Even When the World Comes Down (Sequel to Always & Forever)

Chapter 46 - Beth

I was surprised to see the place was not guarded. But then again, maybe it was just the building we were looking for that was. Either way, we kept our eyes peeled for anything.

"Ok. None of these buildings look like a mirror to me," Ellie said.

"Maybe it's further in?" I said.

"Yeah. We'll head to central grounds. Should be able to see most of the campus from there," Joel said.

"Yeah. That's a good idea," I said.

We journeyed on.

"So these places...people would live here and just study? Even though they were all grown up?" Ellie asked.

"Yup. Some would study, others would party," I said.

"Yeah. They'd find themselves. Figure out what they wanted to do with their lives," Joel said.

"What they wanted to do with their lives. Sounds like what the preparatory school would do," she said.

"It's kind of similar to that but without the partying...and the studying for exams and stuff," I said.

"You had to study for exams?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. Your years in college are divided into semesters. Depending on what you were wanting to study, you had the option of starting in the fall, spring and summer semesters. Basically you take classes in whichever semester and take finals at the end of the term. It's almost as confusing as football but the students would adjust," I said.

"Hmm. I can't even imagine that," she said.

"I'm sorry about that. So much has changed since all this started," I said.

"I know. But hopefully we can get all that back," she said sounding hopeful.

"Hopefully," I said.

We ventured a little bit further until Ellie noticed something.

"Could that be it?" she asked.

Joel and I looked to where she was pointing. The building was on the other side of campus but it fit the description Tommy had given.

"Yeah. Maybe," I said.

"It does look like a giant mirror," Joel said.

We had to find a way around. Although it wasn't guarded, people who had lived here had made sure to secure it. There were blockades that we had to figure out how to get around. We had to cut through a few buildings to end up on the other side of those blockades.

"How many people do you think are there? Fireflies, I mean," Ellie said after a few minutes of silence.

"Well, running that whole operation couldn't be a one man thing," I said.

"You think there'll be other people my age?" she asked.

"Ah...I'm not sure. There could be," Joel said.

"There could be so many things waiting for us there. We'll find out soon enough," I said.

We kept moving forward and pretty soon we found ourselves at the center of the campus.

"You know, I was thinking...I would've wanted to be an astronaut," Ellie said.

I looked back.

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yeah. Can you imagine being up there all by yourself? Would've been cool, I'm just saying," she said.

"Getting to look at all the stars up close," I said.