With fear and adrenaline coursing through his veins, Dax wasted no time fleeing the bunker. In a matter of minutes, he had streamed through the familiar city blocks towards the direction of Central Park, his mind running rampant with questions, the main one being, where was Jace? It didn’t make sense. He would have stayed with him and they would face this together. They were inseparable. Mateo was right, it was not Jace’s way. Something must have happened and knowing his brother was unmedicated did not quell his panic. His schizophrenia caused him to act irrationally and the thought of him being hurt or worse had his anxiety eating a hole through his gut. Dax ducked into an alley and hid behind a dumpster to catch his breath. They had run a couple of blocks away from the shelter with no sign of pursuit, yet.

  “Hey Mateo, any thoughts on why Jace would leave the shelter and not wake me up?” Dax asked through labored breathing. “I am going insane thinking about it. You are right, that isn’t Jace, no way he would leave me behind.”

  “To be honest, it doesn’t sound logical at all. Y’all were like conjoined twins, never apart.” Mateo laughed then got quiet again. “The only reason he would leave would be to protect you.” The idea had not crossed his mind but Mateo was right. Jace was not a fighter but if Dax was in trouble, he would definitely intervene to protect his older brother and vice versa. When Jace was bullied for his mental illness, it was always Dax who intervened and disarmed the situation. Dax knew Jace would do the same.

  “One question I have is where did Elijah, Devon, and Arthur go? Maybe they got all twisted like that old white lady and chased Jace.” A part of the puzzle clicked for Dax at the mention of the idea. He could feel the truth behind the scenario but something was missing. There were three ashen outlines on the sidewalk from The Wannabes. They would have been in a heightened stage of panic, similar to Mateo and Janet if they had changed. Their anger would have been directed to Jace so it made sense that he led them away. Still, where would he go?

  “If he was trying to lure them away, he may still be looking for me. I don’t think we can leave quite yet Mateo, not until we check a couple of spots.” Dax admitted.

  “Ayy I am in no rush to move my ass to the whitest state in the country so take your time.” Dax smiled and stood up. He took long inhales, his beating chest turning to a gentle thrum. “So where would that gorilla go anyways? Probably Central Park right? That boy loved his trees.” Mateo said. Dax nodded.

  “That’s a good place to start.” Dax bent over reaching down to his toes. He swung over to his right and left foot, the strain of his bruised and stiff muscles sending sharp pain up his lower back.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Mateo asked while Dax lunged sideways, dipping his hip towards the floor, his entire body protesting.

  “I’m stretching.”

  “No shit! I know that but why?”

  “I don’t want to cramp and it's probably best that we run to the park so we don’t stumble into those-”

  “Twisted, and cramping, seriously? You’re wasting time, Dax.” Mateo groaned. Dax sighed.

  “Just wait a little longer, I do this every run.” Dax explained turning to the wall and placing his foot at an angle to stretch his calf. “And when did you take the liberty to name them?”

  “Come on, the name is pretty sweet” Dax imagined if he could see Mateo, that the boy was smirking at his stroke of genius, “With their twisted personalities, it is a perfect nickname.” Dax pushed himself off the wall, his limbs felt limber. Any stiffness from the blast was eased out of his muscles.

  “Not the worst name considering. Now let's go to Central Park and hope we don’t run into the ''Twisted''”. Dax said with air quotations. Slowly, they strode towards the end of the alley and into the street. They peered left and right, the block and city appeared desolate. There were no sounds besides the crumbling of mortar and an eerie siren that continued its dull warning somewhere in the near distance.

  Convinced no Twisted were around to attack, Dax began jogging towards Central Park, down the same streets they had run down only hours ago. After only five minutes of navigating the crimson dust, and sodden streets, Dax’s footsteps heavily slapped the asphalt. Between his earlier run, the soreness of the blast’s impact and the emotional turmoil of losing Jace, fatigue weighed him down. Regardless, Dax willed himself awake and he pushed away the urge to rest. Only when they found Jace would he entertain the idea of sleep. It was still night but fortunately, the sky was illuminated, covered in orange clouds. If the sun had finally risen, the boys had no way of telling. Since the explosion, it felt as though days had passed, all sense of time had vanished. Dax observed his cracked watch, the hands still silently positioned at 7:30. His heart sank, the watch meant nothing in this world but it still was the most valued thing the boy had. He shook off the sentimental thoughts.

