Missing: Elena Fisher, Bill, Rochelle
"I hate trains." said Francis.
"Shut up, Francis." Zoey said, irritated. "We have to find Bill. Even if the ******* just let a bunch of people die. We can't let him off that easy."
"We'll find him." said Louis. "The old man's not one to be killed so easily."
"Yeah, well I hate looking for people."
"If you don't shut your mouth, I'll shut it for you. How about that?"
"I hate shutting up..."
It was going to be a very long train ride. And none of them knew where to begin looking for Bill. He had simply disappeared. Louis was confident that he hadn't been killed. Zoey was hoping he hadn't been, because she felt that he didn't deserve to get off that easily. As for Francis... well he hated thinking too hard about it.
Suddenly, the train stopped. The doors opened up, and a large man and his friend got on board. Who they were, the three had no clue.
"I hate trains..." said the large man's friends.
"Hey! You hate things too!" said Francis.
"Mostly just things that have tried to kill me before. The name's Nathan Drake. And you are?"
"I hate introducing myself."
"He's Francis." explained Zoey. "I'm Zoey, and this is Louis. Are you a carrier?"
"I carry a lot of things. But I doubt that's what you meant."
"You should be wearing a mask if you aren't." said Louis. "Better to be safe than sorry."
"That's not necessary. I'm not.. from this world. So... where are you all headed?"
"I hate saying where I'm headed..." said Francis.
"Well, he's easy to get along with." Drake quipped.
"We're looking for our friend, Bill. Thing is... we don't have a clue where to start looking for him."
"Well then, I'd say you're in luck. I'm also looking for a friend of mine. I thought she just didn't want to be found. But naturally that wasn't the case. She was in another world apparently. And according to the man with the bubble gum here... your friend is the same place as mine On top of a tower called Tartarus in another world."
"Towers? I hate climbing!"
"Yes... well. Duke here can take us there."
"Of course I can! The Duke can do a lot of things! The Duke just happens to have a lot of bubble gum right now..."
"Right... you never did explain why that charming lady with the whip gave you all that gum."
"I told you!" Duke said. "Cause she's really nice! Anyway... I'll open the portal!"
Duke opened the portal. "Ladies first." said Francis. "But you know... I don't hate Portals. Portals are pretty cool. Wish I had a gun that could create portals..." Zoey went through, followed by Louis, and finally Francis. Duke and Drake's job was half done. But they had one more group to get from this world, before they could return.
Elsewhere...
"Man! We're riding in Jimmy Gibbs Jr's car! This is SWEEET!" Ellis shouted. "Did I ever tell you about this time my friend Keith and I were racing his old car? Now I didn't know anything about driving... so I pulled right into those automatic doors at the grocery store! Man, who knew a car couldn't fit through those things?"
"Shut up, Ellis." said Nick, annoyed.
"Too bad we had to kill him though." said Coach.
Suddenly, as if by divine intervention, the car broke down. The three piled out of the car to take a look at it.
"I wonder why we broke down... if Jimmy Gibbs Jr. was driving, it wouldn't have broke down I bet!" said Ellis.
"Come on, Coach! You know... the bridge up ahead? Maybe it's made of chocolate! So let's get this thing running again, and get going!"
"You boys need a lift?" asked Drake, appearing with Duke from behind them.
"Whoa! Where'd you guys come from?" asked Ellis. "I ever tell you about the time my buddy Keith and I decided to jump out from behind the bushes at his grandma's house... man we didn't know nothing about heart attacks or anything... but."
"Shut up, Ellis." said Drake, stealing Nick's thunder. "Anyway... you three are looking for Rochelle, are you not?"
"Yeah! We are! How'd you know?" asked Ellis.
"One time my friend Duke here and I were talking, and he told me about Tartarus. Now I don't know anything about Tartarus... but it's apparently a tower. And it's tall. Towers tend to be that way. My friend is up there. And so is yours. Now if you want to come with us, that's fine. Or you could stay here I suppose."
"Let's go!" said Ellis. "Come on, bro! We can climb that tower, and save Rochelle!"
"I suppose we don't have a choice if we want to repopulate the earth. You're not going to make me go alone with the little guy... are ya, Coach?"
Coach thought for a moment.
"The tower might be made of chocolate! You never know..."
With that, Duke opened up the portal, and the three survivors went through. "Another job well done, Mr. Nukem. Now I'll take that lifetime supply of bubble gum off your hands if you'd like.."
"Thanks!" Duke said. "Man, Franny sure can be nice, but if I have gum, I can't kick ass... damn. It's a conundrum."
Nathan laughed. "Who knows... maybe I can sell it."
