There were times when he felt like he needed to run away. Now all he wanted to do was be still and make sure these people weren't going to hurt anybody. He had suffered through some brutal attacks at the hands of people. When there were so many monsters around he couldn't understand, still it had happened and burned a picture into his retnas for an eternity. Saiga couldn't close his eyes, everything he seen had some kind of gore.

This person was driving eratically. That was a dumb thought. Eratically, who cared if he drove eratically at a time like this. About the only thing this guy was going to be able to hit was parked cars on the side of the road and trees in people's driveways. He was quite dazed when Zee jumped out the window after the jeep. "ZEE!"

A great many strange ideas ran through his head. Was she going to get shot? What about the rat creatures? Stupid girl. But nonetheless he was right on her heels. Normally he couldn't hold a gun straight to save his life. Saiga had a bad problem with shakey hands. At the moment he seemed to be aiming better then normal, pointing the gun at the moving vehicle. "TOUCH HER AND I'LL..."

There wasn't a chance to finish his sentence. His gun went off and he was flying backwards as something came up out of the ground. Damn and he was doing so well. He probably should get up. Run in the direction of Zee. However, at the moment he couldn't feel his body, he couldn't see or move. Everything had gone black and he was starting to panic. I can't leave her like..

A sudden gush of air as the creature reared it's ugly head sent his mind soaring. He opened his eyes still quite dazed but got up off the ground and picked up his gun. His hand was shaking. Nevertheless he aimed and fired just narrowly missing a man who was getting out of a jeep. "Sorry!" Well maybe he shouldn't be apologizing at a time like this. Taking a camera from his pocket he ran and jumped in front of the jeep then began to flash it at the giant worm creature. "Hey over here! Come get me! Yeah you big ugly thing." Now all there was left to do was hope the creature was slower to strike then he was running.

One jump. Come on you guys get him while he is distracted. Second strike. Hurry Up. At the very least save Zee. Third Strike. Getting tired now. Fourth Jump I am a sprint runner, certainly can't run a marathon here. Flash the camera...Taunt the creature and keep running.

Clark walked out from the back of the store with a small bag slung over her shoulder. After about an hour of searching Clark had managed to scrounge up a couple packets of ramen noodles and about three cans of soup. "It's better than no food." She mumbled as she stepped around the overturned shelves. Ducking down slightly she made her way over to the window and peeked out onto the street. A smile lit her face when she saw that there was no danger outside, at least for the moment.

"Guess I can catch a break." She said as she pulled open the door and walked outside. She then started to head west making sure to stay in the shadows for the most part. Clark's next mission was to find a place to stay for the night and to eat some food. After she had regained a little bit more energy Clark planned to start looking for other survivors. If I can survive this long there totally has to be others out there. She thought as her eyes swept over the street continuing to look for any danger.

A few minutes later as Clark started down a new street the pavement beneath her feet started to quake and rumble. What the hell! She thought as she placed her hands on a near by building in an attempt to steady herself. At first Clark thought an earthquake had hit the area but she soon doubted that theory when she heard a horribly loud screeching sound from what seemed to be a block away.

Clark probably would have headed in the opposite direction of the noise if she hadn't heard what sounded like human voices. Clarks conscious wouldn't allow her to walk away with out trying to help the people who sounded like they where in trouble. So she took off in a dead run towards the source of the commotion. Ugh its not like I could be much help! She thought as she glanced down at the crowbar she held in her left hand. She had acquired it the first day of the attacks. She had been hiding in a construction zone and it was the only weapon that she could easily use. She had to leave the construction zone rather quickly since it was becoming invested with those freaky mutated rat creature. Clark shivered at the thought of the beast. "I just hope this ones not as disgusting as the rats." She mumbled but judging by the noises it was making she didn't have to much faith in that.

(i am sorry for not posting sooner. Usually I'm on the computer all day jumping back and forth between sites, this being one of them, but today was the day friends decided to acknowledge my existence. Btw Agito has roller blades, not a skate board, just clearing that up. Sorry again for holding up the story)

Agito skated for awhile not finding anyone for a long time. Sure he heard tires screeching, he continued on through the city on his blades. Every now and again he would hear something rumbling beneath the ground, but only slightly. He cast it off as just his imagination messing with him. Agito skated out into the street from around the block and looked at the jeep heading straight for him. Agito held that 'deer caught in the headlights' look and was frozen in his tracks. The jeep, luckily, swerved out of the way, allowing Agito to keep his life.

