Chereads / Fanfiction I am reading / Chapter 2167 - Chapter 45: No rest for the weary

Chapter 2167 - Chapter 45: No rest for the weary

Stonerguy420 - Have I not made it clear that Bonesaw has Black Death level plagues inside her body on a dead man's switch? I swear I have.

ArashiNokitsune - Yeah, if Bonesaw had time to actually think and get used to her abilities, she'd be a nightmare/world ending danger. It's a good thing she didn't get said time.

Wakiyamani - This was completely unintentional, I swear... But nice reference, I like it.

[Amy's POV]

Looking out the nearest window, I felt my everything twitch. The massive explosion was a mile out at the least, but the way the ground shook, and given how fucking loud it was, one would think it was closer. It didn't help that the forest growing in the distance was encroaching the school, slowly sure, but still getting closer. (I swear to god, if I walk out of the front door and right into a tree, I'm going choke a bitch.) I was fine with trees and all that shit, but I remembered the time before I had my Powers, when pollen would come and kick my ass like I owed it my liver and first born.

I hadn't had to deal with allergies ever again since then, but all this green was starting to get to me, and I didn't like it. (Sure, I can just edit th...-) I shut that train of thought down, turning away from the window and back to the room I was in.

People had been trickling in for a bit, none being really hurt, just some scraps here, maybe a fractured bone there, but nothing like what I had to deal with earlier. Because of that, I managed to deal with a majority of the civilians, nearly all of them to be honest. Thanks to that, I had the time to revisit the earlier cases, like the guy whose arm I made a stump since I couldn't fully fix it without wasting too much time. I'd fixed him up, and started working on the others, which was what I was doing before Phoenix, because it couldn't have been anyone else, decided to blow up the fucking city. (Hopefully no one was caught in that.)

Granted, anyone caught in the initial fight when he turned back into Sylvanus was probably fucked, but I wasn't going to think too hard on that. Sinking into my work made it easy to tune those thoughts out, so I did just that and went back to working.

A woman I'd left missing her legs below the knees would be able to walk again.

A kid that lost his right hand would be able to use it again, even though he was a lefty so he wasn't as fucked without it as literally anyone else in the damn room would be without theirs. (Gotta be a joke somewhere. Lefty loses righty or some shit.) The thought was amusing, but one I could think about later.

One of the rare goons, I knew they were troopers, I just didn't care, that was injured and made it here would be able to use his left arm again now that it'd been regrown.

Really, the fact this was a school was a good thing since everyone whose limbs I had to regrow were going to need alot of food to offset the amount of mass I had to use to regrow said limbs. (Their metabolisms are going to be going crazy.) I was pretty sure there was a record of some guy eating twice his weight in food after I fixed most of his organs and regrew one of his lungs and leg.

Car accidents were scary like that.

Anyway, I'd pretty much finished working on everyone that needed it, heading out into the halls to move on, when I noticed a small squad of goons came up the stairs, dragging Burnscar with them as they did... I had a moment to recognize that yes, Burnscar was here, they most likely wanted me to make sure she stayed under, before everything went to hell. "MY DAD'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" I had no idea who the hell screamed that, but it caused everyone to look to where the scream came from, and who it was being aimed at. As soon as everyone else saw Burnscar, it was done.

That was the match that lit the powder keg, and I ended up damn near trampled as the people not only in the room I came from, but the halls, the rooms nearby, and probably damn near everyone on this floor, started rushing towards Burnscar and the goons. (Ah fuckfuckfuck! Why didn't they bring her somewhere else?! Throw the bitch in a closet or some shit, don't bring her here!) I was trying not to be knocked to the ground or be fucking trampled on, but it was hard when a horde of pissed off people were trying to bulldoze through me to get to Burnscar. (SHIT!)

Unfortunately, sheer force of will wasn't enough to not get knocked onto my ass. It was like these fucks didn't even care that I'd just spent who knows how long fixing these assholes up, and THIS was how they repaid me?!

The first foot on my back made my everything twitch, the second that slammed onto my elbow made me grit my teeth, and the third that damn near kicked my temple made me snap. (THAT'S IT!) Ignoring the other steps that trampled my body, but not forgetting that ungrateful fucks were being ungrateful, I started getting up.

