NOTE: A thousand apologies for any OOC-ness from this point on. Let me know if there could be something different that wouldn't make them as such.

[16 A.E - 14:27 Hours]

[Fifteen Years After E-Day]

[Corporal Alessandra Ninkovinch]

[Hanover, Tyrus]

It was really hard to think clearly at certain times during the war, especially with the thundering sounds of a King Raven's chopper blades buzzing right near the eardrums. Whenever I needed a moment to myself, something always came up and forced me to go back into the battlefield. Not that I minded all that much, since there were times when I needed to focus, but other times I just wanted to have a moment to myself and bring my thoughts around, to make sense of them. It was rare to have a moment of peace and quiet when those two did not even exist in Sera anymore; not after so many years of fighting, bloodshed and warfare. I did not think that there was a person out there who would have been able to sleep so soundly at night with all the traumatizing events that have gone on in the past fifteen years; well, maybe just one person, as shocking as it was, but that was about it. No one else could even have a moment to themselves without being shaken awake by the sounds of gunfire and explosions or the shrieks and shouts of the dying or the people crying out for help. With how much destruction that went on in past seventeen years, it was starting to become rare to hear even a person calling and begging for mercy anymore. Nowadays, it was mainly the Stranded that were lurking about now, and even they did not want to look in the direction of a Gear let alone ask for any of our help. That peace and quiet was far from Sera, especially when the people that live in it, the Gears included, are falling apart.

Hazel eyes glanced out the side of the KR, watching as the small buildings rolled by. Occasionally, my hand would fall up toward my brunette locks and push them back, keeping them from getting in my face too much. From what I heard, we were heading to Hanover, Tyrus - home of the Cougars and "the Cole Train" - in order to look for supplies to take back to what was left of the COG. Ever since Prescott abandoned us eighteen months ago, things have turned for the worst. The bastard did not even leave us a letter of goodbye, but then again why would he? The only thing he ever did that I knew of was the fact that he let me join the CIC, yet even I still questioned if that was the real. He claimed it was out of guilt for what had happened to my father, but I found that hard to believe when he was so willing to just up and leave the COG to fend for ourselves. He did not feel guilty, but then again I never really understood the man to know the truth. Maybe if I saw him again - if being the operative choice of words - I would ask again. Then again, I may punch him in the face first not just for the COG or for myself, but because he did not even try to help my sister from being taken away to the breeding farms; he just let her go, almost as if he turned his back.

Yeah, if I ever saw that bastard of a man again, I would love to have a long chat with him about all of that.

"Hey, Carmine, you all right?" My head turned toward Private Samantha Byrne, her attention focused on Clayton Carmine. "You're awfully quiet." When I looked in Carmine's direction, I knew immediately what was on his mind before he even said it out loud.

"Someone's gotta be," he responded to her words, his voice only muffled slightly due to the mask he wore while fixing the Lancer to a more comfortable position, "with Baird yapping all the time."

As I heard the Corporal's name, my gaze fell into the direction of the man in question - Damon Baird - briefly while conversed with Private Augustus Cole, or commonly known as "the Cole Train" to the fans of Thrashball. By fans, I was including myself. I did not really notice just how much Baird was talking until Carmine pointed that little fact.

"I could gag him if you'd like," Sam chuckled. "Be my treat."

I smiled at her joke before jokingly commenting, "I'll get the popcorn ready." It earned a good laugh from Clayton and Sam.

"Ah, remind me again why we thought Hanover was a good place to look for supplies?" Asked Baird to Cole, grabbing my attention and returning it to the two once again.

"Baby, you gotta trust the Cole Train to find the goods," responded Cole, patting Baird on the shoulder. "This is my turf! Cougars territory!"

"Yeah," Baird muttered more to himself, "'cause that's gonna count for a lot right now."

