Grace stood outside of the Hardware store patiently waiting for Nebula to arrive. Grace had been standing there for 20 minutes now, but that's to be expected when you arrive 30 minutes early. It was 5 before noon when Grace spotted the Sunflower. She was about to greet her when she saw the annoyed look on Nebula's face, then she noticed the fire flower that was trailing behind her. He looked familiar but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

Nebula seemed to be getting pissed at the flower, then he started talking in what Grace could only describe as the most arrogant voice she had ever heard "I'm just saying that maybe you should consider finding someone else, some plant that isn't disgusting and loud and scary and...dumb".

That was all it took to send Nebula over the edge. She whipped around and gave him a glare that would've sent a gargantuar running, and slapped him hard across the face. "For the last time William, I will NOT look for a new partner just because you have a problem with a chomper who is smarter than you, stronger than you, and far less annoying than you. I don't know if it's because you have this sick obsession with controlling everybody or if it's because you're a blatant racist, but if you don't leave me alone I will rip off your leaves and SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT! GOT IT?" Williams only response was to shrug his shoulders and walk away, but not before giving Nebula a wink.

Grace lurched forward and caught Nebula before she could follow through on her threat. The Two stood there for a minute before Grace determined it was safe to release Nebula. After another minute of standing there, Grace finally broke the silence "Sooo, wanna tell me what that was all about?"

Nebula let out a long sigh before responding "That idiot has been following me ever since I left my house this morning. He's trying to convince me to send in a request for a new partner, and despite the fact I told him it hasn't been nearly long enough to make that decision he wouldn't leave me alone. At some point I was able to lose him, but he somehow found me and went right back to irritating the hell out of me. I'm sorry you had to see the ugly side of me, I usually can control my anger."

Grace gave Nebula a proud smile "More like the badass side of you, I didn't know you had the guts to say something like that to any plant."

The two began walking towards the mall when Nebula let out a nervous laugh "Yeah looking back on it maybe I shouldn't of threatened the Army general's son, but there's nothing I can do about it now."

Grace let out a laugh as the two walked inside the large shopping complex. The mall looked beautiful on the inside, each of its three stories decorated with a different type of plant. The first floor featured coniferous trees scattered about forming the design of a leaf, the plant army's symbol. The second floor was a bit bright with its shrubs and tulips, though nothing could beat the third floor. Outside of each store and lining all of the walkways were flowers of various colors, shapes, and sizes. At the center of the mall sat a large oak tree that went through each floor and the ceiling of the store, most plants believed it stretched for another five stories.

"Come on, I know this great place where we can get the best sunglasses." Grace told Nebula, and the two started off towards the second floor.

Grace noticed Nebula was giving her a strange look and was about to say something when she piped up "I think this is the first time I've seen you without Winston. Are you two..."

At first all Nebula got was a confused look, then Grace realized what she was asking and she couldn't help but laugh at how silly the question was. After she was done laughing she realized Nebula was still waiting for an actual answer. Grace cleared her throat and put on a more serious face "No, we are not in any way romantically involved. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember, and that's all we are."

Nebula gave her a quizzical look "Wouldn't you two being best friends lead to something romantic?"

Grace laughed again but this time there was a slight hint of irritation in her voice "No, it means we are supportive of each other and we can help each other in their ACTUAL relationship."

Nebula gave her a slight nod before asking "So you two have dated other plants then?"

"Well um...No, but that has nothing to do with our relationship with each other." Grace answered, now sounding unsure of herself.

Nebula rolled her eyes at her "Rightttt, you to are definitely not secretly harboring feelings towards each other. And it's not like you don't go on dates with other plants because you always hold onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, the other one will confess their true feeling."

Grace decided it was time to end this conversation "God, you sunflowers are always trying to make love happen even when there is nothing going on between two plants." Grace spotted the sunglasses vendor and quickened her pace to avoid Nebula saying anything else. "Hey Sam, you got any nice shades for my friend here." Grace gestured to Nebula and received an amused look from the owner.

