The peacekeeper yanked the neon sign from Molly's mother's grasp. She screamed and watched as the train vanished, terrified for her daughter. All that mattered was that she was safe. Suddenly, the plaza went silent as every adult stared up. A plane hovered by, looking utterly innocent. Inside the plane, however, was an alligator, touching a million controls. His stubby fingers landed on the large red one with crossbones on it. The bomb flew out towards the plaza. Strangers gripped each other, eyes shut, not bothering to pray. This bombing had been scheduled, planned to destroy everything before the plagues did first. The bomb flew down, closer to them every minute. The boy in the bright red shirt watched silently, terrified. He began to run. He began to run to the train. He leaped on the back of the train right before it descended into the tunnel, going so fast as it struggled to rip a hole in reality.
And then the bomb hit.
It slammed the ground, shuddered, and millions died instantly, exploding, debris raining everywhere, even getting inside the tunnel. Matter hammered the boy mercilessly, dusting his body in grit. He climbed into the compartment that held the food, feeling sick.
Minutes later, an attendant found him and began yelling. The boy was unsure if he was dreaming, since he was being yelled at by an ostrich, but the large bird tossed him out the window without a thought. He felt his body rush, rush so fast. And then he awoke to the sound of the train conductor yelling about a town. A town called Solaris.
Molly awoke early the next day, a trait she always had (although she had no memory of it). She exited her home, and saw to her surprise nobody was awake. She had the milky dawn light to herself.
Molly had to wait a little while for the Nookling Junction to open, so she was the first one in there. She picked out a gigantic bookshelf and a bug net. For a second, she felt slightly guilty for taking two things, but then she noted a large black-and-white bed, and hoped Butch would get it. Hopefully it would end his complaining about the fact he had nowhere to sleep.
Unfortunately, Butch awoke last, and Purrl beat him the the Junction, swooping the large bed, much to his frustration. He kept going on about how he had to sleep all night on the cold tiles again, now that Purrl had taken the bed he'd wanted. Purrl had lightly asked Filbert (who was also missing a bed,) if he would like to have a sleepover in celebration of moving to Solaris. This, of course, enraged Butch further, to make him yell even louder about his lack of furniture. Pippy just snickered, since her home had originally come with a plush, comfortable chaise lounge. Now, Molly was sitting at the plaza, staring at the clouds. Filbert was sleeping on the square of dirt in the center of it. Butch was ranting at Purrl over the checkered bed. Pippy was fervently chasing a leaf swirling in the air. Suddenly, Isabelle was on them, speaking a mile a minute.
"Slow down!" Butch barked. Isabelle looked stunned for a second.
"What was that?" Purrl asked, a million times calmer.
"Mayor…train…arriving…now!" Isabelle puffed, exhausted from her run to the plaza and her fast talking.
Filbert looked up and yawned. "I'm hungry."
"No time! No time! We need to gather outside the train station NOW!"
Pippy caught the leaf and cheered.
Molly squeezed her eyes shut. Is everyone in this darn town insane?
Isabelle was already racing off to the train station, yelling loudly about how they had to move now, now, now.
Purrl and Pippy dragged Filbert off to the train station, while Butch followed, muttering about something. Molly sighed and forced herself to follow them.
They waited at the small, pebbled area, and approximately five seconds later, a train arrived, and Molly heard Porter, the monkey who worked in the train station, yelling "Stop for Solaris, stop for Solaris!".
The air was still; even Butch was holding his breath. Molly tilted her head, struggling to hear what was going on, but ducks aren't renowned for their hearing abilities. Instead, the other animals (except Filbert, since he looked rather distracted,) could hear everything going on in there. Molly tried not to huff in frustration.
The mayor burst out of the station.
For a second, everyone was so taken aback they didn't say a word. Then Butch gasped, "We can't just stand here! Do something!"
Thats…thats…
Molly froze, completely unable to form words, much less a welcoming cheer.
That's a human!
Molly struggled to regain herself as the oddest sensation came over her. A human? What was so special about them? Why was she so stunned? They were just animals, like her. But something told her that humans had something more. Humans had a place in her body that she could never find, no matter how hard she searched; a jungle explorer raking through the vines, trying to find the extremely rare plant, unsure of which plant it was, with so many weeds and flowers taking root, tangling their feet, choking their legs…
Molly snapped back to reality when she heard Purrl practically shriek, "You GUYS!". The residents seemed to awaken from a slumber, then yelled in unison, "WELCOME, MAYOR!" with as much conviction as their foggy, déjá-vú-attacked brains could muster. The young boy standing before them looked utterly confused. He turned towards Isabelle.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered. "Wait, why are you all animals?!"
Isabelle laughed and wagged her finger in his face. "You can't fool me. Everything is as it should be! Now, we need to get started on your resident card, your house, your TPC…oh boy! We have lots of work to do!"
"What's your name?" Molly asked.
The mayor paused, flattening his shirt. It looked like it was once candy-red, but now it was a dull mahogany, traced with dirt, with a large faded-out number 1 on it. He was wearing rather banged-up, denim shorts. He had short, black hair, messy as the rest of him. His eyes had a exhausted, eerie quality that gave Molly the creeps. He had no shoes or socks whatsoever. Overall, he looked like a total mess.
"My name…I'm…" the mayor hesitated. "Liam Anderson."
"That's your whole name? Liam Anderson?" Filbert asked in surprise. "That's a long name. Well, I hope you have fun here, Liam Anderson!"
"Mayor Liam Anderson," Purrl corrected.
Liam Anderson went red. "Just call me Liam. That's my first name. Anderson is my last name."
"You have a backup name?" Pippy asked, sounding confused. "Why? In case you forget your first?" Liam looked surprised, then smiled and shook his head.
"Nevermind. Just call me Liam."
Molly listened to the exchange with interest. She liked the concept of a last name, but decided it'd be too complicated for her. Liam turned to his citizens.
"What are your names?" he asked. He still looked confused, but at least he was speaking clearly.
"I'm Filbert!" Filbert said cheerfully.
"I'm Pippy!"
"I'm Purrl."
"Name's Butch."
Liam turned at stared at Molly. "And you?"
Molly paused and stared at her mayor. She felt a wave of distrust towards him. He was not supposed to be here; she sensed it, and not just because he told Isabelle so. She had a deep gut feeling that humans weren't supposed to be here, in Solaris.
But she relented. She opened her bill and stared Liam in the eye. You aren't welcome here.
"My name is Molly."