Chapter 18

They approached the edge of the city, overlooking it from a large highway. One by one, their mouths dropped in awe. The city stretched as far as the eye could see. In many areas, nature had already begun to reclaim the structures and land that was taken so many years ago. Tall towers and buildings sprouted from every which way and it was the high example of a ruined city.

They walked slowly into the city, and they eyed the houses and (farther in) the buildings with a vengeance. They didn't get very far in when Shatner eased them to stop, and gathered them up for a discussion.

"Alright," he whispered, eyeing each one, "We need to be very careful. I don't want to be caught up in another sticky situation. We need to split up."

"Great plan," said Nate.

"Yeah, I'll take Fred, uh… Lovecraft, Bailey, uh… and Charles. Nate, you take Kevin, Leo, Iawn, and Seth."

"Dude, now this plan sucks," said Nate, "Why do I get Iawn?"

"Hey," burst out Iawn.

"How about we trade?" continued Nate, "The two Brits for Beatle?"

"It's not a trade," said Shatner, "And it is not negotiable. These are the teams."

"Why is he the leader?" asked Seth.

"He'll bring the whole city down if we gave him the chance," said Kevin.

"Ok, now wait a minute," continued Nate.

"That's what you two are for," said Shatner, "Keep him out of trouble."

"Great," said Kevin, rolling his eyes.

Nate held out his hands to either side in question, but was ignored by everyone else. They nodded.

"Now, I figure one group on the high ground and one group on the low ground would be a good idea," Continued Shatner.

"Dibs," said Nate, "On the low ground."

"Do a vote," said Iawn, "High ground."

"High Ground," said the rest of Nate's group together, and then Kevin added in, "Dibs."

"Damnit," said Nate.

"I think it is best," answered Shatner, "Alright, so you guys need to find a way through all these buildings and cover us down below, alright?"

"Sounds good," said Fred.

"Let's find a vehicle," said Charles, "My FEET hurt!"

"Oh, get a sports car!" said Leo.

"We couldn't all fit in one," said Kevin.

"A tank," said Nate, "Just… throwing that out there."

"Let's get through this first," said Shatner, "Look out for maps and anything else helpful. Try not to get shot!"

"Alright," said Pandora, "And please, look out for us, don't shoot us."

"We'll look after you, Pandora," said Kevin, "Keep yourself seen, though."

"Alright," said Shatner, "Let's go, quickly now."

Nate sighed, but he left the group, examining the surrounding buildings. The groups dispersed, Shatner's slowly heading down the street and searching the charred vehicles and abandoned shops.

Nate brought his group to the side of the street, searching the rows of buildings that were there. He rubbed his stubble and looked up and down the building.

"We're looking for a door of some kind," said Nate, scowling at the rubble that blocked most of the ways in.

"Oh, OVER HERE!" yelled Iawn, further down a secondary street.

Nate nodded at Kevin, and they joined the rest down the street. Iawn was stepping back from painting something on the entrance. Nate's face scrunched up, as he read the graffiti on the door. Iawn, Leonard, and even Seth chuckled and laughed to themselves as Nate examined the entrance.

Painted in big red paint all up and down the entrance was a series of words. On the door was painted the words "The Gay Door", and on either side of the entrance were written various other statements like "Flint Enters This Exit Only" and "This Way To Happiness" and "Enter Here". Nate shook his head, crossing his arms at the crass joke. The others chuckled and laughed at each other.

"You like it?" asked Iawn, smiling.

Nate didn't say a word, he just shook his head.

"Would you like to enter my gaydoor? Fearless leader?" asked Iawn again, gesturing to the entrance.

"What… is this?" asked Nate, shaking his head.

"What?" asked Leo, still laughing, "You don't like it? It's a really nice gaydoor."

"Oh, you know what? It is a really nice gaydoor," said Nate stepping up to it and nodding as he examined it.

Without warning, Nate allowed his rifle to drop and hang from his neck, he pulled out the sawed off shotgun he had kept since Boston and fired a shot right into the door. He pumped and fired a shot into the door handle and pumped before anyone had time to react. A third shot went into the top hinge, and a fourth into the bottom hinge. With one swift kick, Nate knocked the door inward, and it dropped into the room beyond without any more issues.

