Chapter Text
Oh, I think I’d go speeding down the 405,
Bury my lovers, evaluate life,
Oh, I’d break into Cher’s house, and try on some clothes,
Probably drink more and then decompose,
Maybe I’d settle on the silent West Coast,
Steal all the jewels, talk to Julia’s ghost,
But even before I did all that I planned,
I’d probably go crazy and then I’d turn mad,
And I’d give me some pills that probably wouldn’t work,
And that’d be the end of the last man on Earth
-Last Man on Earth; Anna Bates
Sophie wasn’t thinking coherently when she entered the gas station. She was running on stale water and the lunch she’d eaten three days ago, it was a wonder she could see straight. That was why she went in the front. A rookie mistake, she knew, but she could see the faint flicker of a strobe light inside and good God , if there was so much as an expired Mars Bar inside it was worth the risk a thousandfold.
She knew she’d messed up the moment she entered, the automated doors screeching loudly, curtains of a theatre long since shut down. The scurrying sound could easily have been mistaken for rats, and would’ve been, not even ten years ago, but paranoia was more common than the virus itself and Sophie was running towards the sound before she could remind herself of all the reasons that was a bad fucking idea.
She hadn’t seen a person in days. And sure, maybe that was because she had been avoiding them at all costs–a rational plan considering how many people were after her–but this could be a real human, with compassion and mercy and–God willing–real food. She couldn’t risk losing the first stranger she’d met in days, if it was, in fact, a person, that is.
Sophie crashed into shelves, sending overpriced, rotted decay flying through the air as she sprinted towards the back of the store. The scurrying increased in pace and yes, yes , those were fucking footsteps.
“Wait. Stop, please,” Sophie begged, the words gnarled and raw as they spewed from her throat. She hadn’t realised how silent she’d been until she tried to speak and her voice rubbed sandpaper against the walls of her throat. She couldn’t breathe, could barely keep her monstrous feet plodding in the right direction but she had to keep going, had to see this person. She had to know that there was someone left.
A shimmer of dark hair flashed in front of her as the stranger turned a corner in front of her. She was so close. They might have food , Sophie told herself, finding the last of her strength and straining herself to move forward just a fraction faster. The stranger was twisting through the ransacked aisles, weaving quickly, but losing momentum. Sophie almost had them. There were no thoughts in her mind except Run. Food. Help. She turned another corner and saw them at last.
It was a girl, her back turned, dark brown hair twisting in tatters behind her as she raced. She looked young, maybe fifteen, but manic, chest heaving and footsteps pattering like raindrops. And with every step she took, the girl blinked in and out of sight, flickering like the strobe. She twisted, not slowing, to look behind her. Sophie could barely register the fluorescent blue of the girl's eyes and the strangest sense of I know her, before she disappeared again, a wicked grin on her face.
A Vanisher.
Sophie slammed to a halt, overbalancing into a shelf and getting a face full of mould that might once have been edible. She’d made a mistake coming here, chasing that girl. The full weight of what she’d just done landed on her as she choked up sickeningly sweet grit. She’d just broken the Number #1 Survival Rule: Never instigate against a Vanisher.
She walked backwards, too crazed with adrenaline to turn around, babbling apologies to the empty shelves, eyes darting, waiting for the girl to reappear.
“I’m sorry. Sorry. I thought that you were–that I knew you. You sounded familiar. But I don’t, so…I’ll just be going now. Have a lovely day.”
What the fuck was she saying?
Sophie’s shoe landed on something firm and she tripped backwards, thumping into a wall of some kind behind her. Before she could pull herself up, a thin streak of cold slid across her neck.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit. There was a knife to her throat.
Sophie froze, wishing she could force her eyes shut, but they refused, bouncing around furiously, fruitlessly searching for a glimpse of the girl who had captured her. The girl had positioned herself well, and in seconds she had a firm grip on Sophie. She was helpless, the only part of her captor she could see was a wave of dark hair that would probably win awards, if conditioner wasn’t a thing of the past.
