A few days passed, giving Marissa time to heal and sleep the effects of her adventure off. Her bruises took their time healing but the swelling on her face went down. One morning after Marissa had been out talking to the neighbours, she came back with a bag of fresh veggies that she showed off proudly to Ellie Rae. Her friend raised an eyebrow at her but took the veggies from her and got to work on a salad for them to eat. Marissa offered to do it herself but her friend shooed her from the kitchen and sent Marissa to sit outside on the porch. It was at this time that Marissa regretted going outside.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Marissa scowled as she turned her towards the bottom of the steps. Lincoln grinned up at her, crooked smile and all. He was her least favourite person in this place and it took all she had not to get up and clock him. Not that she was sure she would be able to with being in pain and all but she would still try.

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to check in. Saw you limping through town. Mrs Myers wanted me to make sure you weren't too hurt and that you didn't need more of a professional care."

"What, were you volunteering to be her ambulance?" Marissa scoffed. Lincoln's blonde hair glinted in the sunlight as he tossed his head back in a laugh. Marissa scowled. She wasn't sure why but his laugh always made her stomach flutter. Was it in disgust? Was it because she liked his laugh? She didn't know but she didn't like how it made her stomach surge and make her heartbeat. Lincoln gave the railing a pat before he started to walk away, not taking his eyes off of her.

"You sing out if you start dying!"

"I think I'd rather die!" She yelled back, if not a little half-heartedly. She didn't like Lincoln, he was a little too pretty looking, even after the incident where she broke his nose many years ago. He disappeared from sight as Ellie Rae came out of the house and handed Marissa a plate with a salad sandwich.

"Who were you yelling at?" Marissa took the plate gratefully and shook her head as she bit into her food.

"Don't worry about it." Ellie Rae stood where she was for a moment before shrugging and then sat down beside Marissa and ate her food in the quiet.

Marissa and Ellie Rae had been friends for as long as either could remember- they were six when they met and the two of them had been even more glued together since Ellie Rae's parents had died when they were 14. Marissa, who hadn't had the pleasure of knowing her own parents, had taken it upon herself to make sure Ellie Rae wasn't alone. Ellie Rae had, in turn, had made sure Marissa didn't bleed to death every time she fell over or got into a fight. The amount of times Ellie Rae had to stitch Marissa back up was innumerable at this point, but it was a system they had, and it worked for them better than any other system they could have come up with. Since they were 14, they had relied on each other and that had worked perfectly. And Ellie Rae's ability to sew up a human being improved significantly when Marissa started venturing out into areas such as Old New Hampshire. The amount of times Marissa returned home with scratches, bruises, sprains and the occasional bloody gaping hole in whatever part of her body had been stabbed or shot. Not that Marissa purposefully tried to get shot, it was just that number of homeless lunatics had had deemed the city their territory.

"So, some of the guys down the street are planning on doing a bonfire tonight." Ellie Rae mentioned as she finished chewing on her bit of sandwich. Marissa raised an eyebrow but didn't turn to look at her, instead continuing to stare out at the street through the trees. She could hear Lincoln still, yelling at someone in greeting. Marissa took another bite of her sandwich.

"Okay... And?" Ellie Rae put her sandwich down, staring at her in a way that made Marissa want to run and hide. She knew why she was saying this. "Pretend I'm dense. It's not like it's hard." Ellie Rae elbowed her right in the bruised ribs.

"We should go. You need to talk to more people." Marissa coughed, both from the pain of having her ribs elbowed and because her sandwich went down the wrong tube.

"I talk to people. How do you think I got those veggies?"

"Manny and Ann don't count. You just went over there to see the baby." Their neighbours, Ann and Manny had recently had their first kid. Marissa loved finding any excuse to go over there and coo over the child. She was adorable. And she liked Marissa and always gave her a big, toothless baby smile when she saw her.

"I like Ann well enough. Arielle is a little cutie, you know I love kids." Ellie Rae rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine. Who's running this damned bonfire?" Marissa realised that Ellie Rae had not thought this far paused, and Marissa could see the cogs turning in her head. "Ellie Rae...."

