As the strange couple were leaving, Johnny was pretending to head to the pathway the skeleton instructed him to go. From a great distance, Johnny put his hood up and followed them carefully.

About an hour has passed, and they have entered the deeper part of the woods. There was a hidden vardo  on an unkept trail. The two figures went inside and pulled out a pot and a sack.

The skeleton figure started to add water and vegetables into the pot .

The lizard girl started a fire and then started playing with the CD player. In the meantime, the skeleton was making a stew.

Johnny quietly listened and tried to make out on  what they both were saying. They were too occupied and wasn’t aware that he was watching them nearby.

"I wonder what is this?." asked the lizard girl.

"Not sure, it looks like some ear muffs, and the contraption has some buttons." Replied the skeleton.

"The boys is fashion is also unusual. His spiked hair made him look like a hedgehog." Said the lizard girl, and they both started giggling.

Johnny started touching his hair and felt insulted, but he couldn’t say anything.

The girl had put on the headphones and started pushing buttons. It started playing a song.

"Dakota, listen!” Said the lizard, handing the headphone to him.

Dakota immediately put on the headphones and listened as well. He clicked on the other buttons, and it started playing different songs.

Dakota took off the headphones after the song ended.

"Very strange indeed, but I like it. "Said Dakota and placed it beside him.

The couple started to look at the copies and talked a bit more about the strange encounter with Johnny.

Johnny didn’t hear much after that, but only some words like getting out of the world of the dead, and it’s been more than one hundred years since they were stuck here. They were also curious why a young teen had those kinds of pages and how he got them. And if these pages are related to those creatures that were hunting him.

When stew was ready, Dakota set aside the pages and took off his skeleton mask. Johnny almost gasped to see that Dakota was actually a living human as him.

Johnny was still confused about what was going on, but he still sat quietly. The couple ate and then relaxed for a bit. The lizard grabbed her banjo, and they both started to sing and dance . Then they were talking about leaving tomorrow in the early morning. But before that  she will be hunting  this evening to prepare for tomorrow’s travel. While Dakota was planning to get more firewood and fresh water.

Hours had passed, Johnny's stomach was grumbling. He was exhausted and dehydrated. The stew smelled very good, but he couldn’t eat it because they're still there. He was getting tired, but he could not miss his opportunity.

As the evening settled, the lizard girl went to the other side of the forest to hunt. Dakota lazily got up, grabbed the pages, CD and mask, and went inside the vargo . When he exited, he only brought an axe and a water bucket. He whistled and headed to the lake nearby.

Johnny finally seized the opportunity and quietly headed into the vardo. He went inside.

Digging through, he saw some sacks of potatoes, carrots, and, somewhat, a first aid kit. He immediately threw some of it into his bag.

After that, he found the pages laying in the corner on the floor and quickly grabbed them.

He started looking for the skeleton mask, but he couldn’t see it. Then he asked himself where he would hide his important item in his room, and he immediately looked under the mattress and found the mask.

“Bingo” said Johnny, but he was hesitant to put it on. But he knew the mask would be a good idea to hide his identity.

There are several slaughs left that are looking for him for sure, and he wasn't planning to risk it. He carefully put the mask on, and it immediately turned him into a skeleton figure with flaming hair. Johnny freaked out and pulled the mask  out of his face quickly . But then he took a huge breath and put it back again. He then started to sort for other items to see if they could be useful for him in the future.

Suddenly, he heard a clicking sound in the back of his head, and he froze. He knew that Dakota was back and was about to kill him.

"You got some nerve following us. You should have taken my advice to go get help in that town,” Said Dakota.

Johnny slowly turned around to face him. Dakota's mean-looking face  look scarier than his skeleton form.

"Y-yeah? Like I'm going to listen to a bunch of thieves that took my stuff!" Said Johnny while trying to act  brave.

"Watch it, boy, there are spirits and monsters a lot worse than us." Said Dakota, even more irritated.