I didn't even notice when my hand palmed the pistol, the gun starting to buzz as I forced my body up, smacking some pissed off people as I did. I fixed these fucks, and not even minutes later they were making me want to pick them apart. It was when I finally got back up, annoyed, pissed, somewhat hurt, I was going to have to thank Dragon for buffing my shield later because I knew that I would've broken something without it, and clenching the 'Hawkmoon' in my hand, did I shot it. The sound of a cannon going off made everything stop, and the crowd slowly turned to me like this was a movie.

So, scowl on my face and eye twitching as I looked at everyone, I made sure these assholes knew what was what. "I swear to god I'll put you fuckers back in your beds if you don't calm down RIGHT! NOW!"

There was a silence following that, and I could tell people were starting to realize they must've fucked up if the Healer was telling them to cut the shit. "You can't seriously be defending her! She's a monster!"

I snapped to the dumbass that said that, some teenager, and scowled at him. "No, I'm NOT defending BURNSCAR you dumbass! I'm TELLING you all to calm the fuck down before someone gets hurt! If they do, I'm not helping you shitheads!" The threat was beyond good, I could tell by how the dumbass wilted under my glare, while the other idiots paled. "Now, we're all going to let the good troopers," I couldn't call them goons out loud. "Bring me Burnscar, so I can make sure the bitch doesn't wake up and set the damn building on fire with all of us in it." I knew that wasn't how her Power worked, but putting the fear of that in their heads would go a long way in getting them to listen.

And it did. The normies did their best to get away from the goons, who had formed a barrier against them and Burnscar, and let them come over. Letting out a huff, I holstered the pistol, the hum of whatever made it work dying down.

After getting a look of... Respectful Weariness? (Eh, fuck it.) That aside, the goons led me to a room that looked to be the teacher's office, which was a weird place to stash Bonesaw, but I wasn't going to say it out loud.

The goons eventually put the bitch down, stepping away when they did. Knowing the que, I went up to her and put a hand on the crazy pyromaniac. As soon as I got my hand on her, I had to let out a whistle. (Well damn, if she wasn't knocked out from all the shit in her system, she still wouldn't be able to move.) Burnscar had enough paralytic in her system to knock an elephant on its ass. A woman in the 170's had no fucking chance. (But just to be safe.) Tweaking a minor thing, she didn't need to be able to feel anything below the neck, I removed any chance she had at escaping or being a future issue.

If this was nearly anyone else, I would never have done this, but this was Burnscar, a member of the Slaughterhouse 9. She could handle being a paraplegic.

If she lived long enough to deal with it that was.

There was no doubt in my mind someone would try to kill her, and after all the shit the 9 had put people through, and her part in attacking the city, I doubted anyone would really stop them. A token effort would be put up, but this was Burnscar, crazy bitch deserved it. (Never thought I'd think something like that before.) And it was true.

Before now, hell, even a week ago, I wouldn't have thought something like that.

But with how I was starting to drift away from New Wave, Carol specifically, and seeing the damage the Slaughterhouse 9 were doing/had done, I was finding the idea that some people just didn't deserve to be on this earth a pleasing one. (Hmm... Phoenix should never know.) Bastard would probably enjoy the fact I was thinking like this, and heaven forbid I make him happy or some shit.

Shaking that thought aside, I nodded at the goons, who nodded back at me, and left the lounge.

As soon as I was out, and started walking the halls, ignoring the normal people as I did, I hummed. "Hey, Khepri." In moments, a surge of insects came crawling from the ceiling panels and walls. The screams coming from the idiots made me smile a little, I was still kinda pissed at them for nearly stomping me to death, rightly so in my opinion, so hearing and seeing them freak out was nice.

My being a vindictive bitch aside, I looked at the small amalgamation of insects that formed by my side, looking like a child made of bugs, and went for it. "How're things out there?"

The bug child hummed, a strange but kind of pleasant sound, and looked around. "Considering what happened, it would be better if we spoke in private."

I didn't see anything wrong with that, and decided to look for a private room... Which was hard to do since the whole school was kind of fucking full. Though, I managed to find a small room with only a few people in it.

After getting them to scram, which was simple when they saw the thousands of bugs in the shape of a small child, and me. With them gone, I turned to 'Khepri', and rolled my hand. Getting the que, she went on. "Well, to start off with, Manton, Shatterbird, Crawler, and Jack Slash are dead." My eyes widened at that, because holy shit that was a resume"As you know, Burnscar has been captured," I snorted, getting a... 'Chortle', from the bug thing in front of me. "Bonesaw has been detained..." There was something about the way she said 'Bonesaw', but I wasn't about to dig into it. "And Mannequin has escaped." Well shit. "I'll be searching for him, but he may end up eluding me."

