Desolate: Chapter Two

    We walk the streets silently. With Ebony by my side, it somehow makes venturing through the town easier. At every turn, I want to turn back and beg for the gates to be opened at the sight of the landscape. It feels as if every corner holds a memory dear to me. We pass the old Martenelli's Ice Cream Shop where old man Martenelli made the best root beer float. That was my elementary school hang-out, and when I reached middle school I helped serving customers. I can almost hear the jangling of the sleighbells on the shop's door now. The bright colors of the building are now faded and the window art work is only jagged shards of broken glass.

    I shake myself to the present. Here I am traveling through a town that holds all of my childhood memories within it's crumbling avenues, along with Charolette's little sister. My father is somewhere inside the Valley. I don't know where to look, or even start. We're wandering aimlessly.

    "Ebony, wait. This is no use, there's no purpose to wandering around hoping to simply run into my dad." I stop and drop my knapsack on the ground and sit on the top of the bag, holding my head in my hands.

    Ebony comes and plops down beside me.

    "You know, I didn't think there was a purpose for me after...after my family disappeared. My sister, she went out with my father to find food. They never came back. I don't know what happened to my mom. One day she's there making breakfast for us, the next, a note saying we're better off without her. What was I supposed to do? Survive." Ebony plucks at the daisies growing from the cracks in the road. "These little daisies have survived and thrived. They're the only plant I can find that has strived to make it through." She laughs quietly and presses a daisy into the palm of my hand. "It's not pointless."

    I smile at her. I wish I could tell her why else I'm here. How the agent came to my apartment in the middle of the night, and how I'm here on a mission for the Government. The same Government that shut off the Valley and told me if I scouted the Valley for them I can find my dad and get him out.

    She looks about at our suroundings through the fading light. "We better keep moving. We need to find a place to stay for the night."

    We cautiously walk down the street with Ebony in the lead and me in the rear. The desolate street reaches a dead end as it reaches a park. Well, it's what used to be a park. Now, it's a gray, dull, landscape with barren trees and rusting fences. The only sign of life are the familiar daisies dotting the ground in small patches.

    "Where is everybody? I mean, I knew there wouldn't be a lot of people just milling around but still." I comment as we enter the park.

    "Between the people the Lab takes and those who aren't sick, most are in hiding." She answers.

    We continue onto the main path of the park, avoiding the dark side trails. The sky dims and dusk fades into night. Strangely, the streetlights flicker on. The lights buzz and flicker tiredly, giving a creepy effect to the skeleton trees rustling in the chilling breeze. The solitude and the abandonment seems to hang in the air. Except, now Ebony and I aren't alone. Figures seem to crawl cautiously out of the shadows. Ebony becomes absolutley still as we watch a few figures shuffle under the stree lights. Ebony releases the breath sh'd been holding.

    "Oh, it's just the Vancants." She wispers and motions for me to follow her, "The ones you have to watch for are the Mentals. They're infected with the Sickness."

    We continue in the middl of the path, incase we are approached we will see them coming. The Vacants pay no attention to us as we journey. I am beginning to recognize the route Ebony is leading me down as the one that leads to my old middle school. Suddenly, a terrible screech sounds from behind us. Ebony and I whirl around and under three lamposts away is a chaotic scene. The Vacants that were milling about under the street lights are running and stumbling away from a monstrous shape of a man.

    He stands under a light, shilouetted under a beam of florecent light. With fists clenched he stalks down the sidewalk. An unfortuante Vaccant falls a few yards away from the man and struggles to his feet. But it's to late and the man has the Vaccant in his clutches. The man snarls and yells and tosses the Vaccant away as if he was nothing. The Vaccant lays motionless upon the ground.

    "Erin! We have to move, now!" Ebony has me by the wrist and pulls me down the path.

    Over my shoulder, I catch a glimpse of the man racing after us. His arms swing side to side as he purues us madly. Ebony takes a sudden turn down a side path and moments later he's following us. We come to a halt, glancing wildly about. Looming out of the darkness is the rocketship playground from my memories.

    "There!" Ebony shouts and points toward the swingset.

    My mind flashes back to the day when my father was pushing me on the swings. Me laughing so hard, my dad beaming at me. I asked him if I should jump from the swing.

    He answered, "If you want."

    I thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Daddy will you catch me?"

    "I'll try."

    Those are the words he encouraged me with to jump from the rocket-ship swings with their bright silver paint. I trusted him.

    "Erin! C'mon! You've got to climb!"

    I stare up at her blankly, emerging from my thoughts. Ebony is now perched on the swingset, a good ten feet high. Shouts in the distance. Screeching from the nearby Mental. I scramble up the slippery pole, but as I do I feel a hand clasp my ankle. A scream is caught in my throat as I hit the ground, hard.

    I wheeze and dizzly focus on the figure towering above me. Somewhere off in the distance I am aware of Ebony shouting my name, but it's difficult to here her above the ringing in my ears. Beams of light blind me through the darkness and faraway voices somehow make their way through to my awarness.

    The freezing midnight breeze sends shivers throught my body. I attempt to stand up but a strong force pushes me back down. I can't stand, only flail my arms uslessly and gasp for breath as the force pushes me on the chest. Rough hands grip my shoulders and press them to the ground. I stare half-concious into the face of the Mental's burly beard that tickles my nose as he grins menacingly. His yellow teeth seem to glint and glow in the dark. The shouts of many voices grows louder despite my echoing ears. The last thing I remember is Ebony shouting, "Erin hold on!"

    "I'll try." I whisper simpily and allow myself to be swallowed into the ringing darkness.