text: Your alarm goes off and you groggily wake up.
  
  Way earlier than you're used to actually. It's morning and you haven't been up this early in a long time. You're surprised you didn't just sleep through the alarm considering how emotionally drained you were yesterday. Even now, you still feel tired.
  
  You're also still pretty damn depressed. Depression combined with your type of ingrained apathy would normally make for a really bad combination of motivation, but against all odds, you actually get up out of bed to go wash up.
  
  You spend an extra long time in the shower trying to motivate yourself for the first phase of your goals today which is heading over to Jake's comic shop and getting a job.
  
  Eventually you finish up and head back to your room where you start to get dressed, thinking about one of your other possible goals which is finding a new place to live because if this comic shop thing doesn't work out, you doubt if you're going to find anything else you'd be willing to do before the week is over.
  
  Always one to seek the way of least resistance, you reluctantly call your sister Donna since she did say you could live with her and Julie. You didn't really want to go live with her and Julie though because you know it's going to be party central non-stop, but you don't have many other options.
  
  You ring up Donna several times and get no answer. You ring up Julie and also get no answer. They're probably both passed out from whatever they were doing the night before. You give up attempting to contact them today, deciding that you'll just show up on their doorstep with all your shit if you don't get this job. It's not much of a plan, but you do feel slightly better believing you have a safety net. Well you like to THINK you have a safety net anyway.
  
  With that fear partially quelled, you absent-mindedly check to see if Bobby called...then you stop...
  
  "Christ, that was stupid. Get your head straight Suzy..." you say to yourself, starting to feel bad again. You then remind yourself that you'll have to break that habit.
  
  You nearly delete his number entirely, but you can't quite bring yourself to do it just yet.
  
  Pushing through it all, you now move on to your next step of trying to convince your brother Peter to let you borrow his car so you drive over to the comic shop.
  
  You head upstairs and bang on the door to the garage.
  
  "Hey Peter, open up I need a favor!" you shout and after a few seconds the door opens up.
  "What the fuck Suzy? Why the hell are you banging on my door like you're the police?" Peter exclaims peeking his head out the door. He's probably naked.
  "Yeah, sorry to bother you with whatever currently doing at the moment, but I need to borrow your car. I'm trying to get a job." You say.
  "A job? I thought you were too much of a prude to be a stripper."
  "Ha ha, very funny. I'm not going to be a stripper, I'm going to try to get a job at a Jake's comic shop." You reply.
  "A comic shop? Doing what? Getting all the virgin nerds excited?"
  "I'm going to be moving boxes or working a register...look I don't fucking know exactly, I haven't gotten the job yet. I just know I NEED to get this fucking job or else Kelly's gonna throw me out on my ass!" you reply getting increasingly exasperated.
  "Alright, fine. Don't fucking bite my goddamn head off because you got problems. I've got problems of my own. (Sigh) Wait a minute."
  
  Peter closes the door and then a few seconds later opens it up and then tosses some keys at you.
  
  "Here. Don't fuck it up, and I fully expect you to put gas in it." He says and then slams the door shut.
  
  Well that was easier than you expected, but then he probably just wanted you out of the way for whatever client he has coming over.
  
  With that out of the way, you get in Peter's car and pull out of the driveway.
  
  A few minutes of driving to your destination and you now learn first hand what Bobby was talking about yesterday. The roads are a mess and the town is in fucking chaos. There are cops everywhere, as well as ambulances and fire trucks racing to their various destinations too. You're also seeing small groups of people rioting. It's like the whole town has lost its damn mind and you nearly get into an accident more than a few times. Fortunately Jake's comic shop isn't too far away, but given the town's situation you're hoping that everything there isn't going to be as bad as what you've been seeing so far.
  
  Eventually you do get to the shop and so far the place doesn't look too bad, though given that you see a police barricade a few blocks up the street, you wonder if that could all change. Pulling into the parking lot, you exit the car and enter the building.
  
  As soon as you walk in, you briefly scan the shop and find it completely empty save for a bearded middle-aged man with a ponytail at a counter staring at you. He couldn't be more of a stereotype of a "comic book guy."
  
