Chapter 1

Too much time had gone by. Way too much time.

Tinker bell looked out the window of the lost boys hideout, frowning. Where was Peter Pan? She'd been waiting for him to return to Neverland for what seemed like forever now. He would usually come back quickly. Had he gotten distracted with that girl Wendy? Maybe that was it. He'd decided to stay with that girl and grow up.

No! That made no sense. No way would he suddenly change his mind about growing up just because of some girl.

But what happened then?

The fairy decided to find out for herself.

Pushing the window open with a shove, she flew out of the hideout and into the air, taking off into the sky and toward the real world. It was time to find Peter and bring him home where he belonged.

A terrible surprise met Tinker bell when she arrived in the real world. As the clouds cleared from her eyes she found herself staring down at a vast wasteland.

Below she could make out ruined buildings and a barren landscape. As far as she could see from this height there was nothing green growing, as if it all had died, only dust colored ground and crumbling heaps that were once pristine homes and businesses.

Unable to believe what she was seeing, the fairy lowered herself and hovered only a few feet above the city of London. As she drew near, the carnage intensified. Now she could see the damaged buildings more clearly and was appaled at how bad it all looked. Ruined houses, dead trees, bricks and mortar strewn across the ground and even wrecked cars, some of them had smashed into trees as if their drivers had lost control. This was not how she remembered the world. It looked alien, as if she'd stepped onto a different planet.

That was impossible, this had to be the right world, but if so, what had happened to it? More importantly, where was Peter and had gotten away before any of this had happened?

Tinker bell zipped down the street that she hoped the house of the Darling family was located on. She had to get to the place and see if anyone was there. Hopefully nothing had happened to Peter.

But first she had to find the Darling's house and she knew this wouldn't be easy. She flew down another street and eventually came upon the house, or what was left of it.

Tinker bell stopped herself and stared at the house, allowing herself to let it sink in and realize what she was seeing wasn't an illusion.

The house was a ruin. The windows had been broken out and part of the roof had fallen in as if soemthing heavy had landed on it from above. The window that led into the Darling children's nursery room was completely gone, with nothing but a gaping hole in its place.

The nursery was blown out?!

Tinker bell flew quickly up to the blown out window and floated inside, only to come across a terrible horror when she caught sight of the interior.

Bodies.

Bodies lay strewn all over the nursery. She could make out Wendy's two brothers from where she was and her parents too, as if the family had gone into the room to hide. They all looked like they'd been caught up in the blast, their bodies partly covered by debris.

They were dead all right. If they were dead what about Peter?

Wanting desperately to know she flew into the hole in the wall and looked around herself, taking in the ruined bedroom. She didn't see Wendy or Peter among the bodies though so they might have left the room. Where would they go?

Flying?

That sounded like something Peter and Wendy would do. They had to have gone off flying, it was nearly a habit when them. They'd even done that a lot in Neverland. But where?

Big Ben?

That might be it, that had to be it, the alternative was way too painful to think about. But just as she turned to fly out of the Darling's nursery, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. When she turned to see what it was she froze, an icy terror going through her body.

An oddly shaped shadow was moving down the street just outside the house. Its top was an odd rounded shape and was joined by the sound of metal scraping against metal. Obviously it wasn't Peter, but what was it? A second later her questioned was answered when a large tripedaled machine came lumbering into view. It was dark gray and had a large round red eye in the center of it that shone like a search light. It paused a moment and moved it's "head" and eye around as if it were searching for something.

She gasped then covered her mouth, realizing that might be a bad idea. That machine looked dangerous it might go after her for all she knew and it might even have the ability to pick up sounds. She sure hoped not.

It would be a good idea to get out of there just to be on the safe side.

With that in mind, she turned away and began to fly further into the house, out of view of the metal monster. With the machine guarding the hole there wasn't any way she could get out that way without being seen, which she kenw would be a bad idea. No way that thing was friendly, it looked nasty.

But the machine seemed to have some sort of motion sensor inside it and it's dome head instantly swivilled in her direction. Before she knew what was happening the machine was firing bullets at her. She shrieked and flew off into the house to get away from its folly of bullets.

The pixy flew into the hallway to put a wall between herself and the fire power and down it to the stairs. They seemed to be the safest place in building, at least for now. The machine didn't look like it was built to get inside the building anyway which was a good thing.

Or so she thought.

