They had the windows down as Jax sped the Nightmare through the streets of Old New York, winding in and out of the cars the littered the roads. Marissa sat in the back, holding on to the safety bar handle that was attached to the roof.

Daniel was in the front seat with the map open on his legs, studying it as Jax swerved to avoid something that was crossing the road. Marissa tightened her grip on the bar and wiggled herself further into her seat. Lincoln had drawn the short straw and had somehow ended up in the middle, Ellie Rae sitting next to the other door with the wind blowing through her hair. She seemed to be enjoying the cool air.

"You good there?" Lincoln looked at Marissa, seeing that she had somewhat pushed herself into her seat and into him. She looked up and nodded, looking a little green as she nodded to him.

"Hold on!" Jax yelled out of nowhere. The gang looked up and out the windscreen. Marissa went pale and grabbed Lincolns arm with her free hand. His eyes were wide as he took in the outside view.

The direction in which they were going led them to a bridge. The only problem was the bridge didn't have a middle connecting the two sides together anymore.

And they were going too fast to slow down.

"If this is how we die, I just want to say I'm really sorry for being a dick, Mar." Lincoln said as he squeezed his eyes shut. Marissa was too freaked out to say anything or to close her eyes. Instead, she watched as a maniacal Jax pressed a few buttons and the car turned into truck size as he pressed the accelerator even further as they came up to the edge. Ellie Rae appeared to be fine, thoroughly enjoying the rush as they came to the edge of the road.

Marissa didn't know what Jax did but one minute, they had all four wheels on the road and the next, they were flying through the air, sailing towards the other side. She didn't dare look down for fear of if she did, that would be the reason why they wouldn't make it across.

And then the hit the other side. Jax gave a yell, adrenaline clearly pumping through him as he brought the car down safely on the road and put it back into car mode. Marissa saw Daniel say something and Jax looked at him, a tinge of disappointment on his face. The car started slowing down and Jax put her to a stop.

Daniel was out the minute Jax cut the engine and ran over to a rubbish bin and immediately began to throw up. Jax snorted.

"Weak." He turned around to look at his friends who were sat in the back. "Wasn't that AWESOME?!" Ellie Rae actually giggled as she got out the car, gone to go check on Daniel who was retching now. Jax looked at Marissa and Lincoln.

"Don't either of you dare throw up in this car."

"Wasn't planning on it." Lincoln said, barely managing to get the words out. He looked at Marissa then down at her hand that was securely attached to his arm. Her knuckles were white from how tight she was holding on to him.

"You can let go now." Marissa looked up at him in-comprehensively. "I can't feel my arm." She looked down and saw the grip she had on him and let him go.

"I need.. I need to take a walk."

"Gonna throw up?" She looked at Jax, eyes wide.

"Maybe?"

"Then take a walk! You too, Lincoln. I don't need you to hurt another car of mine." Lincoln shook his head at Jax and shuffled along the seats to go out Ellie Rae's door. Marissa shakily opened hers and clambered out, legs wobbling under her. She shook her head, stomach rolling. This combined with her concussion was not helpful in anyway whatsoever. She looked over to where Daniel was now sitting at the base of the trashcan with Ellie Rae.

"You good?" She yelled hoarsely at them. Ellie Rae looked up and gave her what looked like a thumbs up while Daniel gave what looked like the middle finger. Ellie Rae hit him hard on the shoulder. Marissa nodded to herself, deciding that they must be fine if he was able to be that rude. She turned around and stiffly walked away from Jax and his nightmare car.

She found a bench under a small shelter and sat down on it, putting her head between her knees, and started breathing slowly, like Ellie Rae had told her that one time when they were younger. She didn't know why she only thought of it now but it was something she could do while she enjoyed the fresh air. Only it wasn't that fresh, there was a rotten stench to it that made her stomach roil.

While she was in that position, she felt someone come up and sit down beside her. She opened her eyes and looked at the persons shoes. It was Lincoln. They sat there for a few minutes before either of them said anything.

"It's alright, y'know. You didn't need to apologize for being such a prick." She said after clearing her throat. She slowly lifted herself up so that she was sitting properly and looked over at him. His brows were furrowed and he wasn't looking at her but he made a noise to acknowledge that he had heard her. "We just never had the chance to really get along."

"Yeah, and I prevented that from happening by calling you every name but your own." Marissa rested her head back on the metal casing that surrounded the bench and puffed a strand of hair out of her face. "And I was a dick."

"You were. You are but... You're more bearable now." Lincoln made a noise but he was smiling.

"Glad I could grow on you."

"Like a fungal infection." He looked her, an amused expression on his face,

"Did you just call me a fungal infection?" Marissa said nothing, trying hard to keep a straight face but couldn't help it when the corners of her lips betrayed her. "That.. I am insulted. At least I should be like the common cold but a fungal infection? Marissa how dare you." Marissa let the smile break over her face and laughed as Lincoln faked hurt and out his hand to his forehead. "Oh woe is me. I should have left you napping on that roof."