Everyone took a step back and looked at Nate, the laughing had stopped. Nate looked at Iawn, and a smug smile spread across his face.

"Well… the door was unlocked," said Iawn, prompting Nate to shrug and smile bigger, Iawn continued with, "It was only a joke. Don't be so touchy."

Nate chuckled to himself, pulling down his goggles and strapping the shotgun once more to his back. Bringing his rifle to bear, he cautiously entered the building. Kevin was still laughing, and entered behind him, Seth ushering the others in after them.

Shatner walked down the street, carefully looking over the buildings for movement. Off shadows and stray noises kept them on edge. Pandora stayed close, but Fred and Charles wasted no time breaking into cars and vehicles and sticking their heads into shops.

"Something's not… right about this," said Pandora, "I don't like it. Something's not right."

"Just calm down a little," said Shatner, "I'm sure it's just Flint and his crew making as much noise as possible. He'll probably try scaring us to get me back."

"I'm already scared," said Pandora, but then he smiled to himself, nodding towards Shatner once more, "But this is the best adventure anyone has ever had in years, yeah?"

Shatner's eyes rolled, but some agreement from Charles closed the situation. No maps were found, but the overwhelming feeling of awkwardness rose with every second. Over time, it urked Shatner not to hear any responses from Nate, or any indication of survival. They continued on, scanning the roads carefully.

"So… you think this place is pretty weird?" asked Fred.

"I think it's pretty creepy," answered Pandora, who jumped at another sound not far off.

Nate kicked in another door, immediately scanning it with his rifle, sweeping the room carefully. Inside was a long office space, and the aged cubicles had been pushed over and dust had been collected.

Nate carefully walked in, followed immediately by Kevin, and the rest. Kevin was just as careful as Nate was, but Leo and Iawn walked leisurely in front of Seth, who rummaged through desks and rooms for anything useful.

"I think this area has already been scavenged," said Seth, looking around, "Several times, it appears."

"Who would win in a fight?" asked Iawn, "Shatner or Flint?"

"Shatner," said Leonard and Kevin together.

Nate turned, almost in surprise, "Serious?"

"Oh yeah," said Leonard.

"Hell yeah," said Kevin, almost smiling, "You'd find some way to shoot yourself."

"I don't know," said Seth, "I think that Bailey kid would find a way to swoop in and take them both out."

Nate was going to say something, but movement behind a door farther down the building shut him up. He pointed towards it, staying quiet.

"Damn," said Iawn, from the window, "I can't even see them from here. We need to get closer to the roof."

"They're probably further down the street," said Kevin, "We need to find a way further down these buildings and keep going."

"Well, how do you want to decide?" asked Seth.

"Flip a cent!" exclaimed Leonard.

"Yeah," said Iawn, "I think I got one."

As Iawn dug into his pockets, Nate walked up to the door, his eye sweeping below the door. Iawn pulled out a small coin, and the group gathered around him as they flipped it several times.

"Heads or Tails?"

"Heads."

"Wait, you're not a side, Leo," came Kevin's voice, "How do we know which one?"

"Flip again."

"Heads for the roof."

"Does that mean that tails is the basement?"

"Shut up, man."

"Flip it!"

The coin went into the air. Nate watched the bottom of the door closely. Light was filtering in oddly from the other side, and Nate was examining it closely. A shadow moved, and light filtered in from behind the door completely. Running footsteps ran down some sort of hallway on the other side of the door. Nate's eyes widened and he grasped the door handle, opening the door.

"HEY" he yelled, standing just behind the doorframe, afraid to poke his head around yet.

An intersection up ahead proved a good place to look for some sort of map. Shatner kept an eye on the buildings and allowed Andy and Fred search vehicles. Charles seemed a little more alert when they entered the intersection, but otherwise he was the same.

"Does something seem… awkward?" asked Pandora, standing closer to Shatner.

"What do you mean?" asked Shatner, looking at Pandora, "We haven't heard from them in several minutes?"

"Hey, I think I found something," said Fred, his hind end sticking out of the passengers window of some sort of car."

"Good," said Shatner.

"These vehicles…" said Pandora, pointing at them, "They're not like Paris… or England… or any of the other cities."