"Lincoln? He came around the back a few hours ago to tell me. Thought it'd be better I told you it was happening instead of him telling you and likely getting a kick in the you know where."

"Balls, Ellie Rae. Just say balls." Marissa put down her plate and groaned. "He was literally just here."

"Was he?" Ellie Rae's eyebrows raised. She'd had this weird thing about Lincoln and Marissa for years. She was sure Lincoln liked her and that deep down, Marissa liked him back, which was probably why she was so irritated by him.

"Oh don't look at me like that. There is no way you could still be holding on to the idea that he likes me. Back and forth bullying and beating ups does not make for a healthy relationship." Marissa took another bite of her sandwich. Ellie Rae gave a small smile, as if knowing that Marissa always got butterflies when he laughed. She usually punched him in the arm in response, mainly because he was always laughing at her.

"Whatever you say, Mar. Whatever you say."

Lincoln. Lincoln who always seemed to know everything. Lincoln whom everyone turned to to keep their town safe. Everyone knew everyone here and it only ever seemed to be Marissa who was ever annoyed by him. It had always been like that. Albeit, there had been a few moments where they had gotten along but as they had gotten older, Marissa had grown more protective of herself and Ellie Rae, taking on the role of older, overprotective sister. On the many times one of the town boys had ask grown a pair big enough to ask Ellie Rae out, there was Marissa in the background, hovering like a dark cloud ready to go gung-ho if one of them even so much had toed the line the wrong way. There was only one guy Marissa had ever liked with Ellie Rae. Michael lived on the other side of town but he was kind and gentle and very respectful. Marissa almost expected him to go old school one day and ask for Ellie Rae's hand in marriage. That would be one way to make Marissa feel like an old woman Maybe she could get a cane and really pull on the old mammy boots, wave her cane at the other men who came around seeking Ellie Rae...

"Earth to Marissa, come in Marissa." Marissa didn't realise that she had completely zoned out on the conversation, honed into her own thoughts. She blinked owlishly and looked back at her friend.

"How's Michael?" Ellie Rae blushed and Marissa grinned. Excellent. Diversion of current, unwanted topic onto a new one that clearly could take precedence over Ellie Raes thoughts if she played her cards right.

"He's good! He came and stayed at the house when you didn't turn up a day after you said you would be back. He was out on a hunting trip when you got back and just got back today! Which is why I'm mentioning the bonfire night." And they were back on this subject. Marissa groaned

"Why are you even telling me this, El? You don't need me to go. You're a big kid!" Ellie Rae sighed.

"That's not the point. You see, people associate me with you. They always ask me 'Hey, where's Marissa?' or 'What's that troublesome sister of yours up to?' and I really can't be arsed diverting questions about why you aren't at another gathering when I just want to spend time with Michael." Ellie Rae looked at Marissa imploringly. Marissa chewed the inside of her cheek as she took in her friends pleading expression.

"Do I have to be nice?"

"Yes." Marissa groaned. "I'm kidding, just be yourself. Like you usually are. I don't think anyone would expect anything else of you. Just don't fight anyone."

"Not even in defence of my own honour?"

"Especially not then." Ellie Rae swung the patio chair they were on, smiling widely. "I'll owe you big time."

"Yeah, yeah. Just let me eat some food and I'll try not to argue with anyone."

"Oh, you can argue. That always leads to great debates about the integrity of the leadership of the community." Ellie Rae changed her accent up there, making it sound more official and pig-headed than Marissa ever tried to. She was right, though. She did like to debate. Well she liked to win and that was good enough.

"What's for dinner? What did they catch?" Marissa asked and Ellie Rae's grin widened as she sat with a bit more pride in the thought that her boy helped catch dinner.

"Michael said they caught a pig." Marissa couldn't help but sit up a little a bit.

"Pork?"

"Roast pork." Ellie Rae nodded, smiling. "Like I said. It'll be fun. Just one night. And all we have to do to gain entry is promise him the lives of our first-born children." Marissa almost choked on the crust of her sandwich. Ellie Rae thumped her hard on the back, laughing.

"Sorry what?"

"I'm just messing with you." Ellie Rae,, always the joker. "We just need to bring something to contribute to the eating. I have a big bag of apples that I picked while you were gone that we could take." The sound of roast pork was tempting enough that Marissa nodded her head and rubbed her legs.

