Hey everyone! I'm really sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, but I've been really busy these days. I've been doing summer school, which totally sux. Just one more week & I'll be OK. I've also been working on a new fic. I've already posted the first chapter, so be sure to check it out! Well, I'll let you get to readin' now....


Chapter 7:

5:00 pm- on the blimp; Joey's room.

Joey was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything he said to Rose & how much he hurt her. He felt so bad for making her cry, even though he didn't mean any of the hurtful things he said to her. He wished he could just take it all back, but he couldn't. The only thing he could do is talk to her & explain why he acted the way he did & said the things he said. He got up off his bed to go apologize to her & hopefully patch things up between them. He walked over to the door & opened it. To his surprise, Rose was already standing there in the doorway. Her eyes looked red from crying. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she was having trouble getting it out. Joey was kind of confused as to why she would be there, standing in his doorway. He, too, wanted to say something, but something was holding him back. He never did like being the being the first to admit he was wrong. Then, he realized he had to be the first one this time. He believed Rose had every right to say what she did & he was just being a jerk. He opened his mouth to say something, but Rose beat him to it.

"Joey..." she began. "I've been thinking about what you said and..."

Joey stopped her before she could continue. "Look, I didn't mean any of dat. I was just bein' a stupid jerk. I didn't realize that you were just under alot of stress." He paused for a moment. "I...I guess what I'm tryin' to say is...is.....umm..."

"I know your trying to apologize for what you said, but....I just came to tell you that everything you said was right. I have been selfish. Everytime you try to get me to tell you what's wrong with me, I refuse to tell you. I guess I'm just used to holding back my feelings & I'm not used to having anyone care for me as much as you do."

Joey took her hands into his. "Rose, can we just forget what we said to eachother earlier? I didn't mean any of what I said, whether I was right or not."

Rose looked at him with a sad expression on her face. "And I didn't mean any of what I said either. I was just stressed out about that thing & what happened to Serenity, and...." She covered her eyes with her hand as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. It still hurt her inside to even mention what has happened so far that day.

"I know." Joey pulled her close to him. She quickly hugged him for comfort. They just stood there for a moment, hugging eachother tightly. They finally let go of eachother & Joey looked at Rose & smiled. She somehow found a way to smile back at him. Joey then pulled her close again, but this time it was so he could kiss her. Rose put her arms around Joey's neck as she kissed him back. "You wanna come in?" Joey asked her between kisses.

"Yeah." She answered, keeping her arms around him. They walked into Joey's room as they continued to kiss. They closed & locked the door before making there way towards the bed...

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Meanwhile, Mai, Tea, Duke, Tristan, Yugi, & Bakura finally made it to the shelter. They quickly went inside to escape the freezing cold. "Damn! Is it just me or did it just get even colder out there?" Tristan said.

"For once, you're actually right, Tristan." Duke replied. "The weather seems to be getting colder by the minute. We better hurry up & finish here before it gets too cold to even step foot out there."

"Well, then let's split up." Tea said. "We'll cover more ground in less time that way."

"Alright." They all agreed.

"Alright." Tea continued. "Me & Mai will go look in those bedrooms over there." She pointed towards the hallway where the bedrooms were.

"And me & Tristan will look in here." Duke walked towards another room across the hallway.

"Well, then me & Yugi will stay here & see what we can find." Bakura said.

"Alright." They all went to their search areas.

Duke & Tristan went across the hall into what seemed like a game room. There were a couple of pool tables & some really old computers. They glanced around the room for a moment. "I guess I'll start over here." Duke said, who started looking through drawers & cabinets on one side of the room.

"Alright, then I'll look over here." Tristan walked to the opposite side of the room.

Meanwhile, Tea & Mai were searching through the bedrooms. So far, they weren't having any luck at finding anything. Neither were Yugi & Bakura. A couple of hours past by until they all finally gave up & met eachother back in the room where Yugi & Bakura were searching.

"Did you guys find anything?" Tea asked Bakura & Yugi.

"No, nothing." Bakura answered.

"Well, all we found was this old potato chip bag. The expiration date says July 8, 1983. The only thing that tells us is that this place is really old." Tristan said.

"And that nobody's been here for at least 21 years." Duke said.

"Either that or they didn't stay very long." Tea said.

"I don't blame them." Mai said.

"So what now?" Yugi asked.

"Well, I guess we go back to the blimp. There's nowhere else to search here." Mai answered.

