It's Dangerous Business

"Okay what the hell are you guys talking about?" Miles said after being extremely confused and he looked back over to his friends on the couches. Raylan was still trying to grab his hat and Rubi was still firing shots with her invisible guns. Suddenly Elena moaned and tried to slap something away from her face, and Richard rolled over and fell on the floor with a thud. Miles frowned by this sudden reaction, and he heard Isabela chuckle. "Almost looks as if they are on a lot of drugs..." he then said and Piero actually nodded in response. "It has some LSD in it." he claimed, walking over to Richard and touched his pulse just for certainty he ain't dead all of a sudden or something. "Well, I think it does it's job really well." Piers also claimed and Isabela nodded looking over now to Bridget whom tried to slash something.
Suddenly Raylan stretched up like a puppet on strings and made a loud yell and woke up. "Well that escalated quickly..." Piers said and they all looked over to Raylan whom now looked like he was really panicking. "Where am I!?" he yelled and looked over towards the rest, whom still lied as if they were doing invisible games in their minds. "What...?" and Piero walked over to him with a glass of water. "Here you go, this might help for a bit." and Raylan thanked him and drank it down immediately. "How was it?" Isabela asked and the former marshal put the hat back on his head and shook his head trying to place it all together. "I saw all the events from my past life fly past me as if I was watching a movie..." and he tried to sit back up comfertable, placing the glass on the table. He coughed, and rubbed his eyes. "What did you see?" Piero asked with full interest and they all tried to make room for Raylan whom now was trying to line everything up. "Well, it all began with me driving through the desert to find Rubi over here, then I found myself in this adventure..." and he blinked his eyes several times before continuing. "God, that was some heavy shit." and he made a gesture towards one of the bottles they just drank the stuff from. "Did you see more instead of all the events that were happening." Piero asked, now more demanding as if he knew what Raylan might say next. Miles picked one of the bottles up and smelled from the tip. It smelled really sweet and yet sour. He made a disgusting face and thought he hopefully never would have to drink it.
"Yes, I actually saw something else." Raylan said making a face as if he was trying to see it in front of him again. When Raylan opened his mouth again, Rubi now woke up in full shock, same as Raylan, as if they were both being shocked and woke up. "God dammit! What the fuck happened!? And where the FUCK am I!?" she said making greedy reactions with her arms as if she was trying to push something away from her. Piero also got her a glass of water and places her next to Raylan. "I think we should wait, the effect is wearing off it seems. It's better for you all to tell your experiences when you are all awake." The rest agreed and they waited.
The next whom woke up was Bridget whilst she suddenly stood up and almost kicked over the table. She also claimed that she was elsewere first but after a glass of water she also sat very quietly next to Rubi and they made a smile to each other. "Welcome back, sweetheart." Rubi said sticking out her tongue and Bridget just grinned. When the group all jumped up by a sudden bang and a loud moan. "Seems Richard also woke up." Miles said, and the rest of the group chuckled while a torso came up from behind the table. Richard was massaging his head from where he had hit it on the table and he seemed immediately cured and he friendly declined the offer of a glass of water. Now only Elena was the one still deep in trance.
"God Dammit!" She suddenly yelled and also jumped up. "God! No!" and she made the same movements as everybody else and she was the last one to retrieve her glass of water to calm down. "Now that you are all awake, I am dying to hear what you have seen." Piero said with a smirk and he looked over to the, now calmed down, group. "Well, I saw my past." Elena said and everyone confirmed this. "But there's one thing I saw which I haven't seen before..." Richard said now worried that he might be the only one. "What is it?" Miles asked and he was as curious as Piero was and it seemed so were Isabela and Piers. "I saw a man a figure with eyes as black as the night." Rubi claimed, "yes, I saw it too!" Bridget said, and suddenly everyone claimed they saw the same manly figure with the black eyes. They all looked over at Piero for guidance and he nodded slowly. "You all just had your own visit of the Outsider himself." and he made a slight grin.

"I figured he had a little more class when you first talked about him" said Bridget as she slowly stroked her forehead, feeling the horrific headaches coming up after the trip she had been through.
"Pardon me?" asked Piero while walking up and down the makeshift basement-lab, putting the empty bottles in some shelves, seemingly holding a specific alphabetical order as he looked at all the little notes with letters and numbers on them.
"Well, my version of the Outsider was wearing some really cheap old clothes and man, that guy sure needs a haircut" explained the former nurse and sighed, now having reached the maximum point of headaches.
Piero didn't answer, in fact nobody even reacted as they all seemed like they were still somewhat in trance. Only Rubi smirked a bit as Bridget looked over to her.
"Alright. We are now on the same level of contacting the Outsider, I believe" the scientist then finally answered as he walked back up to the couch area of his little research area. "There is no doubt he still walks amongst us. And there is no doubt either that he has chosen every single one of us."
"Including me?" asked Miles and Piero looked down to him, his eyebrows critically raised, examining the way the mercenary had his feet placed on the glass table once again.
"No, excluding you. And you. And you, too, Piers. As I have said before, you three do play a role." The man stopped for a minute before he looked up to Bridget, who was apparently lookign like she wasn't as mentally exhausted as the others. "May I ask if you have seen any of these three in your... experience?"
Bridget frowned and then looked up to the ceiling. She tried to concentrate as hard as possible in order to remember every single detail of the dream she had dreamt. Then it struck her.
"Yes! Yes indeed. You were there... all of you." The woman pointed at Miles, starting to laugh a bit as she remembered what the three had looked like in the visions. "You were wearing that ridiculous woolen hat! And you two were there, too..."
Isabela and Piers looked at each other, pulling up their shoulders as the others were slowly coming to their senses again, apparently listening to what she was talking about. Piero stroked his beard before he sat down on the last remaining armchair.
"What does the Outsider want to tell us?" asked Elena and sipped at her glass of water.
"If only I knew that, Mrs. Fisher. Important things, that's for sure" answered the scientist and took his glasses off. He got out an old cleaning cloth and wiped over the lens, then he raised them and closed one eye to check if they were clean, then he put them back on only to realize that they weren't exactly that clear already so he repeated the same action again.
"I'm waiting" said Bridget as she bent out of her chair, signalizing the man that they were waiting for further explanations.
"Oh, oh yes, yes of course," said Piero and coughed before he finally put his glasses back on for good. "Well, we do know the Outsider is trying to contact us. And he succeeded. But what for? What does he want from us, you may ask yourselves."
"Well, I did. And I asked you, too" explained Elena with her eyebrows up.
"Oh, yes, yes you did" the man answered and got back up from his chair, walking all across the basement as he grabbed some papers from a desk.
"I think he also took a sniff of that stuff when we were unconscious" Rubi whispered but it turned out to be loud enough for the chemist to hear.
"No, Mrs. Malone, I didn't. I am only quite a bit.... aroused about the fact that you have seen him. This is more important than I had thought." He sat down again and put the files on the glass table for everyone to read.
"What's that?" asked Raylan and took them off the desk.
"Notes... on why the Outsider would want to contact us. Go ahead and read them and tell me if any of that applies to any of you."
As the group stood up and gathered behind Raylan who was sitting in the middle of the central couch Piero started to clean his glasses again, apparently sinking into deep thoughts.

