Lincoln was in for a long night. Sleep would not come easy, or at all to him.

After storming out of Lisa's room there was little left for him to do. All their sisters, sans Luna, were suffering from amnesia and his parents were none the wiser about Lisa's near-world ending science project.

With no need for any immediate damage control, the enraged and shaken boy simply went to his room and collapsed into his bed. His anger slowly started fading away and was gradually replaced by plain horror while reminiscing about his near-death experience.

Since it was late, everyone went to bed quickly, and his father briefly dropped by for a private talk about what actually went down while he and Rita were away. Lincoln reluctantly decided to lie and pretend that everything had been fine.

Telling the truth would simply have resulted in his old man thinking of him as crazy. Even if Lisa had admitted about her wrongdoings, their father would most likely still not have believed them and would have probably called a therapist for both of them. That obviously wouldn't have boated well with his mission to fix his family's fate.

He spent hours staring blankly at the ceiling, shell-shocked and distraught, with his arms spread. He just laid there, barely moving and slowly trying to wrap his mind around everything that had transpired, trying to adjust to the miraculous aftermath of him and everyone else being alive and the zombie outbreak having been dealt with.

Lincoln felt a small tinge of joy knowing his parents had fun on their date and watching them go to bed happy, but after that he was once again left by his lonesome, trying to pull himself back together.

Overall, today's goal had technically been a success but that proved to be of little comfort to someone who had just witnessed his sisters transforming into the undead.

He had no one to talk to, no one to comfort him. He couldn't call Clyde or any of his other friends. Who in their right mind would believe him?

Unsurprisingly, he couldn't fall asleep, but that did give Lincoln the chance to contemplate a way to tie up one last loose end. Or at least try to mend it as best as he could.

Around 3 a.m, Lincoln grabbed his blue ski mask along with some gloves and black clothes and snuck into Lori's and Leni's room. They were thankfully soundly asleep, which made it easy for him to snatch their phones.

Trying to decipher their individual passwords was rather quick and simple. Lincoln's first guess was "Bobby" and "Password" respectively, and he was in.

Lincoln sent about a dozen fake messages to their closest friends, boasting to them about how they were all punked by the greatest "early Halloween" prank in their school's history.

Lincoln knew that this would only leave his sisters more confused, but feeding the other teens a believable cover story would at least minimize the chances of his family getting unwanted attention in the wake of the incident.

Making a quiet exit, Lincoln undressed and took a long shower before returning to his room and put on his pajamas. There was nothing left but to try and get some shut eye.

But he spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in bed, feeling tired but unable to nod off. He faintly recalled seeing the sky becoming lighter through the small circular window above before he finally lost consciousness.


"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" a chipper voice woke him up and Lincoln felt someone tapping his forehead.

Now sporting long bags underneath his bloodshot eyes, Lincoln pulled his crusty eyelids open and shook his head.

After adjusting his vision, the startled boy's first instinct was to scream only for someone to clamp their hand over his mouth, silencing him.

A sarcastic greeting soon followed. "Good morning to you too, sleeping beauty." Lincoln quickly calmed down, recognizing the hideous, pale creature that was gagging him as not a zombie, but Ryan.

"Mphphh...meph moe!" the struggling Lincoln scowled while trying to pry the latter's hand off his mouth. Ryan chuckled and let go, and Lincoln stood up while gasping for air.

"You might wanna keep your voice down." Ryan snarked. "Don't want the ugly step-meddlers snooping around."

"What are you doing here?" Lincoln blurted.

"I didn't break in, believe me." Ryan smarmily answered in advance. "Your mom let me in."

"Mom?" Lincoln blinked and looked around in confusion. "Wait? What time is it?"

"Eight in the morning." Ryan shrugged. "Didn't get much sleep last night, huh?"

"What do you think?" Lincoln sighed flatly while rubbing his eyes, too tired to argue.

"I figured, cuz you look terrible." Ryan laughed. Lincoln didn't bite and stayed calm.

