Yesterday's Gone: Season One

a short pixie cut, she could have easily passed for Teagan’s slightly older sister. Their resemblance was uncanny, which made Ed finding Teagan, a girl who looked so much like his daughter, after the rest of the world vanished, a most odd coincidence.
    Yet, there they were, all breathing just a few feet apart.
    Jade ran to her father and threw her arms around him. Ed held tight like he’d not seen her in forever, and maybe never would again.   As the two embraced, Teagan felt a longing for her own father. Not the man she’d come to know, but the one who’d once been a kind, doting daddy, not yet reduced to shreds by life’s slings and arrows. He hadn’t been that man in a long time, so Teagan was only missing a ghost of a ghost. A good feeling, once remembered.
    As the two hugged, Jade’s eyes opened, then found Teagan, making her feel like the biggest third wheel ever in the history of ever.
    Jade looked confused. She pulled away from her dad, and walked toward Teagan with a smile, “Hi, my name is Jade,” she said with a confidence that surprised Teagan, though it shouldn’t have, given how direct and confident Ed was.
    “I’m Teagan,” she said, shaking the girl’s hand.
    “I ran into her on the road. Her parents vanished right in front of her while they were driving home,” Ed said, almost apologetically. “She didn’t have anyone else.”
    It was then Jade noticed Teagan’s swollen belly.
    “Oh,” Jade said, “How far along are you?”
    “Five months,” she said, her hands instinctively massaging her baby’s home.
    “Do you know the sex yet?”
    “I didn’t want to know. Wanted it to be a surprise. Didn’t expect this sorta surprise, though,” she said, shrugging her shoulders at the missing world.
    “This is Ken,” she said, introducing the guy with the bat, who looked like a college student too. A good looking, emo-artsy-coffee house-type.
    “Hi,” she said, shaking Ken’s hand.
    “Did you hear from your mother?” Ed asked.
    “No, I called when the phones were still working. But no answer. I was gonna go to her house, but then we saw the things.”
    “What things?” Ed asked.
    “Whatever they are,” Ken said, “They’re nothing like I’ve ever seen.”
    Ken looked frightened, as if he’d seen a ghost, monster, or something else unimaginable. Ed looked like he was about to make a joke, but then swallowed it, perhaps not knowing the relationship between Jade and Ken.
    “Come here,” Ken said, “I’ll show you what I’m talking about. Do you mind?” he asked, pointing to his bat.
    Ed’s foot found the handle, pushed against it, propped it up, grabbed the business end, then handed it to Ken in one quick movement. Teagan wasn’t sure if that was Ed showing his alpha dog status as dads tended to do with guys who dared to date their daughters, or if it was just Ed being the all-business, all-bad ass, all-the time that he was. Teagan was surprised to find herself laughing inside.
    Pity the poor guy who wants to date Jade.
    They went into Apartment 410, which technically didn’t belong to Ken. He had been staying with a friend the night everyone vanished. When Ken said friend , and mentioned the friend was a guy, with a look in his eye and a momentary pause, Teagan figured maybe Ed had nothing to worry about concerning Ken and Jade.
    Room 410 crackled with a blast of static coming from a battery operated baby monitor.
    “The other one’s downstairs,” Ken said. “That’s how we knew you were downstairs. We heard you in the hallway, and I waited with the bat, just in case.”
    “In case what?” Teagan asked, surprising herself with the question.
    “You were one of the monsters.”
    Ed laughed.
    “You didn’t see any when you were driving up? They’ve been outside since yesterday,” Ken asked.
    “Monsters?” Ed said, “No, I can’t say we saw any ‘ monsters’ on the way in.”
    “No, I’m serious,” Ken said, “Take a look.”
    Ken led them to the window, then pulled the shades aside three inches, raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes, looked outside, then handed the binoculars to Ed.
    “There, in front of the building across the street.”
    Ed took the binoculars, adjusted the focus on top, then froze.
    It took him a while to find his voice. When he did, he said, “What the hell are those ?”
    “Monsters,” Jade said. “They killed a girl who left the complex last night.”
    Teagan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re