"I mean, when was the last time we had pork? Or fresh meat? Just in general." Ellie Rae grinned.

"You don't need to rationalise it, Marissa."

"Of course I do. Gives me the ability to power up by brain and prepare my defence when people ask me why I didn't catch the pig myself."

"And what's your answer?"

"Oh, I was too busy kicking butt out there," She waved in the city's general direction. "To worry about kicking butt out there." Ellie Rae frowned as Marissa took her empty plate from her and followed her into the kitchen.

"What's that got to do with rationalising it?" Marissa shrugged as she started washing the dishes.

"It doesn't. I just like to argue." She grinned as she set the wet plates on the drying rack

"You're impossible."

"You bet I am." Ellie Rae rolled her eyes and got to her feet, a grin forming on her face. "It's why I'm so loveable."

"I know. Everyone knows." Ellie Rae walked up to Marissa and wrapped her arms around her friends' shoulders and hugged her tightly. Marissa let out a light laugh and hugged her back. "I think I'm going to change for tonight." Ellie Rae let her go and, Marissa swore she did, skipped out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, closing the door behind her as she went. Marissa let out a heavy breath and shook her head before turning around to look out the kitchen window. Sometimes she really wondered about her friend.

The kitchen looked out onto the main street, which was partially obstructed by a giant tree that had grown and never been trimmed or cut down. Through the gaps in the leaves, Marissa could see that people were bustling around, getting thing ready for Lincolns big bonfire feast. Marissa rolled her eyes again and then rubbed them, trying to make them feel less heavy. Her brain was in zoom mode, zipping from thought t thought, making her feel more and more tired as she rubbed her eyes. What a day. What a week. Marissa finished what she was doing in the kitchen, tidying up and closing cabinets. She pushed the window open further, letting in more cool air as the day continued to heat up. She headed towards her room, flicking the house radio on and the music of the old times, Pre-Rapture music that was played by some people who had pirated a station within the town and played music to fill the silence of the world around them. Marissa wasn't sure how they had figured out how to take over a complete radio station. But then the other stations were also filled with other people taking their sounds to the world. It was a small buzz of happiness for them.

Marissa flopped down onto her bed in her room and sighed as she burrowed her face in her pillow and felt around for her blanket and pulled it up and around her shoulders, relishing in the fluffy comfort it brought her. Despite the heat, she pulled it further up and around her face. Slowly, she slowed her breath and her brain started to slow down and it felt like it was stuffed with wool. Gradually, she fell asleep, allowing the world of sweet nothing to take over and blacked out for a few hours.

Marissa woke up a few hours later to Ellie Rae shaking her shoulder gently. She sat up with a sharp intake of air and stared blankly at Ellie Rae for a short minute, processing being awake and blinking away the sleep that fogged her vision.

"Evening, sleepy head. Thought you might like a wakeup call to get ready for the bonfire." She smiled sweetly at her. Marissa blinked gave her friend an unamused expression. Ellie Rae chuckled as she watched her friend lay back down and pull her pillow on to her face. Marissa groaned, her head starting to throb with an incoming headache which would probably be only worsened by the upcoming event.

"Do I have to?"

"Have to what?"

"Go?" Ellie Rae pulled at the pillow and Marissa let her take it. Ellie Rae snorted.

"Yes, you do have to go because you agreed to go." Marissa glared at Ellie Rae for a moment but sighed, sitting up again and rubbing her face with her hands.

"Fine. cheers for the wakeup call." She rubbed her eyes and pulled the blanket off her legs and took Ellie Rae's offered hand to pull her up. She stretched and groaned as her back cracked.

"I'll leave you to get changed. We leave in 5 minutes! And dress warmly, the temperature dropped about half an hour ago!" Ellie Rae called as she left and closed Marissa's bedroom door behind her. Marissa scowled, muttering to herself about the audacity of some people. She straightened her legs and winced as they prickled from pins and needles. Pushing herself off her bed, she turned to her pile of clothes and rummaged through them, digging around to see if she could find the pair of jeans she wanted.

