Hello! I am soooo sorry, I havent updated this one for a while...okay, a few days, but that is a while to me! I've been working on my other one, because I was getting quite depressed writing all this depressing stuff, so I wanted to work on something lighthearted for a bit. But now that I've had my lighthearted break, I can get back into the heavy stuff (not that I wont continue 'And Now For Something Completely Different' Expect a new chap for that soon!) This chapter is longish, so I hope that compensates for the lack of updates! Oh, and the girl in this chapter, Michelle, I kind of based her on me...kinda. Michelle is meant to be extremely attractive, while me...not so much. So I was going to base her on me...oh, why am I still talking?

Thank you all for the reviews, they are wonderful, and I hope you like this chapter! There are a lot of explanations in this one i think. Oh, and there is something I kinda stole from Stargate SG1...fans of the show...dont upstart, it's a 'homage' not a theft hehe. I love that show almost as much as I lvoe friends. And non fans of the show...well, you prolly have no idea what I'm talking about, so just keep smiling and nodding! Good! Please read and review...only a few chapters left me thinks...bout 5? maybe less, maybe more...we'll see! Please read and reveiw!

I do not own friends/actors/characters, but one day I will be known as either Mrs Carina Bing, or Mrs Carina Perry...its written in the stars...

"Can we help you?"

Rachel regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Mocking the man with the gun wasn't exactly the smartest thing to be doing, but her brain had realised that seconds after her mouth had spoken. Rachel instinctively cringed and closed her eyes, expecting a slap in the face. It always happened in movies when the stubborn woman shot her mouth off, why shouldn't it happen now?

To her surprise, Rachel's face remained untouched. She opened her eyes to find the man with the hateful eyes smirking at her. For some reason, that smile frightened her more then the gun that was now pointed directly at her. Although the gun wasn't exactly leaving her with a warm, happy feeling.

"Nice gun…rather big though. Are you compensating for a lack of something else?" Rachel's jaw tightened at Chandler's words. He was attempting to get the attention off of her; make them angry at him, not her. Make them more likely to hurt him then her. Rachel felt a hint of anger at his actions, annoyed that he would risk his life like that. She appreciated the fact that he was willing to put his life in front of hers without even blinking, but Chandler had a lot more reasons to live then she did. Monica, for one thing.

Chandler's plan worked wonders, the gun swinging to point at his face. He didn't flinch, instead choosing to smile at the man.

"Hit a nerve did I?"

"You got a smart mouth on you, boy," the man growled. Chandler's smile turned into a smirk.

"I've been told that…when should I have shut up? I can never tell-"

"Chandler," Monica hissed, cutting him off. She smiled cautiously at the man. "Don't mind him; he's just slightly delirious right now."

"See, I don't believe that…I think he is just trying to keep the attention on himself, to protect his little friends," the man said derisively.

"Guilty as charged; I've always been the attention seeker…I read somewhere that perhaps I am trying to make up for my less then loving childhood," Chandler cocked his head at the man, his brow furrowing. "You look like a well educated man…what with the checked shirt, scraggly beard and 15 year old boots…tell me, what do you think?"

"I think you should shut up if you want to keep your head," the man snarled, pressing the barrel against Chandler's forehead. Rachel closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"Or perhaps I should hurt one of your girlfriends?" Rachel opened her eyes to find the gun once more pointed at her face. She trembled involuntarily, but she was glad. Better it on her then Chandler or Monica.

"Perhaps I should shut up then," Chandler agreed. The man nodded then took a step back, lowering the gun slightly. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she preferred dying instead of her friends, she preferred living much more. "But…I think I should be able to ask one question, what with you all coming in here and rudely disturbing our sleep."

The man with the hateful eyes tightened his grip on the gun, but didn't raise it. Instead he let out an aggravated sigh. Rachel almost burst into a fit of giggles at this. Perhaps it was the sheer terror of the situation, but she found it amusing that Chandler could annoy someone that much in such a short period. Chandler Bing, ladies and gentlemen. Either you love him or hate him. This man was obviously leaning towards the latter.

"What?" he growled.

"Well, it's already been asked, but seeing you impolitely ignored it, I have to quote my good friend here…can we help you?"