"We should have left you in the bush." She fired back. There was no bite to the banter. Marissa hadn't realized it but over the few weeks since the really became a little group, he had grown on her. She looked at him and smiled, laughing as he continued to poke harmless fun at her.

And on top of actually starting to like him, she was also noticing that he was kind of, beautiful.

With that thought, Marissa snapped back to reality, pushing herself to her feet. Lincoln's blue eyes followed her as she stood.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. We should head back." She answered a little too quickly for things to be considered fine. But Lincoln didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and got go his feet and followed her back to the car. This time, she headed for the front seat to sit by Jax, forcing Daniel to move to the back and be a backseat driver with the map. He had looked at her in disdain when she sat herself in the front, pulling the seatbelt over her and clicking it in. Jax just looked at her and nodded.

"Front seat club?"

"Don't talk to me.' His eyebrows went up as he looked over at her but didn't say anything. She just kept looking out at the road, not daring to look behind her because she could feel eyes on her. Lincoln was sitting where she had sat before and she knew he was looking at her.

"Right. Everyone in? Good. Where too, Daniel?"

"Uh. 5ks north then you hook a left. That'll take us through a blue zone but we have no choice." Jax nodded and turned the car on, grinning gleefully as it spurred into life.

He didn't drive as manically as he had before. Maybe it was because they were entering into a circled zone and didn't know what that meant or maybe he realized he had scared the crap out of almost everyone in the car. Almost being the operative word. Ellie Rae appeared quite content sitting in between Daniel and Lincoln, securely sat in her seat. Marissa maintained a tight grip on the door handle as he turned slowly to the left, their five kilometres of safety coming to an end, according to the map still open on Daniel's knees. He kept the speed low as they looked all around out the windows, taking in the sights. There was nothing different about what they were seeing.

"Maybe the blue circle means this place is normal?" Marissa mused as she looked out the window. Jax frowned as he looked around and pressed the button that pushed out the kebab skewers on the car. Marissa looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Just being cautious. Something feels... off." He continued driving and looking through the windows. He pressed another button and the windows rolled up. There was a click and the windows locked. Jax put his foot on the accelerator and they started to speed forward gradually.

"Six streets that we have to turn down or six streets that we have to pass?"

"Pass. Then we turn down the seventh street and we should be out." Jax pushed the car to go a bit faster. Marissa was sitting there, a sick feeling in her stomach as they drove through. The further they went, that was when she did notice that there was something not quite right with the world around them. It was faint, but it was there.

Webs.

"Maybe... Maybe drive a little faster?" Marissa looked at Jax and he nodded. They passed more streets, Jax counting quietly as he got to the seventh street. He turned and they saw the bridge. Someone let out a shaky breath as they saw the bridge come into sight. Jax pressed harder on the accelerator and they shot forward, inching toward the bridge. Marissa was holding her breath, holding tightly onto the door. They were almost there. They got onto the bridge and the world cleared.

For a moment.

A giant shadow emerged and a long, furry looking stick dove into the hood of the car. Everything blurred as the car upended, tipping the gang upside down. The leg disappeared as the car flipped and they came to a crash. Someone screamed and Marissa closed her eyes as the car started to roll. It came to a stop when it hit the guard rail, the hood crushing in on itself as it stopped. She blacked out for a moment but came to just as suddenly, blinking away the black spots that filled her vision.

"Guys... Guys are you okay?" She turned her head around. Even upside down and with the blood rushing to her head, she could see that they were somewhat okay. Ellie Rae had a cut on her forehead and was holding herself in her seat by pushing her hands against the floor, grimacing because glass was cutting into her hands. She nodded at Marissa.

"I'm okay." She was straining. Marissa looked over at Jax and saw that he was unconscious. Her eyes went wide and Marissa shook him.

"Jax... Jax!" She yelled. He stirred and groaned.

"Ouch." He muttered as his eyes fluttered open. His lip was split, blood pouring down his dark skin from it. He eyes flew wide open when he realized what had happened. He started swearing as he reached for his seatbelt and unclipped it. He fell to the roof of the car, falling at an odd angle. He cursed again and wiggled his legs free from the crumpled car front.

"We gotta get out of here." He looked at Marissa and reached for her seatbelt. He unclipped it and she fell, hitting her head on the roof. She swore as the black dots came back.

"Daniel? Yo, Daniel!" Daniel grunted as he came awake from Jax yelling. Jax started kicking at his door. Daniel looked around and reached across Ellie Rae to punch Lincoln. He woke up with a start and cursed as well.

"There's a hell of a lot of swearing going on in here and not enough getting out!" Jax hissed. He went to kick his door again but a spiney leg appeared and everyone froze. The car was cast into shadow and there was a thump. They all held their breaths. And then there was a loud roar And the car was lifted into the air.

"Time to go!" Marissa yelled and she kicked her door, trying to get it open. The car slowly spun around, being righted. The five of them watched in horror as they came face to face with another nightmare creature.