"Urgh.." Raylan sighed picking up one of the papers and then gave it immediately to Elena, he never had been one of the file lookin', nor reading much. But he gave everyone a piece of paper with a few memorise of Piero, and gave himself the most short one. They all sat, or stood there, reading. The silence was killing and sometimes you could hear a small "hmm..." coming from a few group members here and there. He himself had a note showing a dream he once had regarding the specific group members. He read it and it seemed that Piero had dreamt about them when they were first having their memories back and that a person, whom he thought was The Outsider, told him they became important pons in the game yet to come. Whereabouts about the group members and where they could be found. Maybe this is when Piero began to track them down. He glanced over at the mad scientist and he was still rubbing the glass sometimes even blew on it gently to get off a few specks of dust.
Raylan went back to his paper and read on, about stuff Piero's been doing after the dream. Making notes trying to have the personal contacts of them. The former marshal now stood up and walked towards the board with all the lines connecting them. He read the note and looked over at the images. '11th of May 2012, I've located the man named Raylan Givens and planted a few unnoticed camera's over at his desk and workplace.' Raylan stared at the note and back at the pictures, it seemed that was the time he still didn't knew he was 'himself' for he had at least four empty coffee cups next to him and a pile of paperwork, and yet again hatless. He chuckled by this thought though, and now he followed up upon Richard's line. '23th of August, 2012. Richard Alpert a remarkable man, never knew I would be following a dangerous person like this. I hope his security isn't that tight or else I will have trouble following him.'
Raylan again looked over to Richard whom was silently reading one of the files and he had a sad expression. The man with the hat then sighed and he saw Piero, what seemed like forever, finally adjusting his glasses back to where they belong. 'Rubi Malone. Astonishing woman, why she is a tattoo artist I can't imagine. I see her more being a hired killer.' Raylan smirked, if only he knew before. 'But I forgot the date,' Raylan read on with a smile. '22th of December, 2012. She is now tattooing Bridget.'
"So, these were all occurred last year? I never knew time flew so fast." the rest looked up and frowned. "What date is it exactly right now?" Raylan asked the scientist and he looked as if Raylan was crazy. "Well I thought you ought a know..." and Piero shook his head slightly. "It's the 21st of February..." and the rest looked back to Raylan. "Here on the notes it says we've been here almost a year now. Well at least he's tracking us for a year now... our... former, selves..." he got a bit confused about it himself again as well. "Maybe that might lead us to something? The time lines?" Elena said, placing down her paper. "Well, here it says the first date, and it's about me it was written the 11th of May, 2012!" "So the dreams started again almost a year ago?" Richard asked towards the scientist whom nodded. "Do you think you can remember in what kind of time line you were?" he kept on asking but Piero shook his head. "I am far from knowing what I did with my past life, I can't remember." Rubi smirked, why don't you just take a sip from your own brew then?" and Piero got a bit uncomfortable. "It's not... something I... want to temper with uuhm, myself." and he nodded, as if he was talking to other people as from the group. "This guy is weird..." Miles said, "The rumours weren't lying..." Isabela and Piers nodded and the rest just looked at each other.
As they all sat down again and piled up the notes, Raylan was questioning himself the very thing that was bothering him ever since he knew about the date. "Uhm, guys?" he said loudly. "Do you even know what kind of year it was back in the days we were, you know?" the rest frowned and looked at each other crossing looks. "Look, it must've been the same time line! We can't just time travel!" Bridget claimed and shook her head. "I refuse to believe that!" The rest remained silent. "It can be just a metaphor..." Piers said and looked over to the group. "You haven't seen any differences from your unive-" and he stopped in his tracks. "Wait you did." and the rest nodded, for the Plague wiped down a part of Chicago and they never heard of the T-virus before in their lives. "My, oh my this is interesting..." Piero said and looked over to his notes. "Conciousness of the same person switch universes, what if your other self is now in the same situation as you were here?" and he chuckled. Leaving the group confused. "My God, so actually our consciousness travelled?" Elena asked confused, "and not our bodies?" the rest of the group was awaiting more explanation as Piero was also trying to get the explanation himself, maybe confirming that it is also the way how he got here instead. "Well a mind is a fragile thing." he then said. "It indeed is..." Isabela said, looking down trying to think about what was just said. "We can be on to something here, you guys are great assistances." Piero said, "Would anyone like anything to drink while we're at it?" and Rubi didn't hesitate to shout "BEER." the group laughed and even Piero laughed with them. The group went on with their research and hopefully they would come on some more clues as well.

After the group had discovered that it was their mind that travelled through parallel universes, not their bodies, Elena found her point somewhat confirmed. They were the same people after all, they only found out what has happened to their mind and that there are indeed more things in between time and space than just a few billion planets in the universe.
It was hard to believe, of course it was, but it was clearly the truth they had discovered, everything had taken place just like they imagined. Somewhere, in a specific place, to a specific time.
"So..." Elena started and put the glass of water back on the table.
"Let me get this straight" she heard Rubi whispering, making fun of Elena's characteristic words. The journalist rolled her eyes and gave her friend a quick grin before she continued her thoughts.
"I figure we aren't usually supposed to know about that parallel-universe-thing going on, right? Like whoever invented that, it was probably supposed to be a secret or else they would've told us right? So given that we are the first ones to find out and we are the only ones, perhaps among some other people, to be in contact with the Outsider in our universe, right now, I think that there's something about the fact that we have discovered the universes along with the knowledge that there has always been something or something that tried to destroy the world."
Elena looked around, looked into the faces of her friends; some of them nodded, others looked away and Rubi's eye twitched as if she was malfunctioning.
"What now?" she asked and leaned back in the sofa.
"No, no, I see what you are talking about there, Mrs. Fisher. That is the first thing to make perfect sense after all" answered Piero as he scratched his head.
"So we have three things going on," said Raylan and finally put the map with the files on the desk, leaning forward and raising his index finger like a teacher speaking words of warning to his students. "The idea of a parallel world we're living in right now, the fact that there's been some pandemic event that threatened every world before and the fact that the Outsider recently contacted all of us."
"This has got to be connected somehow" said Elena, nodding in agreement.
"What if the Outsider" Rubi tried to start but was suddenly cut off by Richard.
"What if the Outsider" he said before Bridget interupted.
"What if the Outsider wants to tell us something about all that? What if he wants us to be aware of the fact that we can change something? Change our fate, change this world's fate or even the fate of all of these worlds that exist or have existed?
"What if" Rubi started again but Bridget covered her mouth, preventing her from carrying out her point.
"What if he contacted us, knowing that we somehow managed to find out about all those worlds, in order to tell us we're supposed to change something? I mean we did kill Carla-"
"I did," Piers cut in. Everyone looked over to him and Isabela on the far end of the sitting area. "... just in case you've forgotten about us being here, too."
"We killed the responsible people for those apocalyptic events before and you have worked on a cure for that rat plague, too, haven't you?" said Elena and looked over to Piero, noticing that he has been writing down everything they had said for the past few minutes.
"Yes, yes, yes and yes! Please continue, this is... this is magnificent!" He wrote and wrote, his arm looked like a mechanic device constructed for nonstop writing.