After a quick search and a successful quick change, Marissa donned her clothes and pulled on her Doc Martins and her fleecy plaid jacket, feeling the slight chill in the air that Ellie Rae had warned her about. Warm days and chilly evenings. What a lovely but confusing combination of weather. Opening her door, she was greeted by Ellie Rae grinning and holding the bag of apples that she had talked about earlier.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Marissa ran her fingers through her wavy brown hair and started to braid it down the side of her head, nimbly getting all the loose pieces so that her hair would not be in her way. Ellie Rae grinned and led the way through the house and out the front door, Marissa shutting it as they left. They didn't bother locking the door. Nobody locked their doors since nobody would bother to steal because of people not wanting to cause trouble and deal with Lincoln. Bloody Lincoln and his small group of friends that acted like cops. It was good though, kept everyone in line. Not that she cared. Marissa had punched Lincoln once, when they were a lot younger. She had broken his nose and her hand but overall, it had been one hundred percent worth the sight of blood pouring out of his nose like an upside-down water fountain. Marissa snorted at the memory as they walked down the steps and onto the front lawn.

"You're going to behave, right?" Ellie Rae asked.

"I always behave, what are you talking about?" Marissa pulled her sleeves down over her hands and crossed her arms over her chest as they walked.

"I can see you thinking. Remember when you broke Lincoln's nose?" Marissa didn't answer but couldn't help the smug look that came over her face. Ellie Rae shook her head. "I knew you were thinking about that."

"I can't help it, okay? It's amusing. Always makes me smile" Ellie Rae shrugged her shoulders and then slowed down a little to walk in time with Marissa and then slid her arm through the crook of her friend's elbow and linked her arm with hers.

"It makes you look like a psychopath." She raised an eyebrow. Marissa just shrugged her shoulders and they continued walking

"Who sats I'm not?" Ellie Rae elbowed her in the ribs. Marissa coughed and nudged her back as they walked down the street. "Ouch?"

"If you're a psychopath, then what does that make me?"

"How would you like me to answer that?" That earned Marissa another jab in the ribs from Ellie Rae. Curse her bony elbows. Marissa gritted her teeth. "Careful with the ribs, El. I still need them."

"You'll be fine. You've had much worse." She swung the bag of apples head of them, and Marissa nodded. "Which, I'll remind you, is why I will still elbow you."

"You break it, you fix it." Ellie Rae raised her eyebrows and grinned.

"I always do. Someone has to keep you in one piece and you aren't particularly good at that." She pulled a face and Marissa laughed.

"Bless you, woman. Bless you and your caring nature and your ability to keep my bones and my organs in their rightful place." They came up to the fire pit site and were greeted by one of the guys who 'patrolled' around town on the regular, Frankie. He took the apples and attempted to flirt with Ellie Rae, of which Marissa quickly shut down his pitiful attempts with a sour stare and a not very discreet greeting to Ellie Rae's boyfriend, Michael, who appeared from the other side of the pit. He waved a greeting and Marissa tugged at a mildly startled Ellie Rae in his direction. Michael greeted them with a wide smile and a hug.

"Marissa, glad to see you are, in fact, in one piece." Michael wrapped a arm around Ellie Rae's shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"Barely. Your girlfriend keeps elbowing me in the ribs and I don't know if she's out to kill me or is bored and wants something to do." Ellie Rae rolled her eyes and looked up at Michael adoringly. His dark skin glowed in the firelight, illuminating the two of them. Marissa smiled at the two of them and followed as Michael led them pass the pit area and towards some of the free logs beside two of Ellie Rae's friends, Arielle and Dinah. Ellie Rae immediately launched into conversation with them, Michael throwing in the odd word as well. He turned to Marissa and while Ellie Rae was talking to her friends, the two caught up quietly. Marissa wrapped her arms around her waist and stared at the blazing fire, blinking as her eyes dried out from staring at it.

"You're going to burn your eyeballs out if you aren't careful." Michael joked after a moment of silence had lapsed between them. Marissa gave a very unladylike snort.

