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CHAPTER 2

The light was too bright, the pain too much to bear. She felt death close by. She begged it to take her away.

She woke up in a dark corner. It took her a few seconds to remember what had happened. She stayed lying on the cold stone floor, weeping. She blamed herself for it all, for not running back in to try and save them; even if she would have not been able to get them all to safety, she would have at least died with her family. She tried pushing it to the back of her mind, but she knew she could not ignore it for long: Tom. She could not even save poor, sweet little Tommy, with his radiant blue eyes and his messy hazel hair. He had the wisdom of an elderly man but had the face of a newborn child, which made it much harder to watch him being snatched away from her.

"Excuse me, are you alright?"

Dalia looked up to find a tall girl about her age with a worried look on her face and a torch which just reminded her of the bright light. Her unusual white hair almost completely covered her piercing black eyes. Dalia wiped her tears away and stood up.

"Yes, I am alright. Thank you for asking."

"No problem. I'm Thalia, Thalia Tempus." She put her hand out for Dalia to shake.

"I'm Dalia Fortis." She shook her hand

"I have not seen you around here, are you moving in?"

"No, I have lived here for about two years."

"Are you sure? I know everybody in this town but I have not heard of you before."

"Right. How is the town holding up?"

"How it's holding up? It looks pretty good to me." The girl looked very confused; Dalia shared her confusion.

"What about the wreckage?"

"What wreckage?"

"The wreckage the Thunderstorm left behind, of course."

"We have not had a thunderstorm ever since last winter, what are you talking about?"

Surely everyone felt the Thunderstorm. No, of course everyone did, you can't ignore that big of a disaster. She pushed Thalia aside and made her way out of the alleyway. She looked around and could not believe what she was seeing; a town like this has not existed in a millennia.

Dalia looked back and realized she has shoved the poor girl against the wall. She managed to get back up and make her way to Dalia.

"Yeah, the town looks alright to me."

"This is not possible, the Thunderstorm.. Everything was moving, lightning was flashing, and Tom-" She recollected herself just a quickly as tears filled up her eyes. "The Rescue Team should be taking injured people away by now, people's houses destroyed-"

"You know what, you need to loosen up, let's get some Starbucks."

Ok, decided Dalia, this girl is most definitely crazy.

"What is a Starbucks?"

"You are kidding, right?" Thalia was stunned.

Dalia shook her head.

"Look, I have no idea what is going on, but it must be serious if you do not know what Starbucks is."

Thalia grabbed Dalia arm and dragged her to a building with what seems to be a mermaid at the very top.

"Go on, get in." Thalia pushed her into the doorway, and insisted that she sit down at a table while she got them coffee.

When she came back, she put down a big cup in front of Dalia.

Dalia studied the cup carefully.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Coffee?" Thalia asked in an amused tone.

"Yes."

"Well, there is a ninety five percent chance of you dying from it, but otherwise you should be fine."

Thalia laughed at the newcomer's horrified expression.

"I am just kidding. Take a sip."

Once she did, Dalia's face lit up and she continued it with delight.

"This is heavenly."

"Wait until you try the pumpkin spice latte."

"Maybe next time." Dalia quickly changed the subject. "Anyways, we have to talk. First things first, where exactly am I?"

"Last time I checked, this is North America."

"That's impossible, North America was the name Homo Sapiens gave to the Wasteland. Nowadays, the radioactivity levels are too high, and no living being may step into the land without dying."

"Hold on, the Wasteland? Look around; and Homo Sapiens? Really? What are you, an alien?"

"No! No, I am not an alien. Look, I am sorry if I have offended you, but the only way that this could be North America is if this is before the Great Disaster."

"The Great Disaster? That does not sound good."

Dalia's face went rigid.

"Yeah, it is what it sounds like." She willed herself to speak.

"So, what is this supposed to mean?"

At any other time, in any other condition, Dalia would have considered her answer crazy, absolutely crazy; but habitable North America, extremely luxurious towns and Starbucks changed things.

"It means that I just travelled back in time. Way, way back."
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"You are telling me that you come from the future, a millennia into the future." Thalia stared with an unbelieving expression at Dalia.

"Yes."

"And this Great Disaster messed up the Earth?"

"Precisely."

"No Starbucks?" She waited for Dalia's response with a terrified expression.

"No Starbucks."

Thalia fell back into her seat and gulped down the rest of her coffee.

"Oh god. This is too overwhelming."

"Tell me about it."

"Listen, I understand if you walk right out of that door, but I need your help."

A moment of silence passed.

"If you want my help, I need you to be open with me." Thalia broke the silence

Dalia sighed. "What would you like to know?"

"Let's start off with everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything."
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So this is Chapter 2 of this story! Many people have been asking me if I was going to put up a cast, and my answer to that is no. I would love to see your imagination run wild in the comments! Please do not forget to vote and maybe leave feedback!