Piero kept on writing as if he was suddenly insane and the rest of the group just stared at him. "Now I also start to remember my past life." he suddenly stopped writing like a car breaking to prevent an accident, then stared over to the group. "I indeed stopped the plague, with a man named Sokolov... He was my nemesis at first but in the end we worked together and made a cure for the plague... And there was an empress whom was killed." he mumbled on when Richard stared at the rest of the group, whom still stared at Piero to what he had to say. "There was a man I made equipment for... Corvo" and he kept telling them stuff they didn't knew how to connect it with all this. But then again, what time line was it? "So what year do you think it was?" Raylan asked, maybe confirming the time travelling a bit. "It was late 1800's begin 1900..." he said clearly thinking.
A shock went through the rest, so it was something very interesting, all this. "Well, stop!" Elena said before Raylan could explain the time travelling again. "Maybe, you died and your conciousness came here?" Piero nodded slightly still deep in thoughts. Richard just sat there progressing all this on his own again. Pff, al this info. He looked over at the clock and found out they already spend four hours talking, progressing and experiencing the things, for it was suddenly 7PM. Then out of nowhere his stomach began to rumble and he smiled a bit. "Maybe it's time for a break?" he then suggested and the rest agreed. "I'll try and make dinner for you." Piero said and already stood up. "Hold it there," Isabela said and held him back. "Before we eat or drink any more of your magical stuff I think it is best we order something..." The rest agreed and they all went back to the living room one level up. The sun was already going down a bit and it lit the room in a dark orange colour. Richard actually needed a bit of fresh air and went outside. The grass was also washed over with the sunset's light and he enjoyed the small breeze on his face. It was nice to be out of the chaos for a while, so he stepped over towards the little pier. The water reflected the sunset beautiful as well and made Richard enjoy the sight even more and he sat down with his feet just above the waving water. He sat there reflecting on the day and info. So far, it's all been so insane. Every single detail. But what Piero said, about their other consciousness being in their other lives. But then again when he went through his past life, he saw the explosion... he saw the bright light. Did it kill them? Like it did with Sarah? He shook his head and looked back when he heard footsteps echoing from the wooden pier. "How's it going there Mr. Taxi Driver?" he heard Elena's voice saying while she took her place next to Richard whom smiles vaguely back. "Something wrong?" she asked further and he just shrugged looking over the lake. "Just progressing everything we did this day..." and Elena nodded. "I know, so am I." and she took out her shoes and socks, floated her foot in the water, took a sigh and looked over the magnificent lake herself as well. They both sat there admiring the view when suddenly not the fine echoing of wood was heard when Elena was walking towards him, but now the loud banging of heavy shoes. "You two love birds coming?" Rubi's sharp voice cut through the silence of the sun set and the two looked back seeing their friendly killer companion standing looking at them with her hands on her hips leaning forward in their direction. "Isabela offered to get us some pizza..." and she already walked back to the wooden bungalow. "Well, come on hungry thing let's get ourselves some pizza." Elena said and stood up, wiping the water of her foot and began to put everything on again. "Actually now I am longing for something else..." Richard admitted and bit his lip looking at how she placed the sock over her left bare foot. "Ha nice try there," and Elena winked. "Maybe next time." and she already made her way back to the house herself as well.
Richard just sighed and smiled while he nodded to himself and stood up, also making his way to the lovely lake house.

As Richard and Elena caught up with Rubi, the others had already set up a big, round table in the middle of the living room. They had ordered several different pizzas and had spread them out in the middle. The smell was wonderful. Rubi began to drool without noticing but her sweetheart and all time care-taker Bridget rolled her eyes amused and whipped it off with her hand. Rubi blushed a little and smiled apologetic.
"Come, let's eat! I am starving!" Isabela exclaimed, already grabbing the first piece of pizza. The cheese was vicious and tenacious as always and wouldn't let go of its big momma, but Isabela pulled hard enough eventually to get it off. Not without having some of the grease and cheese slap in her face though.
"That's what knives are for," Piers mumbled between two bites, surprisingly hungry as well, and even more surprisingly cheerful. Pizza does that.
Isabela grinned. "Well, it was a successful defloration nevertheless, my dear."
Piers almost chocked on the bite he was about to swallow and earned lots of laughter from the others.
"Good one!" Rubi commented, raising her drink - beer! finally! - and the others rose their drinks in response. They were all happy to just have some food and drink and a place to stay in for once in a while. After all the stress and adventure that was the biggest joy they could have gotten or imagined.
They dug in, forgetting about the time travel and The Outsider for a while, simply enjoying each others' company in silence - occasionally interrupted by Rubi's belches.

"So ... do you think we've conscious traveled before, too?" Isabela asked.
They had eaten almost everything and were just nibbling on the few remaining pizza slices. Piero had opened a few windows on Elena's behalf and a soft breeze was blowing in, giving the dusty, stuffy house some needed air and coolness.
Piers shrugged after a while. Isabela had asked no one in particular, more herself than anyone else, really.
"The fact that you three are here with the rest would seem to be the answer," Piero finally said, taking a sip of whatever it was he was drinking. Nobody dared ask, anyway.
"The fact that you, Piers and Miles are here and have helped the others to prevent yet another apocalypse proves that you are all deeper in this than you might think."
"Do we get your weird potions to drink, too?" Miles asked, earning a shocked look from Piers and an amused one from Isabela.
"Why not ... looked like fun," she said, finishing her pepsi grinning.
"Well, thanks, but no thanks," Piers grunted and grabbed another slice of pizza. Rubi was quicker however and she stuck her tongue out to the BSAA soldier but got slapped on her hand by mommy Bridget who also gave her a mean look. Rubi pulled a face somewhere between angry, sad and disappointed while Bridget handed Piers the slice he had been reaching for. He thanked her with the slightest smile and a nod.
"But why not ... maybe we will find stuff out about ourselves we didn't know before!" Isabela continued.
Miles nodded in agreement. "I'm game."
"I'm not."
Isabela knew he was afraid to relive certain things, but the difference between her opinion and his was, that she knew he could overcome it. She rolled her eyes therefor in gentle tease and patted his back. "Come on, big Piers ain't afraid of shit! If nothing else it might just feel good like ... being drunk or something."
"Nah ... unfortunately it doesn't. I would know," Rubi commented, emptying her beer and demanding more right away.
Piero sighed but obeyed and got her more. But rather than bothering with a single bottle, he put the whole rest of the twelve pack next to her.
"Well, at least one of us can be sure to be happy," Bridget commented grinning, patting her friend's head.
"Is there anything at all you remember that seemed odd to you when it occured?" Piero started after he had sat back down. "Like a dream? A vision? A daydream even?"
All three, Miles, Isabela and Piers were silent for several moments.
"I think I've seen Bridget before, just as she had seen us somewhere as she said," Bridget nodded encouragingly.
"I do think they were in other dimensions, too."
"Has anyone seen me, no? Guess not ... since most of you forget me in your posts also," Miles mumbled, earning a punch in the shoulder by Rubi.
"We're not supposed to say that remember, stuff about the authors?!"
"Oh ... right ... well, anyways ... anyone remember seeing me?" he asked again.

Everyone just chuckled and Rubi gave him another slight punch in the shoulder. "Come on, get a bit brighter over there. Mr. Grumpy." and she chuckled with the now laughing group. Piero just sat there enjoying it too, but then his stern look came back and suddenly he excused himself from the table. Everyone suddenly felt silent as the mad scientist went away from the room. "Did we do something wrong?" Elena asked worried waving her hands slightly around. The rest just shrugged and looked towards the doorway Piero just disappeared through. "Maybe he has a bad mood?" Richard rubbed his belly and made a small burp. Elena glanced angrily to her boyfriend and he frowned and sat straight, then apologized. Isabela got up and already walked towards the doorway, but was stopped by Piers. "Maybe he needs a moment to himself." he said and pulling her down in her seat. "All right," she admit and looked down towards the table. The group sat there, at the table staring at the empty pizza boxes. No word was said when suddenly Miles stood up. "I'm gonna take a leak." Raylan bit his lip in frustration and looked angrily towards the man whom just stood up. "What?" the man replied and shrugged. "Sorry if this ain't common language for y'all." and he left the table behind him and walked towards the hallway. He hadn't had the faintest idea where the toilet was, since nobody had to go before. So he just wondered if he could find it when he walked through the house itself. He did it very silent, for who knows where Piero was, and what he was doing. That actually sounded more interesting than go to the bathroom, but even that had to be done. After what seemed like ten minutes he finally found the little room and seconds later he flushed the toilet and washed his hands in the little sink that hung on the beautiful plated walls. When he closed the door and looked outside, the darkness already filled the sky and a few stars were seen. He sighed and returned towards the dining room where sounds were heard. Elena stood Next to Richard doing some of the dishes. Rubi, Isabela and Bridget were talking to each other delighted with a few bottles of beer. Piers just sat there staring outside into the cold dark air and Raylan had placed his hat over his eyes and placed his cowboy touched boots on the table and folded his hands. Probably taking a nap.
The presence of Piero was still short on them and Miles started to grow a bit worried. "He still ain't back hu?" Miles began to the chattering ladies and Isabela shook her head. "We want to find out what happened but-" Rubi began and took another sip. "But we don't know what bothers him." Bridget finished the sentence. "Well we still need to find out about the universe stuff, so why don't we go looking for him and take one of the potions and take a nap afterwards?" Miles suggested and Piers looked angrily towards their direction. "Or, only the two of us..." Miles then said after catching the look and shrugged. "It'll be the best if it's all three of you." the voice of Piero suddenly came through the same doorway as he was disappeared through and suddenly he looked terrible. It was as if he really was in need for a good nights rest and his hands were all covered with ink. The group looked at him with their mouths open and even Raylan took a peek from under his hat. "Don't worry I just had to take some more notes, these events are so interesting." he tried to sound exciting but it clearly failed. He also wore a small brown wooden chest. "Let me show you something." and he sat down while the rest of the group gathered around him. "I find it strange that I found something like this in... well this universe." he began and he touched the lid of the chest with one of his hands. "This is a relic from the outsider," Piero said while he opened the lid and a weird white thing with a black mark on it was seen. "What is it?" Raylan asked rubbing his eyes and seemed awake all of a sudden. "This is a whale rune." Piero said touching the relic and lifting it out of the box. "It's made from whale bones, and it has the Outsider's mark on it." and he gently stroked the artefact. "What good will it do us?" Richard asked and Piero frowned. "I don't know yet, Maybe it'll give us more answers or maybe we can summon the Outsider himself, and ask him questions." The rest looked very astonished to the bone artefact and Miles started to wonder if it was really possible to do all this. In what kind of world was he mixed up in all of a sudden?