The man who was driving walked over and asked him if he was alright, but before he could answer the ground began shaking violently. Agito looked over and saw a small girl running towards the jeep, and further behind her a man griping a pistol. 'The ground does not shake because of a little girls footsteps' Agito concluded. The ground burst open and a giant worm creature shot forth from the hole. "Holy sh-.." he said before he was cut off by the creatures rumbling. The little girl that was running was flung forward, and was almost crushed and skewered by falling debris and glass from the nearby skyscraper.

The man following the girl tried to draw the creatures attention after the other guy in the car struck it with a bat. "The girl!" Agito shouted to himself. He hesitated at first, knowing he would be throwing himself into a very hairy situation, but ignored his gut feeling and rushed towards the girl.He skated towards her gaining speed with every thrust forward. Agito had to skate between the debris as not to fall, and gave little notice to the seemingly growing worm. All he could focus on was the girl.

Agito swept in, and grabbed the girl up into his arms, while avoiding the worms attention. 'Drive idiots' he thought hoping they would hop back into the car and pick him up. Agito looked down at the girl in his arms, then back at the worm. "Someone is smiling down on you" he said looking forward once more skating further down the street.

(OOC: Oops, sorry about that, Death. My oversight on the roller blades. I'll edit that post after I finish this one.)

Jedd exhaled a sigh of relief as the worm suddenly jerked backwards and flew in the other direction, striking the ground repeatedly in narrowly missed attempts at someone jumping back and forth to avoid it while rapidly flashing a camera like a madman. It looked like he was getting tired, however, and the last attempt by the worm came dangerously close to lopping off his arm.

Luckily, the man that Cyrus nearly struck with the Jeep darted forward bravely and scooped up the little girl, narrowly avoiding more rubble dislodged by the violently writhing monster. The tension in Jedd's shoulders slightly loosened as the girl and her rescuer retreated to a reasonably safe distance. "Alright, Kiku, you stay here, okay?"

The cat meowed in assent and sat herself on the floor of the Jeep's backseat, careful to keep one eye on the action unfolding above. Grabbing three more baseballs from his bag with one hand, he threw them simultaneously into the air and swung, sending the trio of projectiles into the worm's back. Infuriated at being surrounded, the creature burst completely from the ground, its entire length now visible above the surface. Chunks of rubble, dirt and cement soared through the air, smashing through parked cars and careening off nearby buildings.

"Hey!" Jedd shouted towards the previously jumping man with the gun. "Get over here! We have to get outta here!" The worm responded to Jedd's voice and flung its powerful tail in his direction, narrowly missing him as he dived out of the way.

"Holy crap! He almost got me-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the tail rebounded off the wall of the pub, smashing it into a pile of rubble as it did so, and collided square on with Jedd's back, knocking him into the air and sent him skidding across the gravel after hitting the ground. He grimaced and gripped his right arm as he stood up - it was torn up from his trip across the sharp stones and glass on the ground and was bleeding profusely. He was also covered from head to toe in the creature's yellow slime.

"Aw, gross! I think my ego is hurting worse than... than my... my arm..." Jedd muttered, suddenly swooning dangerously. His vision had gone extremely blurry in a matter of seconds and his muscles didn't seem to respond to his commands. "Is this... some kind of... poi...son..."

Before he could finish his thought, he collapsed on the ground, completely unresponsive...

Cyrus didn't have time to finish his inspection of the kid he nearly hit. Everything started happening at once. He was unable to process most of it. A girl, a man with a camera, and then a huge worm... things were getting out of hand.

"What... CHRIST!!!"

The next few minutes were a blur. The man with the camera did a great job distracting the worm, while the rollerblades kid dashed over and saved the girl who had foolishly run out into the open. Meanwhile, Jedd called out to the man, beckoning him to the car. All the while, Cyrus was at work in the back of his jeep...

"My turn, bitch!"

Cyrus let out a volley of bullets, watching as they ripped into the creature's head. In the time that had passed, he had managed to get the mounted machine gun set up in the jeep. Free from the need to reload, he kept firing again and again, endlessly. He was aware of the risk. The creature's focus would be on him now. But that was fine. He had the M-16 strapped to his back as well, ready to be used should the jeep be decimated.

"Everybody, get your asses inside the car. Jedd... damn it!"