"What? It's Germany, German cars," said Shatner, but he began to examine them.

The cars did seem oddly set up, instead of randomly abandoned and parked, they seemed lined up, some of them ripped apart, or even on blocks in certain areas. At closer inspection, Shatner noticed the bullet holes in many of them, and his heartbeats seemed to get more intense.

"Look," pointed out Charles, "At least we know they'll be able to keep up with us. Look at the connectors keeping the buildings together."

Shatner looked, and now he understood. A Series of bridges connecting many of the buildings together. He quickly examined the cars again. They weren't parked or abandoned, they were set up. They were made as defensive positions, as walls. Theyw ere some sort of bunker.

"Oh God," said Shatner, looking around.

"Yes," yelled Fred, examining the pieces of paper he had in his hands, "I found them, I think I found them!"

He held his hands up, the maps flapping in the air. Shatner turned, in time to watch as the piece of paper exploded in his hand. Fred retracted after a jerk, large rounds smashing right through the vehicles and flying overhead. The roar of a fifty caliber machine gun ripped away the silence of the street. Shatner screamed something before hitting the ground. Pandora hit the ground right next to him. Cursing and screaming, Shatner looked around.

Charles was back a bit, and hadn't yet fully comprehended what was going on, but he was short enough to be concealed behind a car for the time being. Fred made it to the ground, Andy knelt next to him. Bullets ripped through cars and air alike, slamming into the buildings all around them.

"What now?" asked Pandora over the sounds of gunfire.

Shatner poked his head over the side. He spotted a group of people down the street, one man on an obvious gun emplacement, the rest running around, trying to assess the situation. They yelled German back and forth to each other.

"Yell something," said Charles, finally, "Stop firing you twats! Don't you know a damn friendly when you see one!"

"They don't look like they're raiders," said Shatner, "Maybe that's what they think we are. HEY! We're Americans! We're foreign! We're Peace! Peace!"

The gunners attention began to concentrate closer to Shatner, which caused Shatner to make himself smaller. Shatner searched his German vocabulary, thinking fast. He began to yell out whatever he could. "Stop". "Peace". "Please". "Friends".

"Look out!" yelled Pandora, trying to keep Shatner down.

"Damn!" yelled Shatner, "Run, just run! Run!"

Shatner rose, pushing Pandora along. Bullets whizzed past, and even shrapnel from the vehicles around them flew up and hit them in the face. Shatner dived as he reached the other end of the intersection.

Shatner got up, and took the safety off his rifle. He looked around, searching for the members of his group. Fred and Andy made it over, and Pandora lay on the ground, panting at the sprint he had just completed.

"Where's Afron?" asked Shatner, then he looked back into the intersection, "Where's Charles?"

Charles was stuck in the middle of the street, and he huddled down underneath a barrage of bullet fire. Shatner's eyes widened, and he knelt down, cuffing his hands over his mouth.

"Charles! Crawl! Please!" yelled Shatner, "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Charles looked up, before ducking once more when a rearview mirror exploded above him. Shatner licked his lips, thinking about the risks. He knelt down, and scuttled out holding out his hands.

"Come on," yelled Shatner, "Run! Come on! Run!"

Charles closed his eyes, then began to crawl, as fast as he could, towards Shatner's outstretched hand. The gunfire stopped, for a moment, and yells and cries in German came from the gun emplacement. This speeded Charles crawling up a good amount, and Shatner pulled him into the group.

"The map…" cried Fred, "I lost it."

"Screw the map," yelled Andy, "We need to get out of here!"

"I agree," said Shatner, "Let's GO!"

Nate breathed heavily, scared to look around the corner. Seth was quick to his side, holding his shotgun to bear, with Leo and Kevin coming right behind them.

"Who is it?" asked Seth.

"What was it?" asked Iawn from the back of the room, "Bugger! I lost my cent…"

"I don't know," said Nate, "We need to be careful… Hello!"

There was a pause, with no response. Nate waited, rubbing his chin in anticipation.

"Please, identify yourself or I WILL shoot you," yelled Nate, "I can't take the chance of being shot! Hello?"

"Hallo?" came a voice, from down the hall, "Anglish? Anglish?"