The group had spent all night studying the power of the artifact, reading Piero's notes, talking about their theories and drinking several other potions the scientist had brewed for them. They hadn't been able to figure out a lot of new things though they had come up with a few new ideas. It had been an exhausting night and around 3am even Piero, who had been going over his files even after everyone had gone to sleep already, dozed off.

Bridget woke up, lying right next, or rather beneath Rubi, who had her arms and legs all over the nurse.
She gently pushed the killer off of her before she properly covered her with her blanket and headed off into the bathroom.
Piero had shown them around the house the other night so everyone knew their way around a bit.
She saw or heard nobody else in the estate so she figured she was the first person to wake up and get out of bed, unsurprisingly.
After she had refreshed herself, Bridget headed into the living room, where everything was still spread on the table, including the little box that contained the incredible bone artifact they had studied last night.
Could she examine it further? Only Piero had touched it so far. Would something happen if she did?
The assassin looked around to make sure nobody was secretly watching her. Nothing. "Hell, it's just a glowing bone artifact... thingy" she figured and took the box in her hands.
After hesitating for a few seconds and realizing that the clinking sound was gone she started opening the precious wooden casket to get an eyefull.
It was gone.
She fully opened the box now to check if she was right and- she was.
Bridget sighed and put the open casket back down, figuring that Piero must have taken the object with him. She crossed her arms and waited for the others to wake up.

A beam of sunlight was shining down right on his face and he had to blink with his eyes a few times before he finally had the intense light out of his eyes. Birds were chirping outside and it really gave a neat atmosphere. The clock said it was around 6 AM and Raylan wondered why he woke up so early even though they all went to bed very late. He got up from his bed and rubbed his eyes to remove the last bits of his sleep and went to grab his clothes, whom he already wears like three days long. He sniffed, but no sweaty air was coming from it so he figured it'll do. Next time they go anywhere they really need to think about bringing different sets of clothing. He went out to have a quick shower and after putting on his usual tie he sighed and got it off again, knowing he could make the day without it. But his precious hat couldn't be missed.

When he came downstairs he went to the kitchen to get something for breakfast and he saw Bridget sitting there just placing a spoon full of milk and cereal in her mouth. She noticed Raylan in the doorway and without chewing further on her previous bite of the spoon she gulped and she started to cough.
"Good- morning," she said with a cough in the middle and Raylan greeted her back and patted her harsh on the back making her stop coughing. "thanks." she said with her eye a bit tearing up.
"You're up early too aren't ya?" Raylan asked getting himself a glass of milk and drinking it down in a few seconds. She nodded while he was just wiping of the milk from around his mouth.
"I couldn't sleep any more." she mumbled placing another portion of cornflakes on her spoon, but she playfully let it fall back again in the bowl, making a few drops of milk fall on the table. She seemed far away from reality and deep in her own thoughts.
"Are you okay?" he asked while Bridget was just repeating the process of dropping the cornflakes bits back into the white abyss making more and more mess on the table. It seems as if she didn't noticed at all. She kept staring at the box where this whale ruin was and Piero mentioned the story's of it. Raylan thought she was just thinking about it.
"It's gone." she mumbled closing her eyes and making a huge sigh. "I think maybe Piero took it, you know for insurance for us not taking it?" Raylan nodded taking it for her word.

After having something to eat for himself the next ones coming down were Elena and Richard. The taxi driver seemed like he was having a bad sober up cause he wasn't walking straight at all and Elena had to keep him up from time to time and he finally flopped into one of the chairs. He made a big yawn and Elena gave him a glass of milk as well and she already took a sip of hers.
"So, what do you two think?" Elena already asked making Richard moan and Bridget wasn't paying attention still.
"I think we need to head out." Raylan said filling his second glass of milk and looking at Elena. A loud smack was heard when Richard was dropping his head on the sturdy, hard table.
"Don't mind him he's a bit tired, still..." Elena said looking a bit worried over at the slightly moaning man. "But continue." she turned her head back to Raylan who just placed his glass back down.
"We've got enough info for my part, and to be honest all this stuff is getting on my nerves." Elena agreed and she looked over to Richard again who made small banging noises by repeatedly placing his head softly on the table. "We now know what our purpose is in this world," Raylan continued. "And now what we have to do is make our time here due and kill these plagues of zombies." Richard immediately shot his head up and looked at Raylan. Surprisingly he agreed to it as well and Bridget made a slight nod as well.
"We've got the info we looked for and now it's time to put it into action." She replied, now finally filling her mouth with another bite instead of dropping it.

"Good morning." Piero's voice said and he sat down with the rest. "I couldn't help but overhearing you guys leaving." Raylan looked over to Elena who bit her lip and nodded slightly while looking at Piero. Suddenly footsteps were heard and the rest of the group came down and Rubi was the loudest, since her boots where echoing through the little wooden hallways. "MORNING!" She yelled, making it conformable it was Rubi.
"I noticed that thing in the box is gone." Bridget said towards Piero and he nodded. Making the rest of the group looking weird at Piero.
"I think I gave you to much of the potions and it made me hallucinating and you as well. It had its side effects and hallucination is one of them. These items only existed in my world... My world where I once lived before." The group let out a small moan and Miles even mumbled to himself
"Unbelievable..."

After Elena suggested they should finally get up and do something about the zombie plagues, the rest agreed surprisingly and Piero also nodded slightly.
"If you think you have all the answers, you are indeed free to go." The rest got their breakfasts as well and they all got their stuff together. Piero decided it was the best he stayed here, and that he was always here to find if they needed help or more answers. "Thank you for everything." Raylan said and shook his hand, and everyone followed his example and then got into the car.
"Be safe!" Piero said and waved, when the rest waved and Richard was driving the car onto the little sand path crossing the forestry area.

