Where is Ms. Rodgers?

"Well, where is Ms. Rogers?" Davies asks. "I don't know." I reply honestly. " I'll ask again, where is the former Sgt. Rodgers?" "You can ask as many times as you want. We don't know." Olivia says. "You have to know something." "We don't."  "But you're not with us." Davies tries to rationalize. "Don't give us that bullshit that if we're not with you we must be with them." Olivia shouts. "It's not bullshit. If you are not with us then you must be with them." "Sorry, I don't know what to tell you." Olivia responds. Davies points his gun menacingly at us. "What do you remember?" Olivia then throws up her pink, bubble shield. It wraps around the both of us. "I remember nothing. " She says coldly. Davies takes a deep breath and addresses his soldiers. "Alright boys, wear them down. "

After the Banshees

We raced in the direction of the horrendous, wailing banshee. This time I remembered how to deal with the spirit. This time I was going to create a powerful ruckus to drive it away. However, the closer I got, the sicker I felt. The high pitched noise was attempting to bring me to my knees. I wanted to fall down. I wanted to succumb, but I knew I couldn't. I powered on in my weakened state. As soon as I was ready to make some sort of noise I heard a Bang! Bang! Bang! The wailing abruptly stopped after that. "What was that?" Olivia asks. "Sgt. Rodgers. She knows how to deal with those things." " I guess that's good. Where is she?" The two of us look down the long, dark tunnel. "She must have left." I say. "I guess that's for the better." We walk along the tunnel until we see a split in the path."Which way?" I ask. Olivia extends her ear. "This way." She says pointing to the left. "I hear footsteps." We take the left. I hear the footsteps draw closer to us. "Sgt. Rodgers, is that you?" There is no response, and the footsteps draw even closer. "Sgt. Rodgers? That was a nice thing you did for us back there." There is still no response. "I don't think that's her." Olivia says, nervously. "No, it isn't." A familiar voice calls back. It then turns on a flashlight, and I can see it is Davies surrounded by many, many soldiers. "It's not Sgt. Rodgers at all, but perhaps you could tell us where she is?"

What's Ethical?

"Why didn't you pink heart them?" I ask. " I don't know. I guess I didn't think of it." "Yeah, It's hard to remember such things during times of stress." "Yeah." Olivia says in agreement. There is a brief pause in the conversation, and then she begins again. "I've been thinking a lot about my abilities." "What about them?" I ask. "Well, I have this great power to change people's perspectives even if it is only for a small amount of time." "And?" "And I'm wondering, should I exercise caution with these abilities?" "I don't see why you should." Olivia sighs. "I guess what I'm getting at is this ethical?" "What's unethical about it?" I ask. "I'm basically forcing my perspective on people." "But how is that a bad thing? You can save so many people with this." I inform. " I know that. I'm well aware of that, but if Norm and Freddy wanted to join Sgt. Rodgers army, even it is for what we think are stupid reasons, is it my place to stop them if that is what is in their heart?" I shrug. "I don't know." "I don't either. And that's where I'm at." We don't  talk for a while. The heavy philosophical conversation weighs on both our minds. Eventually our thoughts are interrupted by the crackling wail of a banshee in the distance. "What was that?" Olivia asks, worriedly. "A banshee." I respond casually.  Olivia turns around and starts walking in the direction of the wail. "Where are you going?" I shout. "We have to help. We have to save them?" "But what about all that about exercising caution?" "There's a banshee. We have to go." Olivia doesn't even wait for a response this time. She starts to run in the direction of the banshee wail.

Devilish Plan

"No.Absolutly not." I shout. "What's the problem?" Sgt. Rodgers asks. "We chose not to be with them because we didn't want to be in the war." "Looks like the war came to us." Sgt. Rodgers smiles smugly. I angrily point my finger at her. "You did this on purpose." "Yes, I knew what I was doing." I shake my head. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."  "Oh right, you morally object." Sgt. Rodgers mocks. "That's right, we do." Olivia says defiantly. Sgt. Rodgers half smiles. "You can leave if you like, but don't expect any more help from me." "Actually, me and Freddy are gonna stay." Norm says, timidly. "What!" I shout. "The crossbow's really cool." "You can't stay for that reason alone. " "Leave. They made there decision, and so did you." Sgt. Rodgers commanded. We shook Norm and Freddy's paws knowing that this may be the last time we see them. We then took off into the cold, dark tunnel alone.

