Hey guys, here's the new chapter. Sorry it took a few days but things have gotten hectic in my tiny little part of the world, so I had to deal with it first. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Before you start reading, I just want to mention geocities.com/gabesfanfics/comingsoon. On that page are banners and summaries of fics I have in the works. I'd love it if some of you would check it out and tell me which ones you would like to see next, by leaving me a message in a review or emailing me at ExiledSarcasm@aol.com. Anyway, here's the chapter, read and enjoy.

"They're already here."

Everyone in the room felt their hearts stop beating. The only thing that could be heard was the furious knocking at the door. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to say something, but no one was going to speak. The pounding continued for a few more seconds that lasted for hours in the minds of the people inside. Then, it completely stopped.

Ross shook his head, "That can't be good." He looked back to Joey, who's skin was paler than Ross had ever seen it before. "I think we should all move to the bedroom. The one window is pretty small, none of them could fit through it. We could board it up, and we can put the dresser in front of the door. We've got the TV, we can wait it out." He ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to think, but unable to get passed the knocking still echoing in his head. "Joey, help Chandler into the bedroom." Ross didn't wait for a response He began giving out orders, while walking towards the closet in the back of the house. Joey only nodded and started helping Chandler.

His voice wasn't harsh, or loud, or even demanding. It was dreadful. Ross Gellar, one of the most articulate in the world, was almost mumbling. His friends watched and listened, unable to argue with any of his requests. It suddenly seemed that Ross Gellar was out of hope. It became clear to them all that he didn't think they were going to make it through the night. His voice gave it all away. He was silently asking, "What's the point of fighting?"

He opened the closet door. He began ruffling through the closet, before the object of his search was visible. He had pulled out his golf clubs. "Everybody grab one." Joey walked out of the bedroom, where he had just escorted Chandler, and headed towards the golf bag. "Rachel, take one for yourself and take one into the bedroom for Chandler. I'm gonna guard the door. Joey, guard the windows by the balcony." Joey nodded solemnly, and walked towards his post, keeping his watchful eyes alert to everything outside the thin glass.

Ross began walking towards the door. "Pheebs, hun, head to the bathroom, grab some toilet paper and any other hygiene products we might need for the next few days." He sighed. "And a bucket. We're gonna need a toilet." Everyone cringed after thinking about it, but no one had any objections. "Monica, start grabbing as much food and drinks as you can and take it to the bedroom. Rachel can help you out." Glass was heard breaking in the apartment above them, followed by a loud thump. "Let's hurry."

Footsteps were clearly heard on the floor above them. Several pairs of feet were shuffling around, knocking things over and kicking down doors. Everyone in the apartment moved silently, mechanically, doing their job as quick as possible. Phoebe had carted most everything she could think of into the bedroom, and was now helping Monica and Rachel carry the food.

"Guys," Joey's eyes caught a pair of legs, barely hanging down into his vision. "Let's make this the last trip. Grab everything you can." The girls gathered as much as they could carry, and headed into the bedroom. Ross grabbed the cordless phone, along with as much food as he could carry, before making his way into the bedroom. Joey was the last one inside, and he quickly closed the door behind him.

Ross and Joey moved to the end of the dresser that sat against the bedroom wall. Ross calmly spoke, "One, two, three." Simultaneously, the two men began pushing as hard as they could, sending the large, heavy piece of furniture to it's new location in front of the door. Both backed off it, slightly out of breath. Ross nodded, "That should do us for now." He clasped his hands together as he thought about what to do next, when he suddenly noticed something. "Oh my god."

"What?" Phoebe was quick to respond. Everyone was so jumpy lately, the slightest surprises seemed to be heart stoppers.

Ross glanced down at his hands, "The blue. It's gone." His eyes ran over his palms, where the remnants of the blue poison once were evident. Everyone except Chandler, who was stuck on the bed, came over to look. And sure enough, it was gone. Ross sighed, "I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing."

Rachel smiled up at Ross, "I bet it's a good thing." She nodded and walked over to where Chandler was resting. "Chandler, brace yourself for a second, I'm going to check you're wound." Chandler nodded and prepared for pain. Anytime someone touched his wound, he felt the effects for hours. He bit down on his bottom lip as Rachel slowly lifted up his shirt. The site was startling.

