As Mae and Bea reached the next block, the duo took in the peaceful surrounding of their town. Though it wasn`t perfect and was still economically in the red for the most part, the place just felt good enough to be in. All the leaves had fallen from the trees and an occasional chill came to the girls as they stepped past the old pavements. Three small kids ran by excitedly playing a game of tag and each excitedly boasted that they were going to win.
Swallowing the last piece of her taco, Mae tossed the empty bag aside and looked at a few nearby houses to see if anything interesting was going on. Her former astronomy teacher Mr. Chazokov was out of town due to a family emergency, meaning that potential dusk star gazing with his telescope on his roof was out of the question for today. However, his next door apartment neighbor Selma "Selmers" Forrester stepped out and sat on her usual spot on the front stairs, trying to think of ideas to write for her poetry.
Excitedly, Mae left Bea and approached Selmers while exclaiming "Hi", to her. "Hey Mae. Bea", Selmers said casually as she pulled out a pen and notebook. "So, you write anything good today?", Mae excitedly prodded as Selmers started jotting something down, knowing the anthro bear had a knack for writing the most amazing poetry in the whole wide world. She listened to her works almost every day since she came home.
"Mae, don`t bother Selmers. We have to get to the Party Barn", Bea said approaching her friend, seeing her behavior as pestering. "It`s okay Bea. I wrote two poems yesterday and I was looking for someone to give me feedback. Care to listen Mae?", Selmers replied. Mae nodded happily and whispered to Bea, "This is just like when we heard her at the library during the poetry society meeting!", as Selmers flipped back to a few previously written pages in her notebook.
Clearing her throat, she read her first poem:
I like to sleep I like to dream
Yet sometimes when I try to understand what I see
Some things that appear are not what they seem.
Mae gave a round of applause while Bea only raised an eyebrow, admittedly a bit impressed with the passion in the three sentences spoken. "Read the next one. Read the next one", Mae excitedly chanted. Smiling, Selmers flipped a page and read her next work in a somber tone. As she did, Bea`s small smile quickly faded to a cold expression.
I love my house.
My house is grand
Yet no home is always yours
When the government and bills make their stand
I always feel I`ll be kicked out on the street
Never given a sense of closure or something to eat
Mae started to give a round of applause until Bea put a hand on her shoulder and dragged her away while saying, "Thanks Selmers, but me and Mae need to get going. Friends got a curfew today". Selmers looked a bit puzzled as she waved goodbye while Mae looked a bit baffled by her friend's behavior.
"Why did we leave? It was just getting good", Mae exclaimed after walking half the block down the street with Bea. "That last poem just got...personal", Bea could only exclaim before glancing back at the building behind her. Mae looked her direction and noted the apartment where the Bea and her father were living in. Quickly, the facts clicked together in her mind.
The Santello family used to live in a house similar to Mae`s own with two stories, plenty of space and in a nice and quiet area. It was a dream place for a family. However, Mrs. Santello developed cancer when her daughter was in high school. All the money spent on treatments in the bid to cure her became useless for the Santellos as she died during Bea`s senior year.
With no way to pay for the house afterwards, Bea and her father moved to the smaller and less pleasing apartment behind her. It wasn`t a bad apartment but considering all the happy memories Bea had from her old home, Mae understood why her friend loathed living there. It was a reminder of the worst part of her and her family's life.
"Bea, I`m sorry. I forgot for a moment…", "It`s okay. Let's just get to band practice", Bea stated as she continued walking. Mae followed and looked back at the apartment one last time, thinking she`d spot Mr. Santello for a moment (who was still having issues over his wife's death all those years later and had seen better days as well).
As Bea and Mae got to the next street, which contained Beas place of occupation and an entrance to the towns Trolley Tunnels along with the Party Barn, Mae noticed the town message board and paused for a moment to see if anything new was posted for the day. There was an ad for used Christmas decorations sold by someone with an overstuffed attic, a flyer about another meeting to Unionize the local Ham Panther food store (where Mae`s father was working) and a torn up fragment of a missing person's poster.