Even though I was unable to see it, I could still that Cole was happy to be back in the town he used play Thrashball in. Hell, I would feel the same way if I was going back home after so many years; unfortunately, I did not have that opportunity. Since Ephyra was gone now, there was no point in trying to go back and see everything again. Why would I want to, anyway? Not only was it just a big pile of rubble piled on with Locusts, it would also bring up too many memories of the past. Going back would be like reliving all the days before Emergence Day. I would remember my family a little, knowing that I had decent life despite being in the middle class. My father was good, hard working man that worked with the COG. Too bad they tossed him into jail for not cooperating on some new project that they were pulling together. It was worse when we had gotten word about how he was brutally murdered in prison as well; by who, I still did not know the whole, since my mom would not tell me shit about it. Since then, she just stopped talking to people, only speaking on the rarest occasions. It was a shame she died on E-Day, cause she left my sister and I to fend for ourselves.

I shook my head a bit, trying to get rid of the thoughts that tried to enter my head. Getting distracted by all of that would only become my down fall, and that was something I would much rather avoid.

"Okay, Seven-Zero," I heard Baird's voice come through again, "we'll call you back as soon as we find something."

"Roger that. Good hunting." Responded Seven-Zero as the chopper made a touch down.

Just as it did that, I stood along with Carmine and Sam. I held onto my Longshot with one hand before fixing the position of my Lancer hanging on my back so it was more comfortable. After that, I looked back out at the city of Hanover, looking at what was once filled with people and Cougars fans now turned ghost town. It was eerie, really, to be in a place where no one was around to greet you with a smile. It felt everything was just wiped out in a day and nothing was left but the crumbling buildings and floors. As I leapt out of the cabin, I looked in Cole's direction just as he waved to the King Raven before it took off. I could imagine what was going through Cole's head as he looked at what was once his home. It must have been painful behind that smile, seeing all the memories of what used to be his own flashing before his eyes only to be destroyed by the gruesome sights of Lambent stalks bursting through buildings and streets. It must have been hurting him on the inside, but at the same time I knew he was strong. It may have been painful to see him coming home fifteen years later only to find nothing but crumbling buildings and pavement, but I suppose it was good to come back to the place before bidding the memories a proper farewell. If only I was given a chance to do just that; for my dad, for my mom, for the rest of my family and friends.

To think I always wanted to come here and see the Cougars play. I thought to myself, smiling a little at the thought while trying to push the depressing ones away. I, then, noticed Carmine look at me; his expression was unreadable, of course, but that only gave me the signal that I said something out loud that was probably more to myself. I looked at him and smiled sheepishly, raising my Longshot so I was carrying it with both hands. "Sorry," I muttered. "Didn't realize I said that out loud."

"Any louder and you may attract some unwanted attention to us," called Baird in his usual sarcastic manner. I gave him a look at his comment, to which he simply shrugged as if he were speaking the truth. In a way, he kinda was, and I could not necessarily blame him for it.

"Cut her some slack, Baird," Sam spoke as if she were my own voice. "Everyone's got a habit they'd rather not have. Even you."

"Oh yeah? What's mine?"

"Being an annoying little asshole." I held in a laugh as Baird shot her a glare, yet said nothing more as we started making our way into the city. Immediately, I could see the Lambent stalks overrunning the rooftops and through the buildings. Fires had actually started at an undetermined amount of time ago. Again, it felt weird coming back to a place where it was completely abandoned. "So this is home, eh, Cole?" I heard Sam ask as Cole took the lead, knowing the city better than any of us.

"Classy," Baird added. "Has it changed much since you've been away?"

"Hey, the whole damn world looks like this, Baird," I found my voice and spoke to him. "Let's just keep moving and look for those supplies."

Before we had much of a chance to keep moving forward, Baird stop us all by saying, "Whoa, whoa - take a look over there." Surprisingly, we all did and found a wall of old metal scraps thrown together to block the path. "I'm guessing that used to be a Stranded outpost."

We continued to move toward it a little to investigate. No one was around, and I could not hear any voices of possible Stranded. It had to be abandoned at some point; most likely when the Lambent Stalks appeared. As we looked around a bit more, I heard Sam make a disgusted comment about a dead body - something along the lines of how he did not die of natural causes - to which Baird responded sarcastically and referred to her as a doctor.

"Yeah, call it a woman's intuition," Sam retorted coolly, as if his words did not affect her at all.

"Told you this was gonna be a waste of time," he responded, making me realize that was no long walking near Carmine but closer in Baird's general direction. I paid no attention to it for the time being.

