lost ~ the gone series

four

The plaza was the center of the town. Sam could already hear the chatter of voices as they walked down Pacific Boulevard. Mila walked in the front, with Karis, who seemed to be much more well-rested. Sam walked with Quinn and Aspen, but he was getting sick of the two of them discussing theories about the big disappearance, or the "poof", as Quinn called it.

"I'm just saying, this goes against all the laws of physics. People don't just disappear." Aspen was trying to explain this to a stubborn Quinn who still believed God caused all of this.

Sam hadn't asked anyone else what they thought of it. He was usually the type of person to go with the flow and not ask any questions. In fact, he was supposed to go on a boat ride with his mom on the weekend. She wanted to celebrate her pay raise from Coates. Being a night nurse didn't have many perks.

Mila was talking to Karis about something. Probably just filling her in on what she missed. Sam didn't talk to Mila much during school, because she hung out with Aspen, who was popular, and Karis, who was too extroverted for Sam.

Sam wondered how they were taking the disappearance. Karis had cried earlier, but she seemed fine now. She was the type of person who often wondered into things without thinking- something that often got her in trouble at school.

As for Mila, she seemed fine. Calm, even. Like it was some everyday thing and she was just going through routine. She had this thing of looking at you like she was interested, but really she was just studying you. Like a scientist. No, more like a cat hunting for prey.

Before, Mila had complained about there not being a government in this new world. Sam had told her to shrug it off, but she told him kids would get into trouble without any rules. Sam had to agree with her on that.

As for Sam, he had bigger problems. He had discovered that the laws of physics didn't always apply about a year ago. "Just like S with T." His mom was talking about Tom, Sam's stepfather. Or, ex-stepfather.

Sam had only checked his house earlier to see if the light was still there, the very exception to any law of energy. He didn't know how it happened, much less how to control it. One minute it was dark, then it wasn't anymore. The light had simply appeared in his closet. Just as it had before with Tom.

He was also constantly worried that he had something to do with this, if maybe the power he had and the disappearance were connected. Maybe he was the cause. But he couldn't remember anything special happening this morning that marked any distinct change.

Perdido Beach had always been a small town, just around 3,000 permanent residents. Far fewer now, he would have guessed 400. Sam based this off the student count of the school, but he didn't know how many Coates students there were.

The town also didn't get many visitors, which was a shame, because it had a beautiful beach perfect for tourism. That was Sam's favorite place, anyway. He and Quinn always used to surf there every chance they got. "Used to", as if yesterday had suddenly become a past life.

Quinn had always been his best friend, he hoped this crazy situation wouldn't change that. But every hour, Quinn was getting further from both Sam and his grip on reality.

"What are you doing?" Mila asked two kids as they ran in the opposite direction, away from the plaza. The kids stopped and turned around, like they were in trouble.

"There's a fire!" one of the kids, maybe a fourth grader, shouted. He was short for his age, and carried two large bags of chips you could buy in bulk at Ralph's grocery.

"I tried to call 911, but they didn't answer." The other kid, a girl that looked a little younger than the boy, stared at the road. She carried a portable video game.