"And why would you want to do that?" Marissa asked, putting her hands on her hips. Jax's eyes darted angrily to Lincoln, then back to her. "I'm not going to let you kill him."

"I'm not going to kill him." There was an unspoken yet in the air. Marissa shifted her weight so that she was more leaning towards Lincoln so that way of Jax changed his mind in the next few seconds, she could hopefully stop him, despite the struggle she and Ellie Rae had had holding him back. "I don't want to be by myself anymore." Ellie Rae looked at him sadly and looked at Marissa.

"He can't come with us." Lincoln murmured, looking at Jax as he spoke.

"If you don't let me, come with you, I'll just follow you."

"What are you, a lost puppy?" Marissa folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Give us a moment." Jax nodded and she turned to the other two and looked between them.

"I can see the cogs turning in your brain." Ellie Rae cocked her head. "You think it's a clever idea, don't you?"

"He clearly knows the Wilderness-."

"Expanse!" She heard Jax yell. "Sorry, I'll go further away." Marissa waited for him to move further away.

"- 'Expanse' better than anyone."

"He's really good at creating things." Ellie Rae offered up, and Marissa nodded her agreement. Lincoln groaned.

"The guy is a nutcase, and I blew up his car." Marissa raised an eyebrow. "I just feel like you guys keep forgetting he's painted a target on me."

"We haven't forgotten." Ellie Rae reassured him.

"It's almost like a reward to remember

"That's not reassuring."

"Point is," Marissa glared at him. "He's useful. And if I'm honest, I don't entirely feel happy leaving him on his own again. Poor guy needs to be around people." Ellie Rae nodded sympathetically.

"He has supplies. He knows the land. He's also good with cars... And I say cars loosely because The Duke may have been an exception to the rule." Ellie Rae supplied. Marissa nodded her agreement.

"Look, we'll tell him he can come with us, but he can't kill you. Besides, I don't think he would kill you," Marissa thought our loud. "He's just angry." Lincoln rubbed his face with his hands.

"I'm not going to get much of a say on this, am I?" Ellie Rae smiled and shook her head. "Damnit." It almost came out like a whine. Marissa patted him hard on the shoulder.

"You'll be fine. Jax!" She called for him to come back. He had wandered a way down the street and instead of walking back and making them wait, he came at full speed.

"We gotta run!" He yelled, looking behind him briefly as he raced towards the trio. Marissa cocked her head. Ellie Rae seemed to get it first. There was the sound of a car moving slowly and the someone yelled.

"Run, run, run, run!" Ellie Rae started running, Jax quickly catching up to them. Marissa grabbed Lincolns arm and started running, partially dragging him as he slowly started to engage and start running as well, allowing Marissa to let him go and push herself to move. She looked back briefly and groaned; regretting having done so.

"They have a tank?" She yelled to Jax who looked behind him briefly and started to run harder.

"All I saw was the big gun, okay?!" He yelled back at her. Marissa growled and over the pumping of her heart and pounding of her feet, she heard the tank gun move and be positioned.

"Scatter!" She yelled and they split, Ellie Rae and Lincoln splitting off down one street, Jax and Marissa turning down another, Marissa almost falling on her butt as her boots skidded on the ground when she rounded a corner. Jax grabbed her arm and pulled her up and pulled her around the corner of a building just as the tank fired and the building close to where Lincoln and Ellie Rae had gone down. The tank fired again and hit the building just beside the one Jax and Marissa were hiding. They both fell forward as the blast knocked into their wall and they both fell forward, Marissa rolling to protect her spine from any falling bricks and debris.

"You okay?" She unknowingly yelled to Jax, her ears ringing. She couldn't hear what he said, and it appeared that he had no idea what she had said either because all he could do was wave a hand at his ears and shake his head. The wall was still falling, sending bricks falling around them. Marissa tried to quickly get to her feet and then offered Jax her hand. He took it and then together they started to run again, albeit a little clumsily. The ringing in their ears was throwing off their balance but they managed to keep running, Marissa pushing Jax ahead of her so that she could follow up, knowing that he knew the way to get back to the bunker.

