Kate looked at her surroundings. The sun filled the field with brilliant light and the trees swayed melodically in the light breeze. Flowers of various colors were strung about the emerald grass and the sky was a brilliant shade of blue. Kate would've thought it was a beautiful day if she hadn't been so worried about getting to cover so she wouldn't disappear into thin air. It had been a day since her, Mr. Jacks, and his pit bull had escaped the airport and the force field surrounding it and they hadn't felt safe since. She sighed, almost wishing she had stayed in there because it felt safer. But she had no time for safe. She needed to get home as fast as possible.
"Over here Mr. Jacks!" She called, catching sight of an abandoned car. Her, him, and the old dog rushed over as fast as they could to check it out. Kate checked to see if the car was locked-it opened with ease-and crawled inside. The keys were still in the ignition and the gas tank was half full. She noticed that there was a car-seat in the back of the car, buckled up as if a child were still in it. Although she didn't know exactly what happened, the sight of it still made her heart shatter.
"Everything out here is good. Do you think that this will be able to get us home?" Mr. Jacks said, bringing Kate out of her thoughts.
"Maybe. We might have to find more gas along the way,"she replied. No one said another word as they got into the car and began the long drive home.
They had only been driving for an hour, but to Kate it felt like a year. The holes and bumps in the road made her stomach turn and the scenery was unsettling. Every few miles they would pass an empty car veered to the side of the road, along with the occasional tinge of electric blue in the air, which made her feel even worse. She was about to close her eyes in hopes of it making the ride pass faster when she felt Mr. Jacks slam on the brakes, throwing her forward.
She was scared he had disappeared, but, to her surprise, she saw a girl about her age frozen in front of the car and Mr. Jacks still in the seat beside her.
"Are you okay? Did we hit you?"Kate asked, concern creeping into her voice. She jumped out of the car and immediately rushed over to the girl.
"I'm fine, thanks. Can you help me out?" She replied, brushing herself off. The girl seemed fine, but Kate still felt terrible about what happened.
"What do you need?" Kate asked enthusiastically. The girl looked guilty, as if she knew something bad was going to happen.
"I need a ride to Baltimore. My name's Lila." Lila said, melancholy hiding in her voice.
"We can take you there. My name's Kate. How did you end up here?" She asked as the pair got into the car.
"About two weeks ago, I was going to Baltimore with my dad and my brother, Sammy. We were driving by the field when I heard whirring and Sammy was gone. My dad pulled over and got out of the car to try and find out where he could've went, the whirring started back up, and he disappeared too." Lila said, her voice trembling. They had just barely started to drive when the whirring noise kicked up once again, and Kate was gone.
She awoke surrounded by metal walls, head pounding with questions.
"Wha-where am I? What happened?" She asked, panic and fear threatening to take over her emotions. A crowd of people soon rushed into the room and began to swarm around her, making her feel uneasy.
"What's going on?" She asked, fearing for her life. Kate looked to her left, catching sight of her kneeling mother beside her. Her mother helped her up. "Mom? Why are you here? Where exactly is here?" She questioned, sounding as if she were begging for answers. Her mom sighed, trying to think of a way to soften the blow.