  “What’s it like being stuck inside me?” Dax questioned aloud, “Like you can see what I see and feel what I feel but what else can you do?” he asked, thinking about Mateo’s physical awareness when they were attacked by Janet.

  “What am I a pet monkey? I don’t have any special parlor tricks cabron. I can feel everything just like before. The only thing is, it's like I'm in the passenger seat of the car, every bump, smell, taste, feeling is felt but I just can’t control any of it.” Mateo explained. “It’s honestly not that bad. I only freaked out at the beginning because it was unnerving.” Mateo got quiet and Dax let him take his time and find the words to explain his newfound reality. “When I saw how much my panicking affected you - us, it helped me calm down.” Mateo sighed and regret sat heavy on Dax’s heart. “I’m sorry Dax, I just needed a second to settle in you know? I promise it won’t happen again.” He nodded and furrowed his brows. He wasn’t even concerned with it happening again. Who cares? He didn’t think he could mentally handle the situation better than Mateo. His calm demeanor and ability to adapt to the situation was dumbfounding. Compared to Janet, Dax considered himself lucky to have Mateo as the co-pilot. Dax leapt over a toppled light pole and spoke softly.

  “I owe you Mateo. I promise I’ll try to make this situation the best possible, you just let me know what you want to do. This isn’t ideal for either of us but a lot less for you, I understand that.” Dax counseled.

  “I appreciate it.” Dax pushed back strands of hair that had fallen in his face.

  “Can you read my mind?” Mateo chuckled.

  “Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to be involved with your sick thoughts.” Dax shook his head and chuckled. He wished he had time to think. Mateo occupied his inner thoughts and his voice drowned out his own. In a way, it was a relief. He had always had an inner voice that ran rampant, his brain always churning. At the end of the day, it was his mind that always worked overtime and rarely left him enough energy to do anything but sleep. Since the bombing, his head felt lighter, strangely enough.

  A few minutes of jogging later, Central Park came into view. Even with the state of the world, the trees were welcoming and eased the tension that had built inside of Dax. Crimson dust blanketed the remaining foliage and a couple of crumpled buildings lay on the outskirts of the park. The damage was minimal and Central Park still maintained its beauty. He smiled and his pace slowly picked up. Dax ran up through the woods and went along the trail they usually ran. He scanned the area during the trek, some trees were toppled and branches littered the trail but Dax could not tell if that was from the blast or the lack of maintenance. Even so, the area was impeccable compared to the rest of the city which consisted of halved skyscrapers and crimson dust that enveloped every object that was in the open.

  Jace’s favorite place in the park was on top of a large American Elm looking over the reservoir. The tree had a five foot based diameter and Jace could always pounce up the tree with ease. His size and agility was partially why Dax thought he was a real life gorilla. Jace’s main captivation with this tree was you could see the sun bounce off the water. It mesmerized him and being surrounded by the forested paths relaxed him further. Even during the worst of times, the park always put his mind at ease. It had changed since the Bunker Initiative was implemented. The reservoir had been depleted and the maintenance of the paths had suffered. Silver lining, people did not venture through the park leaving it all to them and the occasional group of bystanders. They could enjoy the soothing stillness of nature in the middle of New York. The silence was almost unbearable compared to the constant motion of sound that bounded around the concrete jungle.

  Dax's feet felt light the closer they approached, the sound of his steps lightly pattering the trail while he whipped through the woods and up the trail towards the lake. Dax passed over the Bow Bridge, the swampy water’s smell below stronger than before. If he could guess, a rat had ventured a little too close into its swampy depths.

  “Wait.” Dax said out loud, a sudden realization shocking him to a halt. He checked his wrist, shaking his head in disappointment at the still broken watch. Old habits die hard.

  “What’s going on Dax?” Mateo asked hesitantly. Dax continued to survey the woods and scratched his head. “Dax, talk to me man. Do you hear someone? A Twisted?”

  “Something’s different.” Dax said, putting two fingers to his neck. Dax’s pulse was dull, a slow thrum. His breathing was steady and he wasn’t greedily gulping in air.

  “What does that mean?” Mateo questioned, concern and fear lining his words.

  “I think I just broke a record.” Dax commented with surprise. Mateo remained quiet, impatience building inside Dax’s chest.

  “Out of all the shit we could be worried about. Twisted, Elijah, even fucking murder hornets and you are focused on your PR?” Dax's fingers remained to his neck counting his heartbeat, his breaths consistent and calm. Mateo groaned in frustration. “I’ll kick your ass Dax, I swear to god I will do it. I will find a way to exit this body and whoop you to death.”

