Marissa's eyes shot opened as she awoke and immediately pulled herself up and leaned over the windowsill to throw up. The sound of her emptying her guts acted like an alarm clock (albeit, a rather disgusting one) and roused her friends.

But it was Lincoln who was beside her, holding her hair back.

"What the hell?" She heard Jax say. She was pretty sure he had moved away from her and Lincoln but she was too busy upending the contents of her stomach to care.

"Get it all out." Lincoln murmured to her. And that was what she did.

With that now out of her system, Marissa sat back on her heels and tried to breathe. Her nose was running, her eyes were running... Man she hated throwing up.

Ellie Rae appeared on the other side of her and offered her some tissues. She took them and tried to slow her breathing down so she could blow her nose. Lincoln was still holding her hair back, which she appreciated considering she must have lost her hair tie at some point while she was asleep.

They gave her a few minutes to regain herself. Her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. A water bottle appeared in front of her and she took it gratefully, seeing Jax on the other end of it. Slowly, she took a sip and felt her stomach settle. Ellie Rae and Lincoln gently took her by the arms and moved her so that she was sitting flat on the ground, legs stretched out in front of her. Jax sat crossed legged, a concerned frown on his face.

"So... That was a rude awakening." He prompted. Marissa nodded her head in agreement but she still needed a moment. She felt like she was on fire. "Okay what happened?"

"I... I have no idea." She took a sip of water and sat there, trying to clear her head of brain fog. "I saw the fourth horseman." She finally said, quietly. They all looked at her, startled.

"You.. Saw the fourth horseman?" Ellie Rae repeated. "How? What was he doing? Why?"

"Giving someone the plague. And then he saw me and tried to decapitate me." Marissa stared blankly at the ground as she quietly retold what had happened in her dream. They looked her with a look of disbelieving.

"You sound insane." Lincoln shook his head and then he sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "But nothing really sounds insane when we see characters from a story appear in real life and try to kill everything, including us." Marissa huffed a laugh and rubbed her forehead.

"It didn't feel like a dream. It felt like... Someone wanted me to see something and I saw it."

"Now that sounds insane." It was Ellie Rae's turn to say it. Marissa nodded her agreement.

"I know. Maybe my mind is losing the plot. Maybe I'm tired and I'm finally finding the keys to my imagination."

"You had to have had the plot to lose it in the first place," Ellie Rae joked. "But if this, and I'm not saying it is, is some huge conspiracy where a citadel- sorry, The Citadel is involved, why have we never heard of them until now? And why are we only seeing signs of them now?" Lincoln gave her a look.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's a sign of the end times?" Marissa didn't have the energy to get mad at him for the tone he was using with Ellie Rae but Ellie Rae just crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

"That does not explain why all of a sudden they are everywhere."

"Well if the world is going to end, the rich and powerful may as well make themselves well known to show off how fine they'll be." Ellie Rae scoffed and shook her head. "What? It's what I would do. Hide myself away and accumulate wealth and make a safe haven, make some dodgy deals to save a certain number of people and then boom, take over the world." They all looked at him, Marissa raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"What? It's a solid plan."

"Don't be an ass, Lincoln. Going back before we address your plan for world domination - We already know what it was like that before and it will always be like that as long as people are around. I just want to know why they're here now." Marissa closed her eyes and leaned her head against the bottle in her hands. Ellie Rae and Lincoln argued for five more minutes before Jax finally had enough. Marissa had almost fallen asleep when there was a loud bang. She jerked awake, eyes flying open. Lincoln and Ellie Rae were both standing, squaring off. Jax was in between them, a sheet of metal in his hand that he had banged the butt of his gun on.

"Will you two cut it out? Honestly- you're being ridiculous. This is a stupid conversation to be arguing. I know we are all tired but Marissa looks like she's going to drop dead. I mean, no offense Mar, but if the ground opened up under your ass, I'm pretty sure you'd go willingly." Jax said to her. Marissa just blinked a few times and waved a hand at him. He got the message and turned back to Ellie Rae and Lincoln.

"E.R, if there is anyone who should be butting heads with dickwad over here, it's me. Lincoln, you blew up my car and yes, I know this has nothing to do with the current conversation but I just wanted to remind you before I say what I'm about to say." Jax put his hands on his hips and looked between the three of them.