"Hm," Rubi said, looking out the window as they drove away and Piero's mansion disappeared in the distance behind some trees.
"What's the matter?" Bridget sitting next to her, asked.
"Well, I think I am actually gonna miss this crazy old guy."
Bridget blinked surprised and even a few of the others turned their heads at Rubi when they heard what she said. Rubi then scowled at them. "Only a little!"
"So we are now supposed to take all the zombies out ourselves?" Isabela asked the inevitable question. For a while everything and everyone was quiet but the engine of the little bus.
"Well, do you have another plan?" Elena finally answered, looking out the window thoughtfully. Then it was Isabela's turn to remain quiet also. She had no answer. And no ideas.
"At least we know they are only within the US and not in Europe yet. So ... maybe that makes things a ... little easier, yes?" Raylan tried to brighten the situation but only got a few grunts, some nods but mostly silence.
"Where are we heading first anyways?" Rubi asked.

"No clue," answered Bridget looking outside the window as the bushes and trees and with them Piero's mansion and the lake slowly faded away. "Let's just get some really good equipment and hunt some zombies."
"Yea, we could be like a really cool Zombie Hunter Squad with super awesome weapons!" said Richard rather excited while driving on the empty street. Elena gave him a confused look.
"I guess we try to help as many people as possible, perhaps that's our destiny or whatever that crazy supernatural guy called it" said Rubi, playing with her gun in the back of the car.
"Sounds pretty dumb, to be honest" commented Miles and recieved one of the most frightening Rubi-Looks, as they used to call them by now. "But," he quickly added. "It's the only thing we can do anyway, right?"
"Right. It does sound dumb anyway" Piers mumbled as he crossed his arms. He looked just as confused and worried as Isabela did and Bridget wondered why. After all it was what they did for a living, they should be happy about doing something they are used to after all that time of driving around the country and looking for that nutjob of a scientist.
"OK, listen up, guys. We're going to California" Elena interrupted and turned around from the co-driver's seat.
"What now?!" Bridget responded and bent out of her seat.
Everyone else in the back of the bus just seemed to sigh or roll their eyes, thinking about what they just heard and what seemed to be just another crazy plan.
"Yesterday they mentioned that the eastcoast has completely been evacuated and barricated, right?" Elena explained further. "The west coast is still in danger and is currently overrun by the undead. If we want to help, we should directly stir up the hornest's nest." Elena turned around again and took a map out of the glovebox.
"Besides," she added. "I have a rather good relationship to my parents in this life. They live there and I want to check how they are. My dad was in the navy and he even has a little bunker full of weapons and equipment in the basement. I think we could need that... make it our base, if you will."

The rest agreed with the plan of Elena. Richard asked the address of the house and she looked it up on her infamous PDA.
"3614 Lankershim Blvd, Los Angeles" she answered putting her PDA on standby immediately.
"Okay so, how do we get there in time, I mean Michigan?" Rubi said. The group felt silent and Miles then chuckled. "Got a point there miss."
The rest just stared angrily to Miles who decided it would be great if he just shut up. Back with his eyes on the road, Richard noticed they were close to the city boarders again.
"We can fly?" he suggested already turning onto the right side of the road. No one agreed so he speed up and just went towards the airport ASAP.
"We can fly, yes but who's going to pilot it?" Piers suddenly suggested. "It's not that with an virus outbreak going on now, there's still a pilot available now is there?" yet again everybody agreed and again felt silent.
"Driving may cost at least two days if we stop for pauses and tanking." Richard replied now even more worried. "And don't expect me to drive more than a day. We need shifts."
"We can do that," Elena replied and Richard looked over to her as if she was crazy. "I mean, the shifts and all." she then replied turning on her PDA again. "If this battery lasts long enough, we can at least have navigation."
The group got a bit more cheery as Elena demanded Richard to pull over and take the first shift so he can take a nap or whatever not. Richard inspected the fuel first before leaving the steer side.
"Don't forget to pull over in an hour or so to get some gas into this thing." he told her by patting the glass over the dashboard.
"I won't" she then replied pushing Richard over and taking place at the steer. Richard got in at the other side again and as soon as he slammed the door shut, she began driving.

"Are we there yet?" Rubi then asked after at least thirty minutes later.
"No..." Bridget said while giving her a small push and they both grinned and Rubi made an invisible kiss towards her.
"Next driveway left." the female voice of the PDA sounded through the silenced car and Elena obeyed, turning left.
Richard looked over towards the time of driving and he indeed was right. twenty-nine hours at least. But then again there's still the time of their tanking breaks and food breaks. He made a slight sigh and he looked over to the empty roads. What if they also got roadblocks and that kind of stuff. That wont make them make it to their destination any faster will it? Richard shook his head. He probably shouldn't think of it before it really happened.

Hours had passed and most of the members of the Super Awesome Zombie Killer Squad had fallen asleep. They had been passing time by playing games and going on Elena's nerves or singing stupid but damn catchy songs.
As always, Piers had observed everyone, trying to make out more of their personalities.
Rubi was busy listening to music on her iPod, Elena was focused on the street. Piers had noticed that there were almost no other cars around at all. A plane passed every once in a while but the great rush of everyone leaving their homes had probably already been over. The ones who didn't were likely just staying inside of their homes.
Richard had dozed off, Bridget was reading a book, Isabela's head rested on his shoulders. Miles kept humming songs they had sung previously. Raylan had his hat on his face, resting his eyes.
The BSAA soldier had tons of questions. He did not know what was happening at all. All those conversations about a mythical creature from another world, his crazy companions having lived different lives and he was in the middle of all of that, maybe even a part of it?
All he wanted was his regular life back. His daily workouts at the camp, being with George, staying up all night and telling him stories. He missed him.
"Are you okay?" Isabela's calm voice suddenly whispered and she looked up to her partner. "You look like you've been crying."
Piers must've looked at her rather shocked as he did not expect her to be awake. It almost felt like she had been reading his thoughts all along. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

After humming a few songs for quite the while, Miles shook is head away from the trance. But still the songs were stuck in his head so he made an angry face. Isabela and Piers were talking very silent to each other and the rest was just minding their own business. While Raylan and Richard kept on sleeping. Hours had passed and soon Elena turned the car on the side of the road asking if someone else wanted to take her place now. To everyone's surprise Rubi took the job and Bridget shook Richard awake so she can still sit next to her favourite.
"Sure.... sure you can have the pancakes..." Richard said, still a bit sleepy. Bridget frowned and he took place next to Miles, closed his eyes and seemed to dose off again. Elena sat on the place where Rubi sat before and also closed her eyes. Miles took a look at the clock and it was around dinnertime and no wonder, he did felt a bit hungry.
"Maybe we should stop and have something to eat at the next stop?" he suggested only receiving a slight hum back from Elena who tried to sit comfortable.
"We actually should." Isabela said, and Piers shook his head slightly.
"We must drive on 'till it's to late!" he demanded waking up Richard again with the sudden loudness and even Raylan peeked from under his head lifting it with one of his fingers. "Come on, we must drive these zombies out. Save these people, as fast as we can!?" he looked over to Isabela whom nodded slightly.
"You have a point there, but we also must keep ourselves alive and well." she suggested to Piers patting his shoulder to make him calm down.
"To be honest I am a little hungry and we all can have a nice stretch of our legs while we're at it." Raylan said, placing his head back again.
"Finally someone who understands me." and Miles made a friendly gesture to Raylan whom just patted his hat in return.
"Well you two go ahead, I'm sure Rubi will drive on while you guys get out of the car." Piers said annoyed.
"Look Piers we're not looking for a fight, I am sure thirty minutes of resting and getting food wont make the world any worse." Bridget said. Suddenly Rubi took a sharp turn to the right and everyone was shocked by this sudden reaction. She stopped at a fast food restaurant and pointed towards Miles and Raylan.
"YOU TWO, GET OUT!" she yelled opening her door already and walked towards the doors located near the duo. Opening that door, she dragged Miles from his sleeve out of the car. "HEY- What th-!" and Raylan followed, and the hat fell with a light thud on the ground.
"GET YOUR FOOD!" Rubi said and the rest of the group just sat there in the little van, frozen. Raylan got his hat back on his head and made a frown, Miles wiped all the dirt from his pants and joined the marshal with the weird look.
"And don't forget I want a hamburger with beer." the killer then said and started to laugh.
"Sure thing," Raylan said while making a slight grin, still unsure if she will burst out again. "Anyone else need something?"
And after a few minutes they all sat back in the van driving on with the fries and hamburgers.

