"You got any plans for the weekend Bill?" Ted asked as he lazily leaned on the metal door beside him.

"Gonna go to Vegas with some of the guys from the lower floors. Planning on taking some vacation time, get fucked up out on the strip." Bill said smiling wide thinking about his time off.

"Wait why wasn't I invited?!" Ted asked suddenly annoyed.

"Well we're going with Steven, and you know." Bill said remembering he wasn't supposed to tell Ted.

"You fuck one guy's wife and suddenly you're the excluded from the everything! The nerve of that guy." Ted said crossing his arms.

"You're an asshole, you know that right?" Bill said raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah I know." Ted hung his head and Bill sighed. Just as Bill was about to console Ted a loud knock came at the shed doors.

"Finally, took those bozos long enough. I can't get drunk off my ass if there's no booze." Ted said suddenly feeling much better.

Each grabbing one side door the two opened the shed doors casting the new days light into the room. Squinting Ted could see two men in The front seat looking down at them.

"Welcome back guys! What took so long?" Bill asked as he motioned for them to come in.

Ted watched as the truck slowly rolled into the shed, leaving them very little room to move around.

"Hey slow down you're gonna crush you idiot!" Bill screamed. The truck stop abruptly making the tires screech.

"You've done this a hundred times and you still can't drive for shit!" Bill said kicking the truck.

"Stop kicking shit and help me close these doors." Ted said already irritated of his partner. Muttering curses under his breathe Bill walked over to meet Ted grasping the metal door. As they two pushed the two doors shut the screeching of metal on metal rattled Ted's bones.

With one final push they doors locked into place and Ted could hear a stalling sound of gears and machinery.

"We're officially closed off from the outside boys, no cell service and no communication with the outside world." Ted said as he walked past the truck towards a small table on the other side of the shed. As he reached the table he reached for a small metal box and opened it to reveal a series of switch's and dials.

"Hurry up over there I'm dying to start on all these goodies?" Bill said confused as he pulled aside the beige colored tarp that covered the back of the truck.

"Why so hesitant now Bill? You were so gung-ho to get your fill of the booze." Ted said as he input the correct series of buttons. Suddenly the floor of the shed shook violently and a terrible screeching was heard drowning out all sounds.

Ted covered his ears with his hands always forgetting to prepare for when this happened. He grit his teeth and thought of much quieter places. As a nauseating feeling welcomed itself into his stomach Ted dropped his hands when the screeching stopped. The floor of the shed slowly started to descend and he sighed in relief.

"I swear this thing is going to be the death of us Bill." Ted said.

Not hearing Bill respond Ted turned around to see no one. Confused he walked towards the truck, as he grew closer he turned to see no one in the front seat.

"Bill?" Ted said as he pulled his rifle from his hip. Moving the strap around his neck he clicked the safety preparing himself. As he approached the back of the truck his nerves had peaked leaving him on edge. Gathering courage he swung around the side of the truck pointing his rifle forward.

Confused to see no one he lowered his rifle and checked under the truck.

"Up here." A voice said from above Ted.

Before he could react and aim his weapon he felt a tremendous amount of pain and pressure on his skull. Seeing stars he hit the floor passing out as soon as he saw boots touch down in front of him.

———————————•

Jessie let out a sigh of relief as he dropped down from the back of the truck. He pulled down his ski mask and removed his helmet tossing them beside the unconscious soldiers. Considering taking off the Kevlar vest he watched as Travis and Toby tied the two soldiers together, binding their mouths with cloth found in the truck bed.

"Having the armor might help so I'm going to keep mine on. I'd advise you do the same Jessie." Lucas said pulling down his own ski mask.

Looking down at the uniform Jessie sighed.

I guess he has a point, this might come in handy.

Armor is important to do battle, you have to make sure to cover all you're vital areas.

Im just not excited at the idea of  looking like a  bad guy.

"Even though the smoke can heal you it's better to not waste the energy and protect yourself." Travis said as he pulled off a vest from one of the soldiers. He handed it to Rose who stood beside him looking nervous.

"I know looking like on of the bad guys isn't gonna be super fun for you but we need to make sure you're strong enough for the fight with Plague." Travis said as he helped strap Rose into the vest.

"Thank you Travis." Rose said as she rubbed her hands together. Jessie could see her brow furrow as she tried to calm herself.

"Hey feeling nervous there?" Sarah said as she pulled a box from the back of the truck.

"Yeah, I'm not very good with conflict and I guess it's all hitting me what we're about to do." Rose said as she wiped her hands on her pants. Travis laid his hand on her shoulder trying to be encouraging.

"At the height of our popularity I dealt with something pretty similar to what you're feeling right now." Sarah said as she cracked open the box and smiled wide. "Wanna know what I used to do before every big gig we had to calm my nerves?"

She pulled out a bottle of liquor and the rest of her bandmates started to laugh in remembrance.

"Oh I don't think drinking is a good idea right now." Rose said as she waved her hands in protest.

"Who said anything about drinking." Sarah said with a smile. She reeled back and sent the bottle flying causing it to crash into the side of the elevator shaft spraying liquor everywhere.

The band started to cheer as the others approached the rest of the bottles. Each grabbing one they all took turns shattering the bottles against whatever surface they could aim for.

