So a pirate, some merchants, a crazy man and a murderer walk into a metro station...

The border patroller walked up to the two travelers. The sign above his post read 300m, telling them how far they were from the station.
"Stop!" he commanded, holding his assault rifle in his hands. Upon inspection of how young they were, however, he eased his grip on the weapon. "Papers?" he asked in a firm voice. He was unshaven, with dark eyes and a solemn face. Marius and Lein both gave their papers, and after inspection, he let them through to the border, motioning to the tunnel onwards. They passed the 200 and 100 meter lines before finally reaching the station. It had a fountain in the middle, but it was dried up and murky. Lein looked around. "Wow. This place is not so different from Brink." she whispered. Marius recognized that they were poorer, however. Nevertheless, they all seemed happy, and even the soldiers had grins in their faces.

Luke grabbed Marius's arm. "You!" He yelled at him and turned him around the face Luke's crazy eyes. "You know! You know! I know you know!" Luke had gotten passed the guards shortly after Marius and Lein. For whatever reason they were not surprised by his bruised face, which was now glaring at Marius.

Marius shoved at Luke in panic, wondering how the crazy man had followed him. Lein was startled as well, and almost erupted into a scream. She didn't know this man. Luke's sack fell to the ground, and a bag of pills showed itself, each one white and round. There were about two dozen. Marius looked at these, and back at Luke.
"Are those for your...erm...mentality, Mister Luke?" he asked in a calm tone, as to not set him off.

"TWINKIES! WE'VE GOT YOUR FAVORITE CREAMY SNACK! So what if it's the end of the world? Whenever you've got a Twinkie, your life is awesome!"

A voice called from over near the fountain. There stood a curious young woman with pink hair and a bright smile. She spun around, keeping her balance on the fountain's thin walls, a hard task that seemed impossible to accomplish. She turned to see the travelers, and heard the boy's cries. She looked over at them, then at her partner, a questioning look upon her face.

Luke looked down at the pills. "Those? Those aren't mine!" He looked at them angrily, trying to figure out where they came from. "Those... aren't... mine?" He wasn't sure. How could something be on his person and he not know about it? It made him want to scream, but for once he controlled himself. There was a little piece of paper in the bag. Luke picked it up and read it out loud, more for his own benefit than anyone else's.
Dear Luke.
Please take these pills once every morning. They will make your head feel a lot better.
Forever with Love,
Mother
"Impossible! Mother would never give me such a thing!" Luke whispered.

"Well, they came from your bag. You should take one." suggested Marius with a friendly, don't-kill-me smile. Lein peered at the crazy man from behind Marius, her bad eye hidden behind his head. When she heard twinkies, however, her attention was diverted, and she found herself staring at the merchant with wondrous eyes. Twinkie? What in the metro was that?

Luke looked down at the pills and back at Marius, "Your name, and I will take one. Don't be a liar either." He muttered. "I will not take one of these things for nothing, Liar." He picked up the bag and put all the pills back in it that spilled on the ground. "So go on."

"Marius de Vries." murmured the boy, looking around and hoping no one heard. He suspected he would be with this guy for a while, so he might as well not keep such a minor secret from him.

Jeroen sat down on an old wooden crate, hutched over their chest of twinkies. He didn't seem slightly amused at his partner's shouting, though if one looked closer, he was hiding a smile being his hand - trying to appear casual. "That's your sales pitch, really?" He muttered up at her.
He paused when he noticed the strange man shouting as well. What on earth was that commotion about? Jero did, however, notice the young, eye-patched missen staring their way.The merchant put a smile on his face and grabbed one of the small packages, standing up. "Hey, little lady~." He called, "Care for a treat? You can't get these sweets just anywhere, you know." He took a few steps forward, holding it out for her.

Little lady? How demeaning. Lein frowned. "I don't have much cartridges, thank you." she murmured, mentioning the currency in her pocket that was also ammo for some of the machine guns in the metro. Cartridges became so valuable after a while in the metro that they became the unofficial currency.

Jero didn't waver, though, he figured he'd have to change tactics. "Oh, don't worry about it. I understand. Times are tough." He smiled and nodded understandingly, "Still, this little pastry was consider one of life's greatest pleasures back in the old world." He opened the cheap, plastic wrapping open and walked closer, holding it in her reach. "Not everyone can experience it. - Hey, since I'm a nice guy, How about I let you and your friends try the first one for free?" He didn't even pay mind to Marius and the guy screaming about his pills. Honestly, in this new world, were maniacs all that uncommon?

He glanced back at Mira for a few moments, his happy look still there.

Frowning and looking down, Mirabella stared daggers at her partner in crime. "That's your face, really?" She snapped back, rubbing the back of her neck self consciously. "Go bald, Jeroen." She mumbled under her breath as he slipped off towards the young girl. She watched him walk off, before biting her lip and crossing her arms over her chest, jumping down and planting herself on the fountain's edge. She watched the group curiously, knowing that Jero could make this sell without her help. Still, she didn't particularly like doing nothing, so she began to toy with the ends of her loose ponytails, whistling an old tune her mother used to sing to her. Quite honestly, she was bored out of her mind.

