Chapter 22

Shatner pressed against one of the large rocks on the side of the small road, pointing his hunting rifle down the street, sweeping the town. It was like every other town they had gone through, it appeared desolate and empty, the houses under kept and signs of looting and Mother Nature all over the streets. The sun was beginning to set, and it cast eerie shadows around the town.

Seth was next, approaching the rock stealthily as he surveyed the land.

"Now, listen, I don't exactly think that this is all a good idea," said Seth, "We still don't know if any of this is real."

"And we're not taking any chances," said Shatner, "There's no call to be careless. Every rumor or fairy-tale is based off a small shred of truth. So, SOMETHING is going on in these two towns and we need to find out what it is."

"No we don't," said Seth.

Kate walked right past them, her rifle up, aiming at the town as she slowly entered cautiously. Shatner tried to stop her, but Seth smiled and followed her right in. Shatner motioned to the others to stay where they were, and he followed them inside. The town now seemed even more eerie as they entered, silent.

Usually the joking, singing, rapping, fighting, or just talking of the group would now fill the town, and they would march through, looking through the ruins with eager eyes. Now, it was an eerie silence, and for the first time Shatner felt a small amount of fear grip him.

They walked slowly, scanning the town with sweeps from their weapons. They couldn't see anything, anywhere. Seth let out a small whistling tune every now and again, but Shatner did not pay much attention to it. Everything was quiet.

They made it to the center of town, and they slowly scanned the area, carefully looking around.

"I don't know what we're looking for," said Shatner.

"Legendarily?" asked Seth, "We're looking for a woman of unspeakable beauty who will captivate our minds and lock us in her power forever. Maybe she's a fairy or a ghost or spirit or something."

"Don't look in a mirror, Kate," said Shatner, smiling.

Kate coked her head and gave a very un-amused look. Seth and Shatner smiled, both nodding at each other at the truth behind the statement. Kate rolled her eyes at these antics, but she allowed an amused smile at the thought of a creature getting the two men as they joked about her.

A mailbox tipped over, sending a loud clatter right through the town. The three of them jumped, and quickly turned to the sound, their guns pointed right at the source of the sound.

Andy through up his hands, cringing away from the sights of their weapons. Shatner and Seth sighed, shaking their heads.

"Andy, what ARE you doing?" asked Seth.

"I was going to help," said Andy, "I don't want to be left behind!"

"You weren't going to be left behind," said Shatner, "You were with the rest of the group!"

"Uh… not exactly," said Andy.

Movement inside a house to the side of them makes Shatner and Kate swing their weapons around, pointing directly at a smiling Leo walking out of the house.

"This isn't so bad," said Leo, "I thought there was supposed to be, like, a Madonna Monster or something."

"A what?" asked Shatner, his face twisting in confusion.

"Medusa, you idiot," said Fred, coming out next to Andy, and Iawn and Charles exploring the house with Leo.

Shatner rolled his eyes, upset at the turn of events, "What's the point of us telling you to stay behind if you're ALL going to come down anyway?"

"We don't want to miss out on a fight," said Andy, walking towards the group.

"And your excuse?" asked Shatner.

"I… can't be left up there alone," said Fred.

"He wasn't alone, I was going to stay with him," said Pandora, making Shatner jump as he appeared almost out of thin air next to him.

"Well, one person listens," said Shatner.

"I am not surprised," said Kate.

"Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you," said Iawn, smiling.

Shatner sighed, and put his face in his hand. Iawn and Leo headed off back into another house, and Charles swung on a lamp light. Shatner looked around, shaking his head.

"Now we've walked right into a possible trap, great fellas," said Seth, "So, while you were all sneaking around, did anyone find some devilish women?"

"No," yelled Iawn, running from the house he had entered, "But we found some medical supplies!"

"Medical supplies?" questioned Shatner, and Kate and him ran into the house. Iawn held some band-aids and pills in his hands, and they ran past him, further into the house.

They saw Leo, head stuck in an open refridgerator. The room was filled with three fridges, stocked with water and food and drink. The cabinents were opened, medical supplies and canned goods filled it completely. Shatner and Kate looked around, Kate smiling.

"Now, we can have water," said Kate, and she seemed to glow, "And look at all this food and cooking equipment."

