I head down to the largest home in the area, on my left with my companions close behind. The place is silent... I do not think there are any orcs nearby as they are loud and clumsy. Or at least I hope.

All that can be heard is the sound of feet crunching loose rubble on the ground as we near the front door of the square home, the windows all tinted black to block any view from the outside.

"Is this where you live?" Éowyn asks slowly.

"Nope... I don't know who used to live here but it doesn't matter now," I reply as I stop when my foot hits something.

I bend down to observe the tiny golden necklace covered in ash at the toe of my sandal. I pick it up carefully with my fingers and clean off the face of the pendant. It's a locket, quite vintage. I haven't seen these in all my life, just read about them. A precious thing this must have been which means that the people leaving here did so in a hurry. Black residue on the chain catches my eye and I look closer.

"Legolas what do you make of this?" I ask as Aragorn walks to the door of the house.

He approaches me and holds the chain carefully in his fingers, bringing it to his nose for a quick sniff. "Orc blood," he confirms. Which means I was right.

"That's what I feared. Any sign that they are nearby at all, ranger?" I ask Aragorn.

"No... the air is too calm. I do not sense any within miles..." he responds and then tries to open the door, failing. "Locked," he breathes. He pulls out his dagger to perhaps loosen it but I sigh and push past Éowyn to get to him.

"Move over," I say and he obeys.

I press my hand to the door over the handle to reveal the lock and alarm options. I know that the door wouldn't open because we don't have the required fingerprints for it.

But I hack my way in like Ry taught me how to do years ago by means of the password which is the second option for entering.

I can see the curiosity on Aragorn's face as I do this. Must seem like some kind of sorcery to him.

I clutch the metal handle and lock my elbows, the door opening with little ease. I go ahead and walk into the dark home. It's cleaner than I expected. But abandoned.

The place has no dust... but cob webs line the corners of some small areas. The place had been kept sealed from things all this time so spiders and perhaps some other insects were all that could enter. But it's nicer than my home was.

"This house looks expensive for our economy," I say as we all walk in. Though it is pitch black... I walk to the wall and press my hand to panel. Nothing happens so I suppose the power lines are down. Doesn't surprise me.

I look under that where most homes keep emergency light and open the small door. I stick my hand into the darkness, feeling spider web wrapped rods of rubber and yank. There are only three of them. I toss one to Legolas and the other to Aragorn. "Torches," I say and flick mine on.

I let the beam of light shine on the floor around and already the place is bright enough to see. A game console lies by the television strip on the wall. The coffee table holds a plate of moldy bread that looks like it had been there for years.

A few toys lie on the ground around the couch...

Another light coming on gets my attention and I look to see Aragorn with his flashlight and looking at the home with curiosity.

My eyes flash to my elf who observes his confusingly but then before I can say anything he flicks the switch and lets the light blast in his face, pulling it back immediately and blinking a few times.

I keep a smile from my lips. "Check the cupboards for any food. As much as I love Lembas it might be nice to have something else if we can," I say to Aragorn.

He nods and I gesture towards the kitchen. The whole downstairs is one room... except for the door at the far side which is probably the master suite. I wonder if I could find anything there.

"I'm gonna check for some gear," I say and walk to the door, stepping around a leather chair when I do. For a while leather was very cheap before there wasn't any left... the markets went a bit insane after the orcs invaded... then prices in everything rose and we found ourselves in a depression... before we entered the apocalypse.

I open the door and walk into the empty room. It's large which doesn't surprise me. As far as I am concerned this family must have been rich. The bed is a king size of course, with white sheets pulled back and crinkled pillows.

"Vil," I hear Legolas say as he is right behind me.

"What?" I ask as I walk into the room.

"Where does the light come from...?"

I turn around to see him staring at his torch with a pressed brow.

"Legolas I'll teach you about artificial light later," I chuckle. "Just don't look at the bulb..."

His eyebrows lift but he points the thing back towards the ground.

I shake my head and continue walking to the dresser at the back of the room. I clutch the steel handles and pull open the drawers. There's clothes inside remarkably, that haven't gotten eaten by things... but these rich houses preserve really well... not sure how though.

I fumble through and pull out a dark grey t-shirt that looks like a man's, not too big. Medium built I suppose. I also find some black jean trousers for him because his ones that he currently wears are too light to hide him.

