Stepping off the bus, the first thing Jesse noticed was the smell of burning rubber and cigarettes. A rusting, bullethole-ridden sign told him they were in Siberia. November poked him in the back of the head. “Hey,” she said.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Oh, I didn’t do too much of whatever everyone was on. I didn’t wanna have some Inception-esque experience where I’m tripping while tripping, y’know?”

“Totally,” November replied, without knowing what Inception was. See, the advantage of literature over cinema is that, barring some awful V.O., you can really get in the heads of the characters like that. With a visual medium it has to be more explicit. In this case, November would’ve had to say “Totally” with a puzzled look on her face, or maybe said it like “Totally?”, and Jesse would’ve picked up on it. What I’m saying is that in the written word, your characters can be more effective liars. The bus exploded.

“November! Are you okay?” Jesse shouted through the thick smog that’d gathered around him. Something had shielded him from the blast.

“Yep, that was me, you asshole. I dived in front of you when I saw the mortar shell coming.”

“November, I don’t know what to say.” He stared blankly at her. 

“You can pay me back by taking me on a date.”

“I thought this was a date?”

“It’s only a date if the guy pays.”

“How can you say that as a self-professed feminist?”

“Umm, because I’m a freelance writer. If I had to pay for everything, I’d be dead by now.”

“Good enough for me.” They embraced, at first as friends, and then, as burgeoning lovers. Which meant a comfortable hug turned into a quietly awkward situation full of tension. Dutch Scary Spice backflipped up to them. “Hey you guys! We better move, kinda in a warzone right now!”

“Really?” November shouted over the wails of organic debris. A torso slammed into the concrete next to them. “Between who?”

“I don’t know! We’ll figure it out later!” Two clans of ninjas, one in red garb and the other in white, started breakdance fighting near a trio of effeminate 20-somethings oblivious to their surroundings while enthralled in a game of Wii Tennis. The bus survivors hurried off.