Ashes of the Future

Chapter 2

Flicked switches, bright lights, a gush of air pressing against their skin. Hands gripped tight, a lack of orientation, and a final thud to the ground as they arrived at their destination.

2518.

The four of them turned and turned, familiarising themselves with their current location. It worked. It had actually worked.

"What the shit is this" Always the first to speak, Cody snapped the boys back into reality.

"This looks just like I imagined the future, flying cars, lit train systems that are above us-" But Dan was soon interrupted by the loud voice of Cody.

"Calm down, you're gonna get a nerd hard on in a minute" Cody exclaimed, initiating a roar of laughter from the other two boys as they cluelessly walked around the frantic streets.

Normally the sky would smother the scene, like a blanket over the hills. Dominant. But instead, it lay afraid in the background, hiding behind the chaos and mayhem built by humans themselves. Large signs, towering buildings, overhead train lines, luminous lasers and artificial lighting. All disrupting the beauty of the clear blue sky, on a crisp summer day.

"Let's just focus on what we need to do. Find my dad, and find out what's so bad about this era" Matt quickly grabbed Dan's hand, knowing his fear for busy places. Dan didn't like unfamiliar settings, ones that didn't appeal to him. He'd never been one for busy roads and hectic cities.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a coffee" Immediately going against Matt's words, Charlie walks off to find a coffee shop, Cody following him.

"Not focusing on what we need to do at all, but whatever" Worming their way through the masses, Matt and Dan frantically try to keep up with the other two, who are almost moving at a jogging pace.

For what seemed like forever, hoard of people scrambled down the streets like lost puppies. Matt started to push through, his feet violently attacking the solid ground while his hand remained firmly in Dan's, leaving an echo of stomps as he walked.

But finally, they rolled up at a coffee shop. Flashes of rose, gold and crimson. Warm colours painting their way through the smooth material of the building, a material unknown to the boys.

Charlie stepped foot into the coffee shop, but is immediately greeted by a quick scan, a light of a teal colour tracing down his body. A coffee was then flown to him, exactly the coffee his was thinking of.

The four try to keep their excitement in, their teeth slowly seeping through their lips as they began to grin.

"Damn they make good coffee here" Charlie sat sipping his coffee. The four had all been served in seconds, and now had found their way to a perfectly round table, made of marble and many other materials that further added to the beauty of it.

"I'm not sure what it is but it just-" Wrapping his fingers around his tea, Dan sheepishly stayed quiet as Matt interrupted him. He was used to it, people always cutting him off. He knows his friends tried not to do it, because they know it hurts him. But other people always stop him from speaking his mind, calling him stupid or an idiot. Dan had eventually learned to take it all as a joke, just to laugh it off.

"Can we all shut up about the shitty coffee and focus on the matter at hand" It's not that he thought the coffee was bad, it was just that Matt needed to find his father and his friends didn't seem to understand that. Anytime something got too serious, they'd all turn it into a joke or just ignore it. Maybe it was a boy thing, or maybe just something the four of them did. But Matt couldn't put up with it this time.

"Like blending in, we stick out like a sore thumb here" Taking another swig of his drink, Cody sat back, stretching his arms out in the process. Cody watched as the three boys turned to look at him in confusion, Charlie being the only one to speak.