"We need to lose them!" Marissa yelled. She was starting to hear a little better, so much so that she even heard him say something back. She couldn't make sense of it because what she heard him say was,

"I'm a deer!"

Marissa saw him turn down another street and she followed. She clicked when she realised, he had not, on fact, called himself a deer but had said over here. She wanted to slap herself, but she followed him and could see a flash as they ran, the tank still going down the main street but the person manning the gun had spotted them somehow and was turning the gun towards them, the tank speeding up to get in front of them. She cursed and dove forward, knocking Jax to the ground to stop him from going any further. It was good timing too because another bullet hit a building and Marissa covered Jax's head with her arm as it exploded and sent bits of house all over the street and them. Marissa's ears started ringing again. She felt like her eyes were vibrating as well when she opened them again and looked up. The world was spinning around her as she tried to get up. There was a weird buzz in her ears when Jax opened her mouth, saying something. She couldn't understand what he was saying so she waved her hand at her ear, and he seemed to get the picture and helped push her up to her feet.

"Are you guys, okay?" Ellie Rae was running up to them. She and Lincoln had managed to duck behind the tank to find the Marissa and Jax after seeing the tank fire in their direction.

"What?" Marissa asked loudly. Ellie Rae winced. She sounded like Ellie Rae's long dead grandmother, who's hearing had gone as she had gotten older. Ellie Rae said something else, and Marissa just shook her head. "I can't hear you; my ears are ringing!" Lincoln said something and Jax scowled. "Can you hear?!" She said to Jax, but he didn't even acknowledge her. Elli Rae said something else but gave up. Neither of them could hear so Jax took to just glaring at Lincoln all because he was standing there.

"We have to go!" Ellie Rae yelled, and Lincoln nodded. She grabbed Marissa's hand and tugged, causing her to momentarily lose balance but as her feet started moving, she kept pace with Ellie Rae. Jax had just growled at Lincoln and set off after them, leaving Lincoln to stare up at the skies and curse his own existence as he then started to run to follow them.

They dodged through the streets, putting as much distance between them and the tank as they ran before Jax led them in a new direction, one which he presumed would take them home.

As they ran, Marissa's hearing started to come back. She could hear her feet and the feet of her friends hitting the ground as they ran, and her own breathing was ragged in her ears. No one was talking to each other except for short, breathless instructions from Jax who kept leading them back to his bunker. Eventually, they couldn't see nor hear the tank. Which was either a good thing or the people were on to them and had sped up ahead to meet them at the end of whatever street they were going to spill out onto to get to Jax's bunker. Marissa had a gut sensation that the world was going to work in their favour for once and they would be in the clear. She didn't quite like the idea of her ear drums being attacked for a third time or for her breath to be knocked out of her again. Today had turned out to be quite an unfavourable day for her and the gang. Besides, all this running was not helping her back or her ribs. She was seriously contemplating stopping and have a lay down on the hard ground and catch her breath or get a bit of a snooze in.

"Almost there!" Jax yelled back to them. Lincoln grunted in response. Even as super fit guy, he looked like he was struggling to keep running, Marissa thought to herself. Humans weren't built for extended periods of running. Ellie Rae was starting to lose speed and had even slowed down to Marissa's pace, sweat pouring, and soaking her clothes. They were all going to want to shower. And take off their shoes.

Marissa's feet hurt like someone had delivered them to her straight from hell in a handbasket, pre used and in desperate need of airing. But still, she ran. She kept pace but her lungs burned like they were on fire. Which they probably were. It was ridiculously hot and very dry now. She furrowed her brow in concentration and kept pace with Ellie Rae.

Their surroundings started to look increasingly familiar until the workshop appeared up ahead. Marissa wanted to sob in relief as Jax appeared to have renewed energy, bursting towards the familiar sight of comfort and safety.

Jax quickly unlocked the workshop and ushered everyone inside. He pulled the doors closed behind him and clicked the lock into place on the inside.

"Get down to the bunker." He ordered and nobody argued. Marissa led the way in, heart pounding in her chest as she got into the bunker and then immediately flopped on to the floor, her muscles aching. Ellie Rae slid down the wall by her hammock and Lincoln just collapsed beside Marissa, chest heaving.