Nebula walked up next to Grace and gave the old cactus a wave before asking "So what if I asked out Winston, you think he'd say yes to a pretty little sunflower like me?" Nebula proceed to bat her eyes at Grace while Sam picked out a pair of masquerade glasses for her. Grace turned to her and gave her a playful glare before handing Sam the 1,000 coins.

"Tell you what Nebula, I'll confess my love to Winston when you do the same to William." Grace smiled when she saw Nebula start fake vomiting. Grace knew she could push things a little further "You know, maybe we could go on a double date with you two sometime."

Nebula stopped her before she could go any further "Alright I'll go on a double date with you and Winston with any other plant except William. Deal?"

"Deal, but you realize Winston and I won't treat it as a date. Also I'm gonna keep this deal in my back pocket for a bit." Grace gave Nebula a devious grin. It had been so long since Grace had talked with someone who didn't take any of her shit.

"Where is Winston?"

Winston was passed out with his head lying on the table when Static found him. Nebula had asked him last night if he would go and hang out with Winston while she was shopping with Grace, but Static hadn't expected to get here and find his leader on top of a pile of notes. "Glad to know that Grace and Winston keep the door unlocked." Static grumbled to himself. He began to shake Winston to try and wake him up but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. Static stood there for a bit before strolling into the kitchen and returning with a bowl full of water. He made sure the area was clear of any documents before dousing Winston with cold water.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Winston yelled while jumping so far in the air he hit his head on the ceiling. When Winston recovered he looked to the side of his room to see Static sitting there with an amused expression on his face. "Ummm, did you see all that?"

"What the loud yell or the smashing your head into the ceiling?" Static answered with a grin. "What were you doing all night?"

"Well if you must know I've been looking at maps of the areas surrounding the Garden Center." Winston answered while he searched his room for his research. He pulled out a long, rolled up map from under his bed and handed it to Static. "I've marked every possible entrance with a red circle and red circles with a blue dot means an entrance where zombies were seen or have been seen traveling." Winston explained.

Static gave Winston an understanding look "So you're trying to determine where the zombies came from."

"And how they were able to break the defenses of the plant army." Winston looked up at Static "Any ideas?"

Static thought for a few minutes before turning to Winston "I have an idea, but in order to confirm it we would need to go back to the Garden Center."

"Damn." Winston mumbled. It would be nearly impossible to get permission to go back now that the army had reset their defenses. He walked into the other room and poured himself a cup of coffee before telling Static "Tell me what your idea is, then we can decide what to do."

Winston took a seat at the counter while Static came into the room with two maps. He took the one Winston had been working on and spread it out on the counter, then he placed the new map on top of it. "Near the beginning of the war, when the zombies first began to push us back, we defended an area called Jewel Junction. We didn't hold it for long, but a strategy that was used to conserve our armies was to dig a tunnel leading back towards the Garden Center. We had the tunnels hidden, then during our escape we had them blown up to prevent the zombies from using them even if they found them. There's a possibility that they discovered the tunnels, but they should only be able to move a few zombies at a time. Transporting an army would take too long, not to mention there's no place to store them."

Winston examined the map further to see if there was any place they could hide an army, but he couldn't find anywhere near big enough to do so. "Hey Static, what's Nebula's major?"

Static rubbed his chin "I believe it's biology."

"And her minors?" Winston pressed.

"Uhh Geology, Physics, and Music."

"Alright give her a call and tell her to get over here as soon as possible, and tell Grace to meet me at the SPA 've got to let the director know about this, maybe she could send a team to investigate." It occurred to him that there was a good chance he would look crazy if they didn't find anything, but they couldn't risk the zombies having an underground tunnel system.

Static walked over to the phone and began to dial her number "Man I can't wait to look crazy on our second day of work. Hey Nebula, it's Static. Winston wants you to come over asap. Yes now, he needs you to take a look at something. No Nebula it's definitely not important, that's why I told you to come over asap. Of course I'm being sarcastic, get over here. And tell Grace to meet Winston at headquarters. Yes SPA headquarters, what other headquarters is there. Alright I'll see you in a bit, bye." Static turned to Winston "You know for a plant who is extremely intelligent, she lacks common sense."