Cyrus's voice rang out above the roar of the beast and the shots from the machine gun. The whole time, he was firing into the creature's mouth. For some reason, it seemed that by focusing on the head, he could keep the creature on the defensive, since the head was it's main weapon. With any luck, he could gradually work his way down. Worst case scenario, he'd drive the jeep into the creature's body, and blast the gas tank with his pistol, using the jeep as an explosive to split the worm in half.

"Cameraman, get Jedd!"

Cyrus motioned to the guy, indicating that he was responsible now for getting Jedd off the street and back to the jeep. Things were getting very hectic...

Found lots of survivors... fighting a giant poisonous worm... good day, bad day, I can't decide. God, I'm so ready for a beer!

When everything started to happen the only thing he could think about was getting Zee out of the way. His head hurt, he could feel his legs throb as he made jump after jump before finally running out of film. "Damn." As he stepped back trying to think of another escape bullets began to whiz around him. The splay of blood and bullets was like a pantomime and he was the main character watching black worm guts spray across his face. Gunfire just wasn't his thing it made him choke up.

His eyes were wide. But he wasn't shaking, he never shook unless he was the one holding the gun. All of the bullets, all of the worm guts were moving slow. Somebody had saved Zee, Saiga had failed her. So why did he suddenly feel like he should get up and save himself. If he moved that would be it. Miraculously all the bullets were missing him, but if he moved, even a fraction they would all come flying through him.

There was an opening coming up. He had counted the bullets and judged by the gun that the man would have to reload. Just enough time to jump out of the way. He counted the sentence, tried to count the bullets despite the ringing in his head. Damn. He wasn't going to get out of the way in time. But it was better to make a leap and get shot by a man then stand here and get bit by a beast.

Alright. Here I go. The bullets passed by and he passed beneath them rolling away from the beast and towards the man who had fallen on the ground. This was getting weird. How the heck was he suppose to pick this man up? There was something about adrenaline kicking in, he couldn't feel it. "Come on." His whispers went unheard amidst the chaos. Saiga slapped the man a couple times and then pulled him up enough so he could hoist the man onto his shoulders. "Oh man, so much dead weight I am going to tip over."

Saiga definitely wasn't the strongest man in the world. Despite his quickness by his lonesome he couldn't carry a hundred and eighty pounds and still move like he normally did. "You chose this time to pass out." He dragged the man past the flailing beast, ignoring the beast's screeches. It didn't take long for Saiga to just dial everything out and focus on getting to the vehicle.

Once they were there he gave the man a good slap. "Come on get up this isn't the time to be napping." Leaning forward he examined the wounds and then ripped a portion of his shirt, drowned it with alcohol and began to dab away at the man's wounds. "Damn why couldn't I have been a doctor." The most he knew was some first aid and the biology of a person. None of his text books at school had included 'How To Deal With Radioactive Worm Slime' as a part of the curricular. Saiga wouldn't have been able to know if they were even moving. He was in the back of the jeep trying to pump life into the man and keep his wounds from completely failing. "Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry, you choose this time to fail me." Science use to be his forte until he moved onto something with a higher payload. "Man. I don't even know you. Don't tell me I am going to have to suck the poison from your wounds."

Jedd was running through a lush, green field covered in fragrant, yellow blossoms. Each time he took a step, it seemed like he was getting lighter and lighter, almost floating into the air as he moved. At the far end of the meadow, shining like a beacon of hope, was a McDonald’s fast food restaurant. Towering Golden Arches framed the entranceway, and the enticing aroma of freshly reheated meat patties, over-salted French Fries and mechanically processed pieces of batter-covered chicken began to make his mouth water.

He was nearly there, the doors were just a few feet away…

SLAP. SLAP SLAP. SLAP!

What the hell? Is someone slapping me? dream Jedd thought, now struggling to reach the door handles that seemed to be staying just out of his grasp.

No, no! Don’t disappear! he shouted as the building began to fade into nothingness. The beautiful, safe meadow was gradually replaced by the chaotic scene on the street, and the wonderful aroma of sustenance by the nauseating stench of worm guts.

“What the hell is your problem, you asshole?” Jedd shouted at his rescuer, appearing extremely ungrateful, not noticing what he had done to treat the wounds on his arm. “I almost had my double cheeseburger…” Kikuno, extraordinarily calm considering the circumstances and explosive gunfire, was standing on the very edge of the backseat, carefully avoiding any piles of goop that had dripped from Jedd’s body.

