I yawned as I poured my coffee. Hazelnut. One of my favorites. As I turned to glance out the window I brushed a long strand of pink hair out of my face. It was raining pretty bad outside. This meant work would not be pleasant. I took a seat at my dining room table & picked up the newspaper. The weather section said a severe thunderstorm was on the way with rolling blackouts. I frowned deeply. This was going to interfere with Morrowind later. I glanced at the clock before stuffing toast with orange marmalade into my mouth. I had roughly fifteen minutes to finish my coffee & toast before I needed to get ready for work. I poured more coffee into my cup & headed into my room.

I lived in a small one story home. It had a kitchen that bled into a dining room, a living room, two bedrooms, & two bathrooms. Not bad for a 23 year old working in a grocery store in 2004. One my Kroger uniform was on I sighed. I really needed to find a better job than the one I have now. I grabbed my bag & coffee before locking the front door. I hopped into my grey beat up 1995 pickup truck. I got it from my dad. A southern fellow from Texas. The drive to Kroger felt like it took forever. Everyone was mousing down the road from all the rain. As I pulled into the employee section of the parking lot I took one last sip of my coffee. My work day was spent moping the floors & stocking shelves.

I finished work around seven. The sky was dark & angry. Lightning splintered around in the heavy black clouds. I drove five under the speed limit not wanting to take any chances. As I pulled into my driveway lightning struck about a block away. I turned briefly before darting inside my house. I slipped my shoes off & set them by the door "I need a shower. Then Food!" I began to undress as I headed to my bathroom. I turned the water on & left to get clothes & a towel. I smiled as I stepped into the shower. The hot water felt good on my skin. I groaned as the lights went out. Right in the middle of my shower too! I turned to get out of the shower for a flashlight. As I tried to take a step forward I hit something "Oof!" This thing smelled like sweat & dirt. It was wet & cold. The foreign sound of breathing attacked my ears. The lights flickered back on & my eyes were met with red. Lots of red. The stranger looked around dumbfounded "WHAT!? Where am I maggot!? Whow did I get here?!"

In the midst of his ranting I screamed loudly. I backed out of the shower & fell on my butt grabbing my towel "There is a man in my shower!" He stepped out of my shower & I finally got a good look at him. I couldn't really see his face. He wore an over sized helmet. He had on a long red jacket with two yellow markings on his shoulders. The sleeves were long & gathered at the wrist with stretchy material. Under the jacket was some sort of white shirt. He had on a belt & a strap. The strap had two orange & black grenades. It hung over his right arm & under his left arm. His belt hung around his waist holding his jacket in place. It had three pouches. One on each side & one in the back. He had on a pair of reddish brown pants tucked tightly into combat boots. I stood up slowly "How did you get in here?"

The man looked up for a second "I-I don't know." His head whipped in my direction "I could ask you the same thing girlie!" I frowned "I live here!" His hands shot up & he spun in a circle looking around "Wait. This isn't sawmill." I quickly threw on some clothes. This guy was weird "Ok... What's the last thing you remember?" He sat down on the edge of my tub & I sat next to him turning off the shower. He looked down at his hands "I was using Engi's new teleporter when lightning struck. There was a bad storm. Nothing a soldier like me can't handle!" He beat his chest with his left hand & grinned "Everything was bright white light. Then everything went black. That's when you ran into me." I nodded slowly "Let's, uh, go into the kitchen..." I glanced at his wet clothes "But first lets get you out of those wet clothes."