As John ran faster each step, his breath was being clumped together into little clouds as the air exited his mouth, curling off of his cold lips that seriously needed to be warmed up. Hurrying, he checked his phone for the time. The world seemed to fly by him, but he just wanted to be happy again. He just wanted to smile once more, just one more time, even if it killed him. Sprinting still until time runs out, he searched for one by the name of "Dave Strider". The sound of his footsteps slapping against the concrete of the roads bounced off building of abandoned street to building, echoing throughout the dead atmosphere silently.

The houses were abandoned; the streets were stripped of their liveliness. The burn marks on the streets meant nothing but pain; the blood-stained trees were merely another sight to not bother seeing; around John's house, this was normal due to the incident called the "apocalypse", which it really isn't. There are still people on this planet, not many, but there still is!

John continued sprinting, tripping over his own feet. The frail thing called "time" was running out, and then the world everyone once knew would be gone. If those trolls hadn't taken over the Earth, then possible mankind could still be thriving and dancing through the rough times like they always have done. The past was over, and it no longer existed. Nobody else really existed on this planet anymore, and the young John Egbert was only hoping that Dave Strider, a friend, was still alive. Most of the trolls killed the humans, or went ahead and kidnapped them. The few humans left were already in the middle of being done for, killed, kidnapped, who knows what. Then there are those few people that could make it in this cruel world. Those people would be trustworthy, hardworking humans that would be able to live. These few people lived by the names of John Egbert, Rose Lalonde, and Jade Harley.

All of these people are working for the same cause: Finding a way to get off Earth, and find their friend who lived by the name of Dave Strider. John, being the one who was close with Dave as a friend, won't let hope go until he finds his friend and wins against the trolls. He'll dance with desire and fight misery and sorrow until this goal is achieved. His hair color is black, and shoots out in some parts. His heart his set on the goals he makes, and if he has no goal, then he can rest and shrug it off.

Rose is sort of the same. She works to achieve her desires and goals. Her hair is short, and curls at the end, causing it to cling to her cheeks. She wears a headband often, as well. Her cheeks were blushed to perfection naturally, and her lips were tinted with a darker shade, but not too dark, kind of like a tone between grey and orchid. Rose, like John, works to achieve what to she wants do and what others want. She makes the changes she wishes to see, if no one else is brave enough to stand up and do it. Carefully picking her words, she's very sly and clever. She's intelligent, and can twist other's words around so that she wins the argument or battle. She's kind of afraid of the trolls, but she ignores her own fears and moves on to fight and win.

Jade can be bit mysterious sometimes, but even so, she's still there for the same reason, and she is still working to get Dave back; if he is still alive, that is. She has glasses, and longer hair. She also works to achieve what she wants, but she does it in a more complex way, sometimes. Using her laptop, she can get technical and confusing if she doesn't slow down what she is saying.

Hearing a door slap shut, and footsteps approaching him faster, John turned his head, his vision shooting to Rose as she raced up to him and began running, her hair brushing off her cheeks. Her eyes sparkling like the night sky that once dazzled bright, she clicked her tongue and took a deep breath, "These trolls are taking over. I'm sick of it!" Her voice was determined and angered, "Let's just hurry to the portal. I want to get out of this idiotic thing called 'Earth'." John nodded in agreement, and pressed his foot on top of a fallen tree, then shot himself into the air and landed in a running position. His feet were moving fast, but his mind and heart was moving faster.

With a simple skip or two of her feet, Jade hopped up next to the two despair-stricken beings, "On your way to the portal?" She chirped as she studied Rose and John's eyes carefully, "I take that look in your eyes as a yes!"

Jade smiled and pumped a fist into the air as she ran, for she has not been pierced through by the swords of misery. Maybe it's because she hasn't been held down by the harnesses of sadness, and carefully stabbed through and shocked until she couldn't remember who she was; or, at least that's how it can be described. Maybe it's because she hasn't let part of her die inside, possibly she hasn't let despair poison her whole body yet, and she's saving herself so she can save others. Maybe she's just optimistic. Either way, they kept running until time gave out.

Finally reaching their halfway point, the three of them decided to take a rest for the day. Tossing his head back, John kicked his feet in the air and looked at the stars above him. Day had turned to night, and the sun had hidden from their view. The stars have come out to play, and twinkled above, but something about them weren't the same. They weren't as bright and happy as normal. They looked like holes poked through a black sheet of paper more than they did stars, to John.

"I want to die….i want to d-" John began as he drifted off to sleep.

Jade and Rose jumped up at the same time, both with fear in their eyes. "W-What!? John!" Jade cried, crawling over and shaking John's shoulder in a scared manor.