"How's the leg?"

"Been better. How's the ears?"

"Still ringing." They heard a shuffle from the top of the ramp, the sound of metal grating on metal as Jax slid something across the doorway, and then they could hear his feet pounding down the passageway as he came to join them, huffing and puffing as he lowered himself to the ground and then lay on his back, staring at the small spots through the ceiling that the sun shone through. They sat in silence, trying to get their nerve back.

"That was close." Ellie Rae finally said after ten minutes, her head resting on the wall. "Who were they?" Marissa looked down at the uniform she still wore. No wonder she was sweating up a storm.

"I have no idea. Don't recognize the symbol." Marissa unbuttoned the jacket and took it off so that she could look at it. "Doesn't belong to any of the gangs, does it?" She directed this question at Jax. He shook his head. Marissa looked at the symbol on the jacket.

"Never really seen it before

It was a circle with what looked like a towering, golden city wall behind it and a sharp sword being driven into the ground before the wall, the ground cracked. There were four shadows on the emblem, surrounding the city and its sword. Marissa handed it to Lincoln and then closed her eyes. She was tired. They were all so tired.

"So, now what? What do we do? Ya'll were looking for a safe place to go, right?" Jax asked from his position on the ground, he had turned his head to look at Marissa but had not gotten up. Marissa opened her eyes and sighed.

"I'm starting to think about just going home and hope I don't get brutally murdered the moment I walk in the front door." She sighed. She had no doubt that if they went on into the Wilder- The Expanse, they would more likely be less safe and would all end up dying.

"But where's the fun in that?" Jax pushed up on his elbows. "What, it not safe enough for you out there?" As he said that, the bunker shook a little bit, as what appeared to be a light earthquake, rolled them around. Marissa grabbed onto the doorframe and could hear things crashing around in Jax's workshop. Her stomach rolled with the earth until it finally stopped.

"I think that was an aftershock." Ellie Rae mused as she gently let go of the hammock she had held on. "They usually happen after big earthquakes."

"I thought you said you didn't feel the earthquake?" Jax shrugged.

"I certainly didn't but this is getting off topic." He was fully sat up and was loosely hugging his knees. "So, what are we going to do? I say we because there is no way in hell that I am getting left here alone now."

They sat there in silence for a few moments, all thinking. Marissa's brain was starting to hurt again.

"What did they tell us in school? About when The Rapture first happened?" Marissa looked at Lincoln when he said this and frowned.

"Why?"

"Just... Just roll with me here, okay? Think." Marissa rubbed her eyes, hating that now she had to think hard. She had not enjoyed school. In fact, she had only gone because Ellie Rae had threatened to tell her parents that Marissa wasn't going (Ellie Rae's parents had been scary).

Ellie Rae was the first to answer his question.

"First came the horns, calling forth the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It started with wars raging, killing thousands as brother turned on brother ..."

"Then it got really bad. No country was safe. Fires burned down entire villages with people in it. Africa was being completely decimated by drought and animals were attacking people so often that it's a wonder they still have a population." Marissa added. She was trying to remember history class and it was starting to come back to her.

"Then people started disappearing. It was slow at first but then boom. Within 24hrs most of the population was gone." Jax said. All three looked at him in mild confusion. "Hey, I may not have been raised by normal people, but I did still get an education." Marissa just raised an eyebrow.

"But what's strange is how suddenly the world just stopped ending and went back to chugging along." Ellie Rae finished, pulling everyone's attention back to the matter at hand.

"What did that man call himself back home? He called himself..." Marissa sat up straight, eyes wide.

"War." They were all silent for a moment

"Wait. Hold on a freaking moment. Are you...? Are you implying...?" Lincoln was looking at Marissa like she had lost it. She looked straight back at him, her brain racing.

"What if the world is ending again?"

"Like it did a thousand years ago?" Ellie Rae was catching on, her eyes wide. "But why now? Why would it suddenly start now?"