His eyelids still very heavy, Jedd struggled against the toxins in his body in order to prop himself up and survey what had transpired since he entered dream world. The worm’s body was mangled and torn, blood, bile and slime splashing all around as it was riddled by bullets from Cyrus’ mounted gun.

In a desperate attempt to avoid further injury, it lowered its head and wildly thrashed left and right, flipping cars into the air and turning them into dangerous, giant projectiles. One vehicle flew right down an alleyway where another person, a woman, had exited from, and exploded in a cloud of smoke and orange flames. A crushed yellow taxi collided with the back of Cyrus’ Jeep, sending it careening into a pile of nearby rubble, nearly flipping it over.

Despite the jolt from the impact and increasingly searing pain in his injured arm, Jedd couldn’t resist the affect of the worm’s slime any longer, and drifted off into another deep sleep, this time snoring vulgarly as he slumped over the backseat’s headrest…

(OOC/Edit: Yes, MetalHead, that's your character nearly getting hit by an exploding car. )

(( AAAGH! So much happening, so little time.... ))

What the...?

First she had been running, running towards the jeep. Towards the first human beings that she had seen in... well, a while. As opposed to the rats. Next thing she knew, the ground was shaking and Zee was losing her balance. And then, a giant worm explodes from the ground, showering her with debris and rock. What? She was still in a euphoric daze.

One roar from the worm, and Zee snapped back to reality. The daze was lifted, and now her senses were filled with fear, and fear alone. The freaking giant worm was rearing towards her, was she supposed to be excited? Uh-uhn. Vaguely aware of an assortment of cuts and bruises on her, and being buried in the pile of rubble... but the worm was getting closer...

And then the slimy, disgusting thing reared back in pain, a baseball bouncing off it's forehead and into Zee's lap. And after that, she really didn't know what happened, only that she was going insane with panic, the sound of multiple gunshots, the blur of Saiga sprinting past.... it was all too much. Zee put her hands up to cover her ears and squeezed ehr eyes shut, hoping that it would be quick and relatively painless.

But the strike didn't come, and the battleshots got quieter and quieter until Zee uncovered her ears and opened her eyes. Was this what it was like to be dead? But then she was realizing that she wasn't on the ground anymore. That the battle was getting farther away, Saiga with it. That she was covered in worm guts and blood. Hoping it wasn't poisonous. There were arms around her curled-up form. And also, she was suspended in the air.... gliding? Was she actually dead?

Looking up further, Zee realized she was being carried, that she was still in the filth and waste of New York, that she wasn't dead. But she wasn't sure if that was good or not. The boy she was being carried by had... blue hair? (Going by Agito's picture in OOC) And he probably was a lot older than Zee, but he seemed kind of young for his age. Naiive, maybe? But anyways, he was swerving in weird, side-to-side motions, and a look of confusion crossed her face before Zee realized he was on roller blades. God, it had been so long since she had seen a pair of those around.

Forgetting her curiosity again, the fear came back doubletime. She was being carried somewhere by a stranger. Saiga was gone somewhere, and now panick gripped her. Saiga... was gone? What if he was.... was....

Next thing she knew, Zee was practically hyperventillating and gasping, but she couldn't talk or scream. Because even in a situation like this, the lump in her throat wouldn't let up, and she couldn't speak unless she wanted to choke. So she settled for shaking uncontrollably.

Wait.... what was this? This... stickyness? A gluey, sitcky goop mess was all over her, no doubt from the explosion of skin and blood from the worm. Wha..? But she had no time to ponder what it was anymore, because she was rapidly nodding off. She struggled to keep her eyelids open, But Zee lost the battle.

Agito kept blading ignoring the battle behind him, and turned the corner. "First the rats, and now a giant worm?!" Agito shouted to himself. He continued skating and noticed that his passenger's breathing was becoming heavier and heavier. "Please don't let this little girl die" He said to himself. The girl continued breathing heavily, and then simply fainted. "Guess she was really tired" Agito said still skating. He didn't know where he was going, but far away from there seemed like the best choice. Then, out of a nearby ally , 3 rats scurried out and locked on to him and the girl. "Why couldn't I've just taken my beans and went home?" he asked, turning around and rushing the other way. Agito felt something warm wrap around his leg, and he was pulled backwards as the girl was sent flying forwards into a nearby bush.