Sgt. Rodgers' Return

I wasn't thrilled about Sgt. Rodgers leaving us, but I had to let it go. I had to think of better things. I couldn't let my mind go to dark places. She eventually came back. Naturally I asked her many questions about where she had been and why she was gone so long. She didn't say a word. She just took off her backpack, unzipped it, and poured out the contents. An entire bag full of yellow globes fell to the ground. "Is that what I think it is?" Norm gasps. "You're welcome." She says. "How'd you do it?" I ask. "I'm good. That's how." "That mean we can go back home?" Olivia asks. "Not yet. There is still more of it. This is only a small fraction." "It is impressive. But how did you do it?" I ask again. Sgt. Rodgers gets in my face. "This is a fine welcome back." "Were you seen?" I ask with gritted teeth. "You think I'm an amature?" "Were you seen?" I ask again. "It's possible that Eagle Eyes may have had some of his men there." She says. "Fuck! We have to leave." "Where?" She shouts. "I don't know, but if they saw you they probably followed you. They're gonna know we are here." Sgt. Rodgers smiles menacingly. "Good. Let them know we're here. We have guns, don't we?"

Why Worry?

I stood there for a long while staring at the pile of weapons, wondering what the hell just happened. Sgt. Rodgers left us basically everything , yet I still couldn't trust her. "Something's  not right." "Everything is fine." Norm says picking up the crossbow. "Would you be careful with that? And I agree with Scott. Something is not right." Olivia responds. Norm makes a face. "You guys don't know what you're talking about. What do you think about it, Freddy?" "Shiny guns." Norm shrugs. " I guess he's ok with it. It's just you two who have a problem." "Why do we have a problem with it?" Olivia asks while staring at the weapons. "I don't know but we have to stay on our feet."

Trust Exercise

I knew it was a long shot, but I believed that if we continued to destroy the Smiley Face each day we could use it as a portal back home. Luckily Sgt. Rodgers baught into the idea as well. We made our way back to the abandoned subway station to discuss our plans, or at least that's what I thought. Sgt. Rodgers was about to ditch us again. " Where are you going?" I demanded. " You have some serious trust issues." She replied. " You make it so hard to trust you. After all you did try to kill us several times." Olivia says. Sgt. Rodgers laughs. " Are you referring to the incidents on the island? That was months ago." "Well, it's still fresh in my mind." I say, coldly. She takes a deep breath. "You have to trust me." "Then convince us." Sgt. Rodgers takes off her backpack. She unloads guns, ammunitin, a cross bow, and a grappling hook, and places them on the floor."Now do you trust me?" She asks. "Yeah, I guess so." I say. "Good. Now I must take care of something." Sgt. Rodgers picks up the empty back pack. She turns to walk away. "Wait! Aren't you going to arm yourself?" Olivia shouts. Sgt. Rodgers lifts up her pant leg to reveal a gun strapped to her ankle. She then unrolls her pant leg and walks away.

No Monsters Here

Sgt. Rodgers stayed with us a while and waited for the Smiley Face monster. After an hour of waiting, she made the decision to split. "You don't think it's gonna show up?" Olivia shouted to Sgt. Rodgers. "If it was going to it would have already." She replies. "What do we do now?" I ask. "Whatever the hell you want. You can stay down here if you like. Just try not to destroy anything else." Olivia looks to me. "We're not staying down here." Olivia intended for only me to hear that comment, but unfortunately Sgt. Rodgers heard as well. " Go to the surface then. Then you'll find your monsters, and no one will protect you." "We didn't mean it like that."  I say. "I know exactly how you meant it. Go then if it's so important to you. It's a game to you just like it is to them." "A game?" I repeat. "Yeah, a game. What didn't you understand about that?" She sneers.  "Did you mean that literally? Are we in a video game?" I ask. "Way to catch on." Sgt. Rodgers sarcastically claps her hands. "That means that if we're in a video game then that Smiley Face, that Pac Man thing could be the portal." I say excitedly. "It is, but they've hijacked the portal to their own benefit." But we can take it back." I say smiling. Sgt. Rodgers sighs. "How? There are way more of them then there are of us." I hold up the yellow globe. "We're already winning.  We just gotta get more of these pieces. Basically we have to stop them every morning, or at least collect as many yellow pieces as we possibly can every day." Sgt. Rodgers shakes her head. "It's a suicide mission, but what else am I going to do?"