Nebula hung up her phone and turned to Grace "You know for a plant who is extremely intelligent, he sure is sarcastic."

Grace shook her head "So what did he want?"

Nebula shrugged "He wants me to come over and look at something, that's all he said. You know I understand being urgent but he could've said something that let me know what this was about."

"Well we better get over there quickly then." Grace led Nebula out of the mall before Nebula stopped her.

"Wait, Winston wants to meet you at headquarters." Grace gave her a hesitant look. Nebula raised her arms in the air "I don't know, Static spent more time sassing me than he did explaining the situation."

Grace just sighed in response and headed off in the other direction. "I'll give you a call when I figure out what's going on, and finish whatever it is Static needs help with quickly." Grace called out to Nebula. She gave Grace a nod in response and started a light jog towards Winston's apartment. Grace began to wonder what it was that had her heading to meet Winston. He had gone to bed early last night to investigate something, but Grace hadn't thought it was anything to serious. "Maybe Static saw something he didn't?" Grace thought. Static was a smart plant, but Winston was no slouch himself. If Static had discovered some secret, it's no wonder Winston would have all of us running around. But what is it?

Grace reached headquarters a few minutes later. They had cleverly hidden the entrance inside a scarf shop. Grace smiled at the fact that she couldn't even remember the last time she saw a plant wearing a scarf. "Hello sir, do you have any scarves that are pink with polka dots?" She asked the shop owner.

The chomper smiled at her "I'm sorry, I don't think so. Would light red work?"

"Yes that would work. I need it for a party this weekend." He gave her an understanding look and tapped a button under the desk.

"Follow me to the back, I think I have just what you're looking for." She followed him through a curtain that revealed a staircase that led to headquarters. Grace walked down the stairs to find Winston already waiting for her, his head stuck in a map. She peeked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at and was shocked to find it was a map of Jewel Junction.

Grace grabbed the map from him "Why are you looking at this? We haven't had control of this area in decades."

Winston took the map back from her and tucked it under his arm "I'll explain it to you when I explain it to the director, for now just know that we might have discovered how zombies can transport their armies."

They walked in silence for a bit before Grace spoke up "So was it Static who discovered this, or was it a team effort?"

Winston stopped walking and looked up "What makes you think I needed Static, why couldn't it be just me who discovered this?"

"You wouldn't have taken that long to figure it out." Grace casually replied as she strolled by.

Upon entry of the operations room, Grace and Winston were greeted by Dave "What are you two doing here? We said to wait for our call."

Winston ignored the question and shoved the map into Dave's arms "I need an investigative team to search for a series of tunnels at the Garden Center. We have reason to believe the zombies are traveling using these tunnels."

"Dave, did I just hear that right?" The Director called out from her chair in the center of the room. "Come over here and give that map to me." She quickly looked over the details of the map and looked over to her left "Someone tell James to get a small scouting group together, have them ready within the hour. I need everyone ready to follow their report and let me know of every developing detail."

"I'd like to go with them, if you don't mind. I want to see for myself if I'm right." Winston spoke up.

"Alright, that means you can be there if we find that there are no secret tunnels. I'm taking a chance with your theory here Winston, don't screw it up." She turned to Grace "Am I to assume you will be joining him?"

Grace nodded "I'll stand guard at the entrance, just incase anything goes wrong."

The door opened to reveal James and two other plants. "I've got my team ready, what's our mission?" James noticed Grace and Winston standing next to the Director "What are you two doing here?"

"These two will be joining you on your mission. You will head out to the Garden Center and you will not be seen by the military. Winston will explain to you what you're looking for on the way there." She handed him the map , patted him on the head, and walked back towards her seat.

"Alright you two, follow me." James commanded.

