Automata

CHAPTER 3 - I'll Save You

Three months have passed since Courtney left. Annette was at the grocery store buying cat food and other necessities. "Did you know..", a young lady beside her began. Annette looked over thinking that she was talking to her, but the lady was conversing with a person next to her. Annette went back to looking at the cat food brands. She reached out to take one but immediately stopped when she heard the word: Military. Wait.. the military? Did something happen? She thought. She silently took the bag of cat food from the shelf to listen in more to the conversation.

"The Surface? I thought they stopped doing that..", the lady said. Annette's eyes widened again and her head started hurting. She dropped the cat food. "No...no, no, no..", she whispered to herself. Calm down..it can't be... She assured herself but to no avail. Her heart rate was getting higher. "..Miss?". The lady next to her noticed that she was in a panic. "Are you alright?", she asked with a worried look on her face. Tell them you're fine. Your friend is okay. Everything is fine. You're- Annette's thoughts pleaded to her, but Annette couldn't speak as she feared that if she stopped taking deep breaths she would pass out. Annette ran out of the grocery store without looking back. She continued running straight back to her home. Ginger the cat jumped down from a nearby table and meowed. Sorry, Ginger... Annette didn't dare say a word out loud because she was scared that she was going to have another panic attack if she didn't focus on her breathing.

Ann rushed to her room and rummaged through the closet to find an old, beige satchel. She used it only to carry a textbook she had used in school, but this time she was planning to leave. She was going to leave the Underground in search of her friend, who had disappeared on the Surface. She filled the pouch with a couple of water bottles, an apple, a banana, and...

Annette looked at her nightstand. It was a picture that included both her parents and her. This was the only physical thing left that she had to remember her parents by. Annette reached for it, hesitated for a moment, then grabbed it and placed it carefully in her satchel. Don't worry Courtney, I'll save you.

Author's Note: So about what I said about the weekly updates.. heh well since I have the entire story pre-written on a huge google doc, I will probably upload 2 chapters per week instead of just one (I'm thinking every Monday and Wednesday?). I will most likely change the later chapters so as the story goes on, my uploads might become a little bit slower (at least one chapter a week).

The next chapter will be published on Monday, Jan. 8th, 2023!