"Are you sure he called himself War?" Jax was on his feet. "Because that's insane. They are myths. We all know that. Part of the whole thing to make the Rapture for crazy and scary sounding. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are myths." Jax sounded like he was more talking to himself now. Marissa looked up at him.

"You're right." Marissa groaned. "This is insane."

"Insane? Insane is almost being stabbed by your two best friends who don't recognize you." Lincoln looked over at Marissa. "You saw it. That... thing that called himself War turned up and drove almost everyone crazy. Nolan stabbed his brother in the head, Jacob then shot him. This is probably the most normal conclusion." Lincoln spat. He was shaking a little bit, clearly shaken at having to remember that. Ellie Rae put a comforting hand on his shoulder and he gave her a grateful look. Jax looked down at Marissa, eyes wide.

"That's what you guys saw?" She nodded.

"It wasn't pretty, I can tell you that." Jax stood there solemnly. "What did you see?"

"I... I stayed down here. I could hear screaming. When I did go up there, it was a massacre. I came down here, locked myself away and plugged my ears. It was too much." Marissa nodded at him. Jax flopped to the ground beside her and ran a hand through his hair. "What's happening?"

"I don't know." Marissa answered quietly.

"Well, if the past is anything to go off of, it's definitely not going to get better." Lincoln said dryly.

"Thanks for that ever so helpful remark." Marissa frowned at him. "Look, the only thing I can thing to do is get out of here and away from this. If it's the end of the world, may as well do it somewhere nice, right?" Everyone nodded, Jax giving a small laugh. She turned to him. "How well do you know your way through the Expanse?"

"Well... I know how to get in. And I know a small part of it." Jax answered. Marissa nodded. Good enough. That was better than nothing.

"If we want to get away, we need to do it soon. We need to get some sleep. We'll leave and pack whatever we can carry with us in the morning. We travel light."

"That doesn't make sense but okay."

"Shut up, Lincoln." Three voices came, all faces looking at Lincoln.

"Don't be an idiot." Marissa grumbled. "Jax, what's your first aid kit look like?"

"Well stocked and ready to go." Marissa nodded.

"Ellie Rae, go through it and take what you think we'll need. You'll oversee the medical stuff. Jax, do you also have any large drink bottles?"

"Was the pope catholic?"

"Good. Lincoln, get them and fill them up. We don't know what it's like in there." He stayed where he was, but Marissa glared at him, and he seemed to get the point and sighed and went to where Jax had pointed out the water bottles to be. "I'm going to start packing food. Jax, once you've got Ellie Rae the med kit, get anything that can be used as a weapon out. I lost half of mine in running here." There was a murmur of agreements as he nodded and they started to get to work, making piles of things to get put into bags in the morning.

Marissa moved slowly as she went through the food boxes. She grabbed anything that was sealed such as jerky, trail mix, dried fruit and anything that was non-perishable. She avoided anything canned because she knew they would make the bags too heavy for them to carry and she didn't want to weigh them down.

As she was sorting through the food, she spotted a giant, unlabelled white bottle at the back of the clear container. She pulled it out and stared at it for a moment, then shook it. It rattled, sounding like hundreds of small things inside. Warily, Marissa twisted the cap off it and looked inside. Pills. There were pills.

"Hey Jax?"

"Yo!" He popped his head over his bed, momentarily stopping the pulling out of the weapons he kept stored under his bed. Marissa held the bottled up.

"What are these?" Jax shrugged and came over to her and looked in the bottle.

"Drugs?" She stared at him with an exasperated stare.

"No, really? What kind of drugs?" He scanned the bottle over, looking for any signs of a label or any writing that might identify it. He lifted the bottled up and looked under the bottom of it. In small, carefully placed lettering, was the letter 'C.'

"Cocaine?"

"COCAINE?" Marissa shot to her feet. "REALLY?"

"I'm kidding!" Jax snorted and slapped Marissa on the back. She glared at him and shook her head at him. "Come on, Mar. Take a joke."

"You have an unlabelled bottle of pills with the letter C on the bottom. How am I supposed to take that as a joke? Have you met yourself?" Jax, who was getting in a better mood as time passed on after losing his car.