  "Well...hello. You lost or something? The beauty salon is down the street...though I believe there was a shooting or something there earlier." He says.
  "Um, no. I'm here about the job. Are you Jake?" you ask.
  "That's me. Now what job are you talking about exactly?" Jake asks while looking at you up and down. The guy is already probably thinking several dirty thoughts about you and at this point you're really hoping this guy doesn't turn the whole job thing into some stupid line about giving him a blowjob.
  
  "The job openings I found on the internet for this place. It said you needed someone to move boxes or work the register." You say.
  "Oh yeah, I'm not even sure why I posted that. In this current economy I can barely afford to hire one employee and lately I'm wondering if I can even do that." Jake says.
  "Shit, does this mean you're not hiring?"
  "Well...considering you're easy on the eyes, I'm not going to say I'm NOT hiring. Besides you're the only one that's even applied so far. You'd think with all the fanboy nerds that practically live at this place one of them would've offered to fucking help me out. (Sigh) Whatever, you got your resume?"
  "Resume?" you ask.
  "Yeah, when people tend to apply for jobs they usually have one. I mean not that any of the tasks here are brain surgery, but it's nice to have some basic information." Jake says.
  "Oh. Well I don't have one." You reply.
  "Seriously? You came in here for a job without a resume?"
  "I didn't think I'd need one."
  "You didn't...alright can you give me any references then?"
  "Um, no."
  "You can't or you won't?"
  "I can't because I don't have any."
  "Jesus Christ...do you have ANY job experience whatsoever?"
  "No."
  "Do you even want a fucking job here?" Jake asks getting exasperated.
  "Not really, but I want to run around half naked swinging on a pole getting ogled, slobbered over and groped by horny guys for a living even less, so this place is currently my only option for my desperate situation." You say.
  
  Jake laughs at your comment.
  
  "Well at least your honest, but if you think you're not going to get ogled and slobbered over by guys here, you're sadly mistaken. You do realize this is a comic shop right?"
  "Oh come on, there has to be female customers that come in here." You say.
  "Sure, but they don't look like you and you'll probably get a couple of them awkwardly hitting on you as well. On the bright side, none of the nerds here are probably going to try to grope you. They'll be far too shy to try that. No pole swinging either, but feel free to run around half naked. I guarantee something like that would really help out business." Jake says with a smirk.
  "Yeah, not happening." You reply.
  "Didn't think I'd be that lucky. Well despite your total lack of skill, I suppose I'll hire you, I do have to ask one thing first though..."
  
  And here it comes; he's going to ask you to do something sexual and you'll be heading out the door...
  
  "Do you even read comics?"
  
  Well that was unexpected.
  
  "Well, I used to when I was little, but my older sister Kelly just kept taking them from me and either hitting me with them or tearing them up, so I didn't see the point anymore." You reply.
  "Jeez, that's not fucking right. You should've kicked her ass." Jake says.
  "Yeah well that wasn't possible, she's ten times bigger than me. In fact that's why I applied to this job, she's threatening to kick me out of the house." You say.
  "Hmm, sounds like a similar situation that I had with my last assistant. His mom was threatening to kick him out of the house and he begged me to hire him. He was a pathetic little worm addicted to all that anime shit. Really he was a lousy helper, but given that the one I had before him just died in my bathroom, I figured I'd give the fat little anime addict a shot."
  "Wait someone died in the bathroom here?" you ask.
  "Yeah my retarded assistant strangled himself in my bathroom while jacking off. Spent the damn day cleaning the bathroom because of it."
  "Uh, the other assistant didn't die in the bathroom too did he?"
  "Nah, he ended up marrying his crazy cousin and lives in the trailer park outside of town I think. Dunno what he does now since he never comes in anymore which is a shame since the pervert used to spend a fortune in this place."
  
  "That's...interesting. So about the job." You say steering the conversation back on track.
  "Yeah, about the job. I'm guessing you'll want to be working the register...what is your name anyway blondie?"
  "Suzy, and why are you assuming I want to be working the register?"
  "Because I doubt a little thing like you really wants to be lugging boxes around, I mean unless you're trying to tell me you can't do basic math."
  "Of course I know how to do basic fucking math!" you snap.
  "Okay, sheesh. Calm down I didn't mean to imply anything. So you're working the register..."
  
  Jake has still already made the decision for you about what job you're going to be doing and while lugging boxes around really doesn't appeal to you, you're still a little insulted that the option has just been taken away from you.
  
