InsaneJournal

To say the weird changes in the Land of Make Believe were starting to frustrate Gwen would be an understatement. She had been de-aged to the age of nine, and then swapped for a more brunette, Spider-girl version. Yet she could remember everything. The pain, the sadness, the hurt of her father's death and the creation of The Lizard. It broke her heart to know that Peter had to endure all of that day in and day out. Now she was back, but he was gone.

Gwen cared for Peter. She loved him still, but would always respect his wishes to an extent. When it came to the blame and the weight of the world, Gwen would always try to help shoulder it with him. But to be in his place was another matter. She could understand why he wanted to leave her the way he did. She could understand everything. But it didn't mean she had to always go with it.

Unfortunately Charlie also was sent home. Gwen would miss Charlie and Peter, but she was happy that they were safe and sound in their rightful worlds. Gwen wouldn't mind being sent home either. At least she knew whenever she was returned home, she would see Peter again. True she died, but others had helped her begin to come to terms with her death. Everyone died. She just had to make the most of the time she still had.

So Gwen went to the Dragon Research Center early Tuesday morning to catch up on the time missed when Spider-girl was around. It was easier to get away with the lost time when Charlie as still her boss, because he could see first-hand what had kept her. Now with Charlie gone, Gwen tried to slip past the others and go straight to her lab. She hoped in time she would be able to take over where Charlie left off. Maybe she'd even be able to take over for him. Assuming of course she didn't keep getting changed into things or swapped out for different versions.

Gwen worked on the current set of scales and horns that were brought in by the field research team. She was taking her results over to the binders to record her findings when the entire building shook. She tripped and fell into the nearest filing cabinet. She grabbed the edge to steady herself. Gwen went to the door and tried to question a few people running past her. She caught one of them and said, "What's going on?"

The woman started to answer but was interrupted by another loud crash and the shake of the building. Both women stumble a little, but use each other for balance. A couple of other scientists nearby fall to the ground.

There is screaming down the hall and through the double doors to the next corridor. Many of them are silenced, some are muffled. Gwen and the others stand, facing the doors, confused. Suddenly the doors are shoved open and Reavers run into the hall. The people nearest the Reavers are taken first. Two are killed, and one is knocked unconscious.

Gwen opened the door of the lab she was just in and shoves as many people as she can into it. She goes to try to help another man but the he is dragged from her reach. A Reaver began to cut into the man and tear its skin off. Gwen leaves the man to enter the lab and lock the door. She feels horrible about leaving the man to be skinned alive, but she couldn't help him.

With the help of another woman, she shoves some filing cabinets in front of the door. While the others start crying or asking unanswerable questions about the Reavers, Gwen pulls out her phone to text Darcy, Glenn, Duncan, and Olive.

There is a crash and Gwen turns around in time to see that the file cabinet barriers did absolutely nothing to stop the Reavers from reaching the scientists and researchers. Reavers started to climb over what was left of the door and cabinets to reach the people.

Gwen ran like the rest of them. Some were clubbed to death, and others were stabbed. Gwen, however, was harpooned in the leg. She cried out when it went into her calf and fell to the ground as her leg was pulled out from underneath her. She dropped her phone and lost it when the Reaver began to drag her body toward them again. Gwen turned over onto her back and caught the nearest lab cart. She was lucky the cart wouldn't roll with her, but instead was locked in place. It made it harder for the Reavers to pull her, but it certainly did more damage to her leg as well. She cried as muscles were torn and blood flowed from the wound.

Hanging onto the car with one hand she reached up and grabbed a knife that was one the car. She used the sharp knife to cut the rope and free her leg. The Reaver roared at her and threw his harpoon to the side. Gwen stood up and tried to run as best as she could away from the Reavers. She managed to stay ahead of the one chasing her, and move out to the next hall.

The hall was worst than the lab. To her left a woman was being raped. Gwen looked away, only to see another Reaver rip off a man's head. She moved quickly to the lab across the hall and was thankful to find it empty. Gwen went to the far corner and hid in the closet. She locked the door and hoped the Reavers wouldn't figure out where she went.

Gwen broke the long back handle of the harpoon, but left the front part. She was afraid to pull it out and cause more damage. Instead, she wrapped a washcloth she found in the closet around her leg and used it as a tourniquet to try to stop the bleeding.

She couldn't stop crying. The things she saw wouldn't leave her and she felt horrible for leaving the others. Gwen laid down against the cold ground and closed her eyes, hoping she'd wake up and find out this was all a horrible nightmare.