Chapter 3: The Box Car

"Thank god that's over." I said as Hazel and I walked on the catwalk to another car.

I was feeling a bit impatient at the moment. The car we just came from was pretty much just a giant game of chess with huge white and black stone pieces that we had to command to move. The game itself dragged on for a while and I was already a bit antsy. In fact, halfway through the game I just started to pace near the exit while Hazel took charge. We left promptly after she won.

"So..." Hazel started, "Has your number gone down at all?"

I briefly looked at my palm as I walked forward. My number was still at 274.

"Nope, same as always." I said dismissively.

"Y'know, these cars are designed to help passengers, maybe you shouldn't try to rush through them?" she said.

"I have to rush, I don't wanna waste any time."

"Look, I get it, but even if we find Emily, you'd still have to get both of your numbers down anyway."

Me and Hazel have been traveling for a couple days now, and in that time she's told a lot about the train and its workings. She told me how the whole train is managed by a robot named One and how this place acts as a form of therapy for the passengers, letting them grow as people. She also told me that our numbers show our progress on becoming better, and when it hits zero we are sent home. She also mentioned that the numbers are supposed to be green and that she's never seen a blue one like mine before.

"I'm not worried about my number right now. There's no point if it goes down before we find Emily, I do not plan on leaving without her."

"Alright, point taken. But still."

After reaching the door, I turned the handle and opened it up. Stepping inside I saw a small open grassy area lined with walls of cardboard boxes resting along both sides of a dirt path going forward. As we stepped in, Hazel and I had very different reactions. Hazel seemed in awe of this place, like she was impressed or fascinated. Me on the other hand, I let out an annoyed sigh as I noticed the path at some point started to curve to the right.

"Oh no, please don't be a maze."

"Hey don't worry, it probably leads straight to the exit," Hazel said walking ahead, "Besides even if it doesn't we'll get through soon enough. Just gotta follow the path."

"Agh, fine," I said, "let's just go already."

The path itself was like a canyon made of boxes. They were stacked neatly on top of each other reaching over fifty feet in height. Occasionally there'd be a stay box or two near the ground but aside from that, there was nothing in our way. Hazel marched forward while I impatiently followed behind her. I started to get a small headache as we walked.

"Again?" I asked quietly to myself.

I turned and sure enough, I saw what I could only describe as a vision. Walking next to us were two passengers, one a girl with dark skin and black hair in dreadlocks and a boy with pale skin and a blonde ponytail. Behind them was a blue gorilla with tubas on it's back, carrying that same little girl I saw previously. The gorilla and the girl were singing a song together.

"Don't be a worry baby, no need to hurry baby, when you're with me," The gorilla started.

"Just take it easy-peasy," the girl continued, "my little lemon squeezy, cause you're with me."

After that, the group faded away. Ever since that desert car I've been having visions like that all the time. Most of which involved Mom and Dad, or that group I just saw. I saw them sometimes when we travel but also in my dreams. Also since I've had zero control over them, they've been completely random and didn't really tell me anything.

I've seen things like Mom buying a hoodie from a goblin man, the two passengers having a snowball fight with the girl and the gorilla, and the same group running away from another passenger with a number all the way up to her neck. I noticed that the gorilla was absent in that one. Even though I've been having these visions for a while now, I haven't told Hazel about them yet.

After a bit, the path led us to a fairly open clearing with a couple trees, a small pond. a few boxes in the center stacked poorly up to look like walls, and six ways to go ahead of us. The path branched out into each of them.

"Just follow the path huh?" I asked Hazel in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh well, looks like we should just explore them." she said gesturing ahead.

I just glared unamused at her for a moment. I was not in the mood for the train's games right now, and Hazel knew it too. She ultimately sighed.

"Alright, alright," she said as she pulled a tablet from her bag, "I'll try and scan the car for the exit. This may take a while though."

I let out a sigh of my own before walking to the center of the clearing and sitting on the makeshift wall. I sat there for a few minutes feeling very impatient. I would've pulled out my phone but I didn't have any games on it, plus there was no signal on the train so there'd be little to no point.

"How long is that gonna take exactly?" I asked.

"A while, It's not gonna be instant Meg. Maybe you should take a breath and admire our surroundings."

I turned to her ready to say something, but decided there'd be no point arguing with her. I took her advice and took a long breath, then when I looked around again I noticed a few things. I noticed that the trees were made of little packages for the trunks and green letters for the leaves, I saw that the water from the pond was spilling from an open box high up on the canyon wall.

