I let out a breath as I finished an infuriating novel that featured not one, but two, unnecessary love triangles. It almost pissed me off to the extent that I was going to stop but I have nothing better to do. So, I’m left feeling irritated and empty because of the book.

Two days passed quietly. I spent my time leafing through the books from the giftshop and most of which were irritating romance drivel or cookbooks that I wouldn’t be able to put into practise until I get my hands on a blowtorch. Liam seemed to be doing just fine as well…

Which meant that my reason for being here is diminishing and I really wanted to move on. But there hasn’t been any news of Skull. I know that Liam is still too weak by himself but what more do they want from me at this point? Waiting around was driving me insane. That looming death clock hanged above my head especially heavy on days where I’m idle. I admit it. I’m scared of dying like that. Especially if it’s so gradual that you’re losing yourself piece by ashen piece. I was close to physical maturity. It could range between a year to eight years left of my life. And that’s me alone. There are a few others who have way less time that I do. We’ve gone from almost a century of promised life to roughly twenty-five…that basically taking away three quarters….

I chuck the book down on the coffee table, almost knocking my pens and maps onto the floor, and go for the next book near me. I have to shake away these thoughts.

“Must have been a real page tuner.” I recognise Silver’s voice before noticing her sitting down on the sofa opposite me. She notices that she has my attention and she smiles back.

“What are you doing here?”

She shrugs, “I wanted to go for a walk. Stretch my legs. And I promised these,” she reaches into her big jacket and pulls out exactly what I’ve been wanting for a while. The north island maps. She extends them at me and didn’t even flinch when I went to take them from her.

I immediately opened them, spreading them out across the coffee table. It illustrated the major highways and cities well enough. I was shocked. The ground I had to cover for the north was bigger than roaming the south for the last four months. The distance between the cities and towns were more widespread as well.

Silver then gives me a thin book, “I also have this, I was amazed that something like it still exists in print but…” she let it hang as I take it from her and saw that it was a complete and detailed map of each city right down to their street names and general places like post-offices and hospitals.

“You’re willing to part with it?” I look back to her face, this was invaluable and much more detailed than any of the general and half tattered maps that I’ve found and use.

“I’m not planning on going back to the North. If I do, I’ve already mostly memorised where everything is.”

I keep flipping through the pages, seeing that there were three university campuses and asked, “Are you by yourself?”

She leans back into the sofa, getting comfortable. “Nah. Dragon and Bulldog didn’t like the idea of leaving me to my own devices.”

“But I thought that you wouldn’t be coming around until Ghost and Skull settle things.”

“I’m not one to wait around for whatever someone else wants. Besides, the time and place of our transaction has nothing to do with him. You wanted the maps, I have the maps. I was bored. You were away from that meddlesome group. I also wanted to make sure Shadow was ok.”

“You know Shadow?”

“A little. He’s a good kid. A little blunt but his heart’s in the right place. I knew him from before all of this. Shadow and his sister, Jewels, were my neighbours. Different schools though.”

“…Were you always a part of Ghost’s band?”

She snorts, “Hah no. Ghost’s merry band of idiots were always outside my social realm. Ghost’s “Tribunal” were something I avoided not matter what. But then I found the fool by the shoreline as I saw the bridge collapsing. As I patched him up, I found his little posse running around in a panic…So I found a boat and we jumped over here. It was hard. The Tribunal are relentless and they dragged so many people into the conflict…It’s still a mess…and Ghost is trying to save everyone around him but…well…we’ll see, I guess.”

“Why does his group want him dead?”

She shrugs, “I dunno. He said the wrong thing…Rose could be Helen of Troy with how she acts half the time…but there was probably a disagreement with how things were run and it got political. It usually does. But Ghost refuses to tell me and no one was there to say what had actually happened. I know it’ll come back and bite us later but,” she shrugs. “We’re doing the best we can and Ghost says to go to the mountains, so we’re going to the mountains. There are a few abandoned log cabins up there that we found that we can use and support all of us and it’s obscure enough that it’ll be difficult to find if you don’t know the goat track that leads there. It’s probably belonged to some weird nudist community or something but it’s safe enough for now.”