  “Maybe it’s the adrenaline but I haven’t even broken a sweat.” Dax said, ignoring the boy. He had always been fast. He ran a mile in 5:45 and had endurance that carried him through self tracked marathons. This was different, he felt a constant influx of energy and power that carried him forward. The exhaustion and fatigue that existed only minutes ago had disappeared. Carried out of his system on a whim.

  “I thought some crazy ass Twisted was going to mess us up man! What's wrong with you!” Dax flinched at the sound of Mateo’s loud scolding.

  “Calm down man! I can’t help it, we just got to Bow Bridge in like 4 minutes.” Mateo sighed.

  “Why in the hell is that important.” Dax scratched his head again and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

  “Unless I am Eliud Kipchoge, that’s like 4 minutes per mile for 2 miles” Dax felt his neck again, “And my pulse is normal.” Dax started walking again, pondering the reasoning for the change in his physical prowess. Adrenaline had worn out hours ago and he was exhausted to the point of collapse only moments ago. Dax passed a memorial bench tagged in graffiti. One of the legs had rusted completely through but it still remained standing, a testament to the creator’s skill. “Did you help me run?” Dax questioned suddenly, his thoughts returning to his new inhabitant.

  “Of course.” Mateo stated, sarcasm coating his tone. “Did you forget? I picked you up in my bare arms and carried you through the park. It was like a scene from Spirit. What the hell do you think, fool?”

  “Come on Mateo! Be serious.” Dax paced back and forth, his eyebrows furrowed. “Unless I was shot up with Xanax, I should at least have an elevated heart rate but it is completely resting.” Dax explained. “This could help us in the long run especially if we face a Twisted.”

  “Look, I don’t know, Dax. The only thing that happened is when you started running I focused more on your feet so I could feel like I was running too.”

  “Did you feel anything happening when you did that?” Dax asked, pointing at his legs. “Anything strange or tingly?”

  “I can’t remember Dax! I wanted to feel like I had legs again! I only feel a little bit of your body at a time and I have to focus on a specific part.” Mateo cursed in frustration. “Man, we don't have time for this shit! Don’t we have to go find your brother or something? Ay Dios Mio!” Dax dragged a hand down his face and groaned. He was curious about the phenomenon but there were more pressing matters at hand. Reluctantly, Dax began to move, his legs effortlessly gliding among the trail of overgrowth.

  “Not an issue with me. I have no problem with you feeling my legs.” Dax joked with a smile. Mateo continued his whispered curses. On the run, he passed all the Central Park landmarks, Belvedere Castle, the Great Lawn, and then finally the Jacqueline Kennedy Reservoir. Before Fisk took office, the reservoir was filled with water and people passed the lake full of laughter and energy. Now, it was nothing more than a couple of puddles with overgrown shrubbery blocking a majority of the trail's viewpoints. It didn’t matter to Dax, he took a left at the trail that went around the lake and ran to a low hanging American Elm. Dax ran to the tree and effortlessly placed one foot on a large knot near the base and propelled himself up to the first branch looking around frantically for his brother. Jace was nowhere to be found.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Damn it.” Dax shouted, throwing himself to the ground. He grabbed a large branch and whipped it towards the base of the trunk. “Where the fuck are you Jace?” Even outside, surrounded by Central Park, he felt claustrophobic. His head became light and he had the inescapable urge to sprint around the city yelling Jace’s name until he collapsed. Dax clambered to the ground, his breaths shallow and his eyes losing focus. He had never had a panic attack but he knew the signs.

  “Anywhere else he would’ve gone bro?” Mateo questioned. Dax shook his head, the panic slightly receding in answer.

  “This is it, the only other place is Wyoming.” Dax rested his head against the rough edged bark. “I just can’t understand how and why he would leave me behind.” Dax stared at the illuminated sky, the clouds had started to separate. He rubbed his neck and ran through all potential explanations for Jace’s disappearance. All of them ended with him coming back to rescue Dax. Those scenarios hadn’t played out and now he was alone.

  “Maybe he had a hot date, I’d leave your ugly mug behind if I had one.” Mateo joked with a chuckle. Dax blinked twice and lifted his head off the tree. A brief conversation with Jace that he had taken lightly replayed in his head. His mystery girlfriend, the one in bunker 83. Dax stood up, his eyes ablaze with another spark of hope reigniting the fire that had almost become an ember.