"As a matter of fact, I haven't. Hi, I'm Jax, what's your name?" He raised his left hand to himself. "Why hi there, Jax. I'm also Jax. How's it going?!" He awkwardly shook his left hand with his right hand. "Now I've met myself."

"You're an idiot." Marissa scowled.

"I do try. Should we try them?" She widened her eyes as he said that.

"What if it's poison?"

"Then we feed it to Lincoln."

"You can't kill him." Jax pouted. "You're not allowed to kill him."

"Can't we just give him one?" Marissa put her hands on her hips. "I'll take that as a firm no, then."

"Do you want to try it first?" Marissa asked. Jax snorted and handed her the bottle back.

"Hell no! Why don't you?"

"I don't want to take it first!" She pushed the bottle back into his hands and shook her head. "You're the one who has them!"

"Just because I have them doesn't mean I want to take!"

"Oh, for crying out loud, I'll take one." Ellie Rae was over beside them in a flash and took the bottle from Jax and took one of the pills out and chucked it back without any water. Marissa and Jax both launched at her and started yelling.

"Spit it out!"

"What the hell have you done?"

"You're insane!"

"Ellie Rae, are you okay?" Marissa was shaking her shoulders. Ellie Rae pushed her arms off.

"I'm fine. See?" Marissa cracked her fingers together nervously, looking over her friend's face.

"If there was something wrong, it wouldn't happen instantly, Ellie Rae. You know that." Marissa countered. "Sit down. Jax, get her some water. And a bucket. She's going throw that stuff up." Ellie Rae groaned.

"You know I hate vomiting." Ellie Rae groaned but allowed herself to be forced to sit down on a stool that Lincoln had moved for her sit on. Marissa looked at her seriously.

"At this point, I don't care."

They watched her for ages, waiting for something to happen. Ellie Rae didn't look like she was about to die, and she was showing no signs of throwing up. However, as the first hour and a half passed without issue. Except for the fact that she was starting to jiggle in her seat and her face was going a light pink.

"Ellie Rae?"

"Yah?"

"Are you okay?"

"I reaaaaaaaally need to pee."

"Then go?" Ellie Rae was on her feet and ran to the loo. The three watched her disappear and blinked. Ellie Rae emerged a minute later, and she looked like someone had hit the vibrate button on her, she was shaking. "Ellie Rae?"

"I have SO MUCH ENERGY RIGHT NOW!"

"Aha! I know what those are!"

"Can I please go for a walk? I need to go for a walk. A walk would be really beneficial right now."

"Caffeine pills!" Ellie Rae was dancing on the spot, running on the spot, and spinning herself in a circle. "That's what they are!"

"Caffeine pills?" Marissa looked between him and Ellie Rae.

"My parents said my great-great, however many greats, grandparents, on both my parents side used to drink this stuff called coffee, right? And like, all the way up to my parents creating yours truly, they had this drink until they ran out. They said that caffeine was really good for keeping you awake."

"No, really? I can feel that!" Was Ellie Rae's response. Marissa looked and felt relieved.

"So, she's not going to die?"

"Not today anyway."

"Oh, thank goodness." Marissa sighed and rubbed her face in relief. "No dying today. That's at least one thing off my list of things to worry about."

"Yeah, but now, I have so much energy that I don't usually have so can I pleaaaaaaase go outside?" Jax looked between Marissa and the roof. The sun was evidently setting, the natural lighting dimming as it went down.

"I need to do something up there, so I'll go with you." Jax offered and grabbed a bag from a hook that Marissa hadn't noticed earlier and motioned to Ellie Rae to follow him. "We'll be back!" And they were gone, leaving Marissa and Lincoln alone. Marissa puffed her cheeks and blew out, hands on her hips and then looked around. They had little piles all over the place of things that would be packed in the morning for them to take with. The only thing was that they needed some fresh clothes. And socks. Most importantly some clean, non-sweaty socks. Lincoln threw her a backpack that he had emptied.

"We should fill these now so that way we can just leave tomorrow." Solid plan. She nodded and together, they started to equally distribute things into each pack until Lincoln pointed to the caffeine pills. "Should we take those?" Marissa made a face.