  Besides the sexist implications that you aren't strong enough to do the other job because you're female, you get the strong impression that Jake also just wants you at the register so you'll be more visible to all the horny virgin nerds that come in this place.
  
  And the more you're thinking about the fact that you'll have to interact with the public in general if you're working the register you're finding it about as appealing as lifting a bunch of heavy boxes around.
  
  Then again if you antagonize Jake over this, he might just throw you out of the shop and then you'll have no job.
  
  > argue about your job
  You're sick of everyone trying to control your life. You weren't putting up with it with Bobby, and you're sure as hell not going to put up with it with Jake.
  
  "Are you just assuming I can't carry the boxes around because I'm a woman?" you ask.
  "What? No, that's not it..." Jake starts to say before you interrupt.
  "You just said a little thing like me doesn't want to lug boxes around like I'm some helpless damsel."
  "Look, as a businessman it's my job to match up potential employees with what they're probably going to be best at. The fact is you ARE on the smaller side, not to mention you've just told me you've never done a hard day's work in your life. So yeah, I don't think you're strong enough to do the job and not bitch about it or even get that much work done. I'd rather have you out here working the register."
  "You just want me out here as eye candy for the customers." You reply.
  "Jesus fucking Christ, I didn't realize I was hiring a FemiNazi. Are you telling me you want to move boxes?" Jake says in exasperation.
  "I'm not a goddamn FemiNazi and no I don't want particularly want to move boxes, but my point is you just took the damn choice out of my hands and made a stupid assumption that I couldn't do the job due to your own narrow-mindedness."
  
  Jack exhales again and rubs his face.
  
  "Are you kidding fucking me? You're arguing about a job you don't even want? In fact, you don't even want THIS job! You know how many employers would've thrown you out with that sort of shitty work ethic and you haven't even started yet! I'm fucking helping YOU out by hiring you in the first place with absolutely no skills or experience and you're giving me shit already! It's not like I'm grabbing your ass and telling you to suck my dick! I'm trying to be a nice guy here."
  "Given with how you're speaking to me, you're not really all that fucking nice." You respond.
  "Alright, I've had it. Get the fuck out of my shop. You probably think because you're pretty you can just get what you want well not this time bitch. I got enough shit to deal with, get the fuck out! Get out! Get out! Get out!" Jake yells and points at the door.
  "FUCKING ASSHOLE!" you shout as loud as you can and storm out the shop.
  
  Well that could've went better.
  
  As you walk to your car, several nerd types are just now approaching the store. While they're probably the sort that would've been staring at you all day if you'd been working at the shop, now they're actively avoiding you since you're mumbling and swearing to yourself like a crazy person.
  
  Your swearing continues when you're actually in the car. You bang on the steering wheel several times in frustration.
  
  "I hate my fucking life!" you cry out and begin to sob.
  
  Life just isn't fair Suzy and lately for you it's only been getting harder. All you wanted to do is hang out in your basement, hiding out from the rest of the world. Now your forced to deal with all this shit that you're just no good at and when you do try to assert yourself, you fail at that too.
  
  If you were fighting depression before, you're currently getting your ass kicked by it. It's a good thing you aren't suicidal, but the thought is starting to cross your mind.
  
  After taking a moment to pull yourself together, you think about what you need to do next.
  
  "Okay...I need to go back home. Need to pack up all the most important shit I have and head over to Julie's house." You say to yourself.
  
  With this new goal in mind, you pull out of the comic shop parking lot and intend on making your way back home.
  
  You don't get a couple blocks before you soon discover the way you came is barricaded due to an accident or something. There are ambulances and police cars blocking the way and you realize you're going to have to go a different direction.
  
  You go down some side streets and find out that they currently aren't much better and in one instance actually worse as a bunch of people have made a makeshift barricade with overturned cars and some of them are shooting at each other. You get the hell out of the area as fast as you can before someone starts shooting at you.
  
  After having to drive around avoiding barricades, downed power lines, overturned vehicles and general chaos, you begin to get even more frustrated since it's starting to look like you can't even get home. Or at least not by driving there and given the shit that's going on, you'll be damned if you're going to get out of your vehicle to walk home.
  
  "Goddamn it, I just want to get the fuck home! Fuck it, I'm just going to go to Julie's now..." you shout to yourself.
  
