lost ~ the gone series

five

The plaza was even more crowded now that it was dark. Kids didn't want to sleep in their empty homes, so they gathered here. They had tents set up, or mostly set up. They couldn't exactly figure out how to assemble the frame, so Aspen noticed a lot of deformed tents that fell to one side.

The burned building from earlier had crumbled to blackened pieces of stucco sticking out in random places. The little girl lay under it, in front of the flower shop. Aspen had gone over there earlier and put a blanket over her. Someone would have to bury her. Not just because it was what she learned in church, but because it was the right thing to do.

Streetlamps had come on around 7 P.M., and most kids had jumped at the sudden change in visibility. Most had forgotten the electricity still worked. It looked creepy this way, with streetlamps illuminating the outdoors but darkness inside the buildings. Aspen couldn't see inside the church or the town hall, although a single lamp cast shadows on both of them.

Most kids were snuggling with a blanket or stuffed animal, anything they could salvage from their old lives. A lot of them were eating large amounts of candy, since there were no adults that could tell them not to. Aspen stuck with an Arizona Tea she had found in her fridge.

Aspen and her mom would often sit outside on her porch, drinking Arizona Tea. Aspen would do homework, and her mom would read some period drama. Pete would be sitting on the floor in front of them, playing his video game.

Out of nowhere, Aspen started to cry at the memory.

"Whoa. Is the tea really that bad?" Karis turned around. She was sitting on the grass, while Aspen had been sitting on the fountain.

Aspen wiped her eyes. "No, it isn't."

Karis raised her hands and faked surrender. "Sorry. I'm more of a Pure Leaf person, though."

Aspen didn't know how to reply to that. All she wanted to do was find her brother, but all of her friends were occupied. Except for Karis, but she didn't like Karis that much. She was too outspoken.

"That's not how you spell my last name. It's Escobar, not Escabar." Aspen heard Edilio talking on the other side of the fountain. Mila and Sam were making a list of everyone in the plaza, because Mila thought it was weird nobody from outside Perdido Beach School had shown up.

"Sorry, I'm not taking Spanish." She heard Quinn sigh.

"Nobody's taking Spanish anymore." Sam pointed out.

"Man, you're so depressing," Quinn retorted.

"Can you please shut up?" Mila groaned.

"I'm gonna go get some candy." Karis stood up and turned to Aspen. "Want anything?"

"No, thanks," Aspen said. "I'd rather not take advantage of free food right now, especially since anything I eat I'll probably throw up."

"Suit yourself." Karis stood up and walked to a stand near the McDonald's. The stand was rid of all the good candy, pretty much only the sour candies were left, and Aspen didn't like those.

Aspen walked to the other side of the fountain, where Quinn was laying on the grass, thumbing in the information Mila and Sam were telling him. But it was really just Sam, because Mila was laying on the edge of the fountain.

"The lights are off at Coates." Mila was thinking out loud. "Where are they? Did they disappear? Oh, hey Aspen."

"How old are you?" Sam blurted out.

"Who are you talking to?" Aspen asked.

"All of you." Sam made a swooping motion with his hand.