Isabela was enjoying her Wendy's Single (those are the best burgers around here!! *drools*) and sipped on her coke as they drove along. It was hard to just sit still and wait for two days to get to where they needed to go, but this, too, had been part of her training. Patience.
She looked out the window ever so often, watching the cars roll by, the sun setting slowly, a few birds flying towards the horizon. Everyone was quietly eating their meals, happy to have something in their tummies after all. Bridget supported her girlfriend, Rubi, by feeding her fries and bites of the burger while she was driving. Isabela grinned a little at that. Piers next to her was silent as always, deep in his thought. She cared but didn't worry. She knew he was strong, much stronger than he knew himself. And even though they did not yet know their part in all this, it would at least be an adventure and give Piers a chance to forget about the past and not just sit around pondering about it. Although ... as for right now they would probably sit around for many more hours.
Isabela sighed, finished her burger and threw the paper out of the window, earning a few gasps from those who obviously disapproved with her polluting the nature. But hey, they were on a highway, not much nature to pollute - considering that it was already polluted enough around here.
To give Piers something to do she handed him her ipod, so he could listen to some music or play some silly little games on it, to keep his mind occupied. To make sure he actually did what she suggested, she kept a close eye on him and kept encouraging him to try the games again, or try different ones. That way at least time went by a little quicker.

Rub appreciated the support, help and kindness of her blond girlfriend, thanks to her she managed to stay awake and have a nice, full tummy and feel satisfied and even happy. Unlike some of the others, especially the newcomers Piers, Isabela and Miles, this was familiar to her. The group has done this before. Traveling around, hunting down bad guys without ever getting credit for saving the world ... it was fun, in its own way and she hoped she could make the others of the group see it that way, too. She knew she wasn't always straight forward, or sometimes too much, but she did like very single one of them. Even Richard and his lousy attempts to make jokes, or Miles and his loud mouth, Raylan with his hood fetish, Elena with her knowledge and wisdom, even Piers with his silence, and Isabela and her big boobs. But the most credit still went to Bridget, of course.
She smiled at the blond woman next to her and continued their journey, quietly whistling an old western song.

Night slowly fell. And with everybody's tummy full and half of them entertained, Miles just watched out of the window. A few fires lit up from cars that have been crashed and also from little bushes. Once every time they drove past a lonely zombie, who hunted in the night for fresh meat.
Crazy, deep shit crazy. His thoughts went over to the feeling of actual nerves. What will happen next? Go sit in the basement of Elena her parent's house? Sit there like a cornered dog? Their plan was quite known to Miles and the others, for they wanted to clear out the city by moving from the married couple. Rubi was groaning and mumbling and then drove over to the side of the road that looked a bit clear. "Guys, I am damn tired," she said looking back and slowly waking the blonde eye patched woman next to her. "I need to sleep and someone needs to drive." she said. Bridget leaned over and began to sit on her legs. "I can drive." and she chuckled softly making Rubi blush a bit, still clear in the night. Rubi tried to squeeze herself away from the driver's seat and Bridget leaned a bit forward to let her pass, but touched the honk with it as well. The sudden loudness made the group make a jump scare and Rubi began to laugh out loud with Bridget still on her belly. the honk got touched again and this time Piers began to make a angry gesture and look towards the duo. After laughing for another five minutes, Rubi scoot over to the seat next to Bridget and chuckled on, in silence.

They arrived in Los Angeles after just a few more hours of driving. They had passed several military units, few straying mutants and a decreasing number of survivors that were headed in the opposite direction as they were.
Since only the east coast and the middle of the states were affected and asumed to be infected critically they hadn't set up any border control in California or any of the other states they had passed yet. It was quite easy to enter the state via the highway and as expected they didn't see anyone - only a handful - outside as every citizen was adviced to stay inside in order not to come into contact with any infected or the remains of the virus.
The flu - as it was constantly referred to on the radio station the group had been listening to for almost the entire ride unless they had been listening to music - had spread as quickly as no virus outbreak in the history of mankind ever has. They had even heard about infected zones in Asia and Europe. Was this supposed to be the zombie apocalypse?

Bridget spotted some soldiers and policemen and even some BSAA soldiers on the streets. Whenever they saw any citizen they immediatly told them to go back inside in order to stay safe. However, they did not stop cars as they probably guessed that anyone who was still on the road was probably on their way to their homes or one of the evacuation centers.
Bridget couldn't help herself but stare at the empty streets they were driving through. L.A. looked like a ghost town, like it had been haunted and its population eradicated if it weren't for the military units.
"Just a few more miles" said Elena, who had suggested to take the wheel again because she knew the most of the city by heart.
"What about me?" said a confused and sleepy mercenary in the back of the car who shook his head after the driver had woken him up from his half-sleep. Isabela smirked and told him the world doesn't resolve around him. He was shocked.

Richard looked quite nervous and he gulped when he looked over to Elena. Raylan was thinking he might be nervous meeting her parents, as in the relationship status of them two. It seemed that Elena also took the hint of Richard looking over to her and she smiled.
"No worries, I'm sure they like you." and Richard made a slight nod and sighed a bit of relief. The Marshal however frowned and make a chuckle with a smile and went back with his vision on the streets. The morning slowly arrived and the streets were still empty. Maybe because no person will come out this early, or maybe because it's not quite safe on the streets. The real reason was unknown.
They arrived at Lankershim Boulevard and they sought out the number of the house. Elena made an approval sound and stopped the car. The house they stood in front of was a modest and cheap looking house. But just big enough to have a family in it of at least six people.
"Nice, uuhm home!" Richard said as he walked out of the car and looked at the home.
"It's never been my home. My parents moved here after I moved out at theirs!" she smiled gave him a slap on his back and walked to the front door. Raylan also came out of the car and looked around the street next to Bridget, Piers and Isabela. It was dead silent, except the footsteps taken by his very companions and the slight cold wind that was caressing against Raylan's face. What was noticeable, is that almost ninety percent of the houses in the street seemed like empty, and left in hurry. Some doors were still open and tire prints were seen over a few yards.
A faint door bell and knocking was heard, when Elena was at the door. It took a little wile for it to open and what they saw first was a gun sticking out of the little opening the door made.
"Wooo, dad wait it's me!" Elena said while she raised her hand and lowered the gun from her father's hands. His eyes were opening wide and his mouth fell open a bit.
"Elena?" he said, when his expression turned over to a relief and happy face. He put the gun on safety and hugged his little girl and they both smiled and chuckled.
"It's so good to see you again!" she said and her father agreed.
"Come in! Come in! I see you've brought some friends." He said making a gesture for them to come into the house. Elena stood next to her father and the rest joined in the little hallway passage, when a elderly woman looked down from above the stairs.
"Elena is that you? Thank God you're all right," they hugged as well, and the woman then looked over towards the rest of the group. "And who are these guests Walter?" she asked towards the elderly man and he smiled looking over to Elena who chuckled.
"Yeh, I uuhm... should introduce them," she was forming them all up in a nice line and walked over towards Piers first.
"This, is a military man called Piers Nivans!"
"Nice to meet you ma'am, sir."
The parents made a smile and shook his hand while Elena already went on. She saved Richard for last, and when she arrived the taxi driver seemed like he ate a plate full of peppers.
"And this mum and dad, is Richard Alpert. My boyfriend."
Richard had his lips tight shut and made a faint smile and nodded slightly. His face getting more and more red by the second.
"Ah, what a nice gentleman!" Elena's mother said and she walked up on Richard giving him a hug instead of a hand and Walter gave him a firmly gripped hand.
"Nice to meet you, Richard," he said and he turned over to his wife. "Well Emily, turns out our lovely daughter does have good taste!"
and the rest of the group chuckled. Leaving Richard as red as he could ever be.
"We've got some drinks and bites down in the kitchen!" Emily said and the group moved over to the little kitchen.
However, Richard still stood in the hallway blowing off the pressure and Raylan noticed.
"Don't worry you did good," and he smiled, receiving a nervous smile back. "Just keep calm and-"
"Hey you two wants some biscuits?" Emily's voice echoed through the hallway.
The duo walked over to the kitchen and Elena already seemed to get ready to get to the point they were really here.
Her father's private "armoury"

