She woke slowly. At first, only her mind was active, taking in a few bits of sensory information around her. Then she began to move. A twitch here, a groan there.

Very slowly, her body was coming back to the waking world.

When her eyes finally opened, her gaze flicked around the room. The only light came from the window, but even that was dim. All she was able to make out was a solitary figure sitting on the couch across from her. And the silence. Why couldn't she hear anything? Where was the ever present sound of city from the streets below?

She rubbed her eyes to regain some lost focus. Confusion swept across her face as the figure on the couch became clearer. She didn't expect to see a boy wearing bloodstained and torn clothes sitting on her couch, watching her without blinking.

"Who are you?" she croaked. "And why are you in my home?"

I snapped out of my trance. How long had I been staring at her?

"Um, hi. I'm Lee," I said, not really knowing what else to add.

She slowly sat up, and though she looked frail, her gaze held some serious intensity. "You didn't answer my question. Who are you, and why the hell are you in my home?"

What the...? I expected confusion, not anger. This threw me off guard and I stumbled right off the bat on my explanation. "Y-yeah, I'm Lee, and I am, um- a friend? - of Becca's, I guess. She, uh, told me y-you needed an insulin shot, so, yeah. I came here and gave it to you and that's why you're awake... I think."

"You 'guess' you're a friend of Rebecca's?" she deadpanned, seemingly the only thing she garnered from what I said.

I scratched my head awkwardly. "Yeah, I don't really know what to call our relationship either. She saved my life, I saved hers. Kinda just assumed that made us buds."

"I'm not buying this. You break into my home, claiming you're a friend of my Rebecca – who is conveniently missing by the way – and just expect me to believe you?"

"O-okay, I get you're upset, a-and I haven't really been clear with my explanation, but I promise you that I know Becca, or Rebecca or whatever, and she told me to come here."

She eyed me, sizing me up. She gasped when she saw the shade of my clothes. "Oh my... is that blood? Are you covered in blood? Who... what... where did that come from?"

"Huh?" I looked down at me clothes, which were definitely not red to start off. "Oh... no. I can explain-"

"It is blood!" she shrieked. "Whose is that... no. Is it Rebecca's?" I was too startled to reply, so she took that silence as a yes. "Oh my God! C-Cameron! Cameron, h-help!" She looked around frantically, trying to find Cameron, but when she didn't see anyone, it only fueled her panic. "Where is he? Where... where's my husband? And my son? Where are they? What did you do with my family?"

"I-I didn't do anything!" I sputtered, jumping up. I didn't even know Becca had a brother. "I don't know where they are!"

Apparently, she did not like that answer. Her cries only became shriller. It struck me that anyone could hear her, and not all of them had the best intentions. Now panic rose in my brain and I did the first thing that came to mind.

I grabbed her shoulder and clamped my hand over her mouth.

Her screams became muffled, but that didn't stop her from struggling. For a supposed cripple, Becca's mom was strong and I was already tired. She started overpowering me, inching me back towards the couch.

"Look, please, just calm down!" I begged, dropping my voice a bit. "I get that you're confused an-and worried but you have to trust me. I didn't take your family, and I d-don't know where they are, but I do know that Becca's hurt, and if you keep yelling, you're gonna attract some very unwanted guests. So, please, just calm down and let me explain!"

She stopped struggling and yelling. Though calmer, worry and panic was still prevalent in her eyes. I kept my hand over her mouth just in case.

"Thank you," I breathed after a few moments of tense silence. "I promise you, I will explain everything, answer every question. You'll just have be as quiet and accepting as possible, okay?" She nodded, staring down at me. Her gaze was a bit intimidating, since, well, she was taller than me. "It-it's gonna sound crazy, but I swear, it's the truth."

I removed my hand and collapsed into the couch behind me. Becca's mom sat down on the once across from me.

"So, what do you want to know?"

"Where's Rebecca? Is she hurt? And what happened to the rest of my family?" The questions burst out of her mouth like water from a broken dam. "Why do we need to be quiet? Who would hurt us, and why would they? Why are you covered in blood?"

I waited a beat to make sure she was done. Blinking blankly a few times, I realized she was done. Man, that was a lot of questions. Where would I even start? I decided to go with the easiest ones first.

"Um, I... I don't know what happened to your family," I said somberly. "Becca was the only one I found. We were both in the pharmacy and I got attacked, and she saved me. She got bit really bad on her leg, though, so I tried patching her up as best as possible. Don't worry, though. She's safe, or safer than she would be outside."

"But what happened to make it so dangerous?" Becca's mom interjected. Her voice was choked. Hearing your daughter got attacked would probably do that. "Who would attack a little girl?"

"What happened?" That was the million dollar question right there. I still had no idea what caused this. "Yeah, this is the crazy part I was talking about. A few hours ago, something happened that made Pokémon just... appear in our world."

"Pokémon," she repeated hollowly.

I nodded. "That's who attacked me and Becca. That's why we need to be quiet. Pokémon are in our world now and for some messed up reason they hunt down humans and eat us. And they seem to enjoy it, too." Her face was blank, with her mouth slightly open. "Yeah, it's messed up, but it's the truth."

A minute passed in silence before she chuckled lightly. "You really are crazy."