"English, yes, we're American!" yelled Nate.

"Ah, American," said the voice down the hall, "Is it time for you to show up already?"

"What do you mean?" asked Nate from down the hall.

"I'm not stupid, I know it is a matter of time before American troops come storming in, playing 'the savior' and things like that," yelled the man.

"Look, we're not soldiers," said Nate.

"What are you?" asked the man.

"We're treasure hunters," said Seth, nodding at Nate.

"No, we're lost," suggested Kevin.

"Missionaries," said Iawn.

"We're looking for our dog," said Leo, smiling at his contribution.

"Dude," said Nate, shaking his head, then he turned back down the hallway, "We're refugees, looking for comfort and… hope among Europe."

"Ha!" laughed Seth and the man from down the hall together.

Nate heard some talking and laughter from down the hall, and he repositioned himself accordingly.

"Look," said Nate, getting ready to continue the talks.

"Look, Americans," said the man, "Wherever you come from… whatever you have seen… I assure you, Germany is no prettier, and I think so is the rest of the world, I believe."

"Yeah," said Nate, leaning against the wall, "You're telling me."

"So… what's going down, American?" asked the man, "What are we going to do?"

"Well," said Nate, "I can't lie, our last few experiences haven't exactly been… friendly, so don't be offended it I don't exactly trust you."

"This city is cursed," said the man, "It's inhabitants are left to fight for the essentials, and whoever controls the knowledge, controls the life."

"Uh-huh," said Nate, "So where does that leave us?"

"Damn loon," murmured Leo.

"It means, I cannot trust you either," said the man, "So my boys and I are really anxious and a little jumpy these days."

"Alright, now look here," said Nate, "You tell your boys not to shoot, and all we want is to get to the roof. Alright? We have another part of our group on the ground we need to make sure get out OK. So… how can we do that?"

"Well… we don't want you coming near us, in any way. We'll fire on sight!" yelled the German.

"Well, we need to work something out," yelled Nate, "A Mexican Standoff isn't exactly the best place to be in both parties."

"Mexican Standoff?" questioned the German.

"Damn," said Nate, "Look, it means this, kid. I'm coming out, and if you shoot at me, we're going to chuck some grenades down there, and blow your Jerry-Ass up. Hear that?"

Nate's shoulder was tapped once more; he turned to look at the group.

"We don't have any grenades, do we?" asked Seth.

""Uh, I picked up a few in Paris… but I think I also used them in Paris," answered Nate.

"So we don't have any grenades," said Seth.

"What's a Mexican Standoff?" said Kevin.

"An Australian Bar Fight," answered Leo, giggling, "Nobody wins but those not involved."

"I thought it was a French Revolution," murmured Iawn.

"Ok, shut up," said Nate, "Look, we need to get out of here."

"American," said the man again, "Explosives are not a good idea. The buildings here, they are old. We stopped using explosives ourselves because of the danger of a collapse."

"How bad is the danger of collapse," said Nate, looking around the room as if examining its supports.

"Enough," said the German, "But we will let you pass. Listen, across the hall from you is a door, yah? You see it? In the next room is a stairwell. That will lead you to another floor, right above us. In that room is a way to the roof. You can use the rooftops there, just be careful for Handzel's and Witches. You go carefully, arms raised guns down, yah?"

"Now you listen here," said Nate, "Thanks for the information, but we're doing this our way, armed. I promise you, we won't fire on you, but you need to understand that we need to do it fast. One by one, with me going first. Got it?"

"Don't you dare American," said the man.

"Ok," yelled Nate, standing back and glaring at the closed door, "One, two, THREE!"

Everyone gasped as Nate charged at the door, jumping at the threshold of the door and soaring through the hallway, all his might slamming into the door on the other end. The door burst, falling of its hinges and breaking into three pieces. Nate landed on the other end, and picked himself up, examining the next room.

"Nice job," said Seth.

"Melodramatic," said Kevin.

"Stupid!" yelled the German from down the hall, then he began speaking with whoever was down there with him.

"Alright," said Nate, repositioning himself at the door, "My next team member is coming over. No firing now, nice and fast."