"What's your name boy?" the man asked, anger gleaming in his eyes.

"Skywalker…Luke Skywalker. This here," he indicated Monica, "is Han Solo, the girl on my right is Yoda, the guy in the doorway is Chewbacca and you…well, you must be Jabba the Hutt."

Rachel couldn't contain her laughter this time; letting a small giggle out. The man with the gun was positively livid, shaking with anger. Chandler looked quite proud of himself, which only fuelled Rachel's laughter. "Not a Star Wars fan, I see?"

The gun was raised once more, effectively putting an end to Chandler's sarcasm and Rachel's amusement. She sobered quickly, watching with horror as the gun jammed into Chandler's face once more and cocked.

"Chuck, wait!" the man flinched, an indescribable look crossing his face.

"What is it, Michelle?" he said softly. A girl broke through the small crowd and walked up to the man she had labelled Chuck.

"Don't kill them…not until we know for sure," she whispered, putting her hand on his arm. Chuck lowered the gun slightly, and Chandler let out a small sigh of relief.

"Know what for sure?" he asked. The gun was raised once more.

"Can I at least kill this one?" Chuck hissed.

"No, not until we know…"

"But he is possibly the most obnoxious-"

"I find him quite charming," Michelle countered. Despite the situation outside, and the gun that still lingered in front of his face, Chandler blushed. Monica tightened her grip on him, and Rachel noticed the brief look on jealousy that passed her face. "And plus…he is obviously hurt…you don't want to kill an injured man, do you?"

"In this case?" Chuck snapped, but lowered the gun once more.

"Thankyou," Michelle murmured. Chuck smiled slightly, and to Rachel it almost made him look human.

"Anything for you Chelly," he said softly, then glared at Chandler once more. "Names, and I don't want anymore smart ass comments, otherwise I will ignore my niece's wishes and blow you to hell…is that clear?"

"Crystal," Monica piped up before Chandler could open his mouth. Rachel was sure that if Chandler had spoken, the gun would have ended up in his face once more. She wasn't sure if he was being that sarcastic just because he could, or because he was, as Monica had put it, delirious. Rachel had a feeling it was the latter. As sarcastic as Chandler could be, she was sure he would not risk their lives because of it.

"I-I'm Monica, the charming man to my left is my fiancée Chandler, next to him is Rachel and the guy in the doorway…with the gun pointed at him still, is Joey."

"He's your fiancée?" Chuck asked. Monica nodded. "You could do a lot better."

"Gee, I can never hear that too much," Chandler muttered. Monica smiled once more at Chuck.

"He's just a bit…irritable I suppose. Because he is in pain…is there anything you can do to help us? Any pain relief?"

"Besides blowing him to hell," Joey added helpfully from the doorway. Chuck hesitated slightly.

"Please…I don't understand why you want to hurt us…we should all be sticking together at the moment," Monica said softly. Chuck glanced at Michelle, then nodded.

"We have our reasons," Michelle murmured as she walked behind the group. She bent down and Rachel frowned as her head was jerked forward.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Michelle promised. Rachel sighed, resigned to Michelle's touch. She waited patiently as the small girl studied her neck and her lower back, then moved on and checked the other two.

"They're clear Chuck," Michelle said finally, standing up. "Unless there is another entry point that we have missed, but I'm not sure if that would work for them…"

"Okay Michelle," Chuck said softly as his niece stood next to him. He didn't loosen his tight hold on the gun though, which worried Rachel.

"Can I speak now?" Chandler asked after a moment's silence. Chuck looked at him.

"No," he said simply. Chandler nodded, accepting. "But your fiancée can…she seems the least annoying out of all of you."

"Thanks…I guess." A frown had covered Monica's face, and she thought for a moment. "Why did you check our necks? And why were you pointing guns at us? You are the first survivors we have seen, and that sure as hell wasn't what we were hoping for."

"I'm sorry for that, but you guys aren't the first survivors we have seen," Michelle said softly, sitting down in front of them. Chuck motioned behind him and all the guns were lowered, Joey being released. He rushed forward and sat down next to Monica. Rachel watched, slightly amused as the entire group sat down around them. It reminded her of story time at school, but much more different. That story time hadn't consisted of fifteen dirty men and women, all holding guns.