"There's gotta be more outposts around here," said Cole, looking over the wall before looking at the rest of us. "Let's keep lookin'."

With that, we turned back around and started down what used to be a street. Much of it was destroyed by one of the stalks nearby, its wood-like features barren and void of life; while pieces of cobblestone, rubble from the buildings, and skeletons of vehicles were left abandoned in the streets. My hazel eyes trailed over every crevice I could find, making sure that there were no enemies waiting for us to turn our backs before opening fire, or even a glowie waiting for us before leaping on our backs. I kept my gaze on one of the nearby Lambent stalks for a good few minutes, as if I was waiting for something to pop out and start attacking us immediately. No surprise there; stalks usually meant polyps may have been nearby. And with polyps, there were always a few Lambent Locusts lurking behind the corner as well.

"I'm tellin' you, this place is crawling with freaks," said Baird. I looked in his direction briefly, noticing how much I was moving toward him, before looking forward again. "You know what stalks mean. Polyps." I felt myself smile a bit; looks like Baird and I were on the same page.

"We haven't seen polyps for months," Sam spoke up. "Relax." A few moments later, after passing by another large stalk, she said, "Oh, Baird, look! That house over there…" I looked ahead to find a house that appeared in mint condition; probably livable if Lambents were not their next door neighbors. "I can see us - you and me, couple of kids, a dog…"

At that sarcastic comment, I immediately noticed Cole look over his shoulder, smirking so only I could see it. I felt my cheeks burn as I looked away, trying to ignore the teasing expression he was sending my way. I knew immediately that Sam was joking around about that; she had no romantic feelings for him whatsoever, yet I could still myself becoming a little jealous. Again, Sam and I were on good terms, great even, but even then I could still feel myself seething a bit of jealousy at some things she said. Cole, unfortunately, knew the reason why and would constantly poke some silent fun at me as a joke. Reason being…well, let us assume that I…may have felt some attraction to Baird. Some, as I liked to emphasize to the Cole Train on more than one occasion, not completely. Still, it was enough for him to take notice and figure it out. He immediately jumped to conclusions that I had a full blown attraction to his best friend, thinking that Baird and I could be something other than just…well, whatever we were. It was hard to tell if we were friends or just acquaintances sometimes; I knew it was more towards the friends side of the odd seesaw of our relationship, but it was his constant sarcasm that said otherwise. Granted, it was just how he was by nature, but anyone with eyes may have thought the complete opposite of friends. According to Cole, though, he knew that I was of friend of Baird's, even if he did not show it all that much and often times poke fun at me and mocked my mechanic skills. Nevertheless, the Cole Train was expecting to see if it would turn into something different in the future.

Maybe it would…but then again, maybe not. Baird was just a confusing person most of the time.

"Yeah!" Baird spoke up. "And a great big bottle of suicide pills."

Sam chuckled and responded with a comment of her own: "Well, that'll save me poisoning your dinner."

I chuckled myself, shaking my head lightly at her words, as Baird said, "Yeah, you'll miss me one day."

"Only if somebody bumps my elbow."

With a fake and clearly sarcastic laugh from Baird, we continued to move forward, searching for anymore Stranded outposts that may still be occupied by anyone that was not a Lambent. Even though they probably would not be much help, they may have been able to point us in the direction we need to go in. Still, only one could hope. As for the area around us, everything appeared completely abandoned with no person in sight. Only the wind blowing through the cracks of buildings and through shattered windows was heard. Nevertheless, we continued to search for another outpost. However, it seemed the outpost had found us moments later. As we continued our trek through what was left of the city, a huge bright light appeared from in front of us, nearly blinding us all. I quickly raised my arm to shield my eyes from the burning rays. Before any of us had a chance to find out, a loud voice resounded over a speaker system.

"Hey, you down there," the voice boomed, "step into the light and do it slow! Try anything dumb, and we'll blow yer heads off!"

Cute. A nice 'Welcome to Hanover' would have been a bit better instead of threatening to blow our heads off, but what does a COG know these days? Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Baird smirking, letting me know that 1.) I was now standing closer to him than before, and 2.) I had once again said something out loud that was meant more to myself. "Shit…I've gotta stop doing that." I muttered, looking away and forcing down another blush.

