Cory and Alex rode on the bus through Florida heading west. The entire way, Alex taught Cory about the many sectors of demons and who hated who. Alex Jones also showed Cory some of his cool devices, such as a demon cognitive distortion, a spacial zombie modifier, and his personal favorite: a waifu rejuvenator. They tried to use the waifu rejuvenator on Cory, but he was ugly even as a girl so they changed him back.

Cory spent many days staring out the windows outside, looking at the force field that covered the entire state of florida. It was no longer needed, as the vampires were all dead after Alex set off some sort of plasma thing. According to Alex, tectonic plate troopers, who worked for the reptilians as a sort of secret cia force thing, would be coming to arrest them soon as they had killed a reptilian. Cory didn't worry about that, though, since he was now heading toward Alabama.

Ah Alabama. The state that Cory had always wanted to visit, but was never allowed to. You see, Alabama had reformed the confederacy and now mass produced radiation guns that they have armed every person in the state with. Cory was not allowed in the state, as he was born in the union, and thus was an outsider.

Walls were constructed outside Alabama to keep the union traitors out, and thus the everyday activities of the confederates were vague and unknown. To enter, they would need to be stealthy, and the giant bus they drove in was the perfect cover. Not because it was giant, but because it could cloak itself, of course. Espio, the navigation system and on board computer, guided them through the plan in his trademark british accent.

"The walls are impenetrable, sir, so we will need to break in. Since no one leaves or enters the state, we will need to enter stealthily. The algorithms that I have run tell me that the best way to ensure success in this situation is to enter cloaked and merely drive around invisible until we find a place rural enough to not be seen."

"Sounds like a neat-o plan, espio!" Cory shouted.

The bus began to take off into the air and cloaked itself. It then flew off toward Alabama, over the walls and into the unknown. The city they arrived in appeared to be functioning normal, except for a few differences. There didn't appear to be any cars functional in the town, and, according to the sensors of espio, the air was highly irradiated. People seemed to stay inside most of the time judging by the population outside. Another oddity was that all of the churches had been vandalized with the word "atom" over their signs. It could be inferred that the radiation gun production that Alabama specialized in had been highly influential in their culture.

They drove past the town out into the country, where they discovered the existence of an abandoned building in the woods. The building was tall and appeared to be some sort of mental hospital, long abandoned, probably nearly 70 years ago in the early 2000s. Espio parked next to it and put on a cloak that made him look entirely abandoned. Vines grew out of the broken windows, and spray painted messages drew themselves across the walls.

Cory looked out at the abandoned building, wondering who had been there while it had originally operated. He imagined the courtyard in front filled to the brim with children and patients who lived there, playing and laughing together despite their differences mentally. He imagined a lunchroom where the sounds of a thousand people melted together to form a loud, yet charming sound while plates clinked together. He imagined the bedrooms, where people would be treated, hoping to one day be cured of their differences. He imagined the day it closed, when everyone left. Nothing left but a legacy and the rotting remains of what once was.

"The radiation activity here must be caused by the tests of nuclear bombs within the area by the reptilian overlords." Alex figured.

"Actually, sir Alex, my sensors indicate that it is coming from a factory that produces radiation guns that every citizen has here." Espio added.

"I think the reptilians are hacking your censors."

Cory stared at the building, looking at the foliage that laid across the ruins. When looking through one window, he thought, for a moment, that he saw a face peeking out of it at him. He needed to figure out if it was real or not, so he jumped from the bus and ran into the building, ignoring the residents of the bus.

If the outside of the building looked horrible, the inside reeked of decay. Many places saw the ceiling sagging from water damage, and cracked floors could be seen everywhere. Walking to the center of the reception area, Cory could see the sky through the three other floors. He was reminded of his time within the abandoned building near DC, where he was haunted by slenderman. Later, he entered another one that belonged to the now destroyed creepypasta gang.

The person, or thing, he had seen in the window was on the third floor, so he would need to find his way there. He walked through the halls, searching for a staircase. The somber, bittersweet feeling he had felt when thinking about the lives of the people who had once lived there returned as he looked upon the remains of their residences. Each room was different, just like each person who was here was different. Lives lost to the past became legacies clear as day to Cory.

