Mono had never been more happy to see sand. Well, it wasn't exactly sand, but whatever type of dirt it was, it was close to water, so it counted. He crossed his arms as he looked out at the stretch of water in front of him, feeling the cold wind blow against him. The freezing waves of the ocean lapped up against his toes, which he ignored, being well adjusted to cold conditions. He squinted as he could barely make out the outline of the Pale City far, far, away. It looked so small from there to Mono. In the city, was the tower.

My next destination. I need to get to that tower.

But the Pale City wasn't their current predicament at the moment. The main issue was the giant body of water between them and the city. And Mono wasn't exactly a swimmer. Well, he never actually had swam in his life, the biggest body of water he ever experienced being the bathtub. He had faint memories of coming back to his house with mud and dirt and grass sticking to him after hours of playing outside. Mono could recall his mother dumping him into the tub, engulfing him in warm water and soap, the mix creating bubbly suds that would cover him head to toe. She would be scrubbing him until every last piece of dirt was gone. Any bodies of water bigger than that were avoided.

He had gone near bodies of water such as pools, but never swam in them, the most wet he had gotten was from the water when he had used the skimmer to save drowning bugs from a watery grave. The drops from the skimmer would drop on his clothes, and get them slightly damp, but he never went into the water.

I wonder if Six knows how to swim... For all I know, maybe she could be a frequent visitor to the city pool. I should ask. "Ever try scuba diving?"

Six fixed him with a quizzical look.

He inwardly facepalmed. No, not like that, moron. "I mean uh, do you know how to swim at all? Because I don't know how to."

She took a look at the unforgiving waves splashing against the shore, and held out her hand in a "Ehh" gesture. Not amazing, but not terrible.

Mono didn't even know why he was asking in the first place, considering he couldn't swim anyways, and they both needed to cross. "Then we'll need to use something as a boat." The only thing he could see though was what appeared to be half a door in the water, but a broken door would probably be uneven. Can't use that, then.

Six seemed to disagree, as she walked over to the boat, and began pushing it into water. "Help push."

Being too tired to argue after the hunter's shenanigans, he reluctantly trailed over and began to push. It's half a door, it's going to sin-

Out of the water bobbed up the other side of the door, and began floating gently in the murky water. Mono felt like a moron. Nevermind, it's an entire door. I stand corrected. "Welp, I stand corrected. All aboard the USS Door me mateys."

Six didn't seem to be impressed with the title or his pirate voice, rolling her eyes as they finished freeing it from the dirt, hopping on as the door began to cruise forward.

Mono looked at the land getting farther and farther behind. "How are we gonna make it go though? We need a sail or something, because it's not like this body of water is a river with a constant stream in a certain direction, we need something to keep this thing going. I didn't think this far ahead. It's not like it'll just keep moving from the push we gave it." He started to silently brainstorm for a solution. One was an image of him being a makeshift engine, holding on to Six's hands she held him at the rear of the door as he was halfway submerged in the water, his legs continuously paddling to propel the door forward. Another was him grabbing a stick floating in the water, and using his coat as a sail. Or they could use a big stick or two as a paddle, with both of them on each side working together. Mono continued to think until Six shook him out of his stupor. "No sail," she said. "We moving."

He took a good look around, and indeed the door was cruising along at a rather decent speed. For some reason, they were not slowing down, even though they should. He scratched his head in confusion. "How are we still going? A single push shouldn't give us this much distance. I don't think this is how physics works, Six."

"Physics?"

Ignoring Six's confused remark, Mono tried to make sense of the riddle. Was it the wind? Was it the waves somehow coincidentally pushing them just where they needed to go? Was it because they just pushed it so hard that it had enough kinetic energy to keep trucking on? Or… was it the city ? He felt a chill run down his spine. Was the Pale City pulling them towards it? As if it wanted them there. unless….

Mono had a humorous thought of a comically large magnet being on the other side, the door handle and hinges being magnetized to it. Maybe it was being operated by one of the monsters, he could see the monster wearing a large Cheshire cat grin on its face as it eagerly watched the door float right to the beach. He chuckled to himself. "A giant magnet..."

"What funny?"