Sighing at that, I rubbed my eyes. "I mean, we got literally everyone else..." I paused, a thought smacking me in the back of my head like a hammer. "Wait, what about Hatchet Face?" The Brute was the goddamn bogeyman to the entire Cape community, and we knew he was here... So what happened to him?

The bugs buzzed in... I guess it was annoyance. "We don't know." The hell did that mean? "He was apparently moving to assist Mannequin, but during his trek to do so, he disappeared."

I blinked, processed what I just heard, then had expected reaction. "He WHAT?!"

Not minding the outburst, the bugs 'Sighed.' "My Swarm, as well as Stheno, are searching for him. We'll know later, but hopefully we'll find him."

I took a breath at that, closing my eyes and putting a hand over them as I did. Hatchet Face and Mannequin were missing at the moment, but despite that, this was a big win. "No one can really give you, or anyone else involved in this, shit for missing Mannequin and or Hatchet Face." And that was the truth. The hell were they going to say, 'Oh you should've done better!' Or 'What kind of Heroes don't get the whole job done?' No, anyone that tried to give us any shit would be fucking flamed into the goddamn afterlife. Bringing my hand down and opening an eye, I looked to the bugs. "So what happens now?"

"Now," 'She' turned to the nearest window. "Now, we'll be bringing Bonesaw to you. We're a few minutes out, but when we get to you, we'll leave it up to you to neutralize any plagues in her system." I nodded at her, that made sense. "From there," She shrugged. "Who knows."

Deciding to put whatever fate the PRT or Guild had in store for Bonesaw out of my mind, I gave the bug construct another nod. "So, should I wait for you two outside ooor?"

Tilting 'Her' head at me, my eyes trailed to a centipede that fell onto the ground, the construct hummed. "Outside will work. It'll make it easier for all of us to meet back up as well considering Narwhal is a minute or so out." Welp, that sounded good to me.

That thought, I turned back to the door, ready to head out. As I did, I noticed the bug construct falling apart behind me, and sped up just the tiniest bit.

I might not have had an issue with the thing in general, but that many bugs still freaked me out on an instinctual level.

[Phoenix's POV]

Getting to the shelter Amy was set up at didn't take long, though the current issue we had was just a little Annoying. [Still dunno why we couldn't have put her on Johanna.]

Taylor sighed, mine and the aforementioned bike returning back to their base forms as we touched down. |Because Behemoth has more space for passengers then Johanna does. Plus, she's a child, she isn't even taking up all the space.|

I huffed at that, getting off my bike and reaching out to grab said child by the scruff of her neck. She didn't have a handle on her, and I didn't want to carry the little shit like a sack of potatoes, so treating her like a baby cat/dog was what she was going to get. "Not the point." And it wasn't. "I just didn't want her on my son."

The small snort, and spike of Amusement told me what she thought about that. "Really? Your 'Son?'"

That made me nod. "Yep. And considering how protective you are of Johanna, you have no ground to stand on." Taylor went silent at that, Begrudging Acceptance coming from her, letting me know she knew I was right. "Exactly."

She flipped me off, but I just grinned beneath my mask.

"I don't get how you two can be like this on a daily basis." Looking over to the source, my eyes landed on Amy, who looked a little scuffed for some reason. By her side were a few of the PRT mobs, looking between Taylor, me, and Bonesaw, who was dangling in the air like a rag doll.

"The less you think about it, the saner you'll be in the long run." I turned to g...- "We both know you're not sane, so don't start." Well damn.

I closed my mouth and turned away. "Take away my fun why don't you?" She mentally snickered at me, while Amy's lips twitched. I didn't look to see the mobs' reactions, I didn't know them, would never see them again, and thus didn't care.

"Anyway," Turning back to Amy, I watched her gesture to Bonesaw. "You gonna..?" Knowing what she was asking for, I reared my arm ba...- "DON'T THROW HER AT ME YOU DUMBASS!"