"Richard? Richard?" Elena's voice echoed through the kitchen and Richard's stare was just vaguely aimed towards a tap where small drops of water where dropping from. "Richard are you there?" a vague hand waved through his view and Richard shook his head and the rest of the group was talking to each other while Elena next to him just chuckled and gave him a small kiss on the cheek to give back his full awareness. Richard's head became red as ever again as he glanced over if Elena's parents saw it, but they where just in a heavy discussion with the others about how the rest of the world was gone to hell. He then smiles towards Elena, who smiled back and they both got their attention back to the ongoing discussion.
"But how did you survive all that? It seems so unreal, the things you have been through." Walter said, when he gave the last cups of coffee and the biscuits to Raylan and Miles.
“Luck and skills…” Raylan said after a quick gulp of coffee and he put the cup back on the table.
“Luck hu?” Rubi said after she emptied her bottle of beer she requested and made a loud burp, receiving an angry glance over from Elena’s parents. She then raised her hands and made an innocent face as she put the chair she sat on back on four legs again. “Excuse me.” She then continued with a very innocent voice, the rest of the group never heard before.
“I guess we did experience some luck and we indeed survived with skill.” Piers said. “Even with my experience I’ve had before, we had some luck. I think everyone needs it time to time.”

Richard noticed that Elena made a few nervous gestures with her hands hinting she wanted to ask or say something.
“uhm… Dad?” Elena asked when the normal attitude where Richard was so used to, suddenly disappeared. Her father immediately reacted looking over towards his daughter.
“What is it, darling?” he said, bending over towards her and the group also had its attention over towards Elena.
“Dad, I, uuuh… No, we uuuh.” She started with doubt and Richard touched her leg underneath the table, hoping he would give her some comfort with it. “Let me get straight to the point.” She then began instantly. “We need your weapons.” Tension rose as the rest just went completely mute and the only thing you could still hear was Rubi tapping against her empty beer bottle.
“Elena, what in the world are you going to do with all that stuff?” her father said in a full concerned voice.
“We need this as our ‘base’.” Raylan continued as the rest put his attention on him. “We’re going to try and take these zombie bastards out maybe get a cure out who knows…” Elena’s parents looked at him with disbelief, then towards the rest of the group.
“You’re insane!” Walter said, before Elena’s mother could answer and he slammed his hand on the table. “You are not going to risk your life on some suicide mission!” he raised his voice, while he pointed his finger towards Elena.
“But dad-“ Elena began but he scooted out of the room.
“Elena, dear.” Emily started while she gently put her cup back on the table. “Don’t worry, I think your father is just a bit concerned.” Elena nodded in silence and made a sad face while the rest didn’t move much because of the sudden tension.

Heavy footsteps where heard in the hallway as the man returned from his raging patrol.
“Elena, if you do this. What do you even accomplish with it!?” he then asked back in his normal concerned voice. “You know saving the world.” It wasn’t Elena who answered, but Rubi.
“Saving the world… Yeh right.” The man answered.
“Walter, please.” Emily said in a warning tone. “Give them a chance. They at least look like they can handle themselves! Piers and Isabela are military just like you where! They are experts in these kind of situations.”
“Emily I know but-“ Walter started but Emily continued.
“And Raylan, he’s a marshal for dam’s sake! He knows how to shoot a gun! And so does Miles! He told us he was an ex militarist just like you!” Raylan felt flattered and Richard saw him grinning and stroking his holster for a second, while Miles just frowned and looked over towards the complimenting woman.
“But Emily I-“
“And furthermore She has these guardian angels with her, Bridget and Rubi.” Emily said with a smile and her eyes started to tear up.
“My dear… I know but-“
“And lastly.” Emily continued in a normal tone, “She has a wonderful and handsome boyfriend at her side who, for I am sure, will protect her at any costs.”
Richard saw a small tear coming from Emily’s eyes and Walter felt speechless as Elena slowly looked over to the group and each and everyone smiled back.
“Emily, like I said, I know.” Walter continued, as the tension was totally gone in the kitchen. “But that wasn’t the point I was aiming at.” He said, breathing heavily all of a sudden.
“I was going to demand that I went with them.”

DAY V

One after another the mutations perished. More and more zombies were killed in the streets. The BSAA helped out, so did the military and so did volunteers. Everyone who owned a gun or everyone who wanted to make a change signed up in what they called their HQ of zombie extinction.
They travelled through the states, armored to their teeth. They had enough vehicles, weaponry, protection and most importantly they had enough participants to take out an entire country - which is exactly what they were up to.

DAY X

A few weeks had passed. Europe was lost and the government decided to bomb the entire continent. The infection just started hitting most parts of East Asia. Half of the west coast was still intact. The accessible cities and regions decreased every single day. Australia was gone.

DAY XXV

They lost Piers, Miles and Emily, who had been convinced to help out after she had seen her daughter and husband fight the monsters. The BSAA resolved in most parts of the United States. News of countless African BSAA members commiting suicide are spread around the world. The continent is the only one that is still an active warzone against bioterrorism. The friends are still committed to their journey.

DAY LX

The US president was murdered by one of the many extremist groups. Europe has been bombed. The infection reached the Japanese east coast. The civil war in South America stopped due to the increasing infected areas. Canada is one of the last resorts for civilians on the American continent.

DAY C

Elena was bitten. Richard and Raylan died in a car accident before Isabela committed suicide. The rest of the group travelled to Canada and joined a military resistance group against the new government.

DAY CCXII

Bridget, a converted oppositionist had to eliminate her old friend Rubi who became the leader of said Canadian militia, only to be killed in a counter attack.

DAY CCCII

Piero Joplin, one of the last researchers against the viral infection and a member of a ridiculed organization that sought to cure the world from the virus called "The New World", commited suicide. His farewell note later became famous for only including the words "Look for the light - look for the Outsider" and soon turned into a sign of hope for many religious and political groups.

Bridget barely just regained consciousness when she found herself halfway drowning in the ocean. A giant burning island and the reflections of fire in the water confused her for a few seconds before she realized where exactly she was. Some things from the factory were floating past her but none of her friends. She clinged to a piece of metal she could grab and tried to climb onto it. She saw what was left of the cave they had used to get into the facility. Giant rocks were still falling from the ceiling and the walls were falling apart.

"Bridget!" she heard somebody yell behind her and she immediatly turned around after she had managed to get onto the piece of metal scrap. It was Rubi, paddling for her life like a dog that fell into a bathtub. "Get me outta here!" she demanded.

"I'm on it!" said the blonde and used her vehicle to paddle towards her friend.

"Yeah, you're cleary on something" Rubi yelled.

"Jesus! Stop yelling at me! I'm trying my best!" said Bridget and grabbed the assassin's arm. "There you go."

"About time! I've been out here for like forever!" Rubi complained while climbing onto the makeshift raft.