And finally I noticed that just a few feet away from me, there was a dog sleeping right next to the wall I was sitting on. It was a corgi with dark brown and white fur curled up sleeping soundly. The more I looked at it, the more I wanted to pet it.

I turned away and crossed my arms, not wanting to get any more off track, but I couldn't help but glance back at the dog every now and then, physically debating whether or not to pet it. After hesitating for a good minute, I started to quietly scoot closer to the dog. When I was about a foot or two away, the corgi opened its eyes and let out a yawn, then looked over at me.

"Hey buddy." I said trying not to scare it.

I calmly reached my hand over until something happened that practically made me jump away while kicking a box out of place from the wall.

"Cease your pet this instant!" spoke the dog, "I shall not allow myself to be groomed by a peasant."

"What the!?" I yelled.

"You alright over there Meg?" Hazel asked worried.

"Y- yeah I just found a… talking dog."

"I beg your pardon?" said the dog looking insulted. "I am no mere dog. I am Lincoln, King of Boxinia, and you are intruding upon my castle."

"Uh, sorry king... dog, I was just trying to… hang on." I said looking at the cardboard walls. "This is a castle?"

"Indeed, and I would have you vacate from it before I throw you in the dungeon." Lincoln said gesturing to an average sized open box in the corner.

"Forgive us your majesty," Hazel said as she walked up, "My name is Hazel and this is Meg, we were simply looking for the exit. You wouldn't happen to know which direction it is would you?"

"Hmm." Lincoln put a paw under his chin, "Well at least one of you has proper edicate. You should discipline your servant more, tall one." he said with a snicker.

"Excuse me? I am not a servant!"

"In any case, I know of the exit you speak of, and I suppose I could show you the way. However the shorter one must first serve for her vandalism to my kingdom."

Lincoln pointed with his paw to the box I accidentally kicked from the wall.

"Are you serious?" I asked impatiently.

"Quite serious, in my home land vandalism is a crime punishable by twenty minutes in the carrying cage. You're lucky I'm feeling merciful today."

"I don't have time for this." I said as I walked off. Hazel quickly caught up.

"Now hang on." Hazel said, now standing in front of me, "Maybe you should help him out, I mean you did mess up his wall."

"Oh come on not you too, first off it would literally take zero effort to put that box back into place, and second I'm not wasting any more time with this dog. He's not even real."

Hazel told me about the denizens too. How they are made by the train to act as guides or obstacles for the passengers. Unfortunately with that description, I didn't really see them as living beings yet.

Hazel looked at me in disbelief, like she couldn't believe what I just said. I didn't understand it at the time, but Hazel was incredibly disappointed in me then. After a moment a calming smile returned to her face.

"How bout this? I'll keep looking for the exit, while you help King Lincoln. You did say It'd take zero effort right? Besides it's better than just sitting on some boxes moping all day."

"I…" I didn't like it, but she had a point, "Okay fine, just hurry please."

Hazel gave me a nod before walking down the first path with her tablet.

As Hazel left, I walked back to the poorly built castle.

"Alright king dog, what do I have to do?" I asked unenthused.

"That's King Lincoln to you, and firstly you shall undo the damage you caused to the wall."

I walked over to the box I kicked out and placed it back quickly.

"There, is that it?"

"Not in the slightest, you still have a debt to pay to Boxinia, Shorter one, and you will pay it before the day is done. Now come, follow me." Lincoln said as he walked over to the sixth pathway.

I already didn't want to help, and Lincoln was not making it better, but I begrudgingly followed him as he led me down another canyon like path. At some point we came across a slightly bigger clearing with a gigantic pile of boxes in the center. It was a dead end past the boxes.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Allow me to explain. The walls of my castle were crafted from the material from this very pile. Unfortunately the process of transporting them has been... slow, to say the least. But with you, I believe my castle can achieve its full glory."

"Let me get this straight, you want me to carry a ton of boxes over just to build your cardboard castle?" I asked annoyed.

"Indeed. Now allow me to find some suitable material to start."

As Lincoln walked off, I thought to myself as I stood with crossed arms.

'Why am I putting up with this? None of this matters, I should be looking for Emily not playing with these stupid boxes.'

I looked down at one of the boxes near the bottom of the pile.

