Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 1 - The Last Train to Rallsburg - III

  Four intersections later, Alden felt completely lost. There wasn't anything around him that looked like a college campus. He was still in town, so he wasn't completely off the map, but most of the buildings around him were shops of some kind.

  The town seemed deserted. It wasn't that the buildings were falling apart or that he hadn't seen a single person. There were a few large men in thick plaid jackets walking down the street toward him at that moment, though they paid Alden no mind. It was more a faint air of decay that permeated the place. The few proper asphalt streets were cracked, and off them were ill-maintained rocky roads that looked like they'd been clamoring to be paved but had long-since been forgotten. Quite a few of the commercial buildings were empty and dusty, looking as though they'd never seen an owner. There was a restaurant or two dotted among them, with scents wafting out that sent his mouth salivating. His stomach chose that moment to painfully remind him how little he'd eaten since leaving home that morning.

  Since I couldn't find the university anyway, why not get a bite to eat? Might clear my head. Alden closed his eyes and found whichever smell was most appetizing. The scent of french fries was the first to catch his nostrils. He followed it to a single door set into the corner of the next street over, with an old-fashioned wooden sign hanging above the door, a skull and crossbones emblazoned underneath a black kettle.

  Next to the door sat a sign in bold red, declaring it off limits to minors.

  Crestfallen, Alden was about to turn away when he heard shouting from just inside the door. He stepped forward, curiosity getting the better of him. A dark shape started to form through the frosted glass inside the door frame.

  The shape was moving toward the door.

  He threw himself aside at the last second. The wood cracked against the wall as the door swung wide. Someone burst through, crashing to the ground and rolling a few feet before springing to life. In the doorway, a heavyset bouncer stared down at the pair of them with a scowl that could make children weep. He cracked his knuckles threateningly.

  Alden held up his hands in surrender. He wasn't part of this fight. More to the point, he was a lanky kid without the muscle to stand his ground. As he glanced over, he recognized the ejected patron. Now that he could see her more clearly (and being much more awake than on the train), she was barely older than he was.

  "What gives?" she shot at the bouncer. Her fierce voice was slightly undermined by the rather plain gray hooded jacket and black denim jeans she was wearing. She didn't look remotely threatening to Alden. The only thing about her clothes that stood out was a curious brown leather bag fastened at her waist, with multiple small, secure pouches and a gold buckle holding the entire thing together. The bouncer—a heavyset man with broad shoulders, rough hands and a cleanly trimmed beard—seemed to agree with Alden's assessment.

  "Your ID's a fake," he replied, quite calmly. Alden was taken aback by how soft his voice was.

  "Bullshit. I'm old enough. Get me something to drink," the girl snapped.

  "Just be glad I'm not turning you in. Grow up and come back." The bouncer went back inside, letting the door slam shut. A string of violent epithets followed him inside. Alden ignored her, busy staring pointedly at the sign above them. As her curses died off, he began walking away to find another place to sit down.

  "Hold it."

  Alden stopped walking, against his better judgment.

  "Didn't I just see you on the train?"

  "...Yeah."

  "Huh. So your first thought was to get drunk too? Good call."

  "I'm not—" Alden started, but she interrupted him.

  "Come on, we can do better than this hole in the wall." She took his arm in a gloved hand and started pulling him down the street. Alden dug his heels into the road and managed to hold his place.

  He summoned up whatever courage he could muster. "I need to get to the university."

  She looked at him curiously. "New student? In May? Everybody's already gone home for summer."

  "No. I just need to get there."

  "Oookay, fine. It's like four blocks that way." She pointed back toward the train station. Alden glanced down the street back the way he'd come.

  "But, at the train station, they said to go west."

  She cocked her head slightly. "Yeah, west is that way. Towards the sun." Her brow creased slightly. "You okay?"

  Alden shook his head in dismay. Of course he'd turned the wrong direction. He was terrible with directions. Also the outdoors, and a great long list of things he maintained in his mind. People too, if his life were anything to judge by.

  "Look, what's your name?"

  "Ald—" he started, but cut himself off. "Zack."

  "AldZack, eh?" she grinned. A hint of an accent poked through her lips.

  "Canadian?" he asked, trying to deflect attention from his slip-up.

  "Something like that."

  A verbal fencing match seemed like a waste of Alden's time. She seemed too actively hostile to strike up a real conversation with. "Well, thanks," he muttered, turning to head down the street to the university.

  "Hey, wait up." The girl fell in step next to him.

  "I think I can find it," he said, as kindly as he could. He didn't want to sound rude, not when he still had no clue who she was.

  "Just so happens I've got business at the university," she retorted. "Don't worry, kid, you don't have to put up with me long. In the meantime, why don't we walk together? I could use the company."

  Alden hesitated, then nodded assent, once more against his instincts. She was too intriguing to pass up. Hadn't he come here seeking an adventure? Plus, he was eighteen, and a guy, and she was hot. He was doomed by hormones the moment she said a nice word to him, and he knew it.

  "Kid?" he asked, feeling a little indignant.

  "You're what, eighteen? Makes you three years younger than me," she guessed. He nodded. "So you're definitely a kid to me."

  "Thought you weren't old enough to drink," Alden pointed out.

  "I am, but I gave him the wrong ID."

  "Why have a fake ID if you're already twenty one?"

  "Why'd you give me a fake name a few minutes ago?" she shot back. He grinned in spite of his earlier mistake. He hadn't managed to hold a conversation with anyone outside his family for this long in ages, and the resurgence of social connection was a grateful reprieve from the headache pounding in his skull and the exhaustion seeping through his muscles.

  "So we've both got secrets. I'm gonna do you one better though, no bullshit. My name is Rika," she said. She took off her glove and offered a hand. He shook it gingerly. Her hand felt like it was buzzing, as if an electric charge surged through her skin. The brief contact made him feel more alive than he had all day.

  Rika grinned as he quickly let go. "Well, Zack," she started exaggeratedly. "I dunno about you, but I'm starving. Want to grab a bite to eat before we hit the campus?" She pointed at a little diner across the street, a low-key place with one blinded window and a sign that had seen better days. He didn't even bother to answer. Rika bolted across the street without even bothering to look for cars—not that Alden had heard a single one since the train pulled away—and through the front door. Alden followed only a few steps behind.