"I mean, do we need to?"

"Might be a good idea." She smacked her lips together and stared at the bottle. "You never know, we may need to stay awake for a long time."

"I think we can safely do that without poisoning ourselves." Lincoln scoffed. "What? How do we know it is not going to kill Ellie Rae?"

"Because Ellie Rae would be dead by now." He looked at her like she was daft. "I think we should take them with. And maybe we should take one tomorrow morning so that we can go forth with endless energy."

"I don't think it's endless." Marissa countered but found herself eventually agreeing that the pills may very well end up being useful. She leaned over and picked them up and tossed them to him.

"Your idea, you carry it." Lincoln nodded and shoved it in his own bag.

Half an hour later, Marissa and Lincoln had lined the bags up in a row and Marissa took a deep breath and looked up towards the roof.

"I'm going to go see if Ellie Rae's okay." She needed some fresh air. Lincoln nodded.

"I'll stay here. I'm going to get some sleep." Marissa shrugged and stretched her back.

"You sure? You don't want to find some clean clothes." Lincoln waved a hand at her, and she rolled her eyes and walked up the dark corridor towards the workshop. Jax had moved the sheet of metal that he had used to function as a door to shield the entrance of the corridor. She ran a hand along the corrugated iron as she walked around the workshop and stopped to dig out a baseball bat that looked like it had lots of nails hammered into it, she inspected it and swung it around in her hand, appreciating it. She took it with her when she went outside and closed the door behind her, the cool air of the afternoon chilling her face. She shivered slightly. The weather was really out of whack.

Marissa looked around to try and figure out which way Jax may have taken Ellie Rae. She smacked her lips as she decided on a direction to go in. She went left, the opposite way from which they had come back earlier, heading further into the buildings that surrounded Jax's place.

As she walked, she swung the bat and looked around. A lot of the houses were crumbling down, exposing the sun-baked insides. Marissa walked up to one of the bedrooms that was exposed, everything was bleached by the sun. She carefully stepped over the crumbling brick wall and looked around the room, resting the baseball bat the bed as she moved things around, inspecting the bedspace. Something caught her eye and she knelt to pick up what had glinted at her. It was a teddy bear, once pink and fluffy, now matted and a dull pink. It was missing a glassy eye. It looked so sad. Marissa placed it back gently on the bed and pushed off her knees to get up. She went over to the drawers that sat in the corner, the white paint peeling of it. She grabbed the handles and jimmied it open. It was still filled with clothes.

Toddler clothes.

Marissa looked at the clothes sadly, still neatly folded away. She rested a hand on them and then closed the draw before turning away to pick up her baseball bat and climb back out. That hadn't been such a good idea. Marissa made a mental note to ask Jax what had happened to everyone. She wandered back down the street and didn't wander into any of the houses this time. She just kept walking, hoping to catch some sight of her friend. She walked for a while and the sun was setting more as she walked. The ground wasn't shaking which was a perk. There didn't appear to be a storm in sight. For now. Marissa rubbed her nose as she walked, her nose starting to feel numb as she went.

She tried to keep her mind blank as she walked, not overly fussed about letting anything pass through her brain. She had done too much thinking lately. That was why she was now gearing up to enter the weirdest place on earth with her best friend, a lunatic, and the person she had shot in the leg and now felt responsible for...

And now she was thinking. She cursed to herself. What she needed was a distraction...

"Mar! Whatcha doing out here?" Ellie Rae's voice came from behind her. Marissa turned around and smiled when she saw her best friend emerge from in between the houses, grinning and practically skipping as she came alongside Marissa.

"I needed to go for a walk. Why do you look like you're still buzzing?"

"Because I still am. I can't stop moving. If I stop moving, I can feel my heart pumping reeeeal hard in my chest." Marissa laughed as Ellie Rae quite literally ran circles around her. "How'd it goes in the bunker?"

"We packed everything up. Lincolns idea. He thought it would be a good idea... Aren't you cold?"

"Eh. I'm okay actually." Ellie Rae had left the bunker without her jacket and was running around in the pants she had worn off the guard and was in just her singlet. Marissa just shook her head, amused.