"Everybody chill," said Cole, taking the situation into his own hands. "Relax, my man! Safety's on!"

Within seconds, the blaring light disappeared, giving us the chance to look freely without worry about going blind. Looking ahead, and as expected, we looked upon another wall similar to the one when we first arrived. It was a Stranded outpost; to prove it, there was the aforementioned man standing atop of it. He looked down at us with an unwelcoming gaze, a common trait that many of them exhibit when looking upon one or more Gears. By now, their looks of distaste no longer phased me; in a way I could relate to them. I hated the laws of the COG and what lengths they went to just to wipe out the Locusts. The only difference was that I would be more than willing to help them if need be.

"Hey - it's the COG coming to civilize us!" Said the Stranded, his tone faking happiness and joy. "Oh, whoopee!"

I frowned, but kept my mouth shut as Cole spoke up.

"Yo, we all in the same boat." He told him. "We just wanna trade for some food."

"Well, we ain't got any spare food," the Stranded responded. "And if we did, we wouldn't be trading with you COG assholes." I rolled my eyes briefly, expecting his answer before he even said it, but looked back at him as he went on. "Oooooh…I'll give you a side of bacon for those two, though." Blinking, I looked up at him just his eyes traced over me, making me raise my weapon slightly at about the same time that Sam did; clearly, we were on the same page when it came to disgusting pigs like him.

"Ooooh…bacon," I heard Carmine muttered. I glared in his direction just as Baird went up to Cole.

"Hey, take the deal, Cole." He said to him. "I haven't had bacon in six months." This time, I glared at him and raised my weapon even higher, dangerously close to aiming it at his head. I was about ready to just pull the trigger on his head, but I chose to keep that little opinion to myself. Although he was not thinking the same way as myself or probably as Sam, Cole was not one so easy to agree with the deal. Pushing Baird slightly to let him know he had the situation, he looked back at the Stranded just as Baird walked off, shaking his head.

"Thanks but no thanks," he said to him. I decided to push it off, not wanting to let it cloud my thoughts and distract me from the real issue at hand. "Any other camps around?"

Disappointed by the decline of his offer (and much to Sam and mine's appreciation), the Stranded responded, "Some. You can try the warehouse down by the pier. Or the stadium. 'Course, you gotta get passed all the glowies first, but you hairy-assed heroes can breeze through all that shit."

After that was said and done, a door that was nearby opened up for us, revealing another way forward in our search for food and supplies. With a slight bow, Cole sent a small salute to the Stranded, who simply started laughing in a sinister manner before walking off to who-knows-where. Almost immediately, the ex-Thrashball player took the lead once more and headed through the opening, Lancer still secure in his hands. The rest of us followed right beyond him, not even daring to look in the Stranded's direction as he disappeared from sight. When we entered through the new passageway, we found ourselves walking into what appeared to be an alleyway of sorts. It was littered with garbage here and there along with papers flying about in the wind. Yet, the air still kept that eerie and tense feeling to it, forcing me to keep up my guard. Glaring at the walls more out of anger due to the events prior, I kept following behind Cole and the others. Although it appeared I was trailing behind them, I was keeping up with the pace pretty well. Yet, I still found myself moving somewhere near Baird again.

"Huh. Kinda antisocial, aren't they?" Clayton asked sheepishly, as if he was not exactly sure what to make of it.

Unconsciously, I looked in his direction and said, "Uh, it's pronounced 'assholes,' Clayton." I did not mean to sound like a bitch, and he knew that much too, but since I was still seething about that asshole looking over Sam and I, it was difficult to keep a calm demeanor.

I heard Baird laugh out loud at my words of frustration and clear sarcasm.

"Sounds like I'm starting to rub off on you, Alex," he said. "Maybe you're actually learning a thing or two from me."

I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow curiously, just as Sam said, "If that happens, we'll have two annoying idiots to deal with. And frankly, I like Alex just the way she is. I'd rather give myself up over bacon than deal with a second Baird."

I blinked.

"I'm not sure if I should take offense to that…" I muttered to myself.