Suddenly the house started to shake as if an earthquake had suddenly started. Whatever was left on the shelves and walls crashed to the floor all around her in a loud and dirty mess. The fairy pressed herself hard against the wall, hoping nothing fell on top of her on its way to the floor. This went on for what seemed like hours before it stopped.

Tinker bell listened for a moment, expecting her ears to pick up sounds of movement, but heard nothing. She sighed in relief. It was gone, or at least that's what she told herself. She started to fly slowly away from the wall but just as she did so it collapsed inward and she had to zip quickly keep from being crushed by it.

The room filled with dust as bits and pieces of the wall and the insalation crashed around her. She coughed briefly before hearing the sound of metal again. Turning her head, she spotted a round red light coming toward her and as the dust settled, it revealed the walking machine that she'd seen before... or was in another one?

The fairy didn't have long to think about this before the machine began to fire at her and she had to fly quickly away to keep from getting hit. She zipped off into another room, the kitchen, and saw the glass broken out of the window. Spotting a way of escape she flew toward it.

Just as she reached the window a large red light appeared in the broken glass and she had to try her best not to fly into it but it was hard to stop and she had to grab onto the glass that remained in the window frame to avoid flying straight into it. It stopped her but her hands got cut by the sharp edges and started to bleed even as she held on tightly to the slippery shards.

Now Tinker bell was hanging right in front of that big, red eye which was staring emotionlessly back at her. Tinker bell's eyes widened in terror as the machine took in her tiny figure a moment before that noise started again and then the glass she was holding onto exploded as the bullet from the robot's gun hit it.

She shrieked as she fell with the broken glass, spinning crazilly as she plummeted. She seemed to fall for an eternity before hitting the hard ground which was followed by a loud snapping sound and a seering pain in her back.

Her wings had broken!

She didn't have that long to think about it because the red eye turned its focus back onto her. Without hesitation she scrambled to her feet and took off running unable to fly. She could hear the machine firing at her as she ran but didn't look over her shoulder. She had to focus on what was ahead so she wouldn't fall over something.

She hadn't gotten far when another machine appeared around the side of the house and stood in her path, its large red eye falling on her tiny figure. The fairy froze in her tracks, her eyes lifting up to stare at the monster of death. There was more than one?!

That machine shot at her too so forcing her to turn in the opposite direction only to be confronted by the first machine which now stood over her. She looked from one to the other, realizing she was trapped. What was she going to do now? She couldn't fly and the machines were blocking her escape. Any minute now they'd start shooting and she had no way out of this.

Then, just as it seemed that she was going to become a dead fairy, a loud noise, that sounded something like an air raid siren, distracted the machines and gave her the chance she'd been praying for. The machines instantly fired at her when she took off, because her movements were caught in their built in motion sensors. She let out a scream as she ran, picking up speed and dashing across the street to another building.

The house across the street had a basement window broken out below the front porch steps. She made a beeline for that and dived inside without a look back. The fairy crashed into some boxes set up just inside the window then she and the boxes crashed to the cold cement floor.

Coughing, she fought her way out of the mess of boxes and dust to fresh air only to freeze when she heard that metallic noise again. Looking up she could see that red light looking into the basement. She held still, hoping the two robots wouldn't see her or shoot at her if they saw her inside. For a moment it seemed the machines would not go away but eventually both of the lights vanished from the window and she could hear the duo walking away.

Tinker bell sighed in relief once the metal monsters were no longer in sight and slipped out of the box, wincing when the pain from her broken wings came screaming back to her. Now that she wasn't distracted the outcome of her misadventure came shooting to her body.

Wincing she looked over her shoulder, noticing the wings hanging limply against her back. She reached back to touch them but thought better of it. They were broken and unmoving, she didn't have to add more pain to this to confirm it.

Slowly the fairy got to her feet, wincing as her broken wings screamed at her for doing so, and looked around. She was in a cold, dark basement. Boxes and broken preserves littered the floor around her, creating sticky puddles on the gray stone floor. At the other end of the room were stairs which led up to the kitchen. She was going to have to climb them to get out of there but first she had to wait until she was sure it was safe to leave. If her wings hadn't been damaged she could have done this easily...

For now she would wait until she was absolutely sure the machines were gone before she did anything else. Just because she couldn't see or hear them at the moment didn't mean they had found something else to do. It could be hours until she was absolutely sure so she sat down on the musty floor and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them and sighing.

She just hoped they would not take their time.

The machines were still active, 7 thought to herself as she watched the metal monsters off in the distance wander aimlessly through the ruined city. 1 had been wrong after all, just as she'd expected.

