"Helga, I'd really just like to go to bed." Phoebe groaned as she trudged into her room. It had been another hard day of research and work in the infirmary had done its toll on her. It made her miss scouting days, but even going among the walkers took its toll on her. At least tomorrow she had some free time. It wasn't much, but it was going to be wonderful to not have a list of things to complete before she had a chance at some breakfast.

"This'll only take a second, I promise!" Helga pleaded, shutting the door behind them.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and sat on her bed and started to kick off her sneakers, "You have until I'm dressed."

"You know the breathers we brought in last night?" Helga asked in a rushed tone, knowing that once Phoebe was in her pajamas the conversation was over.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow and peeled off her socks before shoving them into her empty shoes, "Yeah, what about them?"

Helga bit her bottom lip, unsure of how to say what she was thinking. It was probably stupid. Hell, there were fucking zombies running amuck in her city, yet all she could think about was the fact that she and her friend had just recently rescued a particular boy who she had been in madly in love with before he and his friend had left Hillwood's public school system to attend Hillwood Height's middle and high school on sport's scholarships. Everyone had gone their separate ways after that, bleeding into new social groups and making new friends. The P.S. 118 gang had long since desisted, save for a few who stayed together, for the sake of nostalgia if nothing else. Helga and Phoebe had always been thick as thieves. Sid, Stinky, and Harold were all still friends in high school. God only really knew where those three idiots were. Probably dead. Nadine and Rhonda had still been close into their junior year. Still, Helga hadn't forgotten about Arnold. Sure, his face faded into memory, but how could she forget someone she had been so senselessly in love with for almost half of her life? Finally, after what felt like eons, Helga said, "Do you remember…ice cream?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "We had ice cream on the Forth of July. Of course I remember ice cream."

"No, Phoebe." Helga said with a sigh…. "Ice cream."

Suddenly, Phoebe realized what Helga was saying and she gasped, "They aren't."

"They are!" Helga exclaimed.

"Well it's been almost six years. I'm sure any feelings you had won't reemerge. I mean…you were a kid." Phoebe said, trying to be comforting. Helga glanced at Phoebe, her look silently inquiring if her friend was serious. Phoebe was fully aware of all the therapy Helga had gone through. True, she was her own person now. She didn't need to crave Arnold like she had when she was a lovesick nine year old girl, but Dr. Bliss had made it clear to Helga that her feelings hadn't depleted any, just…gone dormant. She went on a date, she thought of how much better it would have been with Arnold, she watched a chick flick, she thought of Arnold. She had become a faceless blur to her, but now he was here and he was real again. Everything had been moving so fast since the outbreak. Helga hadn't been given the choice to feel anything. Olga was at Wellington College still, and it was likely Helga wouldn't see her sister again. She didn't even have time to mourn her mother's death. She had her father had been too busy surviving, keeping the base going. It seemed like hardly anything on the outside, but her father had became intensely paranoid, for good reason. He had had almost a half a square mile of protection from the walkers underground. He had been eager to rip out the music recording studio under the emporium out first, but Helga had insisted that he keep it, promising that if for some reason his fortress was needed she would stay in the recording studio. She'd kept true to her word, but music wasn't the escape it used to be. It was hard for her to write anything, but journal entrees anymore. "Right…sorry." Phoebe said at last, slipping her jeans off and throwing them into the corner. "So what did he say when you told him who you were?"

Helga frowned, suddenly feeling stupid, "I didn't tell him…I sort of panicked and accidentally spit a bunch of my sandwich on him."

Phoebe laughed, "I'm sure that was a surprise for him."

Helga groaned, "It gets worse. I have to show him the ropes tomorrow."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't he have done that yesterday?"

Helga shook her head, "Dad says they were falling asleep on the tour today so he sent them to bed."

Phoebe shrugged, "We did barge in on them at three A.M. and didn't get back to base until about nine."

Helga sighed, "Yeah, I guess."

Phoebe pulled her oversized tee shirt on, finally ready for bed. Helga knew this meant the conversation was over, "You'll be fine."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I torture him in grade school and then when I see him for the first time in years the first thing I do I put a gun to his head."

Phoebe rolled her eyes and slid under her covers, "It's the apocalypse, Helga, I'm sure he'll understand. You'll be fine…now go away, I'm tired."

