Path to the Apocalypse

"You like him?" Derek asked incredulously, staring at Beth in disbelief. The orphanage was having its celebration for those who'd survived the Maze, so obviously Chris had invited Beth, letting her finally meet Derek.

"Yeah? Is there something wrong with that?" Beth glanced at him, looking a little confused and a little peeved he was questioning her on this.

"Dude, what is up with you? You're the one who told me to ask her out! You helped me plan our first date!" Chris raised an eyebrow at Derek, giving him a weird look.

"That's when I thought she was normal, maybe a little ugly! I didn't realize she was freaking gorgeous!" Derek retorted, before turning back to Beth. "You know you can do better, right?"

Beth looked over at Chris, unable to hold back a smile. "I really don't think I can."

"Whoa, hey, I know I'm great, but I'm actually with Derek on this one. You could probably do better." Chris interjected. "I'm not certain such a person exists, but I'd imagine if there was a version of me that was better at expressing their emotions, had better social awareness, and stuff like that, they'd probably be a better match for you."

"But the fact that you don't have that stuff is why I'm valuable to you. If someone like that existed, I'd just be… arm candy. I don't want to be someone's accessory, I want to be someone's partner." Beth countered.

Chris paused, thinking about it. "Okay, fair. Maybe you couldn't do better."

"Exactly." Beth nodded in satisfaction.

Derek looked between them with a frown. "Fuck it, I give up. You two are weird."

"I think it's cute! It's like Chris finally found his heart!" Penny cooed.

"Nope, I'm with Derek. This is weird." Thad shook his head. "A Chris that has emotions isn't the Chris I know."

"To be fair, the emotions are still fairly muted, and just for Beth. You three get crap." Chris pointed out.

Thad paused. "That actually does make me feel better."

"Okay, okay, enough about us!" Beth rolled her eyes. "I want to know about you guys! How did you and Chris become friends?"

"Well, it was pretty simple for me. I've been Chris's roommate since… well, forever." Thad explained.

"As for me, Chris was the first one who talked to me after my parents died." Penny smiled nostalgically. "I didn't want to talk to anyone, so I went and found the most isolated place I could find to hide out, a little crawl space down in the basement. I was curled up, feeling sad for myself, when all of the sudden this boy crawled in with a big book and a blanket. Of course, since it was Chris, he completely ignored any sign that I didn't want to talk to anyone, said hi, asked what my name was, and when I didn't answer, he just shrugged and went back to what he was doing, curling up with the blanket and the book. I kept making annoyed noises, trying to get him to take the hint, which in Chris's mind, apparently meant he needed to read out loud. Ironically, it worked. I got so distracted by the book and the ridiculousness of this boy, I forgot to be sad. From then on, whenever I got sad, I'd go find Chris and make him read to me, and we've been close ever since."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Beth cooed.

"She was in my reading spot… I thought she wanted to read." Chris shrugged.

"Yes, well, for me, Chris and I have always attended the same school. Same classes and everything." Derek interjected. "Chris, being Chris, had his usual complete lack of social awareness, and since my Aunt runs the orphanage, we were vaguely familiar with each other, so of course, he decided we were friends. No matter what I did, how I picked on him, hurt him, ditched him, he'd always run up with that stupid grin and say hello whenever he saw me. One day, me and this other kid got into a fight over… Well, it's not important. What is important is that I lost. Badly. All my other friends ditched me, but Chris… he dragged me to the nurse and made sure I was okay. After that, I couldn't push him away anymore. Of course, I did have to teach him that bullying is not how friends interact afterwards, but it was my fault he thought that in the first place, so I can't really complain."

"Wait, you were his bully?!?" Beth asked skeptically.

"I… was a dumb kid. I thought that if I hung around this dorky, awkward orphan, it'd ruin my social life." Derek sighed. "It took things going bad to realize that people who care about things like that aren't worth hanging out with in the first place."

"Plus, he never actually hurt me. He'd just push me and crap, which… didn't really mean much to me." Chris pointed out. "And he's been a great friend since, so no harm done, right?"

Beth looked at him with a frown. "You have a weird way of making friends."

Chris shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a weird guy."

“Yeah, but you're my weird guy.” Beth smiled, giving him a hug, before turning to Derek. “Anyway, I hear you're joining the Scouts too?”

“You're what?!?” Penny exclaimed, whirling on Derek.

Thad frowned at him. “Dude.”

“What? Chris is doing it! Why can't I?” Derek protested.

“Chris doesn't have a family business to inherit!” Penny growled. “What possible reason could you have for joining the military?!?”

“Practical management training?” Derek offered weakly.

“Guys, there are tons of advantages to joining the military!” Beth interjected. “Practical skill training is just one of the ways the military sets its members up for success. Joining the military is the best way to give yourself a solid foundation for the rest of your life!”

“If you have a rest of your life!” Penny retorted, glaring at her. “The problem with the military is that people die!”

“That's- true, but that's why we have Chris! The biggest dangers in the Maze are ambushes, beacon failures, and toxins, all of which Chris can solve! His minions can scout for any danger, he can make portals back to the City if the beacons fail, and his healing takes care of toxins!” Beth countered.