"We could live here for days," said Leo, smiling, "And There was a lot of clean beds in the other house we were in."

"Clean beds?" questioned Shatner, and he looked around, "Food? Medicine? Oh No…"

Shatner ran outside, seeing the group scattered where they had left them, some of them ducking into houses and homes.

"Look around," said Shatner, yelling, "Tell me what you find! Quickly!"

The group dispersed, running into houses and down streets and looking around. It didn't take long for people to return.

"Food, tons of Food!" yelled Andy, from one house.

"I found running water, there's showers and a generator and everything back here," said Pandora, "Looks like someone has been around recently, too, for upkeep."

"Hey, tons of Alcohol!" cheered Seth from a house not down the street, "And it's really good stuff, too!"

Shatner clapped his hands on his head, and spun in a circle, looking around. Now he noticed it, a cryptic message, written on walls and on signs. It was on the steps he stood on, and in the houses he looked into. When he took a further step back, he saw it written even on the streets. He called for Kate, who ran out in a matter of seconds.

"Is it in German?" asked Shatner, pointing to the messages.

"Yes, it reads," started Kate, then she gasped, holding her hands to her mouth, "It reads, 'We can supply and care for you all. There's a lot more where all this came from. Take what you like and go, but know that you will never be safe unless with us. We're only… a town away'."

Shatner held his forehead in his palm again, and kicked a small metal can as hard as he could.

"I should have known," he spat, "Fresserei. We went to the other town! We're not in the right one."

"What? What do you mean?" asked Kate, "I don't understand."

"The food, the medicine," said Shatner, "We're in Fresserei! The other one! Which means…"

"Which means we sent Comedian and Kevin to…" said Seth, as he slowly turned, surveying the sky.

An explosion erupted, Shatner and the rest of the group turned, quickly, to it. A cloud of smoke made its way into the sky, and Shatner wasted no time running after it. Pretty soon, the entire group was following, guns ready, as they ran down the street, leaving the town and heading towards the puff of smoke.

They began heading up a steep hill directly outside the town, and quickly, the slowed down, trying their best to keep up.

"Wow," gasped Fred, keeping up, "Who said they were two towns right on top of each other? 'Practically separated by a wall' or some crap?"

"Shut up, Fred," said Shatner, "Keep running, we need… to get to them."

Kate pulled ahead of the pack, suddenly, and they all got to the top of the hill together, and began running on the top. Two figures walked in the distance, and they quickly raised their weapons at the group.

Shatner almost raised his weapon as well, but he soon recognized Nate's fedora on one of the figures, and soon recognized Nate and Kevin from the group. They caught up to each other, and both groups stopped. Nate and Kevin looked at each other, then back at the group. No one spoke for a while.

"Hey," said Nate, nodding towards the group.

"Are you ok?" exclaimed Shatner.

"What happened?" asked Kate, right after.

Nate paused for a second, before shrugging, "Nothin'… what happened to you?"

"What?" exclaimed Shatner again, "What do you mean, 'Nothin''? What happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Nate.

"What?" said Shatner, "What about your clothes. And… and Kevin's clothes. And what about that explosion!"

"Uh…" said Nate, looking at Kevin, before shrugging, "What explosion? I didn't see any explosion."

"You didn't see any explosion?" said Shatner, completely unconvinced.

"What happened to your gun, Kevin?" asked Seth, "Didn't you have a… shotgun?"

At closer inspection, Kevin now had some sort of sub machine gun, and he looked down on it, and back up at the group.

"Uh…" said Kevin, looking at Nate.

"That," said Nate, before he forced out a fake laugh, "He's always had that. Where've you guys been?"

"What do you take us for?" asked Andy.

Nate shrugged, Kevin just nodding, mumbling "Yes" under his breathe.

Shatner sighed, and rubbed his forehead again.

"You know what? I don't care!" said Shatner.

"Good, because we should really go," said Nate, "Wasting daylight, we need to find a place to rest."

"Yeah, ok, whatever," said Kate, walking away, "You guy are vierd."

The group began walking back towards the other town, Nate turning to Kevin, tapping his shoulder.

"Not a word… not a single word," said Nate.

"Yeah, I think that's best," said Kevin, now walking towards the group, "Let's try and forget this… forever."