  It's a further drive, but considering Julie lives in a better area, you're hoping that maybe things won't be as bad driving in that direction. You soon find out that isn't the case as you're desperately trying to avoid getting into an accident every five minutes.
  
  "Seriously what the hell is going on with this town? Everyone is acting like an asshole even more than usual." You say and you're starting to wonder if there's something in the water.
  
  Turning on the radio doesn't help, since you're not getting much on it save for those annoying Ground Zero ads.
  
  "Come on, there's gotta be something about...SHIT!" you say when look up from the radio and are just in time to see a bus turning left and about to hit you.
  
  You swerve immediately to avoid being hit, but unfortunately you slam the car into another speeding car, which crashes into your passenger side at full force.
  
  You are knocked around as your car goes spinning across the street. It all happens so fast you don't even have time to panic or feel the fear of possibly dying right now.
  
  A large black truck slams on its breaks in an attempt to not hit you, which it succeeds in doing, only for your car to be stopped by lamppost instead. Thanks to airbags never working correctly when they should, you hit your head on the steering wheel hard and while you don't quite knock yourself out you definitely scramble your brains a bit and you're feeling pretty dazed.
  
  While you're still recovering, you suddenly hear knocking on your window and a voice.
  
  "Hey, miss. Miss? You alright?"
  
  You slowly look out your window and see a woman wearing glasses and dressed in business attire staring back at you. Well actually you're sort of seeing two of her and the image is still a little blurry, but that's the size of it.
  
  You unhook your seat belt and get out of the car wincing in a bit of pain as you do so. The businesswoman helps you from falling since you're still wobbly.
  
  "You're lucky to be alive, I've seen a shitload of crashes like yours since I've been driving through town today. I only just managed to put on my breaks when I saw your car spinning out of control like that." she remarks.
  
  You don't really answer her; you just turn to look at the car, which is totaled. Besides part of the front being wrapped around a now leaning lamppost, the passenger side is trashed and you certainly aren't going to be driving anywhere soon due to the front wheel area being caved in and the axel broken.
  
  You just look at the wreckage of the car silently and then start to giggle at the situation. Soon the giggling becomes full blown laughter and the woman that helped you out of the car gives you a strange look.
  
  "Are you alright?" she asks again.
  "Oh I'm just peachy! This has been a wonderful day!" you say laughing.
  "Do you know your name and where you're at?"
  "Yeah, my name is mud and I'm in a world of shit." You say still laughing.
  
  "Um, well you seem to be having a bit of difficulty balancing and you've got a nasty bruise on your forehead. You might have a concussion and given your laughter you might even be in some state of shock. I think it would be best if you had some medical attention."
  
  You look at the woman that's trying to help you and begin to stop laughing quite as hard and your mind starts heading back to earth again. Your head and body remind you of the pain you're actually still in.
  
  "Yeah...yeah...maybe. Shit, my head does hurt... I guess...can you drive me to the hospital?" you ask.
  "The hospital? Yeah, that place is sort of fucked right now. Even if we could get to it in this mess of chaos, the place has been overflowing with patients and you might be waiting a long time, if they get to you at all. I'm not sticking around in this town any longer than I need to. However, my brother is a doctor with his own private practice just outside town; he can probably check you out for free. It won't be any problem since I'm going to him right now." The woman says.
  
  Well it's either head somewhere with a complete stranger or try to make it to the hospital (or wherever) in your current condition.
  
  > take the woman up on her offer
  Considering how fucked things are in town and your woozy condition, you probably wouldn't be safe walking the streets right now. This woman also seems okay; she's actually being more helpful than most would. Most would've just drove off, let alone offer to give you medical attention.
  
  "Alright, let's go." You say and the woman nods and helps you head towards her black truck. You around and see your accident isn't even being paid much attention to. Other vehicles are merely driving by and nearby onlookers lose interest. You look over at the other vehicle on the far end of the street that slammed into you. The front end of that one is trashed and the driver has gone half way through the windshield. He's a bloody mess and isn't moving.
  
  "You think that other driver is dead?" you ask.
  "Dunno, I didn't check on him. I just checked you first since you were closer to my vehicle. Just going by his appearance and the fact he hasn't moved I'd say it isn't good. Can't save everyone though. Come on, let's just get off the street and out of this town." She says.
  