"So why are you here?" Lincoln asked him again before noticing that Ryan had ditched his usual jeans and sneakers for black swim shorts and sandals.

"To pick you up, pipsqueak." Ryan shrugged before tossing the younger boy a pair of orange swim trunks. "So get dressed, cuz we're going swimming!"

"What the?" Lincoln caught them and eyed Ryan suspiciously. "Wait? Did you rummage through my closet!"

"Yup." Ryan nodded casually.

Lincoln fumed but had more pressing concerns on his mind. "What do you mean we're going swimming? I barely got any sleep."

"So we can meet up with Lynn, duh!" Ryan snarked. "Her bus is coming back and I called her and suggested that we go have some fun after last night's fiasco. What? Didn't I tell you that?" he feigned innocence.

"No, you didn't..." Lincoln gave him a deadpan glare before sighing. "Fine, I'll come."

"Good." Ryan clapped his hands and headed out.

"Wait? Where are we going to swim?"

"Oh, don't you worry." Ryan looked over his shoulder. "We're going to the public pool, so there won't be any One Eye lurking around this time." he added jokingly before closing the door.

Lincoln shuddered but got up to pull his shorts on. Though still shaken, he told himself that he had to remain strong. Whatever had happened last night didn't change the fact that they still had a mission to fulfill, so he needed to pull himself together and barrel onward.


Ryan waited outside, leaning against the wall and humming in boredom before Lincoln came out, wearing his shorts and sandals, along with a very miserable look on his face.

"Let's go..." he said in a drab tone as he swung a towel over his shoulders and marched past Ryan.

"Why the long face?" Ryan inquired as he caught up with him and followed him downstairs.

"Like you don't know..." Lincoln grumbled.

"Pffft...don't be so melodramatic!" Ryan slapped him on the back, much to his ire. "We're all still alive and human, aren't we?"

Lincoln was about to retort when he caught sight of his mother walking towards the kitchen, carrying some groceries.

"Keep your voice down." Lincoln whispered to Ryan.

"Oh, good morning, sweetie." Rita greeted them. "I see you're up."

"Good morning, mom." Lincoln nodded and tried to act casual as the two came down.

"How you're doing." Ryan nodded politely.

Rita squinted as she noticed her son's disheveled appearance. "Lincoln, are you okay? You look like you haven't had any sleep?" she asked in concern.

Lincoln gulped and stiffened. "Well...I...guess I'm suffering from a little insomnia." he told her half-a truth.

"Aw, my poor baby." Rita walked closer to them. "Did you have nightmares about arriving in school naked again?"

Ryan snickered and Lincoln turned crimson. "Mom, please. I'm fine." he said hastily. "I just... wasn't doing much yesterday so I wasn't tired. That's why I wanna practice doing laps at the pool today." he lied.

"Oh, I see." Rita chuckled, realizing she had probably embarrassed him. "And I approve of that, some exercise would do you good. Just don't let Lynn talk you into being your opponent, we all know she's way out of your league...and everyone else's."

"Yeah, she sure is..." Lincoln said awkwardly "...eh...you're up early too, mom. Is anyone else?"

"Not that I know of." his mother shrugged. "I decided to let your father sleep in today and prepare him some breakfast. I think he earned it after all the trouble he went through to take me out last night."

Lincoln smiled. His mother definitely seemed happy and looked like she had a more positive opinion of her husband now. Lincoln just hoped that it would last.

"I see." he nodded. "Well, we don't wanna keep Lynn waiting. Best be going."

"Catch you later, Mrs.L. I promise I`ll keep the little guy safe." Ryan waved goodbye as they left.

"I know you will. You boys have fun." Rita replied goodnaturedly and headed for the kitchen.

Once she was out of earshot, Ryan snickered wryly. "You? Butt-naked a school, eh? Now there's an image."

"Just...shut up." Lincoln grumbled as he opened the door.