"Oh geeze, what are they going to do? Kill me? You are already threatening to do that  ." Said Johnny

"What if I kill you here and have both my mask and those papers? Also, that's not all of those papers you have gotten.” Said Dakota with a smirk and pulled out another page out of his vest. This page is what Johnny needed—a way out of the dead world.

"Well, if you shoot me, then I will still keep the mask, and I will be a ghost here and tell everyone that you are still alive.” Threatened Johnny, hoping that his assumption that Dakota was alive was correct.

Dakota's eyes widened, and he was not impressed that Johnny  was correct. He couldn't believe a teenager outsmarted him on that, and he regrets being careless and not noticing that someone was following them.

"What if we trade and then go to our separate ways." Said Dakota, putting the gun back in his holster.

“How do I know that you won't shoot me after?" Johnny asked suspiciously.

“I will give you a 30 seconds head start before I start shooting then” Said Dakota sarcastically

“Well, then I will use magic to curse you.” Threatened Johnny.

Dakota rolled his eyes and handed the paper toward him first. Johnny took off his mask and also handed it away at the same time. They both quickly grabbed their items and didn’t say anything else. Dakota got out of the way, so Johnny could step out. Johnny sensed that he had an upper hand over Dakota.

Just when Johnny got out, he saw the lizard girl heading back with a bunch of dead rabbits. Confused on what just happened, she dropped her meat and immediately charged toward Johnny.

“Pine! It is all alright; he isn’t a threat. I already dealt with him, and he is leaving,” stated Dakota.

Pine immediately stopped a few feet away from Johnny and gave him a death glare. Johnny was terrified and slowly backed away. He then started walking toward the unkept trail and was afraid to look back.

“Dakota. We have a problem,” stated Pine.

“Yeah, the kid took all his papers back,” said Dakota, annoyed.

“Not that; you know the creature I killed yesterday; well, I have seen more of them. They were discussing  that the boy is the key to getting back to the living world. Some of them seem to be blind. They mentioned that an old lady had done that to them. The others seem to abandon the blind ones after the conversation in the middle of the woods. And the others turn into some birds and fly into the sky to look for the boy. I went underwater to see if that creature I shred into pieces was still there, and he was gone.” Informed Pine.

“We then we must get him before they get the boy. He might be our chance to get out of here ” said Dakota.

They both ran toward Johnny to catch up to him, but Johnny nervously walked faster to get away from them as they had gotten closer to him.

“Hey kid, it looks like those creatures know you are alive and are out looking for you.” Said Dakota.

“Why do you care?” Said Johnny, still walking.

“Why don’t you stay with us, and we can talk?” Said Pine.

“No way.” Said Johnny.

“I know we had a bad start, but I think we both have the same agenda to get out of here.” Said Dakota

“Yeah, but it’s 1990 now; I’m pretty sure all your friends and family are gone, so why even go there now?.” Asked Johnny.

“My business is my own, but we both can agree that we want to get out. I've known this place for over a hundred years. You would not survive without a mask, weapons, and supplies. I wasn’t lying about the terrible spirits and creatures that are lurking here,” said Dakota.

“And why should I trust you? Did you also mention some guardians that help the living like us? Why didn't you ask them for help at the beginning?” Asked Johnny.

"I don't think they take the living back to..... I believe they take them somewhere else... My assumption is to heaven or down below." Said Dakota with a unsure tone.

Johnny didn't say anything else, but it made sense why he didn't got help from them in the first place.

“You are also of no use to us if you are dead, nor are the papers after that; these creatures stated they needed you alive first, and they needed those pages. And if they catch you, I’m sure the one I've killed wasn’t the worst of them.” Said Pine.

“If she wanted to kill you, she would. She is stronger than those creatures and can protect you. “Said Dakota now back to his persuasive tone

Johnny stopped walking. He saw a bunch of birds flying toward the sky, but wasn't sure if it was the slaugh. He knew they were right, but he didn’t trust them either. But what other choice does he has?

“Okay..” said Johnny.

"Great, come with us and have some stew. I'm sure stalking us made you hungry and tired." Said Dakota in  a friendlier tone and headed back