"What's even in these anyway?" I asked.

I crouched down to the box to open it up and pulled something out. I was completely surprised because the thing I pulled out was a wall mirror that was twice as tall as the box it came from.

"How in the…"

I placed the mirror upright against the pile and got down on my knees to look into it.

"I guess these boxes are just filled with completely random things. Man this train is weird."

I spent a minute staring at my reflection.

"What am I even doing? I bet I could've found the exit on my own by now, so why am I-"

Before I could go on Lincoln returned.

"Shorter one, I have found an appropriate starting box to…"

Suddenly Lincoln looked shocked, like he just saw a ghost or something. But then he looked incredibly angry. He bared his teeth and started to snarl. I took a step back as Lincoln stared daggers in my direction.

"W- whoa, easy b-"

Without warning Lincoln charged forward and started barking toward me, taking me completely off guard.

"Easy, easy!" I said panicked with my arms out.

It didn't matter what I said, there was no stopping him. He sprinted toward me until suddenly…

He made a beeline for the mirror. I stood confused as Lincoln just started barking into the reflecting surface.

"Uh… you okay Lincoln?"

"Shorter one, a demon has stolen my royal appearance!" he said between its barks, "Once before I battled it at the drinking pond, but now it has returned!"

To be honest, I found it pretty funny seeing Lincoln act like this. It made sense though, denizen or not, he's still a dog. I tried to hold back laughing, but I was failing a little bit. I accidentally let out a few chuckles as I held my hand to my mouth.

"This is no laughing matter Shorter one, help me vanquish the demon."

"Okay, okay, sorry." I said calming myself, "Here."

I grabbed the top of the mirror and quickly flipped around, obscuring it's reflective side.

"Incredible! You have defeated the demon. Forgive me, I was not aware of your might. In fact," He said with a paw up to his chin, "That gives me a thought. That can wait however, for now let us continue building my castle."

About an hour or two passes, and I've been taking boxes from the clearing to Lincoln's wall. And after a while, It started to look like something fit for a king, even if it was made of cardboard. The walls were now five boxes high with a few at the top made to look like castle walls, there was a little entrance at the front for Lincoln and inside was an open box sitting on it's side for him to sleep in.

"This castle is everything I could've hoped for, and I have you to thank for it… uh…"

"Meg." I reminded. I think I would've been annoyed at that question earlier, but ever since the thing with the mirror I've really come around to Lincoln.

"Right Meg, I have you to thank. That is why I've decided from henceforth you shall be recognised as squire to the kingdom."

I felt honored but couldn't help but wonder.

"A squire? Not a knight?"

"Heavens no, knights go through extensive training to earn that title. However do not despair, a squire is only a notch down from a knight."

"Well that's better than nothing I guess, so does this mean I've repaid my debt?"

"You have…" he said, "But I must ask something of you before your departure."

"I thought you said you'd take us to the exit?"

"I did, and you do not have to accept this request, but I beg of you to hear my plea."

I sighed before answering.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"Thank you." Lincoln turned and looked into the distance as he continued, "You see, some nights ago something appeared in this land, and made it's residence in a cave down one of these paths."

"What is it?"

"A terrifying creature with an elongated snout, gigantic horns, and hardened black paws. I do not know the intent of this creature, but it cannot be pleasant." I started to get a bit nervous as he described it, "I fear for my kingdom, that is why I ask, no beg of you to aid in slaying the beast."

Lincoln turned to me again with a determined look.

"Will you help me?"

"I… well maybe we should wait for Hazel, I meant I bet she could…" I lost my train of thought. Lincoln started to look at me in a more sad way. He was giving me literal puppy dog eyes. "I… I'll see what I can do."

This made Lincoln thrilled.

"You have my gratitude. Now we mustn't dally, the beast awaits. Come squire."

"Wait, now?"

Later, Lincoln and I were traveling down the fifth path to the supposive cave he mentioned. The canyon walls were a bit different from the sixth path. These boxes looked like they were stacked up far more lazily than the others. I followed behind as Lincoln marched forward, and I was honestly feeling pretty nervous. I had no clue how I'd slay the creature let alone stop it. I couldn't shake the feeling so I tried distracting myself from it.

"So, Lincoln, you mentioned your home land earlier, is this not the car you're from?"

Lincoln shook his head.

"No, I hail from a land known as Corginia, a wonderful kingdom I assure you… at least I hope it still is."

