Five stumbled into Abel Township, panting and exhausted. That zombie horde had been far too close for comfort. She blamed the heavy backpack she dropped on the ground with a huge thud.

"You know," she gasped, clutching a stitch in her side. "This would have been a lot more rewarding if I had, you know, collected supplies that would actually help us survive."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Sam cried, shuffling through her backpack. He pulled out some small metal figurines and the thick book she had collected on request: Darkness and Demons: A Complete Guide. "This is of utmost importance!"

The Abel residences crowded around Five's backpack as well, excitedly passing around her newfound booty—a smattering of novels, comic books, movies, and, of course, Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Dr. Myers studied the Darkness and Demons game intently.

"This is perfect," she finally said. "We have all of the game parts, plus the Croatic module, Evening of the Shambling Ones. I still can't believe that it was available outside the States."

"We should set it up tonight after the hall meeting!" Sam responded, flicking through the rule book. "And costumes. We have to have costumes. Jody said she found some extra fabric on her run yesterday. I'm sure we could make do with that. It'll be perfect."

Five rummaged through her pack as well, extracting some very specific clothing she had been able to grab. Two of the items she had found abandoned in a garden, and the other had come last-minute from her final stop, the comic book store.

"I'll play with you guys on one condition," Five said to Sam cheekily, hiding the items behind her back.

Sam stopped reading the Darkness and Demons book and looked up. "What? Conditions? I thought you were all excited about—"

"I'm only going to play," Five interrupted matter-of-factly, "if you wear these."

She held up two of the three items—skin-tight green trousers and matching rubber gardening gloves.

"What on Earth—"

"If Aquaman was good enough for your ex-girlfriend, it's good enough for me," Five said haughtily, though her face reddened somewhat. "You can dress up for the game tonight."

Sam laughed out loud. "You're actually serious! Fine, fine. I'll cosplay just for this."

"And don't forget about these," Five continued, smirking. She held out a pair of underwear—dark purple with bright yellow exclamation points. "Bonus if you wear this underneath."

"You are a little devil, you know that?" Sam grinned, taking the underwear. "That won't be hard, considering I actually always wanted the Perplexor costume." He examined the underwear for a moment before looking up. "But If I wear something, you have to as well."

"What?" Five complained. "That was never part of the bargain!"

"It is now."

Sam went back to the backpack, sorting through the costume pieces and articles of clothing Five had snagged from her entertainment run. Finally, he lifted up a costume item that had randomly caught Five's eye—an obnoxiously sparkly green tank top and skirt.

"That?" Five asked skeptically. "What the hell character is that?"

"That, Runner Five, I believe is part of a Poison Ivy costume," Sam mused. "However, given the circumstances and our little theme going, I think you can use it to be Mera."

"Mera?"

"Yep. She's the Queen of Atlantis."

Five took it and dangled the material between her fingers. "I must finally be going insane."

"It's about time you caught up with the rest of us."

Before Five knew it, she was sitting at a large, round table inside Janine's home. Janine herself stood somewhat disapprovingly behind the table, watching the ridiculously-clad Abel residents plan out their game of Darkness and Demons. Five sat among them, squirming in the decidedly too-small green costume. She had dreaded joining the game after seeing herself in the green glittery mess, but hell—if she faced hordes of bloodthirsty zombies almost every day, she could certainly face a little cosplay and role-playing.

Besides, once she entered the room, she realized her costume was nothing compared to what the other residents had conjured. Considering no one had fake dragon wings or full suits of armor, everything had been whittled down to one simple rule: dress up.

Now, the sensible Dr. Myers wore what looked like an old purple curtain around her shoulders like a cape and a newspaper rolled into a cone marked with penciled-in stars. She was their ringleader—the Royal Warlock Vizier or something like that. Jack and Eugene had scrounged up matching togas from the bed sheets at the hospital, Runner Four had knitted herself a fast pair of cat ears and matching mittens, and even Eight sported a brown vest and a bow and arrow a la Robin Hood.

Five sat next to Sam and simply could not stop smirking. He had squeezed into the little green pants and wore his orange hoodie with the green rubber gloves.

"Nice costume, Aquayao," Five smirked.

"You're in this, same as me," Sam retorted, shaking a rubbery green finger at her. "Aren't you glad I decided not to just come in the Perplexor underpants? Then I'd be about as half-dressed as you."

"I think we're all glad of that," Runner Eight replied primly, scanning the Darkness and Demons game laid out on the table. "Shall we begin?"