Snatching the fragment, Mae`s heart sank when she discovered it was for Casey Hartley. Bea also stopped and when she saw what Mae held, a small frown appeared on her face as well. "I forgot to ask yesterday when we talked over the computer: How is Gregg holding up?", she asked. "Not the best. I know Casey was my friend but to Gregg he was a real bro to him, so you can see why his death by that cult hit him the hardest", Mae replied, thinking of the events she had yesterday when walking around with Gregg.
While his boyfriend was busy at work, Gregg had skipped the second half of his shift to hang out with Mae. After stealing and gobbling some pretzels from the Trolleyside News pierogi stand together (or in Greggs view, it was him and Mae doing their usual pastime "Crimes") the duo were having their laughs over how they easily duped the vendor. It was at that moment Gregg saw the missing friend's poster and his fun nature came to a halt. He approached it and ripped most it from the bulletin, leaving only the fragment with Casey`s name on it.
As he flung the poster into the nearby trash can, Mae asked if something was bothering him. She knew why Gregg was upset but this was a new level. "I tried calling Casey`s parents last night under a fake name to tell them the truth about the cult and everything. His mom didn`t know it was me but yelled at me for trying to force some conspiracy theorist garbage on me. Kidnapped by a psychotic cult and sacrificed? Ridiculous!", Gregg exclaimed, doing his best to mimic Mrs. Hartley at the end.
"Ouch. That was harsh", Mae stated. "Yeah. So much for the plans we all made together back in the good old days. I just wish there was some closure I could give Casey. Nobody but you, me, Angus and Bea know the truth and that`s all it will ever be", Gregg replied. Patting him on the back, Mae asked gently if there was anything they could do for the time being that would cheer him up. Sniffing, Gregg asked if there were any windows they could smash with Mae suggesting the abandoned Food Donkey grocery store would do.
Back in the present, Mae found herself looking at the remains of the missing person's poster and put it in the same trashcan the other part went to. No point dwelling too much on the past. It was what Casey would have wanted her and Gregg to do anyways.
Moving along, Bea and Mae walked to their destination nearby destination. Before they reached the building, Bea glanced inside the Old Pick Ax for a moment with a look of disgust on her face. Mae also looked inside through the front window and noticed a raccoon employee talking on the phone but decided not to ask what specifically was bothering Bea about him. The house poem incident was already a punch to her friend.
Together, the two friends reached the former retail and now abandoned but still in use building known as the Party Barn. Mae opened the door and called out to Gregg and Angus, getting no reply. "That`s funny. I thought they were here already", Mae exclaimed as Bea followed her in, slamming the door shut behind her. Before she could call out again, Mae then spotted what looked to be Gregg slouching by the stage in the rear of the store.
"Gregg! We`re here! What`s the big surprise you got?", the feline called approaching the fox while Bea hung back, clearing noting that the Gregg facing away from her was a dummy (with the straw sticking out and the way the body slumped being a dead giveaway). Rather than tell Mae, she watched with some self-amazement as her friend shook the dummy to get its attention, only to jump back freaked out when the head fell off and hit the floor with a clang.
"Ah! Bea! I think I killed Gregg…wait a minute, this is one of those abandoned electronics from the Food Donkey", Mae exclaimed taking a closer look at the head. At that moment, the real Gregg jumped out from behind the huge speaker on the stage exclaiming, "Surprise!", while waving his arms excitedly for a bit. Angus then emerged from a door close by caring a microphone stand held together with some freshly applied duct tape.
"Gregg! You really gave me a scare you idiot!", Mae exclaimed as Bea and Angus approached them. "Yeah, got you good. Too bad you didn`t get a heart attack", Gregg playfully teased. "Too bad you didn`t fall off the stage and crack your skull", Mae retorted in a similar tone. "Too bad an earthquake didn`t hit just now and crushed you with some debris, tearing you in half", "Too bad I didn`t accidently tear your real head off and fling it all the way across town like a ball and into an oncoming speeding train spilling blood and gooey matter everywhere!"