Rose walked over, and crouched down in front of the boy. She looked at him in the eyes, "John. Get a hold of yourself, don't say thing like that. Just don't. OK?" Letting out a moan, John sat up straight and nodded. She smiled, "good." With that, she walked over to the boulder she had been resting against and pressed her back against it, sliding her body to the ground. Her bottom scraped against the rock and finally plopped down on the dirt-flooded ground.

The trees around them created a cave-like atmosphere. Surrounded by the woods that seemed to stretch on forever, the three sat there thinking and drawing away thoughts, letting them flow out of their mouth word by word. Singing songs, tossing pebbles into the ongoing woods, and kicking their feet, the three humans left seemed laid back instead of worrying over the trolls. Why would they waste breath over them? If they wouldn't waste promises and human bodies on those idiot thing called "trolls" then why would they waste breath on them, too? What did they want, anyway? Was it even worth taking over the world, for? Was it really worth it, or is it just a problem that has no answer? "Aaaaiiahhh~" Jade sang as she tossed a stick into a campfire that lit up their faces as well as the area around them.

Hearing a simple crack on a twig, John's vision darted behind him: Nothing. No one was there. No trolls at all. "What's wrong?" Rose whimpered as she burnt her finger on a hot stick from the fire.

"Nothing. I just heard something." John's voice was hoarse, but he cleared his throat and returned to drawing in the dirt. The gloomy atmosphere was getting old, and the smell of ashes and smoke from the fire filled the three's noses with a somewhat comforting scent. "When can we leave Earth…?" He sighed. Rose returned with thumbs up and a nod that said, 'soon'.

The night fell back to being silent, and neither John nor Jade could fall asleep. Rose, sleeping peacefully, looked like a doll more than a human being. Letting out a sigh, Jade crawled over to John gently, and sat next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and began to doodle something in the dirt. The stars weren't as bright as remembered, and they didn't produce enough light anymore.

Chirping, squeaks, and muffled barks from the distance where heard as the sounds danced around the trees and into the three's ears. Jade and John had finally fallen asleep, only to know that they will wake up in the same merciless world that tore apart their happiness. It didn't even matter, this world. This was the same world that made them happy once before, also, but it is the same world that made them scream and cry for someone to save them; even though no one was there to save them. The same sky was above, the same sky that has always been there, with the same stars and the same clouds. The same trees were around them, and the same air was being breathed in as before. It doesn't seem to be all that much different, but it is.

"D-don't…do..that…no..please…" John mumbled in his sleep, tears dripping down his cheeks, and seeping into the dirt below him.

Waking up from hearing the light mumbles, Rose looked at John with fear in her eyes, 'I should wake him up' she thought as she crawled over to the boy's body and shook his lightly, ''John. Aye, John!"

Squinting and then opening his eyes fully, John touched his cheek, and brushed his hand against them, "I was…crying?" His vision locked on Rose, as he examined her worried eyes. "It was…just a dream?"

"Yeah…just a dream…" She wrapped her hands around his arm and let her head rest on his shoulder, "Do you think we'll ever find Dave?"

Flinching a bit at that question, John nodded, "Yes. I'm sure we will…I'm not going to give in until we do. You won't either…right?"

"Of course I won't. I want Dave to be safe again….but if we do find him…Where are we going to live? The trolls have taken over, John."

"We'll be fine." He didn't say any more than that. He didn't want to mess up his words more than he already had. He lifted his arm, shaking off her hands. He wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her close to him. She was warm, like a kitten that has sat on your lap for way too long, and it makes your lap warm. His cheeks were painted a red now, and a smile was drawn into a happy one. He was kind of happy to be with her like that, but it was no time for romance.

Within a little while, both had fallen asleep, waiting for the rise of the sun in the morning.

John stretched his arms out and yawned, stretching his back off the boulder he had leaned against. He looked back at the rock, when a shiver shot up his back. The boulder had writing on it. It said, ":o) honk.'' These words were written in red, and dripped down the rock. Only noticing then that he had a cut on his cheek, the idea flew in his mind that those words were written in his blood. He jumped back, waking up Jade. "John?" Her voice was uneasy from just waking up, "What's wro- John!" Her eyes investigated the cut on the boy's cheek, then the writing on the rock, "Oh my god we need to get out of here!"

Waking up Rose, John shook her with a drop of blood falling down from his cheek, landing on hers. She jumped up immediately, "John?! Are you ok?!"

He grabbed her by the wrist, and tugged her off the ground. The three of them ran off deeper into the woods, where the trees would welcome them and the cold morning air would brush against their bodies to make for a welcome hug. The twigs snapped under their feet at an uneven pace, and their hands were still joined; all three of them joined together.

Hurrying and rushing, the three finally reached Dave's house, and banged on the door like a hurricane's winds against the windows. "Dave!" Jade yelled as she played with the doorknob.

"Dave! Open up!" Rose screamed and hopped to the window and banged on that.

