Sam's heart pace quickened. He needed to get back to Astrid, to see if she was alright. But the darkness was overwhelming. It seemed to be engulfing even his emotions. He threw another ball of light into the air; hopefully someone would find him, wandering around in the desert. He just hoped it was someone who was not intent on his death.

What was that? Sam thought to himself. He could have sworn he had heard the distance noise of padded hooves along the ground. He could not throw off the feeling that he was being followed, glancing back every thirty seconds to check.

There it was again, only closer. This time, when Sam glanced around, he saw the distinct shadow of two people on horseback. He stood his ground. Suddenly, the face of a girl was thrown into the light, but only for a second. Sam knew that face. Fear began to trickle inside him. It was Diana.

Sam, exhausted from walking, mustered up the last of his strength and shot a bolt of light straight at the female rider. However, the bolt did not seem to touch the stranger, but simply bounce off into the distance. The riders stopped and suddenly Sam felt his feet leave the ground. Great long green vines had wrapped themselves around his wrists and had lifted him into the air. He didn't understand… since when could Diana produce trees?

"Whoa, there mate. You nearly kill my horse" Said the voice of the girl. She dismounted and walked closer, until she was underneath one of Sam's balls of light, and he became even more confused. For the girl looked like a replica of Diana, only some of the features were wrong. She had the same build, but her face seemed to be even more defined, with a smirk permanently etched across her mouth. Her eyes were an emerald colour and her hair was fairer, a light blonde rather than brown. She also spoke with an English accent.

"I am not Diana, by the way. My names Amy" Amy said in an almost disappointed tone. Sam's face screwed up in bemusement. How had she known what he was thinking?

"My brother can read minds" Amy explained, as if she was talking to a fourth grader. The other rider came off his horse and walked into the light. He also had features that reflected Diana. His hair, for example, was the same shade of brown. But he too had the bright emerald green eyes.

Sam felt something pass through him, it was as though he had been showered in ice cold water, and in his head a voice announced "I'm Tom". Sam looked down at Tom, he was more than used to strange things happening, ever since the world had turned upside down, but this was a new level. Tom smiled up at him.

"I think we should just talk for now Tom, I don't think this boy is ready for your gift." Amy laughed, turning to her brother. Sam felt disgruntled; he was embarrassed at how easily these two had held him hostage. He hadn't had a chance to fight back.

"Err… Can you let me down?" demanded Sam.

"What's the magic word?" Amy asked sarcastically. Her face lit up in pleasure. She knew that, in that moment, she had all the power. She was toying with him, insulting his masculinity.

"Please" Sam replied. He felt the vines loosen their grip and he slipped through, onto the ground. Now he was closer, he could see that both Amy and Tom were wearing the same odd outfit. They were both wearing sports tops, however, directly over the heart, was a metal disc.

"So, Sam…" Sam didn't question how Amy knew his name; he could still feel Tom's presence inside his head and wished he could stop. There were private thoughts in there that he did not wish to share with these two strangers.

"…What brings you out here on this fine day?" Amy's level of sarcasm never seemed to stop, he did not bother replying: he was sure she already knew why.

"Well, since you seem to already realise the extent of my brother's gift…" Amy said, still smirking at Sam. "Haven't you got any questions for us?"

In fact, Sam had billions. He felt Tom's presence disappear from his head. He seemed to understand that Sam was upset by it. He smiled again at Sam, and Sam could not help but smile back. Tom seemed to have warmth in him, which certainly was not present in Amy.

"Yes actually, your power" he asked Amy directly "What is it?"

"Easy, I have power over the elements…" she replied, a grin on her face, "Fire…Water…Earth… and Air" and in between each, she demonstrated the power, creating it within her hand.

Sam couldn't help but be amazed. Her power was incredible. He was almost certain that Amy was a four bar, at least.

"I am 15 by the way, already past the end mark, and Tom is 12." Amy said, indicating to her brother. She sat on the ground, and created a fire. "How about you sit and I will tell you our story?"