Lein hesitated for a few moments, staring at the golden cake. Her pride made her want to leave it there, and to not give in to the merchant's tactics, but her stomach told her that not accepting free food was punishable by death via firing squad. She gingerly took the "Twinkie", and hoping it wasn't poisoned, took a cautious bite. Oh, how lovely it was! It must have been the best thing she ever tasted, outlasting the mediocre soup and bitter tea. She tried to hide the pleasure in her eyes, keeping a nonchalant face, but there was a moment when she bit the cake that she lit up.

Luke took the pill and it slowly went down his throat. "All this over a lie. All of it. I bet you know him though. You must. You..." He went on like that for five minutes and stopped abruptly. He looked around him, "What... The... Hell..." He knew who he was, what had happened to him, where he was, etc... It was all just... clearer. "This... feeling. It's amazing...." He looked at Marius. "Oh? You... You don't know... him..." He ended softly, then spoke again. "I feel like shit, you know that?" He laughed happily. It wasn't the same laugh as his insanity induced one from hours ago.

"Me too, my friend." Marius said with a laugh, relieved the man wasn't crazy at the moment. He shook his hand, reintroducing himself, before turning to see that his eyepatched friend was talking to some merchants. He thought she was unsociable, but apparently she had already made more friends. "Hello." he said in a rather surprised tone to the newcomers, running a hand through his hair. It had been a long couple of hours.

"Ah~" Jero's smile grew a little wider in amusement as he saw her face light up, "It's good, right?" He prepped her for the offer standing up straight. "It was a lucky find, from clear on the other side of the city. Those things last forever too - they don't ever go bad, so you can save them for however long you want." Apparently, they also turned to alcohol easily too under the right conditions. That was something he'd love to try, but him and Mira had to make a few bucks. "Just 'cause I like you, lets do this. Three twinkies for one cartridge. That's another one for you and your two buddies over there~."
He said it so nonchalantly, as if one wasn't shoving a pill down the other insane one's throat.
And - just because he knew it'd piss her off - "Hey, servant!" He called over in Mirabella's direction, a grin growing on her face, "Grab three and bring them over here, would 'ya?"
The young man blinked quietly for a few moments, catching the eye of Marius. He was surprised that they had finally noticed their presence. "Oh, hello. You an interested buyer as well?"

Luke glared at them. "No." He muttered sternly. "Those things are addicting." He turned his nose away and walked a little ways away from the merchants, not wanting to get caught up in a scam when he just now recovered from insanity.

Marius thought about it. "Well, do you have any food that would be considered a meal?" he asked, not wanting to eat a snack pastry for breakfast. Lein felt ashamed she had succumbed to his sale, and didn't bother giving the boy an answer, and ate away at the Twinkie instead. It would spoil her dinner, but shuddapshewasapirate.

Looking up with wide eyes from the ends of her hair, Mira heard her name being called. "Whaa?" She called back, taking a moment to fully capture what he was saying. "Oh, go bald Jiro. You're lucky we're in public, you douche, or else you'd have to deal with a knife to the foot!" She hissed under her breath, a bright smile across her face as she nodded zealously and turned to the box of goods. Mira rummaged through it until she came across three Twinkies. Carrying them all in her arms, she moved over towards the group. "Here you go! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! They're really yummy~! <3" She sounded bubbly and bright as she handed the snack towards each person- excluding Luke.
At the boy's question, she nodded happily. "We've got plenty of rations, if you're interested in those." She answered sweetly, looking over at her partner.

Luke rolled his eyes but he too had a rumbling stomach. He dug his hands in his pockets and found he had a few cartridges. "How much?" He asked Mira. He missed his mother at this point, and the safety of his home. He never realized how much he'd miss it when he finally became sane.

Jeroen's smile twitched slightly at his partner's reaction, but said nothing beyond that. The blonde didn't want to shout back right now - he could always get her back later. The merchant didn't bother to say anything to the two men and nodded imply to Mirabella as she placed the sweet treats in their hands. Well, his part of the deal was done.
"Not much. Right over there gentlemen." He said cheerily, holding a hand out in the directions of their goods, nodding to Mira. She could easily take it from here.

Marius rummaged through his bag, pulling out 4 cartridges. "Here. These for the cakes and three rations, alright?" asked the boy, hoping that he wouldn't have to barter with the merchant. He wasn't so good at things like that. Lein meanwhile had finished her cake, and frowned once more. "Where are you two going?" she asked, wondering if they would be heading to the same place. She had wanted to go to Market City or Amstel herself.

Putting on her most charming and endearing smile, Mirabella rocked back in forth on her toes. "Well, I suppose that would work..." She said softly, shaking her head as if unsatisfied, even though 4 cartridges was a good enough load for what she was selling. Slipping the cartridges into her pocket and leading the two over to the box, she pulled out three rations and handed them to the more sane looking of the two. "Here you go! See anything else you like?" She asked casually, standing and giving them a chance to dig through the pack.

Luke sighed softly, thinking."What else have you got?" He was thinking maybe he could give his mother a gift of apology for ruining her life with his insanity and his habit of collecting random junk and tossing it around her house. "Anything for women?"

Marius frowned. The girl was cute, but in no way was she going to bribe him out of his precious rounds. Lein started to dig through the military rations, coming across an omelet. It was probably powdered egg, but good enough. Finding two more, she threw them at Marius and Luke.