I toss the trousers and shirt behind me and hear Legolas catch it. "That'll fit you. You're going to have to change. That white tunic won't hide you here."

I keep digging in the drawers for different clothes. I pull out a woman's grey t-shirt and a long sleeved black one. I try to look for any monotone items for the best disguise in this grey world we're in. I dig out a grey long sleeved, flannel, button up and some short cuffed jeans that I toss to Legolas along with the woman's grey shirt and a suitable bra. "Take those to Éowyn," I tell him and he quickly does so.

I find some black skinny trousers and place those on the bed along with my black shirt.

I find another men's shirt that's almost the same color as Legolas's and toss it to him when he enters the room. "That goes to your dad-ada that is. Um and give me a second." I stand up and walk to the closet, placing my finger on the wall to open the sliding door. There I look through the hanging clothes and find a black trench coat. I give that to my elf. "Take this to him too."

He takes the things and I grab a men's black jacket from the closet. I know that Aragorn's tunic is dark red but it's red nonetheless... so I let Legolas take the jacket to him to wear over it.

I find some combat type boots that are for a man but I take them for myself and let Éowyn wear the other women's boots I found. Because she had been wearing sandals like me.

Oh if only I could find some running shoes... But they took those with them it seems.

When my husband returns again I shut the door and pull off my elven dress, taking the black trousers and slipping into them. I pull on my new shirt and then slide my feet into the socks and boots.

I look up and see that Legolas has changed as well. The t-shirt fits well enough, a bit loose, but since it is an odd style it so long that it almost covers his butt.

It seems he is not used to wearing such a thin layer of clothing though he seems comfortable in it. And I don't think he's used to seeing his arms. Kind of funny.

"Now you almost look modern," I joke. "If it wasn't for the hair and the ears."

He makes that cute amused smile at me that never fails to bring blood to my cheeks.

I bite my lip and roll my eyes to ignore his smooth grin and look under the large bed for signs of a weapon stash. My eyes dart around in the darkness until I use my torch. But there's nothing I go to the closet and move the shoes aside. Nothing on the carpet. Until I pull the clothes and notice a locked metal door on the wall at the back. I yank on the handle and surprisingly it opens. Some kind of safe I suppose. Most people would hide their weapons in them. But this one is empty.

"They took their arms with them. Guess that makes sense," I sigh and back out of the small space.

I look up at the stranger there and I notice it's my husband... he isn't as recognizable from chin down because of his new clothes. But his long hair still rests on his shoulders and chest.

His eyebrows are pressed together slightly and I walk to the door, opening it to find our companions ready to move, standing around in the dark room with their new attire on. They look so different now, as if they have grown up on my planet... except for the tremendously long hair of Éowyn's and Thranduil's.

Éowyn wears her flannel shirt unbuttoned over her grey t-shirt. I give her a ponytail holder for her hair and help her put it in a messy bun to keep it from getting in the way. Thranduil actually ends up putting his in a loose ponytail and his son keeps his down in the same do he's had all that I've known him.

Aragorn carries the sack of Lembas on his back and I attach his flashlight to it, putting mine at my belt after we all turn them off. "We'll have to focus on staying quiet. We're not armed well enough to fight orcs so no more using torches," I say and walk out of the house. "Keep on your toes."

As they follow me through the door I make my way down the driveway, knowing it's pointless to check for a car in the garage because there were no keys on the hooks and they would have evacuated in it.

I stop in my tracks and breathe. I thought I had escaped this place... but now I'm back... and I didn't know if I wanted to be.

"Anyone have a compass?" I ask over my shoulder.

They all exchange looks. But I just smile and continue walking. They wouldn't. Middle Earth has not invented such a device. I wonder to myself how Bard had one...

But we have to start somewhere so I begin striding down the pavement through the neighborhood. I look to the ground when all of the empty houses begin to send me creepy thoughts; houses that once contained families before the nuclear bombs...

Aragorn is in the lead now. And Legolas is walking up to my left. I casually make my way closer to him, knowing that the less distance is between us, the more serenity I will feel despite this desolate place.

There's no moon, nor stars. Clouds lay thick in the ash covered sky.

All I want is to see the color green, feel the grass under my bare feet again, touch the water of the Rivendell stream.