Penny eyed her warily. “I suppose… so would you say the military wouldn't be worth it without Chris?”

Beth frowned. “It would be riskier, but it'd still be worth it. I probably wouldn't recommend someone with other prospects join, but I would at least insist they consider it as an option.”

Penny hummed slightly, before turning back to Derek. “I still think you're being an idiot. Benefits or no, have you considered what would happen to your family's business if you died?!?”

Derek waved dismissively. “It'd go to one of my cousins, who would be more than happy to take it.” He sighed. “Look, Penny, I get what you're saying, I just- I think even without Chris, I'd still do this. I mean, I know there's an easy path I could take, one that would guarantee me a good life, with little to no effort on my part, it just seems so… boring. I want to do more. I want to live! To challenge myself! And with the Scouts, not only do I get to do that, but I can also still prepare myself for taking over the company! It's a win win!”

Penny glared at him. “See, everything you just said? That's dumb. Pure, unadulterated idiocy! There's plenty of exciting ways to challenge yourself that don't require you to risk your life! You could take up a sport! Like basketball or rock climbing!”

Derek shook his head. “I want to do something more meaningful than a sport.”

“Urgh!” Penny threw up her hands in frustration. “What is wrong with you!?! How can you be so idiotically reckless?!?” She yelled at him before turning and stomping off.

“Penny, come on!” Derek called after her as he followed.

Chris scratched his head. “Not gonna lie, I'm feeling a little disappointed she's making a bigger deal over him than me.”

“To be fair, given your ability, the odds of you dying are slim, if not nonexistent.” Thad pointed out. “The only question is if there's something out there that can keep your space from bringing you back to life, which even if there is, I doubt it's common enough for you to have a reasonable chance of running into it. Plus, Derek is risking guaranteed success to essentially chase thrills, while you're making the best of a bad situation. Not really comparable.”

“Fair.” Chris agreed.

Beth narrowed her eyes in the direction the other two had run off in. “Are you guys sure that's all it is?”

They both shared confused looks, before turning to Beth. “What else could it be?” Thad asked.

“I- nevermind, it isn't my place to comment.” Beth sighed, waving them off.

Chris frowned at her. “Beth, you can't just say things like that and not follow up. Now we're going to start getting ideas.”

“It really doesn't matter, okay? I'm probably wrong anyway.” Beth insisted. “Thad is probably right, it's just because you and Derek are in two different positions.”

Chris narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, before letting out a grunt. “Fine. Want me to show you around?”

“Sure! I'd love to see where you grew up!” Beth agreed happily.

*

The next few weeks passed almost in a blur as Chris, Beth, and Derek got ready for the Scouts boot camp. It turned out that Chris and Beth did still need to pass a few tests to get fully admitted, specifically a physical test, a written test, and an ability test. David made the process as simple for them as possible, but he couldn't ignore the basic requirements for entering the Scouts. Not that it was that large a hurdle. Beth had been preparing for these tests her entire life, and Chris only struggled with the ability test, not because it was difficult, but because he still wasn't sure what the limits of his ability were. The examiners kept asking questions like how many creatures he could control, what the limits of his healing were, how far his portals could reach, and he just didn't have an answer for them. Thankfully, the information he did have was enough for them to pass him.

Other than preparing for the tests, the three of them focused on furnishing and stocking Chris's space, with Penny and Thad's help. Penny was still pretty upset with Derek, but she still insisted on being there for everything, never letting him forget how stupid he was for doing this, and pointing out all the different things he could do other than join the Scouts. The most significant items they got for the space were a generator, a fridge and freezer, which they filled with tons of drinks and snacks, and a TV with a hard drive full of movies and TV shows. All the space needed was a kitchen and bathroom, and it'd legitimately be a mobile apartment. Still, even with everything they got, it only took up about a fourth of the space.

The only thing that bothered Chris was that there were no walls in the space, and he was concerned the electronics might get broken if a creature got in, particularly since he needed to bring creatures in to turn them into his minions. He'd tested with an old phone and confirmed that objects didn't benefit from the healing living beings did, so if they broke, there wasn't any saving them. The obvious answer would be to put everything into the separate space with his stuff, but he didn't really want people hanging out in what was essentially his bedroom. Alternatively he could try to separate another space, but he was a bit hesitant to do so given the results of the last one. He wasn't entirely sure how his space connected to the world, and he didn't want to risk running into something that could find it and break in somehow. It wasn't a major concern, but another space would double the chances of it happening, so he held off, particularly since the risk of a creature getting loose in his space wouldn't even be an issue until after boot camp.

Other than that, Chris and Beth spent most of their time deepening their relationship. They didn't quite monopolize all of each other's free time, but it was close, particularly since Beth quickly integrated herself into the friend group, forming a particularly close bond with Penny. By the time they had to leave for boot camp, the two had even started having ‘girls nights’ together.