The kids watched in shock as the adults shattered bottle after bottle cheering and laughing. Travis and Lily started to feel the joy in the atmosphere feeling unable to not participate anymore they ran to grab their own bottles. With their newfound strength they discovered that they really could send the bottles flying.

Smiling Jessie watched as the others enjoyed themselves but feeling uneasy about the glass piling up around them.

This is definitely an osha violation.

What is osha?

They are a group of people who set rules to help keep people safe.

How noble of them.

Jessie choked back laughter as he watched Travis slip and fall on his back. As the others laughed dropping their bottles to the ground, Rose ran to help choking back her own laughter. Laughing as Rose helped him to his feet he handed her the bottle he was holding and smiled at her.

Everyone watched in silence waiting to see what she was going to do. Jessie smiled as he watched her reel back and throw the bottle farther up than anyone had previously thrown before. It shattered against the elevator shaft and everyone erupted in laughter cheering her.

"See now are you still nervous or are you ready to kick ass." Sarah said as she clapped Rose on her back.

"I'm ready to do my best." Rose said triumphantly.

"Well close enough."

"I think I got vodka all over my back." Travis said pulling his shirt from his back.

Jessie chuckled as he watched Travis try to wring out his shirt. A sudden shaking of the platform they stood on brought everyone back to reality. A calm silence fell on the group as Jessie readied himself, he took in a deep breathe beckoning the chill to return.

As the walls gave way revealing a wide open room full of trucks, Jessie thought of a parking garage. The sudden light blinded Jessie for a moment and he closed his eyes, disoriented he opened them slowly to see the others struggling as well.

As the platform finally locked in place at the bottom of the elevator shaft a large mechanical door above them closed off the entrance trapping them inside.

"What's with this smell?" Jessie heard a voice say.

Suddenly alert he threw open his palm in the direction of the voice sending a tendril towards its new target.

Don't kill them, just knock them out.

How merciful.

He could feel the tendril wrap itself around someone and as he opened his eyes fully he was surprised to see multiple soldiers staring at him. The one trapped in his tendril struggled, trying desperately to free himself.

"Open fire!" A soldier cried out as the entire garage aimed their weapons at Jessie and his friends.

"I would advise against doing that." Lucas said having finally recovered from the blinding light.

Jessie never saw him pull out his revolver and panicked as he watched him pull back the hammer.

"No!" Jessie screamed as he swiped the tendril across the garage floor knocking every soldier off their feet and into the trucks beside them. He could hear the groans of the soldiers and slammed down the tendril on top of them. He watched as the soldier caught in his tendril slowly stopped struggling hanging limply.

Jessie released his grip dropping the soldiers onto the pile of men. He sighed in relief and dispelled the tendril feeling the smoke seep back into his skin.

"I had that." Lucas said sending his revolver away. Jessie watched in awe as the revolver seemed to disappear into thin air.

"You did not." Sarah said scoffing as she walked past Lucas. Dropping off the platform onto the garage floor she turned around and smiled.

"Great start guys, let's pull the armor off some of these guys and get to work." She said as she pulled one of the soldiers from the pile.

Everyone followed suit leaving Lucas mumbling to himself at the back of the group.

"These guys are out cold man, how hard did you hit these guys Jessie?" Toby asked as he undid the straps of a soldier's vest.

"I didn't think I put that much force into that attack." Jessie said as he pulled a cracked helmet from the pile.

"Hopefully it was enough to make sure they don't wake up until we have what we came for." Lily said struggling to strap herself into the vest properly.

"Here let me help." Rose said as she tightened the vest around Lily's chest.

"If you find anything useful on these bodies take it, even if you have no clue what it does." Lucas said as he rummaged through the pockets of a drooling man.

"Way ahead of you boss man." Sarah said as she pulled a rifle from the pile. Lucas sighed as he watched her greedily take magazine after magazine and place them onto her vest.

"Try not to drop too many bodies Sarah, we've got kids here." Lucas said.

"I'm sure they don't mind." Sarah replied annoyed.

"I would actually prefer if we didn't kill anyone." Rose said quietly.

Lucas gave Sarah a look as she glared back in response. Eventually, she groaned as she dropped her prizes.

"Fine but if I don't get a chance to break some bones I'm gonna be real pissed."

As she stormed off Jessie turned to Toby hoping for some explanation.

"Don't look at me man, she's been like that since we were kids. We had her tested and everything." He said as he sighed.

Stunned Jessie stared at Sarah as she mumbled to herself a few feet away from the group.

"Hey, I think I got something!" Lily said triumphantly. She held up a radio and a small phone. Beaming from ear to ear she ran to Jessie presenting her gifts.

"What are they?" Lucas asked.

Jessie unimpressed with the radio clipped it onto his vest and took a closer look at the phone. He stared at the screen and was surprised to see a corporate logo before the phone completely turned on, confused he turned to Travis.

"It's a United Together branded phone. When was the last time you've seen one of these?" Jessie asked throwing the phone towards Travis.

As he caught it he turned it in his palm studying the screen.

"United Together? Where have I heard that name?" Toby asked scratching his chin.

"Aren't they that pharmaceutical company? The ones with the only 'real working diet pills'?" Akita said making air quotes.

"Jessie's brother and Mia's parents worked for them. This phone only solidifies their connection to whatever is happening here." Lily said happy she wasn't the only one lacking information.

"Well, I'd recommend everyone here pick up their own phone." Travis said as he displayed the phone in his hand. "These things have maps of the whole building."