|YA featured story|
Welcome to 2325.
The natural world is no longer habitable, the government has been all but privatised and the 15-billion strong population has spent the last 170 years crammed into a single man-made continent.
When her father's...
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"What's taking him so long?" Axel grumbled, slumping against his seat. "I need another drink."
"Are you alright?" I glanced back at him, a little alarmed at the angle I found him leaning at.
"Another drink and I'll be fine—or maybe we could find a bit of Oblivion. Someone here is bound to be dealing." He staggered to his feet for a second, before flopping back into the booth seat with a grunt as his knees hit the underside of the table. "Shit."
"You don't need any of that stuff mate, you're already oblivious enough as it is," Zaphron said, appearing next to us. He slid into the seat beside me, placing a black whisky mix between my hands on the table and keeping the one for himself.
"Where's mine?" Axel asked, outraged.
"This is yours." Zaphron pulled a small bottle of water from his jacket pocket and handed it over.
"I wanted the same again." He smacked the bottle, sending it skittling across the table.
"You donated three pints of blood today. You can't replace that with three pints of booze." Zaphron picked up the bottle and placed it back. "Just give it an hour's break at least?"
Axel was silent. For a moment I wondered if he had passed out—but then he grumbled and took a swig from the bottle.
Zaphron reached over and clapped him on the shoulder. After another swig he went very quiet and a few moments later I could hear him snoring.
"He's had a hell of a day." Zaphron took a sip of his drink as he watched Axel sleep.
"We all have," I said with a sigh. "I didn't expect him to be such a liability though."
"He killed a Forcer today," Zaphron said, his eyes not leaving his friend. "I don't think he's taken it so well."
The crunch of the Forcer's body as it landed beside us played in my mind and I felt sick. Suddenly the weird way they were acting made sense. Axel was clearly dealing with a lot—and Zaphron had left us upstairs in order to keep an eye on his friend. The realisation swept a flush of guilt through me.
"How's Delta?" Zaphron asked, changing the subject. He might have noticed the way I was staring at him and Axel with my mouth agape.
"She woke up just before I came to find you guys, seemed okay actually." I took three large gulps of my drink, feeling the cold liquid trail down my throat and into my empty stomach. "You know, Axel asked me if she's single."
Zaphron just about choked on his drink. "You're kidding."
I stifled a laugh. "Swear I'm not."
"And?" Zaphron put down his drink. "Is she?"
"No idea. I've only known her four days—and it's hardly like our love lives have been part of any conversation in that time," I said, frowning to myself. It was the second time today that I had found my confidence on the subject of Delta waning a little. There was still so much of her that was a mystery. Like all that stuff about her Mum that she'd practically taunted the professor with.