"What do you mean?" I asked intrigued.

"You see my brother, Atticus III, obtained the throne and ruled Corginia with an iron grip. He constantly misused his power and even banished me from my home for going against his will. Now I am the ruler of this land."

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about that young one, it wasn't your doing."

"But, haven't you ever wanted to go back?"

"The thought has crossed my mind on occasion, but nay. There would be no point to it. I am no longer welcome."

Just then the entrance in the back canyon wall came into view.

"Ah, the cave!" Lincoln said as he hurried ahead. I hurried with him.

"This is it," he said, "Your time to shine is at hand, my squire."

I stood at the cave entrance unable to shake off the nervousness. I just stared into the darkness until I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I walked forward and when I was a few meters in, I noticed Lincoln was not with me. I turned around and saw him still idling at the entrance.

"Good luck, my brave squire!" He cheered.

I just looked at him with a deadpan expression before continuing forward. The cave itself was made of more cardboard boxes stuck together to make the walls and ceiling. It was dark and it started to get more narrow as I went. It was completely silent so all I could hear was my footsteps and my currently fast heartbeats. I had no idea what I was doing and I was incredibly scared of what awaited me at the end of this tunnel. Then I was suddenly startled when I began to hear crunching ahead of me. It sounded like the beast was eating something.

The fact I could hear it meant I was close. After a moment I continued walking until I came across something. The tunnel led to a small cavern being lit up by a beam of light coming from a hole in the ceiling. There were orange leaves pouring out of a box in the back onto the ground which was completely covered with them.

And finally I saw it. The creature sat in the center of the cavern eating the leaves, and when I saw it I instantly knew it was…

"A deer?"

'Meg's certainly taking a while,' I thought to myself. 'I hope she's doing alright.'

I was currently in a small clearing down the third pathway, sitting on a stool that I found in a box. As I sipped out of a thermos filled with hot cocoa, I looked over at the red door with a gold handle. I had already found the exit after about ten minutes of looking.

'I know she'll be annoyed, but it's for her own good. This train is for personal growth, and Meg can't grow if we skip every car. I don't know what she needs to learn, but it can't just be finding her friend.'

Just then I heard a beep coming from my tablet. I put my thermos down and pulled the tablet out of my bag. On the screen was an incomplete progress bar with an X over it. Above the bar read "Analysis failed."

"Again?" I asked. I know I never used this function before but I couldn't understand why it kept failing.

"The hell? Amelia's done this sort of thing hundreds of times, what's so hard about analyzing th-"

Suddenly I heard the handle of the exit door shift. I turned and saw the car door begin to open.

The deer and I locked eyes and stared at each other for a good minute. The deer out of curiosity, and me in disbelief. Afterwards the deer turned its attention back to the leaves.

"A… freakin… deer. That's the terrifying creature Lincoln is so worried about?" I asked, starting to get annoyed again, "You have got to be kidding me?"

"Squire." Lincoln said from the entrance, "Have you vanquished the beast? Also are you still alive?"

"Yes I'm still alive!" I yelled back the way I came, "As for the "Beast" come look for yourself."

After a minute Lincoln entered the cavern.

"Ah, the beast's lair, although it is not here at the moment, you have still secured the area. Excellent work."

"What? Not here?" I looked back, and the deer was gone. "But… It was just-"

"Now you must guard this spot, I shall retrieve your companion so we may set up an ambush."

Lincoln sped off, leaving me totally confused.

"It was just here," I said as I walked toward the center of the leaves, "Where the heck did it-"

Suddenly I tripped on something that I couldn't see and fell into the leaves, leaving my legs suspended in the air. Then the deer appeared in the empty space between my feet and the ground.

"You can turn invisible..." I said face first in leaves before getting up, "Of course you can turn invisible, cause why not?"

I looked down at the deer as it continued to munch on leaves feeling seriously irritated.

"You couldn't even stick around long enough so I could tell him off?"

It just continued to chew. Without a response I just turned around and slumped down next to the deer.

"This is so stupid. I can't believe I was even worried for that stupid dog, for god's sake he's not even a real dog. Just a fake denizen thing made by the trai- Agh!"