  “Mateo you’re a genius!” Dax shouted a smile stretching across his lips. “We have one more place to visit.”

  “Where are we going?” Mateo asked.

  “Jace said he had a girlfriend in bunker 83. I thought he was lying but who knows! It's worth checking out!” Mateo chuckled.

  “Ay Jace had attractable qualities but he was still a street orphan in #2. Unless this girl’s Princess Jasmine, no one will take in a gutter rat.” Dax smirked and kept running.

  “I liked it better when you were supportive.” Dax shot back with a grin.

  “I liked it better when I had a body.” Mateo replied. They quickly ran away from the park and entered Harlem. Jogging past the streets of Harlem, the neighborhood was crumbling to pieces. In all honesty, the neighborhood had been falling apart long before the explosion went off. Harlem housed Bunker #1. It was originally located in Albany New York and was a doomsday prepper’s house before he died. Easily the smallest and least technologically advanced, it consisted of two floors with ten rooms that barely fit four people per chamber. New York’s governor designated this facility for 5,000 of New York’s poorest to live, including Elijah.

  New York, since its beginning, had been architecturally designed to oppress minority groups. It started with Robert Moses and continued onward under Fisk. Dax hated Elijah but he understood his rage. Society had discarded him and every other minority group. It had been going on for centuries. Nothing had changed and to be honest, Dax didn’t see it getting any better, especially now.

  “Dax my man, we are famished. When we check this bunker out, let's go get a slice of pizza.” Dax stopped and pulled out a handful of seeds from his bag plopping them all in his mouth and started running again. Mateo clicked his tongue in frustration. “That's messed up Dax and you know it. You’re feeding two of us and I hate the taste of sunflower seeds.” Mateo quipped in agitation. Moments later, Mateo let out a gag. “These are even worse than I remember.” Dax smiled wickedly.

  “What are you talking about? These are dill pickle flavored; this is what the Yankee’s ate before the shelter was added.” He passed a row of shops. All of their windows had been shattered by the impact of the explosions. Glass littered the pavement and some shards were melted to the warped asphalt floor.

  “Dill pickle! You and Jace are trailer trash. What the hell is wrong with you and your palette? We better get some decent food or I will riot.” Mateo complained. “You know what I want?”

  “What do you want?”.

  “I am going to use that little favor you owe me and we are going to take a detour to Chicago to get some proper deep dish.” Dax's mouth started to salivate.

  “By my body’s reaction, I can tell you really want this.” Mateo groaned.

  “Damn right! Aw man, a nice slice of Lou Malnati’s would put me in the right mind to continue our little journey.” Dax thought about it trying to remember the location of Chicago in relation to their trip to Wyoming. Jace and Dax had mapped out the entire trek by plane, bus and even cargo trains. It was almost every night that Jace highlighted the trek out west. Due to the ritual, Dax memorized some of the paths and remembered that by car, they would’ve swung under Chicago. Though it was a day detour, it didn’t seem too far off from the original plan and Mateo needed a win. So did Dax.

  “If Jace isn’t in the city and we head to Wyoming, I think that may be possible. Chicago is along our route anyways” Dax said through steady breaths.

  “Hell yeah!” Mateo cheered, Dax's pace slowed down and he stumbled over his leaden legs.

  “Hey, hey Mateo don’t stop doing the thing I’m running out of fuel.” Almost immediately after Mateo left the steering wheel, Dax’s breaths were exasperated, his heart rate skyrocketed, and the sun flower seeds dried up any remaining saliva in his mouth. He would have been more impressed by the discovery if he wasn’t about to collapse.

  “My bad Dax!” Dax's heartbeat slowed down and his breathing leveled out while Mateo focused on their feet. “We need to figure out some name for our condition.” Dax laughed.

  “I thought being “twisted” was the condition.”

  “Nah bro, Twisted is the name of the crazy putas, but I’m talking about when I give you more juice to your engine”. Dax spit out some sunflower seeds while Mateo pondered some ideas. “How about juicing?” Dax let out one of his noise canceling laughs.

  “I’m not Barry Bonds Mateo.”

  “Man I haven’t heard that donkey scream in ages bro, you still haven’t fixed that?” Dax rolled his eyes and ignored the quip. Mateo remained silent.

  “How about fusing? So when I need your help I'll say we need to fuse.” Dax suggested. Mateo remained quiet.

