When I wake, there is a void within me, but I cannot remember why. My eyelids are heavy, so heavy. Something aches. My pelvis, from laying on the hard floor.
<What the crud?>
Who's that? Oh, it's Yuki. Damn, she's still in my head.
That empty feeling. It tears at me. The pain in my chest...
"Glad to see you sleeping beauties are finally waking. I thought I'd have starved to death by then."
<Max?>
Aw, shit. It's all coming back to me now. Shit, shit, shit.
Thomas!
"Where's Thomas?" I croak. How long was I asleep? My throat is dry as a desert.
"He and the other guy got hauled away by some men in black. I could hear them screaming from the other side of the door."
Max sits with his back against the wall, glaring at me.
I push myself up to sitting position slowly. Every part of my body aches. "Why are you looking at me like I'm the bad guy?"
"We never had any trouble until you guys came along. Yuki, I told you to stay away from them."
He was right. This was all my fault. Mine, mine, mine.
"Where did they take Thomas and Mathias?" I ask Max. "Did you hear anything? A clue?"
Max scrunches up his face. "They - they said..." He squeezes his eyes shut. Yuki and I wait. Man, this room is suffocating.
"They said 'we're getting you outta here, boys.' Yes. Pretty sure that's what they said."
The boys are gone.
I'm on my own.
Suddenly I wonder if I will ever see Thomas again.
So many things were left unsaid. What would I have remembered if we'd made it to Griffith Observatory?
"What are we going to do?" Yuki says out loud, for the benefit of Max.
"We go ahead with our plan," I say. "We go to Griffith Observatory."
"Why?" Max growls. "Just so you know your past with Mr. Goo-Goo Eyes? Yuki, I say we leave her. She's nothing but trouble."
"No," says Yuki. "Leave if you want, Max. I'm sticking with Jill."
I stare at her with surprise. What warranted such loyalty?
<I sometimes worry about what Max might do when we're alone.>
Ah.
"Girls stick together," I say.
I feel a wave of relief from Yuki.
"I swore to protect you, Yuki. I go where you go."
Yuki's hopes are swiftly deflated.
"Then let's go," I say. "Maybe my memories will help us get out of this shittown."
YOU ARE READING
Empty City
Science FictionA girl awakens in an empty city devoid of people or any semblance of life. She cannot remember her past, or why she is here. Then she meets a boy whom she so badly wants to trust - because there's no one else. But is he who he seems to be? Why is...
