"Hey Milly."

She swatted Meryl's hand away. "Quit poking me."

"We're all getting out to stretch our legs. I just figured you'd want to know."

"Oh..." She turned to face the aisle. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About an hour."

Milly made a face.

"We've got all night to sleep on this thing!" Meryl said taking her hand and pulling her up. "Come on, let's get some fresh air."

She yawned big. "Alright, alright. Just let me get my coat."

They walked around a bit outside, but there wasn't much to talk about. Milly just stood with her hands in her pockets looking to the horizon while Meryl sat with her back against one of the tires.

Meryl broke the silence. "Who do you think he meant?"

She turned to look at Meryl over her shoulder. "Depends. Who are you talking about?"

"Vash...when he told that woman he couldn't stop until he found him."

Milly turned back away from her. "I don't know...we really don't know much about Mr.Vash...do we?" She lowered her head. "It sounded like someone who's done him wrong though...some score he's got to settle..."

Milly's voice was a little too understanding for Meryl's comfort. But before she could say anything...

"SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ERIC! HE'S ACTING CRAZY!"

The girls exchanged looks and ran around to the front of the bus where a crowd was gathering. A man lay in the middle with a wounded shoulder. People began casting blame while the man moaned in pain.

Milly looked to Meryl. "But...there's no bullet hole. It looks...burnt."

Vash and Wolfwood suddenly appeared alongside the girls. Vash spoke after taking a look at the wound. "No human did that." All three of them looked at him incredulously.

A strange sound came from behind them and Meryl flung around. "Um...WHAT ABOUT THAT?"

Some weird robot thing erupted from over the sand dune, and was currently charging down at them. Milly sighed at the unfairness of it all. "Fresh air she says..."

Vash drew his .45 Long Colt, Milly drew her Magnum revolvers, Meryl drew two Derringers, and Wolfwood just stood there looking longingly towards the roof of the bus.

Five bullets later, the thing made a couple 'fttzz' sounds and came to a sliding halt at their feet.

Wolfwood nudged it with his foot. "Well that was anti-climatic..." Ten more exploded from the top of the dune causing the priest to say something no priest should.

Meryl turned to her friend. "Well, I've had enough fun for today! What do you think, Milly?"

"No argument here!" The girls made a mad dash for the bus, leaving the guys in their dust.

Meryl finally relaxed into her seat when she had convinced herself the machines weren't still chasing the bus. "What the heck were those things?"

Milly was replacing the missing bullet to each magnum. She spun the chamber and clicked it back. "All I need to know is that they tried to kill us, and I never want to see one again."

"Some kind of lost technology from the Great Fall?"

Milly shrugged.

"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY DAUGHTER?"

Milly hung her head and her hair slid over her face. "Meryl...please shoot me."

Meryl patted her distressed friend on the head. "Don't worry, I have a migraine too."

They both looked up as Vash and Wolfwood leapt from their seats and off the bus.

Milly sighed. "So we're following them right?"

"One day we'll laugh about this."

"I am going on a pudding BINGE when we get home..."

Meryl ran to the crying girl while Milly circled around them. The girl leapt into Meryl's arms. "I thought I was going to die!"

She lifted her up. "Are you alright!"

Milly unloaded both Magnums into two robots that jumped out the sand behind them. The little girl screamed as parts showered them. Milly spoke, while reloading frantically to shoot the one heading right towards them. "WHERE ARE WOLFWOOD AND VASH?" She fired, neutralizing the third bot and ran to get a clear shot on the fourth one.

The girl cringed every time a shot fired. "They...they got sucked down!"

Meryl looked to where the girl was pointing. A whirlpool of sand?

"GET DOWN!"

Meryl threw herself and the girl to the ground as bullets whizzed over their heads.

Milly ran up to them. "These things just keep coming. I'm wasting all my ammo. What's our plan, Sempai?"

"Well...let's get this girl out of here first. We'll come back for the boys later. They're adults."

"Right, take off for the bus, I'll cover you."

20 MINUTES LATER

"I don't understand. They're just laying there." Milly kicked it again. "I didn't shoot these."

Meryl approached it cautiously. "It's like they just turned off."

"So the girl said they went under...the sand?"

"Yeah...but I have no idea how we're going to get down there."

It suddenly occurred to Milly that neither one of them had even considered it an option that the boys might be dead. "How do we even know there's anything down there? What if they just suffocated?"

Meryl donned her sarcastic look. "Right..."

"Yeah, I can't picture them dying that way either..." Milly stopped, turned around and stomped on the patch of ground she had just passed. "You hear that?"

Meryl bent down and moved the sand away with her hands. "It's metal..."

"Back up in case it ricochets." Milly fired twice but the bullets just made dents. She stomped on it again. It creaked and bent a little more. "I think we can break this."

Meryl nodded and both girls pumped the metal full of bullets. When a couple finally went through, Milly stomped on it again. It completely gave way and Meryl caught her by the arm to keep her from falling in. They both kneeled down and looked in. It was huge inside. Milly's voice echoed off the walls. "Is anyone down there?" Moans drifted up from under the cave-in debris.

Meryl leaned in a bit more. "Vash? Are you down there? You better be alive! We just went through hell to come back and save your ass!"

Milly cupped her hands around her mouth. "Mr.Priest? What about you?"

Some rocks moved and a black sleeve slid upwards. "...present."

A different part of the pile shifted "...I want a donut."