The only real problem Chris ran into during the period was what to do with Dyrdek. Jello was quite happy to be passed around to whoever wanted to pay attention to them, practically becoming the group's mascot after spending a week being carried around by Thad, but Dyrdek wasn't an adorable ball of goop, and the only person who could understand him was Chris, who was more focused on spending time with Beth. Dyrdek didn't seem upset at being ignored, particularly once he got his hands on all the games they'd put in the space, but Chris still felt like the guy should have something more going on. Ultimately, Chris decided he needed a friend, another goblin to keep him company, but Chris wasn't about to dive back into the Maze and start hunting down goblins, so all he could do was do his best to keep Dyrdek occupied until after boot camp.

*

Chris and Derek sat by the lifts on the third floor around seven in the morning, waiting for Beth to show up so they could head to the Scout base on the first floor together. “This is too damn early.” Derek grumbled.

Chris raised an eyebrow. “You may not be cut out for military life.” Derek just grunted back, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

A moment later Beth's limo arrived, and she stepped out, her parents sliding out after her. “Christopher!” David greeted Chris with a wave. “Feeling nervous for your first day of being a Scout?”

“Not particularly.” Chris shrugged. “Should I be?”

David chuckled. “Well, as of now, if you break my daughter's heart, I can officially make your life a living hell. That should make you at least a little nervous, right?”

“Dad!” Beth exclaimed.

“Eh?” Chris shrugged. “I'm not going to break Beth's heart, so it isn't really that big a deal, is it?”

David clapped him on the shoulder. “That's what I like to hear! Ah, I can just see my grandkids now.”

“Daaaad!” Beth groaned. “Just get out of here!”

“Fine, fine.” David shot Chris a wink as he turned to Beth, pulling her into a hug, getting serious for a moment. “I'm so, so proud of you.” He muttered as he gave her a final squeeze before letting go.

Abigail was immediately there to give Beth a hug of her own. “Stay safe.” She insisted in a hoarse whisper.

“I will, Mom.” Beth assured her as she returned the hug. It took about half a minute for Beth to extricate herself from her mother, waving goodbye as the lift doors closed behind them, before immediately turning to the other two. “Aren't you guys excited!?! We're going to be Scouts!”

“Woo.” Chris cheered blandly, while Derek let out a vague grumbling.

Beth glared at Derek. “Okay, I get Chris, but you've been fighting to do this! How can you not be excited?!?”

“He's not good in the morning.” Chris commented. “I'm sure he'll be more excited later.”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “And he's joining the military?”

“That's what I said!” Chris agreed.

“I'll get used to it.” Derek grumbled.

“Excuse me, Chris, right?” Chris turned to see Derek's doctor from after the Trial.

“Oh, hey, doctor…” Chris trailed off as he searched for her name, not entirely certain he'd gotten it.

“Sabrina.” She provided with a smile.

“Hey doc.” Derek greeted her as well.

Sabrina nodded at him, before refocusing on Chris. “I couldn't help but overhear you're joining the Scouts?”

“Yup.” Chris nodded. “We're heading up for our first day of boot camp. I assume you're heading to work?”

“Yes. I'm actually one of the Scout physicians handling the inducting of the new recruits.” Sabrina explained.

Chris blinked, somewhat surprised since he'd assumed she was with the hospital, before he realized it was the teleportation center hospital, which was obviously run by the military. Plus, they'd probably brought a bunch of extra people over to handle the influx from the Trial. “Cool. Guess I'll be seeing you there.” He gave her a small wave as they got off the lift.

“I was a little disappointed you never called.” Sabrina added, following after them.

“Chris, who is this?” Beth quickly interjected, eyeing Sabrina warily.

“This is the doctor that was taking care of Derek after the Trial.” Chris explained.

“Oh! It's nice to meet you!” Beth exclaimed a bit too excitedly. “I'm Chris's girlfriend, Beth.”

A flicker passed through Sabrina's eyes as she smiled politely. “It's a pleasure to meet you. I was just saying that I was disappointed Chris didn't call, but it's good to see he found a productive use for his ability even without my help. It'd be a shame to see such a powerful healing ability go to waste.”

Beth nodded. “I couldn't agree more. That's why I insisted he join the Scouts in the first place. There's no place he can make better use of his ability.”

“Of course.” Sabrina agreed. “Though… It does seem like he could be of greater help in the medical branch. There are so many soldiers with chronic injuries that only powerful healing abilities can handle, and those abilities are much too rare.”

Beth shook her head. “I disagree. While it is tragic that so many soldiers have to go without proper healing, Chris can do so much more to ensure that soldiers return to even have chronic injuries.”

“Can't I do both?” Chris muttered. “Chronic injuries are by definition long-term, so I can just go around every few months and heal everyone up.”

Sabrina smiled. “The medical branch would welcome any help you can provide.”

Beth narrowed her eyes at her, before grabbing Chris by the hand and pulling him along. “Come on Chris, we need to get registered.”

“So, doc… you got any use for an electric ability user?” Derek asked, hanging back.

“I think you're best served in the Maze.” Sabrina rolled her eyes.

Derek shrugged. “Worth a shot.”