"Hey."

Lincoln yelped and jolted back, bumping into Ryan.

"Lucy?" he stared in surprise at the goth, who was standing at the doorway in her pajamas and holding an empty jar.

"Spooky? You're up already?" Ryan laughed, trying to hide that he too was startled.

"I collect moths and feed them to Fang and his flock once every week at dawn before they retreat back to their cavern." Lucy explained stoically while showing them the jar. "I almost forgot about it, because last night I suffered a random spout of amnesia after you left, Ryan."

"Amnesia? Huh, what are the odds?" Ryan feigned surprise.

"It's very weird." Lucy mused. "I think Lori, Leni, the twins and even Bobby have it too."

"That's indeed weird." Lincoln chuckled nervously while sending Ryan a look that screamed: "let's get out of here".

"But I wouldn't worry about it." he continued. "I...saw mom throwing away two cartons of expired orange juice a few minutes ago. I heard somewhere that if you drink expired fruit juice you'll feel dizzy and even experience short-term memory loss."

"I never heard about that." the goth said simply.

"Eh, it's been nice seeing you again, kiddo. But we're on a schedule and really gotta get going." Ryan pointed out.

"Where to?" Lucy wondered before noticing what they were wearing. "You're going swimming?"

"...yes?" Lincoln responded hesitantly.

"Can I come too?"

The boys exchanged glances.

"I'm afraid not." Lincoln said sadly. Seeing her disappointed frown made him feel like trash. "I'm sorry, Lucy. But I don't think you...you..."

"You wouldn't be welcomed where we're going." Ryan finished for him.

"Why?"

"Eh...it's a secret bathing place that Lynn and her friends found. It's kinda like a private clubhouse and they have some very strict rules. Ten and older allowed only." Ryan lied.

"Yeah, and you know how Lynn is." Lincoln played along. "You wouldn't like being around her anyway, right?"

"Well...yes..." Lucy replied timidly "...but I-"

"See, you're not missing out on anything." Ryan shrugged and grabbed Lincoln's arm. "We can hang out later. See ya, Spooky." he said quickly as he left and dragged Lincoln along with him.

Watching them go, Lucy hung her head sullenly. "Sigh."


Unbeknownst to the boys, there was another Loud in the house who was already awake.

She had heard the two conversing in the hallway, and had considered confronting her brother but couldn't find the courage to step out of her own laboratory, or what remained of it.

A disheveled Lisa observed them walking down the street through her window. She sighed and walked away, her bloodshot eyes stinging every time she blinked.

Lisa hadn't slept since the zombie incident, how could she? Her mind had been restless all night long, a flurry of emotions running through her elaborate mind ever since her brother had angrily stormed out of her room.

Left alone, the toddler genius experienced a feeling she had never known before. Lisa usually viewed emotions as a quaint but meaningless notion, one which was of little for progress on her scientific endeavors and therefore she rarely tapped into them.

That's not to say that she still didn't regularly if unknowingly experience and express a wide range of emotions, namely pride for her own intellect and an ever-present sense of superiority over her intellectually inferior kin.

Self-loathing was a different beast altogether. The feeling of disdain for her own existence was completely foreign to her. Anger and contempt for others, namely her own siblings, was a familiar sensation to her, but anger and contempt for herself weren't.

Her first instinct was to do what she always did whenever she felt inconvenienced: immerse herself into her work. Rebuilding Fenton provided the ideal project for her to focus on and forget about these negative emotions.

But it didn't work. Fenton had been rebuilt hours ago and was now lying on the operating table with several tubes sticking out of him as he was still in the process of recharging, but Lisa felt no better than before.

With most of her lab equipment destroyed, Lisa was stuck with only one other possible option to distract herself, by cleaning up her own mess.

The genius had little experience executing such a menial task but it didn't take much thought to deduce how to use a broom and dustpan.