"Now I have lived in a weird underground world my entire life. In the past thirteen years that I have been alone, I have seen some weird stuff. However, the shit we have seen in the past few weeks? Takes the freaking cake. And I am so going to hate myself for this but Lincoln is right- we've gotta be seeing all this because its end times two point oh." Lincoln smirked but Jax shot him a look just as he spoke again. "But E.R is right as well. And maybe Marissa isn't going crazy and her brain or someone is trying to send her a message. So I have a suggestion."

"If it includes being knocked out with a sledgehammer, I'm in." Marissa was struggling to keep her eyes open. Jax paused, clearly thinking before speaking.

"We can discuss that later." He said slowly. Marissa sighed and went to get to her feet. Lincoln stopped glaring at Ellie Rae long enough to offer her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up. Her stomach churned but as she steadied herself, she steeled herself against throwing up. "I say we go to the Citadel." They looked at Jax in surprise.

"You want to go to a place that we only just learned existed and have no clue where it is?" Marissa asked, confused. Jax grinned and put his hands on his hips, nodding.

"Yeah. Group bonding trip."

"This whole thing has been a group bonding experience and not entirely one I would voluntarily do for a vacation." Lincoln pointed out. Ellie Rae was still frowning at Lincoln but she was nodding.

"Jax is right. I think this requires further investigation." Marissa sighed heavily. Despite what she really wanted; she knew they were right. She hated that they were right.

"Hey, really it was your idea." Jax shrugged, looking at her. Marissa looked at him, confused. "You were thinking your thoughts aloud, I just put the pieces together and made your mad plan sound more logical."

"Oh. Right. Well then here's the next question. If we're going to do this, do we take our babysitter with us?" Ellie Rae gave Marissa a disapproving look.

"He's not our babysitter."

"He's been telling us what to do- he's a babysitter. Very bossy."

"I thought you called it leadership skills." Marissa shrugged.

"I have leadership skills. He's just bossy." That made everyone laugh. "But seriously, do we tell him?"

"No."

"Yes." The nos came from the boys. The yes came from Ellie Rae. She looked at Jax and Lincoln and gestured at them "What? Why?"

"I don't trust him. Simple as that." Lincoln said matter-of-factually. Marissa slowly looked away from him to Jax. He had a look of distaste as he looked at Lincoln, realizing that once again, he had agreed with him. Lincoln looked at him and had to do a double take. "What?"

"I hate you man." He shook his head before looking at Marissa. "I've known Daniel for two years. And in those two years, he has hated me and treated Riley like crap. He's power hungry. That's why he's so bossy. I say we don't tell him anything." Marissa looked at Ellie Rae who was stone faced. Marissa reached out to grab her hand. Ellie Rae sighed and looked down at her hand.

"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"

"We don't know him, Ellie."

"We don't know Jax all that well yet he's made himself quite comfortable." Jax nodded at that, a goofy expression on his face.

"That's because birds of a feather." He motioned around the group. Lincoln made a noise and put his hand to heart, feigning sentiment. "Oh shut up." Marissa looked to the roof for a moment before letting go of Ellie Rae's hand and bent down for the caffeine pills.

"Guess it's time to be awake." She opened the container and offered it to everyone. They all took two, Ellie Rae somewhat reluctant.

"I am not looking forward to this." She muttered but put the pills in her mouth and sipped at her water bottle.

Daniel came back an hour after that, covered in dirt and solemn. He scrunched his nose as he came to a stop outside the window and noted all four of them awake and alert. He looked down and Marissa saw him shake his foot. She almost laughed. She had to fight very hard to keep the laughter in.

"Who threw up?" Daniel asked, grimacing as he stepped back to wipe his foot in the grass. Marissa sheepishly raised her hand.

"Sorry. Ate too fast." Daniel shook his head at her and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, looking behind him as he asked. Jax was already on his feet and he saluted.

"Yessir we are!" The caffeine pills had kicked in well and truly over the past hour. The double dosage combined with their bodies being unused to it and boosted them into a level of awareness and awakeness that Marissa wasn't quite sure she ever wanted to feel again. Daniel looked at Jax with some distaste. Marissa hadn't noticed it before but Daniel really didn't seem to like Jax.

Maybe it was the caffeine pills.

Wow, she was buzzed.

"So where are we going?" She asked as she put her backpack on. The container was stashed back in Lincolns bag again, out of Daniel's sight. It had been Jax's idea for him to just survive on whatever energy he had reserved. Ellie Rae had given him a disapproving lecture but had in the end, been the one to shove it to the bottom of Lincolns bag. Marissa had raised her brows and gestured with her hands in a 'what?' Ellie Rae had shrugged.