"Mae, bug, you two can settle down now. Both your ideas of dying were creative as a whole", Angus said before waving hello to the girls. "Gotta admit, Cap`n here really knows quality insults when he sees it", Gregg beamed before giving his boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, making Angus blush a bit.
Approaching her usual place on the stage, Bea took off her laptop carrier and set it on a small table before pulling out her laptop. As she booted it up to activate the "drums" she would play, she glanced at Gregg and said, "I was told by Mae that you have a surprise. What is it exactly?", "Wait, was the surprise the dummy prank?", Mae guessed before Angus quickly reminded her that her guitar she left behind from the last practice was in the back of the store.
"Nope, it`s even better. Plus, it involves me and Angus!", Gregg answered cheerfully, as if he couldn`t wait to spill it out. This got Angus` attention as he set the microphone stand down on stage. "Wait, really? What are you talking about?", he asked. "I figured I`d let you know when we finish band practice. Since this is our special day to relax and have fun, the good news will be the cherry on top here!", Gregg answered before telling Mae to grab her instrument as well as his from the back so they could all start playing their planned out songs.
Mae ran off for the back as Angus looked ready to try and get Gregg to spill the beans earlier, but then decided to let him tell the secret later if that was what he wanted. Instead, he had some small talk with Bea about how things were going before Mae returned, handing Gregg his bass and stroking her guitar while declaring she was ready to play.
"What song should we do first? Die Anywhere Else? Weird Autumn?", Mae eagerly asked as her bandmates also got ready to perform. Before anyone could give a suggestion, a strange sound came from the sky, making the four look up surprised. "What the eff was that?", Gregg exclaimed. "Don`t know. Doesn`t sound like anything I`ve heard before", Angus replied.
After a few moments passed with the strange sound faded away, Mae broke the silence first by suggesting that it could be an alien invasion, though Bea dismissed it and said it was probably nothing that would affect them. "We came here to take it easy and to forget about our worries in life for a short amount of time. Let`s just play some music. Besides, there`s probably a logical explanation to that noise. Like a plane or something". With that, everyone took Bea`s advice and the four friends took their minds off the sound as they started performing "Die Anywhere Else". It didn`t take long for their thoughts to get lost to the music.
Elsewhere in the woods:
Earl narrating: "I don`t know how long it had been since we started walking and searching for civilization, but morale in the group was already starting to run low as the sun rose higher in the sky. Between Joy getting hit in the head with some tree branches she didn`t see and Catalina scrapping her elbow, all the stress and exhaustion was getting to everyone."
Scene shown: The story cuts from Mae`s group playing to Earl`s as he slowly walks in the woods with Catalina and Joy. The trio look exhausted already and seem to look around helplessly. Joy then hits a tree branch and stumbles back rubbing her jaw and looking annoyed. As Earl glances back, he slips on some leaves and lands on his rear.
Earl narrating: "But like the greatest explorers in history, the three of us weren`t planning on giving up so soon. Far as we knew, our destination could be a few yards away without us realizing it yet."
Scene shown: Catalina walks over and helps pull Earl up. As she does, Joy glances ahead and looks excited the moment she catches a glimpse of what looks like a water tower amid the tall trees.
"Earl! Catalina! I think we found civilization! We`re saved!", Joy cheered, forgetting her earlier concerns about not speaking too loud to avoid unwanted attention. "Well I`ll be…", Earl exclaimed looking at the tower as if it were the best thing he`d ever seen in his life while Catalina nearly jumped up and down in giddy excitement. The mere sight of society brought a huge amount of worry off the trios minds as Earl lead the way towards it.
As the three stepped out of the woods and into a small rocky clearing, they discovered that there was a cliff between them and the field where the water tower was located, with the cliff looking like it was a bit of a way down.
Earl bent over to catch his breath while Joy exclaimed, "Well, we definitely found a water supply source. Maybe we can scale this tiny mountain side and get to that tower. Along with somethin` to drink we could get a good view of the area", before peering down to estimate how long it would take to scale down the cliff side.
