Make A Deal

"Who do you think that could be?" Norm asks, worridly. "I don't know , but it can't be anyone good." I respond. "It can't be anyone bad either." Davies shouts from around the corner. "Is that you, Davies?" I ask. There is no response. "I said is that you?" A moment later Davies casually walks around the corner. "Yes, it is I." "We're not afraid of you."  Olivia shouts. "I'm not afraid of you. Why should I be? There is far more of us than you. We're everywhere." Davies says calmly. "What do you want?" I ask with gritted teeth. "I want you to stop this nonsense." "What nonsense? Eagle Eyes let us go." "That's only because he knew you'd never get past the city limits. He knew you'd never escape." "He's wrong." Olivia replies. "If he's wrong then why are you still here?" Davies questions. The four of us are speechless. Davies clears his throat. "There's a war going on. Join us." "No." I say, firmly. Davies tilts his head slightly. "No?" Olivia stands up straight. "That's right. No." Davies turns red. "Fine. We won't recruit you, and we won't attack you, but don't you dare expect us to defend you again." With that Davies turned and walked away.

Souvenier

"Where are you looking?" Olivia asks. "Trying to figure out where Eagle Eyes is. He did that." "Then we should thank him." "Maybe. I'm still feeling a little concerned that I can't see him. I don't trust him one bit." "Even though he just saved us?" Olivia questions. "That doesn't mean anything. We aren't exactly on the best terms. Where is Norm?" I say, trying my best to change the subject. Norm slides down from the nearest building. "Here I am." He shouts. "Glad you finally showed up." I scold. "Hey, what was I to do? I didn't mean to leave you miles behind, but my animal instincts kicked in." I sigh. "Well, at least we are all ok." "We sure are." Norm looks at the ground and sees a yellow ball. It is roughly the size of a snow globe. He picks it up, juggling it from paw to paw. Obviously it is still hot. "Put it down." I say, tiredly. "I got a better idea." Norm then places the yellow ball in Freddy's vest pocket. "How's that, Freddy?" He asks. "Good." "Not too hot?" "Nope." "What are you doing?" I ask. "Souvenir. Something for the memories." I shake my head. "Whatever. What now?" Before anyone can answer a steel door can be heard opening nearby. Olivia clenches her fists. "We stay on guard."

Pac Man Fever

Norm and Freddy both backed up slowly. "Ok, this isn't good, but we can do this. On the count of the three we run." Norm says with a hint of nervousness. Norm takes a big breath. "One... two....three." Norm frantically scurries up the side of the building, and Freddy runs on all fours, leaving me and Olivia in the dust. Olivia and I run as fast as we can, but the Pac Man is breathing down our necks. Chomp, chomp, chomp. We can hear him getting closer and closer. The feet turn to inches. He bites off the end of my cape and my dangling shoelaces. We take a sharp turn in an alley. There we met up with Freddy. He made the same mistake we did. The alley turned into a dead end. There were no
windows, doors, or fire escapes in sight. Just a massive brick wall. The three of us gropped the wall in vain, searching for an exit. We found nothing and we knew then that the end was near. We huddled together closely as it opened its mouth wide, preparing to gobble us. But then something unexpected happened. The Pac Man burst into a million little, yellow balls. They all scattered. Some of the them went into buildings and lanterns. The rest ascended into the sky. We took a moment to collect ourselves before parting. "Does that mean the ghosts won?" Olivia asks. "No." I say glancing at one of the many tall buildings. Wondering where the shot came from. "The programmer won."

The Yellow Sphere

"Look at it. It's so beautiful." Norm says in ecstasy. "I know, it's like nothing I've ever seen before." Olivia responds, walking ever closer to the yellow shere. "Guys ,this is dangerous." They don't listen. "I'm serious. This isn't safe." Olivia,Freddy and Norm continue walking towards it. Eventually they stop about a foot away from it and look at it with new admiration. "It's so bright." Olivia says. Norm's  mouth is wide open. "What is it?" "I don't know." The yellow sphere spins around to reveal a familiar smiley face. "Is that the 70's smiley face you were talking about?" Olivia asks. "Yes, it is." I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from it. "Why'd you do that?" She asks, annoyed. "Trust me. We need to get the hell away from that thing." "But it's cute. It kinda reminds me of Pac Man." "Yeah, well if he's Pac Man, then we're the ghosts." "What are you talking about?" A second later the smiley face bites air. Norm backs away slowly. "That ain't good." Olivia looks to me. "So, we're the ghosts?"

Cold Dawn

The sun lit the way, but it did not warm our bones. There was a cold air that lingered. "Looks like winter is coming." I say with chartered teeth. "Yeah it sure got colder." Olivia replies. "I don't know what you guys are complaing about." Norm says. "That's because you guys have fur." I inform. "Maybe. I still wouldn't complain even if I didn't." I shake my head. "Let's just keep walking. We gotta be near the city limits." "How do you know?" Norm asks. "I don't. " "Don't fight." Olivia scolds. We all walk in silence for the next few minutes. No one utters a word until we take a turn and see a giant, yellow ball on the street. Everyone else is fascinated, but I know what it is right away and want to turn around. "What is it?" Olivia asks. "I don't know, but it's amazing." Norm says. "Guys don't look at that. We gotta turn around." But my words were no use . They were like moths to a flame.

Daylight Arrives

We marched on in the endless night. Despite barely being able to see an inch in front of ourselves, we prevailed. Our efforts paid off. Eventually we saw a ray of light pushing back the night sky. We walked in the direction of light and saw it peal away more dark. We crept closer and closer, and the light pushed away more and more night, until it seemed as though we were going to meet day finally. Unfortunately, the light stopped short of our bubble. It would not go past it, and we could not continue forward with our armor. We made the decision then and there to drop the shield at that exact moment and continue into day, but before we did we took one last look behind us to view the night sky, and then promptly moved forward in the daylight.