“Are you an Emissary?” The girl's voice was low and husky, but silkier than Sophie’s. Maybe she knew people, actual people, to talk to. It would make sense. How else could someone so young survive out here? What had Sophie been thinking, trying to live out here on her own?
“No. I thought…you might have food. I’m Psi, too. I’ve been running for days. Please don’t kill me,” Sophie whispered, worried that volume might force her skin too close to the blade. “I thought you could help me.”
She sounded pitiful and she knew it. Sympathy might’ve worked in the beginning, but people were too callous and hardened to listen to sob stories by now. Even this girl would know better than to be merciful.
“I saw your eyes. You can’t fool me. Are you a fucking Emissary? ”
“No! I swear, I’m Psi. I know my eyes are weird, but I really am. I’m from the Moonlark facility. I escaped a week ago and I’ve been running ever since. Please, you have to help me.”
Sophie knew it was over. Compassion was for the dead and this girl had lived long enough to learn that lesson. She knew that begging would be as useless as lunging forward and just finishing the job herself but she couldn’t stop babbling, tears in her eyes and pathetic words in her mouth. But the girl’s grip loosened, only for a second but it was there. The words wilted on Sophie’s lips, rotted as the mould on the shelves.
“Moonlark?” The Vanisher whispered, almost managing to mask the tremor in her voice.
Sophie could only nod and beg whatever deity was out there that she had somehow managed to stumble upon a sympathiser. The blade scraped against her neck and the sound of the screeching door echoed in her mind, even though there was no sound.
“Biana!”
A back door slammed open from somewhere in the depths of the store and both girls startled so forcefully that the knife hacked a shallow cut into the base of Sophie’s neck. Sophie twisted, fear and instinct kicking in and fighting against the girl holding her. She was fast though, and Sophie was back in her clutches before the first red drop made it past her collarbone. She’d been excited at the prospect of people before, but now, hearing footsteps thundering closer, trapped by a feral Vanisher in a room of dust, Sophie’s panic swelled in her chest.
The footsteps traced their way to the girls and Sophie could hear rustling behind her, but the Vanisher was too strong for her to turn and see the new arrivals.
“B, what the fuck? Who is that?”
The Vanisher–'B'?–hauled Sophie around, revealing the two strangers. They were two boys, clearly Psi, and a little older than Sophie. The taller one looked just like the Vanisher, dark brown hair, unearthly blue eyes and a distrustful expression. Sophie felt the oddest sensation of deja vu. The boy looked so familiar . The second one was a few inches shorter, with messy blond hair and light eyes. He was looking at Sophie differently, more concerned and wary than aggressive, so Sophie kept her eyes on him, trying to look as harmless as possible.
“She says she’s Moonlark.”
The boys reacted instantly, backing away, eyes wide.
“What? She can’t be. Are you sure?”
All eyes turned to Sophie, and the girl loosened her grip slightly, just enough to allow Sophie to shift to a slightly more dignified position.
“Y-yes. I’m from the Moonlark Facility. I need help.”
No one said anything and Sophie could see a heated debate occurring in the boy's eyes. She waited, breathing as quietly as she could. All at once, her captures started talking.
“We have to–”
“She can’t be–”
“It doesn’t matter–”
There was another beat of silence as they all assessed each other. All Sophie could do was hold still and mentally implore the teenagers to spare her. She’d heard stories of people driven mad by the famine, feasting on Psi children they had caught. Surely these kids wouldn’t do that to her. They were in the same position that she was.
“Go back to the van. Find out her worth.” The Vanisher rattled Sophie’s shoulder to get her attention, “What’s your name?”
“Sophie Foster.”
The tall boy nodded in acknowledgement and ran back to the depths of the gas station. As soon as the door hinges signalled his absence, the other boy swarmed closer, examining Sophie like a lab rat. She squirmed, but the knife was back at her throat and she had no choice but to stand there and allow him to judge her.
“B,” he whispered, looking behind Sophie at the Vanisher, “We have to take her with us. If she’s really Moonlark…”
“We don’t know that she is.”
“How else would she know the name?”
