Chapter 4

The longer Grizz stared perplexed at the strange shapes in the distance the worse his headache got. The fact that the structures were found out in the middle of the woods was one thing, but to add on the weird twisting and morphing of the buildings and it just didn't seem real.

"Maybe it's a mirage?" Mickey asked to Grizz's right. "You know, like an optical illusion or something."

Grizz shook his head slowly. "I don't think mirages are supposed to look like that."

"Come on," Bean prompted, taking a step forward. "We should probably check it out. We are heading in that direction anyways."

With a look of uncertainty, the group followed after the young Muslim woman, quickly catching up to her.

They hadn't gone far when Grizz felt something ram into his chest . . . Or had he run into something? He wasn't sure. One moment, he was walking through the woods, the sounds of woodpeckers echoing in the trees around him and then . . . Some invisible force pushed against his body and for a sharp second he thought he was going to fall backwards but then his foot came down and he suddenly stumbled forward, pushing through whatever it was that had been blocking his path.

"What the hell was that?" Mickey cried out, spinning around to check the empty space behind them.

"Guys?"

Still confused on what had just happened to them, Grizz spun back to gape at Gwen. Open-mouthed, the woman simply pointed ahead of them in the direction they had been walking. Following the girl's outstretched finger, Grizz turned to find the buildings they had been walking towards standing strong and steady, no longer warping and twisting in the sunlight.

"What–" Grizz sputtered, but was interrupted by Bean.

"Do you hear that?"

Between the shock of stumbling across skyscrapers in the middle of the forest and the weird interaction of seemingly running into an invisible wall, Grizz hadn't registered the sound of voices talking and laughing in the distance until someone had mentioned it. He was certain he hadn't heard anything but birds around them just moments ago.

Raising an eyebrow in bewilderment at Bean, she simply shrugged her shoulders before making her way in the direction where the voices were coming from. After a slight hesitation, the others followed.

With the soft crunching noises of the dead leaves littering the ground being the only sound of their approach, the four teenagers steadily drew closer to the tree line in front of them that opened up to what appeared to be a park with benches and an open green field that was surrounded by a paved walkway. A kid's playground could be made out in the far corner of the grassy field.

The park seemed pretty deserted. Merely a handful of people could be seen wandering around the open space. Only two young women seemed to be hanging out on this side of the grounds. One, a dark brunette, was sitting down on a bench, preoccupied with her phone while her friend, while a redhead, got up to throw something away in the trashcan.

"Excuse me," Grizz called out to the redhead as he stepped forward, breaking from the cover of the woods.

Raising her head to the voice, the woman stared back at him for a moment in surprise. "Where did you guys come from?" she asked skeptically as she took a few steps in their direction.

Deciding to ignore the question for the moment, Grizz asked, "Could you tell us where we are?"

"New York," the redhead expressed. The black outline of a tattoo on her neck was peeking through the collar of her coat. Crossing her arms, a frown slowly seeped onto her features. "Well . . . Brooklyn anyways."

"Let me guess," Bean spoke, stepping up beside Grizz. "Your district has been cut off from the rest of the world? Trees seemed to have sprouted up, cutting off roads and streets from where other buildings have previously been? And Wi-Fi, data, and TVs are no longer working?"

The redhead stared at her for amount, gaping at her before finding her voice again. "Yeah, exactly. How–"

"We seem to be in a similar situation," Grizz explained.

At this, the redhead turned to call her friend over to join them and quickly caught her up on the conversation.

"So, who are you guys?" the brunette asked, scanning the faces of the four travelers. "And where did you come from?"

"My name is Gareth, but everyone calls me Grizz," he explained before turning and pointing out each of his friends in turn. "And that's Mickey, Gwen, and Bean. We're from a town in Connecticut called West Ham."

"Connecticut?" the redhead gasped, raising an eyebrow. "How far did you walk to get here?"

"We were sent out on a patrol to see what else was out here. Our food supply is starting to run low, so we were hoping to find some cleared land to possibly farm," Grizz admitted before gesturing behind him towards the trees. "We've been traveling in a circle around our town for a couple of days now, but honestly we'll probably only about an hours walk from here."

"Maybe this is better," Gwen spoke up for the first time. "We could set up some kind of trading arrangement. Help each other out?"

"We could even pull our knowledge. Work together to find a way home," Mickey added, excitement entering his voice at the idea before looking back at the girls in front of them. "Is there any chance we could speak to whoever is in charge here? Also, I don't think we got your names yet."