  “Nah that's not it bro, it needs to be...sexy. We have superpowers so we need a name for our power.” Dax spit out more seeds, his strides light and long while Mateo thought. “I’ve got it! Unir has a good ring to it.”

  “You near? Wait what?”

  “Ay Dios- no cabron it's not you near, it's oo-neer, it means to unite or join in Spanish.” Mateo explained. Dax furrowed his eyebrows.

  “So it is “you near”?” Mateo groaned.

  “No Dax, there isn’t a break, it isn’t two words, it's one quick one and it's the OO sound not the YOU sound.” Mateo emphasized the sounds once again. Dax's brow remained cast over his eyes.

  “Why can’t we just use unite instead of the Spanish version?” he asked. Mateo sighed, defeated.

  “Because its about time you learned a little culture and besides, if I am going to ride passenger in the honkey mobile, better try to at least put a nice coat of paint on it.” Dax chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. Deep dish pizza and nicknames was one thing he was willing to sacrifice for Mateo’s sake.

  “Alright, unir it is” Dax said with emphasis on the pronunciation. “Let's unir a little longer, we are only about a mile away.” Mateo laughed in admiration of the newly created term.

  “Now that is sexy! Let’s go, fool!”

  After a couple of minutes, anxiousness flooded Dax’s system once again. The thoughts that floated to his surface were not pleasant. In his head, Jace had been either injured, beaten, or worse. It was driving him insane and he shook his head every time another pesky thought floated in through the wall he built around his mind.

  “This is taking too long.” Dax complained.

  “Bro we are running five times faster than the average man, we are the new Usain Bolt.” He rolled his eyes. Patience was not a strong suit of Dax's, especially when it came to Jace. Passing through the neighborhoods and seeing the destruction was also not a confidence booster for Dax. As they got closer to the Bronx zoo, the apartments and buildings surrounding the park had heavy signs of shockwave damage. Melted glass littered the street and one building was laying on the road in front of Dax. Its brick exterior had exploded all over the road and mortar was protruding through every object on the street. The neighboring building was littered with holes from the shrapnel. He stopped running and walked over to where a large piece of brick was partially sticking out of one of the neighborhood buildings.

  “One of the bomb's epicenters must be close.” Dax whispered, looking further down the road. In the distance, the Bronx park was partially visible. Everything in eyesight was coated in the rusty chemical, even more so than before. Instead of a nice misting, there were inches of the chemical that they waded through. Fortunately, their lack of an air respirator didn’t seem to cause them any issues. It didn’t seem to permeate the air but sat on the ground and sifted like dandelion seeds when they took a step forward.

  “Did you let one rip cabron?” Mateo asked. Dax smelled the air, his hand instantly covering his nose. The smell was putrid, worse than New York dumpsters during the holidays and the nauseating stench triggered his gag reflex. Dax tried to drown out the smell by pinching his nose harder but the smell was omnipresent. “What the hell is that man?”

  “Maybe a sewer drain was struck? Could have let some of New York’s finest drinking water loose on the street.” Dax started jogging forward past the building trying to escape the smell, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright blue cloth. Out of all the gray New York had to offer and the illuminant orange that lit up the sky, the vibrancy of the color caught his attention. He wished it had not. His head turned and immediately Dax's vision blurred. Two feet away was a body covered in pussing blisters and burns with a piece of brick shrapnel sticking out of what he thought was the person’s chest. The body was too morphed to tell any recognizable features. Hair was in patches on their head and pieces of flesh seemed to have been burned away revealing a sickening white sheen of bone. It was only the blue floral scarf with a shimmering glitter overlay that was recognizable and the only piece of the picture that was pleasant to look at. Dax couldn’t stop the bile that rose in his throat. He vomited, shards of seeds and the small amount of water clawing up his throat.

  “Wh-what the hell.” Dax murmured. The light taste of dill and the smell of the body become abundantly nauseating. He vomited again and fell to his hands and knees.

  “Let’s move on Dax, we are almost there” Mateo whispered. His carefree candid attitude had dissipated. With all that had happened, they had both forgotten what was at stake. What the world had witnessed. Thoughts overtook the wall he tried building around his mind and panic of losing Jace settled in once again. Dax stood up and looked at the body. Though they were torn to shreds from the burns and shrapnel, a hint of a ghostly smile was painted on the person’s face. Dax wondered what they saw in their final moments, what perplexed him to look into the sky and smile. He walked over to them and gingerly laid the scarf over their face. They didn’t have time to properly honor the dead, this would have to do. Dax stood up and ran towards the park. The rest of the run past in silence.