  The woman helps you into her truck and then gets into the driver side, before you know it; she's started it up and driving off.
  
  The interior of the truck is pretty nice. Comfy seats and everything. The dashboard looks like something out of a science fiction movie. Must be a really new model.
  
  "You doing okay over there? You don't feel like you're going to pass out do you?" the woman asks.
  "No, not really. Still just sore mainly." You respond.
  "That's good. Maybe you're okay for the most part, but it doesn't hurt for you to get checked out. My name's Lilith by the way."
  "My name's Suzy." You say.
  "Didn't think your name was actually mud like you said back there. Still, sort of a strange reaction you had laughing about your car crash." Lilith says.
  "Yeah, well I've just been having a really bad day and that accident just sort of topped it, so I guess I just laughed instead of crying like I have been doing for the past couple days."
  "Hmm, you been having a lot mood swings lately?" Lilith asks.
  "I don't usually have mood swings at all, but like I said, there have been some major events going down in what was my previously calm life that have really fucked with my stability. I'm getting thrown out of my house, my boyfriend broke up with me, I can't get a job, I just trashed my brother's car and I have no idea what my future prospects are going to be. Things can't get much worse."
  "Oh they can always get worse, but yeah if all that shit has happened to you, then I guess your laughing at the car crash situation is a little understandable. Self defense mechanism and all."
  
  Lilith's inquisitive nature causes you to be a little inquisitive too.
  
  "You a psychiatrist or something like that?" you ask.
  "Eh, something like that. I observe a lot of human behavior for the company I work for. Usually other employees, but lately it's mostly been non-employees in relation to the company." Lilith says.
  "You wouldn't have any job opening at this company for unskilled labor would you? A cleaning woman perhaps?" you ask.
  "Heh, well I'm not exactly involved in the hiring process, but Ground Zero is a big company and we pretty much have a lot of openings for all kinds of positions. I'm sure I could find something for you." Lilith says.
  
  There's a pause as you aren't sure what you just heard.
  
  "Wait a minute. Did you just say you work for Ground Zero? That company that's been putting out all those annoying ads non-stop for the past few weeks?" you ask.
  "Guilty as charged. Trust me, I know how annoying those ads are all over the place, but I'm not involved that department either." Lilith remarks.
  "I didn't even know you guys even had a headquarters here in a small town like this one."
  "It's more of a small branch office really and it's so non-descript most don't even know it's there anyway. We do have a bigger place in Security City. Sometimes I go all the way out there to do my job too, but since I live just south of town it's a pretty long drive as you might expect. In those cases I usually just sleep at a hotel room paid for by the company until my work there is done."
  "I thought you said your brother lived south of town."
  "He does. We live together. It's a large house that's been in the family awhile and we did grow up there so we never wanted to get rid of it and we just decided to keep living there. Might sound a bit child like, but why move when you don't really need too?"
  "Hey you don't need to tell me. I wish I didn't have to move from my home. So does your brother work for Ground Zero too?" you ask.
  "No. I wish he did since his talents would really be useful to us, but Leslie's really not a fan of the corporate lifestyle despite the fact that I keep telling him he wouldn't even be working in a position that requires dress codes and such. Leslie's also always been a bit of an independent thinker too. He could've easily been a doctor working at a hospital pulling down lots of money, but he prefers his humble private practice. Who am I to tell him to do something that doesn't make him happy?"
  "Well you certainly sound like a more understanding sister than my own who is kicking me out of the house." You respond.
  "See, that's not right. Family should stick together. Well at least that's what I was always taught. Even when you don't agree with them, you should at least help them out, not leave them twisting. I'm really sorry to hear that your sister is doing that to you." Lilith says.
  "Thanks for your sympathy, but she's always hated me and I imagine my brother will too now that I've wrecked his car, though to be honest he didn't really care that much about me either. I'm sort of a black sheep." You say.
  "Mm. Interesting. My brother and I are sort of black sheep as well, since we're not religious like the rest of the family, but like I said, it hasn't completely ruined our generally good relationship with most of them. To be honest though my brother's personality is more likely to do that than our lack of religious beliefs." Lilith laughs.
  
  You aren't quite sure what to think right now driving with an