They rested in a small town somewhere miles away. It was quite dark now, and the majority of the team, including Nathan and Kevin, seemed jumpy, and on high alert. Shatner finally allowed them to hold up in one of the better conditioned houses and they prepared to pack for the night. The fireplace was still intact, so Shatner started a fire as everyone unloaded their burdened supplies on the ground and prepared to rest for the night.

"I don't care what anybody says," said Seth, wiping sweat from his brow, "All this extra food and medicine, it was totally worth the weight. Tonight, we eat like Kings!"

"I wonder what all that food was doing there," said Shatner, giving a weary eye to Nate.

"Maybe a stash for some gang or force, I don't know," said Nate, "Maybe we just got lucky, really, really lucky."

"Yeah… right," said Shatner.

The group had finally given up on trying to understand what had happened to Nate and Kevin, and they were adamant on playing stupid, and not answering anything. The group finally began to settle down. Fred came back from checking the house for a fifth time, and he was smiling.

"What's up with you?" said Kevin, taking out another whisky bottle and taking a sip of it with a smile.

"This is truly an amazing find," said Fred, "In the next room, I found a mattress that wasn't so severely bad. I dragged it over here and set up a nice bed. I think that we just might not have to sleep on the ground tonight."

"Wait, a single mattress?" said Seth, standing and opening the door to the next room.

On the ground lay a single, twin sized mattress, with a single, slightly stained white sheet draped over it. Seth scoffed at this, before walking back, leaving the room open.

"It's a single sized," said Seth, "There's no way you'll fit anybody on that unless they want to get real friendly. I'm out."

"Then, I want the mattress," said Andy, "I want it."

"Dibs," said Nate, "International dibs law."

"Screw off, Flint," said Fred, "I found it, maybe I should get to sleep on it, hmm?"

"I don't know about you boys," said Kate, standing up and stretching, "But I might want to sleep on a mattress tonight?"

No one in the room objected, and Fred just nodded his head, stepping aside and holding his hands out as if showing the path. Kate gave a warm smile, and curtsied as if she wore a dress or a skirt.

"I'll share it with you," said Andy.

"Oh, no way," she said, smiling and grabbing her back and rifle, "There's only three guys I'd share a bed with. Hey, boys," she said, leaning towards the three Brits who huddled around the fireplace, "Would you like to sleep with me tonight?"

The three Brits looked at each other, each blushing a bright red, before they turned and shook their heads.

"No thanks, Aunty," mumbled Charles.

"Sleep with a girl? Yuck!" said Iawn, even though his face showed otherwise.

"Sleeping with Iawn and Charles? No thank you," said Leo, which earned him a punch or two from the other two.

Kate shrugged, as if in a "There You Go" statement, and she walked into the next room, putting her things down next to the mattress. She looked over her should and smiled, and bent over, straightening the covers on the mattress without bending her knees.

In the next room, Seth and Kevin leaned backwards to get a better view, Fred's mouth slowly began to drop open as he stared, and even Shatner leaned forward a bit in an old lounge chair he had found by the fireplace. Nate took a look himself, before noticing the looks of the people around him.

"Ugh," he said, rolling his eyes, and he stood up took some stew from a pot near the fireplace.

Kate walked back to the door, and smiled at the guys, who sheepishly waved back. She took off an old coat she had worn, and pretended to think about something.

"You know, I think we should do a watch, throughout the night," she said, "To keep us safe."

"Yeah, of course," said Shatner, clearing his throat afterwards, "Of course we do… should… watch, I mean."

"Why didn't we think of that?" whispered Andy.

"We never had a watch before," said Leo, "That kind of stuff is for camps and bases."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Kate, shaking her head at the men, "Well, I think I'll take the last one. Gives me an opportunity to only undress and redress once in the night."

"Undress?" questioned Andy and Seth together.

"Why, of course," smiled Kate, "That's why I need to shut the door. I sleep … nackt."

She winked at the group, and closed the door. The group seemed to breathe in all together, and Nate rolled his eyes.

"I think I speak German now," said Kevin, "I think I know what that means…"

"See? This is why we didn't need her!" spat Nate, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?" asked Shatner, shaking out of his daze, "She's been quite helpful so far, I do believe."

