Landing ungracefully on the roof, Justin tumbles over before crawling to the side underneath the barrier. “I feel like I’m in the fuckin’ Matrix.” Cody snickers under his breath, but says nothing. Instead, he pulls out a gun and sits up on his knees so that he can see above the barricade. Justin, knowing that Cody is making sure they are safe, waits a few moments before speaking. Finally however, he has to ask. “Cody?” “Yeah?” He asks, making sure his gun is loaded and the safety is off. “How do you know everything? I mean, do you know or are you just making theories? Like the smoking and why the memories are coming back now…” He hesitates, not sure which answer he would like to hear. Cody shakes his head, “I didn’t go read it in some book, if that’s what you’re asking. Anyone with anytime can just think about it long enough for it to make sense. I like smoking. I suddenly can’t smoke. Smoke can damage hardware, so why can’t that be reason why it suddenly tastes like shit? The memories… well, those sick fucks are manipulative bastards… I wouldn’t put anything past them.” Justin slowly nods, “You have a lot of time on your hands, don’t you?” Laughing loudly, Cody stands up and pulls out another gun. Handing it to Justin, he asks, “You remember how to use one of these, right, Neo?” ********* -------------------**************** “Hey, Brian,” Emmett greets cheerfully as he waves his friend over to his table at the diner. Taking off his sunglasses, Brian nods in Emmett’s direction and asks Debbie for some coffee. “And where’s your better half?” Emmett asks with a smile. Michael rolls his eyes, and then comments, “I haven’t seen you around since Justin came back from California. Too busy fucking to pick up the phone?” “Yes, Michael. That’s exactly it,” Brian replies tongue-in-cheek as Debbie sets down a cup of coffee in front of him. “Where’s Sunshine?” she asks. He shrugs, “Not sure. I woke up and figured he came to the diner and got preoccupied chatting with the simple folk.” ********** --------------------- *************** ------------------------- ”I need to get home,” Justin states with exasperation. “I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I need to talk to Brian.” Cody lights up another cigarette, “You’ve said that already.” Standing up, Justin looks around. After deciding that no one from the fundamentalist group was around, the two young men entered the apartment complex from the roof’s entrance and were now sitting in what seems to be a storage unit for the entire building. “Where the fuck are we anyways?” Shrugging, Cody walks over to the window, “Go if you want, Justin. They’ll find you… one of them will.” ”Oh, and hanging with you will increase my odds of… what? Chain smoking and pill popping while wielding guns?” Suddenly they both tense. Swallowing hard, Justin realizes that a group of fundamentalists have entered the complex and are searching for them. Turning to Cody, he whispers, “Shit! They’re coming!” Pulling out one of his guns, Cody slowly walks over to the door before stopping and looking up at the ceiling. He whispers, “Someone is on the roof.” Backing up against the wall, Justin whispers back, “Two people are taking the elevator and another two are taking the stairs.” Nodding, Cody states, “Five against two.” “Fuck.” He swallows hard again. If he survived this, the first thing on his list is taking a cab and going to the loft. “Hide.” Cody instructs. “What?!” “Hide,” he repeats, taking another step to the door. “Are you fuckin’ nuts?!” Justin tries not to shout. “I’ll distract them,” Cody assures his re-acquainted friend. “You are insane, Cody! Fuckin’ insane!” “Just shut up and go hide behind those boxes or something… just stay away from the windows.” He points to the boxes. Justin doesn’t budge, “What the fuck are you planning to do?” Cody gives a maniacal grin and Justin can only imagine what blood-filled plan is about to transpire. Closing his eyes he screams a silent help to anyone who might be listening. Be it God, the devil, it didn’t really matter at this point. “Hurry the fuck up, Justin,” Cody hisses and points to the boxes again. Rolling his eyes, Justin sneaks behind the many boxes and comments, “This is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had, Cody.”