3

The sun was blinding despite the soft breeze, yet everybody was already on the run; walking in both an active and a carefree stride towards the rectangular table in the centre, taking their seats and chatting with each other in refreshing fluidity.

“Here,” Kris called, waving her over and patting the empty seat next to her; a gesture to which she obliged with bits of anxiety as her eyes shifted from one curious gaze to another.

“Guys, this is Mary. She’ll be staying with us for a while until she finds what she needs.”

Sarah nodded, acknowledging a bunch of friendly Nice to meet you-s.

Kris introduced the group to her. The brown girl next to her was Vaniza, the one opposite to her was Mike and next to him was an Asian guy named Charlie, and of course, there was Cory to her left.

“Is this all of you?” Sarah asked.

Kris nodded. “For now, yes; hopefully we'd be getting a bit bigger once everyone stops being a wuss.” She said, her bitter sarcasm earning her a couple snickers.

It was sad though, how everybody was trapped in this system that was meant to stop racial discrimination, wipe it off the earth altogether, but oddly enough, the roots of racism seemed to have grown deeper and spread wider ever since the 2035 Act.

Casual bits of conversation sprang here and there, but she'd kept her head low and refrained from engaging in it as she bit into her omelette sandwich.

“Okay, listen up, guys.” Kris started, gaining their attention. “Mary is looking for someone, Evran Yildrim, she'd lived in Pallid over a decade ago before they lost contact with her; I think we could give her a hand with that.”

“It's been so long though,” Charlie said, "you reckon we'd find anything significant?"

“Perhaps if we check out the derelicts, we might stumble upon a clue or something, or at least narrow down our search a little; sounds good, Mary?”

Sarah nodded, it was as good a starting plan as any.

“I'm not buying any of this crap.” It was Mike who spat out the objection, his defensive tone shocking them into silence.

“Mike-"

“

Oh please, Kris, don't go off on me just yet, we haven't the slightest idea who that lost girl is, we don't even know Mary; what makes you think we can trust her? That this isn't just one more trap?”

Sara's blood ran cold, her embarrassment making her wish the ground would just swallow her whole right that second, yet she waited for Kris to respond, for anyone for that matter but when the quiet tension persisted, she broke it off herself, “He's not wrong, he has the right to be suspicious, you all do, and I wouldn't want to risk your safety here.” She paused as she rose up from her seat, "I'll do it alone, it's okay."

She was about to leave, head back into the tent and grab her stuff, but Kris pulled her back on the bench.

“Wait here, will you?” she told her before turning back to Mike, “Since when do we scrutinize our guests? You tell me, how many people sought refuge in our company and we met them with nothing but blind trust? We're not discussing her motives nor digging up her past, we're only helping her out.”

Mike kept his lips pierced and his jaw clenched.

“Now," she resumed, addressing the rest of the group this time, "are we all clear on this?”

“Yes.” came the keen response from them all, except for a frowning Mike who didn’t stop burning into Sarah with his death glares.
________________________________________________

Kris had divided them into groups and assigned each to a different area to look in, and fortunately, she picked Sarah as her partner.

They walked into the woods, pushing away branches on their way as they turned from one path to another. The trees were so thick and their leaves had the darkest green shade. Dazzles and flickers of sunlight passed through the little spaces between the leaves, igniting the forest in a peaceful way and casting an orange glow all around. It was almost as if the sun was already sinking, yet it was just before afternoon. Sarah couldn’t stop enjoying the feel of the warm air on her skin and the beautiful view before her eyes; it was fascinating, so fascinating she didn’t hear Kris’s calls a fair distance ahead.

“Mary, what are you doing standing there? Come on.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Sure you didn’t. What held you back?”

“Everything; the forest, the sun and their mashed up scene, I don’t remember the last time I saw this. The only view I used to walk through every morning was clouds of smoke over burnt grass.”

Kris’s expression softened, and she patted her back. “I’m so sorry, Mary.”

Sarah smiled slyly and shook her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, it is how it is.”

Kris nodded and took the lead once more as they made it out of the woods and into the old discarded part of Pallid, which, quoting Kris, "the locals refer to as the derelicts". Dusty, dark and stinking of rot; it was a complete opposite of the forest aesthetic.

“According to my list, the one on your right is building A, let’s start from there.”

“I don’t see you carrying any lists.” Sarah pointed out.

“I’m not, I don’t need to.”

Sarah shrugged and followed her into the old wretched two-storey house. The floor was made of huge grey bricks, its walls wooden and worn out, and it stunk of a strong unpleasant odour that her subconscious recognised as vaguely familiar.

“Okay,” Kris said, clearing her throat. “You check in the rooms upstairs and I’ll cover this area.”

Sarah nodded and climbed up the stairs, creaking beneath her with every step. There were three bedrooms, two of them lined opposite to each other while the third was opposite to Sarah in the hallway, which she entered first and immediately stumbled back in reflex.

Some rats must’ve died here, Sarah thought, covering her nose and making a second attempt.

She searched the closet and the nightstand, flipped over the mattress and shuffled through the drawers of the dresser, but found nothing. Her disappointment stretched from one room to the next as she fumbled through every inch of them in vain.

“There’s nothing upstairs,” Sarah announced, climbing back down.

“Neither is there anything down here,” Kris announced back, and rushed out of the room right next to the railing. “Let’s get out of here, this house is killing me.”

Supportive of Kris’s opinion, she kicked the door open and was out in no time.

“Why does fresh air now seem scented?” exclaimed Kris.

“I guess it’s all relative.” Sarah said

“That’s pretty much it.”

They walked a few feet away and laid down their backpacks on the ground before sitting cross – legged on the wet grass.

“How many buildings are on your list?” Sarah asked.

“Why?”

“Just curious.”

“Seven,” she answered, “more or less”

“More or less?”

“Yeah, depends on how many of them are still standing, and how many have fallen into nothing but a bunch of broken rocks and bent rebar.”

Sarah nodded, satisfied with the answer.

A mere moment later – not more than a few seconds – when they were done sitting around and decided to check the next building on the list, Kris’s concerned gaze fixated on a spot behind Sarah.

“What is it?” Sarah asked.

“Turn around.”

She did and froze at once.

Her father looked at her with perplexed yet warm grey eyes, his mouth curved into his familiar wrinkled smile. Sarah couldn’t believe the sight ahead of her, it flooded her with an expanse of emotion she hadn’t felt in so long, the memory of his departure for military service not less than a decade ago was still engraved into her mind. Yet here he was, standing in front of her beaming and welcoming, she was fighting the urge to pinch him, make sure he was actual flesh and bone and not a speck of her imagination. But amidst this overwhelm, an uneasy thought slid through; he'd acknowledge her by her name now, her real name, and it would blow her cover in a wrecking second.

But she didn't have to ponder over it for long, for the noise in her head screeched to a halt by an abrupt roar of gunshots close by