"That so?" Baird looked at her. "If that's the case, I'll make sure Alex sticks close by to me." Sam gave him a look, while I lowered my head to hide an coloration that may have appeared on my face. I could almost tell that Cole was holding back a hearty laugh, not wanting to give away anything that I did not want him to. "Be nice to have something to eat right now, though…"

"Come on, we still got options," said Cole, returning to the real topic at hand. "There's even an old grocery store 'round here. Let's see if my coupons are still good."

With a smile and small shake of the head, we made our way into a playground surrounded by a thick, beige colored wall of bricks. It was partially destroyed due to the stalks and possible fire fights that went on here before our arrival, yet it still blended well with the wonderful scenery of rubbles, ashes, and Lambent stalks. Throw in a couple of dead bodies and some blood stains here and there, and we would have ourselves a lovely image of the new and improved Hanover. My eyes shifted at those odd thoughts. Maybe Baird was right, I thought to myself, maybe he was rubbing off on me. Not wanting to think about how I may have becoming a second Damon Baird in the group, I returned my focus to the task at hand. I had to remain focused, not let my guard down for even a second. As we approached the playground, we came across a large gate that blocked the way in and out of it. Unfortunately, none of us had the technology - by technology, I was referring to Jack - to open it, so we had to go with the old fashion style of busting open doors and gates.

"Damn shame we ain't got Jack here to rip that gate," comment Cole as we approached the metal bars. "I miss that little guy!"

"Hey, he isn't scrap yet, okay!" Baird said. "We're just looking for a new power supply for him." By we, he was referring to himself and I, since we were both working on fixing Jack; wanna take a wild guess as who came up with that little idea? "He'll be better than new before you know it! Let's just open this the Delta way."

As if understand his meaning, Cole took the opportunity to kick the gate open. When it did not work the first time, he tried again, only for it to swing open as it broke under the pressure of "the Cole Train." We entered the small playground in silence after that, the creaking sounds of the roundabout sounding and making me more conscious of the surroundings. However, Cole decided to have a little fun and ease the tense air around us.

"Hey, Baird, why don't you hope on, and I'll give you a push."

Baird sent him an odd look before saying, "Uh, yeah, you know what? No thanks." As funny as it was, the smile that was on my face immediately disappeared as a low rumbling noise began to sound. Hazel eyes looked around the area quickly as I noticed some of swings moving on its own…without the wind to move it back and forth. In seconds, my cautiousness went to its maximum, preparing myself for anything that was going to be thrown at us. I raised my Longshot a bit as I looked around a bit, only to jump and swiftly turn a hundred and eighty degrees to spot a Lament stalk shooting up out of the ground, taking the roundabout along with it. "We've got a live one!" I heard Baird call out.

"Watch it!" Cole shouted before we all dodged the playground contraption.

Without question, we quickly began moving to cover, avoiding anything else that could have dropped from the sky when a stalk appeared. I moved to hide with Baird and Carmine, while Sam and Cole went to take their own place of protection - when I saw them they were moving behind a destroyed vehicle. As we did that, a second stalk shot out of the ground in the distance on the street, only this one released a Lambent unlike anything I had ever seen. Hazel eyes widened with shock and my skin paled even further than it already was as the Lambent revealed itself to be what looked like a Berserker. However, it was much different from the ones I had seen before the Lambent Pandemic. It appeared much larger and deadlier than its Locust counterpart. Not only that, but there were multiple blade-like tentacles that sprouted from their backs, and the center of its chest glowed the yellow color of Imulsion; signifying that it was a Lambent. Two arm-like tentacles replaced its arms, while the ends also glowed yellow as they fired some Imulsion in our direction. Although it was definitely similar to the Locust Berserkers, there were some serious differences that were very much noticeable to the naked eye. It screeched and roared in our direction, causing my skin to feel pale and cold out of fear. However, despite not knowing what it was capable, I had to remain strong. The only way to find out its weaknesses was to instigate it during the fight.

"Holy shit…" I heard myself mutter, finding myself more surprised that I thought.

Baird looked at me quickly, hearing my words of surprise, before saying, "Don't sit there and gawk at it, Alex, and open fire on the bitch!"