Helga smiled and bid her best friend goodnight before leaving, heading for the recording studio that doubled as her room. Every musical instrument they'd managed to save was in the white space. There weren't as many as she wished there were. Still, food and supplies were the priority. She knew and respected this, but she still thought it was a measly collection for the massive collection of people in the base. Once she had raided a music store for guitar strings and picks. Now there was more than enough strings and picks to last any musician a lifetime. There were only two refugees, besides Helga, who really had any interest in music and one was a young boy by the name of Derek. He was about eleven years old and had managed to make it to the base by being careful and smart. He wasn't much as far as warriors went, but he pulled his weight, just like everyone else did. In his spare time he liked to come to the studio and try to learn the guitar. In Helga's spare time she liked to teach him what she knew. There weren't many kids in the base and a spark of innocence was welcome to her. She peeled off her shirt and stepped into the room. She glanced at an offwhite electric Gibson and lazily strummed it. A smile toyed with her mouth and she went to the other side of the large room and lightly tapped on the snare of the drum kit with her fingers. Without a word, she rushed out of her room to find him. He'd certainly take advantage of this new situation, and that was fine by her.

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Arnold swallowed a lump in his throat as he knocked on Mr. Pataki's door. He wasn't very fond of Bob Pataki. Something about him made him uneasy, like a bad dream from his past. On the other side there was a shuffling of feet before the door opened. Bob towered over Arnold and stared down at him angrily, "You're supposed to be with the girl."

Arnold steadied a shaky breath, "Yes sir, it's just…well no one answered the door."

Half of Bob's unibrow climbed his forehead. That was odd. Since the breakout Helga was usually prompt and efficient since the outbreak. She was still stubborn as a mule and as prickly as a cactus, but she was still prompt. "Let's go see what's going on."

Arnold followed Bob at a brisk pace and when they arrived at the door, Bob pounded loudly on the door. Like Arnold had said, there wasn't an answer. With a groan, Bob pulled out a key and unlocked the door. What they saw wasn't what Arnold expected at all. Helga was leaning over a control panel with a set of massive noise canceling earphones on, a giddy smile on her face. Next to her, spinning in an office chair, was a boy, about his age, with light blonde hair and glasses. The boy got one look at Mr. Pataki and without a word he slipped his headphones off, placed them on the chair and rushed out of the room without as much as a hello. Arnold watched after the boy awkwardly as Mr. Pataki laughed. It wasn't until Helga noticed that her companion was gone that she slid off her own headphones and turned around to see her father and Arnold…and a clock. "Oh shit!" She exclaimed.

To Arnold's surprise, Bob Pataki laughed, "It's been a while since you've used this waste of money."

She stuck her tongue out at her father before grabbing a sweater off her bed and pulling it over her head, "No one has any money anymore so that's irrelevant." She retorted.

Bob Pataki smirked and shook his head, "Just keep better track of time next time."

She nodded before ushering Arnold out of her room and towards the mess hall. One thing was certain…she was going to need a caffeine today. "Was that your boyfriend?" Arnold asked casually.

Before she could answer, a fit of laughter broke the air, not hers, but the boy's who had been deafened with her. "As if anyone would be Helga's boyfriend." He teased.

She put a hand on his shoulder before punching him in the stomach, not hard enough to cause any serious damage, but hard enough to get her point across. "No, this nimrod isn't my boyfriend."

The boy cringed in disgust, "Can you imagine?" Helga made a disgusted noise and shook her head, making him laugh. "Who's the new guy?"

"Arnold, this is Brian, Brian this is Arnold." Helga introduced them briefly.

Brian extended his hand and Arnold shook it. "Arnold, huh? I haven't known an Arnold since grade school."

Arnold chuckled, "I actually went to grade school around here."

"P.S. 118?" Brian asked skeptically.

"Yeah!" Arnold exclaimed excitedly.

"Me too!" Brian mirrored Arnold's excitement, glad for some sense of normalcy.

"No way. What class?" Arnold asked.

"Mr. Simmons in forth and fifth grade and Mrs. Horton in sixth." Brian answered.

"No you didn't." Arnold countered. "I had Mr. Simmons in forth and fifth and I don't remember a Brian."

Brian shrugged, "No one stopped calling me Brainy until I was in eighth grade."

"Oh my god, Brainy?" Arnold exclaimed.

Brian's brows furrowed, "You're not telling me you're the Geek Party Arnold, are you?"

Arnold laughed, "This is crazy!"

Helga smirked, but it was twined with sadness that Arnold would remember Brainy, but forget about her.

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed the other P.S. 118 alumnus here too." Brian snickered.

Helga glared at him and made a motion with her finger across her throat, indicating that she would kill him, but it was too late.

"Really?" Arnold asked. "Who else went to 118?"

Sorry I know it's a cliffhanger, but I'm kind of sick and wanna take a nap so…I'm cutting this chapter a little short. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review! They motivate me to keep writing these things.

P.S. You may have noticed, I changed my name on here. I just did it because that's my web name for like everything else like my tumblr and instagram and crap so it was just bugging me. K bye, don't forget to review…again.