No Man's Land

Chapter 10

"Hey, you've reached Dinah Laurel Lance. Sorry I'm not able to get to my phone right now, but just leave me a message and I'll give you a ring back as soon as I can!"

He sighs as the phone beeps, "Hey baby girl... It's your dad..." He laughs at himself, rubbing the sweat from his forehead, "This is probably the fifteenth voicemail I've left for ya... man you're gonna be overwhelmed when all this is over in a few weeks... Hopefully it's a few weeks. You and Barbara and that Bat guy are on it I'm sure... but uh... just give me a call back whenever you guys get some power or signal or something so I know you're alright- I mean, I'm sure you're fine but parents worry when stuff like this happens... Anyway, I love you and uh just hoping you're okay... This is your dad, Quinten- can't remember if I said that or not..."

The silence on the other end stuns him for a moment and that cursèd question plagues his mind: What if?

"I love you sweetheart."

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Jeffery helps Zinda out of the Jeep, and they walk together towards an older brick building. She stares up at the red and white flag at the top of the flag pole.

Jeffery catches her staring, "Everything alright?"

"Why does the flag have 50 stars? I thought it had 49?"

He grins, "You're probably forgetting Alaska or Hawaii. The U.S. has fifty states, Zinda."

She is genuinely confused, but Jeffery just dismisses it all to her amnesia.

"Come on," He laughs as she passes through the door he has been holding open for her.

"Thank you," She smiles.

The receptionist notices them over her thickly rimmed glasses. "Can I help you two?"

"Yes, ma'am," I was trying to help my friend here look up some historical records, would you be able to point us in the right direction?"

She gestures to a row of desks to her right, "Our computers should have everything you need. We have links to genealogy websites, military, you name it. Anything earlier than World War II you might have to go to the state capital for more information."

He nods in thanks, "Much appreciated. Thank you for your time."

He walks off towards the computers and Zinda smiles at the woman as she passes. Odd, why was she looking at her and Jeff that way? Maybe he was talking too loud?

Jeff sits at a computer, which looks much thinner and smaller than the ones Zinda has seen. After craning her neck around to see the back of the computer, she takes a seat beside him. As the chair starts to slide away, she haphazardly reaches out to brace herself on the desk.

Jeff is holding back a smile, "Are you alright there?"

Zinda clears her throat, "Yes... the chair almost used its legs to walk away."

Jeff pushes his chair away from the desk slowly, pointing to the bottom of the chair, "It doesn't have legs, silly... it's on wheels."

Zinda is mystified. Jeffery stares back at the computer screen as she slowly wheels herself back and forth, the receptionist following her with her glaring eyes the entire time.

"Well," Jeff comments as he types, "Good news is, Zinda is a pretty uncommon name, at least nowadays... so it should be pretty easy to help you find some information." He makes a face at the screen and continues to type. What the search results are coming up with is impossible. "That's weird. Maybe this site will have something different..." He scoffs, the sounds of his fingers striking the keys growing louder and louder. "That can't be right. These sites must be wrong."