Without another word, I did just as he said and immediately took aim and fired at the thing. The bullet from my Longshot hit its skin, but it did not seem as though it did much. It appeared to be indestructible to the gunshots, which made my heart pound faster over the possibility that there would be no way to destroy the thing. Several shots from Baird's and Carmine's Lancers proved my theory that they, along with my weapon, had little to no effect on the Berserker. It simply roared again, like nothing was happening at all, as I ducked behind the wall. I started to reload my Longshot quickly before moving back and taking aim again. This time, however, as it roared, its chest cavity opened up; it appeared as if it was a weak spot, but I would not for sure until I proved it myself. With that in mind, I quickly took the shot on the glowing chest, hitting directly and watching as it reeled back. I smirked a bit and looked at Baird.

"Aim for it's chest!" I told him, ducking down to avoid any Imulsion blasts from its chest. Not wanting to waste any bullets with just a Longshot, I switched it out for my Lancer and prayed that I would not screw up with it and get one of my comrades hurt. "The glowing parts on it's chest is the weak spot! Aim there!"

Wordlessly, Baird nodded once and continued firing, most likely in the spot that I had recommended and assume was the weakness. Once I knew my weapon was ready to go, I inhaled before getting up and joining him, opening fire on the Lambent bitch and aiming for its possible weakness. It still shot out blasts of Imulsion, but when I noticed its poor eyesight was dangerously similar to the Berserkers, I knew we had a fighting chance. That was proven in a rather short amount of time. Within just a minute or so of shooting at it, the Lambent Berserker reeled back some more, most likely in pain from having hit its sensitive part of the body, before exploding into nothing but Imulsion. That part was just the beginning, though; the battle was not over yet.

When we looked forward again, we spotted some more Lambents Drudges appear, taking aim and firing at us without a moment of hesitation. To make matters worse, there were Lambent Wretches that were hot on our trail as well, moving toward us as quickly and efficiently as possible. My eyes narrowed as I looked at the stalk, noticing it glow vibrantly as Imulsion ran through it. With the stalk still alive and intact, there would be no end in sight for the Lambents. Cursing under my breath, I took aim and fired again on some of the glowies that tried to approach us, watching as they exploded one by one with every shot I took at them. At the same time, Carmine was taking shots at the stalks, shooting out the pods that were attached to it and causing all of the Lambents to appear in the first place. Once I was sure there were no more Wretches for the time being, I turned my attention to the Drudges nearby, picking them off one by one and ducking when I needed to. After a while, their numbers were starting to diminish, giving us the upper hand in the firefight. However, that small moment of victory did not last very long.

Before the numbers could diminish completely, another stalk appeared from the ground, producing even more Wretches and more Drudges. I could feel myself becoming more and more frustrated with the situation, as it was starting to get worse, yet I continued to fire and reload when I needed to do so. Not wanting to sit around in the same spot, I decided to take a risk and leap over the wall in front of me and hide behind the monkey bars. From that angle, I was able to see them much more clearly and get better shots; so that was what I did. I opened fire on them without even giving myself a chance to catch a breath, filling each of them with bullets and causing them to erupt. The bullets from my comrades' Lancer flew whizzed toward them as well, giving them their own kills and putting down anything with a pulse that was not human. After the stalk was eliminated, we started to move up more, overpowering them and depleting their numbers. Although I was still fearful about screwing up while holding the Lancer, I kept my cool and continued to open fire on those assholes.

When another stalk appeared in the street, we all quickly moved in and kept firing at the same time, only taking a small break when we had to reload our weapons. The Drudges continued to fight strong, moving from place to place and trying to get better shots at each of us, but they were soon killed on the spot. While we fought them, another Lambent Berserker appeared along with some more polyps and glowies, running toward us and making an attempt to injure us. Fortunately we were able to fend off the polyps and eliminate them, but we had to deal with the Berserker once more. However, now that we knew what we were up against, we knew exactly where to shoot and at what time. While we were shooting down the Berserker, I spotted a Drudge in the distance, trying to take some shots at us. Deciding to put my long range skills to good use, I hid behind the wall and switched out my Lancer. After making sure it was reloaded, I moved and took aim at the Drudge, waiting for it to move into the perfect position for me to take the shot. It was not until after the Berserker exploded that the Drudge became distracted. Within a beat, my finger pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and echoed through the air, while the bullet itself landed in the Drudges skull, knocking it back and causing it to explode on impact.