"I'm Isabelle," the brunette offered up before nodding towards her friend. "And that's Clary. My brother, Alec, he is one of our co-leaders. We could take you to speak to him if you want."

With a bright smile on his face, Campbell entered through the archway into the kitchen of Harry's extravagant house to find the boy leaning forward in his chair with a lost look on his face.

"Morning, Sunshine," Campbell greeted, setting the coffee cup that he had picked up at a café on his way there down on the table in front of Harry.

"Seriously, Campbell," Harry groaned. He kept his eyes downcast, but did wrap a hand around the offered drink. "What, so now we're in some universe where you're generous and thoughtful?"

Campbell raised an eyebrow at the lack of emotion in the teen's voice. He had heard from Kelly that Harry hadn't been doing so well. Apparently, with all the changes and new expectations that had been sprouting up in the rich kid's life since they ended up in this new world, the boy had been having problems adjusting but he hadn't expected to see him this bad.

Pulling out the chair next to Harry, Campbell took a seat and studied the teen's face. "You look like shit, man."

Harry rolled his eyes at the jab. "I'd probably feel better if I had some more of those pills."

Campbell smirked at the topic change and reached into his pocket, running his thumb over the plastic bag that was in there. He knew that getting the kid hooked on the drug at prom would work to his advantage at some point.

"I need something from you first."

"Come on, man. You know I can pay for it."

Campbell shook his head. "I'm not here for money. I want to talk to you about an opportunity that has recently been brought to my attention."

For the first time, Harry turned his head to the side as he combed a hand through his dark messy hair and sent him a questioning expression.

"I overheard the Guard say that Allie is considering holding elections in a few months. I want you to take the position."

"Uh, no," Harry sighed, gruffly shaking his head. "No, I don't think so."

"You sure?" Campbell asked, leaning back in his seat. "This is our chance. I remember when you used to run this place. This school. Nobody could touch you. That guy is still in there."

"Didn't you hear me?" Campbell could tell that Harry was hoping the question would come out sounding harsher then it did, but in the man's depressed state his voice sounded weaker than usual. "I'm not going to be pulled into your bullshit. If you want to be in charge so badly, why don't you run?"

Campbell shrugged. "I'd never get elected. You know that."

Shaking his head tiredly, Harry raised his coffee cup to his lips.

"Look around you, Harry. Can you honestly tell me you like the way things are? Because I don't. You like being told to pick up garbage, or being crammed into a house with a bunch of inconsiderate teenagers? You want this to be your life?"

"No," Harry reluctantly admitted.

Sensing his ideal partner's resistance weakening, Campbell pulled out the small plastic bag from his jacket pocket. The soft crinkling of the container drew Harry's attention away from the granite tabletop.

Seeing the small white pills in the dealer's hands, a longing look reached the addicts eyes. "Just give me some, man," Harry whimpered. "Come on."

"I'm tired of grunt work," Campbell continued as if the teen hadn't spoken and played with the bag in his hands. "I'm tired of groveling to people. I assumed you felt the same way."

"I don't feel anything," Harry moaned, the words spoken barely above a whisper. "I'll help you, okay. I'll pull myself together in time for the election in a couple of months. Just give me one. Please."

"There's not going to be an election."

Harry squinted his eyes as he lifted his gaze from the bag to meet Campbell's eyes. "What are you talking about? You said–"

"I'm serious. You need to snap out of this now. I don't want to wait. Changes need to start happening now and I can't do it by myself." Campbell looked up to lock eyes with the depressed man in front of him. "We're not going to ask for power. We're going take it. Well . . . you are."

Harry's eyes grew big as what Campbell was saying sank in. "What? You mean, like, by force?" Instead of answering, Campbell just held Harry's gaze steadily before the teen shook his head viciously, a begging look in his eyes. "No, no way. I'm not helping you with that."

"You want more pills?"

At his tainting words, Harry stilled his head as he stared at the bag Campbell was now holding up in front of him.

"We're a team," he emphasized, leaning forward against the table. "You signed on months ago, the day you took the first one of these. Trust me, I'll make you come out smelling like roses."

For several long seconds, Harry stared back down at the table's surface, seeming to ponder everything that Campbell had said and the deal he was offering up to him. The smirk on Campbell's face grew as the depressed teen slowly shook his head, knowing exactly what his answer was going to be before he even uttered a word.

"Okay," Harry relented. Lifting his head, he glanced pleadingly into Campbell's eyes. "Okay, fine. Just give me the fucking pill."