The last thing Six expected to be doing today was crossing the ocean using a door as a makeshift boat. Well, it wasn't an entire ocean, just a very small part of it. It was salt water, she could smell the unmistakable scent of salt. At least it wasn't lake or pond water, the thought of the stench of it made her gag. Now she and her new partner in crime were on a course to the Pale City. Her partner in question seemed to have been deep in thought after rambling on about "physics" and other nonsense she couldn't begin to comprehend. Then he muttered something about magnets, and chuckled to himself. He was a weird one, that was for sure. Both of them silently sat on the door as they floated past strange objects, such as trees sticking out of the water, or junk like tvs just floating on by. It was actually kind of peaceful.

However the casual mood was quickly forgotten, as Six could see a shadow of something approaching in the distance. Something big. Alarmed, she leaned over and tapped Mono on the shoulder to shake him from his current thoughts. She pointed at the shape slowly growing larger and larger. Through the fog, they could see it. Warped, curved buildings that shouldn't exist, shouldn't be, but they were, and they did. The Pale City. The deformed towers looked almost like clawed fingers reaching out for them, it made Six sick to her stomach. But as much as she yearned to turn and sail far away, there was nowhere else to go. Whether she liked it or not, this was their destination, no turning back now.

The boat finally made it to the darkened beach, resting on the sandy shore. Six and Mono got off their boat, and started to make their way up the beach.

"Well this isn't exactly Myrtle Beach," Mono chirped from beside her, "But it'll do I suppose."

There wasn't much to see on the beach, litter and broken tvs and such were scattered around, it was filthy. They both stepped over broken bits of glass, trash, and needles. Six didn't plan on seeing more of the beach than they needed to, as the doorway leading into what appeared to be apartments looked much more interesting. "We go inside."

"Agreed," Mono said as they entered the abandoned apartment "there's no heating, but I'm sure the insulation should help it keep it a few degrees warmer."

Insulation. Another one of Mono's words that she couldn't understand. She knew she couldn't speak on the level that Mono could, she had never been able to. Since she learned to take care of herself, her life was survival, not learning new fancy words. Usually she had to strain to put together the parts of Mono's words she could make out. But the parts in between? She could barely understand. To her, it just sounded like jumbled nonsense with stuff she could understand randomly popping up in the middle.

Six had to work with what she knew, and it was a struggle. But for Mono? He seemed to be able to use the fancy words with absolutely no issue. For some reason she felt a slight pang of jealousy towards Mono. Which was stupid, in this world it was about survival . The people who managed to endure and live didn't have a lot of time to focus on the english language, they were more focused on more serious issues, such as figuring out if they were going to be able to eat that day.

But it was bizarre to her how fluent he was in talking. A small part of her wanted to be able to speak like that… Maybe they could talk more? She knew that being able to communicate easier would help them both. Six wondered if Mono would be willing to teach her. "Hai…"

Mono gave a wave. "Heya!"

It seemed he was already back into his more carefree mood, meaning he was talkative. She decided to take advantage. "Mono talk smarter than me."

"Smarter? I don't think I'm smarter than you Six. My teacher said that after looking at my science test, that my IQ is about room temperature. Even my dad said that I only have a single brain cell that just bounces around in my head, but I don't know what a brain cell is exactly. Biology or Science isn't exactly my forte." They walked by a hanging tv set with clothes hanging out. "Look I know it's a cell, and that it's in my brain, obviously, I'm not that daft. But you get what I'm saying yeah?"

Six felt a twinge of irritation, not at Mono, but at once more not being able to understand a large chunk of his words, "Not smartness, no. Mono talk better. Good words."

"You mean my fluency in English? I suppose I'm a bit better, but why mention it now?"

"I want talk smart. Mono tell how."

"Y-You… want me to teach you English?"

The way he responded gave Six pause. Did he possibly not want to teach her? Would teaching her be a burden to him? Setting aside her doubts, she eventually gained her courage back, nodding. "Please? Wanna talk smart."

"You really want me? I don't think I'm qualified… But if you want, I will. It means a lot to me that you're asking me of this Six, it's just I don't know if I'll be up to the task."

"Pretty please?" She needed him to know that she was serious, even adding a "pretty" for good measure, just to show how genuine she was. Six gave him the biggest puppy eyes she could muster.