Step after step we all move along down the road, through the tunnel of houses, monotone colors they all are.

I wonder to myself how the others must be thinking of this place so far... it is probably strange to them-well clearly strange. This must seem like a world of the future. How do we get the architecture so straight and perfect? Drywall is a complete mystery to them. They have only used paper to write on.

"Your kingdom must be very wealthy if each family would get one of these homes all to themselves," Éowyn says behind me.

"This does indeed seem like a rich neighborhood for this era. And if this is still Great Britain then yes, our queen was quite rich..."

"Did you live in one of these?"

"No... I wasn't as lucky. My family and the majority of the world's population were in poverty. We lived in homes smaller than these and didn't sometimes get them to ourselves. We lived wherever we could once we were on the run..."

"Where are we going now?" Thranduil asks.

"To look for a skyscraper and get a view of the area from the roof to help our search... also a map wound help... But we'll be lucky to get to the city by noon."

"This is not a city?" Legolas asks.

"No. Well technically everything here is in a particular city but I'm looking for a larger one where we can find tall buildings. Sorry guys. There are no green fields or tree covered hills here. Just man-made civilization..."

"It feels like a dream," Éowyn mutters.

"That's what I thought when I stumbled upon your world... I hadn't seen big trees, tall grass, or the blue sky in ages..."

A distant sound catches Legolas's attention because his head flashes to the left suddenly. If he was a dog his ears would be sticking straight up.

But he dismisses it after a few seconds.

We come to a fork in the road and all of us stop in a horizontal line. "Are we trying to find the orcs or hide from them?" Thranduil asks sternly.

"Both," I respond, squinting. The building ahead blocks my view of the horizon that is now starting to get dimly lit with early morning light.

I run ahead, locking my fingers into the chain linked fence and sticking the toe of my boot into the metal rings. I scale the wall of laced metal until I can fling myself to the ladder on the either side that stretches to the roof. I grip the metal bars and pull myself up the ladder until my chin reaches the top of the building. But I jump up on my feet and stand there looking ahead of me... I try to make out anything in the distance but it's too dark. I turn to see my companions standing there waiting for something.

"Legolas," I call down. "Come here I need your elf eyes."

He frowns and nods quickly, running to the fence and only taking a few seconds to leap over it and onto the ladder. I walk a few feet forward until I hear another pair next to me.

I look up at his wondering eyes that look about the horizon with thought.

I wait for him to say something as I see the lands reflected in his pupils.

"So what do you think? Which way is our best bet to find either taller buildings or the orcs? If we follow the orcs I have a feeling we'll be led out Sauron..."

"I see tall concrete structures of silver, and steel buildings that reach the fog. A disturbance is in the air far from here. I suspect that's where his minions take refuge."

"Then north is our best bet."

I glance at him to see him nod and then head back to the ladder.

Our group has gathered by the fence (except Thranduil) as I begin to climb down.

"Be still," I hear Legolas hiss and immediately I freeze.

The air is silent but even so we all listen carefully.

I can hear the wind whistling so subtly through the neighborhood...

"They come from the south," my elf says.

"Over the gate!" Aragorn commands.

Clearly they could hear something that I could not. But I don't question it. I fumble on the cold metal bars with my fingers and lower myself quickly until I can hop to the ground.

Aragorn climbs the fence quickly and then helps Éowyn over.

Thranduil is already on our side and standing proudly like he does.

Once Éowyn's feet touch the ground the five of us are running from the fence and heading north over a concrete foundation.

I hop over rubble and past the old buildings until we come to a halt at another gate. But before anyone climbs it I look over my shoulder to see the Orcs running our way from the distance. But they don't see us yet.

Without thinking any further I dart into the building on my left (or what's left of the building) and stick the concrete wall.

Aragorn motions for the others to follow quickly and runs in with me.

All of duck against the cement wall with haste. Luckily the corner that we all huddle against hides us from the south and the east. My left shoulder touches Thranduil's and my right is against the concrete as we all hold our breath to listen.

Distant footsteps, but very subtle ones can be heard far off. There are maybe five or six of them that I can detect. They were running... but now that they are closer to a fence they slow down.

I can hear them grumbling to themselves about something with deep voices.

"There are no more survivors we slaughtered the last of them!" one says.

"Then why do I smell human flesh?!" the other complains.

I hold my breath suddenly as my heart races.