Sam could not help but be intrigued, but he needed to find Astrid. He didn't have time to sit and listen to their story, he had to keep moving.

"We will come with you if you like" said Tom, completely out of the blue, he had read Sam's mind again. "We can help you find her." Tom turned to his sister with a stern look, who, in turn, looked back grumpily. For a while there was silence. Sam looked between them; he could tell that they were conversing, as their facial expressions kept changing, but no words were spoken. Tom was using his power to have a private conversation with his sister. It annoyed Sam, as he knew they were talking about him. Eventually it appeared that Tom won the argument.

"Fine" Amy said, defeated. "Come on Brick" and Sam saw the horse on which Amy had been riding, lift its head and follow in her pursuit. The other horse did the same when Tom beckoned it. Sam had not paid any attention to the horses, but now that he looked more carefully, he saw that they too had metal discs slung over their backs.

"You coming or not?" questioned Amy, turning to face him. Sam quickened his pace and fell into step beside her.

"So, where have you come from?" Sam asked.

"The mountains…" Amy explained, pointing to the southwest. "When the bubble was formed, only Tom and I were left. Our older sister disappeared, just like the rest of them. We searched for days along the mountains, but no one was there. That was when I discovered my power" Amy announced, glancing into the distance at the memory, "Tom already knew his, we conversed within our heads long before all the strange things happened. We were sitting by a lake, after walking a far distance, when a group of coyotes approached. They didn't seem to be frightened of us, and no matter what I did, they carried on coming…" Sam knew how some of the animals' activity had changed; he had witnessed the coyotes himself.

"…I freaked out, and suddenly I felt fire burst out from my hands. It was completely in defence, but I felt the power surge through me, and suddenly I knew I could control not only fire, but the earth, air and water."

"That was the first time I killed anything" Said Amy, her defence seemed to be disappearing, along with her originally cold appearance. "I felt dreadful, and then they spoke…" Sam knew about this, he had met the leader of the coyotes before. "It was like they were humans; it only made what I had done worse. That was when Tom realised he could converse with some animals. Their new intelligence meant that Tom could read their minds. That's when we learnt of the green glow. It was controlling them, they were powerless. Tom tried to rid them of it, but it was too powerful. It began infecting his mind so I knew we had to move away. We set up camp on a hill. My new powers meant I could produce fruit and vegetables with ease. So we lived like that for a while, Tom made friends with some of the animals, like Brick and Blaze here." Amy looked back at the horses, both of whom looked up in affection at her. Sam didn't understand. They seemed to be some connection between them, but Amy didn't have the power of mind reading, so how come she could talk to her horse…

"But I couldn't help but wonder if there were others out there, not unlike yourself, who were trying to survive. When the light started to disappear, I realised we needed to find other children. So we jumped on our horses, and here we are." Amy concluded, looking up at Sam.

Sam still had a million and one questions, but first he needed to check something "You said that you can produce fruit…" Understanding dawned on Amy's face. He was asking for a demonstration, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she looked almost smug at his evident impression by her gift. From her hand she produced a small vine, on which hung a single apple.

"Here" she said, handing him the fruit. It was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. The sweetness of its juice ran down his throat. He had missed that taste.

"Well, now you know my story, can you explain to me what is going on?" Amy questioned. Sam didn't understand. He had felt Tom's presence inside his mind, so he was certain that he knew all about the dome, and yet it seemed as though he had not revealed the truth to his sister. Was there something inside the story that Amy feared? He had barely started when Sam learnt exactly why Tom had not retold the story to her.

"Did you say…Drake?" Amy had stopped in her tracks. She looked up and Sam saw that her defence had completely melted away. She seemed to be hurt; the name had caused her pain. A sad look appeared on her face, it was screwed up in worry.

"You…You know him?" Sam asked, intrigued.

"Yes… You see, when you thought I was Diana… I didn't explain properly… She's my sister." Amy replied. Sam was shocked, yes they looked alike, and sometimes Amy's tone reflected her, but her personality could not have been more different. Amy had looked terrified at the remembrance of killing the coyotes, something that Diana would have taken pleasure in.