“Maybe she’s a spy. Look at her eyes. She can’t be Psi. This could be a trick to catch us.”
“They're not stupid enough to send a brown-eyed spy. Besides, they don’t know that we have access to their database. If she’s got a reward then we’ll take her.”
“Take her? I really just wanted some food. I’ll leave you alone, I promise, I just don’t want to starve.”
The sound of an engine roared outside, followed by a screech of rubber and the slam of a door, and before Sophie had time to process what that meant, she had been thrown to the floor, alongside the other kids, who were on their stomachs in seconds. The knife slid across the linoleum floor, out of reach of the Vanisher. Recognising her chance, Sophie pulled herself up, only to be met with two whispered shouts of “No!” and dragged back down again. A hand covered her mouth as she tried to protest and she was met with the faces of both of the kids who were frantically shaking their heads.
Sophie got her first good look at the Vanisher and Jesus Christ. She thought all the beautiful people were long dead, but this girl was beyond beauty, she was indescribable. Her eyes were just as bright as they’d seemed before, but they weren’t just blue, they looked green, too. Teal? That wasn’t possible, surely.
The front doors screeched open– see, it wasn’t just Sophie who still used those –and Sophie heard the clicking of high heels on the cheap linoleum. The boy next to her removed his hand from her mouth and paled. The Vanisher swore quietly and shifted into a crouch.
“Keefe, darling. I know you’re in here. You really need to get a new vehicle. That ugly van gives you away every time,” a woman’s voice echoed ominously through the metal shelves. The Vanisher tapped the boy on the shoulder and pointed to the back of the store, motioning for him to move. Without a word, she vanished again, and Sophie was alone with the terrified child. He stared at her in a calculating way, then nodded, seemingly to himself and gestured for her to follow him. He started shimmying awkwardly along the floor, presumably to stay out of sight, but the motion was so undignified that Sophie could barely keep from laughing.
“You can’t hide from me, Keefe. Come on out and save us all some time.”
The boy, Keefe, Sophie assumed, made a hurried gesture for her to follow so she got down on her stomach and caterpillared her way across the floor with him. The clicking heels paused, and when Sophie heard them again, they sounded much closer. She sped up, which was difficult, as humans generally prefer to travel using their legs, not their torsos, but she muddled through as best she could.
“I can hear you, darling. You should work on your stealth, it’s no good to be running around out here if everyone within a five mile radius can hear you.”
The heels were coming closer. Keefe (?) abandoned his shimmy and started crawling, which was much more efficient, so Sophie followed his lead. The clicking was louder and Sophie could feel her heart in her throat as she crawled through the carpet of dust on the ground. She could hear the heels turning a corner–she’d be in their sight in seconds–when a loud crash sounded in the aisle across from her. The heels paused and Keefe took that opportunity to clamber to his feet and start sprinting for the back exit, head ducked so he still wasn’t visible through the shelves. There were more crashes behind them and Sophie realised the Vanisher must be pushing over shelves, either as a distraction or to block their path from the stranger in heels.
Running was a much faster method of travel and they were at the back exit in seconds. Keefe rammed through it, sprinting outside as fast as he could. Sophie paused, surveying the store for the Vanisher but she was, naturally, nowhere to be seen. Anxious about being left behind, Sophie followed Keefe, who was heading towards a black van that had been parked halfway out of sight of the road. In the front seat, Sophie could see the other boy, who was waving for them wildly. Keefe opened the passenger door and dove inside. Sophie reached the car and, before she could talk herself out of it, ripped open the back door and climbed into the far seat.
“Turn her engine on, quickly,” Keefe said in a voice that was half anger, half adrenaline.
“Where’s Biana?”
The door Sophie had just closed opened of its own accord, slamming shut almost as quickly. The Vanisher appeared in the seat across from Sophie, already talking before she was completely in sight.
“ Go, go, go!”
And just like that, Sophie was being raced down the highway in a strange van filled with strange children, who had strange eyes and stranger abilities. They were completely silent for about a minute before the driver, the one who had disappeared before the heeled woman had arrived, cleared his throat pointedly.