"For crying out loud." She heard Lincoln say as the creature stared at them through the broken glass, six pairs of eyes staring at them. It clicked at them, a woman's face was what they saw but it had been morphed with a spider, creating the stuff of nightmares. Despite the fact that it had a woman's face and what looked like a human torso, she was more spider than human. She was holding the car up with four of her eight hairy, spider legs. She clicked again and without warning, the car dropped to the ground, causing everyone to be displaced once again. Marissa banged her head again and swore just as hard.

"Move. Move! Everyone move! Despite the destroyed car, Jax managed to get his door open and he dove out, Marissa close behind him. She looked up at the creature.

"I'll distract it, her them out!" Jax nodded and she whistled up at the spider-woman, sharp and shrill. She looked at her and clicked at her, cocking her head as she looked down at her, curious. Marissa ran to the side and the spider watched her, turning around to follow her movements.

"Come on. Keep moving with me." Marissa muttered to herself and then dove for a shard of glass that was under the spiderwomans legs. She grabbed it and sliced upwards, making a shallow cut into her thorax. The creature cried out pain and Marissa narrowly avoided the butt legs that came for her. Once she got out from under the spider, she looked up at her face and could easily tell she had pissed it off. "Yeah, I'm going to call you Andrea 2.0. A little help here!" She yelled as a spider leg knocked her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards. She landed on her butt and she skidded backwards. She spotted Jax helping Ellie Rae out of the car, Daniel on his feet and ripping off one of the spikes off the car. He turned to face Andrea 2.0 and dodged out of the way to avoid being squirted with web. Lincoln managed to dive out of the car as she did that, the force of the web pushing the car into the guard rail and breaking it. The car tumbled over the ledge and the watched it fall out of sight. Jax was more horrified than anyone.

"MY CAR."

"Shut up!" Daniel yelled as he started at a run, going around the Andrea 2.0 and then running at her. Marissa saw what he was going to do and she moved into distract her, swinging at her front legs with the glass. Ellie Rae and Lincoln joined in by rushing at her back legs and tackled them, bringing them to the ground. Marissa sliced at her front legs and managed to cut through one of them with the glass shard, slicing it right off. Andrea 2.0 howled in pain as she was forced downward. Jax, who was rightfully fuming, gave a weird roar back at her and he bee-lined for her, pulling out his pocketknife as he did so. Daniel was still running and jumped, leaping up her side and climbing her like she was a rock wall. Andrea 2.0 spun her head around and clicked at him in pain as he dove the car's kebab stick into her body and forced it down, pushing her into the concrete. Lincoln and Ellie Rae lost their grips on her legs as she was forced down. Lincoln turned to see Jax running at him with a knife.

"Really dude?"

"Give me a boost!" Jax yelled back. Lincoln, however startled, didn't stop that from cupping his hands and providing a surface for Jax to place his foot. As soon as its foot made contact, Lincoln used all his strength to launch Jax into the air, arms rippling from the effort. But then Jax was flying, eyes filled with rage as he soared onto Andrea 2.0 and dug the knife into her human head, yelling in rage as he stuck it in deep. Andrea 2.0 gave a somewhat human scream and he pushed it in further. Blood spurted up and covered him, some grey goo coming up with it. Daniel grabbed Jax by the arm and pulled him off, leaving Andrea 2.0 wailing in pain as she started to fall. They watched as the light went out in her eyes one by one. It was like someone turning off the light switches in a house.

And then she was dead.

"What. The actual HELL!" Jax yelled, staring at the dead creature. He was looking down at himself and wiping off the grey goo. "My car!"

"Yes we get it, your car is gone but we're alive." Marissa yelled back at him. He flared his nostrils at her, fire in his eyes. "You're covered in brain matter by the way."

"No shit." He clenched his fists and looked at the guard rail where Nightmare had been. "I think, Daniel, that we can mark blue as spider territory." Daniel was panting and he nodded. He patted his pockets on his pants and frowned. He began looking fervently around, like he had lost something.

"What did you lose?" Ellie Rae asked slowly, rubbing her hands on her jeans as if to get rid of the spider leg feeling. Daniel looked up at her.

"The map. I can't find the map." Marissa dropped her glass shard and looked at the sky. Why did this have to happen? What was the purpose? She let out a yell and kicked the spiderwomans face. Everyone looked at her, concerned. But it was Lincoln, surprisingly, that came to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and spun her around to face him.

"We're alive." He said and put a hand under her chin to make her look at him. His face was so sincere that Marissa couldn't help but close her eyes and let out a small sob. Surprising them both, she wrapped her arms around Lincolns waist and allowed herself to cry. Lincoln hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and held her, letting her cry it out..

When she finally stopped, she pulled away and let out a shaky breath. Lincoln looked down at her, hands on her waist as she calmed herself.

"Okay?" She looked up at him as she hiccupped and nodded.

"Okay." He smiled and looked at the others behind her and nodded at them. She wiped her eyes and gave her nose an itch before turning around. No one said anything.

"Let's go." Then she turned towards the other end of the bridge and started walking, determined to get away from the creature as soon as possible.