Agito's face went from scared out of his mind, as he tried to crawl away, to seriously pissed. Akito had taken over, and just in time too. He grabbed the tentacle and bite it hard, forcing the creature to unwrap his leg. The other rat creatures hissed at him, but Akito only smiled as he stood. He glanced over at the girl, who was unconscious and conveniently hidden in the buses, and then back at the rats. "Hey over here dipshits!" he yelled, trying to grab their attention. They hissed louder as if they understood his insult and tried to charge him. 'Please, don't let anything happen to the girl' he thought to himself, and he skated off leading them down the street.

Cyrus was oblivious to the world around him. He couldn't focus or worry about the others right now. The best thing he could do for them was take down the worm. So long as that thing was there, they were done for. He just kept unloading the rounds on him.

Resilient bastard... Cyrus thought, as he kept pumping away.

Finally, with a roar, the worm came down, crashing into the concrete. After losing so much blood, and taking enough machine gun rounds to kill an elephant, the creature finally died. Or so Cyrus thought.

"Hell yea!"

Cyrus began shouting as the rush of killing the beast gave him enough energy to jump for joy. Unfortunately, his attention was interrupted. People had begun to gather at the jeep, which was promising, but something else was happening: the sounds of battle had attracted more monsters.

Rats were beginning to circle in. It was frustrating, really. They would eat the dead worm, that much was clear already, as some were already beginning. On the bright side, this kept Cyrus from having to worry about the worm ever again. But off to his side, he heard the roller blades kid scream.

Damn it, no rest for the weary...

Cyrus got a grip on the machine gun, and started unloading on the rats chasing him. Soon, he had killed the whole herd of them, but there were more coming from before, when he had saved Jedd. Turns out, they knew what sounds were promising, and what sounds merited attention.

"Hey Rollerblades, get the girl, and get your ass in the jeep! We got no time!"

Cyrus had now turned his gun to the approaching horde coming from behind. His heart sank as he saw how many of them there were. He didn't have enough ammo to kill them all. In truth, if they took much longer, they'd be surrounded, and things would be difficult.

We don't have any chance of going back the way we came. I gotta forge a trail ahead of us. There's fewer up there, and most of them are preoccupied eating the worm...

The gun now facing the rats approaching from the front, Cyrus was keeping the path clear. It was simple enough, since most were, as he noted before, busy working on the worm. But time was short. The horde behind them was closing the gap...

Clark was knocked to the ground as the car that nearly hit her exploded into a fireball. For a few minutes she was slightly shell shocked and could only stare up at the hazy looking sky. However a sharp pain brought her back to reality as she reached up to grasp her left arm. The explosion from the car had launched a piece of scrap metal right under her left shoulder. Sitting up Clark looked at it more thoroughly and saw that it was probably a good inch into her arm.

Cussing under her breath she stumbled to her feet and decided not to pull the metal out of her arm. At least not yet....especially with those rat things everywhere. She thought as she looked over the street and noticed that a large group of rats where starting to form all along the street.

"Hey Rollerblades, get the girl, and get your ass in the jeep! We got no time!" Clark turned her head at the shout and saw a guy with blond hair in a jeep. God yes I finally found other survivors! Although it could have been under better circumstances. She thought as her eyes where once again drawn to the rats and the worm.

Sliding along the building Clark attempted to slid by the pack of rats who where eating at the worm in the most gruesome way. Clark knew that was one image she would never be able to erase from her mind and it would probably haunt her dreams for years to come. She had almost made it past the rats and was more than half way to the jeep when a few rats spotted her.

"Shit!" She yelled out and quit trying to be sneaky as she broke out into a run down the street and towards the jeep. "Please! Can I hop on?!" She cried out desperation seeping out in her voice as she tried to out run the rats that where right on her heels. Don't look back don't look back don't look back. She kept repeating in her head as her legs continued to take her towards the others.

Agito made a complete u-turn and faced the incoming rats. He put his hands infront of his face when tehy were reduced to nothing more than gravy on the pavement from that guys machine gun. "BAKA!!!" he yelled rushing back over to teh girl. Three rats slide out of yet anothe rally, and Agito jumped over them, landing teh jump, and grabbing teh girl, all in one go. "Oh yeah, fear my leet skating skillz" he said to himself. The rats were hot on hsi trail at this point. Agito bobbed and weaved around them, barely dodging a tentacle or two and skating back to the vehicle.

