​TWO|

Sam was with Astrid, as he was every time he had a spare moment. They had witnessed another gruesome slaughter of a human by a coyote. They had many times in the past few months. The FAYZ was now all they knew.

The FAYZ had been going on for over half a year now. It was their lives and death was a part of it. Astrid and Sam had survived their fifteenth birthdays, some of the few. Most everyone over fourteen was gone. The kids that were left were skin and bone. Except Orc, who was angry about being almost out of beer and any other alcohol, who was rock and bone. Their lives became the FAYZ.

The two of them, Sam and Astrid, were curled up on the couch in the home where Astrid lived. It was almost silent, except for their breathing and the occasional scream from a child outside, usually because of a scrape. "Sam," Astrid suddenly said. "Do you hear that? That noise?"

"What noi-?" Sam started to say. And then he heard it. The noise Astrid was talking about. It was a familiar but all-too-distant noise. It was a music tone from a phone.

"Go get it- it's not mine."

"It's mine- but how?" Sam asked her. He needed Astrid the Genius, not Astrid his girlfriend.

"I don't know. That's a question for Computer Jack."

Sam went off quickly to get his phone. It was in Astrid's room. He left it there for her because he didn't have any way of using it in his own place at Town Hall- not that Astrid had any chance to, but still, he left it with her. He glanced at the caller ID. It was his cousin from New York, Morgan. "This must be a hoax...," he groaned as he answered. "Hello?"

"Sam?" said a panicked girl's voice from the other end of the line. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Is this really Morgan?"

"Yeah. Look, Sam, you know how all of the adults in Perdido Beach just vanished? Well, that's what just happened in Auburn. Just, poof! Gone."

"Dammit... Do you have a nuclear power plant near you?"

"Uh... Not that I'm aware of... But we do have some factories..."

"Morgan, hold on a sec. I have to go get someone." Sam ran down the stairs straight to Astrid. Panting breathlessly, he said, "Astrid, there's a second FAYZ."

She was shocked. "No..."

"Yes. Across the country."

"Sam," Morgan yelled through the phone. "Are you still there?"

Sam raised the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, I'm still here. I want you to talk to someone else, though."

"Okay, put 'em on."

Sam covered the phone with his hand again. "Astrid, talk to her. I'll figure out something."

"Okay. Give the phone to me." Sam held it out to her and she grabbed it. "Morgan? I'm Sam's friend, Astrid."

"Astrid the Genius?"

Astrid winced at her nickname. "Yeah, that's me."

"Okay. I'll tell you everything I told Sam." With that, Morgan started to recount the day's events exactly as she told Sam. "What I told Sam was that all the adults went poof and were gone. It was sorta cool because when it happened, I was in Earth Science reviewing for my Regents, which was supposed to be tomorrow. We don't live by a nuclear power plant, that I'm aware of, but there are a lot of factories."

At the end of the story, Astrid asked a few questions. "Are there any kids who developed any... well, superpowers?"

"Uh, yeah. I saw a kid flying, with wings and all."

"To where?"

"The top of the flagpole. Probably a dare to see if he could. He's a football player, so, he probably had a few too many hits to the head."

Astrid laughed briefly, then returned to being serious. "Oy vey... Are there any others?"

"Not that I'm aware of..."

"Is there anyone else with you that knows what's happened to a further extent than just all the teachers disappeared?"

"Yeah. It's me, two boys, Evan and Jake, and one girl, Anybodys."

Astrid laughed at that. "What's her real name?"

"Melanie D'Antonio."

"She figured it out. That it was what happened to you guys, I mean. Would you like to talk to her? She's right here..."

"Sure, sure. Put her on."

"Okay," Morgan said. "I'll get her. Hold on a sec."

Astrid remained holding Sam's phone. It made her feel... connected to the rest of the world. "Hello?" said a new voice. "Is this Astrid?"

"That depends. Is this Melanie -er- Anybodys?"

Melanie laughed at that. "I see Morgan told you my nickname. You can call me Mel, Melanie, or Anybodys; I don't really care so long as you don't call me bitch."

"No, I won't call you bitch," Astrid laughed. "So you're the one who figured it out?"

"That what happened to us is the same thing that happened to you?"

"Yeah, that."

"Then, I guess so." The two girls laughed at that. "That's still one of the big stories on the news, you know. My mom and dad like to make me watch it. Kinda stupid, if you ask me. Whatcha think about that?"

"If my mom were here, she'd do the same thing. It is a bit stupid, if anyone knew us in Perdido Beach, they'd know most of us hate the publicity. At least, me, Sam, Quinn, and Edillio hate it. Mary hates it, too. Petey, my little brother, well, he has no idea what's going on... as long as he has his games, he's fine and in his own world. I think he's getting a little tired of the same game..."

"If you can find a way here," Melanie said, "we could hook him up with a new one. And with food. You guys must be running out."

"We are."

"Well, it's a damn good thing we live in farm country, then. And that we have a mall here, like four hotels and eight schools."

"You are a city."

"And we have like, five car dealerships. And that's in town. Like, five miles away, there's another town, and then another... We'll have a lot of mouths to feed..."

"Not a good thing."

"But having farms is. And having the seeds to plant is too. It's the middle of growing season."

"We have to find a way to bridge the gap to Auburn. A few words of advice, Mel, keep the candy and junk food stored away. You'll need it. And have a ration system. A strict one. That was a mistake we made, not having one. Now all the little kids are skin and bone... the older kids can handle it a little better, but not much. Petey is the only little one who doesn't care as much, although he is very hungry too."

"We'll do that. Or at least try."

"Please do."

"And you try to get your sorry asses to Auburn in some way. Someone will figure out how. Maybe like a cave or something has a portal."

"Maybe... I'll talk to Sam about finding it."

"Talk to Sam about finding what?" Sam walked while Astrid was talking to Melanie about finding a portal.

"Oh, Sam, Morgan's friend Melanie had an idea about a portal in a cave. Could you organize a search crew for it, please?"

"Please?" Melanie said from the phone.

"I'm not sure..."

"They have farms, food, a mall, and a lot of grocery stores..."

"I'm still not sure, Astrid. It's risky."

"They have a ton of stuff there... Please Sam? We could really do some good if we found a way to get there. We just can't tell Caine or Diana, really."

"Astrid, give the phone to him, let me talk some sense into him. Or get someone who can," Melanie said.

"Okay, Mel. Just do it fast." Astrid gave Sam the phone.

"Okay, Melanie. Why should I set up a search party for a portal?"

"Because, Sam, you guys are starving over there, and don't you care about the kids over there?"

"Yes, I do. But we could lose many of them if we sent a search party."

"But if that happens, don't you want others to survive? We have farms, equipment, food, supermarkets, a mall for clothing, hotels... we have a lot of stuff here, a lot of stuff that you need. Are you willing to sacrifice a few men to go to a cave and possibly find something that could save you?"

Sam had been thinking while she was talking. He had given what she and Astrid had been talking about a good thought. He took a deep breath and said his answer. "Yes."