Estranged [Completed]

Making Friends

A young boy, probably in his early teens, judging by his short, scrawny build and lack of facial hair, entered the doorway behind Kalei. His dark hair shot out at odd angles, as though he'd just rolled out of bed. He looked a bit like a scarecrow beneath his baggy jeans and T-shirt, but he had a square, somewhat handsome face. If Kalei looked at him from the neck up, she could believe he was an athlete. She looked down at his hands to check his nails: full black.

He said, "Sorry to interrupt. It's just—you threw the can and I—"

Jenna shouted, "How long have you been there? You been eavesdropping?"

"I've been here the whole time, but I wasn't listening, I promise I—"

Kalei ignored him and asked Jenna, "What did you mean, 'Landen dug up Xamic'?"

Jenna glanced over at her sister, but before she could say anything, the boy interrupted, "Uh, hey." He glanced over his shoulder at a pile of decimated electronics. Phones, computers, keyboards; all piled in one heap. Somewhere within the mound's depths, a red light was flashing. The boy looked back at the girls and said, "You might wanna know, there are some Wardens coming up the stairs."

Kalei asked, "You serious?" Before he could answer, Kalei turned back to Jenna. "SWORDE only uses the earring for tracking, right?" She and Jenna had torn out the ear cameras when they escaped Downtown.

"Yeah. I mean, as far as I know," Jenna replied. "But Landen—"

"Girls," the boy interrupted again. "Sorry, but I've really got to go. You can come if you want. I, uh... I'm assuming you don't want the SWORDE peeps to find you. But I know a back door we can use... uh, that is, if you want to come with me."

Kalei looked at Jenna and shrugged. She stood up and said, "Alright."

The boy fidgeted nervously, his eyes locked on Jenna's breasts as he said, "Well, it's not really a back door so much as a really good hiding place."

Jenna growled, "Jus' shuddup and lead."

The boy's eyes snapped up to her face and he said, "Right! Um, yeah, follow me." They walked a few steps past the tarp where Kalei had originally been sitting, then the boy turned around and offered Jenna his hand. "I'm Josh, by the way."

"What the hell? This ain't no time to get high, kid," Jenna spat.

Josh was abashed. "What? I mean, I know we can't touch normal people, but I thought touching other Estranged is—"

"Have you ever touched another Estranged?" Kalei asked.

"No, I..."

"Good. Keep it that way." She pointed forward and Josh obligingly turned and continued to lead.

On the other side of the desolate space, Josh entered the men's restroom. Jenna glanced at Kalei with an eyebrow reaching for the ceiling. The two women stopped outside the broken doorway.

Meanwhile, Josh headed to the second stall and yanked and pulled on the toilet until finally it moved free, revealing a hole in the floor. Josh straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. "Uhh..."

"What?" Jenna demanded.

He glanced at them and then quickly looked away. "I don't think we can fit more than one person in there."

"Are you serious? You didn' think of that before?" Jenna looked like she was about to strangle the kid.

"I—well, usually it's just me. I didn't plan on—"

"You didn' plan on havin' two girls walk in on your lovely little shithole of a home?" Jenna looked him up and down. "I can see why."

Kalei interjected, "Hey, cut it out."