"We've encountered quite a few…hell; we have lost quite a few of our group to them."

"You mean…like, looters and rioters or something?" Chandler asked, all the humour gone from his face. It had been replaced by a look of pain, and Rachel was sure that his adrenaline rush must have worn off.

"No, I mean…" Michelle trailed off, her deep brown eyes filling with tears. "The…you know what attacked us, don't you? What is attacking us?"

"Chan said something about aliens…but that was only a guess," Joey muttered. Michelle nodded.

"It was a good guess…they aren't from around here…we have seen their ships and…and them, and they definitely came from somewhere else."

"We think that they have been planning this for a very long time," one of the men in the group spoke up. "I'm Billy, by the way…these, these aliens; they were so prepared and they…they did so much destruction in such a short time. Perhaps if we had…perhaps if there had been some sort of warning, we could have stood a chance…but we had no hope."

"The army-"

"The army is gone," Chuck interrupted Monica. "Everything is gone…there don't seem to be any survivors…not anymore. England…England is completely gone, so is Australia. Europe is being quickly wiped out and America…we have no hope."

"You can't say that," Chandler whispered.

"You don't know…you haven't seen the destruction…you've only seen what surrounds us, right?"

"Yes…we came from Manhattan…the bridge was destroyed just after we got over it…our friends are still over there," Rachel said softly. Chuck shook his head.

"Your friends are dead."

"Don't say that, don't you dare say that! That is my brother you are talking about," Monica growled, "They are alive!"

"I'm sorry, but you have to face the facts; your friends are either dead, or enslaved," Michelle said softly.

"En…enslaved?" Joey asked after a moment's silence.

"Yes…so far, we have encountered two different kinds of aliens…the big one, and trust me, they are really big…and they also have a kind that…is parasitical, I guess….that's why I checked your necks. The parasites go in through the back of the neck, and they take complete control…"

"The ones that aren't killed are taken over…they've pretty much stopped killing now though," Chuck murmured.

"May…maybe Ross and Phoebe were just…enslaved?" Monica said hopefully. Chuck shook his head.

"I'm hoping for their sakes, that they were only killed…being taken over seems to be much worse than death. You can't move, you can't speak, you can't anything."

"How do you know that?" Rachel asked.

"Because my brother in law – Michelle's father – was taken over…I watched him kill my wife, his sister, without showing a single ounce of remorse for it." Chuck's eyes filled with tears and Rachel felt an onslaught of compassion for the man.

"I-I had to kill him…I had to kill him otherwise he was going to kill Michelle too."

Michelle glanced down at her hands, shielding her pretty face with her blond hair. Rachel knew that she was crying.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Chandler whispered.

"It's not your fault…why are you sorry?" Chuck muttered, then glanced upwards. "It's kind of funny really…human's spent thousands…no, millions of years to get to where we are today, and these aliens come in and practically annihilate us in less then a day…it's like we shouldn't have even bothered."

"How…how can we beat them?" Joey asked. Chuck let out a short laugh.

"How? There is no 'how' kid. We are screwed. The army fell, the Air force fell, the Navy…we threw everything we had at them, and not a single one of their ships fell…there is no way to stop them…we're screwed. Basically, we are just fighting them off as much as we can, trying to at least do some damage before we are killed, trying to leave them with the thought that we didn't go down without a fight…" Chuck trailed off, rolling his eyes slightly. "This isn't going to have a happy ending kids…far from it. You should consider your friends…and anyone who has already died, lucky. At least they got out before it got really rough. At least they got out before…before they could get enslaved."

"So…no chance of taking them down with a computer virus?" Chandler whispered after a long silence. Chuck let out another short laugh.

"Well, you would have to go see Will Smith about that…if he's still alive."

"We can't just give up!" Monica exclaimed suddenly, tears filling her eyes. "No! We aren't going to die, I refuse to! I want to get married to the man I love, have kids with him, grow old with him! I want to see my brother again…he isn't dead, Ross couldn't die!"

"Honey…"

"No Chandler! We wasted so much time not being together, and this just isn't fair! I-I want to…I want to marry you!"

"I know, sweetie, I know."

Rachel's heart ached as she watched the couple, Monica kissing her future husband with desperation. Her future husband that she would never be able to marry.

