Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Epilogue

The airport was a blank canvas of white concrete and dark shadows. It had just finished raining, and the sun was already high in the sky and steaming all the water off the concrete. All the cars were abandoned, there were no signs, and there was not a thing in sight that wasn't plain and minimalist.

The train arrived at the crude platform built in front of the entrance to the Tullamarine airport, and she waited for a few moments to make sure that there was no one waiting to receive the contents of the train. She had passed a final abandoned encampment only a few minutes ago, and the platform at the airport looked just as empty.

But just in case, she climbed to the second floor of her carriage and found an emergency exit in the ceiling and climbed through. The roof of the platform was only a metre away from the edge of the train, and she was able step to over with nothing but the bulging backpack strapped across her back.

She was wearing dark clothes that was long sleeved and covered her face in case the cameras were still operating. Emilia still had no idea what she was going to do. Her wildest idea was to find a manual on how to fly a small plane and pick somewhere that was neutral in the war. Her first thought was New Zealand, but then she remembered that the Australian officials had referred to their prime minister very favourably. But her easiest plan so far was to stay at the airport and wait for something better to pass.

Emilia tried to find an open or unlocked window to the building she was standing on but had no such luck. She wrapped her fist in a shirt from her bag and broke the glass quickly before swinging in and darting behind the closest bin in case the airport wasn't abandoned.

But no one came, and she continued her silent hunt through the ginormous airport.

The building was completely abandoned and empty. Everything was faded and dusty, with most of the furniture packed up and stacked in the corners. There were even a few garden displays that had overgrown and stretched across a section of the floor exposed in sunlight and washed by a nearby broken pipe. The space was eery, but it was peaceful; a space for birds to nest and other animals to rest from the harshness of the sun.

Emilia passed a few terminals before she found a cafeteria, looking for anything that she could use. But of course, all the food was gone, and the water inside the old plastic bottles looked cloudy. But the register, with a few smacks and shoves, opened to expose a colourful array of money. She pocketed all of it, not knowing how useful it could actually be in a world that had started to rely more on trading.

She opened one of the cupboards in the kitchen of the cafeteria and crawled inside. She had slept for most of the ride, but all her waking hours had been spent crying and rubbing her eyes. That left them stinging and her temples aching, so she curled up in the dark cupboard, and decided that she would find what to do afterwards.

She wasn't sure how long she spent there, crying and dozing, then crying some more over Matthew, Florence, Joshua. Even Calico, the sweet kitten. But then voices perked her ears up and she readied her things and crawled back out of the empty cupboard and watched the door to the kitchen as the small group walked past.

They were all soldiers dressed in an unfamiliar uniform. It wasn't Russian, and it definitely wasn't Australian. They walked and talked with a swagger and a casual air about them, not a care in the world. By the time she focused, she couldn't hear what it was they were saying, but they were laughing and were holding their belt buckles instead of their weapons. She couldn't decide if she thought they were just off duty or if they never thought that they'd run into a threat in an airport that hadn't been operational in years.

Once they turned a corner, she made sure that she had everything with her, then stalked after them like a cat.

After a few rounds of the building, they veered off to the runway where more people in the same uniform were grouped, talking and laughing as they passed around... teacups and small cakes. Most of them were in normal clothes and getting changed into the unfamiliar uniform. Emilia turned around and found the closest stairs to see if she could find a balcony that overlooked the group of foreign soldiers.