Chandler's blue hadn't disappeared, far from it. It had expanded to such a degree that most of Chandler's left side was covered in a light blue tint. Rachel took a step back, trying her best to tear her eyes away from the blue, but wasn't able to. Chandler could tell instantly something was wrong, but was too busy dealing with the pain to look. He managed to grunt out, "What is it?"

But no one wanted to answer. The sight was bad enough to make Joey wish he was blind. His best friend lied before him, sprawled out in pain, being eaten alive by something Joey couldn't begin to comprehend. He felt helpless. "Chandler? Do you feel any worse than you did before?"

"I'd say so." He mumbled out as his faced cringed from the pain. Chandler knew the pain would last a few more minutes, and he was silently praying that he would just pass out.

Joey figured most of his discomfort just came from Rachel touching his wound, and not the blue liquid spreading throughout his body. He exhaled and turned towards Ross. "This is bad. They said they guy from Baltimore didn't live 24 hours." Rachel's face dropped. She knew the situation was bad, but they had kept her away from the TV enough so that she didn't understand the seriousness of Chandler's problem. Joey swallowed hard, "Rach…"

She shook her head to stop him from talking, and walked to the corner of the room, sinking down onto the ground. Her face fell into her hands, as she sat there sobbing, trying to come to terms with everything. She scooted closer to where Chandler was lying. He was slowly but surely catching his breath. His eyes were closed, and he was too busy writhing in pain to hear what was going on. Rachel took his hand in hers, and tried her best not to cry.

The other four stood silent on the other side of the room. So much was happening so fast, and it was hard for them all to digest. But among all of the chaos and confusion of the last few hours, one thing was made painfully clear, their friend Chandler was dying, and they were running out of time.

Phoebe was the first to break the silence, with a barely audible whisper. "Maybe we should turn on the TV. See what new updates there are." They all nodded their approval and Monica walked towards the TV, clicking it on, and turning the volume up just loud enough to hear.

They have been sprouting up around the country, and the world, at an alarming rate. Lights have been reported in the sky in over 300 major cities around the world. At night they are clearly visible, but during the daylight hours these Unidentified Flying Objects are using some type of stealth technology, keeping them hidden in the sky. Government officials say no official contact has been made with the extraterrestrial beings, but until proven otherwise the United States Government is assuming these visitors are hostile.

Several of these aliens have been spotted around the country. Quite a few have been reported in New York City alone, and reports from the city support the government's hostile theory. No attacks have been reported as of now, and it is assumed that most residents are locked safely inside of their homes. A curfew has been in effect in the city for several hours, and is not scheduled to be lifted until noon tomorrow at the earliest.

The captured specimen in Washington has not helped scientists and military strategists find a major weakness, but preliminary reports do show that their bodies are physically just as sensitive as those of human beings, but still seem to be mentally superior. A press conference on the Baltimore police officer attack is scheduled to occur in a few minutes, and we'll take you there live when it happens…

"Looks like we still have some waiting to do." Monica commented as the TV flashed commercials across the screen. Even world changing news couldn't stop the networks from wanting to earn some advertising dollars.

"I hope they've figured out something. I can't take much more of this mystery." Phoebe sat down on the bed, careful not to cause Chandler any discomfort as he lied on the other side, talking to Rachel. She felt bad for them both, they were going through more before their marriage than most couples did during the duration of theirs. She couldn't imagine what would happen to Rachel if she lost Chandler.

Ross walked close to the bedroom door. "It's gotten awfully quiet out there. What do you think is going on?" Ross couldn't understand the creatures that were after him, and it drove him crazy. They were there, then they were gone. They were loud, then they were quiet. They were fighting, then they were running. They showed no consistency at all, and Ross couldn't stand it. He liked things simple, factual, or even probable, but constant spontaneity wasn't acceptable. He didn't know how could anyone succeed at anything without a plan of action, but the aliens seemed to be doing quite well.

The TV flashed the network's "Breaking News" logo across the screen as the commercial break ended. Monica glanced back at Rachel, "Honey, you might want to watch this." Rachel nodded and stood up, slowly walking away from Chandler and towards the TV. Monica turned up the volume and waited for the press conference to start. A short, bald man with thin black glasses stepped up to a small podium. A small curtain was draped behind him, with the John Hopkins logo behind it.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. As all of you know, a few hours ago a patient was brought into this hospital after being attacked by an extraterrestrial. The victim of the attack had a large cut on his chest, and was infected by a blue liquid that for the time being is being called "Lorenez," named after the police officer, Lt. Jonathon Lorenez, who has been infected with it. The damages of Lorenez have been heavily analyzed over the last few hours, and number of hypothesis have been developed. The main theories of these are blood clots, red cell damage, and heart stoppage.