"Whoever's inside, open up already!" John screeched as he pushed his body against the door. No reply. "Open up!"

The door finally swung open after being broken by John. The house was blood-splattered. John could practically hear the screams and cries for help flooding into his ears as he stood there in the abandoned house. Taking a step into this place that once was a home, John took a gasp and fell to his knees, "Dave…..Dave…please be alive…"

Wobbling back onto his feet, John looked back at Jade and Rose, nodding his head. "John…." Jade said, her voice muffled by her hand cupped over her mouth. She had fear in her eyes, like she had been shot through the stomach a few times, and she was afraid to move. Her body was shaking, and it seemed like her optimistic attitude faded away like the rest of everything. Her hand was removed from her mouth, and dropped to her side, "Dave…please…be alive…"

Rose's eyes screamed determination with a touch of fear. She didn't realize her eyes were filling with tears, "John. We're not going to stop until we find him. Dead or alive."

The three of them joined together close, and put their hands together "Of course. We're not giving up just yet; we barely reached the portal." Jade tried to smile as she gave thumbs up to both of them.

Searching the whole house was worthless; nothing was there anymore, other than furniture and an awful reminder of "what once was". Jade and Rose carefully walked out of the house, and John stopped before leaving. He stopped at the door, gently picking up a piece of paper that was sitting there, like it waited for someone to come along and pick it up. It was folded up, the top of it saying, " : o) honk". John clicked his tongue and stepped out of the house after putting the note in his pocket.

"Tch." He was now annoyed, and wanted to read the note as fast as possible, "Jade, on your laptop, can you tell me just how far away we are from the portal?"

She looked up, her vision tracing away from the ground and to the black-haired boy, "Hm? Oh! Y-Yes I can, why do you need to know?"

"I want to know if we'll be taking another break for the night anytime soon." He sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the piece of folded up paper cut at his fingers. "Ow…" He whimpered as the paper made the other cuts on his fingers hurt more.

Jade nodded, and she motioned her hand to make them follow her to the side of the road. She sat down and opened up her laptop, typing away furiously. Within a minute or two, she looked up at John, "Ah, yeah we'll need to take a few breaks…" she looked back down at her computer screen, "So basically it'll take a few more days. One or two at least."

"Thanks, Jade." He turned his view to Rose, who was pressing her fingers against her phone over and over. "Rose, are you alright over there?"

She looked up from her cell phone to see John with a puzzled look on his face, "Hm? Oh! Yeah, I'm good! I'm just trying to get the trolls to stop pestering me… Jeez, they even know we're all still on Earth."

"Do they know we're leaving Earth?" John peeked at her phone's screen to see a bunch of messages. He decided not to seem like he was spying on her, so he looked back down at Jade, who was still typing away like there was some sort of race.

"No, I don't think they do, anyway." Rose's voice sounded worried, even though she was trying to hide the fact that she was nervous.

Starting to walk again, the three of them looked down at the ground, minding their own business. Plotting their plans in their minds, thinking of their emotions, thinking of each other, is all they had to do right now. The cold air blowing through their hair, and brushing against their cheeks felt cooling and freezing. The leaves were blowing by them as they walked against the wind that seemed to push them back; pushing them back to the starting line is what it seemed to want to do. Pulling up his hood, John kicked a rock as he stumbled upon a few other pebbles and stones. The pebbles were smooth, not rough at all. Smooth, unlike the situation they were in, which was rough all over the place.

"Honk…" John muttered as he grabbed a hold on the note in his pocket, "Honk…eh?"

Rose and Jade both turned their heads to him, "Honk?" Rose questioned with a curious tone in her voice.

"There was a note left at Dave's house. I picked it up, and on the top of it was the same emoticon and note that was written in my blood on that rock….'honk'."

They both shuffled closer to him as they began to run. Running so that they could get somewhere.

Spotting a car in the corner of his eye, John raced over to it and jumped in, "C'mon, hurry!"

Rose and Jade looked at each other, exchanging looks. They nodded in satisfaction and jumped on the car with John. "The keys were left here!" He exclaimed as he started the car and drove out of the driveway.

"John! Do you know how to drive?!" Rose nervously asked as she buckled herself in the seat.

"We're about to find out!" He smirked as he raced forward, swerving around the street until he got a straight movement forward. Leaving skid marks on the ground, he drove forward, not caring for the squeak noises that pierced through the morning's silence.

"J-John!" Jade yelled as she gripped onto the car's seat and shut her eyes fast, "Oh my god, John! Don't kill us! Please!"

"John! Stop driving! Pull over!" Rose ordered as she held onto her seatbelt.

Not listening, John powered on the radio to find some fitting music; which he did. He began singing it loudly as he drove, chuckling when he got the chance to. He barely heard their cries for him to pull over anymore.

Driving off, they went on their journey, in hopes to finding Dave.