But she couldn't exactly blame 1 for holding on to that belief. He'd been hoping it was true. The sounds of chaos and violence had grown softer over the past few weeks as the battle moved further away. That must have given him a FALSE hope which spurred 7 on to prove him wrong. She didn't know why she always felt obligated to do such things but it was becoming a defining part of her personality, even if 2 had scolded her about it before.

Speaking of 2...

The female stitchpunk tilted her head downward, looking toward the street where the old inventor was puttering around, collecting odd things to add to his collection. He seemed to be perfectly content and didn't seem the least bit concerned about what might be waiting around the corner.

Not that he couldn't take care of himself if he had to. 2 had his own weapon and was perfectly capable of warding off any threats. He'd actually been the one to teach her how to be a competent fighter and she was grateful for the training, though she had to chuckle every time she thought about how kind, caring, peaceful 2 was anything but a pushover. If only he used some of that fighting spirit when he confronted 1 about things...

If only.

"7, do you see anything?" 2 called up to her.

"I saw a few near the outside of the city!" she called back to him. "but that doesn't mean there aren't any still wandering the streets. Not all of the machines were as large as those walkers. The smaller ones could still be here."

"Yes, you're right," he agreed sadly. "but I think it would be easier to spot them from down here. They can hide too easily and looking at the city from above wouldn't do make it much better."

7 knew he was right and she slowly climbed down from her perch, joining him back by the roller skate he'd converted into a wagon to hold the items he found. "Maybe they, like the larger ones, all left," she told him. "like 1 said."

"That could be it," 2 nodded. "or like you said they're just hiding in the holes and crevices all over the city,waiting for something living to enter their territory so they can kill it."

7 frowned. "I don't think anyone living would be foolish enough to come back here after all that's happened."

"You never know..." he looked at the empty streets. "But if anything is left we should try to help them."

"But how?" she wanted to know. "We're small and they might mistake us for machines. What could we do to help humans?"

2 smiled. "We can start by seeing if there are any left." he put his hand on her arm. "Come. We have a lot to do before we must head back."

7 nodded with agreement. "Good idea." she placed one hand on 2's shoulder. "Stay close."

He chuckled. "Don't worry, 7, he told her. "I'll be just fine."

"I know you will," she replied. "I don't question that at all."

A few hours later she jolted awake, feeling a sudden urgency in her chest. She looked around a moment, trying to get her bearings. When she remembered where she was and why she was there she tensed, her eyes trailing up to the window she'd com,e through.

By then it was dark out and extremely quiet,. She couldn't even hear any crickets chirping.

Well now wasn't the time to think about that. She had to move and move quickly.

So without another thought she pressed ahead and crossed the basement, doing her best to keep from stepping on broken glass and ruined preserves.

The blond fairy managed to avoid stepping in the juices by being extremely careful. She nearly lost her footing a few times trying not to step in the gunk but eventually reached the stairs without incident. Once she got there she paused to catch her breath.

She would need all her strength to climb those stairs...

This was going to be a long night and she was not looking forward to it at all.

Darn it.

Pushing that out of her mind, she placed her hands on the bottom step and pushed herself up onto it, slowly pulling her body upward and onto the rough wood of the staircase. Once she got on the step she flopped over, panting. Just climbing up one of them had taken a lot out of her.

This going to take longer than she expected.

Sitting up she lifted her head locking her dark blue eyes on the door far above her head. From this position it looked even further away than it had from the floor. Staring up at it for too long made her feel dizzy and she had to lower her head so her vision would steady.

This wasn't going to be fun at all. How she wished her wings hadn't been broken! But she had to do it. It was either that or stay down in this dirty hole for the rest of her life and that wasn't going to work! She hadn't even found Peter yet!

She slowly stood up and faced the next stair. Best to keep going than to sit there and pout. She'd never get anything done that way. She grabbed the next step and continued her long and boring climb.

"These houses all seem empty," 7 observed as the two stitchpunks walked down the ruined streets. "I don't think anyone is left, 2."

"Hmm..." the older stitchpunk looked around, spotting bodies laying prone here and there. They looked like they'd been there for awhile "If anyone were here is seems they either fled or died..."

She nodded with resignation. He was right and it made her feel a little sad. She also looked at the bodies, beginning to feel a sense of depression rising inside her chest. The machines seemed to have been dispatched for the sole purpose of destroying any form of organic life, especially the gas the machines had ejected.