"I hate you you...I hope you know that" Agito said in a annoyed tone. He WAS just kidding but still wanted to kick this man in the shins. He placed the girl down in the backseat, and hopped in, holding his hand out for teh approaching female asking if she could come. "Like we're going to leave someone behind!" he shouted grabbing her hand and pulling her on board. His vision locked onto the man manning the turret. "Drive man! DRIVE!" he shouted, beginning to panic, seeing a mass amount of rats appearing from literally no where.

Obviously Saiga thought he was doing this man a favor and was quite displeased when Jedd woke up and spit venom at him. "Sorry, I thought you were dying." Now he figured it was time to go collect Zee. From what he had seen Agito had done a great job of picking her up and carrying her to safety. "See if I ever save you from giant worms again." After grumbling and throwing some stuff back into his backpack he scooted out the door to go make sure Agito and Zee got to safety instead of getting comfortable himself. The absolute ridiculousness of what he had said caught up with him when his feet hit the ground. For some reason it just caught him as funny and he couldn't stop laughing.

"Dammit see what you did." The way Agito was carrying Zee just made it worse, even though the thought of being devoured by giant rats was somewhat unappealing. He seemed like he was a few watts short of a light bulb when a car came careening into the car just missing him. After a thud and a crash later he seen them get close and retrieved a syringe and a bottle of clear liquid from his backpack.

Climbing in after her he slammed the door shut and, with rather shaky hands, began to try and fill the fluid with 50 cc's of liquid. "Can somebody hold her still I have a feeling this ride is going to get a bit jumpy. I wouldn't want to unintentionally harm her." Saiga had done this so many times that he had become a pro at hitting the right spot. However, they didn't have a vehicle he had never done it while moving. "Alright Zee. I know you don't like this but I don't want you to get worse."

He pulled her hand close and stabilized it on the top of his backpack. After setting down the needle and shaking his hands a bit to stop the shaking he tapped the needle to get all the bubbles out and pushed the end up until a small droplet of liquid appeared. Taking a bungee cord from the floor board of the vehicle he tied off her veins and turned her hand over face down. After taking a few deep breaths he slowly pushed the small needle into her vein and injected the liquid. Once the vein was untied he removed the needle and poured alcohol over the wound.

"Zee. You need to wake up." Patting her head he whispered to her ignoring the squealing of rat claws on jeep door. "Zee..Breathe Zee." He didn't have any room to do mouth to mouth resuscitation unless he propped her on the seat and sat on the floor board. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, he didn't know how long they had been out of the vehicle and just gave her a maximum dose of liquid. "She's still not breathing." When he was worried about Zee he always sounded over dramatic, like a worried mother.

Cyrus saw that everyone was finally in the car. He didn't bother to disassemble the machine gun; there wasn't time. The rats would be finished with their main course soon, and they'd move on to dessert. In one smooth motion, Cyrus made sure everyone was present and accounted for, including Jedd, then settled into the driver's seat.

"Everybody hang on, this is gonna be close!"

With the gas pedal on the floor, the sound of screeching tires echoed through the air over the countless hissing rats behind them. As the jeep rocketed through the crowd of rats, many of them still focused on eating the last remnants of the worm, the ride got a little bumpy. The jeep was built for rough terrain, however, and handled things with ease.

The crew was about halfway through the rats when things started to get hectic. The rats that couldn't get to the worm were now focused on the jeep with food in it, and began jumping. One got stuck on the windshield, and Cyrus knocked him off with the wipers.

Damn it, too close!

They continued to come. Cyrus took out his hunting knife, and stabbed two of them, one of which landed squarely in Clark's lap. Finally, the jeep broke free of the crowd, leaving the rats behind. Shortly after than, the second crowd joined the first, and the remains of the giant worm disappeared completely. But it was fine, as they had managed to escape with their lives.

What..? Was this a dream?

Zee was in a.... meadow?
Gently sloping hills and prairies. Check.
Wildflowers and wibrant green grass, swaying in the light breeze. Check.
Mom, Dad, and Joey. Too unexpected to be checked.

There in the meadow, among the colorful flowers, stood Zee's family. Her smiling blonde mother looked gently at her with green eyes, and for once she wasn't beanpole thing due to malnourishment. No worry lines creased her perfect forehead, the fear was gone from her stature. She stood tall and proud, and her high cheekbones were elvated higher in that smile that Zee so lovingly pictured every night when she tried to sleep.

