basic stuff, we'll just watch over ya, we're more supports than attack

Lee: Don't think earlier says that

Nicholai: I left myself open, you should know that too.

Lee: Yeah...guess you're a last resort case then huh?

Nicholai: Hmhm...you're a smaller group this way too, and even if you take Kaz they're small enough not to be noticed

Ken: Course, when it comes to missions that involve tech, it'll just be me and Lee.

Ken: Lee's sorta needed in all missions, so this way we can give Sam and Kaz a break, and I'll still be doing field work.

Lee: Reminds me of how we did things before in school

Ken: Well, that's where me and Nicholai got it from.

Nicholai: Those projects...so unneededly difficult.

Sam: I think this is a bit different than school...

Ken: Very much so, but the way things are done are the same, Sam and Lee are the field workers, while Nicholai and I do the research and overview.

Sam: I see it now

Ken: Well, we had this before, but it's more...risky now, what's your say Lee, we doing it this way?

Lee: I see a few pros and cons, but for the time being I think we can keep it, we'll test it out.

Ken: Alright, Nicholai and I will pool our credits to see if we can get enough stuff to actually act like handlers to you all. Take care

Our HUDs closed.

"I just realized" Sam spoke up out of nowhere.

"That realization is?"

"My weapons are pretty strong in Non-Lethal mode, I just swing them around, when they're blades they could hit backwards and just bruise them...that way, it's shocking them no matter how it hits"

"Be sure to put that to use whenever possible"

"Alrighty bossman" I took a seat on the couch, I zoned out after a few minutes and began thinking on things, more so about a few days ago. 'Make sure Lee doesn't make it past winter' Many things are the problem here...why winter? Why me, were the others questioning it as well, even now? They also had robots somewhere we've never been until then...or...were they there since the start? Are there many of them all around dimensions?...but why? "Lee, you alright?"

"Just thinking about before...those robots"

"mh..." She sat up, looking at the ground. "None of us really have the answer to that...I wish we did, we can't solve the problem if we don't...you know...even know why, there's too much to think about..."

"That's why I have an idea"

"Oh?" She leaned back and turned back to me.

"No more asking anything new, trying anything, with the exception for Kenneth and Nicholai's work, we make we solve every problem first before getting new ones...and for the ones we can't help, unless they're dire, we don't think on it till we get through the others, this way we won't get overwhelmed again like we are now."

"Hm, I agree with that"

"Alright, in that case, first things first, Why am I being prioritized and not any of you?" I came to a conclusion on where to check. "Since we know where they are, we should go back into that blizzard world, with obviously better gear, we can look for more of those robots, hunt em, and hope they have more audio files, or commands, tomorrow we'll brief it"

"Calling it a night then?"

"Probably" I got up. "If you need me just send a message" I headed into my room shortly after. I took out Crescent and laid it against the wall, putting my revolver in the bedside counter, and myself onto my bed while groaning. I turned onto my back and started staring at the ceiling. I hadn't noticed it till now. This bed...is a bit too big...It was a random thought, yet with both of my arms extended out to my left and right, I still wasn't at the edge of either side. I let out a yawn before I closed my eyes, and drifted off to another vision I would see once I awaken