"Honestly, if I don't have to look at you two love bugs, my eyes can go as crispy as they want." Michael just shook his head at her and pulled Ellie Rae closer to him. She looked away from her conversation and beamed at him, giving him a kiss before returning to her conversation. Marissa turned her attention to the fire and let it warmed her face and she breathed in the smoky smell. As she sat there, she thought. She did not think of anything in particular but she just let her mind wonder. Like why was the sky blue? Why did the sun never go back to yellow like the books described it? Why did it suddenly feel colder than it was half an hour ago?

"Ah, Marigold! So glad you could join us this evening."

Marissa grimaced as the smooth, controlled voice of Lincoln broke through her train of thought. Twice in one day. She gritted her teeth and turned her head to look up at Lincoln, squinting slightly as he had chosen the ever so helpful position of having the setting sun behind him.

"I'm pretty sure you know that's not my name, dumbass." She puffed. He grinned. She knew he was just pushing her buttons.

"Oh, I know but my dear Maisy, how much pleasure it does bring me to see you so pink in the face. Annoyed really is a good colour on you."

"And my fist is certainly a lovely addition to your face." Lincoln grinned, his unfortunately handsome face absolutely beaming at having riled her up. "What do you want, Lincoln?"

"I just wanted to come and see how my favourite person here was. And may I say, the flicker of fire is delightful on you. Makes your eyes pop." Marissa clenched and unclenched her fist.

"We saw each other this morning. Wasn't annoying me once enough for you or do you really want to add a new scar to your face?"

"Add to my roughish beauty? Bring it on, Mary." He grinned. He never stopped grinning. Marissa's headache hadn't gone away and now it was starting to really throb. It started at the base of her head and was rolling forward, her head pounding. Maybe punching him would help. However, Marissa didn't answer him, electing to ignore him instead, biting her lip. She would not do anything to upset Ellie Rae. She would behave. Lincoln poked her arm. "Come on, Mar. Don't be like that! We used to be friends! I'm only joking. Well, only slightly." Marissa gave him an odd look. He paused, looking into the fire for a moment before turning to look back at Marissa. "How was the city from hell?" Eyebrow raised, Marissa appraised him.

"Friends is a weird thing to call someone who has never been shy about their dislike for you."

"Casual acquaintances?"

"Barely."

"Vague associates?" Marissa pulled a face but nodded her head, pulling a face.

"If that's what you want to call it. What's your point?"

"My point is that we've been 'associates,'" he said, using actual finger quotations. "For so long that I have the right to be worried about your whereabouts when you go off into the thick of crazy town." Marissa scoffed but allowed the edges of her lips to turn up in a small smile.

"It was fine."

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"I got beaten up, if that's what you're really wanting to know." Lincoln nodded his head and seemed to finally note the puckered cut on Marissa's cheek. He pointed to it and she nodded.

"What did that?" He asked. Marissa shrugged.

"Why?"

"I'm curious, that's all."

"Well can you be curious elsewhere? I want to enjoy this bonfire without injuring myself or others for at least today." Her patience and ability to be nice to him had finally run dry. Lincoln rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.

"But the company here is just too pretty to stay away from." Marissa clenched her hands into fists and took a deep breath. Maybe if she held it long enough, she could pass out and be done with her headache and Lincoln. She was certain the two were definitely connected so two birds, one stone.

Marissa tended to have a small issue with her temper. It was why she always tended to come home from scavenging with cuts and bruises and the occasional bone break. It was usually her nose that was broken. Almost ninety percent of the time, at least. Ellie Rae had gotten so good at resetting Marissa's nose that the minute she would walk through the door with a tissue up her nose, Ellie Rae would have already punched her in the face to rebreak her nose. It was a good thing Ellie Rae had a thing for fixing broken things because if it were not for all the animals, she had brought home and fixed up, Marissa reckoned she would probably be in a far worse state than she was in.

"Lincoln, if you would kindly leave me alone, I would greatly appreciate it. Oh and if you could also tell the pig to hurry up cooking, that would be fantastic." She smiled sweetly at him as she turned to look at him, feeling strangely calm when she said that. There was a small furrow in Lincoln's brow, but it disappeared almost as suddenly as it had appeared, and he got to his feet and brushed his hands on his jeans and gave her a charming grin.