Just then I felt a sharp pain in my head. I held my hand up to it as it continued to hurt for what felt like a long time. When the pain eventually stopped I opened my eyes and saw that me and the deer were in a completely different area. We were now on top of a hill in a lush landscape, with a variety of meadows and a river. There was a village in the distance with buildings that looked like they were greek or something. Just outside the village there was a freshly dug up hole with tons of bones in it. On the hill with us was a large group of corgis and a smaller group of big turtles circled around two corgis in front of an open train door. One of them looked younger than the other.

The younger corgi had dark brown and white fur and had dirt covered paws, and the second older one had golden yellow and white fur and wore a red and silver crown.

"And for the desecration and attempted theft of the royal treasury," the yellow furred dog spoke. "I, Atticus III, King of Corginia, and royal aid to the turtle folk, have no choice but to banish you Prince Lincoln from our kingdom."

"Those bones weren't meant to sit in the ground brother," Lincoln protested, "They were meant to be chewed on and played with by all."

"Those bones are artifacts discovered by our ancestors, not play things for your amusement. You only dug them up for yourself."

Lincoln stepped closer to Atticus.

"Don't do this Atticus, we're brothers."

Atticus turned away with a sad look.

"I'm sorry brother, I have no choice."

Lincoln looked hurt, but then had a more angry look.

"Damn you Atticus, I hope to never see you again!" Lincoln said with venom in his words as he bolted out of the car, leaving the king with a tear running down his snout.

The scene shifted to just outside the door and showed Lincoln curled up against the door whimpering to himself. Seeing this unfold broke my heart. Up until now I only thought denizens were just machines made by the train, but I was so wrong.

The area around us returned to normal and we were back in the cavern with the leaves. I sat next to the deer with tears of my own running down my face. I felt horrible.

I've been rude and impatient to Hazel and Lincoln this whole time just because I'm in such a hurry to find Emily. She might not even be on this train and I've been treating everything and everyone here like they aren't important. But they are important, they are beings with goals and emotions just like me.

"I'm such a jerk." I said with a sniffle.

I closed my eyes and just sat there starting to cry, until I felt something on my face. I looked and the deer was trying to lick up my tears, it actually kinda tickled.

"Hey, c- cut it out." I said giggling a bit.

The deer continued as I started laughing while trying to get him to stop, and eventually he did. My tears had stopped and I was feeling better.

"You know what deer? You're alright." I said as I reached out a hand to pet him.

He didn't stop me so I brushed his head softly as he continued to eat the leaves. When I brought my hand back I noticed something different about it. I looked at my palm and saw that my number had gone down. It was now at 239.

"Hey, my number went down. I guess that a good thing huh d-?"

Just then I heard pattering coming from the cave entrance. The deer heard it too and turned invisible again. Shortly after, Lincoln had returned.

"Brave squire, you must come at once." Lincoln said sounding slightly panicked, "Three invaders have entered this land and your companion is facing off with them."

"What!?" I said instantly standing up.

"Quickly, follow me."

With that Lincoln and I sped out of the cavern and back down the canyon.

"Lincoln what happened?" I asked as I rushed behind him.

"I was on my way to relay your success to the taller one, but when I found her she was in an argument with three others. I believed she could use your assistance."

"But what can I do to help?"

"Whatever do you mean squire? Just today you had vanquished that demon. I have no doubt you can stand against merely three enemies."

"No Lincoln, that wasn't a-"

Suddenly there was a loud booming sound that came from our right that caused all the boxes near us to shake. In front of us the canyon wall started to collapse.

"Look out!" Lincoln exclaimed as he stopped me by shoving me to the ground

As I sat up I watched as countless boxes fell from the walls and created a huge pile between us and the path forward. A lot of the boxes opened upon impact and let out a bunch of random things. One had a plate of about a baker's dozen of cupcakes, another had a full anvil, and least helpful of all, one of them had enough wet cement to fill a bus. Unfortunately that box opened near the top of the pile so the entire pile of boxes was now covered in hardening cement. Lincoln and I just stared at the pile.

"Curses!" Lincoln said. "There has to be an alternate route."

"You know this car right?" I asked, "Is there another way back through the cave?"

"Truthfully I do not know, I was never brave enough to venture it with the…" Lincoln stopped as he noticed something behind us. "The beast!"

I turned around and saw the deer walking toward us.

"Quickly squire, defeat the beast before it can attack."

"No no no, wait Lincoln he's not like that."

The deer came closer.

"Have at thee!" Lincoln challenged as he prepared to attack.

The deer continued, and walked right past us.

"Uh… beast?"