"I don`t know Joy, it sounds kinda irrational", Earl said as he recovered enough to walk over to Joy and also look down the cliff. The sharp fragments and the height the trio were at above the ground below was enough to make his stomach turn in fear. "What, you chicken Earl? I`ve seen Darnell scale many dangerous slopes when we went out in Camden`s forest on that camping trip one time. If he can do it, so could a man like you", Joy exclaimed.
Before Earl could retort, a call from Catalina (who had walked off into another area of the forest) got the duo`s attention. "I found something! You have to come and see for yourself!", she shouted through the trees, prompting Earl and Joy to approach the voice wondering what all her excitement was about. As the duo walked back into the forest they noticed a makeshift path amid the trees, signifying that many other people before them had walked by here countless times.
When the duo reached Catalina, they found her standing by a tree. "Look at this, arrows. Someone was here doing target practice", she told them pointing to the dozen arrows sticking into the tree. Crouching down to examine them for a moment, Earl let out a low whistle and said, "Whoever did this was a good shot, that I can say", "That`s not all I found. Look down there", Catalina added stepping aside while pointing to something a bit further down the path.
For a moment, Joy and Earl didn`t notice what Catalina was referring to until they saw what looked like a tarp covered in a lot of leaves. The trio then started to approached it and quickly noticed that it was a makeshift shelter. "Hello?", Earl called out, making Joy slap him in the shoulder for possibly giving them away to someone dangerous. However, when nobody responded the small group walked more confidently up to the shelter and saw that no one was there.
"Think this place belongs to that person who fired those arrows?", Joy asked as she and her companions looked over the shelter and noted the sturdy detail. "Don`t know. It looks like nobodies been up here for a while. I think it`s abandoned", Earl answered, noticing there was nothing around the shelter area that said someone was living here.
Before the trio could say or do anything else, they heard someone walking in the distance followed by the sound of a cup breaking. Leading the way this time, Catalina cautiously approached the source of the sound without trying to expose herself. If that was the shelters occupant, he or she could have been angry to notice strangers poking around their home and could be armed with their bow and arrows.
Peering out from a set of thick shrubs, the three humans nearly stumbled back in surprise when they saw what looked like an anthro female bird holding a newspaper while picking up pieces of a broken cup she dropped earlier.
"Earl, am I going crazy or is that a human-bird creature?", Joy loudly whispered as the being in front of her walked over to an outdoor trashcan close by and discarded the pieces. "I don`t think it`s human. I think it`s all bird that is acting like a human", Earl could only say as he continued to watch the creature, not taking his eyes off it for a single second.
Earl, Joy and Catalina observed the avian being approached a nearby statue of what looked like another anthro bird dressed as a pope. Sitting down on the first step of the stairwell next to it, the anthro bird (known by the locals of Possum Springs as Pastor K) unfolded the newspaper she held and sighed with worry as she read the title. Curiously, Earl leaned forward a bit and got a glance of the papers headline: Town Council votes to cut Church budget.
"Can`t believe what is happening. First those council members shut down my homeless shelter idea and now this. I don`t know why things are going downhill for the town so fast", Pasto K told herself as the three humans ducked down and started talking among themselves.
"Do you think we should go out and talk to her? She doesn`t seem like a danger", Catalina asked before nodding towards the direction of the bird. "Are you crazy? Far as we know, she can transform into a monster that`ll tear you limb from limb. I`ve seen my share of B-movie horror to know not to fall for innocent appearances", Joy replied. "All I know is that the blast didn`t just sent us into the woods here. It probably sent us to another world where anthro birds rule", Earl said, suddenly realizing most of the obvious fact. This made Catalina and Joy stare at him in shock as the reality of their scenario got to them.
"Oh snap. We`re on another dimension? What`s next? A singing cartoon character will appear out of nowhere?", Joy exclaimed on the verge of denial. "I don`t know. But if Randy and Crabman or anyone else from Camden is out there we won`t be making any progress hiding in the bushes. What if one of us steps out and talks to her? Maybe our appearance won`t alarm her or anything", Earl suggested. "Hell no. I say we take the cautious path here and hide in the woods until nightfall. Maybe in the cover of dark we can get some food and an abandoned and better place to stay till we figure out how to get back to our own world…whatever is left of it that is", Joy retorted.
