Every now and then I sit back and think about all of that shit that happened, and it's hard to believe how much time has passed. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that we left that office. But then reality intrudes. These days, everyone tends to tell time in two ways, either before the world ended or after life in the city started. Of course, for the most part, I just kind of take things as they come, one day at a time. I work on the raiding team now, and for the most part life with the stenches roaming what used to be our world has just become the status quo.

I still see Emily and Aaron around, and they're still a couple. It's kind of ironic that that dating service from hell actually brought her together with her soul mate. It just came about under really fucked up circumstances. I suppose if you're being absolutely literal about it, it wasn't really the service that matched them up, but that's still where they met so in my bookit counts. They were both raiders for awhile too, usually on the first team to go into the pharmacies. Sure, they were really good about bringing out the drugs and antibiotics that so many of the people in the city need, but they were also foreveron the lookout for condoms. I can only assume that they knew that those things have expiration dates on them, but maybe not. Anyways, their little boy is almost 2 years old now, and understandably, Emily no longer goes out on raids.

I see Justin around all the time too. After his cousins were more or less 'adopted' by some rich bitch living in the Green who'd lost her own kids to the stenches, he joined up with the raiders too. To be honest, he seemed kind of relieved not to have the burden of caring for the kids hanging over his head any longer. In a way, he still managed to keep his promise to his Mom, he made sure they got the best life possible, all things considered. Anyways, he's kind of become Cholo's pet now, following him around and doing whatever he's asked, usually in exchange for some pot, but sometimes for money. Lately Cholo's been throwing around some serious cash, which can only mean he's maganged to worm his way in good with Mr. K. Cholo calls Justin 'Mouse,' because of how quiet he tends to get. But Justin still has his crazy moments. He's the only guy I've ever seen ride a skateboard in the middle of a raid. Headphones and skateboards, they'll be the death of him one of these days.

Matthew Brubaker. He's totally become Mr. Super Soldier. Gone are the days when he gave a damn about healing people. Not long after we arrived in the city, he got himself hired into Kaufman's private Army, paid to guard the city. It took him less than a year to climb through the ranks enough to be put in charge of defenses at our staging area. He was happy to be out of the city, but even more happy to be in control of something. He's still got his mean side too, that's how the decision was made to hang some of the stenches up down by the warehouse district, wrapped in big targets no less. For better target practice is what he claims, give the army virgins some live targets to fire at, especially since they rarely come through to the electric fences over by the throat anymore. We all lost something during those long days after the dead started walking, in Matthew's case, I sometimes think it was his humanity. But at least his sense of humor's still good. It makes it easier to deal with him.

Natalie never got her wish to move into the Green. I guess any status she thought she had more or less left the building when the guys took care of Richard. He sort of got his way in the end though. The last time I saw her, she was working in Chihuahua's bar as a topless dancer, giving blowjobs in the backroom to earn some extra money, most of which ends up being thrown away on some blow. I can't really blame her, I mean, it's probably not her dream job after all. But I admit it, I'm a little biased when it comes to her. Whatever hell she lives with, I personally couldn't wish her fate on a more deserving person. Especially after what happened to Sean, he may have been a little bit of an ass, but he was still one of the good guys.

Barry was never the same after we reached the city. He tried becoming a soldier, and he actually got pretty good at handling a weapon. After a couple of months, you'd have never imagined that there was a time when an M-16 rifle didn't seem to be an extension of him. It was after the anniversary of our second year in the city that he just couldn't handle things anymore. There were some rumors about how he'd awakened one morning to find that his boyfriend had hung himself. After he'd had to put a bullet through his lover's skull to make sure he stayed dead, he apparently couldn't live with himself any longer. He stuck his own gun in his mouth and blasted the back of his head off. Suicide actually became a commonplace event within the city for a little while in those early days. At least it had out on the streets where most of the population lived in squalor. The smart ones managed to get their hands on a gun and take care of things properly. The others, well, they usually ended up as part of Chihuahua's little freak show. People will throw their money away on pretty much anything, something that hadn't changed from before. So there were stenches chained up for people to get their pictures taken with, or shoot at with paintball guns. And then there was then there was the pit, where people would bet on which stench could tear a dog or cat apart first. Whatever Chihuahua couldn't get his hands on usually got hung up in Matthew's personal shooting gallery. Welcome to life in the city.

As for me, I guess I must have proved to someone that I had some kind of aptitude for driving big machinery the day I drove that bus through the city. Or maybe it was just because Mulligan took pity on me and showed me how to handle Dead Reckoning. Either way, it got me a sweet gig driving the biggest, baddest truck on the road after he left the team. I'm just one of the boys now. They've even nicknamed me Pretty Boy, 'cause I liked to tell them that I was one of the boys and during a drunken night down at Chihuahua's, Anchor said, "You're just too pretty to be a boy." Tacky and cheesy I know, but at least I fit in.

Lately things have been changing all over the city. After enough time spent living off the scraps of the rich, there's a lot of unrest in the streets. Mulligan's started organizing people to rebel against Kaufman's rule, so it's only a matter of time before something blows up. People are disappearing off the streets and we all pretend not to notice those big crates that Cholo takes out with the trash, most of which are dripping blood through the sides. It's better for your health not to notice things like that. For my part, I fly low under most peoples radar, and I make a decent enough living on the teams to not want to risk joining Mulligan's band of misanthropes. Reilly says that the world is on the verge of change again, I just wish I knew if it was for the better.

Fin

A/N: That's it, the fat lady has officially sung. Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read and review the story. I know it's a stretch to turn Tara into Pretty Boy, but it's all about poetic license.