Winston quietly observed the two plants James had brought along. From what he could tell, they were just an ordinary chomper and peashooter. They hadn't said anything the whole ride and their eyes had stayed fixated on the floor, even while James gave them their instructions. "I guess James isn't the only all business plant." Winston thought to himself.

"5 minutes until drop off." James announced from the front of the ship. "Everyone remember the plan? Good." He hadn't even waited to see if anyone had forgotten their part, but Grace and Winston got the feeling that their answer didn't matter.

Grace was feeling pretty relaxed with the whole situation. Granted she was always relaxed, but most plants tended to get serious before a battle or mission. "Nothing is more exciting than lookout." She grumbled to herself.

"I'm glad you feel that way sunshine." James called out to her as he made his way to the door. James smirked to himself when he looked back to see Grace's mouth hanging open. A red light located above the door flashed on and the door swung open. James turned back to face the group "Alright let's go!"

One by one they exited the ship and landed right outside the Garden Center. James silently signaled for them to stay low and follow him as they made their way past the military and towards the north side of the center. After about a minute of weaving in and out of bushes and alleys, the team arrived at the loading docks. James held his pod up as a signal for everyone to stop, then he pointed at the chomper they had brought along and pointed towards the ground. In an instant the plant dove underground and began moving around in a snake like pattern. When he surfaced walked straight up to James and began whispering in his ear. James nodded slowly and waved everyone else over. "Alright, spike found the tunnel. It's right below this platform." James gestured to the area of raised land right behind him. "Spike will dig us a hole straight down, and the three of us will follow when he gives the all clear. Grace, stay here and stay hidden by one of the dumpsters. If we aren't back in an hour, leave us."

Grace just nodded her head as the others began to make the journey downwards. Spike jumped into the air and dove straight into the ground, leaving the rest to wait in silence. A few seconds passed by before they heard a bird caw and James led them down the tunnel. Just before Winston left he turned to Grace and gave her a quick, reassuring smile before entering the small hole. Grace took her spot behind a dumpster and began counting the seconds that passed by. "Not like it matters." She thought to herself. "Winston will be back, and if he's not I'll go get him myself."

Static had all the maps and charts he thought Nebula might need laid out on the dining room table, waiting for her arrival. He had gathered maps of the Garden Center's geography, city layout, and even precipitation maps. He didn't know what exact maps she might want, so he just grabbed what he thought she might need. Three distinct knocks came from the door and Static got up to go let Nebula in. "Who is it?" He questioned, though he already knew the answer.

"It's me Static." An annoyed response came from behind the door.

"I don't know any plant named me?" Static laughed to himself.

"Probably cause you don't have any friends." Static immediately stopped laughing and opened the door to see a smirking sunflower standing there. "Come on, stop wasting time and tell me what's up."

Static gestured for her to follow him to his setups of maps and pointed to the map of Jewel Junction "You know about the history of jewel junction right?" Nebula raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. "Well, is it possible that the zombies found the tunnel we used and have managed to repurpose it? Like dug through all the rubble and are now moving their own troops underground."

Nebula thought for a moment before shaking her head "No, it isn't." Static was about to say something but stopped himself and let her finish her explanation. "When we destroyed the tunnel, we didn't completely obliterate them. We essentially sealed off the entrance and made it nearly impossible for them to find. If they did find it, which is possible, there is still one major problem. The tunnel was not that big. It took us a long time to move our army through, the only reason we could do so is because the zombies couldn't find the entrance. They wouldn't be able to move an army efficentaly enough to attack the garden center. Once they got to the exit, they wouldn't have anywhere to go. The military would just take them out one by one, and that'd be it. So no, I don't think that's what they're doing."

Static took in all the information and sighed "Well, I guess I was wrong. I just sent Winston on a mission for nothing."

Nebula patted Static on the back in an attempt to comfort him. "It was a good theory. I mean, not many even remember the tunnel. Fewer remember how it was built or what happened to it." Nebula looked down at the geological map of Jewel Junction and grabbed it. "Where is this map from?"