"Both of you settle down. Fighting won`t help us now", Catalina said when she saw an argument about to go off between her two allies. "Then why don`t you be the tie breaker decider person or whatever? Should we do the smart thing and stay unseen or do the stupid thing and get one of us killed by stepping out to that monsters field of vision", Joy replied with sass. Catalina glanced nervously as Joy, Earl and Pastor K with a lot of uncertainty on her face.
Earl narrating: "Even though she started out siding on my idea more, Catalina now felt that both plans she heard from me and Joy had their pros and cons and that whoever she decided to back up would be a big decision. However, another unexpected arrival stopped her train of thought and made her survival instincts kick in instead."
Scene shown: Catalina bites her lip nervously as she has a hard time deciding which persons plan she`ll chose to back up. Suddenly, she notices something moving through the trees towards the group and her eyes widen in alarm upon noticing that it`s a drone.
"Hide", Catalina exclaimed grabbing Joy and Earl by the collars of their shirts before pulling them into shrub. Less than five seconds after the trio took cover, the drone went past their hiding place failing to detect them. However, it noticed Pastor K and immediately went towards her.
As Pastor K continued reading the article about the pulled church funds feeling more saddened at each word, she heard a strange noise and looked up. The second she spotted the drone, she let out a cry of fear from its menacing appearance and got up, sprinting for the nearby church. However, another type of drone lowered from the sky, blocking her way in every direction with its quick timing and movement.
While the regular drones were big, had arms and technically a head this new drone was the familiar hovering kind, only with some more menacing modifications. Pastor K noted that the device was filming her with an odd camera before the regular drone went up from behind and hit her in the head, making her hit the ground. Before she could get up, an ice blast froze her and she levitated into the sky, vanishing without a trace.
From their cover under the shrub Earl, Joy and Catalina watched the whole event in horror. "No. Those things followed us to this world. What the hell is going on?", Joy exclaimed in a loud whisper. Even though neither drone heard her, it seemed as if something in the universe decided to answer her question, as a transmission from the unknown reached the devices.
"Come in all drones. Reply", a voice from the systems said. The two drones let out a series of beeps, which seemed to be a verification that they replied. After a moment, the voice returned and said, "Good. Looks like the army is in place for this dimension. Now listen up, I am sending all of you these special data codes that will help you carry out your mission. Find two able bodied fighters from this place and bring them to me on the ship. Your new hover drones here will help film the possible candidates and attack all the rejects like that bird. Now get into position for the grand ambush. All of you are near your designated towns so it won`t take long to start".
As the signal ended and the two drones hovered back into the forest, Earl and Catalina glanced at each other confused while Joy looked shocked. "That voice…I heard it before from that Golden drone in the trailer park. The one that me and Darnell fought", she told her allies.
Once the coast was clear, the trio climbed out from under the bush and looked around nervously. As they did, Catalina asked, "What was that person talking about even? Two fighters? A ship?", "I don`t know, but I have a strong feeling that the grand ambush will be a repeat of what happened to Camden. We need to find that nearby town and warn everybody", Earl exclaimed.
"Have you been taking crazy pills? We can`t walk into a town full of anthro birds", Joy exclaimed. "Well, we can`t just stand here doing nothing. We need to warn everyone about the attacks before they get overwhelmed like Camden. And on the plus side, the three of us could find some allies to help us out along the way afterwards", Earl stated. "Sorry Joy, but I`m siding with Earl. There is no way I`m going to be fending off a bunch of attackers while cornered in a room again", Catalina added.
Joy looked ready to argue but let out a frustrated sigh. "Son of a bitch. Alright, lead the way to town", she exclaimed. As Earl and Catalina headed for the church (which had a paved path leading the way to said town), Joy brought up the rear muttering, "Better not get us killed in the progress. That`d be a real shame there".