Searchlights swept endlessly across the barren land surrounding Foundation Camp.
Soldiers moved through the darkness in organized lines, rifles raised, boots crushing dry earth and scattered stone.
Hours had passed.
Nothing.
The Camp Commander arrived near the outer ridge just as another search team returned empty-handed.
"Well?" he asked sharply.
The team captain removed his helt tiredly. "Negative, sir. No footprints. No blood trail. Nobody." He hesitated slightly. "Not even a trace."
The Commander's expression hardened.
"That's impossible."
A voice called out suddenly from farther down the slope.
"Sir!"
One of the soldiers jogged over holding sothing carefully between gloved fingers.
A strand of hair.
Long. Dark.
The Commander stared at it silently.
So the girl had survived the missiles.
And vanished.
Around them stretched miles of empty land between the Foundation Camp and the nearest district. No buildings. No roads. No civilization.
Nothing a wounded child should have been able to disappear into.
The captain swallowed uneasily. "Sir… how far could she realistically have gone?"
The Commander looked out into the darkness beyond the floodlights.
Then exhaled slowly.
"It doesn't matter anymore."
The soldiers looked at him.
He turned away. "Retreat."
"Sir?"
"This situation is no longer within our jurisdiction." His voice was flat.
***
Yesu woke up with a start. The sun rays blurred her vision. She squinted.
And looked around.
She was lying next to a boulder in what seed like the middle of nowhere.
A cluster of trees swayed at one end of the clearing.
"Finch?" She called out.
No response.
Yesu was alone.
She stood up and found a piece of paper wedged with a stone close to where she had woken.
She picked it up and read it aloud.
"Classes start at eight, I had to go. You need a haircut, although I think you still look pretty."
Yesu made a face. "His handwriting is terrible."
She squeezed the note and shoved it in her pocket.
Then paused for a mont.
The last thing she could rember was getting on her feet after the missile attack ended.
She didn't even rember leaving the field.
Yesu looked into the horizon. She saw no sign of the Foundation camp or the Assessnt facility.
Instinctively she brought out the note from her pocket and turned to the back. As expected, there was a ssage.
'Don't miss your ride ho.'
"Ride?" Yesu mumbled.
Then she heard it.
A whistle echoed faintly.
Then ca the rhythmic chugging of tal.
And finally…
Choo-choo.
Yesu let out a laugh, pleasantly surprised.
She ran in the direction of the trees, where the sound was coming from.
Twigs and branches whipped her as she moved through, scratching her burns.
Finally, she burst out of the bushes.
A track ran along the almost barren vegetation.
The train was almost completely past her.
Yesu's eyes widened.
"Oh co on."
The train thundered past her, tal wheels screeching loudly against the tracks as carriage after carriage rushed by.
She broke into a sprint instantly
The ground shook beneath her feet while branches clawed at her sleeves.
The last carriage was already passing.
Yesu ran faster.
Her legs burned. Her chest hurt. But after everything that had happened in the last few days, missing a train sohow felt unacceptable.
The final carriage sped past her.
Yesu lunged.
Her fingers caught the cold tal railing at the very last second.
The force nearly ripped her arm out of place.
"Ah!"
Her feet slamd hard against the side of the carriage as the train dragged her forward violently across loose gravel.
For one terrifying mont, her grip slipped.
Then she locked both hands onto the railing and pulled herself upward with a strained groan.
She collapsed onto the small rear platform breathing hard.
The wind whipped through her tangled hair while the empty land behind her slowly disappeared into the distance.
Yesu rolled onto her back.
"I hate Camp," she muttered to the sky.
***
The sound of a TV blared through a cozy living room.
Three n sat on a long couch.
One was a young man in his twenties with thin hair.
The other was middle-aged, half bald.
And the last was an old man with scanty gray hair.
A boy of twelve sat on the floor in front of them, with a mass of hair unlike the others.
Their eyes were all glued to the TV.
A middle-aged woman walked in from inside.
"Keith, I thought I told you to wash the dishes an hour ago." She sounded annoyed.
"Leave the kid alone Martha." The old man said.
Martha faced him. "There's not a thing to cook with. And if I don't cook, then there's no dinner." She folded her arms. "Unless you want to do the dishes for him."
The old man said nothing.
"Keith, go help your mother with the dishes." The middle-aged man said without interest.
The boy did not move, eyes still on the TV.
Then the young man stretched out a foot and kicked the back of the boy's head with slight force.
"Go help mum," he said.
"Ouch.." Keith held a hand to his head and looked around for support.
He got none.
Martha's eyes bored into him instead.
Keith got up reluctantly, grumbling sothing.
"Where's Alia?" Martha asked as Keith moved past.
"I don't know, Mum." Keith groaned and left in a huff.
"Probably still sulking about her friend." The young man said with a shrug.
Martha sighed and turned to go, then faced them again.
"Aren't you going to open the shop this evening, sweetie?" There was nothing sweet about her tone.
The middle-aged man groaned. "I'm tired. Tomorrow."
Martha glared at him.
He sighed, breaking under the pressure. "Fine." He stood and went inside to change.
"Why are you still sitting?" Martha snapped at the young man. "Go get ready, you'll be working at the shop.
"Mum…" he started to whine in complaint, then t her intense gaze. "Yes, mum." He said quickly and rushed inside.
"It's ti for your dicine," Martha said to the old man.
He sighed and rose slowly.
Martha went inside, walked to the last door in the hallway and knocked.
"Millie?"
No response. She knocked harder.
"Alia!"
The door opened slightly.
Millie erged, blocking the small open space.
"I said I didn't want to be disturbed."
"Well too bad. I'm going to the spa. You're making dinner tonight."
Martha turned and walked away. Millie stared after her unbelievingly.
Then shut her door.
She stood leaning on the hardwood and glanced at a small photo in her hand.
It was a photo of her and Yesu on her birthday, which happened to be on a school day.
"Millie!" Keith yelled from outside the door. "Mum said you're making dinner!"
"Get lost." She yelled back at him.
Millie went over to her desk and hung the photo between the sides of her mirror, amongst other photos that decorated it.
She sat on her bed, looking at Yesu's backpack slung next to hers on a rack.
"Millie!" Ca Keith again.
"I said get lost."
"Okay. But just so you know, there's soone at the door for you."
Millie sighed and got up. She opened her door and walked down the hallway.
Soon she was in the living room and was heading for the door.
"I swear Keith, if this is another one of your la pranks…"
She pulled the door handle.
And saw Yesu standing at the door.
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