Seth nodded at Iawn, who's eyes widened. Leo's hand shot up, he smiled like a giddy schoolgirl. Kevin decided he would chose, and he pushed Leo up to the door, Iawn right behind him.

"No," said Seth, pointing at Kevin, "It's Leo, then you, then Iawn, then me."

"The older two should be on either side," said Kevin, furrowing his brow, "How old are you, anyway?"

Seth's eyes hardened, and he said nothing more. Kevin and Seth turned back to the group, and they looked around. Leo and Iawn had disappeared, and they began looking around the room. Nate's insistent coughing (fake coughing) brought them back to the door, where he motioned towards Leo and Iawn, who had already made it across.

"Thanks for having my back, Mates," said Leonard, "It means a lot to know that if anything went down, you would be there for me."

Kevin and Seth looked at each other, and shook their heads. Seth was the next to hurry across, he caught a glimpse of an overturned desk at the end of the hall, four figures with guns trained on him behind it.

Kevin was the last to go, being careful as to stay as low as he could, foolishly holding his gun above his head. They all made sure each of them was across, and Iawn found the stairwell, perfectly intact, and nodded at Nate. Nate nodded, looking down the hallway.

"Thanks, dude," Nate said, "Now we aren't going to have anyone following us, are we?"

"No, not from our side," said the man.

"So, now what, we just go our separate ways?" said Nate.

There was no response, and Nate waited. He poked his head out, and noticed that the hallway was now empty.

"Let's go," said Nate, "We need to get in touch with Shatner, let them know that we are not alone here."

Nate scurried up the stairs, followed by everyone else. The next floor was exactly the same way, except the windows had been blown out, creating a lot more light. Nate sat on one of the chairs, taking a small break.

"Out of breath already?" laughed Kevin, Leonard joining in.

"Shut up," said Nate, standing once more.

"OH COOL!" exclaimed Iawn, running forward, "A Sniper Rifle!"

Nate examined what looked to be an old Sniper's post, but the Sniper rifle had a bent barrel, and ammunition seemed low, or none-existent. Iawn was immediately intrigued with it.

"Stop," said Nate, "Don't touch anything."

"I'm not touching it," said Iawn as he slipped into it, starring down the sights, "Woah."

"Don't play with that, it could be dangerous," said Nate.

"Kevin and Seth had already walked off, into the next room. Leonard started up the stairs.

"Cool, look at this," said Kevin in the next room, "There are blown away walls with Bridges leading into the next building. Look at them all."

"Should we use the roof or the bridges?" asked Nate.

An explosion filled his ears, and debris hit areas behind him. Nate hit the ground, looking around and fumbling with his rifle. Seth was nowhere to be seen, Kevin went into the next room. Leo was dazed, looking to see the source. Then Nate heard it. Iawn screaming.

"Dammit," said Nate, he got up and ran over to Iawn, who was laying on the ground, clawing at his face. It looked as if the Rifle had exploded, pieces laying about, the barrel blown off, dust everywhere. The force shook the whole building, which oddly enough made Nate think of fifty caliber rounds.

"It exploded," yelled Iawn, "My eyes! My Eyes!"

"I told you," started Nate, "NOT to play with-"

The entire building began to shake, and Nate looked around. Leo held onto a desk, looking from Nate to the screaming Iawn.

"Oh no," said Nate, and sure enough he felt as the whole building shaked again, and he felt as if they dropped a few feet.

Nate looked at Leo, who looked at him.

"Run," was all that came out of his mouth.

Leo nodded, and took off into the next room, Nate did the same, and the building gave another jerk, now pieces of the building coming down around him. Leo immediately ran onto the bridge, and beckoned to Nate as he dragged Iawn along.

"Wait," said Nate, "Where's Kevin? Where's Seth?"

Another shake from the building whipped those thoughts from his mind as he grabbed Iawn and pulled him through the bridge. They reach the other side, and they turned around, Nate panting, Iawn whimpering, rubbing his eyes, and Leo looking around, nervously.

"Woah," said Nate, and he began to smile as the building dropped once more, it's supports collapsing.

The bridge they were on was ripped from the building, several others breaking or bending under the strain. The building had pieces falling off, and it began to sway. Nate's face hardened, though, when the building began to lean, slowly approaching the building they now stood in.