“You’re not worried about the Bonedust?”

“Isn’t everyone? But for now, I’m more worried about being killed by a bunch of psychopaths and pyromaniacs than turning into Bonedust. For now, I think we need to settle, especially Ghost. Then, we can act. I’m also looking for a cure but probably not as religiously as you are though. Perhaps I’ll become more serious later, but for now, I’ll settle with giving you the maps.”

How wise. But I’ll back track, “The boat still around?”

She sighs a little, “No. I was about to hide it after getting everyone to safety but when I came back for it, I found it on fire and surrounded by a bunch of weirdos… Moon told me that, that would have been Pyros.”

Damn it. It might be tricky to find a boat but there might be one…or I can do something crazy like build a raft…maybe a house might have a canoe…or a kayak…

“So, Echo’s been telling me that you’re from Earth.” Her voice breaks my train of thought.

“Yes…" Why is this so important to this lot?

“How did you manage to get here? I mean, from what I’ve been told, no one younger than thirty could cross over to Spero on the shuttles.”

“I’m guessing my father tweaked the system,” it was my turn to shrug.

“He must have been important, then.”

“I wouldn’t know. I didn’t really know him.” He was gone by the time I was born and my mother never let me forget that. I had minimal contact with him, and I think she had a lot to do with that. Can't say my mother isn't vindictive.

“I see. Well, do you regret coming here?”

“Sometimes, but it’s not like I miss being back there either. It’s just my luck that I walked into this fucked up mess. I miss having a microwave.”

She slightly frowns, putting her fingers to her lips, while thinking, “How did you handle the experience of all of this? I mean…the last shuttle was about a month before everything went to hell in a hand basket.”

…I wondered about it as well, but my situation was worse than that. “…I don’t remember getting off the shuttle. I just remember waking up from a hospital bed…I don’t know how long I was asleep before all of this started. I’ve been wondering for about four months now…”

“You were asleep?”

“Yeah I woke up in some clinic that didn’t have much going for it…it was isolated and near the southern most point of this continent. I don’t even know the name of the place since it’s not marked on any of the maps.” And zero indication of it existing. It was an unmarked plain building that no one would look twice at if they saw it...

I stare back at her as she mentally calculated and dropped a bombshell on me, because I had no way of knowing how long I was asleep, and it’s been bugging me. For months. How long was I out of this party? “You were asleep for about eight months…”

“Eight months?” I stare back at her, almost speechless…that means I've been hear for almost a year. I mean it explains all of the expansion and development of the different tribes and how the place has gone but…I never thought that I was almost a year behind everyone else. Worse. I’m a year older than I originally thought…I have even less time.

“Are…you ok?” She asks, worriedly.

I breath deeply. “I’m fine…” I mutter more to myself, “Just peachy.”

“Silver?” Dragon’s head popped in around the corner, the big grin across his face when he spots her.

She looks behind and back at him, “Hello Dragon, you having fun?”

I look over her, “Why the name, 'Silver'?”

She ruminated on my question. I’ve been wondering about this from the start. “I didn’t pick it but…I’m not sure about other people, but for me, it’s easier to face the day as Quicksliver than it would be as Carmen Frost.”

Haaah. So it’s a coping mechanism…

“Plus, I mean, it sounds way more intimidating to be referred to as ‘Skull’ as a leader of a big, bad, scary group than being called ‘Timmy’.” She adds as an afterthought.

Urk.

“Hah, Skull? Intimidating?’" Echo’s voice chuckles as she prances into the room.

My mood drops a level.

“If he keeps his mouth shut, he’s just something pretty to look at. Speaking of,” she starts sing-song voice, “I found him and he wants to talk to the big, bad, scary Ghost. Asap. And here. At our base!" she had her hands spread up like it was a fucking fanfare. Then she focuses on me, "You missed me, Kitty-cat?"

I rub my eyelids with a hand. I think my ‘give a shit bucket’ is full.