I paused, looking between Bonesaw and Amy. I had no problem going for a bit at the moment, we were pretty much done with the whole situation now, so I was free to do what I felt like doing. "But what if I want too though?" Her eye twitched, her hand inching towards the Hawkmoon on her thigh. The spike in my Other Half's Amusement was making this better for me too. Riling up Amy was something I was coming to find that I enjoyed, and despite how stressed she was, I could see that she was fine with this. "Plus, you could totally catch her."

Another twitch, but this one was a full body one. "Not the goddamn point!" I just grinned at her. From the way she twitched again, I was pretty sure she somehow knew.

The sound of a snort reached our ears, and we turned to see Narwhal, the Horned Woman walking over with my Longbow resting against her shoulder, and the mags being carried on her force fields. "While this is entertaining, I think it'd be better to have Panacea ensure the threat of Bonesaw unleashing her plagues is neutralized." I was perfectly fine with that, so I sighed, and walked over to Amy.

When I got close enough, I dropped the little shit in front of Amy, poking her with my foot to get her closer to my brown haired friend. Those got me a look from said friend, a dry but equally Amused look if the small grin on her face was anything to go by. "Really?"

I shrugged. "I can still pick her up and throw her at you if you want."

Amy and Taylor snorted, the latter giving me a light smack to the shoulder. "Let's not do that. I'd rather Bonesaw not suddenly wake up, and us having to deal with her again." That got a small huff from me, but I let it be. Despite my whole bit, I didn't want the little psycho to wake up either. Sure, I could gas her again with Swampfire, but I just didn't want too. Going Ultimate twice in a few minutes was more then enough for me at the moment, and I was starting to get hungry.

Seeing no other reaction from me must've been real funny to her, since Amy grinned and did the whipped motion, sound and all, making my eye twitch. "I know where you live."

A snort was not what I was expecting. "So does damn near every Cape in this godforsaken country." Okay, to be fair, she was right.

"She has a point." My head turned to my girlfriend, Amusement sparking from her side of our Bond. "New Wave's home is public knowledge."

Huffing, and crossing my arms, I turned away. "Fucking women and their logic." I did not enjoy their snickering at me, nor the small grin on Narwhal's face. Anyone that would say otherwise would get shot.

At least I saw a pair of mobs nodding along with what I said, so that was nice.

After that whole thing at the entrance, we went into the school, and ended up in the teacher's lounge. I'd never actually been in a room like this before, if I had been then I couldn't remember, so this was a new experience... It was boring though, and lost the glamor of it after a minute or something.

At the moment I was laying on a 3 seater like a cat, Taylor and Amy were sitting in chairs, while Narwhal was standing by Bonesaw and Burnscar. The former was cleaned by Amy, though she was surprisingly clean already, so her 2nd form apparently reset her body, which was convenient. I was a little Annoyed though, I'd questioned why we didn't kill the two of them now since they were both out of it, but apparently execution was a bad thing, so they unfortunately lived. (I'll just kill em when they slip up.) It was bound to happen eventually, and now that I knew Bonesaw couldn't let out some kind of super viral Black Death if I killed her in her mini titan form, I could just bomb her out of this mortal coil.

That aside, on a desk in front of her, Taylor had her phone out, Aunts Tess and Melody being projected in their chibi. With us all here, and with mobs guarding the door, Narwhal nodded. "Now, this will be short, we can have a proper debrief later after we've completed our Search and Rescue operations, as well as the first aid Panacea will be providing." I internally groaned, doing it outwardly would get them on my case, and I rather not, knowing where this was going. "No complaining Anubis."

I snapped towards the leader of The Guild, eyes boring into hers. "Fuckin' how?!"

The rest of the woman snorted, while Narwhal rolled her eyes. "You slumped when I mentioned S&R." That was it?! "I'm the leader of the second largest Heroic Agency in the world. If I couldn't get a grip on reading my subordinates body language then I'd be a shit leader."

"Bullshit." That said, I laid back down onto the seats, moving my arm a bit more to treat it like a pillow, letting my body relax. (Hate it when someone hits me with something I'm good at but does it better.)

Narwhal just rolled her eyes, turning back to everyone else. "Anyway, the nearest shelter to our current location would've been the mall, but we all know how that went."(Btw, I haven't looked up an actual map of Michigan, just gave it a glance when I decided for this to be where the fight happened, so I don't actually know if there's a mall nearby.) All eyes drifted over to Burnscar, who was still knocked out, then back to Narwhal. "The next one is a local clinic that's about... A mile, for you Americans, away."