Explain

Sgt. Rodgers stared at the yellow globe for a long while. I could tell she had seen it before, but wanted me to talk first. "It's from above ground." I say finally. "Uh huh." "You know the big, yellow smiley face?" I ask. "I've heard of it." "Well, this is from it." "Why did you take it?" "Bait." I say simply. "Bait?" She repeats. "Yeah, this is part of the smiley face. The smiley face is looking for it." " So, you thought to bring it down here where I currently reside?" She blurts. "Well, yeah. We're gonna corner it and then attack." "That's a terrible idea." "It's not that bad." I reply. "No, it is. It is horrifying. And where are the others?" "Sleeping." Sgt. Rodgers eyes widen. "There is a monster lurking and you left them alone?" Sgt. Rodgers walks past me. "Where are you going?" I ask. "I'm going to protect your people because obviously you can't do that"

"War is Over"

"You saved me." I say, clutching my chest. Sgt. Rodgers finally lowers her gun and places it in the holder. "I was saving myself. You just happened to be there." I get to my feet. "Well, thanks anyways." Sgt. Rodgers makes a face. "Think nothing of it. Really." Sgt. Rodgers turns to walk away. "Wait. How did you know firing the gun would work?" I ask. She lets out a frustrated sigh. "I didn't. I just knew creating a loud noise would throw it off. But now I wish I didn't do that because I only had a finite amount of bullets." Sgt. Rodgers walks away. I run after her. "Where did the banshee come from?" I ask, out of breath. "I don't know. This is an old city. There is probably many more of them." She says annoyed. "Then can you help us?" "No. Why should I? You ditched me." "Ditched you!" I shout. "We did nothing of the sort. You locked us in that car." "You ever think I  did that for your own protection?" She says with intense, angry eyes. I shrink a little. "I guess I didn't think. " "No you didn't. And that's all too obvious with the million dollars worth of damages you did to the tunnels. I bet you didn't even know that was the one working car." "I didn't." I reply sheepishly. "Yeah, well you can go back to your people now. The war is over. Every man for himself." I stare at her for a moment. "I said go." She snarls. I quietly take the yellow globe out of my pocket and show it to her. She studied it for a moment, then looks up at me."What did you do?"

Banshee Wail

The closer I got to the mysterious noise the more I realized it was no ordinary sound. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it wasn't a whistle. The noise soon turned into an ear splitting wailing. I felt sick to my stomach and dropped to my knees. I covered my ears as I saw the image of a woman in a bright white dress hovering in the distance. The banshee's wail grew louder and more terrifying as she barreled in on me. I wanted to run, but I found myself paralyzed by her shrieks. Then, as I'm throwing up my lunch, I hear Bang! Bang! Bang! For whatever reason the bang threw the banshee off her game. She vanished into the darkness without another sound. I turned around to see Sgt. Rodgers holding a smoking gun high above her head.

Stay Alert

We found a little alcove in the tunnel. It was only a few feet wide. But it proved a nice refuge. We pressed our backs against locked door and rested our tired eyes. Well, Freddy, Norm and Olivia did. I stayed vigilant. No one asked me to. In fact everyone else somehow agreed that there were no threats underground. But I couldn't do that to them. I had to stay alert. I knew something was out there. Hours would pass by untill I had a hint of an idea, and then I heard it. It was faint whistle, but unlike a train or anything I had heard before. I jumped to my feet and ran in the direction of the strange, new sound.

Find a Place

We wandered the underground tunnels for some time. I was getting tired and hungry, and we were all getting on each others last nerve. "Where are we going exactly?" Norm asks. "I'm not sure." "Well, how do we know when we'll get there?" "I don't know!" I snap at Norm. He  recoils in silence. Olivia scolds me. "He was just asking a question. We're all curious." She says. "I know, but I don't know." "How 'bout we stop here?" Olivia asks. I take a good look at my surroundings. We're still in the subway tracks. "Are you kidding me?" I say. "What? It's an abandoned city. The chances of a subway car coming by while we're sleeping is slim." She replies. "But there's still a chance." "Then where do you suggest we go?" She asks. "Next platform we find we'll set up camp." I say calmly. "But that could be miles away." I sigh and shrug. "Then we'll walk for miles."