"If you're going to do something, may as well let it be done properly. No point arguing with a brick wall." Jax had gaped at her in shock horror, pointing between himself and the literal brick wall beside him.

Daniel had been right, much to everyone's dismay. The bridge was in a terrible state. The sun was high in the sky now and they could see how badly in disrepair it was. Marissa watched as Daniel looked behind him for what felt like the millionth time.

"Waiting for someone?"

"I hope not." He shot her a dazzler of a smile. She just stared at him and grimaced. He cleared his throat and turned back to the bridge. "Make sure to watch your step, people. It's a long way down if you don't. And keep your eyes open. We don't know what we'll find over there." He motioned towards the other side of the bridge. He started up the cracked road, leaving the four to follow behind him. Marissa grimaced as she started to follow him up the small incline, the pain in her leg radiating a little. As long as I don't have to run, she thought, I'll be fine.

She readjusted the strap of her bag as she walked and once she got to the top of the road that revealed the rest of the bridge, she felt the air leave her lungs.

The city that would have once been New York looked... There were no words to describe how it looked besides terrible.

"What happened to this place?" She asked, more to herself but Daniel still answered.

"Fifty years of peace followed by 250 years of war, neglect, monsters and destruction." He was looking out on the city as well. "You see that there? That's Lady Liberty. Or it was. She appears to be missing her head. And a chunk of her torso." Marissa slowly looked at him with an odd expression on her face. Daniel wasn't looking at her though, he was still talking about the headless statue.

"According to the books I read, she was a gift from a place called France to the United States- that's where we are." She was too stunned to speak because the way he was talking was as if she didn't know where they were. "It was a gift in like, the 1800s-."

"Yeah, sorry dude, I don't really care for a history lesson right now. I've been there, done that." He looked at her and sighed when he saw the look on her face, brows furrowed and jaw tight as she stood there.

"Just trying to be helpful."

"Sure. And I'm Batman." She said before starting walking again, heading towards the edge of the bridge and looking over it. The water was rough below. Definitely not somewhere she wanted to visit.

The water, that was. The Expanse wasn't at the top of her list either but if to be safe meant to be in danger, that was fine. Plus, there might be answers in there that they wouldn't get out in the sort of safety of the suburbs.

"Aighty, are we crossing or what? I'm getting hungry." Jax said as he got to the top shortly after Marissa's and Daniels chat. He looked around and his face lit up. "Never mind, can we stay? Because I could so make us something to drive in." He was looking at the remains of the cars that littered the bridge. Lincoln was close behind him with Ellie Rae, panting. He was limping slightly; the leg Marissa had shot playing up.

"Not a bad idea. Let the mad man make a car. Walking hurts." He put his hands on his hips and puffed. Ellie Rae looked down at his leg.

"Do you need me to make a splint for it?" She asked. Lincoln was about to answer when Daniel did instead.

"We have no time for any building of cars or splints- if we want to cross, we need to cross now. Should only take us an hour but once we cross, we find shelter and we can sleep and get bandaged up." Lincoln grumbled but started walking after Daniel. Jax looked sadly at the cars around them and walked slowly, dragging his fingers along the metal. Marissa stayed back, bringing up the rear and keeping her friends plus Daniel in eyesight. Daniel had slowed down and called to Ellie Rae, who hurried up slightly to walk by him. She looked back briefly at Marissa and Marissa flashed her a reassuring smile. Ellie Rae smiled back and turned to focus on where she was going, talking to Daniel. She was too far away but Marissa could tell she was relaxed and happy.

There were gaps in the concrete road as they walked, showing the ocean below. They walked around those, keeping their distance from the huge holes and the edges of them. There was no telling how fragile the edges were and one misstep would spell disaster.

Marissa kept looking behind her now. It wasn't just that Daniel had been doing it, like he was looking for something. For her, she was looking back and seeing a part of her being left behind. Everything she knew and everyone she knew was on that side of the bridge- regardless of if they were alive or not. When she looked back, she felt as though the part of her that worried about beavers in the living room, the part that could have a laugh at the stupidest things or get into fights about something ridiculous, was standing on the other side of the bridge, watching her go. And all Marissa could wonder was if she was ever going to see that person again.