School was canceled the next day, and the news was covering the attack when Jessie walked into the kitchen. As he passed by the fridge he saw a note on the fridge door from his mom.

Honey, I'm sorry I'm not at home right now but there was an emergency at work and I'm the only one who could fix it. I'll be home late food is in the fridge and I left money on the counter for pizza.

Not surprised that his mom was at work and would leave a note like this he crumpled the note and threw it in the trash. She was a government lawyer and was still dealing with lawsuits from the people of Sherwood for the aftermath of the fire. He always felt second to work for his mom, important until work called.

Shaking his head free of those thoughts he opened the fridge door and rummaged around for a good breakfast.

As he gathered the ingredients needed for the perfect breakfast sandwich his eyes wandered over to the tv. It was tuned to the news.

Mom's been leaving the tv on a lot these days. I wonder why she's been so forgetful, she's never been this way before.

He turned up the volume and watched the story on the attack.

"We are sad to inform the residents of Sherwood of a horrible tragedy that occurred at half-past one. The pride and joy of Sherwood, Sherwood high, was attacked yesterday by a radical group of individuals. As of right now, three have been confirmed dead with two seriously injured. We'd like to have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in this tragic happenstance." The news anchor bowed his head in respect and a tense silence ensued.

Only recalling seeing one body Jessie was saddened to hear that more students were killed. It made him feel somewhat responsible that he couldn't help more people during the attack. He was only able to help Lily on the roof.

He was startled back to reality when he heard his ringtone go off. Clumsily he pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. It was Rose, he answered glad to hear his voice.

"Hello? Rose?"

"Hey Jessie it's good to hear your voice there's some important stuff we need to talk about so I'm on my way to pick you up." Rose said nonchalantly.

"Pick me up? To go where?" Jessie asked confused.

"The hospital we are going to go see Travis." Rose said.

"Wait now? It's eight in the morn- hello?" All Jessie could hear what the dial tone. "She hung up on me."

Jessie sighed and put away his sandwich ingredients.

It's fine I didn't even have a lobster soul.

—————————————

As Jessie locked the door behind him he turned his head to see Rose pull up in her dads beat up Pontiac. The paint was chipped and the engine made a suspicious clicking noise. He sighed.

She's gonna kill me with that thing.

He crossed his driveway and bent down to see Rose beaming with aviators too big for face. He opened the door to see the leather seat was torn and faded. He stepped in and placed his bag in the back seat. He turned to face Rose and hurt her feelings.

"I thought you failed your drivers test like four times? How did you get your dad to lend you his car?" Jessie said as Rose's smile turned into a scowl.

"It was only three times I'll have you know, besides my dad doesn't know I'm driving it." Rose as she shifted the car into gear.

Jessie grabbed his seatbelt and fumbled it into its clip making a big show of it.

"Haha." Rose said as she sped off.

As they left Jessie's neighborhood he could see Rose's smile return, smiling himself he leaned back in his chair.

Oh we'll be fine.

Suddenly taking a corner too sharply Rose hit the curb sending Jessie's head into the roof of the car.

"Oops." Rose said as she slowly eased her foot off the gas pedal. Jessie sighed as he rubbed his head searing himself back into his chair properly.

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood considering well you know." Jessie said as he pulled the sun visor to check his head in the mirror.

"Oh no I'm horrified by what happened, last night I had the most terrifying dream I've ever had in my life." She replied calmly.

She continued driving with a smile on her face while Jessie sat back stunned by her confession.

"Then how can you be so calm? We almost died Rose, you blew up!"

"I've thought a lot about what our lives are gonna look like now and I figured if we are gonna go after Plague chances are that's not the worst stuff we are gonna see. So I've decided to not worry about any of it until it's all over." She said calmly but Jessie watch as she tapped nervously on the steering wheel.

"Well I don't know if that's a mature way to tackle this situation or if that's just plain crazy but it's your choice." Jessie said as he pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Telling Travis we are on our way."

Rose grabbed his phone opened her glove box and threw his phone inside. She closed it and said nothing.

"Dude."

"Ok fine I wanted this to be a surprise to him, so u would appreciate if you didn't ruin it by blabbing." She said innocently.

"Did you have to throw my phone like that though."