The boy seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to deny her, but melted under her pleading gaze. Mono sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. I'm limited in some areas, but I promise I'll do the best I can."

Six gave Mono the best smile she could. She knew she should use her manners though. "Thankies."

"Thankies…"

Hnnn! Mono put a hand over his chest, stumbling backwards. How is she so cute? That cuteness is a weapon…

Out of everything Six could have asked, the last thing Mono expected was her requesting for him to teach her English. He was flattered at first, but then he remembered that people who were highly educated in English were a bit sparse. There was a possibility that he could possibly not be up to the task of teaching her. I don't think I would be a good teacher, would I?

But then Six had to give him the puppy dog look, begging with her big chocolate eyes. It was adorable . His will quickly faltered after that. After agreeing to teach her, she proceeded to give him the cutest smile Mono had ever seen in his life. Combined with her messy hair and eyes, that smile could melt through ice .

She seemed a bit concerned at the sight of him suddenly almost toppling over, until he put up his hand. "I'm fine," Mono said, "Just chest pains, nothing to worry about." The look she gave told him that she wasn't one hundred percent convinced, but he waved away her concerns. "We've got to keep going, let's go."

He and Six proceeded to make their way through the dilapidated apartment, before starting to notice multiple bodies. Well, they weren't bodies because there was nobody there. Just empty clothes sitting in places where people should be. Less of bodies, more like echoes. It was if the person wearing them had vanished on the spot, almost like something had taken them.

The first one they had noticed was the one from earlier where someone presumably shoved their head into a broken television. As they crossed the street into what looked like a small cafe, every seat had an entire outfit limply lying there. Just like the other clothes before, they looked completely undisturbed. Mono didn't believe in ghosts, but this place was beginning to feel haunted. He shivered at the thought of someone talking to their friend while sipping coffee, then suddenly disappearing.

Mono scanned the room looking for something useful. His eyes lit up. Wait, if it's a cafe...

He turned and began walking away, to Six's confusion. He put up his hand. "I'll be right back, stay here."

Mono trailed over behind the table and began to search. There has to be something here. It's not a coffee shop, it's a cafe, something… Aha! On the floor gathering dust was an unopened can. He rolled over the can and saw the front. His jaw dropped as he saw the label, he had to have been dreaming, there was no way this was real. "Chicken Noodle Soup" Was proudly presented on the front of the can in bright blue letters against a green background. A faded out picture depicting soup was displayed, by the word "TASTY!".

Food. It's actually food! Mono didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or start jumping for joy. Surely this had to be some sort of cruel dream, right? It's got chicken too, looks like meat's back on the menu! Wait till Six sees this!

Six's expression was one of surprise, out of everything that could have happened, she couldn't have predicted Mono rolling up to her on some blue tin can.

"Hey Six! Our food is rolling in! Look what I found, Bon Appeti- whoa!"

He turned at an awkward angle, causing him to speed out of control and roll right into one of the pillars holding up the chairs. Six winced as she watched him slam into it face first, and promptly fell onto the floor.

"I'm fine!" Mono said as he picked himself up from the floor, pointing at the can. "Look what I found!"

Six followed his finger to inspect the can that he had rolled up with. Looking closer, she almost fell over in shock. Chicken Noodle Soup? Chicken is meat! "You found?!"

"Yeah, I found it! Was wondering if you wanted to take a break, we could eat and get some rest."

Was that even a question?! Nothing had sounded better at that moment to her! Immediately she and Mono lifted it upright, and Six got to work on opening the can as quickly as she could. Meanwhile Mono went to the back of the cafe to fetch some unused bowls in the lower cabinet, with some plastic spoons he had found in a dusty old box. The bowls and the spoons were a bit big, suggesting that the cafe didn't have children in mind customer wise.

Six was in no mood to be picky with their situation, especially with food and utensils being provided. Although she wasn't planning on using the spoons, being adjusted to eating most things with her hand like an animal. However Mono managed to convince her to use the spoon since it was a liquid food. Working together, they managed to pour the soup into the bowl. Unfortunately the plastic spoons were adult sized, forcing Mono and Six to use them like awkward shovels. It was decided the soup was to be split where the noodles were evenly divided, Six was given the chicken, whilst Mono took the vegetables. She was thankful that he was so agreeable, because she loved meat.