I glance up at the king to me left and his attention is focused at the outside with protective eyes.

The others look anxious like us and I see Legolas swallow nervously.

The orcs' footsteps come closer and closer until I can hear the rubble crushing under their heavy feet.

I can hear them stalking up from the east...

My heart beats in my ears as my fingers curl around my father-in-law's arm tightly.

We don't have weapons... they can't find us... oh please don't let them-

Something hits the ground behind the broken wall we lean against and a quiet, startled gasp escapes Éowyn's mouth. It was a stone, fallen from getting nudged perhaps.

But we don't stand around anymore. The orcs roar and I shout, "Run!"

I sprint further into the building as the others follow, demons chasing after us.

Legolas waits for me and brings up the rear of our group, Thranduil at the head and running quickly with light feet through the fallen rubble and dirt.

But all of us stop when we hit a wall; a dead end.

Legolas stops abruptly behind me with his hand at my shoulder in protection. I look back and see the shadows of the orcs heading our way. We are cornered.

"What do we do?" Aragorn asks quickly.

I look ahead at the window... And without thinking any further I lunge forward with lightning speed, smashing into the glass with my shoulder and shattering it into a million pieces that fall like water drops to the concrete.

I hit the broken fragments on the pavement on my side with a grunt, pressure stabbing my shoulder.

But a hand takes my arm and helps me quickly to my feet; Aragorn.

The others join us out in the dim light with haste and Legolas begins running west. I chase after him as Thranduil does, the king's long coat flying up in the wind.

I feel my feet hit against the hard ground as I sprint for them, Aragorn and Éowyn at my tail.

Legolas leaps over the fence with ease, his father following him just as quickly. Aragorn runs ahead of me and climbs over the metal wall as I do the same, Legolas helping me get down from the top like he naturally does. I hop to the pavement and join the four of them as we run north.

I can't run as fast as the elves but I am close, right behind Aragorn.

And Éowyn surprises me. I would think she would be very out of shape living as the princess of Rohan but since she showed an interest in war back in Middle Earth I suppose she has been secretly training. She had certainly proved her worth in the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

I run past broken buildings and remains of an old factory too the left. My eyes catch a weathered metal sign on the barbed wired fence that reads: Quarantine.

But I keep moving my legs faster until I notice something... other than the sounds of the orcs behind us. A car, a large government one ahead.

I gasp with the only breath that I have left and run faster towards the front seat.

Legolas notices immediately when I stop and looks at me frightened.

But my fingers fumble at the car door and pull it open, leaping inside the vehicle and hacking my way into the system to turn it on. The dashboard lights up and I smile.

I hop from the car and see the orcs struggling to climb the gate.

The others haves stopped and are standing there with a panicked look on their faces.

I throw open the door to the back seat. "Get in!" I say to them.

"Vilora what is that thing?" Éowyn asks worriedly.

"It's a steel chariot just do it!"

She darts forward and leaps into the vehicle.

I motion for the rest to come and they do so. I open the passenger door and get Legolas's attention. He hops in and all of us shut the doors.

I run to my side and throw my body onto the leather seat, yanking the door closed behind me and take the car out of park manually.

I step on the gas just as an orc throws a knife at the car, it hitting the back windshield with a loud crash and scratching it.

The car lunges forward and my elf widens his eyes, his back pressed against the seat.

I haven't driven in almost a year and it feels weird. But I get the hang of it again after a few minutes. My family was already gone by the time I was legal to drive and there wasn't anyone to teach me while we were on the run either. Driving became just necessary then.

Ryohnin taught me the basics. But he would take the wheel when he could since he was better at it.

I take the road out of the small area and get on the highway, which is surprisingly clear. Some other cars are pulled off the side of the road when they were abandoned but besides that I can speed up by a lot.

I can sense Legolas's puzzled look at what we are riding in and Éowyn's also. But I think they are quite grateful for it. Aragorn is staring out the window at the world around us. Old buildings, rubble, and concrete... that's all that can be seen. Most of the structures here aren't even grown over but just levelled. Plants seem to be alien.

I can't see any signs of orcs around though. I think that one group was the only one around this city. If we happen to see any activity I'll have to stop, because the car of course, would catch their attention.

Aragorn sits directly behind me and Thranduil at the other end, leaving Éowyn in the center seat.