7 looked at a tree that had once been green with life. Had it only been a few months ago? It was now nothing more than a bare skeleton, its leaves scattered, brown and crumbling, on the ground.

If only things could have been different...

A noise jarred her out of her thoughts. She jumped, startled by the sound and looked around herself quickly. What was that?

2 obviously heard it too because he asked. "Did you hear that, 7?"

She confirmed it with a nod. Indeed she had. "It sounds like we're about to have trouble," she replied, gripping her spear.

2 nodded with confirmation, picking up his lance from the wagon and standing beside her. "Keep an eye out," he warned her."We don't know what it could be."

She nodded, her optics already scanning the piles of garbage from ruined buildings for any sign of trouble. It seemed quiet and peaceful but something told her trouble was waiting just around the corner...

Tinker bell let out a tired gasp as she hauled herself onto the third to last basaement stair and flopped onto her side with a sigh. Almost there, she told herself in relief. Only a few more steps to go. For now though she would let herself rest because she hadn't done so since she's climbed the first step which seemed like hours ago.

Actually it was hours ago. The sky outside the basement window was beginning to brighten with the dawn sunlight.

Suddenly she heard a strange sound come from above. The fairy sat up with a start and looked up at the partly opened basement door. What was that? Where had it come from-

There it was again!

Some skittering sound. It sounded like it was coming from inside the kitchen. She frowned. What was that? Curiosity overtook her and she got up and grabbed the next step to haul her up. As she did she heard the sound again and this time it was much closer. Pausing, she listened again.

Yes, it was indeed closer and now she could pick up what sounded like metal tapping wood. Fear started creeping back into her chest as the realization hit her that whatever was moving around up there might be another one of those metal monsters she'd encountered earlier.

Great, just great.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to the stairs and see her, but she could take any chances. The problem was how was she going to prevent that thing from seeing her? She was exposed and had no real way of avoiding being seen unless she went back down the stairs into the basement and no way was she willing to do such a thing after she'd spent so many hours climbing these blasted things to get where she was! Her only real option was to stay completely still and hope it wouldn't come any closer.

So she waited, her eyes completely focused on the door as she listened to the sounds of the machine skittering across the kitchen floor. It seemed to be getting closer and she was starting to feel panic rising inside her. If it saw her and attacked she'd have no way of escaping!

7 glanced over at 2 briefly and, receiving a nod from him, moved forward cautiously. Her senses were on alert and ready for any trouble they might come across. She could hear 2 moving behind her and knew he would watch her back and make sure nothing sneaked up on them.

"Where do you think it's hiding?" she whispered to him.

"I don't know," he responded in the same quiet voice. "It could be anywhere."

"Well it can't be too far away," she replied. "If it was we wouldn't be able to hear it moving around."

"Not exactly," he corrected her quietly. "It's so quiet here that any sound that is too loud will echo off all the buildings. That creature could be pretty far away but we can't be too careful."

She nodded in agreement and looked around once more. "Do you think it might be inside one of these houses?" she questioned him.

"It might," he agreed. "I think it would be wise to make sure."

"Good idea."

2 pointed to a house across the street from where they stood. "Let's start there."

The skittering had moved to right on the other side of the basement half open door now which made Tinker bell begin to feel even more nervous. It was close, too close, and she wished it would just move away or even leave. Yeah, it should leave and find some other place to walk around in.

But she didn't really have much confidence it would, only a tiny hope that grew smaller the longer that thing lingered near that door and the staircase where she sat.

Go away, go away, she thought, trying to force her own will on the creature. Just go away and find some other place to explore or whatever it is you do. Just don't come through that door!

But it seemed the machine wanted to do the opposite of what she wanted and she heard it creeping even closer to the basement door.

"No," she hissed under her breath. "Go away, go away. go go go go."

But it didn't go. It skittered to the door then paused briefly before it started to slowly push the door open the rest of the way. She sat there, frozen to the step as the door slowly slid open.

Then it stopped and a little machien that looked like an insect skittered onto the landing but stopped when it caught sight of her. For a moment they stared at each other then it let out an unearthly shriek and leaped at her.

2 and 7, who were heading to the aforementioned house, heard the scream and stopped in their tracks.

"What was that?" she asked, looking at the old inventor.

The older stitchpunk gripped his lance. "It sounds like there is some life left in this city after all," he responded. "and it's in trouble." He took off running. "Come on, 7!"