"Nuh-uh." Tristan said. "I'm not goin' back out there in that cold! You heard Duke earlier. It's been getting colder by the minute & it's already..." He stopped to look at his watch. "...7:30! It's gotta be 40 below by now!"

"Oh, quit your whining, Tristan!" Tea grabbed Tristan's arm to move him towards the door, but he pulled his arm away from her.

"I'm not going, Tea!" He yelled. "And I'm not whining!!! I hate the cold, that's all!"

"Whatever, Tristan."

"You know what, guys?" Duke interrupted Tea's & Tristan's little feud. "I think Tristan may be right. We can stay in those bedrooms back there." He walked over to the doorway to the hallway. "I think we'll be a lot safer in here than out there." Right at that moment, something that looked like a tentacle came out from a large hole in the ceiling &wrapped around Duke's neck. Everyone gasped in horror & backed away not knowing what they should do. A few more tentacles came down & wrapped all around Duke's body. Then, something else came out from the hole. It was a head! It seemed to look straight at Yugi, Tristan, Tea, Mai, & Bakura even though they couldn't see its eyes. All they were able to see was its razor-sharp teeth. It took its glare away from them & looked at Duke, who was struggling to break free from The Thing's grasp. The head disappeared back into the ceiling & started to pull Duke up with it.

"No! Duke!" Tea ran over to Duke & grabbed one of his legs. She tried her best to pull him down, but The Thing was too strong. It quickly pulled Duke up & Tea fell backward onto the floor right under the hole in the ceiling. She could see & hear Duke screaming for help, even though there was nothing anyone could do to save him. All Tea could do was stay on the floor. Duke's screaming stopped when The Thing sank its teeth into his neck, splattering blood all over Tea & the floor around her. This made her flinch & look away for a moment so the blood wouldn't get in her eyes. When she looked back up into the hole, they were gone! Both The Thing & Duke. She looked all around her, wondering where it could've gone. She didn't see it. She looked over to the other guys, who were on the floor as well, still staring at the hole in the ceiling. They couldn't see what happened to Duke, but they knew when Tea got covered in blood that he was dead.

"What...the FUCK...was that!?!" Tristan yelled.

"It was that thing!" Mai answered.

"I thought we killed that fucker already! When it got Serenity!"

"I guess we didn't. Unless...there's more than one."

"You mean there are more of these damn things!?!"

"I don't know, Tristan. Just calm your ass down!"

"I AM CALM!"

Yugi all of sudden passed out. "Yugi!" Tea quickly got up & ran over to him. "What happened?"

"I guess this is just too much for him." Tristan said.

"I guess so. Come on. Let's go back to the blimp before that thing comes back."

"Alright. I'll get Yugi." Tristan quickly got up & picked up Yugi & headed toward the door to the shelter.

"I guess he doesn't have any complaints about going out there, now." Mai said as they all started toward the door as well.

"Guess not." Tea replied.

They all hurried outside. The temperature was way below zero, just as they suspected. They tried their best to make it to the blimp without any problems, but the cold was almost unbearable, especially for Tristan, who was now behind the rest of the group because he was carrying Yugi. "You know what guys?" Tristan said in a tired voice.

"Yeah, Tristan?" Tea asked.

"He...may be a...little guy, but...he isn't light."

"I...heard that." Yugi finally woke up about halfway to the blimp.

"Yugi?" Tristan put him down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yugi looked around for a moment, confused. Then, he saw something behind them, but he couldn't make out what it was since it was too far away. "Hey, Tristan." he said to Tristan.

"Yeah, Yugi?" Tristan asked him.

"What's that?" Yugi pointed to what he saw.

Tristan looked to where Yugi was pointing. He immediately recognized what it was. "Holy shit!"

Yugi realized what it was, too. It was coming closer & closer at a quick pace. "Oh, crap!"

Tristan & Yugi quickly started running. "RUUUUNNN" Tristan yelled out to the other guys as he ran past them, They were looking at him & Yugi with a very confused look. They all looked behind them to see what they were running from. As soon as they saw it & realized what it was, they too started running towards the blimp as fast as they could. But The Thing was way too fast for them. It attacked Yugi, who was the farthest behind in the group.

"No! It got Yugi!!" Tea yelled out when she looked behind her. She saw The Thing on Yugi, ripping him apart.

"At least that slowed it down a bit." Mai thought to herself.

They all started to run faster as the Thing started running towards them again. They were almost to the blimp. They could hear the Thing coming closer & closer to them as they approached the blimp...


So, what did you think? You liked it. You know you did! LOL! NEways, plz review. I'll update the next time I get a chance, which will hopefully be soon.