Everyone is somewhat panicked ever since we are in such a hostile and different environment... and all on our own. But even so, driving down the road in silence gives us a bit of strange peace.

The sun peeks over the tops of the city buildings and sends golden light into the dark ash covered landscape. The buildings and structures are highlighted by the sunrise and I can see area more clearly now. I sense the gaze of all of my passengers as they stare out at the sight.

I watch the silhouettes of the tall blocks left in the dust as we pass the crumbled concrete all around us.

"Keep your eyes out for any military bunkers where they would have stashed weaponry," I say.

"Perhaps it would have been wise to bring our weapons with us..." Aragorn says.

"Yeah it probably would have been," I sigh.

"We are going so fast..." Legolas breathes, looking down at the wheels through his window.

I can't help but smirk. So much technology separates my world from theirs. There is no way I could explain to him the things that have advanced so much since the Dark Ages.

Perhaps one day when I have time I will start from the beginning...

"Once we find weapons it won't matter if they find us. Besides the more orcs we find, the closer we get to our destination," I say.

"But it would also be a good decision to stay hidden. The more attention we attract to us the more danger we are faced with, and also we can follow them better if they do not know we are doing so," the Gondorian says.

"Yeah but we have a car..."

"Though we still must stop and camp at nightfall... if they know of us we would never find a place to rest."

"Fine..."

The highway takes us on an overpass that makes me a bit nervous from the height but it holds our weight fine. Under us I can see nothing but dry rock and remains of roads, long shadows that cover gold in black as the sun kisses the dead ground. This place looks as if it had no rain for decades. Probably hasn't.

I swerve just a bit to avoid hitting a broken car, the windows shattered as the hole from a sword is revealed in the back windshield when caught by the light.

Legolas eyes gaze upon the vehicle as we pass it, catching the glimpse of a skeleton in the front seat just barely before he turns to face the front again, a look of regret and horror in his eyes, as if he wishes to shiver from it.

If I wasn't used to it by now I would too.

About twenty minutes passes... and that's when I see what is ahead. I had forgotten about these. A few other countries including China, North America, and Korea had built them to perhaps contain the orcs? Keep them out? I am not sure. But it didn't work I know that.

"By the..." I hear Aragorn breathe.

I look over at my elf who stares up out of the windshield in wonder and awe.

I slow my car as we come to the great concrete wall, thirty stories tall it must be. Large yellow numbers and letters read: 4th district.

There is a place where the wall sinks into the ground to let cars pass through... but in order to do that I need to know where the borders of the door is and where the security code can be placed in order to open it.

We drive through a small town that's set just outside the wall. Broken shops and loo stations are really all there is besides public restaurants.

A library does catch my eye though...

Our vehicle approaches the gate and then I stop and turn off the engine, but opening my door and leaving it open. I hop out and walk to the enormous structure hesitantly, the size intimidating me just a tad.

I stand there at the base of it. And once my companions figure out how to open their car doors they are out here standing behind me.

"An invisible door perhaps?" Aragorn asks.

"Something like that," I breathe, biting my lip in thought. I walk forward and examine the stone... "I need to find a security panel," I sigh, tracing my fingers on the rough concrete.

"What does that look like?" Éowyn asks.

"Well it's invisible..."

"How do we find it?" Aragorn asks.

"Just start touching the wall or looking for anything suspicious at eye level," I answer without looking back at them. "It has to be here somewhere." It should appear with a touch but the security might be a bit more strict...

Even so, I glide my fingers over the stone and look closer.

I hear them all approach the wall and gaze upon it for anything, each of them examining in a different way.

Éowyn looks confused. She has not seen hidden "magic" like the others have so this probably just seems inconceivable to her.

"Why does this feel familiar?" I hear Legolas murmur to Aragorn.

The future king almost lets a smirk form but continues doing what he was.

I turn around, squinting from the sunlight from the horizon, observing the road we stand on... the door must be wide enough for a vehicle...

I walk along the wall with my companions behind me and dart on the stone as my fingertips feel the rough. Immediately my brain remembers the touch of the soft leaves... of the grass, and I shiver the thought away. That was fantasy. This is reality.

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PS: please please please COMMENT and tell me anything on your mind or what you think so far. I REALLY need reviews if i am to grow as i writer! thank you!