Static looked over her shoulder "Winston said the agency took photos of all these places once a month. Incase the zombies were building some secret facility or something like that."

"Get me an old map of Jewel Junction, now." Nebula demanded.

The seriousness in her voice made Static decide to question her after he retrieved the map. Walking over to the counter he began shuffling through the stacks Winston had made "How old do you want?" He called out to her.

"Just give me one that's from a few years ago." She replied as she began circling spots on the newer map.

Static placed the map next to her and watched her as she began comparing the two same spots on the maps. "Mind telling me what you see?" Static prodded.

Nebula pointed to the two circles she had made on the maps "Look here, see how this land looks different? That's because the ground is now different. It's a giant hole in the ground."

Static was trying to follow her logic "So, they're mining jewels? Why would they care about jewels?"

Nebula shook her head at him "They aren't mining jewels. They're mining something else. Jewel Junction also contained huge deposits of coal and Iron, but I don't know why they would need either of that. Their weapons aren't built using iron, and coal isn't something they would need for anything I can think of." Nebula was starting to get frustrated. None of this made sense to her.

Static broke her from her thoughts "Hey Nebula, how long would it take for them to widen the tunnels?"

Nebula thought for a second before responding "Depends on how much they widen it. Why do you ask?" Nebula looked up at Static to see him holding a book titled History's Greatest Inventions.

Static turned the book around so she could see the page he was on "How long before they could fit one of these in there?"

Nebula's heart sank as she realized what the iron and coal was being used for. "We have to go warn them. Now."

Winston was shocked when he first entered the tunnel. He was expecting something much smaller, not a giant tunnel that looked like even a Gargantuar couldn't touch the top. "Why is this thing so big? I thought this place was just used for transporting plant troops, why make it so big?"

The other peashooter James had brought along spoke up "Maybe it was already this big? Or if the zombies are using this, they needed to make it big enough for Gargantuars?"

James didn't look convinced by that idea "Maybe..."

"Boss, check this out." The three of them looked over to see Spike pointing to something on the ground. "It looks like bars of iron or something."

James examined the bars and looked further down the tunnel. "I don't like this. Not even 5 minutes down here and I already have more questions that need answering."

"Do you want to go back sir?" The peashooter looked slightly worried now.

"No photo. We need to try and figure out what's going on here." He pondered what to do for a second before continuing "Winston, you wanna see what's further down this tunnel?"

Winston walked up next to him and gave him a slight grin "I was hoping you'd ask me that."

James nodded at him and turned to the others "You two will stay here and try and see if you can find anymore clues. Make sure you leave before the hour is up, even if we aren't back." Spike and Photo saluted him and began searching the area around the iron bars. James looked back at Winston "Alright, let's see what the hell is going on here."

"Static come on, we don't have much time!" Nebula yelled behind her as she ran down the street. Plants were looking at her as she pasted like she had lost her mind, and they were half right. Nebula's thoughts were going crazy with possible scenarios for what might happen if they didn't warn them in time. Every scenario ended with them dying or worse.

Static popped out of the ground next to her, breathing harder than he ever had in his life "Chomper's are natural born sprinters. Long distance isn't our forte." He wheezed. Luckily they had just arrived at the scarf shop.

"Pink with polka dots, yes that will work, I need it for a party this weekend." Nebula nearly screamed in between gasp for air. The shopkeeper gave her a confused look before he just slowly nodded at her and pulled a lever. Static and Nebula rushed to the changing room and bolted down the stairs.

The director was sitting in her chair with a glass of sugar water waiting for a status report from James. She was about to take another sip when she heard yelling from outside the room. After listening closely, she made out two distinct voices "Let us in now, we have urgent news"

"I'm sorry mam, we can't just let some plant we hardly know go barging through headquarters see the director at any time. We might lose our jobs."

"My teammates might lose their LIVES!"

"We don't have time for this." A third voice entered the conversation.