Rachel had never been one to fear death; she didn't want it to come, but she wasn't scared of dying. But she was scared for her friends. And she was scared of…of being enslaved, as Chuck had put it. She didn't want that. She would rather die then be controlled by something. Rather die then be made to kill others; to kill her friends. She was certain of that, and she was certain that her friends felt the same way. They would much rather die then let any of their friends die. She had known that was the case for many years. Friends like these just didn't come along very often. They were keepers, to the point of death.

Rachel didn't want to be enslaved, and she would do anything to stop her friends from being taken over as well. Better them dead then controlled. As much as it pained her to think that, she knew it was the right thing. She would never let them be taken over, and in the short time that she most likely had, she would do anything to stop that. To protect her friends.

"Do you have any pain relief?" she asked suddenly. Michelle glanced at her, frowning slightly. "Any…I don't know, Morphine? Uh…Vicodin? Tylenol? Anything? Please, if we want to fight these…things, try and make an impression before we go out, we all have to be reasonably healthy…and Chandler is a portable heater right now."

Chandler smirked at this, pulling away from Monica slightly. She glanced up at the group.

"Anybody? Come on people, its not like we're asking you for a prized jewel or anything!" she exclaimed and Rachel smiled slightly. Monica sounded more like the controlled, level headed woman that she was. Rachel had always wondered how people would react in times of stress. She had always assumed that Monica would be the strongest and most in control one of them. She had been very surprised to find her friend quite the opposite, and to find that Chandler had filled that role. For a short time, but he had filled that role. Joey had taken over that role quickly, which hadn't surprised anybody.

Rachel had been surprised at herself though. She had been stronger then she ever thought possible. Sure, she had had many moments of freak outs in the last day, but a lot less then she had thought she would. And now, here she was, ready to fight for her friends. The spoilt princess was long behind her.

"I got some Tylenol," Billy said after a long moment, digging into his pockets. He held out the small packet at Joey took it, smiling gratefully. He handed it to Monica, who took charge of taking care of Chandler.

"I'm sorry I pulled you by the hair," Chuck said softly. Rachel smiled, shaking her head.

"Least we know that it's stuck on well," Chandler quipped after swallowing the pills.

"And you…I'm sorry for the whole…well, everything. You're alright kid."

"Well, that's always nice to hear."

"We're just a bit…stressed out at the moment, as you can probably tell," Michelle piped up, glancing at Joey, who was smiling at her appreciatively. She blushed and Rachel rolled her eyes. It was the end of the world, and Joey was hitting on girls still. It didn't really surprise her.

"So…shall we be off?" Chandler asked after a moment.

"Sweetie, you should rest," Monica insisted.

"I'm fine…nothing like a bit of blood loss and shoulder burning to bring back your energy." Rachel saw Joey flinch at the words, as did Chandler. He frowned, but didn't say anything. Most likely waiting for a private moment, Rachel decided.

"But Chandler-" Monica was cut off by sudden footsteps from outside. Lots of footsteps.

"Fuck," Chuck cursed under his breath, leaping to his feet. "Michelle, you stay here with the newbie's…rest of you, come with us."

"But-"

"Don't argue with me Michelle," Chuck said sternly, then leaned down. "I love you sweetie." He gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead, then glanced up at the group; Chandler in particular. "Take care of yourselves."

"You too," Chandler said softly as both Monica and Rachel clung to him. Chuck smiled tightly, then took one last glance at Michelle before fleeing the cave. "Billy! Leave the bag!" he yelled as he left the cave. Billy shrugged off the large bag he had been carrying, then followed his friend.

The cave felt suddenly empty, as nineteen became five. Everyone glanced at one another nervously, not sure of what to say.

"…what should we do?" Joey asked after a long moment.

"We wait here," Michelle said firmly, flipping her messy blond hair over her shoulder.

"But-"

"We wait here," Chandler agreed.

"How's your shoulder?" Rachel asked gently after another moment.

"Better…it only feels like a small fire now, not a raging inferno," Chandler answered as cheerfully as possible. Joey flinched once more and Chandler sighed. "Not your fault man."

"What?" Joey said innocently.