Tunnels Again

We walked the dark, subway tunnels. It was my idea to use the yellow globe as bait. Lure the monster underground and then attack. "You think this will work?" Olivia asks. "We'll see." I reply. There is a pause. "When do we stop?" She asks. "When we see it." "And if we don't see it?" "Then we don't stop." "Your instructions are incredibly vauge." She says, annoyed. "What do you want me to say?" "Hey! Isn't this where we found that lady?" Norm asks, changing the subject. "Sgt. Rodgers? Yeah." I say. "No. Don't tell me we are trying to find her." Olivia shouts. "We are trying to find the monster. If we so happen to find Sgt. Rodgers in the mean time I'm okay with that because I know she'd be able to help us."  Olivia stops in her tracks. "What makes you think she'll help us?" I shrug. "She might not. Then we are on our own." "This isn't well thought out." Olivia says. "Perhaps not, but it's the best idea we've got now."

"Get Rid of It"

We left early the next morning. We never figured out who owned the house, and that only led me to assume that it was there specifically for us. A safe haven. Maybe it wasn't true at all, but it sure felt nice to believe that. We walked back through the marsh. This time it was dry as a bone. No mud to pull me down. I stared at the yellow globe the entire time. That is until Norm said something. "You still have that thing?" "Yep." "Get rid of it." He urges."But I've been thinking-" "No thinking. Just get rid of it. Toss it somewhere." But-" "But what?" He shouts. "This yellow globe is part of it, right?And the rest of the smiley face is attracted to this, right?" "Yes! And that's exactly why we need to lose that." Norm attempts to grab the globe. I pull away from him. "Hold on. I'm not done. Now we also know it's not as strong as it once was without out this piece." "What are you getting at?" Norm asks. "I think I know. You think we can kill it." Olivia says. "I know we can." I reply, confidently. "But how?" "We use this thing to lure it." I say, holding up the ball. "And then what? We don't have anyone on our side now." She shouts. I smile. "Yes, we do. Let's go underground."

Missing Piece

We were sprawled out on the floor for hours. No one knew what to do. Big changes were in the air, and most likely nothing good. My stomach was in knots. We were all in various stages of disbelief. At one point Freddy's  yellow globe dropped out of his paws and landed by my feet. I studied it for a moment. "This is from the smiley face, isn't it?" "Yeah it is." I watch intense, yellow flicker of lights appear outside the window. " I think it wants it back." "Yeah, I guess." Freddy says, dejected. I stand up and prepare to chuck it out the window. "No, don't do that!" Norm shouts. "And why not?" I ask. "Think about it. That thing came from the smiley face. If you throw it back that'll only make it stronger." "That actually makes sense." Olivia says. "Okay then what should we do?" I ask nervously. Norm takes a deep breath. "Only one thing we can do right now. Ride this out till morning."

Ominous

I watched Freddy tremble and suddenly I realized this was no ordinary storm. This was something bigger. Something darker. I sank into the floor listless with my arms and legs completely spread out. I just allowed myself to melt into the rug. Perhaps despair wasn't the right choice, but it felt good. I didn't want to move for anyone or anything. In a few days or weeks I may have the answer, but not now. Not today.

