Maybe After Tomorrow (Hatchetfield)

Chapter 4

"They were all gone."
     Everyone paused.
     "What was?" Lex asked.
     "Every one of the hundreds of bodies had disappeared," Professor Hidgens said.
     "Hold on, just start from the beginning," Becky said.
     "Okay, so, we walked for a few minutes until we reached the street where the mall is..."

As the group turned the corner to get to the mall, Henry suddenly ran forward.
     "Professor, where are you going?" Emma asked.
     "They were all here."
     "What was all here?'"
     "The bodies. There must have been about three hundred of them. Where the hell have they gone?"
     "I don't know, professor, but you said you didn't wanna stay out long. We should get going. We can discuss this later," Emma said, taking his arm and trying to keep her mind off of Paul.
     "You're right. We need to get to the mall. Let's go."
     A disconcerting silence filled the frost covered streets, making everyone shiver as they walked into the mall. The raised ceiling just seemed to highlight the fact that they were totally alone, not a single other person in sight.
     They kept to the side of the building which hadn't completely caved in because of the meteor and just grabbed clothes off of the rails. It should have been freeing to be able to ignore prices, but they all felt guilty.
     Fairly soon, they were all carrying multiple bags filled with clothes, shoes and various other things they needed. Or, in the case of the DVDs, stuffed animals and makeup, just wanted.
     Then, they walked back through the streets, still unsettled by the absolute quiet looming over them, and got home.

Emma shot a glare at Tom as he tried to protest the ending.
     "Yeah. We got the clothes, then passed a few shops where we got ... other stuff on the way out. It was really strange how quiet everything was."
     "There wasn't anyone else? Anywhere?" Lex asked.
     "Not another soul," Professor Hidgens replied.
     "I'm not sure that's accurate," Ted said, "It felt like there were souls everywhere that were missing their humans."
     Bill shivered, "Don't say that, Ted. I don't need to be having nightmares tonight."
     Ted held his hands up, "I'm just saying, that's just how it seemed to me."
     Bill raised an eyebrow quickly before turning away from Ted.
     "Let's just watch one of the DVDs we got. Is everyone okay with Moana? Good," the professor said, setting the DVD player up.
     "You know exactly what Paul would say if they were here," Bill said, laughing fondly.
     "People don't just burst into song! That doesn't happen! It's just uncomfortable to watch!" Emma imitated him, smiling bittersweetly.
     "Totally unnatural and unnecessary!" Bill mocked.
     "Never thought I'd miss that," Emma said quietly.
     Professor Hidgens looked at her sadly before sitting down and pressing play.

"Emma, can we just talk?"
     Emma turned round just as he had been about to open the door to her room. "Look, Tom, I said I was sorry. I didn't meant to-"
     "I don't care about that. I want to know what you were doing in the first place."
     "It doesn't matter." She turned to walk into her room before Tom caught her attention again.
     "Well it clearly does!"
     "Tom," she said calmly as she walked toward him, "Just don't tell the others. Please."
     "I won't. But only if I know that you're okay. You seemed real freaked out back there."
     "I'm not okay. My partner is probably dead. But that's not related to what happened when we were out today."
     "Are you sure?"
     "Yes. I'm sure.'"
     Emma went into her room, closing the door a little more forcefully than intended, and lay down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling, her argument with Tom earlier in the day playing repeatedly in her mind.

"Emma?"
     She whirled around, shoving a small box right to the bottom of her bag. "Tom. What are you doing here?"
     "Why did you run off?"
     "Forgot I needed something here."
     "What? More makeup?"
     "No. I was just leaving anyway. Let's go." She quickly walked past him.
     "What is it you needed?"
     "Doesn't matter."
     "Emma-"
     "I said it's none of your business, Tom!" She yelled, stumbling backwards when she realised how much her voice had risen.
     "Emma-" he went to put a hand on her arm but she quickly flinched away.
     "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Can we just get back to the others and out of this place?"
     At a loss for words, he nodded and they walked back to the others, at least a metre between them at all times and not another word spoken.

Emma quickly felt around the side of her mattress at the wall to make sure the little box was still there. Relief came over her, making her relax when she felt the dull edge on the cardboard and heard the contents shaking inside it. She pushed it even further down and covered the edge of the bed with a blanket.
     She briefly considered getting it out but then decided to leave it. She wasn't ready to face this yet.

~

(A/N: Tedgens coming soon I promise)