"Static what are you do-AH!" And then it was silent. The Director waited a few more seconds before she reached for her glass. She didn't get a chance to drink it because a chomper holding a sunflower emerged from the ground right in front of her. Before she could even question what had just happened the sunflower began yelling at her "You need to get them out of that tunnel now!"

"Director are you ok?" Dave had a concerned look on his face as every plant in the room had now turned to see what was happening. "You two, back away now before I have you two executed."

The Director held up a hand "Easy Dave, let them explain themselves first." She looked back at Nebula "And why should I do that?"

Nebula slammed a book in front of her "Page 104 is why. We don't know how much time they have, but they don't stand a chance as long as they're down there."

She raised an eyebrow at her before opening the book to page 104. She quickly put the book down and turned to Dave "Get Grace on the phone and tell her to get them out. I need to hear what James found down there before I do anything else." Dave ran over to the phone and began punching in numbers while the other plants in the room began pulling up cameras stationed around the Garden Center. "I hope you're wrong about this." She said, now turning her attention back to Nebula.

"So do I." Nebula whispered.

Grace sat outside the entrance tunnel hidden behind a dumpster waiting for the others to get back. It felt like hours since they left, but in reality it had only been a little less than an hour.

"Next mission, Winston can wait outside while I get to explore the mysterious tunnel." She mumbled to herself. Her comlink suddenly started vibrating and she quickly answered it "This is Grace standing by."

"Grace, this is Dave. We need you to get the others out of there right away." Dave's voice was calm but stern.

"Yes sir, pulling them out now." Grace walked over to the tunnel and called down "You two, get Winston and James. We're being pulled out ASAP."

"What for?" One of them called back.

"Don't know don't care, just get them out." She replied.

Down below Photo began climbing the rope while Spike ran down the tunnel. "Yo James, we gotta go. Director's orders."

James turned around to face him "But we're not done." He looked further down the tunnel then back to Spike "Why so soon?"

Spike shrugged "Don't know, but if we were told to leave then we should."

"Damnit!" James hissed. "Isn't there anyway we can have a little more time?"

"Do you two hear that?" Winston asked. Both James and Spike stopped talking and turned towards him. After a few seconds James realized there was a faint hissing sound coming from the metal. Suddenly a light flashed into their eyes as the tunnel began to shake.

"Run!" James shouted and the three took off in the opposite direction. The ground began shaking more and more as the light got closer to them.

"What the hell is it?!" Spike yelled just loud enough for them to hear. They made it back to the rope and began climbing before Winston turned to look and confirmed his fears.

"It's a train!" Winston yelled upwards so that Grace could hear.

Grace's eyes grew wide as she began to pull the rope to bring them up faster. Photo ran up next to her and started pulling with all of his might. Grace looked back down the hole and saw Winston only a few more feet from the top when the train flew by. Nobody had any time to react as the rope caught onto the train and pulled James and Winston down. The last thing Winston saw was Grace looking at him with fear in her eyes before everything went black.

It's been a long time since I've updated this story. The last year I have been busy trying to graduate while moving three separate times and finding out where I'm going to college. The biggest reason I haven't updated in so long is because I didn't realize how seriously people took writing and reading these stories. When I first started this, it was a way to help with my depression. It gave me a distraction while letting my creative side let loose. But after some very helpful and eye opening reviews, I realized I would have to put a lot of time into thinking about where I want this story to go and how I wanted to get it there. I decided to wait until I had graduated and had given this story more thought, and I think I finally have a good idea of where I want it to go. The grammar won't be perfect cause I'm not the best at literature and the plot might be confusing or unamusing for some people but that's ok, I'm just doing this for fun. If you enjoy it then great, if not then I hope you can find something that interest and entertains you. My goal is to release a chapter every 1-2 weeks but that is not a promise. I still have a social life and I am pretty forgetful. Any advice on writing or grammer left in the reviews will be read at least three times, so feel free to let me know of any complaints or compliments you have (Especially compliments, I'm needy like that). Also I'm gonna go back at some point and revise chapter 1, cause looking back at it holy shit it is bad.