As that last one exploded into pieces, everything soon went silent once again. The tension remained high, though, but the silence once again returned to the world. I looked around to make sure it was the last one, not wanting to take a bullet for not being careful enough. However, when the silence really set, I took a moment to exhale a breath of relief and lower my weapon. Turning to the others, I noticed them visibly relax as well, yet kept their fingers on the trigger just in case. As if knowing that we could not stay there for long, as there may have been more, we decided to rest later and keep moving forward.

"You know, maybe I've been too harsh on the polyps," said Baird as we moved. "I kinda prefer them to these new glowies."

"You know, Baird," I started, looking in his direction, "for once, I actually have to agree with you."

He smirked.

"See? I'm not the only one who agrees with that statement!" I shook my head and just smiled. After a minute or so, he spoke up again. "Cole, you sure you know where the grocery store is? I mean, when you were a big Thrashball star, didn't you have people for that?"

Before I had a chance to call him out on such a ridiculous accusation, Cole spoke up and said, "Yeah. One of 'em must have told me where it was when I was gettin' my manicure…" I could not help but laugh at little at the comment. "Keep it moving." We kept on moving until we reached an impasse. There was a blockade of razor wires and metal plates blocking the path, probably created by the Stranded to keep anything from moving forward. However, if the wires were moved, it would be easy to pass through without injuring ourselves. Cole seemed to have the same idea as he looked at us. "Yo, the store should be up ahead." He said. "Let's cut through here."

Without question, Cole and Baird moved toward the razor wire, placing their weapons on their backs before opening it for Clayton, Sam, and I to go through with ease. Once we were all through safely, Cole went through next before allowing Baird to step afterwards before releasing it and turning to face us. After that, we continued our trek forward, with Carmine and Sam taking the lead this time as I trekked behind them along with Cole and Baird. There were a few lifeless stalks looming over us, but since they were inactive we simply kept up the pace. It did not take us very long for us to make it up the minor hill that was in front of us, and it was at that top that we finally came upon grocery store. It was rather fortunate that Cole remembered where it was located before we got lost. However, it did not mean it was time to celebrate now, not when we were out in the open and able to get though we reached the destination in question, it did not necessarily mean that we were scot-free from all of the danger that may have been around the corner. That was proven just a few minutes later.

Before we had the chance to even enter the damn parking lot, more stalks shot up, destroying what was there and creating some more Lambents. One of them just so happened to be near a car, but there was nothing we could do as it was lifted and tossed into the air. Eyes widening, I realized just where it was about to land; right where Carmine was standing. He did not realize that it was coming toward, as his focus was more on the enemy, but my instincts acted much more quickly than my running thoughts. With a burst of adrenaline coursing through my veins, I sprinted past Sam, who nearly jumped as I ran past her, and toward Carmine; moving my Longshot to my back in the process so I could do something I unconsciously wanted to try for so many years.

"Carmine, look out!" I shouted at him.

Before he even had the chance to look at me and comprehend what was just about to happen, I leaped toward him; tackling him to the ground as if I were playing a good old game of Thrashball with my friends at the playground. When we both hit the ground, we both began sliding against it, part of out armor scratching against it. Since I did not have much armor covering my arm, I slid against the ground with my bare skin, causing it to sting with pain as I felt it being scratched up and torn. I knew I was gonna have an injury, but I stopped caring when I realized one of my closest friends was about to be crushed. Seconds later, the very large, metal skeleton that was thrown into the air smashed onto the spot where Carmine was located mere seconds ago, where he would have been smashed like a pancake were it not for my adrenaline boost that came over me. Carmine and I sat up and looked at one another, looked at the others, and looked toward the stalks where Drudges began to appear. Before he had a chance to say anything out of gratitude, I got to my feet and pulled out my Longshot, ignoring the slight stinging pain that went through my arm, and began taking aim behind the nearby wall. Carmine and the others followed suit and started opening fire on them as well.

