Over Again

Chapter Two - December 24, 2062.

-Elinor-

After a week of travelling, I'm ready to just give up and live by the side of the road forever. My legs ache from walking for hours on end, my throat dry from lack of water. It's a lot harder to refill your bottle when the rain falls upwards.

I stop to read a sign beside the road. "Lullin - 1 mile" it reads. One more mile. At least I'll reach it today, on Christmas Day, just as I predicted. As much as I want to stop and rest, I carry on for that last mile, lifting my backpack up slightly to relieve the weight on my shoulders.

Around midday, the first skyscrapers come into view, and I fall to my knees in relief. There's life here that isn't in a car. And maybe there are people like me.

Slowly I stand up. I'm not familiar with Lullin, so it takes me a while to find a place to get a drink without disrupting anything. I'm still not sure what would happen if I changed the future - or the past, I suppose - but I don't particularly want to find out.

The day starts getting darker, so I turn down a few alleyways to find one that looks deserted. Not much chance of me being in the way here.

I curl myself into a ball between a dumpster and a wall, putting my jacket over the top of me in an effort to keep warm. The bricks are rough to lean against, and objects around me dig into my sides. That combined with the smell and the noise from the city make it almost impossible to fall asleep. 

Luckily, exhaustion wins over comfort. I fall into a deep sleep, full of nightmares and thoughts of what my family would be doing now.

Today they celebrated Christmas without me. I wonder if they still wrapped my presents, and wondered where I was when I didn't appear to open them.

I wake up in a cold sweat, the cool December air making my arms feel like ice. I stand up shakily, and put Charles' jacket back on normally. It's still dark, but by the amount of noise it can't be that late, somewhere between 7pm and midnight if I had to hazard a guess.

I walk around, following the faint sound of music to a park full of bright lights. A group of carol singers perform, the crowds quietly singing along too. I push my way towards the front, ending up standing next to a girl with long, wavy blonde hair and dark circles around her eyes, a characteristic I recognise as being from 'tribes' living near the boundary.

Something feels off about her. It takes me a while to figure out what it is.

She's singing the carols normally.

While the choir are turning pages, I tap her lightly on the shoulder so she doesn't freak out. "I think we need to talk," I whisper, tilting my head away from the crowd. She seems to get the idea as she starts making her way through the mass of people, and I follow close behind.

When we're out of the way down a side street, she finally turns back to face me. "I thought I was the only one," she mutters, running a hand through her hair.

I shake my head. "Nope, you're in luck. I'm Elinor," I tell her, holding my hand out.

Nervously she takes it, shaking it quickly but firmly. "Natalie," she replies. "Natalie Lawson."

We walk around aimlessly for a while. "The mayor held a speech on the 21st," she tells me, and I nod. That'll be a great day to find others, as there'll be a lot of people together at once.

We mostly walk in silence, and I get the impression that she doesn't really like to talk about herself. But she seems as determined as I am to gather a group of anomalies, so I don't question it. I don't want to lose her trust.

She stops in front of an abandoned building, and I assume it's where she's been staying for as long as she's been in the city. We enter, and in the light of the sunset I can just about make out a bed, a table with a couple of chairs, a small kitchen and a bathroom.

"What next?" she asks me quietly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"We find the others."