the globe, empty. Just them, running, scared, lost in time, far from home. As they pounded the asphalt Dale looked off to the right, smiling despite himself as the stunning Golden Gate Bridge came into view. It was an incredible feat of engineering, and something they had marveled at when they visited a few years ago, jostling with the tourists and exploring the sights of the incredible city. Now the restaurants were empty, the streets deserted, nobody taking pictures, no traffic crawling over the bridge.
Dale sniffed, suddenly realizing what else was playing on his mind. The air was pure, cleaner than he'd ever known it in a city — no traffic fumes.
Keeping up their steady pace, Dale steered Amanda away from the open edge of the city, thinking it would be better to get somewhere they couldn't be seen so easily, but not knowing the city well enough to have much of an idea of where to actually go.
They picked streets at random, weaving into the city, losing themselves and hopefully stopping the giant from finding them. Would it work? Did it make a difference? He had no idea. If the man had somehow locked onto their locations so far then surely he would do the same again? Or was it that he only knew where they jumped to, and after that everything else would be guesswork? That sounded more likely, but he had no idea how any of it worked, all he knew was that it would be very bad if they did go head to head with the huge guy — the one thing Dale was not was a fighter, especially against huge bearded guys that appeared to be made out of solid muscle.
"Dale, we have to stop. I'm shattered. What are we doing anyway?" Amanda stopped, refusing to run any further. She was panting heavily, just like Dale, and with no real idea of what to do Dale stopped too.
"Okay, let's just walk. I don't know where we're going anyway. What's the plan?" Dale looked at Amanda hopefully, eager to hear of anything she had in mind.
"I don't know. What makes you think I have one?"
"Well, you're the practical one, I just thought you might be making more sense of this than I am."
"Fat chance. None of it makes any bloody sense, does it? What the hell is going on? Why are we being chased? What's this all about?"
Amanda was close to tears again, and he didn't blame her one bit: he felt like crying too. Dale gave her a hug and didn't want to let go — he could lose himself in her warmth forever, just them, close and together, comforting each other in the emptiness. They parted eventually, both calmer after the closeness.
"Let's just walk a little bit, try to make sense of this a little. We'll have a look around, see if we can get an idea of what's happened. If everyone really is gone then we should at least be able to go where we want, check on things."
"Okay, sounds good. You're right, there must be signs of what happened. When it happened. What about a convenience store? We can check the papers, see what food there is. Right?"
"Yeah, good idea. At least we'll maybe find some clues that could help explain where everyone went to."
They walked, taking everything in for the first time. This was the first chance they'd had to actually look at the future rather than just run through it, or appear momentarily in strange places. If this was the end of the world then they sure as hell needed to at least see for themselves. Obviously whatever happened wasn't over for them — Tellan had said they had a part to play, a huge part if they were to save the world, whatever that meant. Dale tried to focus, to really look at things, but with a million thoughts crowding his head at the same time it was difficult — he also realized just how thirsty and hungry he was.
How long had they been jumping about? When did they last eat? Was it just a few hours ago or did none of that mean anything anymore?
See, there I go again. Stop thinking about it all, you'll make your brain explode. Just stay focused on the here and now.
Dale looked, truly looked at the
Dale sniffed, suddenly realizing what else was playing on his mind. The air was pure, cleaner than he'd ever known it in a city — no traffic fumes.
Keeping up their steady pace, Dale steered Amanda away from the open edge of the city, thinking it would be better to get somewhere they couldn't be seen so easily, but not knowing the city well enough to have much of an idea of where to actually go.
They picked streets at random, weaving into the city, losing themselves and hopefully stopping the giant from finding them. Would it work? Did it make a difference? He had no idea. If the man had somehow locked onto their locations so far then surely he would do the same again? Or was it that he only knew where they jumped to, and after that everything else would be guesswork? That sounded more likely, but he had no idea how any of it worked, all he knew was that it would be very bad if they did go head to head with the huge guy — the one thing Dale was not was a fighter, especially against huge bearded guys that appeared to be made out of solid muscle.
"Dale, we have to stop. I'm shattered. What are we doing anyway?" Amanda stopped, refusing to run any further. She was panting heavily, just like Dale, and with no real idea of what to do Dale stopped too.
"Okay, let's just walk. I don't know where we're going anyway. What's the plan?" Dale looked at Amanda hopefully, eager to hear of anything she had in mind.
"I don't know. What makes you think I have one?"
"Well, you're the practical one, I just thought you might be making more sense of this than I am."
"Fat chance. None of it makes any bloody sense, does it? What the hell is going on? Why are we being chased? What's this all about?"
Amanda was close to tears again, and he didn't blame her one bit: he felt like crying too. Dale gave her a hug and didn't want to let go — he could lose himself in her warmth forever, just them, close and together, comforting each other in the emptiness. They parted eventually, both calmer after the closeness.
"Let's just walk a little bit, try to make sense of this a little. We'll have a look around, see if we can get an idea of what's happened. If everyone really is gone then we should at least be able to go where we want, check on things."
"Okay, sounds good. You're right, there must be signs of what happened. When it happened. What about a convenience store? We can check the papers, see what food there is. Right?"
"Yeah, good idea. At least we'll maybe find some clues that could help explain where everyone went to."
They walked, taking everything in for the first time. This was the first chance they'd had to actually look at the future rather than just run through it, or appear momentarily in strange places. If this was the end of the world then they sure as hell needed to at least see for themselves. Obviously whatever happened wasn't over for them — Tellan had said they had a part to play, a huge part if they were to save the world, whatever that meant. Dale tried to focus, to really look at things, but with a million thoughts crowding his head at the same time it was difficult — he also realized just how thirsty and hungry he was.
How long had they been jumping about? When did they last eat? Was it just a few hours ago or did none of that mean anything anymore?
See, there I go again. Stop thinking about it all, you'll make your brain explode. Just stay focused on the here and now.
Dale looked, truly looked at the
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