"See Lincoln, he's just a regular old-" I started to say before the deer started to glow red.

As the deer walked forward he started to glow brighter and brighter, so much so that I started feeling heat coming from him. The deer literally started walking through the pile of boxes and concrete, hardening it as he went. Soon there was a deer shaped hole leading safely to the other side. Lincoln and I were speechless.

"...Deer." I finally finished.

We went through the hole and followed the deer to the original clearing. Unfortunately that boom from earlier didn't just make those canyon walls fall, it also made Lincoln's new castle collapse. As the deer walked over to drink from the pond, Lincoln stood in front of the pile of boxes.

"This… this is a sad day for Boxinia."

"Lincoln, it's okay, I can help fix it later for you, but we need to help Hazel first."

Lincoln wiped his eyes before he turned to me and gave me a nod.

"Of course, this way."

Lincoln led me down the third path where after a bit, we found Hazel standing across from three passengers in front of the open exit door. The boxes stacked around them looked like they were now loose and there was a small creator against the leftmost wall.

The passengers were all teenagers in casual looking clothes with strange armor over them. They wore sneakers, jeans, loose fitted shirts, and makeshift vests made of leather and metal with a couple wires and little wheels. Each of them had a red symbol in the shape of an A somewhere on their outfits, and a wavy red line painted on their faces. Each of their numbers reached past their wrists.

"I said I'm sorry alright!?" One of the passengers yelled to another, "How the hell was I supposed to know there'd be lit dynamite in one of these?"

"Because we're supposed to expect these things." The one in the center said, "Who trained you for god's sake."

"The three of you are destroying this car!" Hazel yelled, "After everything, I can't believe Grace would allow this sort of behavior from her group."

The three passengers turned their attention to Hazel with confused looks.

"Grace?" said the middle one, "Who the hell is that?"

Suddenly the middle passenger noticed me, and then a smug expression grew on his face.

"More importantly, who do we have here?" He said walking over.

"Meg?" Hazel said, noticing me as well.

The passenger walked right past Hazel and stood in front of me. He was a boy with short black hair and eyes with his number halfway up his forearm.

"Meg, huh? What a pretty name."

I immediately saw what this guy was doing, and I was not amused. I crossed my arms as he continued.

"So, Meg, how'd you like to come with me back to the Apex?"

"David, what are you doing man?" asked one his friends, "We got a mission t-"

"Just give me a sec dude, I'm working my charm h…" David started to say before he noticed the blue glow under my hand. "Uh… what's with your… Er, nevermind. Anyway, whaddya say babe?"

"I'd say you're wasting your breath, I'm into girls."

"Oh, nevermind." He said as he walked back.

Even if I wasn't gay, I'd say I made the right choice there. Cause he didn't sound disappointed or anything. He acted as if I was wasting his time.

"Well whatever," David said before picking up a box and addressing the other passengers, "C'mon boys, we still got a job to do."

The other two joined in and began to rifle through the boxes until Hazel interrupted them.

"I don't think so. You three need to leave this car immediately."

The two other passengers glared at Hazel, while David on the other hand looked amused.

"Oh yeah?" Who's gonna make us lady, you? As if. I've got something in my pocket that makes me untouchable." he boasted as he raised his hands behind his head.

Around us sat some already opened boxes, including a box filled with a bunch of stones. I decided to test David's claim by picking up a rock and throwing it in his direction. I was aiming for his face, but the rock hit a little lower than what I was going for. To be honest though I was just as satisfied, if not more. With a look of unimaginable pain, David crumpled to his knees as he held his hands over his more sensitive area.

"Whoa, David are you alright?" Asked one of the other passengers.

"Yeah! I'm just peachy!" he screeched.

After a moment, David got up and pulled something out of his pocket. He stared at it angrily as he clutched it in his hand.

"Damn thing is broken!" he said before slamming the thing to the ground.

"I'm not sure what you were expecting man." the second passenger asked.

"I expected it to frickin work!" David then looked to us again. "It doesn't matter, we have a job to do and you guys aren't gonna-"

Just then all three of the passengers were now staring at something behind us looking incredibly frightened. Confused, I turned to see what scared them so much, but all I saw was the deer. He must have followed us after getting a drink from the pond. Although as I was turning it almost looked like he had changed from something else. I turned back and the three passengers, who looked a lot paler, just ran out of the car before using devices on their armor to grapple up to the top of the next car.

