I nervously walked beside Church to the neighboring apartments, utterly unsure of who would be here. I would have guessed that I lived in the same building as the Blues—since that was what happened in Blood Gulch—but that couldn't be true anymore now.

"Right here," Church said at apartment 11-12. I knocked lightly and heard footsteps approach the door and open it.

"Hello, Leonard! Ellen!"

"S—Sarge!" I gasped.

I had no idea how to react to this. Any evidence of Sarge's obsession with the military had completely disappeared. He looked no longer like a drill Sergeant; instead, he was sort of… uh…

"Glad to see you back!" he boomed, grasping me in a tight hug. I couldn't help but stiffen up at that. No. Sarge was not a hugger. "Would you like to come in? Dick is here too, and we were just wondering when you'd be back!"

"I—all right," I said, trying not to stare at him. He wore a baggy red t-shirt, a peace sign stamped across it. All around his apartment hung anti-war posters and images of Woodstock.

"Now, how much of me do you remember?" he asked cheerily, leading us to the kitchen. Did everyone know about my amnesia?

"Not this," I admitted, completely floored. "Um, remind me why I know you as Sarge?"

"Oh, Ellen, you of all people should remember this!" he laughed. Had I ever heard Sarge laugh before? "You gave me this nickname just to tease me!"

"To tease you?"

"Of course!" We entered the kitchen and a figure wearing maroon was sitting at the table sipping some orange juice and staring, frustrated, at the laptop in front of him. "You and the others on this floor know well how much I hate war, so you just named me that to tick me off!" He didn't seem bothered by it at all and shrugged. "I got used to it."

"Uh… okay…"

"Hey, Ellen and Leonard," Simmons said to us from the table, an irritated edge to his tone. "You feeling better?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, I am, uh… Dick. What's wrong?"

"I just don't understand!" he complained. "I can't get my computer to open the Internet!"

I stared as Sarge went over and taught Simmons, step-by-step, how to open the window that would allow him to access the Web.

"See, buddy?" Sarge said, clapping a hand over his shoulder. "It's easy."

"Oh my God, I am never going to remember that!" Simmons said nervously. "It's so complicated!"

I couldn't stop staring. I probably looked rude. "You—you're having trouble with your computer?"

"I can't do anything right with this thing!" Simmons continued. "I don't know how people can use them every day. I'm so bad with mine!"

I was about to respond when we heard a loud and confident knock at the door.

"It's open!" Sarge called as he taught Simmons how to type on Microsoft Word.

A young man strode in, and I gasped.

"D—Donut!" I said, my jaw dropping. He had a full beard and mustache. What the… "Um, hi!"

"Oh, hello, Ellen," he said calmly after bidding Church hello and shaking my hand. The hell? Where was my bone-crushing hug? "Though the last time I saw you, you called me Franklin."

"You're a resident on this floor too?" I asked, trying not to stare at his facial hair.

"Yes. I'm glad you remember that much," he said with a small smile. He was wearing messy, baggy overalls and dirty boots. Never in my life had I seen Donut in such a scraggly mess.

"I… guess I don't remember anything else," I continued, a little crestfallen at his lack of enthusiasm. "Would you mind giving me a couple hints?"

Donut smiled calmly again. "I'm a plumber, Ellen. There's nothing I like more than getting down and dirty and messing around with the sewage system." The boys laughed appreciatively as if Donut said this type of thing every day. "I can't stick around for long, though, guys. The misses is making some beef stew. Thank God I have her around."

"Yeah," Simmons smirked. "If you didn't have your wife to cook for you, you'd probably be starving. Or dead."

"Listen, I know I'm a bad cook, but you don't have to rub it in!"

Donut. Dirty. Manly. Married to a woman.

I must have turned a shade of green because Church, who had been standing by the kitchen doorway watching me quietly, suddenly perked up, alarmed.

"Ellen, are you all right?" he asked, walking toward me. I swayed somewhat, feeling faint.

"I—I don't know…" I said, swallowing hard.

"Um, I think it's time to head back," Church replied, grabbing my arm. "Sorry about this, guys. I think… I think she's a little overwhelmed."

No shit.

I managed to stutter out a stream of semi-polite goodbyes, but my neighbors gazed at me concernedly as we left.

"Church, I don't know why this is happening," I said quietly, plopping down on the couch when we reached my apartment, shaking a little. "This is all wrong. My life. I don't remember it like this."

"That's the second time you've called me by our last time," Church frowned, sitting beside me. "I know this is going to take a while, but I know you can adjust. It's just been a long day for you. You need to sleep."

"No," I disagreed. "I have to meet him. My fiancé. Since you won't tell me who he is."

"He made me promise, Ellen," Church chuckled, squeezing me in a slight hug. "You'll see him tonight."

"When is he coming home?"

Church checked the time. "Don't know. A couple hours, maybe."

I groaned. "That's such a long time…" I yawned.

"Why don't you take a nap?" Church asked. "I have to get going soon, anyway. I have so much grading and class planning for tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow? Monday?"

"Yeah."

"Can I go to work, then?" Maybe I didn't work at the CIA, but if Hale was somehow involved at Bingle, maybe he could tell me what was happening. I was sure he would be sane in all this nonsense.

"Only if you remember how to get to the office building."

"I do," I lied.

"Okay then, you can go. But, for now, you really do need to rest. You look exhausted."

I yawned again. I really was tired. And confused. And perplexed. And every iteration and synonym of the word.

"Okay, Ch—Leonard. He'll wake me up when he gets home, right?"

"I'm sure he will." Church gave me a quick squeeze and stood up, heading for the door. "I'll check up on you later, okay? Call me if you need anything. Your cell phone is charging in the kitchen."

I nodded. "Thanks, Leo. Thanks for all the help."

He smiled tenderly. While that was a damned weird look for me to see, I smiled back. "No problem. Sleep well."

When he left, I had to practically drag myself to the bed and lie down. I was too tired to do anything else. Within a few moments, I drifted off, unable to think any more about this crazy universe I had woken up to.