Isolation

Isolated

The house we were invited into was surprisingly nice, everything was neatly furnished and well put together. The person who invited us in was walking around the house with a gas mask on, preventing us from seeing how the person looked. "So uh..who are you?" I asked, to which the person standing ahead of us turned back to me. I could feel a chill run up my spine as I did that. "My name isn't important. More importantly, Ann, what are you doing here?" The voice was slightly muffled, I couldn't make out if this was a boy or a girl since the person was also draped in a long, brown, fuzzy looking robe.

"I need you to confirm something for me, and, I also want you to bring Ryan to the edge."

"...I see. Very well then, come along." The person said, leading us from the foyer and into a living room looking area. "Take a seat, I will get you three something to drink within the minute." The masked being said, shuffling off and away. "Can we make requests...?" I turned my head at Ann and Alice, both of which seemed to be sneering at me. "..Or, not, I'm fine with whatever is given to me." I slumped back down into my seat, my eyes scanning the room.

Currently, we were seated in a large, grey covered "L" shaped couch, with a large oaken table in front of said couch, across the room, there sat a fancy set up TV stand with a large plasma TV. All around the wooden walls there were various paintings, some from those I recognized right away, some I didn't. But either way they all looked very nice. Then, a cup was placed in front of me, the person who was once completely ambiguous was now in full view. Long silvery-gray hair that reached just around her back, hazel eyes staring at me with a glint of curiosity and skin so pale she might as well be invisible.

After putting my cup down she sat down beside Ann, sipping from her own while Alice and Ann both took their drinks. I took mine and looked at it, sniffing and then taking a gentle sip. It was tea. "Huh..that's better tasting than I thought." I said aloud.

"It's Chai Tea." The woman said, her eyes looking over at me before turning to the TV.

"Chai, huh.."

Well, whatever. It was good anyway.

"Let's see..That place?" The woman looked at the small paper that had the coordinates on it, she turned to a large wall map of the city, it looked completely hand drawn. She traced her finger around the general area, then pin pointed the a large looking square, probably a very tall building judging by where the building was located. "Right there." She said, her eyes trailed to us, they had a sort of monotone look to them, not really something I'd want to look at for very long-

Before my thoughts could continue, Ann stood up and looked at the building with wide eyes. "W-What? There? Are you sure?" She asked, the woman nodded her head and sat down in a rocking chair, hearing it creak as she rocked gently was a strange feeling, Ann just stared at the square that would represent the building that the AI Isabelle gave us. What was going on? There were obviously many, many questions I had, the grand majority of them would go unanswered however.

"If you need help getting there, I'll be able to assist you. Now then." Her gaze was set on me, that bored expression on her face then looked down. "I'll take you to the edge." She said quietly.

"Ann, Alice. You two will wait here, yes?"

"Got nowhere else to be, sure." Alice responded for the both of them. The woman nodded then turned to me again. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah.."

"Then let's go."

We were out on the road again before I knew it, me sitting in the passenger's seat and the woman looking at the road ahead as she drove on the dirt road. "..So, this 'edge' is it..like..?"

"You'll see when we get there." She cut me off almost immediately, I slouched then looked outside at all the forestry ahead. It was a pretty sight to be sure. When you're out here alone like this, it really makes you forget that everyone truly is gone, right? At least, that's what I think. Looking over at the woman beside me, I could see her light brown hazel eyes glance at me for a moment before focusing on the road again. Her frame was quite small, frail even. She wasn't wearing the robe she was dressed in earlier, rather she was wearing a dark grey sweater and jeans. It fit her, I thought.

"Ryan, that's your name, yes?" She asked, her head tilted slightly as her eyes were glued to ahead of her, I nodded my head and confirmed her question, she just huffed as she kept driving. "I had a friend named Ryan, back before everyone disappeared. Good guy.." She spoke gently, calmly. I looked ahead and took in a breath. "..Is that right?" She nodded her head lightly and then the van slowly came to a stop. "...We're here."

Here we were. At "The Edge", as everyone keeps calling it. Around us, there were nothing more but trees, trees and more trees. But what prevented us from moving further was a large, large fence standing in the way. It was also humming, probably meaning that it was electrical too. "Here we are. This is the edge. A large fence that covers more land than you can imagine." She said, putting her hand in her sweater pocket, it was then in my sight I saw her pull out something silver, metal, lethal.

It was a gun, a magnum from the looks of it. I immediately shivered then stepped back, all she did was turn towards me and then look at the gun. "...Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to shoot you." She then turned to the fence, staring at it hard then pointed the magnum at it using both hands.

BANG!!!

The sound filled my ears completely, making an annoying ringing more prominent than ever. It hurt as well, it was just incredibly loud. When I opened my eyes again the woman in front of me was still aiming the magnum, but a more disappointed look reigned her face. I turned to where she was looking, the edge.

It was glowing, blue. And something just seemed to float there, as if it just stopped entirely.

It was the bullet she fired. Something just past the fence stopped the bullet from continuing. It was like a second wall, up ahead from this wall, everything wavered, the trees, grass, dirt. All of it looked distorted for a moment, then returned to normal as the bullet dropped to the ground.

"Do you see now, Ryan? Everything you guys told me, along side this mystery..and that AI, Isabelle..It confirms it."

"..W-What.."

"We're alone here. No one else exists in this city, this world, but us. We're trapped, unable to escape."

"We're Isolated."