Reaching the end of the hall, he found the staircase room, but he didn't want to walk up all of those stairs so he decided to enter the elevator and ride it to the top. He entered the elevator, which instantly fell to the bottom floor under his weight. Cory coughed from the asbestos, and got up, straining from the fall. Now he would need to make his way up four floors instead of three.

The basement was fairly bright from all the daylight seeping in through the holes in the ceiling. There were many wheelchairs down here, along with maintenance devices. Cory discovered the generator room, but it appeared to be missing all the essential components that it would need to store power. What kind of vandal would know which components were expensive, though?

Soon enough, Cory discovered the stairs to the first floor… nearly falling apart. Cory nearly screamed in frustration, he wouldn't be able to escape this basement. Ever.

Then Cory remembered that he had basically infinite power using the bandana of power. He put the bandana on and used it to manipulate the air under him, causing him to lift off the ground and through the holes in the floors. Cory slowly flew upwards, all the way onto the third floor. He then removed his bandana and walked through the floor toward the area where he had seen the man, or the thing, or the woman.

Cory checked every room for signs of someone. None seemed to even have evidence of anyone being there in years. He looked out the window in one of the rooms, looking out into the vast reaches of the confederacy. Trees covered the area around them, masking the building with camouflage from the foliage. Past the trees were roads, long abandoned with the absence of cars and buses. Trains could be seen moving, this was how the people got around. Past this district was the town, and past that was a large imposing factory; the radiation gun plant.

"Spectacular, isn't it? No matter how imposing the scenery is."

Cory quickly turned around, drawing his katana. A man stood there. The man had grey hair and looked very old, around 80. His clothes were torn in many places, and it looked like he had camped out here for years.

"Wh-who are you?" Cory stuttered.

The man lit a cigarette and walked up next to Cory, leading against the windowsill, "The name's Tim. I was born and raised in Alabama. You?"

"I'm Cory, why do you live out here?"

"Hmm, isn't that the question? Years ago, way back in 2009, me and my friends encountered a creature out here. We filmed it as a film project, masquerading it as acting. We called it the operator, but you'd know it as slenderman. Me, Troy and Alex filmed many times in this building. Those were good times. Where have they gone?"

"I have s-seen slenderman too!"

Tim continued to look out at the factory, "You probably haven't seen what he can do to you. Alex went insane because of that thing. What started as a fun project turned into a nightmare when he tried to kill me to stop the spread of the monster. I was able to stop him before he killed both me and Troy. But that wasn't the end of the story, that story is the reason Alabama is like it is today."

"What is it like here?"

"Well for starters, you've probably seen there are no cars or trucks or anything. The governor became obsessed with creating radiation guns for everyone, basically making the entire state one big army," Tim took his cigarette out and stomped it into the ground, looking down, Cory could see he had done this many times before, "the entire country has decided to worship atoms or something, they seem to welcome radiation as a source of life. It seems everyone has gone insane."

"How does this relate to yo friends?" Cory said, slurring because he wanted to be quirky.

Tim sighed, "who are you and why do you care?"

"I'm an agent from DC who is on my way to Texas to relive the alamo."

Tim rolled his eyes, "whatever. The slenderman or whatever you call him seemed to effect Troy in addition to Alex. Troy seemed normal at first, but then began to change and become more and more radical. Eventually he was elected governor, projecting his views on the entire state. Using the idea of a free Alabama, Troy was able to manipulate the people and eventually make them believe everything else he said other than that. You see, Troy thought radiation was the source of life, that's why he wants everyone to worship it. He's still in power today, but no one has seen him in a while."

"Well where is he? I want to kill him and liberate Alabama."

"You can't simply do that. The entire state thinks he's some sort of savior to all. There's no hope, you should just move on."

"I can't do that."

Tim sighed, "I guess I'll need to do something worthwhile in my life, might as well start now. I will help you, maybe I can talk to him and convince him to join us."

"Thank you, Tim."

"Yeah, sure."

Cory and Tim made their way outside, where they saw Alex Jones waiting for them next to the bus. They all entered it, but it was then that they learned that scavengers from the cult had taken essential parts to the bus, thus making it undrivable. Cory exited the bus, crying over their loss of espio. He looked out, setting his sights on the factory, which was also the capital.