Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

myself,” Scott said, sounding offended that Luca would think, let alone suggest, otherwise.
    “Yeah, but you’re still healing from the other day,” Luca said, trying to delicately point out that Scott would be dead if Luca hadn’t saved him — exchanging years of his youth to do so — and now he was gonna risk his life again? Had Luca’s sacrifice meant nothing to Scott? For all Luca knew, he’d never get those years back.
    Scott stared at the church, like he was searching for a change of subject. Luca returned his attention to the box and its occupant, locked away in punishment.
    “She’ll be okay,” Scott said, catching what held Luca’s attention. “It’s cool outside and they’ve got guards out all hours, so I doubt the monsters will get to her.”
    “How many days is she going to be locked in there?” Luca asked.
    “A whole week,” Scott said. “I can’t even imagine being locked in a room that long, let alone a box.”
    “Me, either,” Luca said. “I bet she’s scared.”
    “I’ll bet she won’t run off with a boy again,” Scott said with a laugh.
    Luca looked at him, “What? Are you saying she deserves this?”
    Scott matched Luca’s sudden flash of intensity with his own look of nervous fear.
    “I’m just saying, well, she knew the rules, right? I mean, if they did it to Paola, that would be one thing. We’re new here. But Rebecca’s a religious girl. She’s been here a while. And she knows what’s expected of her. She made her choice.”
    “So, she deserved to be put in a box and have her hair cut off?” Luca asked, surprised at how accepting Scott was of the punishment, even while the rest of their group was clearly distressed.
    “I’m not saying that,” Scott said, laughing nervously.  
    ‘Stop looking at me like that, freak.’
    Luca heard the thought in Scott’s head, no different than if the teen had said it.
    “Is that how you act to someone who saved your life? Call them a freak?” Luca snapped at Scott.
    “What?! I didn’t call you...” Scott froze as realization crept across his face, bleaching his skin along the way.
    ‘You heard me?’
    Luca turned away, suddenly afraid, not wanting to reveal his new gift and accidentally push himself further from the group. Luca walked away, quickly.  
    Scott either said or thought, ‘ What’s going on?’ as Luca picked up his pace and headed toward the Quiet Spot at the back of the property, behind the hangar, where there were two stone benches and a small garden where the grownups liked to sit and talk in whispers and hushes.  
    As Luca passed the Box of Shame, he heard Rebecca cry.  
    “Help me,” she said.
    Luca couldn’t be sure if she’d spoken the words or thought them. He turned and saw several people, including Scott, watching him. He didn’t dare draw more attention, so he turned back and kept walking, ignoring the girl’s plea. More thoughts flooded his brain from different voices he didn’t recognize, likely coming from the men at the church:  
    ‘ What a freak.’
    ‘ I wonder what he’s doing? ‘
    ‘Definitely weird. I think the Devil’s inside him.’
    As he put the corner of the hangar between himself and the crew working on the church, he broke into a run, racing toward the Quiet Spot, eager to have his head to himself. As he rounded the corner, he saw someone else sitting in the Quiet Spot.  
    John.
    “Hello, Luca,” he said. John was sitting on one of the benches, Brother Rei standing beside him, their conversation severed.
    Luca froze.
    John was definitely different from how he’d been at the Drury Inn, though Luca couldn’t put his finger on exactly what that difference was. It wasn’t like they’d spent that much time together before John left the Drury after Jimmy’s death. Besides, most people had changed in the past few months, even if Luca’s evolution had been the most evident after he saved Paola and Scott.  
    Even if everyone was different, John’s difference was the only one that felt so wrong.  
    While the others seemed wary of Luca, John seemed intrigued and not scared in the least. If anything, John made Luca nervous, as did Brother Rei, who looked like a frightful rat with his beady dark eyes, large nose, and almost non-existent chin. “Hello, Brother John and Brother Rei,” Luca said, his eyes finding interest at his feet.
    “Everything okay?” John asked.
    “Yeah,” Luca said, less than convincingly.  
    “Have a seat,” John said,