"You with us, Devil?"

Oliver put away his wandering thoughts when he realized Jane was talking to him, and quickly clicked 'post' before closing the Bounty tab... Unfortunately, it wasn't for a spell that could cure the zombie plague- no matter how he worded it, and whether it was a virus, bacteria, fungus, or magic, the System only returned an error message for any post requesting a spell below Rank 5... which he absolutely couldn't afford- not that potions or devices to cure it were much cheaper...

Apparently, the zombie plague was much more difficult to cure than he had initially thought.

Seeing that Jane was waiting for a response- and definitely not wanting to relate what he was actually thinking or doing- he quickly latched on to the first wandering thought that he felt was relevant.

"Is that the boundary that you mentioned?" He asked, gesturing back past the alley they had come from. Considering his focus on the threat he had felt- with good reason, since they discovered the zombies- he wasn't surprised that he had missed the pocket dimension's boundary initially... Especially since it didn't seem to even register on his vague spiritual sense. At all.

Just a few feet past the starting alley was a shimmering haze, one that looked quite a lot like the distortions someone would see over the road on a particularly hot day- a heat mirage, he remembered was called a heat mirage. Beyond that haze, he could still see buildings and roads, complete with wrecked or abandoned cars, scattered trash and debris. But everything looked... hazy, almost illusory.

Though she had never seen it herself, Jane had briefly mentioned the boundary before they entered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it." She confirmed after a quick look. "Just keep in mind, anything beyond that haze isn't actually there."

"How does that work?" Eve asked, he curiosity overriding her dislike of the agent. "I mean, we can still see buildings and stuff..."

"Beats the hell out of me." Jane shrugged. "I think our experts called the boundary a 'spatio-temporal echo' or something- not that I actually understand any of that. All I know is that you can't actually cross the boundary; It's basically like walking into a wall..."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Oliver nodded- while he didn't fully understand what they meant, he could at least infer a few things.

"How the hell does that make sense to you?" Eve was quick to huff; she knew Oli was smart- definitely smarter than her about a lot of things- but this was just ridiculous!

Seeing interested looks from all three of them, he shrugged slightly. "I won't claim that I understand everything... But, really, it's in the name. 'Spatio-temporal echo'? 'Spatio' is a prefix or combining form derived from the Latin word 'spatium', which means space, and temporal obviously means related to time... Considering this is a pocket dimension- meaning an enclosed space- and factoring in the time dilation... My best guess is that the boundary is actually created by a fold in space and time, and that said fold is what created the distortion. Most likely, everything we can see beyond the boundary has already been destroyed, and what we can see is kind of just... and afterimage, or a still shot, caused by time being twisted."

"Do what now?" Eve asked slowly in disbelief. "How does space and time fucking fold?"

"Fuck if I know?" Oliver shrugged, then laughed at Eve's shocked look. "I mean, seriously, I'm just kinda guessing based off what Agent Doe just told us; it's not like I've actually studied this stuff!"

"But it sounds right." Jane shrugged, clearly not interested in the theory behind it- she was an agent, not a researcher, and stuff like that was better left to those brainiacs to worry about. "Not that it matters, we have a job to do- fuck, I feel like I've being saying that same thing all day..." She sighed softly, shaking her head. "Anyway... What I meant to say before we got distracted- again- was that we need to clear these buildings... and check for anything useful, including your request for bleach and hydrogen peroxide..."

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly before continuing- sounding more than a little reluctant with the decision she had made. "Oakheart and I will clear the building; I want the two of you to stay here and keep an eye out. If we find another exit that we can't secure, we'll come back to grab one of you to cover it."

"So I'm just expected to stand around doing nothing?" Eve huffed, clearly displeased with the decision.

"It makes sense, actually." Oliver stepped in to calm the volatile vampire. "Your spear and my bow aren't the best for inside these small buildings." Glancing at Jane, he tapped the hilt of his sword. "I can let her borrow my sword, if you want. Three people clearing the building would be safer and easier than two."

"That's not necessary." Jane politely refused. "I would prefer that we not split up too much, just in case of trouble- for larger buildings, we'll likely stay as one group, as well."

"But what if they find some good loot!?" Eve protested, only for Oliver to wave her down.

"Calm your tits, loot goblin." He couldn't help but snicker at her indignant look- though he wasn't sure which part she was offended by. "For starters, it's a convenience store; I doubt there is any good loot in there- even if it looks like there is an apartment or something above it... Plus, Agent Doe and Oakheart are both good and honorably people who have both agreed to split loot among the group. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they were more worried about us trying to sneak off with something valuable.

He was quite amused to see the slightly embarrassed look on Agent Doe's face... But, what was more interesting, was the small, knowing smirk that Oakheart directed his way... Which worried Oliver just a bit.

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"Yes, well..." Jane muttered softly, still embarrassed by being called out- and a bit by the complement, even if it was a bit strange for someone calling themselves 'The Devil' to be calling her 'good and honorable'... "Discussing 'loot' is for later. You too keep a sharp eye out, and we'll try to clear this building as quickly as we safely can."