"It isn't your fault…you did what you had to do. Keep blaming yourself and I'm going to get really annoyed. You don't want me to kick your ass on what could be our last day on Earth now, do you?"

"…you couldn't kick my ass, even if you wanted to," Joey said after a beat, a small smile covering his face. Chandler smiled back, reaching around Monica to pat his friend one the shoulder.

"I know buddy…I know."

Rachel smiled a small smile, glad that Joey appeared to have lost a smidgen of self-blame. He still blamed himself for Chandler's pain, sure, but not as much.

"I wonder what is in the bag," Monica said after a short silence, moving away from Chandler's embrace. She crawled over to the bag and unzipped it. "Oh my god."

"What?" Rachel asked. Monica reached into the bag and pulled out something. A hand gun. Rachel stared at it in horror, then took a deep breath.

"How many are in there?" Michelle questioned. Monica glanced inside the bag.

"Eight."

"At least one each," Michelle said softly.

"I-I don't want the girls to be shooting anything," Chandler protested.

"Sweetie…we have to, you can't always protect us," Monica whispered. Chandler sighed, then nodded reluctantly.

"Okay…hand them out," Michelle instructed gently. Monica nodded, then dragged the bag over. She handed a gun to each of them in turn. Rachel hesitated, not taking the offered gun. As much as she wanted to protect her friends, she wasn't sure if she could actually shoot anything…especially not if she had to shoot a human. Chandler seemed to understand, taking the gun from Monica.

"You don't have to do this Rach," he said softly. She took another deep breath, then nodded.

"Yes…yes I do," she whispered. Chandler nodded, handing the gun to her.

"If you have to use it…just aim and close your eyes, then pull the trigger."

"Close my eyes….okay." Rachel nodded again, staring at the object in her hand. It was heavy; heavier then she had expected.

"Okay…do we-"

Joey was cut off by a huge explosion outside, dirt raining on them from the roof above. The explosion was followed by an onslaught of guns firing, and Rachel dazedly was amazed by how different they sounded in real life. Nothing like the guns on the movies.

"Oh my god," Monica whispered, instinctively moving closer to Chandler. "What do we-"

"Get out of the cave!" a voice screamed from outside, and Rachel recognised it as Chuck's. "Get out! Now! They are-" his voice was cut off by another explosion and Michelle shook her head. She was obviously upset, but she didn't react.

"We have to go…now!" Rachel leapt to her feet, leaning down and grabbing Chandler's arm. She helped pull him up, then shoved the gun into the back of her pants.

"Joey, grab the bag…no, the other bag!" Chandler yelled over the noise outside. Joey picked up the right bag – the bag filled with food – and slung it over his shoulder. Chandler grabbed both girls' hands, while Joey grabbed Michelle's. Together, they ran out of the cave, abandoning their safe house.

"Eyes closed!" Chandler shouted as they made it outside. Rachel instantly closed her eyes. She had learned last night to listen to Chandler when he said that.

The gun fire was closer now, and Chandler was wisely leading them away from it. They had said they were going to fight, but now that it was time to, Rachel had decided that it didn't seem like a good idea. Chandler had obviously agreed.

"Wait!" Michelle yelled. "What about my uncle?"

"He told you to stay with us," Joey responded.

"We can't just leave him!"

"Michelle, if he wanted you to be involved in that, he wouldn't have made you stay with us." Chandler's words made sense, and it shut Michelle up quickly. This may have seemed like the cowards way out, but to them, it was the only way out.

Chandler stumbled, and Rachel silently cursed anything and everything that had caused this. She tightened her grip on his hand, stopping him from falling. He was in no condition to be sitting up, let alone running for his life.

"You okay man?" Joey's voice was filled with concern.

"I'm-"

Chandler was cut off by another explosion, this one closer then any other. His hand was pulled from her grasp as Rachel went flying back, landing on the ground with a thud. Her eyes flew open and she saw the trees above, their leaves nothing but mere ashes now. There were no birds, no animals, nothing. Rachel tried to glance around, to find her friends, but she couldn't move. She was numb; the pain that she knew should have been there was missing. Rachel blinked up at the bright morning sun, looking past the ruined trees. She stared at the sky for a long while, amazed by how blue the sky was out here. She looked in front of her, seeing a shadow in the distance.

And then she saw nothing.