Yesterday's Gone: Season One

the night. We need to get Paola in the van and move out now.”
    “We can’t do that,” Mary said. “She’s waiting for something.”
    “ What ?”  
    “I know it sounds crazy, but she is. She’s waiting for something in her sleep. I don’t know what it is, and I can’t feel her at all. But I know she’s waiting. And I’m not leaving here until she’s ready.”
    “This is crazy,” John said turning away from Mary and talking directly to Desmond. “You can’t possibly agree with this?”
    “Not exactly,” Desmond said. “But I don’t disagree. Mary, you sure?”
    “Yes,” Mary said, somewhat offended that Desmond didn’t say more to support her.
    Suddenly, a scream from Paola. Mary spun around, dropping next to her daughter’s side.
    “See — something is happening inside her right now. We, or at least I, have to see it through. If nothing happens by morning, we can leave, no argument from me. I’ll even load her in the van myself.”
    “Happy?” Desmond asked John.
    “No. But I’m not unhappy .”  
    John walked away and Desmond followed, leaving Mary alone with her daughter.

    **

    Paola lay still throughout the night. Mary found sleep impossible for more than a minute or two at a time during the night. By morning, she was exhausted, and barely able to keep her eyes open.  
    John agreed to wait until the afternoon since little was happening outside and the creatures’ numbers no longer appeared to be growing. That gave Mary a chance to catch some sleep while Desmond watched over them both.
    “I think something’s happening,” Desmond said, waking Mary with a start.  
    She sat up, looked at Paola. Her skin was warm and color returned to her face. Her mouth opened and she murmured something — a handful of not-quite-connected syllables that sounded mostly happy. Like she was talking in her sleep.
    “Something’s happening,” Mary called to the entire lobby.
    “Over here, too!” Jimmy was pointing outside, causing Mary’s heart to speed up. She couldn’t handle another rush of monsters. Not now.  
    But the deafening sound outside wasn’t from monsters, but rather a helicopter.
    “W-T-F?” Jimmy said.  
    “Did you just say ‘WTF?’” Desmond shook his head and rolled his eyes.
    Mary looked toward the doors, though she couldn’t see the hole in the barrier from where she was. She looked back down at her daughter.” She squeezed Paola’s hand and whispered, “I’ll be back.”  
    She went to the door and looked outside, beads of sweat nesting on her forehead as a chill ran down her body. Walking toward them was an old man, tall and thin, next to a small boy who couldn’t have been more than eight.  
    The boy.  
    That’s who they were waiting for. She knew it. Praise be to whoever sent him, even if it was the same horrible god who had up and ended the world.  

    * * * *

LUCA HARDING

    Luca and Will flew through the sky in the helicopter they’d just grabbed from the local airport. This helicopter wasn’t like the first one. It was old and beat up. It reminded Luca of the “weekend car” Mr. Roberson kept in his garage under a big gray blanket. They had to trade the plane, which made Luca a little sad because it wasn’t nearly as noisy as the helicopter and felt a lot, lot safer, but it was okay because Will said there wouldn’t be enough runway for takeoffs or landings, so they needed something that was easier to move around with while they looked for the people.
    Will said they were going to some place called the “Drury Inn.” Luca asked him about 100 million times how he knew where the people were and even though Will tried to explain it repeatedly, it didn’t make sense to Luca. Will said, “Instinct is the nose of the brain and as long as you’re willing to listen, it usually tells you everything you need to know before your brain has a chance to figure it out.”
    Luca was only eight, but he knew when grownups were keeping part of their stories a secret. There was something about Will’s dreams he didn’t want Luca to know.  
    Four Drury Inns were in the area where Will said the people might be, but Will had a feeling that they’d be in the one they were now flying to.
    “I still don’t understand how I can help her.” Luca said. He didn’t believe he could do anything to help the girl from their dreams, but Will kept insisting that Luca would just know exactly what to do when the time was right.  
    “I’ll tell you how it