She resumed sweeping up the remaining broken glass off the floor. It felt demeaning doing this, but as the hours went by Lisa felt an odd and increasing amount of joy at her own misery, as if she deserved to suffer and be humiliated as much as possible.

The only thing weirder than that was her realization at how little grief she felt about the destruction of her lab. In fact, she felt the opposite.

Lisa felt no desire to pursue any further scientific projects, the mere thought of it only increased her self-loathing.

This abrupt and new line of thinking scared her and confused her.

"Why am thinking this?" in her despair she once again went through the same internal monologue she had recited over a dozen times before within the last six hours.

"It's not my fault. I should not be held accountable for this! So, okay! I did conceive the serum and it was flawed but I responded with the most rational course of action. I tried to destroy it. It was Fenton who bungled up the very simplistic and ridiculously easy assignment I gave him!"

She glared at the fox with her tired eyes, clutching her broom for support as she feared she would soon drop from her mental exhaustion.

"Why? Why do I feel like this? I didn't inject that infernal potion into anyone! It was all Leni's doing! Yes, I know it's just a theory with only circumstantial evidence, but come on! Lana was so weak she could barely move! Someone must have brought the serum to her! Lincoln, Luan, Lucy, Lola and Ryan were all in my presence at the moment when Lana most likely consumed it, Lynn, mother and father were all completely absent from the perimeter and my remaining three sisters were busy mingling with their peers unless they went up to use the latrine-UGH! Why am I overthinking this! Who else in this house would be dense enough to take a random container filled with an unidentified liquid and feed it to an ill person? It had to have been that imbecile! It's basic logic founded on deductive reasoning!"

Lisa didn't know if she was still just thinking this or if she had started rambling to herself out loud, she couldn't think straight anymore and fell to her knees while still clutching her broom.

"It's not my fault! It's Leni's for being an idiot! It's Lana's for being a callous and disgusting pig! It's Fenton's for being incompetent! It was an unfortunate string of coincidences! It's not my fault that I almost doomed all of mankind!"

Lisa kept trying to reason that she was not at fault, but try as she might she couldn't even convince herself.

A random thought crept into her mind. "What were the five stages of grief again?" she thought. Was she simply in denial? Or was she already moving on to anger?


The cheers and laughter of kids and adults alike could be heard all around him. People were swimming past him, splashing each other, playing ball and just having a good time.

Which made Lincoln stand out like a sore thumb as he was just sitting there at the pool's edge, slouching and looking forlorn.

He noticed a dark form swimming below the surface and heading towards a pair of kids around Lucy's age who were distracted playing with a beach ball. Lincoln sighed and shook his head.

"RAWR!" Ryan erupted from the water with his teeth bared in front of the kids, making them both scream. Ryan hollered with laughter as they ran towards their parents and casually did a backstroke back towards his companion while the mother was yelling and shaking her fist at him.

"Learn to take a joke, lady! Sheesh." he shouted mockingly as he floated on his back next to Lincoln while resting his head on his arms.

He glanced at Lincoln, who shot him a blank, dejected look before looking away.

"What? No 'Have you no shame, Taylor! Traumatizing little kids! Yapp! Yapp! Whine! Whine!'" Ryan raised his voice up to an annoyingly high pitch as he did his mock impression of Lincoln.

"What difference would it make..." Lincoln muttered.

Ryan studied him before groaning and letting his body sink under the surface. "Quit being a drama queen, will ya! Try having some fun. It's just pathetic watching you sulk there."

"Whatever..."

Frowning, Ryan pulled his head below surface and quickly reemerged with puffed up cheeks. Lincoln barely flinched as he was squirted in the face and simply wiped it clean with his arm before resting his head in his hand, ignoring Ryan's laughter which quickly died down as the latter failed to get a funny reaction out of the former.

Ryan made an exaggerated groan and snapped his head back. "Oh, c'mon. As if you weren't dour enough already. You're sucking all the fun out of this!"