Menacing Night

Things are not what they seem in the dark. The imagination runs wild. Things appear in the corner of your eye that you never knew existed, and chills run down your spin as every sound is amplified. We heard howling wolves. Saw the pink aliens in the distance, and smelled danger at every turn. The one thing we decided to do was to counter the numerous menaces by shouting "I'm not afraid of you" whenever they popped up. It did not stop them from appearing, but it certainly helped ease our troubled minds as we continued to walk into an what seemed to be an endless night. "When does the sun come up?" Norm asks. "I don't know. I can't see my watch, and even if I could I doubt that would help." I reply. "Then we must journey onward." Olivia declares.

Nightfall

We now had a fox and a raccoon on our side. Perhaps they weren't my first of choices, but if there were a chance that we'd be stuck in the middle of a war, we needed all the help we could get. We walked the cracked and broken streets of the abandoned city all day. Our legs were tired, and everything looked the same, but we knew we couldn't stop. If we stopped, that could be the end. "How long have we been walking?" Norm complains. "I don't know. I never checked my watch." I reply. "It feels like forever." He groans. Freddy shushes him. Norm is offended, but he shuts up. "Thank you. He was getting out of hand." Olivia says. "No, listen." Freddy instructs. A cold wind blows past us. It takes out all the lights, leaving us in utter darkness. "What the hell just happened?" I ask, not being able to see my own hand. "Nightfall." Freddy responds. Olivia sighs. A second later she throws up a huge bubble that wraps around the four of us. It lets off a little bit of light. Olivia turns to us. "We walk in darkness now."

Storytime

We sat in eager anticipation and waited for Freddy to tell us his story. Instead of talking, he just sat there eating jelly beans. Finally, Olivia broke the weird silence. "Freddy, aren't you gonna tell us what happened?" "Hmm?" "How'd you get here?" Freddy opens his eyes wide and eats another jelly bean. "I don't think he wants to talk now." Norm says. "He doesn't have to, but I am curious what happened." I reply. "Who cares? He's here now and that's all we need to know." Norm says, patting Freddy on the back. I sigh. "I guess. It just is all very odd. I mean what was going on with Sgt. Rogers back there?" Freddy rolls his eyes. Olivia notices right away. "Something we should know about her?" She asks. Freddy shakes his head. "She's not bad, not bad." "But?" Olivia says, trying to get him to talk more. "There is a war going on. A war for power." Olivia stands up. "We gotta get out of here." She announces. "Where?" I ask. "I don't know,but you heard him. There's a war going on, and I'm not about to get stuck in the middle of it."

Look whose Back

Norm was running so fast that I nearly lost him a few times amidst the tall grass. I started to get horrible cramps in my side. I wanted to stop, but I wouldn't allow myself no matter how bad it hurt. I pressed on. Eventually our raccoon friend stopped , and there we saw it. Freddy the Fox was standing on his hind legs. He had his usual goofy smile and yellow vest, but he was holding a brown, paper bag. " what you got there?" Norm asks, pointing to the bag. "That's the first thing you're gonna ask him?" I say. "Of course it is." "Jelly beans." Freddy responds simply, offering us his candy. "Don't mind if I do." Norm replies, reaching his paw in the bag. Norm throws jelly bean in his mouth only to recoil in disgust a second later. "What is it?" Olivia asks worridly. "It's black liquorice. I hate black liquorice. Why do they even make that?" Norm grabs another jelly bean. This time he is pleased. "Candy is great and all, but I have to ask where were you and how did you get here?" I wonder. Freddy sits down slowly and then ushers us to do the same.

Meadow

"Well here we are again. " Olivia sighs. "It's not so bad, and I promise this time I won't dive in the stream." Norm assures. " You better not. I don't want to end up in the sewer again." I reply. " I won't . I -" Norm froze before he could finish his thought. "What is it?" Olivia asks. Norm doesn't rrspond. Instead he runs off. "Where is he going?" I shout . " Who knows?" Olivia shouts back, chasing after him. I shrug and decide to run with olivia, hoping that it's a better surprise this time.

Ladder

"So we're back to the start?" Norm says forlorn. "Not exactly." Olivia replied. "What are you talking about?" Olivia points to a ladder a short distance away. The three of us exit the scene of the crash and climb the ladder. The manhole cover at the top was surprisingly easy to push open. We were greeted by a warm ray of light as we entered a lush, green meadow.  "Weren't we here before?" Norm asks. "Maybe." I say. Norm excitedly points to the gushing stream. "Yeah, we were!" Olivia sighs. "At least we are above ground."

Cracked Windshield

"Was that the end of the line?" Norm asks in a pain filled Voice. "It was something." Olivia responds, grasping her neck. I get up slowly and notice the windshield is cracked. "Hey guys, I think we have a way out." I say , pointing to the cracked windshield."Yeah, but where does it lead?" Norm asks. "Who cares?" Olivia replies. Norm shakes his head. He then helps me smash the windshield. Bits of debris fall in the car , but nothing too destructive. Before we knew it, the windshield was gone and we were out of the car, on foot in the abandoned tunnels.

Stop This Train

Faster and faster we went through the underground tunnel. We twisted and turned with maximum speed. The three of us were hurled against the wall of the train. There was no way of telling where we were going. I crawled on the filthy floor, then with all my might I pulled a rusty lever. The train squeeled as it attempted to brake. It looked as if we were going to stop, but we hit a wall, hard. The three of us got tossed liked ragdolls. It was painful,but we did stop and for that I was thankful.