This chapter is rated PG because of what Winry finds.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Ed did not want to wake up. Of course, he hardly ever did.

Every morning began the same way.

He would groan, open one eye, glare at the sunlight, and then shut the eye.

Al then would attempt to coax him out of bed, and when that didn't work, he would lower his head down to Ed's ear and whisper,

"Shrimp."

And that was all it took.

Today started off like every other day.

But only for few seconds.

Ed groaned, opened one eye, glared blearily at the sunlight, shut the eye, and waited for Al to start talking to him.

Silence.

He opened one eye, and the second one followed.

The bed opposite him was empty.

Ed sat up quickly and looked around.

No one was in the room.

He got out of bed.

"Al?"

He wasn't in the next room.

"Al!"

He wasn't in the hallway.

"Alphonse!"

He wasn't anywhere in the hotel.

Ed pulled on his red coat and ran out the door.

/-/-/-/

Winry had woken up on a rusty old bench, in the middle of a city that was defiantly not Central or Remsbool. It didn't even have a train station, which even the most backwards towns in Amestis had.

She was confused. And that was an understatement. She was also scared, but she was determined not to show it, even though there was no one around to see.

In fact, it looked like no one had been around the entire city for years. Everything was covered with dust, and small clouds of it poofed up when she walked. The buildings around her were ruined and decayed, must of them having lost their roofs to time. Vines crawled up their sides, and weeds grew in the street.

"O-kay," Winry said to herself quietly, "I have no idea where I am."

She noticed a building that still had most of its roof.

"Well, I might as drop off my stuff in there before I explore this place some more. Maybe I can find a car or something. Good thing I brought all my tools."

She began to drag her heavy suitcase over to the building.

It was rather dark inside.

Dark enough that Winry had to blink, and squint, to adjust to the lack of light.

Once they did, she could see that it was just as run down as the outside. Curtains had fallen half off the curtain rods, books had fallen off of bookcases, and some books were even turning to dust.

The curtains hung in front of the windows, making the rooms very dark indeed.

"Creepy..."Winry murmured under her breath, "it looks like a setting for a horror movie."

She pulled the curtains down, and was assaulted by a cloud of dust.

Coughing, she placed the curtains on the floor, then looked around the room.

Much better.

It didn't look half as creepy.

Feeling a bit better, Winry picked up her suitcase and ventured into the hallway. It was darker in here, and the further she got in, the darker it got. The silence was beginning to get to her, so Winry started to talk quietly to herself.

"I hope there's a bedroom in this place, I don't think I slept long enough on the train. I wonder how much dust is on the sheets? Enough to shake off, or will I have to wash them? Come to think of it, do they even have a laundry machine here? The buildings looked pretty old fashioned, like they were built a long time ago.

"I wonder why this place was abandoned-"

Something underneath her feet cracked.

Puzzled, she steeped back, then bent down to discover what it was she had stepped on.

It was a corpse.

/-/-/-/

Ed stopped running long enough to glance at the sky.

It had been the middle of the morning when he'd woken up, and it was now late afternoon.

"Almost evening," he muttered, "and I've gotten nowhere. Drat it Al, where'd you go?"

Right after he said this, the sun glinted off something metal in an alley ahead of him.

It was probably just a trashcan. Just a trash can.

Probably.

Ed sprinted into the alley.

There was Al.

But he wasn't moving.

"Al! Hey Al!" Ed called, rushing over.

He didn't respond.

Ed pulled off the helmet and checked the blood seal.

It was still intact.

There came a groan from behind Al, and Ed stood up, and looked over the motionless suit of armor, to find a girl with long black hair, lying on her side on the ground.

Her skin was pale, far too pale to be natural.

Something was wrong.

Ed put his gloved hand on her forehead.

Even through the thick cloth, he could feel the heat, and when he pulled it away, it was wet with her sweat.

He stared at the sick, girl, then at his not responding brother and groaned.

"Great," he said, "How am I supposed to carry both of you?"

/-/-/-/

If you had asked Lin, she would have denied that she was skipping.

However, she could not deny that was not there was a definite light in her eyes, and a jump in her step.

I can't believe there's someone who's willing to help me look!

Before there was a few people who offered me food or shelter, but there was never anyone who offered to help me look!

He's such a nice guy.

I wonder he looks like underneath that helmet? He's so tall; he must be older than me... but his voice.

Lin slowed slightly, thinking.

His voice sounds so...young.

She shrugged.

Well, if it's important, I'll learn about it.

She grinned.

I hope he doesn't wear that suit of armor again. Or at least leaves off the helmet. I wanna see what he looks like.

She reached the fountain and jumped up to the edge, to the objections of some people nearby.

Ignoring them, she peered around the plaza.

Not seeing Al, she began to get a little worried.

What if he came, only he isn't wearing the armor, so she didn't recognize him?

Well, he should be able to see me; I'm so high up. But maybe, I'll call for him, just in case.

Lin opened her mouth to yell, but just then another one of those "cars" came by, colored white and red, and lots of people came rushing by, and another car, this one black, was following.

"An ambulance!"

"Someone's been hurt!"

"A girl with black hair and a man in armor!"

"No way!"

Before the startled pedestrians could react, Lin pushed her way through the crowd, following the "ambulance."