"Sorry for being the more mature one..." Lincoln grumbled, his tone very hollow without any sense of amusement.

"Oh, is that what you people call being a lifeless killjoy?" Ryan sneered. "Pfft...why don't ya put on a wig and you could pass as Renee's clone."

No response, Lincoln just stared at his own reflection in the water.

Floating next to him in silence, Ryan grumbled in irritation. What was the point of hackling him if he was just going to remain glum and unresponsive?

Ryan hauled himself out of the water and grabbed his towel to clean himself up. He looked back at Lincoln, unsure of what to say next.

"Is that zombie thing really weighing on you that much?"

"We almost died yesterday. I watched my sisters get decapitated half a dozen times. The whole world almost went to shit." Lincoln responded in a blunt but even tone with his back turned. "Not all of us make light of nearly dying."

Ryan stayed quiet. Was Lincoln really that traumatized from last night's event? Sure, Ryan couldn't deny that he too had been scared for his life and was worried if Luan, Lucy and Lana could be saved, but it all turned out well in the end, didn't it?

"But with Lizzie still being at large, who knows how long till the next disaster." he mused and sat next to Lincoln.

Ryan exhaled irritably. "Alright, I get it. Living through a real-life zombie thriller left you mentally scarred and shit, but it's over now. There's no point in moping around about it. If you want to get over it, try having some fun and you'll feel better. You don't have to be such a whiner about it."

"Excuse me for not having nerves of steel like you do." Lincoln grumbled with a hint of sarcasm. "What do you care anyway?"

"Because...watching you like this is just annoying." Ryan groaned. "You're Eeyore routine is killing my buzz!"

"You asked me to come with you..." Lincoln muttered.

"Oh, aren't you a clever one..." Ryan snarked before spotting an ice cream vendor at the other end of the pool.

"Okay, how about I get us some ice cream? That oughta help numb down your sulkiness."

"I don't care..." Lincoln looked away. Ryan narrowed his eyes irritably, thinking about pushing him into the water and telling him to "soak his head", but somehow that didn't seem like it would be very funny given the circumstances.

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here, Snowy! Don't you brush me off!" Ryan retorted curtly. "Now what flavor do you want?"

"Same to me..." Lincoln muttered absentmindedly.

Ryan rolled his eyes and clenched his fists. "Look! I'm gonna buy you ice cream and you're gonna like it! Capisce?"

A look of mirth quickly returned to his face. "And it's gonna be pistachio, cuz I like the color."

With that, Ryan left. Lincoln barely paid attention to him and continued watching his own reflection.


"Is shoving all these assholes out of the way against the pool rules?" Ryan thought sarcastically while waiting at the end of a long line.

He folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently while sending the occasional death glare that frightened the kids in front of him should they give him a funny look.

"Waiting in line and being stuck with a sulky pipsqueak, this blows!" he lamented inwardly. "Where the hell is Lynn anyway!"

He got his answer as he heard a door opening, followed by a familiar voice.

"Pew, I wouldn't go in there for a couple of days."

Ryan looked around and saw Lynn in her red swimsuit stepping out of one of the bathrooms while waving her hand to clear the air.

Everyone in her immediate vicinity gagged, coughed and/or pinched their noses as they fleed.

"Wut?" Lynn shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Me and my team had three plates of chilly dogs to celebrate our victory!" she boasted and pumped her fists.

"Lynn!"

She turned to the familiar voice and smiled as Ryan ran up to her.

"There you are, you doofus!" she teased him, not noticing how the boy was eyeing her with somber joy. "Sorry for being late. I was sorta stuck in there for a while." she pointed at the bathroom before rubbing her belly.

"I don't think those chilly dogs agreed with me-hey!" Lynn yelped and blushed when Ryan suddenly hugged her.

"Ryan, what are you doing?" she asked him in bewilderment.

Turning red himself, Ryan jerked back and released her. "Oh...ehhhh...sorry about that." he chuckled sheepishly and fiddled with his fingers.