However, as of 45 minutes ago, Lt. Jonathon Lorenez fell into a coma. He is in stable condition, almost in a state of complete hibernation. The blue stain of Lorenez has spread all across his body, evident on all of his skin except that on his face. Doctors are working hard to bring the lieutenant out of his coma, as are monitoring his progress carefully. We now recommend that if anyone is infected with Lorenez, they report immediately to a hospital. Life support systems will most likely be needed to keep you stable if a coma does occur. As of right now, that is all the information we have for you. I won't be answering any questions…

Monica turned the TV off, and stared back at her friends. "What do we do? There's no way we can get him to a hospital." The situation was grim. No one had any answers.

Ross stuck his hands in his pockets. He had been trying to play the role of leader, but he was running out of solutions. New problems were popping up before he had the chance to solve the old ones. "We just have to hope he lasts until tomorrow." Everyone's silence was taken as acceptance of Ross' judgement. "Someone should tell him what's going on."

Everyone's eyes went to Rachel. It only seemed appropriate that she give him the news. They knew it would be hard for her, but it was a moment the two of them were going to have to get through together. Rachel brought her hand to her face and cleared away the few stray tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "Ok. I'll do it." She took a deep breath, and walked back to where she had just been sitting with Chandler. The other four in the room huddled in the opposite corner, giving the couple as much privacy as possible.

Rachel kneeled down beside him. He was quiet now, his breath was steady, and he just seemed to be fighting the pain. He didn't know what everyone else was talking about, and he was in too much pain to care. He assumed that when Rachel came before him, tears in her eyes, the news couldn't be good.

"Chandler…I've got some bad news. These doctors in Baltimore…they've been looking over this man who has the same injury as you…and, well, the good news is so far it hasn't been deadly…"

Chandler nodded, "But…"

"But, the man is in a coma now. He fell into it less than an hour ago, and we think that's what's happening to you. The blue is spreading over your body pretty quickly, way faster than we all expected…" She squeezed his hand, "But it's going to be fine. You, are going to be fine. I promise. I know it's been a crazy night but we've got it all under control now, and if you can just stay with me until daylight…we're going to get you some help."

Chandler couldn't stand the sight of her crying. It tore him apart inside. He loved her more than he could put into words and in that very moment he couldn't put together the strength to hug her, kiss her, or even squeeze her hand. Slowly but surely he felt himself losing control of his body. He could see the fear in her eyes, the fear for him, and he had to look away. The physical pain he had been suffering was nothing compared to what watching her cry did to his heart.

"Just trust me Chandler."

"I do." Such simple words. Two words he planned on saying to her again someday.

He did trust her. He nodded his head, and closed his eyes to push back the tears. But when he tried to open his eyes again, he found that his eyelids would not separate. He felt a strange feeling overcome the tip of his toes, and winced as he felt it rise slowly up his body. Chandler Bing felt as if a cloud of darkness was descending upon him, like he was trapped in a windowless room that had no lights, and no one was around to help him out of it. The feeling climbed above his waste, past his stomach, and through his beating heart. He felt it rise through his neck, he managed to mumble, "Rach…" before he enhaled it through his nose, and he went numb as it passed over his eyes.

Rachel stared down at him, figuring he was going to finish his sentence, but the rest of it never came. She cocked her head to the side, and squeezed his hand, "Chandler?" His chest moved up and down steadily, a clear indication that he was still very much with them, but still she got no answer. "Chandler?"

Her four friends stood in the corner of the room, muffling their sobs, trying to be as silent as they could be. They all wanted to speak, to comfort her, but they couldn't find the words.

Chandler Bing was in a coma. No words were going to change that.

That's the end of the chapter, I hope everyone enjoyed it. Be a pal and drop me a review. If you want to be a bigger pal, check out geocities.com/gabesfanfics/comingsoon and check out my upcoming fics. Then drop me a line at ExiledSarcasm@aol.com and tell me which of them you want to see released after the conclusion of Hidden in the Sky. Anyway, thanks for reading! Review! And the next chapter will be out in a few days.