Her father stood next to her mother, a thick, sinewy arm around her waist. His dark hair was short-cut, and his dark eyes weren't eternally weary, he wasn't eternally irritated and gruff anymore. His five o'clock shadow had been groomed and shaved, and he smiled for once. As Zee watched, he broke out into a grin and spread his arms wide for a hug, just like she had wished he could hug her for so many nights.

And Joey, sweet little Joey, just now seven.... those dark eyes were bright and curious like they used to be, before so many years of hunger and weariness washed all of his hope away. His dirty blonde hair grown out long, hanging in his eyes and stopping just above his delighted smile. His cheeks plump and ruddy red with health, the delicate fingers so carefully preserved and unstained with hard work, pretty as the picture in her mind.

Here they all were, so perfectly preserved. Her memories of them didn't do an ounce of justice, because Zee's family was so beautiful and perfect, and tears came to her eyes. And, the best part was....

" Momma!! Daddy!! John!! " Zee could speak again!! She could yell, she could cry, she could sing, she could carry on a normal conversation! She could talk!

She was half-afraid that they would dissapear as she called their names, but there they were, smiling as ever. Zee started to run towards them... but as she ran, the worm-guts re-appeared on her clothing, her battered and worn clothing. Zee looked down in dismay, but her family still smiled. And that was when she realized it was a trap.

Then came the scrabbling, the excessive squalling, the insistent bickering... The rats had come. As her horrified eyes watched, her mother's face elongated and split into four petals. Her father shrank and became furry. And Joey... she couldn't bear to watch. And now the lump in her throat reappeared, cutting off her airways.

Zee... Zee, wake up... Voices echoed emptily inside her head, whispering amongst themselves. The rats were cloding in. And Zee knew, she knew, that it had all been a trick. Bitter tears clouded her vision.

It was impossible. Daddy would always be work-hardened and gruff, Momma would always be worried and malnourished, and Joey wouls always be void of hope and deprived of dreams... because life was life, and no one could change that. But it didn't matter who her family was in Zee's mind, because they were all dead anyways.

Zee.... A rat sank it's teeth into her hand, and it hurt, stinging. Wait.... the meadow was fading... the rats were still there, butthat was to be expected. But Zee's vision was filled with the sights of the abandoned New York, a sight welcome to her wet eyes.

" What'd you do.... " Zee was speaking before she had time to realize the lump was gone. But she trailed off and slapped a hand over her mouth, and by the time she removed it, seconds later, the lump was back in her throat, and she couldn't seem to manuever around it to do the amount of people in the jeep, which she had somehow ended up in.

Zee began to stare off into space, gripping Saiga's arm tightly. She was in a daze-like state.... and didn't want to be disturbed.

"Thanks!" Clark called out to the guy who pulled her up into the jeep. She quickly settled into a seat up front by the door as the jeep tried to plow its way threw the hordes of rats. Cradling her left arm close to her body she tried to avoid hitting into the other people so her arm wouldn't get further injured.

Clark stared out the front windshield in slight shock as she watched the rats go ballistic. "Jesus I didn't think there was this many." She mumbled under her breath. She jerked back in her seat as one flew at the windshield and then let out a hiss of pain as the piece of metal moved to the right and tore her skin slightly. As she turned to look at the wound better Clark felt something heavy drop into her lap.

Glancing down Clarks eyes went wide as she saw a dead rat in her lap. "God Dammit!" Clark shouted as she used both hands to push the rat off of her lap and onto the street. A few more cuss words spilled from her mouth as her left arm screamed in pain. Looking down she saw the piece of metal had moved a half an inch to the right and she was now bleeding pretty steadily. Pressing her right hand against the wound she tried to stop the bleeding. "Do you have any rags that I can use?" Clark questioned as she looked up at the man driving the jeep.

Free from the massive tide of rats, and now able to drive more easily, Cyrus looked over the passengers in the jeep. Jedd and the little girl were out cold, from whatever that poison was. And now Clark had a bleeding wound in her arm from a piece of metal.

"There's a first aid kit under the seat."

Cyrus pointed towards the floor beneath Clark.

"It has some bandages, disinfectant, and antiseptic. You know how to use it, right?"

Clark continued to drive. The road looked mostly clear. The occasional rat poked its head out of an alley as they sped by, but never did they encounter anything else worth mentioning. It looked like it was going to be a clean ride the rest of the way back to Cyrus's house, where food and shelter awaited the group of stranded survivors.

So many... talk about miraculous. I wonder why they're all in the same place. Heh, maybe there is a god after all. Though if there is, I'd like to know why all this is happening...