"# Why can't they just use the proper measurement system? #" We Americans ignored that.

Though seeing Aunt Tess give her sister a patronizing pat on the back was Amusing. "Coming from the woman with a New York accent, you have little ground to stand on." My purple haired Aunt huffed at that, but didn't bother to respond.

"So, we head there, I do my thing, and we move on to the next one?" That was a good question.

Narwhal frowned a bit, shaking her head. "We'll be coordinating with the local PRT forces, those that are still alive at least, and split up into teams." She looked at me, and I held back a sigh. "Given Anubis' current situation, it'll be up to him to ferry along Panacea too and fro the shelters with his bike." Amy and I shared a look at that, and she rolled her eyes. I flipped her off in response, getting another eye roll before she turned away. "As that's happening, I'll be working with Dragon to get aide for us and the local PRT," Said Aunt nodded along at that, confirming her role. "While also ensuring our prisoners stay detained. As for Khepri, she'll be tasked with using her Swarm to search for our missing Villains, as well as any missed survivors, while she, Medusa, and Stheno will mark where they are so they can be rescued." Taylor nodded, Aunt Melody smiled, and a digital hand appeared to give a thumbs up. "Is everyone clear on what their roles are?" After a collective nod, and a grunt from me, Narwhal nodded back. "Good. Then let's get moving ladies!"

"... Excuse you?"

"I know what I said."

I was not Amused. Not in the slightest.

Taylor and Amy's snickers weren't helping either.

[A while later]

As soon as Amy finished fixing up the wounded, and wrapped her arms around me as she got onto Behemoth, I revved his engine and took off. That was the 3rd shelter we'd visited, and Amy had taken almost a half hour working on everyone in it. While she did that, I was essentially sunbathing on my bike, taking the time to speed up the Serum's charging period by having my hair and fingers exposed to the sun. I wasn't sure how far along the process was, but I did know that my hair was starting to get darker, so atleast it was working.

The rumble of a stomach brought me out of my thoughts, and I turned to look at Amy over my shoulder. The way she stared at me, practically daring me to say something, made me raise a brow behind my mask. "Fuck you lookin at me like that for? I'm hungry too."

She snorted. "I was totally expecting you to call me a fat bitch or something."

I scoffed. "The only things fat about you are your tits and ass," I ignored the sudden tightening against my stomach, she wouldn't be able to squeeze me to death even if she tried. "You know you're just pressing those against me harder, right?" And she was. "Not sure how the hell no one says anything about the fact you're kind of stacked." The brief pulse of Amused Agreement was Interesting.

"It's the robe. It hides everything really good." The fact that her response was automatic was something of a Surprise. Though it was apparently accidental considering the way she blinked, then scowled at me. "Forget that, what the hell are you saying?"

It was hard to shrug, so I just hummed and turned back ahead. "I'm complimenting you...-"

"More like sexual harassment."

I ignored that. "So just take the compliment." She grumbled at that, still trying to crush me to death with her twig arms. "I'm not hearing you tell me to not compliment you though." I'd stop if she told me too, knowing what lines could be pushed or not would be good when it came to keeping this friendship we had.

Even more grumbling was her immediate response, then she pulled back. "I mean, saying I have a fat ass and tits is a bit much, but I kind of like it..." She was silent for a bit at that, and I just took that as her thinking about something. I had an idea about what, Amy was like Taylor in regard to lacking positive reinforcement, her sister didn't count since she was being Mastered by said sister into loving her, so suddenly being 'Complimented' would throw her for a little loop, especially given the current situation. Letting her think about that, I idly looked out at the city, watching as a few clouds of insects flew nearby, searching for people. "Is it actually fat though?" And now I was in familiar territory.

Before I was suddenly Isekai'd here, I was the 'Therapist friend', a guy, which I still was, and someone that grew up with female influences outstripping my male ones. So it was easy for me to integrate myself with girls/women... That also included girl/women conversations, some of which I was fucking lost in considering I was still male. (Poor past me. He crawled so I could run. His difficulties will not be forgotten.)

Still, I had experience when it came to conversations like this. "Do you actually want my opinion on it, or just basic reassurance that you have attractive qualities?" Insecurities were a bitch to everyone, but girls like Amy and Taylor had it worse, which was one of the reasons they snapped and turned into things like the Red Queen and Weaver.