Although she did give a small amount to him, knowing that because of his bigger size, he should get a bit more. They finished on the solid food, then proceeded to slowly work on the broth, nothing was wasted, and Mono said that the broth was "Full of nutrients." Six didn't know what that meant exactly, only that the broth was good for them. And it was filling, but it was rather awkward at first, as they tried to use the spoons and scoop up the broth and drink it, and it clearly wasn't working.

Mono wandered off and brought back something he called "Stirrer straws." Something made especially for "Coffee." But they were small, and made decent straws to drink the broth. She had never used a straw, and it was kind of fun, especially when she accidentally discovered that she could blow bubbles by blowing into the straw. She giggled as she continued to blow even more bubbles, smiling when Mono joined in. After several minutes of bubble blowing, their cheeks had started to hurt, so they finished off the broth.

It had been awhile since Six could say she had a full belly. Being so adjusted to scraps and stale bread and whatever she could scavenge out of the garbage, eating soup was like a five star meal to her. Being completely full, Mono and her agreed to call it a day, and using some pot holders they found combined with rags they tore off the adult clothes, made makeshift beds in the room next to the cafe. Broken television sets with ropes filled the room, but it was better than sleeping in an alleyway. For once in Six's life, she didn't dream about starving to death.

In her dream, she was in a humongous kitchen, where a massive chef scooped her up and brought her to an adult sized table, where she was given adult food. Her mouth had watered as the huge chef smiled and brought in a plate of adult size. On the plate was a slab of huge meat with a weird leaf on top, steaming and dripping with some sort of sauce, it looked amazing . The chef had informed her that it was "rare." and she understood why after taking a huge bite. The taste was incredible, and tender. It was the best thing she had ever tasted. Meat this good obviously had to be rare, perhaps she was one of the few people to ever have this food!

Suddenly Mono was there, sitting on the table with his legs hanging off the edge. He seemed to be rather bored, kicking his legs in the air. Six eagerly beckoned him over, surely he wanted some, even if she wanted to shred the meat apart by herself, she felt like sharing. The boy simply got up, waddled over to her plate, and took the leaf off, and ate it whilst looking at her dead in the eye.

"I'm a rabbit," was all Mono had to say.

Static and screaming filled Mono's head as he snapped awake, gasping for air. Another nightmare. Great. Here I thought counting sheep would result in having something else other than another night terror. Ever since his first encounter with the tower, his dreams were plagued with static. The transmission. Monsters warped into horrid beasts would come prowling, and butcher him in the most morbid way imaginable. He hated sleeping because of it.

Mono just wanted a good night's sleep without his subconscious being obsessed with television screens filled with white noises turning into terrifying monstrosities that hungered for his flesh. Even if he hated the transmission, he'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't wanting whatever was behind that door, but at this rate he didn't know if that was actually what he wanted, or the tower drawing him towards it. But he really really wanted whatever was behind the door…

Well I highly doubt any television sets here work, no point in dwelling on it. Wonder if Six is up yet? Turning to the left to see a few feet away that Six was still sound asleep. She had a slight smile on her face while a line of drool running down her chin. She actually looked… content, peaceful, happy.

Might as well give her some more time to sleep. Getting a good night's sleep isn't common around these parts.

After waiting a while whilst resting his eyes, he heard grumbling, a telltale sign that Six was definitely waking up. We'd best get a move on. He waited until her eyes fluttered open before greeting her. "Morning, sunshine."

Six's eyes anxiously searched around for the source of the voice before eventually landing on Mono, lighting up in recognition. She slowly got to her feet, giving a weak wave. "Morning."

"How'd you sleep?"

Stretching, she did a cute little yawn. "Good. Eated rare meat in dream."

Mono couldn't help as his eyebrows furrowed down in slight disapproval. "Rare meat? Like it was cooked rare? Yikes. How do people even eat rare meat anyways? You might as well just eat it raw since you just cook it for a total of like, thirty seconds. Like if I'm at a restaurant, and I wanted raw, I would just walk into the kitchen and tell the chef that I'd just eat it right now, no need to cook it. For crying out loud, it has blood in it! I'm not a wild puma."