  Nearing the zoo, Dax started to notice something was different, the trees had all been flattened facing the boys. One tree was uprooted and across the street. It had been smashed into a corner store titled “Pinky’s Boutique”. The trunk of the tree was completely ashen and was a stark contrast to the vibrant floral shop that had its walls coated in Barbie pink and ocean blue murals. Dax entered the zoo following an asphalt trail that passed an enclosure with a caged tunnel. It used to house the giant cats. Part of the tunnel had collapsed and wire laid cut and jagged, lashing out in different directions.

  Bunker 83 was located within the zoo near the northern ponds where the swamps and exotic birds existed. The soil was the easiest to dig into making it easier for the architects to erect the massive bunker. It cost the city $5.3 billion dollars to construct and was a cement fortress. It had fifty floors that housed over one million of New York’s richest and their luxury items. Cars, art, and the zoo’s animals all existed in this bunker. Emergency food and water came from the zoo’s aqueduct system and if need be, food would come from the zoo’s animal inhabitants. There was only one entrance and it was safeguarded by a multitier lock system with five sets of doors that required authorization badges to access. It was the second safest bunker in the United States besides the presidents, or so was rumored.

  When Dax approached the fortress’ entrance, the image of safety melted away to nothing but miscalculation and doom. The doors to the entrance had been ripped apart, a huge crater existed only feet away from the entrance. “Man one bomb did all this?” Mateo exclaimed. Dax was surveying the wreckage. The steel doors were thrown across the zoo. One looked like a crumpled up piece of aluminum foil and rested against a folded steel fence that surrounded a bleak looking pen. The image of a lion was pasted onto an informational sign in front of the fence. Dax’s eyes shifted from the door and he walked closer to the crater’s center. Below the crater, the destroyed door unveiled flights of stairs that lead down into a hallway towards an ajar elevator door that was piled up with broken concrete. Carefully, Dax gingerly stepped down the entrance. His footsteps were near silent, every groan of metal under his weight deafening. The elevator shifted slightly when he approached. A light flickered within the death box and the concrete rocks inside weighed heavily on the elevators wires.

  “I am surprised even this fortress was compromised” Dax laid his hand against the cold elevator door. There was no way Jace had made it down the shaft or at least, he wouldn’t risk it. The elevator was severely battered and had large dents throughout its small confines. Daring to look over the edge, Dax was greeted with utter darkness that consumed the wire that hung from the concrete roof. Out of sheer curiosity, he reached his hand inside the elevator blindly to feel for the control panel. Unwilling to test the strength of the metal wire, his feet remained planted on the outside of the elevator. His fingers met a button and he pressed it. The elevator’s lights flickered again and the door slowly began to shut, catching on a large chunk of concrete blocking the doors tracks. Regardless, the elevator hummed to life and descended into the darkness.

  Music fluttered up the shaft as it descended. An eerie and distorted jazz tune with the saxophone being the only instrument that could be heard with clarity. Dax watched until the light of the elevator became nothing but a distant spec. Music continued to carry up the shaft, echoing off the concrete chute. Dax shrugged and started walking back towards the exit of the bunker. Even if Jace had gone down the elevator, there were still four more steel doors that he could not bypass. “I think we are done here, Mateo.” His footsteps clambered against the serrated walkway, heavy and unconcerned of potential onlookers. “Jace must have gone to Wyoming, there is nowhere else for us here.”

  “We’ll find Jace bro, but hey one bite of deep dish and I swear you’ll forget all about him.” Dax gave a smile that he knew didn’t reach his eyes, it wasn’t like Mateo could see the gesture anyways. Nearing the exit door, a bone chilling eruption of sound overcame them both. They froze, fear rooting them to the spot. A cacophony of wailed screams of torment and pain ran up from the endless chasm. Chills spread down Dax's entire body, the air seeming to freeze around them. Dax half-turned expecting to see a mutilated body crawling out of the pit. Nothing was behind him besides the indecipherable screaming and slew of words from voices deep in the bunker. Dax ran faster than he ever had, back into the city to escape the screams, the smiling body, and Janet. He was done with this city.

  “Wyoming couldn’t come faster.” Dax admitted. Mateo let out a nervous chuckle.

  “Deep dish pizza couldn’t come faster.”