After the other Rosie died, Rosie and Victor’s surroundings evaporated, and they were now in an empty white abyss.

“It’s still his fault,” Rosie relented.

“Rosie, you can spin it all the way you want, but your brother loved you and he didn’t mean to hurt you,” Victor responded while standing up.

“No! He’s a monster,” Rosie said, now crying.

“The only thing he is guilty of is loving you, Rosie,” Victor said, walking closer to her.

“No, how do you know?” Rosie said.

“You saw how he looked at you that whole day, he worshiped you, Rosie,” Victor said, then hugged he her. “He even killed himself right after your funeral.”

Rosie pushed him away. “What?”

“He said he wanted to be with you,” Victor said, holding Rosie firmly in order to look deeply into her eyes.

“You’re lying,” Rosie responded while shivering in disbelief.

“He’s not,” a voice said, coming from behind them. It was Rosie’s brother, and was dressed as sharp as they were.

“Lucas,” Rosie whispered, then she turned sharply and spotted her little brother’s beautiful smile.

“I came to fetch you, Rosie,” Lucas said, and when he ran to her, they hugged and Rosie cried.

“I’ve been looking for you all over,” Lucas said with a sob. “I’m so sorry, Rosie.”

“It’s okay, Lucas, I forgive you, it was all mistake,” Rosie said. “I missed you.”

“Me too,” Lucas said, and they both started to glow.

After a while, Rosie pulled back and looked at his hand, which was turning into glowing particles and whisking away. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We’re going home,” Lucas said, then he disappeared.

After watching Lucas disappear, Rosie turned to Victor for the last time. “Thank you, Victor,” she said, then she also faded away.

**********

The horse galloped its way to Rodney in a rage filled fit. It was determined to trample him, but he jumped out of the way. Richie whistled behind it, so it adhered and turned to face him. It sprung with its front legs and raised its hooves to the air. Upon landing, it started kicking back dirt with its broken front hoof.

“It’s coming for you!” Patricia screamed.

“Don’t worry about me, just get me the rope,” Richie said, then he bent low and braced himself. “Remember to aim for the legs, the rope will slip off of its neck since it doesn’t have a head.”

“Okay,” Patricia said, then she started twirling the rope’s knot over her like a cowboy. “It’s going to be close though, so don’t place all your trust in me.”

“Well, tough luck, because I do, we all saw you at the cornfield parade last year,” Richie responded, giving Patricia a wink.

“Yeah, you were amazing!” Nerdy said, dusting himself off.

“You caught that pig in 6.5 Seconds, almost beating the record,” Noobie added.

“Yeah, almost,” Patricia said, looking drained.

“Hey!” Richie shouted, catching Patricia attention. “I trust you, you’re part of The Boyz now.”

Patricia gave Richie a confident smile after his comment. “Got yah boss!” she said, winking back.

While they were talking, the horse took off, and it bolted towards Richie, who stood firm and braced himself. “Any day now!” he said.

On seeing the horse galloping towards Richie, Patricia took a breath, squeezed her thighs, focused on its front hooves, and tried timing them perfectly. She was aiming for when they hit the ground and were close together. She caught the pattern, and when the time came, she ran closer and threw the rope at her target. Both the horse’s legs landed inside the airborne hoop, and Patricia yanked the rope back and the knot closed in on the hooves. The horse’s knees buckled, and it fell chest first to the ground and started writhing, trying to stand but failing.

When the horse went down, the boys exalted Patricia, and when they rushed over to hug her, they all fell on the ground laughing.

“Nice one, Trish,” one of the boys said. “Awesome, Tricia,” another one said as the praises kept coming. After a while, they all got up and dusted off their radiation suits.

“How did you do that?” Richie asked.

“I really focused on its clomping and …” Patricia said, but she was interrupted before she could finish.

“Look out!” Noobie yelled, and they all dove away before the horse trampled them. They then looked back and saw the rope laying there, tore in half.

“Are you kidding me?” Richie asked, seeing the horse coming for them again.

As they dove away again, the horse disintegrated and withered away, and when Richie raised his head, he looked around and saw that it was gone.

“Where did it go?” Nerdy asked.

“It disappeared,” Noobie answered languidly.

“I know that, nitwit, but where did it go?” Nerdy retorted.

“Well, dingus, you see us all of standing here with you, don’t you?” Noobie responded, while rolling his eyes.

“What did you just call me?” Nerdy spat.

“Not now!” Richie scolded them. He then took in a deep breath. “The kids and Vic are in that barn over there.”

“But the horse,” Nerdy said.

“It’s gone, but we’ll have to keep an eye out for it,” Richie said, then he walked towards the barn. “Let’s go.”

Before walking, Noobie stuck his tongue out at Nerdy, and Nerdy’s face shrivelled in anger and he clenched his teeth.

“Oh my God, Vic!” Richie said while running towards Victor, who was coming out of the barn with the other kids, and Freddie right there besides him.

“Freddie!” Patricia said while running towards Freddie, and when she got to him, they all met and hugged the souls out of each other.

***

Tell us: What do you think is going to happen next to the group of friends and the children they found?