He eventually stopped to see Six looking at him once more like he was crazy. "Sorry, force of habit." Mono was just speaking from personal experience, he'd remembered going to some sort of restaurant for his birthday, and he had stupidly ordered "rare" assuming that it was actually a rare type of meat. The horror he'd felt when he'd seen blood spilling from the meat… Never again. Nope. The next time, he had it "well done". No matter how chewy it was, at least it was actually completely cooked.

"We go soon?"

Mono shook himself from his nostalgia induced stupor. "Uh, yeah. Let's go, I'm sure the rest of these apartments won't give us much of an issue."

The apartments were giving Mono issues.

Earlier after Six had woken up, they had started making their way up the apartments, using televisions attached to ropes as makeshift elevators, but now she was one floor above him, and the staircase no longer existed. Her solution? For her to hold out her hand and catch him after he jumped what looked like a ten foot leap. Okay, well it wasn't exactly ten feet, but with his size, it certainly looked like it.

Uh, I don't know if I can make that jump. It was quite a leap. Even with Six's hand stuck out for Mono to grab, he still did not feel good about this. Height's never were his thing, usually he'd freeze up whenever he was really high. He could face cramped spaces, and the dark, but never heights. The idea that he could just slip… Boom! The end. He hated it.

"Hai!" Six was still attempting to coax him over.

"It's not that I don't trust you Six," Mono said, looking down at just how high he was. Nausea began to build up in his stomach. "It's just I don't think my insurance covers plummeting down a staircase several stories above ground."

That was half a lie. He didn't know if he truly trusted Six. Sure they had worked together to escape the hunter, and have formed a bit of a bond in the short time they had been together. But there was always a risk. What if she drops me? That would mean a terrifying plunge to his doom. He shuddered, already hearing the splat of his body hitting the wooden floor.

But he had no choice. He was stuck here without her help, he was going to have to trust her, and make the jump. No matter how much he hated it. And he really did hate it. This was a test, whether Six knew it or not.

He got some distance for a head start. He got into a stance to break out into a sprint. He began running. Ok, I'm the boss I'm the boss, I'm the… Mono threw himself over the chasm, hand outstretched. BOSS!

His hand grasped into Six's outstretched palm, and the effects of gravity came in, causing her to strain a little. He panicked as he felt her grasp slip a little, but she managed to recover and pull him up.

She had done it. Six pulled him up! She didn't drop him! There was no fall to his demise, no screaming! It had actually gone really smooth!

"Th-Thanks," Mono managed to shakily gasp out, as he picked himself off the floor, and dusted himself off. Six nodded in acknowledgement. Well, I know now that I can trust her for sure.

They hopped across a broken board, and continued until they came across a door with a large crack. Mono decided to go first, and make sure the coast was clear. Squeezing through the crack, he was slightly disappointed to see it was just an empty room with a deactivated T.V. Huh. Nothing it seems. Here I thoug-

The television turned on.

Immediately Mono's head was full of static as the entire room was bathed in a bright white light emanating from the screen. A horrid noise blared from the aging speakers, it was deafening. From the screen was the crackling static, the signal, the transmission…

It called to him.

Not again! No! I don't, I can't, I… I WON'T! Mono desperately tried to turn away, to resist the beckoning of the static. He clutched his head in agony as the transmission almost seemed to double in power, displeased at his attempted resistance. I… I NEED IT

NEEDNEEDNEEDNEEDNEEDNEED

He turned around, stumbling over to the front of the screen, with his hand extended. He needed it he couldn't live without it need it need it... Pushing his hand to the screen, he began twisting his arm, tuning the frequency slowly. He was close, so close so close so close… Finally he broke through, and he was inside! Finally! It's so… CLOSE! Mono could see the door, the end of the hallway. He just had to get there first… Running through the hallway felt like he was treading through thick mud, or trying to run through water, his movements felt slowed. But he was making progress, the door was so close, he just had to get to the door.

Mono felt something grab him. Something was pulling him away. Away from the door. No! He was so close! He silently screamed into nothingness, desperately attempting to fight off the invisible forces that threatened to impede his progress. However, whoever or whatever was pulling seemed to prove to be stronger than him. Just like that, he was out of the television. He grunted as his back hit the wooden floor, and blankly stared at the ceiling, noticing Six looking at him with slight worry. Why am I always getting put flat on my back on the floor while Six hovers over me? Is this going to be a common occurrence? Because I don't like running gags, unless it's one I'm doing on purpose. "Hi there, Six."