Another bit of silence met that, and I internally hummed. [Quick question, you listening in?] I was pretty sure she was, the moth she gave Amy was still here, and I felt her emotions earlier, so chances were high that the answer was yes.

|I am.| That was good. |Why?|

A good question, which I had a good answer too. [Wanna help me convince Amy that she actually looks good?]

I felt my girlfriend's Contemplation at that, then got a mental nod. |Could be fun. Plus, she's the only girl friend I have around my age, so making sure she has some self confidence will go a long way.|

That was good... But it could be better. [Thoughts on ye having a girls day with her, my Aunts, and Lisa?] That could be a good thing, Taylor gets her friends, Amy gets started on the road of not being a self conscious bitch, and I would get a day where I was free to do whatever I felt like at that point in time.

More Contemplation was her immediate response. "Your opinion. You'll tell me how it is instead of trying to kiss my ass."

I snorted at that, but nodded either way. "As it is, your ass is good, haven't touched it so I can't talk about texture or firmness," She pinched my stomach, but it was ignored. "But appearance wise it's a solid 6/10. If you wore something more form fitting, and maybe did some cardio every once in a while, that'd shoot up to a 8/10 easy."

"How can you say that all out loud?" The sheer amount of Exasperation in her tone was hilarious to me.

Still, she asked a question, and given the fact she wasn't trying to slap or pummel me, then that meant this conversation was fine. "Because you wanted to know. That, and I don't really care about what I say when I'm with friends. Problem?"

Amy hummed, and from the corner of my eye I could tell she was tilting her head a bit. "No, just curious."

I nodded at that, and she started humming. |We'll need to talk to Lisa a bit more, get a handle on the girl, but I'm open to the idea.| And there was my eventual free day. I was a genius, and no one would be able to tell me otherwise. |Think we should do it soon? I think I want a break after all... Of this.|

Even better! [Probably. Maybe a day or two?] While my Other Half thought about that, I went back to the healer. "Any other insecurities you wanna get out at the moment?"

"... Maybe later. This is more important." Looking at whatever 'This' was, I clicked my tongue at the sight of the next shelter. I hadn't even noticed we got close either. "Kinda rude, but that's par for the course with you."

"I mean... You're not wrong." Her snort just made me roll my eyes. "Hello pot, my name's kettle."

"Fuck you too..." I was about to s...- "And don't say it!" I closed my mouth and huffed.

I was going to find a way to get her back later. |Tess, Erin, and Melody seem fine with the idea, so I'll bring this up to Amy and Lisa later.|

Welp, that was a good opportunity if I ever heard one. (Genius indeed.) Mentally nodding, I started landing my bike, just in time for another stomach to rumble... But this time it was mine. I didn't even need to turn around to know Amy was smirking at me, but I just pretended she wasn't. "As soon as we're done here, I'm going to rob the nearest supermarket."

Getting off, and standing by my side, the healer nodded. "What're the odds we can find some good pizza?" Now that was a good question.

The sound system on Behemoth switched on, getting us both to look at it. "! There's a Domino's a few minutes away. !" My Minimap suddenly had a way point on it, so that was probably where said Domino's was.

Amy and I shared a look, both of us thinking about actually going to see if it was worth it. Though before we could think on it more, a surge of bugs started gathering towards in a maneuver I recognized as a Swarm Clone being made. When it was done, a Swarm Clone the same height as my Other Half stood by our side. "There aren't any left, I checked."

""Well shit.."" We paused, silence in the air for a moment, then slowly we turned to each other. Amy's face was going through a whole season of emotions, while I was just staring at her behind my mask. Amusement was constantly growing on Taylor's side of the Bond, which made my lips twitch since I did find this funny.

We didn't say anything for a bit, her because she was probably worried about this happening again, and me trying to read her mind so I could make it happen again just to fuck with her. "! And, saved. !"

That got us, and we turned back to Behemoth, only to turn back to the Swarm clone when it snorted. "Nono, don't look at me, I'm not even really here." That said, she dispersed the clone, the bugs booking it at speeds only bugs could, disappearing in moments through the cracks in the ground.

Amy and I just stayed there in silence... Then nodded. "Never happened."

"It did, but I'm going to pretend it didn't just for the sake of agreeing with you."

"... Good enough." And so we went into the shelter.