"Of coarse," said Nate, as he grabbed Iawn's hand again and began to run through the next room, "Run, Leo, RUN!"

They ran into the hallway, and sprinted down it as fast as they could. The building seemed to explode with vibrations and noise a second later, almost knocking Nate and Leo down. They continued down the hall, and Kevin popped up out of one of the rooms, a wine bottle in his hands.

"What was that?" he yelled.

"RUN!" yelled Nate, "Just RUN! Get to the roof."

Kevin immediately turned around and bolted, dropping the bottle sadly in replace with his shotgun. They ran further down the hall, until Kevin scurried up a staircase leading to the roof. They all followed him up the stairs.

Another jerk of the building left it at an awkward angle, making it difficult to get up the staircase, Kevin rammed his shoulder into the door, and it burst open, and then he ran out onto the roof. Nate was quick to follow, right behind Leo. Iawn was so confused, he just squinted and murmured, allowing himself to be dragged along like a child.

They ran, right along the roof, away from the broken building. This building was beginning to crash as well. When they reach the end of the roof, Nate heard Kevin yell "JUMP" before Kevin leapt from the edge, soaring through the air and landing, surprisingly, on the other roof. Leo was the same, barely making it, though, and it was Nate and Iawn's turn.

Nate felt another shutter of the building, and he looked in fear as the gap between the buildings closed so fast, he barely had time to think. As the second building slammed into the third, Nate and Iawn were launched into the air, landing on the third roof in time to feel it buckle beneath them.

Kevin saw Shatner and the rest of them running on the street below, running the same direction. He cuffed his hands, and yelled, "RUN!" downward, something that was futile for they were already running.

"What did you DO Flint?" yelled Fred's voice from the crowd.

"Screw you, 89fred," yelled Nate, "It was the Brit!"

"Why is this HAPPENING to me?" yelled Andy.

"RUN!" yelled Kevin, "Just… RUN!"

The building beneath their feet gave way, and it began to crumble beneath them. When they reach the end of the building, they jumped, but there was no way theyw ere going to make it.

Kevin burst through a window on one of the top floors, and Leo landed on a bridge, which he followed inside quickly. Nate and Iawn felt their bodies go light as they bypassed both of these, and hurtled to the building wall. Nate pulled up his legs, just barely bursting through the window. He grasped Iawn's hand, and for good reason. Iawn smacked into the building, and was unconscious in seconds. Nate held on, pulling him into the room just in time to feel the building they were in begin to shake and crumble.

"Like frickin' Dominos," said Nate, and he pulled back Iawn's head, confirming he was unconscious, "What did I TELL you, kid? Damnit, Gertrude!"

Nate slung his rifle on his back, and then lifted up Iawn, throwing him over his shoulder. The weight of the two people plus their packs almost overwhelmed Nate, and he fast-walked through the building as it began to shake and crumble.

"Must go faster," said Nate, as he felt the entire building drop, and he felt the debris hit his hat and bag, "Must go FASTER!"

The building began to tilt at an awkward angle, and up ahead the roof collapsed, building a ramp-like pile up onto the floor above. Nate saw a shadow jump across the chasm, heading the same direction as him. He climbed the pile, feeling as the building began to tilt. Nate saw two figures at the end, and recognized one of the screams as Leo.

When Nate reached the next floor, he saw they stopped at the end of the hallways, seemed to be talking by a window.

"Don't stop," yelled Nate, "Go! Through the window! Don't be afraid, go!"

Leo took a step back, relieved to see Nate, and Nate realized he didn't recognize the second person. But another shake from the building and more debris didn't stop him, and the momentum he had built up was not stopping, so he tackled the figure and Leo and they all together went through the window, out into the unknown.

They fell for a bit, and then hit the ground. It was some sort of hill, they perfectly flew out onto it. They rolled, and lay there, exhausted. Nate pushed Iawn off him, and he was able to breath better. Leo crawled on the ground, looking at Nate. Nate heard another scream, and saw Kevin launched himself out of the crumbling building and landing hard on the ground next to them. The building fell, dust and debris filling the area.