"What... "

"Was that?" Mono finished for her, not even slightly surprised to hear her confusion and slight fear. She couldn't even begin to fathom what the transmission was, and it would be near impossible to explain exactly what, especially with her limited english. Well, another reason to start teaching her as soon as possible. "I'll explain another time, we need to keep going."

"Telly took Mono..."

"I know." Mono wishes he could just tell her straight up, but there were so many words that Six did not understand, it would just be frustrating to her if he attempted to explain.

She huffed, "Stay from tellys."

"I'll try." A hollow promise. A lie. Mono couldn't control himself even if he tried. Every time he saw a television set, his instincts would scream to run away, to get as far away as humanly possible. But one side rebelled, urging him to go closer … What harm would it be? It wouldn't hurt him, and he could get to the door, as long as he got close to the television.

Mono growled to himself. He hated this obsession, this addiction to the transmission. He was like a drug addict who constantly needed his fix. Why couldn't he just be normal for once? It caused disgust to swirl inside his tummy. The look Six was giving him wasn't helping either. "Come on, let's go."

"We talk later."

It appeared Six wasn't going to let this drop as easily as Mono thought. He had a feeling it was going to be a long talk, whenever it happened. But now they had to focus on getting out of the building. The two climbed out of the window, and made their way down to an alley after hopping down into a dumpster. He couldn't help but dread Six's warning about the "talk". That conversation is going to be very complicated due to her very limited speaking abilities. Six's lack of understanding was something he wanted to approach, but without the proper education, half of what he'd say would probably go over her head. Well, I did promise to teach her, maybe I should start next time we take a break.

He wished he had something to help teach her, he was planning to sit her down and have a good chat about the english language, but it would have been more easy if he had something like an encyclopedia, a dictionary, or one of these english books like he had in his school. But only a school would have those, as work books weren't exactly something you'd find around the corner. Unfortunately there wasn't a very high chance of a school being near here.

Mono stopped in his tracks after walking a few steps into the alley, and gawked. In front of him was an entire school, just sitting there like it was the most normal thing ever! What are the odds of that?! Lady luck seemed to be smiling upon him once more, and he wasn't going to complain. "A school!" he exclaimed loudly, startling Six. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you. But look, it's a school! And it looks abandoned for some time! This is great, if we're lucky, we can ransack it for supplies, and maybe we can find an english book or something for you to use! To teach you words!"

That had gotten Six's attention, noticeably perking up at the suggestion of learning english. "Book inside? We go in?"

"That's the plan!"

Working together to pull a small dumpster blocking an hole in the gate, the two children entered onto what seemed to be the school playground. Of course, they had a job to do, which meant there was no time to play around.

Mono and Six definitely did not mount the seesaws and attempted to launch one another into the air as high as possible, only being pulled back by barely hanging on to the handles. Mono definitely did not teach Six how to play a game of soccer, causing a more competitive side of her to show. It ended up with Six winning, thanks to Mono taking it easy on her. It was fun for both of them, complete with Mono kicking the ball too hard, causing it to ricochet off the soccer goal pole and nailing him right in his face. to Six's amusement.

Six definitely did not demand for Mono to push her on the swing, once she discovered what it did. Mono definitely did not push her for several minutes, the only sound being the silent groan of the swings as Six giggled quietly, trying to go higher and higher with each swing.

Mono didn't know how long they played, losing track of time a while back. It had been months since he had actually had fun like this, with a friend. For so long he was adjusted to running, hiding, and surviving. He felt… happy.

However, they still had to keep moving, and the mood had been cut short after they had climbed into the presumably empty school, using a makeshift rope made from blankets that was hanging from the top window. After dropping down, Mono froze on the spot.

The lights were on.

The lights shouldn't be on. Something's wrong.

Everything looked normal, and that was the worst part. Everything should of been covered in dust, why do the lockers look like they're still used? Why are the lights on? Glancing to the wall, his eyes glued to a portrait of an adult. It was an adult female, who had sunken in eyes, with a demonic smile, sharp teeth in full display. The teacher.

"Six," Mono said as his friend climbed into the window behind him, "I think we might have a problem."