"Well, half-sister. Tom and I lived with our Dad in England until I was 12. He died, so we moved out here to live with Mum. Me and Diana are nothing alike though, she was sent to that school after she got into horrible trouble at home. My mum had tried to control her, but one day Diana flipped. I found Mum dead on the sofa…" Sam looked down, feeling guilty; once, he had lost control and ended up burning his mother's boyfriend's hand off. "… I only saw her once a month, but that was when I met Drake…"

Sam knew the look on her face… It was the look Astrid reserved only for him. However, there was a mixture of pain in there. "… He was an arrogant, self-obsessed boy, but he seemed to change for me. He was nicer, more self-conscious, he revealed stuff to me I don't think anyone else knows. I couldn't help it. The more I saw him, the more I liked him. My problem was I began to ignore the pain he was inflicting on others. Until one day he went too far…"

Now pain shot across Amy's face, she looked down at her brother, tears swelled in her eyes. Tom held her hand; it seemed to give her strength, so she carried on.

"… I visited him, with Tom. Tom has never been loud, and Drake began to pick on him. I didn't notice it until I found Tom, knocked out cold on the floor. Drake was laughing…" Amy looked forward, she was reliving the memory. "… I scream at him. I've never felt so angry. That soon wiped the smile off his face, he pleaded with me to forgive him, but I couldn't. He had deliberately hurt my brother… For fun…" Tom squeezed Amy's hand. "…The last time I saw him, was just after the dome appeared. He came to our house and begged me to come with him. I refused, so he made me promise that I wouldn't leave the house. Then, he simply ran away…" Amy finished. It felt like something was lodged in her throat, she couldn't believe she had just revealed some of her deepest secrets to a complete stranger. But she couldn't help trusting him.

"Oh" was Sam's only response. He had never thought that Drake could feel any manner of feelings. But, if what Amy said was true, then he once had indeed fallen in love. It also meant, however, that he had just made allies with a girl who had a past with his biggest enemy.

"I should never have trusted him, it was foolish" Amy said, more to herself than anyone else. Sam tried to change the subject.

"What are those metal discs?" Sam asked. He genuinely was intrigued by them. Amy's smirk once again appeared on her face, but some of her sarcasm seemed to of vanished. "I invented them. They protect me from another ones power, and it also helps me communicate with Brick"

That explained why Sam's beam had bounced off Amy. Again, he was surprised.

"Have you made anymore?" he asked.

"Yes" Amy replied, "I've made 5 in all, but they take a long time to build, and it took me several attempts before they actually work. But I am pretty proud of them."

"How do they work?"

"Well, Tom's power doesn't just allow him to read people's minds, it also helps block out people's powers. So I used some of Tom's power and inserted them into these discs. Therefore, if you are wearing one, no one can use their powers against you."

It was incredible. Amy had created a system that would make him immune to attack. They may not be affective on Drake, but it would certainly be affective against Caine. It was simply whether her past would not affect her actions.

"Have you ever had to use them in a fight?" Sam asked.

"No" she replied "The only time I've ever used it properly was about 20 minutes ago" Amy smiled and Sam smiled back. There was something about Amy that he couldn't help but like. He looked down and felt a sudden urge to reach out and grab hold of Amy's hand. What are you doing? Sam questioned himself; you are out here looking for Astrid!

Sam shook his head; to rid the idea from his mind and instead concentrated on their location. It was still pitch black, and the only light came from Sam's light balls and the fire Amy was producing from her hands.

"This is stupid" Amy suddenly remarked, "We might as well ride into town, it will be much faster." So Amy and Tom mounted their horses. Sam felt stupid, what was he going to do? Were they just going to leave him here?

"You're such an idiot" Amy laughed, obviously knowing what he had thought. She stuck out her hand. Sam grabbed on and, with surprising strength, she pulled him onto her horse. Sam felt awkward, should he grab her waist?

"I'm not a monster, hold on." So he wrapped his arms around her and they galloped away, Sam leading them, in the general direction of the town.