Bullet, Zero, Fixit, Ralph, and Bugler may have gotten into the truck, but as soon as they entered the town, they became David, Mark, Fallon, Jada, and Billy.

They decided their real names wouldn't be exactly welcomed in the real world, so Zero borrowed a magazine from the convenient store and each of them picked out "town names" for themselves. Zero was David; Bullet was Mark; Fixit was Fallon; Ralph was Jada; and Bugler was Billy.
They each loved the names Max had given them, but they had one too many experiences with people who didn't feel the same.

"Out you go." Zero said as he pulled up in front of Bugler's school. Bugler hopped out and Zero handed him his lunch. "Remember Billy, don't show off."

Bugler nodded and went inside the building with his classmates. Bugler was much more advanced than every other student in his grade, so the others had to remind him to take it easy.

First, Ralph was dropped off, then Fixit, then Zero and Bullet went to the convenient store. Zero locked the doors and followed Bullet inside.

"Hello boys."

"Hey Mr. Nugio." Bullet greeted the manager.

"David, I need you to stock some things in back." Mr. Nugio said. "And Mark, you can just man the counter."

"Right. I'll be back in a second." Zero said, clipping the small name plate to his working apron.

Bullet got behind the counter and just sat on the stool that was there. The store did good in business, but it wasn't popular. Bullet sat for about an hour when Ralph came into the store with her newspaper satchel.

"Wanna buy a paper, mister?" Ralph joked. Bullet just gave her a look and dug in his pocket for a quarter. He handed it to Ralph and she gave him a paper, which he opened and read the first page of immediately. "What's the headline?"

"Eyes Only." Bullet mumbled, reading the paper.

"Eyes Only?" Zero asked, joining the two.

"Yeah, he's got the headline." Bullet said.

"Why?" Zero asked.

"It's just something about him bringing down another monstrous bad guy drug ring." Bullet said.

"Right." Zero said. "He does that everyday practically. What's so special now?"

"It was the governor of Washington." Bullet said, still reading.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat about the great and powerful Eyes Only, but I gotta go deliver some more papers. See you guys." Ralph said and left the store.

"Eyes Only is really big leaguing it." Zero said. "Wasn't there a rumor that he upped his satellites so that he could transmit to Canada and some places in Mexico?"

"Why do you think we're here?" Bullet muttered, only loud enough for Zero to hear. "This is one of the places in Canada that gets the feeds. We want to be up to date."

"Right, got it." Zero said. "Well, I better get back to work."

Zero walked into the back and Bullet continued to read the paper until he heard the door open. He looked up from his paper and saw a blonde woman and dark haired man walk in.

"Krit!" The woman hissed under her breath not to be heard, but Bullet heard her anyway. "We aren't here for Cheetos."

"But they're so good, Syl." Krit said, holding up the bag. Syl rolled her eyes.

"Fine, get your Cheetos." Syl said and walked over to the bottled water.

They roamed the store for a few minutes, then walked up to the counter with their arms full. Bullet noticed they had a lot of the same food that he and the others had at home; it either didn't spoil easy or was to be eaten soon.

"Ten dollars and eighty-five cents." Bullet said. Syl paid him and he bagged the food.

"Syl, look." Krit said, pointing to the front page of the paper.

"What?" Syl asked, then looked herself. "Oh."

"Can I just read this?" Krit asked. Bullet nodded and Krit picked up the paper. It only took him about five minutes to finish, then he gave the paper back to Bullet. "Thanks."

Krit and Syl walked out of the store, leaving Bullet a bit confused.


The day went by rather quickly, with a few customers here and there, and Zero and Bullet were relieved when at twelve, the two for the afternoon shift came in.

"We've got to pick up Ralph." Zero said as he and Bullet got into the truck. Bullet nodded and Zero drove off. They picked up Ralph, then Fixit, then they stopped at a deli for some lunch.

"Four ham and cheese sandwiches and four Cokes." Fixit ordered. The man got their food and Fixit paid him. She handed out the food and they all decided to sit inside to eat.

"When we're done, we'll have to pick up Billy." Ralph said.

"Hey, do you guys ever wish that, ya know, we were in school?" Bullet asked.

"Sometimes." Zero said. "But then we wouldn't have any money, so..."

"Hey! It's an Eyes Only broadcast!" Fixit exclaimed and pointed to the TV that was mounted on the wall.

"Can't hear it." Ralph said.

"The sound hasn't worked on that TV for months." The man behind the counter explained. Fixit jumped from her seat and played around with the wires until they could hear. "Amazing."

"It's a gift." Fixit said and moved so she could see the screen.

"...This is a message to all those who escaped Manticore. The man known as White has moved operations to California. Sources have told me he will remain there for one month at the least. Though White is in California, he still controls points all over the nation, some in Canada, and some in Mexico. Be careful out there..." The sound went out again, but they had gotten the information they needed. The screen went back to an old Cops episode.

"So, the threat is down." Zero whispered.

"You heard him." Ralph said. "There are still some out there."

"Time to pick up Billy." Bullet said, tapping Zero's watch.


A/N: More to come.... as soon as I write it. Some of chapter three already done, so... =)