“Please tell me we are going to address the elephant in the van.”
“We couldn’t leave her there,” the blond boy answered, immediately. He appeared to have an argument prepared. “My mum would have killed her. Or worse, if she really is a Moonlark. Besides, if she’s telling the truth maybe she can help us find–”
“ Keefe!” The other two chided in unison. The Vanisher twisted to look at Sophie.
“Did you find her bounty, Fitz?” She asked.
I did,” the boy kept his eyes on the road as he answered, still speeding so fast the entire van was rattling. “But it’s odd. I still don’t know if we should trust it.”
“What’s odd?”
“It’s higher than all of ours. Put together. It’s the highest I’ve ever seen, actually. Higher than…” He inclined his head, communicating something to the other two that made them both frown and study Sophie harder.
“Uh, okay. I’m not really sure what you’re all talking about, do you think you could fill me in a little bit,” she asked, tired of the three of them speaking about her as though she couldn’t hear. The two who looked similar, the Vanisher and the driver both frowned in suspicion, but the blond boy answered with sheepish enthusiasm.
“Sorry! You know how it’s like now. Gotta keep on your toes. I’m Keefe, that’s Biana, next to you and the pretty one is Fitz.”
Fitz scowled and Biana broke her tough façade to giggle at him.
“We’re siblings. As you can see, I’m the black sheep of the family,” Keefe’s voice was teasing and Fitz had rolled his eyes, so Sophie guessed that he was joking. Fitz cleared his throat again.
“Gesundheit.”
“Shut up. She can’t stay with us. I’m serious.”
“But she can help,” Keefe sang, “If we’re right, she might know something. Which would be helpful, considering you’re driving in the wrong direction.”
“What? No, I’m n– shit !” Fitz jerked the van to a halt, tires screeching so loud that Biana covered her ears and kicked the back of his seat.
“We have to turn around,” Fitz said, already reversing, but Keefe shook his head. “My mum’s back there, remember? We won’t be able to go past without her knowing. Speaking of, you should probably keep driving if you don’t want her to catch up to us.”
“Your mum?” Sophie asked, timidly. Keefe turned around, grinning in a slightly manic way.
“Yeah, good old Mummy Dearest. She’s the one from the gas station. Been hunting me for months, aren’t I lucky? She’s an Emissary.”
Sophie didn’t know what to say except, “Shit.” Keefe laughed, settling back down in his seat.
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”
“What do we do now?” Biana asked, slumped down in her seat, belt unstrapped, legs resting on the headrest in front of her. “We were so close,” she mumbled.
“But we found something awesome. She can help us find him. If she’s really Moonlark, then she must know where he is.” Keefe grinned at Sophie through the rearview mirror, as though they were in on a secret together, but Sophie had never felt so confused.
“Oh my god,” Biana sat upright, turning to face Sophie. Her face looked completely different now. She looked younger when she smiled. So pretty. Pretty, pretty, pretty. “What was Moonlark like? Did you see any other Psi? Where are they now?”
“There were no other Psi. I was the only one there.”
Alone. Cold. So cold. But hot. So hot. It burns. Please, stop. So cold. It burns. Please, help. Help me.
“What?,” Fitz said sharply. He was driving again, just as fast as before and the van was making various noises of discomfort, which Sophie was desperately trying to ignore. “You can’t have been the only one there. That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t…” Sophie was supposed to say something. She could see that. These three kids were staring at her and she needed to answer. She needed the right answer so they’d let her stay and she’d be safe and what’s the right answer is there a right answer how does she help can she help she needs help where is it where are they why is she alone again
“ I’m the Moonlark.”
“No.”
Biana’s expression was guarded again. Where was her smile? Did Sophie steal it? Where did she put it? How can she return it? “There are other kids in Moonlark. There’s a boy. We need to find him. Where is he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. You’re lying. Where is he? Where is Alvar?”
Alvar?
Sophie remembered Alvar. The boy with the pudding. The boy who never smiled. The Boy Who Disappeared.