Within a few minutes, we were all hiding behind individual walls that were placed within the parking lot, taking shots against any Drudges that appeared. Taking a shot at the head of one, I inwardly laughed triumphantly as its head blew off and the rest of its body exploded before moving back behind the wall and reloading my weapon. It was while I was doing that that I noticed my arm for the first time since that fall. It had several scratch marks on it, but it was not enough to be severe. Blood seeped out of some of the wounds, but it was not enough to kill me. Clicking my tongue, I finished reloading before looking out over the wall again and firing, only that shot missed. A Drudge immediately looked at me dead in the eye before it suddenly started opening fire. Fortunately, I was able to duck before I took a bullet to the head. After I reloaded, I moved back over the wall and, with a quick scope, shot the bastard that was shooting at me. This gave me the opportunity to notice yet another Lambent Berserker along with another stalk. I was unsure as to when they both appeared, but I just did not care anymore. My mind was much too focused on getting rid of the fuckers for good and getting those Goddamn supplies. That was not too much to ask, but if they wanted to get in the way, then they better expect to get gunned down.

Reloading my Longshot once again, I looked over the wall and through the scope to observe the Drudges in the distance, checking to see just how many there were so that I had an idea as to how long it would take to kill them and head inside. However, not only was I able to spot the Drudges, I was also able to spot some glowies moving toward us; their tiny glowing bodies luminescent and eye-catching. Mutter a small "Fucking Hell," I hid behind the wall again, switched out my Longshot for my Lancer, and began moving toward the others, who also noticed in incoming glowies. Pulling the trigger on the first bastard I saw, it did not take me long to take down two or three glowies before we started making our way to the stalk. I assumed the first Berserker that was there had already been eliminate, but by the time I reached the others I noticed that there was a second one trying to push us back. Frowning, I kept calm as we continued to push forward, hiding behind anything we could find in order to reload or to keep our asses safe from any bullets that strayed by. There was only one that grazed past my arm, but since it was nothing more than a graze I continued to open fire without much of a care.

Finishing off the Berserker with nearly an entire clip from my Lancer, we were able to move on to the rest of the Drudges still lurking about. Carmine was able to take out the pods on the stalk, preventing anymore Lambents from coming out and keeping us from moving forward. The last few Drudges did not take very long to finish off, since one or two of them were stupid enough to stand up and try to make a move to new position while the last one was taken out by myself - I decided to finish him off as quickly as possible, so a bullet to the head with the Longshot was enough. Once that was eliminate, I once again exhaled a sigh of relief, thankful that those bastards were gone whether it was a short amount of time or not.

"Come on!" Carmine called out, moving toward the store. "Let's get inside the story before more glowies show up!"

Without question, we all made our way to the grocery store as fast as we could, not wanting to stick for anything else to come after us. I could not help but look over my shoulder every several seconds or so, but it was hard not to after taking down the enemy and knowing they could appear at any given moment. As we approached the large metal door, it slowly began to open for us; it was as if it had no idea as to what was going on outside its doors. Probably did not even realize what was going on inside. Nevertheless, it opened up and we were able to get inside. Once there, we took a bit of a moment to relax a little, but still kept a wary eye of our surroundings. Cole, on the other hand, did not appear as down to earth as before. Instead, immediately when we entered, he started walking toward something that caught his eye. When I watched him, I noticed him walking toward a cardboard cutout of himself, a huge grin on his face and a giving a thumbs up. My eyes saddened a bit; I had a feeling that it was starting to hit home for him…or what was left of it anyway.

"Ever feel like your dead, but nobody told you?" He asked out of the blue. I did not respond; nobody responded. How were we supposed to answer something deep like that, especially when it came from someone as upbeat as the Cole Train? I took a glance at Baird, who also looked at me at about the same time. I could tell he was trying to find an answer and thought I could help him figure out something to say. Unfortunately, I was floating on the same boat as he was and could not come up with anything. "Okay - " We both looked back at him as he turned back around to face the four of us, "let's see what they got on special this week."

And just like that, he was back to normal, as if that statement was never even said. Granted, his demeanor may have been a bit more mellow than what we were used to, but he was back to his old self. After Sam and Carmine started following him a few moments later, Baird and I stole glances from one another, not really sure what happened, before looking forward and following behind them as well. We really could not make out what just happened nor could we really be of much help to him. Then again, Cole was always something to the both of us; only we had different circumstances, circumstances that the other knew little if not nothing about. However, something told me that that was going to change in the coming future.