Big Storm

There was a powerful storm last night. It started off as a quiet tapping against the small window, but the momentum gradually grew until it was a full storm with crackling thunder and all. The thing about being in the tree is that you can feel all the subtle gusts of wind. Trees will bend during such a storm. It was an unsettling feeling to be in the midst of that, but I kept chanting to myself "Trees will bend, not break." I should further explain that while I chanted that I didn't fully believe it, so my words were meaningless. At least to myself. Olivia overheard my chatting and offered her sympathies. "It's just a storm. We'll be ok." "You're right." I replied. But I still didn't quite believe it. Bang! Crash! Okay, that was just thunder I remind myself. Then I heard what sounded like many pots and pans falling on the kitchen floor. I sprung up. "Did you hear that?" "Yeah, it's probably nothing." After that, I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. I knew without a doubt someone was in the house now, but still I did not move. Perhaps it was out of shock. Maybe this person would pass by our room? The footsteps grew closer and my heart raced faster. As soon as I heard our doorknob jiggle I jumped from the bed and pushed my body against the dresser. The person was unable to get in so he knocked instead. Loudly and aggressively. This person meant business, but I wasn't about to let anyone in. Nor was Olivia who just joined me. It was like a game. See who could give in first. I had no idea who was on the other side of the door, but they were strong. They almost got in several times. I was getting tired and wanted to give up, but then I heard a tapping at the window. I looked over my shoulder to see Norm outside the window. I was so startled I let out a scream. Olivia, hearing my reaction turned to the window. She let out a scream as well upon seeing Norm. "Open the door."He shouts. "What? Why?" I ask.  "Because that's Freddy." Olivia and I take a moment to collect ourselves. We then push the dresser aside and open the door. I was expecting Freddy to be livid. Instead he had the same stupid grin on his face. "Sorry about that Freddy. I had no idea it was you." I say. "It's ok." He says simply, and then shakes himself dry. Which makes everything else soaked. Norm taps on the window. "Hey, let me in too."  I open the window. Norm crawls through the little opening, and sits down on the floor. "I don't know if you are aware, but there's a storm going on." There is a  massive thunderclap. It shakes the room back and forth. We all have trouble finding our footing for a moment. Freddy, however, is so frightened that he hides under the bed. I watch him shaking for a moment. "Yes, I'm aware of the storm."

Bunk Beds

We took the stairs to the second floor. There were many doors that I  assumed contained bedrooms on the upstairs hallway, but only one of the doors was ajar. We took that as a sign to enter. It was a small room with a bunk bed. There was a window, but it was only as big as my face, and there was a large dresser that had baseball trophies and other memorabilia hanging off of it. I glanced at a medal that read "Most Valuable Player." "I don't think this is a bed and breakfast." I tell Olivia. "No, I don't either, but we'll pretend. Just for tonight." I nod. "I can do that." "That's a small window." she says, changing the subject. "Yeah, it's kinda pointless in my opinion." "And we have bunk beds." She says, less than thrilled. "We do. Which one do you want?" "You can take the top one." "Really?" "Yeah, I don't like heights." I smile big. This was the best news in a while. "Well, shall I turn out the lights?" She asks. "Not yet." I get on the end of the dresser. It is much heavier that I had anticipated, and it creates an awful noise, but when I'm done it completely blocks the door. No one can get in or out now. "That for the monsters?" She asks. "Or the owners of the house. I figure that won't be too happy if they come back." "Good idea." With that Olivia turns out the light.

In the Willow Tree

The enterence to the willow tree was a small, dark corridor. It was a tight squeeze. We had to enter single filed and sideways, but it was worth it. The corridor openened up to Victorian style kitchen. Complete with a wood burning stove, floral wall paper, and a rotary phone. My mouth was wide open. I could not believe this was inside the tree. "Neat, huh?" Olivia says. "It sure is. What is this? Someone's house?" "I don't know, maybe. Maybe it's a bed and breakfast." I half smile. "You like that, don't you?" "If it were a bed and breakfast it would make me feel better about staying here at least." I say. "Well, we could always pretend it's a bed and breakfast." "Yes, we can pretend , but that doesn't make it true." "Nightfall is coming." She reminds. "I know, but what about your shield bubble? We can use that." "We can, but I need heightened concentration for that. At least to deal with these strange monsters we've been encountering." I take a sigh. "You're right. I'm guessing that leads to the rooms?" I say pointing to a staircase in the corner of the kitchen. "Probaby. We can grab the first room we see and then leave right away tomorrow."