"Did you see one of the others?" Bridget asked as she kept paddling towards the blown up facility. Smoke and gasses from the explosion were spreading everywhere and made it hard to see anything at all. The farer they got the more of the island was starting to get visible.

"Excuse me, maybe I could've looked for them if I weren't busy drowning in the ocean" Rubi hissed and wringed out her hair, looking for the others in the water.

"What is it with you? Didn't you learn how to swim?" asked Bridget and grabbed another wedge of metal, a rather big pipe that was floating by. She tried to use it for paddling but it wasn't very effective.

"Here," Rubi said and handed her a broader piece of scrap she had fished out of the water. "And yes, I know how to swim. It's just that I didn't have control of my body after I woke up."

"Now that you mention that..." Bridget remembered the second she regained consciousness and how she couldn't exactly move her arms and legs either.

"Help!" another voice cried from the distance and the two women recognized an arm waving in the distance.

A yelling was heard of a woman, he recognised it as Elena, but where were the rest?  He tried to swim over the arms that were waving and while he tried to get closer, he saw it was Elena trying to hold an unconscious Richard.
"HELP!" She pleaded, and looked relieved when she saw Raylan swimming towards her. While Raylan grabbed another arm of Richard, he saw two familiar women paddling on a scrap of metal.
"Hey!" He then yelled on and waved, as Bridget and Rubi paddled over like crazy to get towards them.
"You guys okay!?" Bridget said with concern in her voice as a panicked Elena tried to push Richard on the scrap.
"Help him first! He's not breathing!" she explained trying to climb up the metal scrap herself but glided off as she tried. The Marshal helped her up and she went to give the unconscious and probably dying taxi driver, CPR. "Don't die on me now you bastard!" she yelled after she gave the first mouth to mouth resuscitation. No response and Raylan got worried. How long have they been in this state? Elena kept going and repeating the same routine again but still no response was given. Bridget grasped for Rubi's hand in shock and for comfort while Elena kept pleading and trying it over and over again. Raylan didn't want to say it but he thought one of his best friends was done for, until...
Elena slammed one more time on his chest while Richard suddenly gasped for air and made the whole platform wobble and made Rubi fell off, whom started to wave her arms around again like a crazy lunatic. Raylan helped her regain balance and she mumbled a slight 'thank you.'
"What happened?" Richard asked after coughing a few times and looking over towards the burning horizon where the island was.
"I remember cyborgs and weird creature things..." Bridget said after pulling Rubi and Raylan on the platform again, which started to sink slightly cause of the weight, but it kept afloat, luckily.
"Cyborgs... yes..." the taxi driver barely said after massaging hos throat. Elena cried tears of joy when without hesitation she grabbed Richard's face and gave him a passionate kiss.
"Uh hum..." Rubi said and rolled her eyes while Bridget smiled and Raylan looked over the water, looking if there was a hat shaped thing floating around in the waters.
"Dammit..." he mumbled. Once again he had lost his precious hat...
"We should get to land, or else we starve or dry out... Or maybe get sun burns!" Bridget explained and the rest agreed. But the closest land was the island, the rest of the horison was just.... water and the sky...
"This wont be an easy choice..." Rubi said. "We either head back to that shithole and salvage some stuff to make it back to land faster, or we could paddle who knows for days and then kill each other and eat ourselves."
"Funny..." Elena said and she already grabbed a piece of shrapnel and started to paddle towards the island, "The salvage part sounds more useful..." she then claimed.
After everyone had found a useful piece to paddle with, they all returned back to find a safe haven on the half exploded island.

The minute they touched land, Rubi jumped off the little raft and onto the sandy beach to let herself drop and hug the ground.
The others shook their heads in amusement and a bit of bewilderment and followed their crazy friend; just as released to be off that untrustworthy piece of wood.

Nobody had to say anything, they all just sat down in a circle and looked at each other in silence.
They all knew. They all nodded.

"We all had the same dream, didn't we?" Elena asked quietly.

"So it never happened, all the shit we went through was just a dream?" Rubi commented, getting a little grumpy again.
Bridget moved closer to her so their knees touched and Rubi smiled a little.

"But then, why did we all have the same exact dream?!" Richard asked passionately. He wanted this solved. They all did.

"Well, do we know if we actually all had the same dream?" Rubi asked further.

"Zombies, mutants, viruses, screaming, yelling, death, destruction, violence - "

"Alright, so we all had the same dream," Rubi interrupted her friend and lover.
"But what now?"

Nobody had an answer to that.

They looked around. They were still on the same island. Rubi wondered if Jade was somewhere around here, and whether or not the village was close. Maybe they could go look for that. Or maybe it was all burned down. They had yet to discover the outcome of the explosion. It didn't seem to have reached this part of the island. But what if there were more cyborgs left? What if they had another underground facility somewhere?
Rubi shook her head. She was just being paranoid now.

"Do you guys remember ehm ... this weird talk about this weird person that supposedly controls the universe?" Raylan asked, interrupting Rubi's thoughts.

"The Outsider?"

"Right! That one ... or .. whatever he or it is. Who can say. Anyways, but you guys remember, right?"

"Sure, but what does the talk of some madman have to do with us? And the fact that is was all just a dream?" Rubi pointed out.

"Well, was it?"

"Was it what?"

"A dream, duh!"

"An excellent question."
They all jumped to their feet and stared at the strange guy who had appeared in front of them.
He was dressed in a casual, dark suit. He had his arms crossed before his chest and his pitch black eyes were glaring at them with amusement.
His face was sharp and handsome, with short, black hair. There was an aura about this man. Something dark and unknown, something not trustworthy.
Swirls of black smoke and energy seemed to always float around him.
He smiled the slightest.

"I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? Well, I am the one they call The Outsider and you will do well to remember that. You people are remarkable and most interesting. I've been watching and observing you for quite some time now and I must say I am impressed. All of you so different and yet the same. And yet, you are together, you stay together. And what for? To save a hopeless world? How heroic," he grinned again.

Rubi clenched her fists before she pulled her Katana and pointed it at him.
"Who the fuck are you really? And stop the big talk, just tell us who you are and what you want. And how did you sneak up on us like that?"

He chuckled.
Bridget clenched her fists as well.
"Oh, dear Rubi. Always so ready to charge at anything. You think you are so strong, so smart and better than everyone. You think you don't need anyone and yet you need more than any of your friends. You hide your fear and pain behind harsh words and violence, when really all you want is to be needed and accepted,"

"Oh shut the fuck up!" Rubi snapped and curled her lips in an angry sneer.
She felt Elena behind her, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. Richard stepped up, too, holding Elena's hand and glaring at the man who claimed to be the so called Outsider.
Raylan stood next to him, just observing quietly, but ready to act shall it come to a fight.

"Raylan, I am surprised. Aren't you the gentle one?" the Outsider now spoke, turning to him.
Raylan didn't answer and the Outsider just chuckled again.

"But it doesn't matter. I have brought you back here because I am interested. You have successfully stopped the cyborgs and saved this place. Now, the dream was not really a dream, while it also was. It was a vision. A vision I gave the five of you to see what would happen shall you fail. A vision of what is to come if no one stops the evil in this world and universe entirely," he stopped, still looking at each one of them.
They remained silent.

"But you, you five might just be capable of doing this. However, I have taken up enough of your time, I am sure," and with that, he vanished. Just like that.

The friends were silent and slowly looked at each other.
"What the fuck ..." Rubi mumbled and shook her head.
"Now we meet ... ghost men or ... whatever the fuck he was. And how is all the crap he said supposed to help us?"

"Well, at least now there's no more question to whether or not it was a dream or if he's real or not," Richard pointed out and shrugged.

"I don't know," Elena sighed.

"Let's see if we can get to the village," Raylan suggested and the others nodded.
What else was there to do?