"I didn't mind the hug..." Lynn replied shyly, rubbing her arm. "It's just...since when were you a hugger?"

Ryan rubbed his neck and glanced aside. "Well, I...I'm just glad to see you. You know how...well last night I was kinda worried that I might never see you again."

Lynn's face dropped and she snorted, remembering what he was referring to.

"How dumb do you take me for?" she placed her hands on her hips with an annoyed look on her face. "You expect me to believe that you and Lincoln fought zombies last night? Get real!"

Ryan relaxed and shrugged in an aloof manner. "I'm not trying to pull your leg, Lynn. Everything I told ya is 100% true. Lana caught the flue and then drank one of Lizzie's serums and trough some science mumbo jumbo that combo turned her into a zombie and the virus spread like wildfire."

Lynn huffed and folded her arms. "Yeah right..." she replied snidely "...and I suppose Lana wore a dress and Lola wore overalls for that evening too?"

"Oh, you have no idea..." Ryan shuddered inwardly.

"Ryan, if you wanna fool me then you gotta make your tall tales a little less... completely bonkers and obviously fake." the jock smirked mockingly.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if my word isn't good enough, you can always ask Lizzie about it. Or the pipsqueak. He's pretty messed up because of it."

Lynn's face turned serious. "Lincoln? What's wrong with him?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably. "Eh...better see it for yourself." he gestured for her to follow him and Lynn did so.

"And by the way..." Ryan shot her a flirtatious smile. "You should wear your hair down more often. You look really pretty."

Lynn blushed and unwittingly stroked her hair with one hand before elbowing Ryan. "Shut up..." she grumbled irritably before slowly growing a smile "...eh, you really think so?"

"Sure I do." Ryan shrugged coolly. Lynn felt flustered but immediately forgot about it as they found her brother.

Lynn studied him, something seemed off about him. She slowly walked up to him and kneeled down.

"Hey, bro? Something wrong?"

"Lynn?" he said surprise, but his tone was even.

"Yup, it's good to be back." Lynn smiled and sat next to him. "But it's even better to crush the Hazeltucky Hawks at softball!" she added in a boastful fashion while miming swinging a bat.

Ryan huffed as he sat opposite of Lincoln and elbowed him. "I'm still not sure if getting to fight zombies was better or worse than watching her twerk in victory." he snorted, much to Lynn's ire.

"Oh, you're just jealous that you missed out watching me on the field and instead spent your evening lying on your couch!" the jock retorted smugly before turning to Lincoln.

"Am I right, Linc?" she nudged him to back her up. "This doofus is salty cuz he missed out on a spectacle, so he made up some BS to make himself feel better?" she laughed mockingly but slowly stopped as she got no response from Lincoln.

"Linc?" she looked him in the eye and finally noticed the distraught look on his face. He looked like someone who had just gone through a terrible ordeal and to Lynn's surprise she saw him shedding a single tear.

"Linc, are you alright?" she grew more worried.

Without a single word, the white-haired boy gave her a definite "no" by leaning forward and embracing her. He dug his face into her chest and started shaking and quietly sniffing.

Lynn hugged him back instinctively. "Lincoln, what are you doing?" she asked worriedly.

Lynn was notoriously bad at reading other peoples' emotions but even she could see that her brother was genuinely distraught and needed comforting. The way he was quietly weeping and clinging on to her just couldn't be faked, it was the same as when she comforted him in his bed nearly a week ago.

"Ryan, what's wrong with him?" she asked fearfully.

Ryan watched them uncomfortably, not exactly being an expert at being sensitive, and rubbed his neck.

"I already told you. The whole zombie thing really screwed him up." he said in a serious tone.

Lynn was at a loss for words. Was Ryan being serious about this?

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" she blurted out loud but quickly lowered her voice as they received unwanted attention from onlookers. "Lisa turned our sisters into zombies? Are you shitting me?" she whispered with a bewildered look.