Under the Willow Tree

I sat and stared out into the marsh that I had previously emerged from. I could not locate any of my friends. If it weren't for my muddy clothes I would have naturally assumed that my previous experiences were all but a dream. "Hey, you didn't touch your soup." A voice shouts from behind me. I look to the side to see a light green soup in a stone bowl by my feet. "There's no spoon." I say. Olivia crosses in front of me and then takes a seat on the ground beside me. "No, there's not. But you can pick it up and drink it that way." "I suppose I could." "Don't worry. It's not barbaric." "I just don't want to spill anything." I admit. "I wouldn't care if you did." I shrug, picking up the cold stone bowl and pourning the contents into my mouth. Indeed bits of soup splattered on my body, but I didn't care. I was famished. I drank the whole thing. When I was done I pushed the bowl aside and gave a satisfied grin. "Was it good?" Olivia asks. "Yeah, it was like split pea soup but better." "And it wasn't too hot?" "No, it was tepid." Olivia smiles. "Oh good. I didn't think it was scalding, but I wasn't sure when I took it." "Took it? What are you talking about? You didn't make it?" I ask. "No, I grabbed it." "From where?" "From a stove." She says straight forward. "Where was the stove?" Olivia points to a large opening in the willow tree. "Through there."  "Is that someone's house?" I ask nervously. " "It looks like it, but I don't think anyone is home." "That doesn't mean we can take their stuff." "Normally I would agree, but you were in dire need of sustenance." She says. I sign."You're right and I thank you for your help. Now I think we should return the bowl and be on our way." Olivia picks up the bowl and looks to the sky. "What now?" I ask. "Night is coming. We should stay here." "No. We can't do that." "And why not?" She asks. "Because this is someone's house. What if they come back?" "They'll be easier to deal with than the monsters." I shake my head. "Fine. We'll stay the night. "

In the Big Muddy

I could not see Olivia, Fredfy, or Norm, and screaming for help was impossible. The mud around my neck was thick, and seriously restricted any air flow. I could not move and I could not cry for help. It was clear to me I only had one option. I closed my eyes and took in my as much air as I could. As I sank deeper and deeper in the mud I noticed my body grew lighter. I'm sure it was due to lack of oxygen in my brain, but it was an interesting sensation none the less. It was like sleeping underwater. Perhaps I was shifting into the dreamtime. I have no idea how long I held my breath. It could have been hours. It sure felt like it. All I know is that when it seemed as though my head and body could take no more, my eyes suddenly opened. I then found myself sitting under a willow tree with a blanket wrapped around me.

Marsh

We trudged through the wet, murky marsh. A dense fog hung over the area. Even if it lifted,visibility would still have been limited. The grass was over five feet tall. Meaning even though I could see over the top, there was plenty of space for us to lose our fury friends, and we did early on. So Olivia were on our own once again. It didn't start out so bad, but then just moving became increasingly difficult. The mud became thicker and thicker the further we went. It started swallowing my feet. I had to pull with all my might to yank myself out of there, but the mud faught back. It grabbed my foot and pulled me down until I was waist deep. I foolishly tried to fight back with all my might. This was a bad idea. The mud was now up to my neck. It was only a matter of time before it swallowed me whole.

Upstream

It seemed counter intuituitive to follow the water upstream, but none of us had any better ideas. Plus it was nice to see Norm so gleeful. With every twist and turn he grew more excited. It felt as if we were truly getting somewhere. That is in untill the water suddenly stopped. We ended up in a marsh. Norm scratched his head. "This is where it took us?" "I guess we shouldn't be too surprised." Olivia says. Norm lifts his feet. "The ground is barely even wet." "Go further?" Freddy asks. Norm nods. "Yeah, you're right. We should."

There's A Way

"So, we're on our own?" I say out loud while watching Davies leave. "With no direction home." Olivia adds. Norm decides to jump in on the song reference. "Like complete unknowns." I half smile then sullenly lower my head. "Why despair?" Norm asks. "Because it seems easy." I reply. "Well, sure. It is the easy thing to do. But is it the right thing?" "Then what do you suggest?" I ask. "Alright, here are the facts. The monsters are on the streets, Eagle Eyes and his men got the tall buildings, and Sgt. Rodgers has the underground. Did I forget anything?" Norm asks. I shake my head. "No, I think that sums up everything." Norm grins. "Here's the thing. No one is covering air or water." "But none of us can fly." Olivia says. Norm shrugs. "Okay. Scratch air. We can do water." "Are you suggesting we go back to the stream?" I ask. "Yeah, but not to swim in it. We already did that, plus that would just lead to Sgt. Rodgers, and we don't want that." "Then what? We walk beside the stream in the opposite direction?" I remark. Norm's eyes light up. "Exactly. We see where that leads us. It's gotta go somewhere." I sigh. "Okay. The stream it is."