"You do believe, so she's walked with us and read some signs," said Nate, who put up his finger, "Wrong, at one point if you do so forgot!"

"If I do so what?" said Shatner, "And it wasn't wrong, it was a trick for the foolish. We bought it."

"I didn't buy anything," said Nate, "And now what? What if we leave Germany, huh? What then? She's here just to be… a distraction!"

Nate pushed over a bag, which knocked both the dazed Kevin and Seth over and knocked them out of their trance as they began looking around and unpacking, trying to make up for their daze.

"Dibs on whatever watch is before the last," said Andy, turning, still dazed, at Nate, "I want to wake her up, please."

"Oh! You…" said Nate, who smiled and pointed at Andy, "See what I mean, Brom? This is insane."

Pandora stumbled in, slightly tired from the days ordeal, and he took a seat down next to his stuff, and began rummaging through his pack.

"I found a bathroom that works," said Pandora, "But it's only one, and it's in the next house over."

Seth and Kevin got up and walked out of the front door, out into the night.

"It's the other way," said Pandora, calling out after them.

"We're men, pansy boy," called Seth from behind him, "We use the bushes!"

"Besides, we're heading out to find a funnel," said Kevin, "You know how much booze I'm lugging? It needs to be lighter!"

"Then take first watch," yelled Nate, after them, "And no DRINKING! A hangover will make the trek tomorrow hell! You… bastards…"

Nate sat on a stool next to the soup, and put his hand in his palm.

"This is just… great," said Nate, "How do we get stuck with these people?"

"I know, just supposed to be you and me, right?" said Shatner.

"Hello, and me," said Pandora, raising his hand, "I've been here from the beginning, too."

"What did you do before the war, Kiddo?" Nate asked Fred, who jumped from his spot perched next to the door to the next room while he peeked through the cracks.

"Well, uhh… nothing," said Fred, "I was in and out of school… my parents were well off. I didn't really need to work or anything."

"Ah, pampered," said Nate, rolling his eyes, "Explains a lot."

"Hey, I've worked for my manhood," said Fred, "After the bombs fell, we were the first real 'Colony' you could say. We band together, we built what was destroyed, we began making electricity and a military and what not. After the war, we were one of the first to enter the WWBC. And you know who helped? I did, my family!"

"Uh-huh," said Nate.

"What did you do, exactly, back in the Colony?" asked Shatner.

"Well… I worked on a farm," said Fred, rubbing his shoulders, "And I was about to be apart of the 'Expedition Force'. I got taken off the ground team because I got engaged, so they put me in aerial. They never really went far…"

"Expedition Force, what is that?" asked Nate.

"You never really did pay much attention," said Shatner, smiling, "Then again, your colony was never really big enough or cared enough for the WWBC to notice. A lot of the well-off colonies came up with the idea of the 'Expedition Force'. Basically, each colony had a team of young, battle-ready, persons who would go out and travel, purposefully looking for others, or mapping roadways and passages, or finding hostile forces like Raiders and Bandits out in the wastelands."

"Or doing research on the after-affects of the bombing," said Fred, "Depending on where you were."

"So, you stole one of these Expeditionary Planes to come bail us out, didn't you," said Nate, "Looking for fame and fortune in the discovery of an actual US base, or the remnants of our Government."

"So to speak, yes," said Fred, "Such a trip by an Expeditionary Force would prove ground-breaking huge. Not to mention, if we could find a way for people to work together."

"Many people fear travel, now-a-days," said Shatner, "For obvious dangers like time and distance and dangers. And, as we've experienced a little bit, the way a colony is, or individuals are, on the network may be completely different in real life. Not many people pay attention to things like that, and if you try and connect two 'friendly' colonies in the real world the result might be dangerous."

"As we've seen," said Nate, "Even though the Frenchies were never in the WWBC."

"There are a lot of Dictatorships and Slave-Oriented colonies on the WWBC," said Fred, "A lot of rivalries already made. We stay together because of distance and what we need. A lot of people are willing to look the other way in order to get the information they need to survive."

Nate nodded, rubbing his chin, "So… now what? What we're doing?"

"What we're doing is going to get out," said Shatner, "Now especially since we've brought a mini war to an entire Colony and stole a boat from another."

"I will pay back the damn boat, DAMN," said Nate, "You just won't let that go…"