Sam & Penny Short-Stories *English*

JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE - Resurrected

The cover actually provided the idea for the scene at the end, from which this story emerged. Sometimes it's just pictures that spark ideas. In that case, I found it interesting to think that Penny might be shocked by Sam's presence. Read for yourself. I hope you enjoy it.

>Sam's POV<

Groaning, I struggled to my feet and found that everything around me was plunged into darkness - well, it wasn't entirely dark. The stars shone above me and I lay amidst a smattering of rubble and stone from the collapsed foundation around me. Alone. I stood up and looked around. Given the location, this could only be the old mill I was standing in and yet something was wrong.

Even if it had been burning before, it couldn't possibly have brought her to such a state. It looked as if its ruins had been lying in complete disrepair for years, because there was no more of it left - no rubble, no beams and there must have been pockets of embers everywhere from the fire that were still smoking and that residual heat from the extinguished fire was also missing. It all didn't add up.

Something was very wrong here. What I least understood was that my team had simply left me here. I remembered Polonium resisting and wanting to take some of her invention. We had both grabbed her under the arms and wanted to drag her out when she freed herself again and pushed me away. I tripped backwards over something and fell. Ellie had gotten Polonium again and I told her to take her out. I tried to get up, but something was pulling on me. The blue light from this invention also created a suction that held me tight and seemed to get stronger and stronger. I had struggled against it, but it had all been in vain as it had knocked me off my feet again while my senses were gone.

Had my fall in Polonium's machine caused a short circuit and caused the electric shock to render me unconscious? Why hadn't the others looked for me? Why hadn't they taken me to the station and had Helen check me out or taken me to the hospital? Even if they had thought I was dead, I had at least expected that my friends and family would have wanted a proper burial.

I reached for my radio, but it was no longer there. I must have lost it while fighting the pull. I took an annoyed breath before I briefly tried to brush the dirt off my clothes and then started moving. Given the walk I was about to do, I wouldn't arrive at the station until the early hours of the morning, but then I was excited to hear what my colleagues had to say about it. I was kind of expecting a prank, even if it was a pretty bad one.

"Hey guys. I need a coffee first after you left me sitting at the grinder. Why has so much changed in the city?" I interjected, completely exhausted, as I entered the stations kitchen and went to the coffee machine. After being out most of the night and wearing the heavy breathing equipment that was now lying down in the hall, a coffee would certainly get me going again. After all, I had the morning shift again today, for which I had to get changed.

The first sip of coffee tasted wonderful and invigorated my senses. Only then did I notice that no one answered me and no other sound reached my ears. Were they joking with me? Yet again? I put the pot back on the machine and turned to my colleagues, who were all staring at me.

"You look like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong?" I didn't get an answer, instead Arnold jumped up and ran out of the room. "Well, I know I need a shower after the mission last night, but it's really not that bad, is it?" I said again in a vain attempt to joke with Elvis and Ellie, who were still staring at me with open mouths and wide eyes. "Uh, okay?! Where's Penny?" I asked in a last attempt to find someone who would definitely going to talk to me when I was startled by a scream. Confused, I turned to the door where Steele was now standing, pushing Arnold in front of him, who was obviously trying very hard not to get too close to me. Okay, that was really enough."Can someone finally explain to me what's going on here? You're almost acting as if it's abnormal that I'm here."