"Huh…" Hazel said, "Well that was easier than I thought."

"I guess the deer scared them away somehow. Hey good job de…" I turned to praise him, but when I looked, the deer was gone. "Deer? Where'd he go?"

"He must have returned to his lair." Lincoln reasoned. "But do not fret, I'm sure our new friend is just fine."

"Wait," I asked surprised, "Are you okay with the deer now?"

"Indeed, he aided us in our time of need and even scared away the intruders. In my eyes he is an ally to my kingdom."

I gave him a smile. I was glad to know they would get along without me.

"Now my dear squire, it is time for me to say goodbye. I know you offered to help once again, but you have helped me tremendously as it is, and I thank you for that. I wish you luck on your journey."

"Thank you Lincoln, It was my pleasure."

I then remembered the vision I had in the cavern

"But before we go, I just wanted to say, that we all make mistakes in our lives Lincoln, but it's never too late to learn from them and become better. We can't change the past, but we can decide who we are now."

I saw Hazel out of the corner of my eye, and she was smiling at me.

"I…" Lincoln began, "...Thank you my sq… Thank you Meg, you've given me much to ponder. I wish you both safe travels."

I kneeled down and reached a hand forward. Lincoln looked at it for a moment before tilting his head down with a smile. I gave him a soft pet before getting back up.

"Goodbye." Lincoln then started walking back to the clearing as Hazel and I watched him from the exit.

"I take it you learned something today?" Hazel asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah."

"I'm glad."

Before Lincoln was out of sight, he turned to us again, and I gave him a wave.

"I guess we should move on then." Hazel said walking to the exit.

"Right, let's get mov-"

As I turned to follow Hazel, my boot had bumped into the thing David had thrown on the ground. Now that I got a better look at it, I couldn't believe what it was. I got to my knees and stared at it in my hands. Hazel noticed I wasn't following.

"Meg," she said turning to me, "Meg, are you…"

"It… can't be..."

In my hands was a dented metal cube that had a little switch and a panel with wire sticking out of it. Without a doubt, I was holding Emily's science fair project, and that meant…

"She is here…" I said shocked, "Emily's on the train."

"That was the worst supply run of all time." one of my fellow Apex members stated.

"We are so dead." said the other.

We had just got back and were now on the bridge across from the car the Apex calls home.

"We'll be fine, I'm sure they'll understand." I said with fake confidence.

"We are so dead." He repeated.

"Billy, will you can it already? Alex managed to grab a box-"

"After we ran away!" interrupted Billy.

"Shut up!" I yelled, "We retreated. We were outnumbered and retreated."

"Mono doesn't want cowards in the Apex David, you know that." chimed in Alex as we arrived at the car door.

"Will you guys frickin relax?" I said as I started to open it, "Just let me do the explaining okay?"

"And what do you need to explain, David?" said a deeper voice.

Everyone in the Apex knew that voice all too well. I turned to look in the open doorway only to feel a chill run down my spine. Standing before us was a man wearing boots, jeans, a metal breastplate with the Apex symbol on the side, a torn up black cloak, and a white mask with cracks and our mark on it. His number traveled all the way up into his cloak. This man was none other than the leader of the Apex, Mono.

"That doesn't look like a lot of supplies boys." a woman's voice spoke from behind him.

Just past Mono stood a woman with tall black boots, jean shorts, a dark red jacket with armor underneath, and dark brown hair. The front of her hair dropped down just below her chin while the back was cut shorter and kinda spiked out a bit. This woman was Mono's right hand, Shay.

"No wait Leader Mono, we did come back with a box, see!" I said taking the box from Alex and showing it to Mono.

As the box opened my hopes for survival were suddenly gone, because inside were nothing but a bunch of multicolored bouncy balls.

'I'm so dead.' I thought to myself.

"Oh boy." said Shay, Knowing what was about to happen.

Mono just glared down at me in silence.

"Wait, It's not my fault! There was this monster deer null thing and two other passengers. One girl with a blue number even threw a rock at my-"

Suddenly Mono slapped the box out of my hands causing all of the balls to fall into the tracks. Mono then grabbed me by the collar and lifted me closer to his masked face.

"I don't want your excuses. I want strength for the Apex, and you three-"

"Hang on Mono," Shay asked, gaining our attention, "Did he just say a blue number?"

Mono turned to me again, awaiting my answer.

"Um… yes?"