"Never again will you have caffeine." Ellie Rae laughed.

"Yeah, right. I don't think that'll be the case." Ellie Rae did a twirl on the spot but then stopped and scanned Marissa's face and immediately looked concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Your face says otherwise." Ellie Rae grabbed her friends' hand and squeezed. "What's wrong?" Marissa looked out over the darkening street.

"Is this the right thing to do? To go out and put our lives on the line where we could possibly die?"

"We've been over this, Mar. Going in there will get us to a better place. And who knows, maybe we'll find out what's going on." Ellie Rae grabbed Marissa's other hand and stood directly in front of her, holding her eyes. "Why do you keep doubting it?"

"Because I just want to go home."

"I know you do. So, do I. But I don't think home is safe anymore. Not with that... thing out there anyway. The best place for us to be is not there." Ellie Rae squeezed Marissa's hand tightly. "This is your plan, remember. And the rest of us think it's a good idea."

"When was the last time I had a really good idea?" Marissa asked, raising her eyebrow. Ellie Rae rolled her eyes.

"Well, I don't have a watch so I can't tell you but if I'm to roughly guess, one caffeine pill ago." Marissa tipped her head back in laughter. Ellie Rae just grinned.

"You're an egg."

"I'm the best egg." Marissa pulled her friend in and hugged her tightly. Ellie Rae just laughed and the wriggled out of the hug. "I really need to start running again."

"Go. Oh, wait, before you go. Where's Jax?"

"He's over there!" Ellie Rae pointed down the street. "Turn left when you get to the yellow brick house and right at the tree that looks like giant face sticking its tongue out!" And then she was gone, running down the street back in the direction of the bunker, humming to herself as she tried to burn off the caffeine. Marissa turned away from her friend and started walking down the street again, swinging the spiky baseball bat as she walked. She found the yellow brick house and did as Ellie Rae had told her and then walked more until she found a mangled looking tree. She stopped in front of it and squinted her eyes, trying to decide if it was the tree Ellie Rae had described. She took a step back and tilted her head. Ellie Rae was sort of right. The tree almost did look like a face if Marissa squinted enough. She chuckled and shook her head again. Ellie Rae had a fascinating brain. Truly something Marissa could never even attempt to comprehend.

Jax was sat on the edge of a bridge and looking out on to what dry riverbed must've been. He wasn't wearing his leather jacket anymore but was wearing an old lettermen jacket with the word 'DARREN' in bold, off-white writing on the back. She stopped just beside one of the less mangled trees and watched him for a moment. He didn't seem to know she was there, so she kept quiet. He seemed to be talking to someone, but Marissa couldn't hear what he was saying. She saw him move the bag that she had seen him grab before and he took something out of it, and he turned it over in his hands and she could see his mouth moving as he spoke and then threw whatever was in his hand into the riverbed. Marissa watched him slouch forward and she decided to approach him and sit down on the bridge, sitting so that she was leaning against one of the bridge rails supports and she looked over the dry bed and smacked her lips together.

"So."

"So." Jax said in return. "You're probably wondering what that was, aren't you?"

"Only a little bit." Marissa confirmed and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "You don't have to come with us, y'know."

"I'm coming with." He looked at her with a determined expression. Marissa swung her legs back and forward as she waited for him to say more. Jax cracked his knuckles. "My parents died when I was thirteen. I've been by myself for so long. I can't be by myself anymore, y'know."

"So that's why you want to come?"

"I need something to do. I need friends." Jax sighed. "That was my mom's ring, by the way." Marissa raised an eyebrow.

"You're mom's ring?"

"She wanted to be buried here. So, the least I could do before wondering off is put her wedding ring in the one place she wished she had seen with water in it." Marissa smiled gently.

"Where is she actually buried?" Jax made a gesture to the land and made an 'ehhh' sound.

"She's somewhere out there. With my dad. No idea where though. They were really sick and then one day they just... disappeared."

Marissa looked at Jax for a moment then smiled sadly.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Don't you miss your parents?" He fired back in answer.

"Youcan't miss people you've never met." He didn't say anything to that.