"Oh 100% thats was part of my plan to begin with."

Jessie sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Oh this girl is gonna be the death of me.

—————————

As they pulled into the hospital parking lot Jessie leaned forward to get a good look at the building. It was around five stories high and a nice red and white color. It read Sherwood General Hospital on the front.

"What everyone likes pineapple on pizza." Rose said proudly.

"No they don't your just weird." Jessie said. Rose hit the brakes and his face slammed against the windshield.

"Oh no what happened?!" Rose asked sheepishly.

I'll remember this Rose.

Rose pulled into a parking spot precariously and slid the car into park. Jessie pulled his bag from the back seat and climbed out of the car. He pulled his bag over his shoulder and started towards the hospitals sliding doors.

"Oh I forgot to mention this on the trip over here Rose but I feel like it's important for you to know." Jessie said as they passed through the doors.

"What is it Jessie?" Rose asked curious.

"Your driving sucks."

Rose reached out her leg and tripped Jessie causing him to land with a loud slap echoing across the lobby.

"What was that?" Rose asked as she stepped over Jessie.

"Nothing."

Women are terrifying.

As he stood himself up he realized Rose was already speaking to the lady behind the desk in the center of the lobby.As he hurried over he rubbed his nose cursing his choice in friends.

"Oh he's fine, he's a tough guy. Aren't ya Jessie?" Rose said as he stuck her thumb into his chest.

"I think my nose is broken." Jessie said as he poked his nose. It stung slightly. Rose laughed nervously.

"How may I help you today." The receptionist behind the desk asked with a concerned look on her face.

She was very pale and had bags under her eyes. They clashed with her red hair and striking blue eyes.

"We are here to visit a few friends of ours. We were wondering if you could tell us where their rooms are." Jessie asked red in the face.

"What's their name?"

"Lily Han and Travis Johnson, they were injured during the school attack." Rose said showing a photo of Lily with a dog.

Where'd she get the photo from?

"Oh I see, let me check the computer and see what room she's in." The attendant said clacking away on her keyboard.

Jessie saw Rose pull out a book from her bag and start to read. He peered over to try and get a glimpse of the title. She pulled the book closer to her and look up at him with embarrassment.

"H-hey man get your own book."

"What I was just curious about what your reading it's not a big deal." Jessie said putting his hands up in defense.

"It's a book, it has words, there now you know." She said putting the book away.

"Is that manga? I haven't read any in a while is it any good." Jessie asked trying to get a better look at the cover.

"It's nothing." Rose said as she moved her book farther away. He kept trying to read the cover as she pulled away.

"Come on i just want to know what it is, I don't even care if it's one of those weird ones."

"Nothings weird about my manga!" Rose yelled at him.

Heads turned towards them and a lady shushed them. Feeling red in the face Rose pulled her beanie closer to her face. Jessie laughed and noticed the attendant staring at them.

"You guys are pretty weird." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"We know. Have you found our friends?" Rose asked as she put her book away.

"Oh I found out almost immediately but I wanted to watch the show." She said handing him a slip of paper. "They're  in room 228, right next to our special guest. How lucky are they?"

"Special guest? Who is it?" Rose asked suddenly over her outburst.

"I hear some it the principal of your school, he's pretty liked by some of the nurses. That's all I'm willing to share." She further proved her point by sealing her lips and throwing the key away.

"Thank you kindly, but we don't really know our way around here so can you tell us where 228 is? Wait why only one room number?"Jessie asked.

"They placed them together due to the lack of available rooms. Here take this and you'll find your friends room on the third floor." With that, she handed Jessie a map and went back to her computer.

As the duo moved away from the desk Jessie handed map to Rose's outstretched hand.

"Oh, this thing is confusing. It's very elaborate, why make it so difficult to find your way around a hospital?" Rose asked while turning the map upside down.

"This hospital used to be a mental institution, but around ten years ago they changed it into a regular hospital and renovated it to modern standards. Fun fact some of the old building is still unrenovated and wardened off." Jessie said grabbing the map and putting it upright.

Rose stared at him in amazement.

"Why do you know that?" Rose asked pushing the call button for the elevator.

"What? A guy can't learn a little bit of history about his hometown." Jessie asked looking at the map.

He looked up to see the other Rose giving him the same look as before.