"Huh?"

"Pokémon. You mean those funny little creatures in that cartoon show, right? You're telling me they're running around outside and killing people and you expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, I do, because it's the truth!" I said, flabbergasted. Why was it so hard to convince her? "I know, it's hard to believe, but that's what happened."

"It's going to take a lot more than a half-assed explanation from a teenager to convince me that Pokémon are real now," she challenged me with a patronizing smirk.

Now it was my turn to be in shock. She didn't believe me at all. I guess it was idiotic to assume she would just accept what I said as truth. Not everyone had the luxury of waking up with a crocodile on their chest proclaiming the end of the world. All I had were words.

This wasn't awkward to explain.

It was downright impossible.

It took half an hour and a lot of calming down, but I managed to convince Becca's mom that Pokémon did indeed enter our world.

How? As expected, words failed. Hard. Whatever I said was shot down as fake before I even got a chance. She just didn't want to – no, couldn't – accept what I was saying was the truth. Even to me it seemed insane, and I was the one trying to convince her.

In the end, all she needed was a visual. I brought her over to the window and showed her the streets below. Not only were they a scene of carnage with the mangled husks and stalled bodies of cars, but a fire Pokémon just so happened to be passing through when she looked. Needless to say, seeing a flaming figure walking nonchalantly down the road was enough to tell her something wasn't right. And that's when what I said finally sunk in.

She didn't handle it very well at first. The previous hysteria came back in full force and I had to restrain the taller woman. I all but pushed her into the couch and reassured her in a soothing voice that everything was going to be alright. Her daughter was safe – kinda – and she would be to.

"Just stay quiet, don't go near the windows, don't cook, don't do anything that would lead anyone to think that there's someone up here," I instructed her. "As long as you don't do anything to show you're up here, no one will look. They won't have any reason to, right?"

"What if... what if someone else comes by? Someone who's willing to help?" she asked. I couldn't help but notice the sound of defeat in her voice. "They wouldn't check in here, and I'll be left behind. Isn't it safer to be in large groups?"

I pondered that. Yeah, it made sense. More people, more protection. But half the humans I met in these past few hours had tried to kill me. So I ended up shaking my head. "Some people... some aren't right in the head. For now, only answer the door for me, okay?"

She nodded, keeping her head to the ground. She looked tired. Beyond tired, actually. Seeing the world changed like this so suddenly, it would make anyone depressed, make them want to give up. And after seeing so many bodies and people whose minds had snapped, I was feeling close to giving up too.

"You'll protect her, right? You'll protect my baby girl from all this?"

I almost missed the question she spoke so quietly. She looked at me pleadingly. She needed this. She needed to be sure her daughter would be safe.

"I will," I told her. "I promise. I'll make sure she won't get hurt anymore."

"Thank you."

She did something I hadn't been expecting. She hugged me. It was so sudden and tight that I had no choice but to allow it. And just as quickly, I sunk into the embrace, wrapping my arms around her as well.

It felt good to be hugged. Reassuring and soothing and making you feel just a little more protected. Such a simple gesture to show that yes, someone does still care about you. Mom's were the best at this. Maybe that's why I was so accepting to this stranger. Because I missed my mom, and this was just so familiar and comforting. I needed it just as much as her, because I was just as confused and scared as she was.

"I'll bring her back," I said, removing myself from the hug. "Not tonight, though. We'll try for tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be safer in the day."

As I stood and turned for the door, she grabbed my hand. "Just wait. I need to give you something."

I started to protest, but she limped away before I could make any sort of excuse. I noticed how she favoured her left leg, her right one stiff, and how she used the wall to support her whenever she could. She quickly disappeared into the rooms behind the kitchen.

While waiting, I realized how tired I was. I had been resting for an entire hour, and my body had gotten used to the break from the action. My legs were stiff and all my aches competed to see which one of them could be the most painful. I did some simple stretches do loosen up and alleviate the pains, but those could only go so far. It would take about a week of straight sleep to feel better.

After a few minutes of anxious waiting, Becca's mom hobbled back into the living room, carrying a gray knapsack. It was puffed out, clearly packed.

She thrust the bag into my arms. "You'll need this."

"Oh... no, I'm good. Really," I protested, holding the bag at arm's length. For how big it looked, it wasn't that heavy. "I can't take this. What's even in here anyways?"

"Clothes," she said with a small smile. My eyebrows shot up and she even laughed a bit. "Clean clothes. Much better than being covered in blood, I think. It's a good thing my younger son was your size. I also packed a bit of food too."

"Oh." Well, that was embarrassing. Sure I was small, but being the size of someone younger than Becca was still a blow to my pride. "Thanks, but I still really don't need this. We're fine with food, too. I sure the Tim Horton's we're camping in has plenty."

She gave me a look like she was unsure if I was joking or not. Either way, I took this as the moment to finally leave. Not because I wanted to get away, but because I was sure if I stayed any longer, I wouldn't want to leave.

"Okay, really need to get back to your daughter now," I said quickly, already out the door.

"Please, just be safe," she called out to me quietly. She was just like Becca. They even said the same things. I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's the apocalypse. What's the worst that could happen?" I joked as she closed the door.

I found out about two minutes later exactly how wrong things could go.