Through the new fog, a figure stood above Nate, and Nate saw a glint of a knife. The figure bent down, and Nate saw the figure from earlier, some man with broken teeth and a scar across his face. He grabbed Nate's collar, and pulled him up, winding back his arms to stab him.

Then the knife disappeared from the man's hand, and he howled in pain as it was stabbed into his back. He fell over, and Seth stood behind him, panting. Seth allowed the man to slink over on the ground, and he fell to his knees next to Nate, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Good job, Kid," said Nate.

"Thanks," said Seth, he ran his fingers through his short-cut hair.

"You… where did you go?" asked Nate.

"What?" asked Seth, "Where did YOU go?"

"We went above… the roof," said Nate, pointing through the dust the way they had came, "and you?"

"Oh," said Seth, "I… I was inside, I went through the buildings, you know?"

"Oh," said Nate, laying his head down in exhaustion.

"Now that I think about it, the roofs seemed like a better idea," said Seth.

Nate shook his head, "Naw… it didn't work out as well as you thought."

"How's the kids?" asked Seth.

"The Brits? They're ok… I think," said Nate, and he moved over, poking each one. They both stirred and moaned, and Nate shrugged his shoulders, "They're fine. Hey… you lost your hat."

"It's ok," said Seth, "I don't need it as much as you do. Freak…"

Seth stood up in time for the dust to clear. Shatner and the rest were walking towards them.

"Oh, you're OK!" said Andy, "What was that?"

"That is SO AWSOME!" said Charles, holding his hands in the air, "That was like an ACTION MOVIE! We were running, and then we were like, WOAH!"

"I… I…" said Shatner, he knelt on the ground, staring at the city, "All I did was break a window of a car!"

Nate looked at him, and saw that Shatner actually thought he had started this. Nate was going to explain, but the he looked out and followed Shatner's eyes.

The entire city was falling like dominos. Buildings crashing, smoke and dust rising, and as far as the eye could see, buildings were falling down. This brought a smile to Nate's face, and he began to chuckle.

"Nice," said Nate, patting SHatner on the back, "You destroyed your first city. How does it feel?"

"There were people there…" murmured Shatner.

"They SHOT at me," yelled Andy, "I hope a bath-tube falls and kills every one of 'em!"

"I… I…" stammered Shatner.

"Ah, knock it off," said Nate, "You get used to it."

"Is this how you feel?" asked Shatner, a disgusted look on his face.

Nate nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again, "Yeah, pretty much. It gets better, though."

Iawn began to shrug, and he looked around, gawking at everyone.

"I'm… alive," he said, then he looked at Nate, "You saved me!"

"Yeah, you're welcome," said Nate, "Now… next time I say-"

"You SAVED me," said Iawn, "I… I am ALIVE! I'm alive, and you saved ME!"

Nate got to his feet, brushing the dust off his hat, "Calm down, dude."

"I am in your debt FOREVER!" said Iawn, jumping up, "I realized today life is so PRECIOUS! And… I no longer am very mighty, I mean… OH!"

"Dude, calm down," said Nate, taking a step back; but even that could not save him from a surprise hug from Iawn.

"I will never be a nuisance AGAIN!" said Iawn, "I want to… change my ENTIRE outlook on LIFE!"

"Oh… my God," said SHatner, "I do not believe this is happening. I mean… how… retarded is this."

"You guys," said Iawn, a tear coming to his eyes, "Are, like… my best friends EVER!"

"Thanks, Iawn," said Andy, "That means a lot to me."

"You're our best friend TOO," said Leo and Charles together.

"My GAWD!" yelled Nate, "This is ridiculous!"

"Does anyone care about me?" asked Kevin, joining the group, "I fell… into a TRASHCAN! I smell like radioactive garbage… I lost a bottle of 1976… I… I.."

"I'm glad you're alive, dude," said Nate, "Now you know how I feel. It sucks, don't it?"

"Ok, listen," said Shatner, "We don't have the maps, and I am done with cities. Let's just… keep going and look for a map on the roads. No more towns or cities."

"Agreed," said most of the group at various times.

Nate laid his head down again, and smiled, "Breaking a window… hahaha… a whole city… full of FREAKS!"

Shatner shot him and angry look, but his anger at Nate right then was not so great as to keep him from falling over, preparing for a little nap after all the days excitement.