"Ok fine, when I was here that's all the nurse who took care of me talked about." Jessie admitted. The elevator dinged in front of them and opened, welcoming them inside.

"Yeah that's what I thought." She said while stepping inside the elevator. "For shame Jessie, claiming you care about the history of our town, for shame."

"I can care about that kind of stuff." He retorted feeling embarrassed as he stepped inside.

"You could know the whole history of a game before you would voluntarily learn some about anything else." Rose said.

"Oh which reminds me have I told-"

She groaned as the doors closed.

———

"And that's why Johnny topside is a fantastic character." Jessie said proudly.

"Uh-huh, hey look we are here." Rose said glad to be free of that conversation.

The elevator opened revealed a long hallway that forked at the end. In the middle was a little girl sitting on a bench.

"Want me to go over the Ayn Rand part again." Jessie asked hopeful.

"Oh my god all my friends are nerds, hey let's see what this little girl is doing." Rose said trying to change the subject.

She moved quickly towards the girl. As they got closer Jessie felt a tap on his shoulder and looked behind him. No one was there, in fact the only other people in the hallway were Rose and the girl. He shivered and noticed a small plume of smoke rising from his shoulder, panicking he wiped away the smoke and the plume disappeared. He sighed and bowed his head.

It's official I'm going crazy.

He looked up to see Rose knelt down beside the girl.

The girl looked up at Jessie and there's eyes met. His knees started to shake as he felt a wave of cold pass through him.

Something about her is special. I don't know what it is but there is.

"Hi, pretty lady's friend." She said waving her hand. She held a small stuffed turtle in her lap.

"Ya hear that Jessie I'm a pretty lady." Rose said as she beamed.

"Yeah that's cool, hey isn't that the little girl from school? The one who ran into us in the hall?" He asked quietly completely ignoring Rose.

"Yeah it is, who are you here to see buddy?" Rose asked.

"My grandpa." She said holding her turtle closer to her chest.

"Oh no your grandpa got hurt? Isn't he the principal to our school Jessie?" Rose asked looking at him.

"Yeah, the receptionist on the ground floor was telling us about it." He replied worriedly.

"Was he hurt at the school?" Rose asked looking into her eyes.

The little girl looked down at her turtle and didn't answer.

Rose looked at Jessie with concerned eyes. She looked back at the girl and tried again.

"Hey, how about you tell me your turtles name?" Rose asked cheerfully.

She looked sheepishly at her and held her turtle for her to see.

"It's Kaan. He likes chocolate." She said while smiling.

"That's a very interesting name, do you think he can tell me your name?"

"You can hear him too!" She said excitedly.

Taken aback she looked at Jessie and he shrugged.

"Uh yeah but maybe you should tell me just in case he doesn't want to." She replied.

"My name is Mia and Kaan says you can't hear him." She said looking her turtle in the eyes.

"Rose we should move on we have to see the others." Jessie said looking at his watch.

"Ok. Well maybe I can and he can't hear me?" She said while getting up and smiling at Mia.

She looked confused at her, then to the turtle and smiled. "I like you, can I go with you to see your friends? My grandpa is sleeping and he snores so loud I don't want to be in the same room."

"I don't know i-" Jessie was interrupted by a squealing Rose.

"You like me? I'll take you wherever you want kid. You and me against the world." Rose said as she held out her hand.

Mia giggled and grabbed Rose's hand.

"Your funny."

"Well I guess this is happening, are you sure we won't get in trouble just snatching a kid?" Jessie asked worried.

"Come on Mia our friends are over here." Rose said as she led the eight year old hand in hand.

Wow I guess we can add kidnapping to todays crimes.

"This is it. This is their room." Jessie said pointing at the room number.

"Oh don't mention our powers to her we don't know how much she knows okay." He to Rose while opening the door. She nodded as Mia gave them a confused look.

Jessie walked inside to see two beds evenly spaced in the room. One was covered by blinds while the other was open exposing a girl playing a handheld system.

"Eat shit Cynthia you cocky bitch." She said as she looked at the door.

Her face turned from her game and at them and her expression changed. It was a very clear look of annoyance.

"Ah, not you guys again." She said as she cocked back her arm and threw a pillow at Jessie.