Oliver simply nodded as they turned to enter the building, his focus already shifting to the pleasant 'ding' from the System as someone submitted his Bounty- a rather fast turn around, though not that surprising considering he wasn't asking for anything too difficult to get a hold of...

Intending to wait until they entered the back of the building- likely a storage area for whatever the store sold- he kept them in the corner of his vision as he kept watch outside...

Not that Eve would let go of a chance to talk to him alone.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" She hissed in a low voice, having moved over to stand right in front of him. "I mean, this is seriously stupid! You were so pissed at just the possibility of drawing attention from the Feds, and now your here-"

"Oh, you want to talk about stupid?" He cut her off calmly, not even bothering to look down at her. "What about a wanted terrorist walking into what easily could have been a trap- without any back up? How stupid is that?"

Turning away from him at the accusation, Eve pouted and folded her arms across her chest. The silence stretched out for a moment, and he thought she wouldn't answer... Until she spoke, so softly that even he could barely hear it with her right next to him. "I'm... tired. Tired of running. Tired of being alone..."

Oliver's heart clenched at the sheer anguish and loneliness in her voice, and he understood her fear: that feeling that you would always be alone, that perhaps no one would understand... That maybe you deserved it... He had felt something all too similar when his mother had passed; the difference being, he only dealt with it for a year before his friends- and his therapist- pulled him out of it...

Eve had been dealing with it for decades.

"And you figured that if you made this deal and weren't being hunted anymore, maybe you would have a chance to come back and seduce me and Poli-"

"I don't want to seduce you two!" She snapped, before grimacing slightly. "Ok, I still kinda do... But that isn't... I mean, it isn't that simple! Poli implied that she was ok with sharing, and I want... I mean, I was hoping..."

"You were hoping for something a little more serious, but you're afraid and you don't know how to express it..." He sighed, wondering once more how his life got so complicated- especially romantically. "Look, I'm not saying it's impossible. Hell, the only reason I accepted this job was because me and Poli were worried that you were getting yourself into trouble and we wanted to pull your ass out of the fire, so to speak-"

"You guys were seriously worried about me?" Eve perked up instantly, nearly bouncing in place from excitement. "So, I've got a shot? Fuck yeah! I'll-"

"Hold up there, you pint-sized psycho." Oliver cut her off once more, waving his hand for her to calm down. "I said it's not impossible, but I never said it would be easy. Honestly, you'll have to do a lot before I would even consider trusting you- and that starts with you reigning in your destructive, psycho energy."

"You know, you're kind of a psycho too, right?"

"Yeah, I know." He shrugged indifferently. "But I'm a bit more controlled and focused... Most of the time..."

"Besides, I'm not the only one you would have to convince."

"Yeah..." Eve sighed, a small frown marring her face. "I'm sure Poli is still a little unhappy with me..."

"Probably." Oliver acknowledged, smiling slightly as he saw Jane and Oakheart nearing the door leading to what he assumed was the stockroom. "She'll probably be tough to convince, though she does like you... Of course, you'll also have to convince our girlfriend to give you a chance, and I have no clue how that will go."

"Your what!? When the hell did that happen?"

"Eh, it's a long story." He smirked, knowing that answer would drive her crazy...

Not that he had time to really explain- not if he wanted to do what he was thinking.

The moment Oakheart and Agent Doe entered the back of the store and were out of sight, Oliver sprung into action.

Grabbing a pair of elbow length latex gloves from the Warehouse, he pulled them on as he verified the submission of the Bounty he had just posted... for some medical supplies. Specifically, containers for storing biological samples, needles, syringes, and more...

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Collecting some samples." He said absently and shrugged once more. "I have a contact that would likely pay very well for zombie samples, so I'm going to grab a few things- brain, skin, blood...." He paused for a second, staring at the black bodysuit underneath the latex gloves. "Lita, no drinking any zombie blood, ok? I have no idea what it would do to you."

Lita, his living armor, seemed to vibrate at his words... and, while he couldn't really understand her, he got a vague sense of... disgust... at the mention of zombie blood.

"You know, me being the voice of reason here is already kinda fucked..." Eve said, still shocked at his actions- and the revelation that he and Poli had a girlfriend. "But even I shudder to think of what would happen if the wrong people got a hold of something like a zombie plague- and I'm sure you don't want to be responsible for the world getting fucked like that."

"I tend to view things along the lines of 'I'm not responsible for what people do with my products'... But, in this case, you're right." He replied as he scrapped some of the zombie brain matter out of the hole Eve had punched in its skull with the spear, before carefully sealing the container and storing it in the Warehouse- considering everything in there was frozen in time, he wasn't too worried about once it was put away. "I have a buyer in mind already, someone from another world- or possibly another Universe; I can't be sure..."

"But I do know..." He said, grinning slightly as he prepared to get a blood sample. "That she wants it to try and prevent a zombie apocalypse on her world... And that she will pay very, very well for anything that helps her in that pursuit."

"You swear that none of this will stay on Earth?"

"Yeah, I can promise you that."

"Now, do me a favor..." He added, throwing a wink her way. "And keep an eye out? I don't want zombies sneaking up on me- or Agent Doe; I'm fairly sure she wouldn't approve of this... and would possibly think the worst of me because of it."

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