Ryan shook his head. "Every single word I told ya was true." he said stone-faced, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Lynn went slack-jawed for a minute, trying to digest that, before looking down at Lincoln's trembling form. Lynn bit her lip and hugged him tighter.

"It's okay, Linc. I'm here..." she said soothingly.

Ryan was surprised to see Lynn talking in such a gentle manner. He watched the siblings holding on to each other in awkward silence. For once, he truly felt like the best thing he could do right now was to keep his mouth shut.


The three had moved back toward the far end of the pool, as far away from everyone else as possible. Lincoln was sitting between his sister and Ryan sipping a coke, while they dipped their feet into the water.

"Feel any better now?" Lynn asked with a somber smile.

Lincoln moved his lips away from the straw and exhaled. "A little." he answered feebly, his mood somewhat better. "I'm sorry for breaking down like that. I just-"

"It's cool, Lincoln. Sounds like you went through a raw deal." Lynn smiled sympathetically. "You needed to let it all out, I get it. And we all know that Ryan is totally clueless when it comes to being supportive."

Ryan huffed as she sent him a mocking smirk.

"I guess. It felt good finally talking about it to someone." Lincoln sighed. "God, it was just so...screwed up."

Lynn gave Ryan an intrigued look. "So let me get this straight? You dressed up as a ninja and fought zombies with my hockey stick?"

"Yup." Ryan nodded.

Lynn sighed in defeat. "Alright, I give. I regret not staying behind. That stuff sounds a lot more awesome than playing in a run-of-the-mill softball tournament."

Lincoln looked at her disapprovingly and Lynn grinned sheepishly.

"It probably was a once in a lifetime experience." Ryan agreed coolly but his smile quickly faltered. "But I don't think it was quite worth almost dying in the process. Best leave it to the movies."

"Eh, sorry, Linc..." Lynn told her brother "...I just sorta think it would have been a thrill fighting zombies armed with nothing but sports equipment."

Lincoln actually managed to smile and sighed in resignation. "Lynn, your adrenaline addiction is gonna get you killed one day."

"Hey! It's only dangerous as long as you don't have the skills to pull it of!" Lynn rebutted confidently.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you'd actually been there." Lincoln said seriously. "That whole thing was just...unbeliveble."

"I'd say." Lynn agreed. "So Lisa officially made the jump from snooty braniac to full-blown mad scientist?"

"Making that creepy fox puppet into a robot was the first red flag in my opinion." Ryan snorted.

"Yeah, I always try to tell mom and dad whenever they're harping on me about my grades that having too much up there is dangerous." Lynn agreed while tapping her head.

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "No, I'm sure they're just doing that so you wouldn't be stuck in summer school right now." he told the jock with some levity.

"Oh, shut up..." Lynn bumped his shoulder.

"Hey Lincoln!" they suddenly heard someone calling for Lincoln, and Lynn quietly groaned, recognizing the voice.

"Clyde?" Lincoln looked up to see his friend waving at him and walking up next to Ryan only to slip on a small puddle of water and land into the pool with a big splash.

Lincoln winced while Ryan and Lynn split their sides laughing.

"What a klutz!" Ryan hollered while pointing at Clyde's surfacing head.

"Wicked wipe out, man!" Lynn clutched her stomach laughing.

"Guys! That wasn't funny!" Lincoln lamented before noticing Clyde thrashing and screaming in the water.

"AH! I can't see! Help! I'll drown!"

Lynn and Ryan looked at him incredulously before resuming their merry laughter while Lincoln groaned in embarrassment.

"Clyde, you don't need your glasses to remember how to swim."

"And the water here is like three feet deep, McBride." Lynn added wryly before noticing the latter's glasses floating next to her foot and picking them up.

Clyde calmed down and felt the floor of the pool with his foot before exhaling in relief and planting his feet down.