"Very well, Marissa. Enjoy your evening. I will see what I can do about our dinner." He winked and Marissa watched him leave, letting out a small puff of air in relief. She looked up to the sky and said a silent prayer of thanks for letting her not lose her cool. Beside her, she felt a hand on her arm that squeezed gently. It was Ellie Rae.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Not punching him. I could tell how much you wanted to." Marissa shrugged and grinned.

"I do try sometimes."

As the night went on, the fire got bigger, and the people got wilder. The pork that Michael (who Ellie Rae proudly boasted had caught it despite some grumpy looks from the other hunters) and Lincolns boys had hunted and cooked had been worth Marissa coming for. It had been a long time since... Marissa couldn't the last time she had eaten pig as pig was one of the rarer animals to find this far out of the Wilderlands. The Wilderlands was the Old New York City and beyond- far wilder, more unkempt and the most dangerous part of their world they lived in. Mutated animals (apparently worse than what Marissa faced in the city), gangs and other dangerous things had claimed the Wilderlands as its own. So, to find pig, of its own free will, not as mutated as other creatures, out in Suburbia was an amazing anomaly that the residents of their small town were very, very grateful for.

The fire continued to crackle on, and people laughed as someone told some ridiculous joke that wasn't even that funny but still got a polite laugh from the crowd.

"Okay, okay, okay. Here's one. What is the difference between Dubai and Abu Dhabi?" Polly Watkins asked, sitting on top of the table, everyone looking at her as she talked. Someone yelled for an answer, throwing in a series of expletives before and after. That chorus of laughing caused someone to slap the person who had sworn.

"Shut up Johnsie! What's the answer, Pols?"

"The people in Dubai don't like the Flintstones, but the people in Abu Dhabi Do!" There was a mixture of groans and laughter that filled the bonfire area. Marissa rubbed her eyes, laughing slightly.

"Ah, so she does know how laugh." She heard Lincolns voice beside her.

"Seriously man? Don't you have anyone else to annoy?"

"Why would I annoy someone else when you are so much fun to annoy?" Marissa gave Lincoln a sour look. He grinned at her as he took a seat beside her again and rested his hands on his knees. "What is with your disdain for me, Marble?"

"Your existence is insulting to my current living." She glared at him. He snorted.

"Always did have a way with words." Marissa bit her lip, keeping her mouth shut. She narrowed her eyes at him as Lincoln just made himself comfortable on the ground beside her, stretching out his legs. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off and quickly distracted when from the end of towards the end of town, an odd noise could be heard over the crackling if fire and bustling of noise. Marissa sat up straight, brows furrowed as others also seemed to turn from their conversation, also hearing something that wasn't normal. All other conversation was stopped when a scream filled the air. Half the townees in the square jumped to their feet, trying to see.

"Do you feel that?" Marissa murmured. The ground beneath them was rumbling.

"Yeah." Lincoln breathed. "What is it?"

"RUN!" A scream came again, this time louder and more understandable. Everyone was standing now, looking towards where the scream had come from. Two people appeared, pale as a piece of paper, running towards the crowd. Marissa squinted her eyes and her heart started to pound.

"What the hell..." Behind them, what looked to be something with flaming red eyes, and it was moving fast. "Holy crap. Holy crap!" It was a horse. With fire coming out its eyes and nose holes. And atop it?

"RUN!" Marissa screamed.

A black rider atop a black horse, fire pouring from its nose and fire atop the riders' head, his sword blazing as he rode into town.

Chaos erupted as screams filled the air and people started moving, running in different directions. Marissa was frozen, watching the horseman and his steed.

"MOVE!" Someone pushed Marissa, breaking out of her trance. She tripped over her legs but caught herself against a log. The horse came to a stop in the middle of the bonfire pit, the horse rearing.

"You will all perish, and we will feed on your misery!" A garbled voice came from behind his helmet. He scanned the area and stopped on Marissa. Her heart pounded.

"I have to find Ellie Rae."

"FEEL THE END RETURN AGAIN!" The horse whinnied and the ground shook as his hooves hit the ground heavily. It felt like an earthquake as the ground rolled beneath them. "Feel the Wrath of War!"

"ELLIE RAE!"