"Oh, yeah, thanks for the tip." he said sheepishly, neck deep into the water as he looked around trying to make out the three blurs in front of him. "Eh, which one of you is Lincoln?"

Rolling her eyes, Lynn leaned down and probed him in the face with the glasses which Clyde clumsily caught.

As he put them back on he noticed something. "Hey, did the water suddenly get warmer?"

The others noticed it too and grew looks of horror as they pulled their feet out of the water.

"Ew! Seriously?!" Lynn ranted angrily, causing Clyde to gulp in embarrassment.

"Hey! You would have done it too if you were afraid for your life!" he pointed at them accusingly.

"You guys know this dweeb?" an annoyed Ryan asked the sibling, earning incredulous glances from them while Clyde recognized him and went agape.

"What? Dude, we met like four days ago!" he complained incredulously.

"We did?" a confused Ryan studied him and tried to remember him before giving up and shrugging. "Sorry, man. Not ringing any bells."

Lynn snickered while Lincoln scowled at him.

"I was with Lincoln when you and Lynn drove off that bully and his emo cousin." Clyde clarified in annoyance.

"Oh, right!" Ryan snapped his fingers. "I remember Lincoln having a friend with him there, I just forgot everything else about him."

Lynn sniggered. "Well, I can't blame ya for it." she whispered to Ryan, causing Lincoln to elbow her in retaliation.

"Ignore him, Clyde. His highness couldn't be bothered to remember a face to save his life." Lincoln glared at Ryan, who smirked at him in return.

Suddenly, Lincoln's phone started ringing next to his towel.

"I'll get it." Ryan volunteered and walked away. "Anything to get away from Mr. Pissy Pants."

"Ugh, whatever..." Clyde grumbled before facing Lincoln. "Lincoln, where have you been? Me and the guys haven't heard a peep from you in days!"

Lincoln shifted awkwardly. "Well...eh...I've been busy doing...stuff."

"He's been hanging out with me and Ryan." Lynn shrugged and pulled Lincoln into a one-armed hug.

"For four days?" Clyde inquired.

"Yes, gotta problem with family bonding?" Lynn scowled.

"No...I mean...I haven't seen him in days!" Clyde complained. "I'm not used to being separated from him for this long!"

"Guys..." Lincoln tried to interject.

"So? Get a stinking hobby." Lynn grew annoyed. "I got dibs on him cuz I'm his sister!"

"Can't argue with her." Ryan shrugged as he returned with Lincoln's phone in his hand. "By birthright, the lady's got Lincoln privileges."

He leaned down to the siblings. "It`s your daddy. I think he needs us."

Lincoln's eyes widened and he rose up. What now? He just hoped it wasn't too bad.

Lynn smiled. "Oh, well. Guess there's another family emergency." she stood up and tugged her brother up by the arm. "Let's get going."

"You're leaving already?" Clyde pouted.

Lynn walked off without another word and Ryan shot him a brief glance. "Try watching your footing, Cory." he snarked before following Lynn.

"Sorry, Clyde, dad needs me. See you some other time." Lincoln gave him an apologetic look and rushed after them.

"Lincoln, wait!" Clyde called after him and tried hauling himself out of the pool. But the moment he tried doing that, his arms gave up on him and he plunged back into the pool.

"Ow! Cramps, cramps..." he whimpered while rubbing his arms before a beach ball suddenly bounced off his head, knocking his glasses back into the water.

"Aw, man..." he whined as he searched around for them.


Another breather chapter. I initially started writing this as the begging of the next mini-story but it wound being a pretty lengthy prologue before the next conflict was even established so I decided to post it separately and wrote in an extra scene with Lisa in order to establish how everyone was doing after the near zombie apocalypse and give Lincoln a little bit of closure following his traumatic experience.

So yes, Lisa is feeling pretty shitty about herself, Lucy is still being ignored and Lincoln remains determined despite the trauma he's repeatedly experienced, but on the upside, Rita seems to be faring better, if only because she has no idea what went down last night XD