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

Rebecca thought. “ Scott was your friend, wasn’t he? ”
    “ Yeah, ” Luca thought.
    “ I’m so sorry. ”
    “ Me too, ” Luca said. “ For Eli. Did you know him well? ”
    “ Yeah, ” she said, quiet for a full minute.
    “ You’re wondering what would happen if the monsters came inside The Sanctuary, aren’t you? ” Luca thought. “ You’re wondering if you would be safe, or if everyone would run and leave you behind? ”  
    Luca could feel Rebecca nodding.
    “ I’m so cold. I keep wondering what’s going to happen to me in here. I’m afraid it’s going to be something really bad. Even if the monsters don’t get me, I’ll starve to death because no one will be here to put bread through the window. ”
    “ I’ll make sure you’re safe. ”
    “ How? ”
    “ I don’t know yet, ” Luca thought, “ But I’m going to sleep now, and that’s where I do all my best thinking. It’s where I meet all the voices who tell me everything I need to know. ”
    “ Who are they? What do they say? ”
    “ I dunno who they are. They say all sorts of things, ” Luca thought.  
    “ How do you know they’re telling the truth? ”
    “ Because I’m sleeping. The voices always tell the truth when I’m sleeping. I think because over there, they don’t know how to lie. That’s why I get more confused in the daytime sometimes than I do when I’m sleeping. When I’m sleeping, it’s only the voices talking. In the daytime, I can hear all the other people too. It’s too much; I can’t hear the voices that aren’t people. ”
    “ Huh? ” Rebecca said.
    “ It’ll make sense soon ,” Luca said. “ Are you still cold? ”

    “ Yes, ” she said.  
    “ I’ve got an idea, ” Luca said, and closed his eyes, imagining himself floating out of his body. He floated over his bed, looking down at himself, this older version of him that still seemed so different than how he visualized himself.
    He looked outside the window, floated toward it, and dissolved through the wall.
    It worked!
    “ What? ” Rebecca asked.
    “ Hold on. ”
    Luca floated out into the night air; he could feel its coldness on his skin. He looked above the house and saw the guard sitting in the box on top of the roof. The man was smoking a cigarette, starting at and through Luca’s ghost-self.
    “ He can’t see me.”
    “ Who can’t see you? ” Rebecca asked.
    “ The guard. He can’t see me.”
    “ What are you doing? Are you outside? ”
    “ I’m here.”
    “ Where? I can’t see you. ”
    “ Close your eyes.”
    Suddenly, Rebecca appeared, or a ghost-version of her, coming through the box and floating above it, looking around wide-eyed. Her bald head had small patches where Brother Rei hadn’t gotten all the hair. She looked sickly, like those kids in the sad commercials Luca always saw on TV, and it made him sad for her.
    “What did you do?” she asked, using her mouth instead of her mind. Luca turned to see if the guard had heard her. He hadn’t.
    “I don’t know,” he said, “This is the first time I’ve ever done this.”
    “Can he see us? Is this real?”
    “I don’t think he can see us,” Luca said. “And I’m not sure if this is real, or that it matters.”
    “Take my hand; I want to show you something,” he said.
    Rebecca reached out and as their hands touched, a spark shot between their fingers. She pulled back, but only for a second before reaching out again.
    Luca closed his hand around hers. Her hand was ice cold. He thought warm thoughts, and the girl smiled, feeling the heat.
    “How?” she asked, looking down at her hand, then back up at him.
    “Watch this,” he said, pulling her up into the sky, both of them floating over the trees, and then even higher.
    She pulled herself closer to him, as if she might fall if he let go.
    Luca felt her coldness thaw against his chest, and he felt happy.
    “Can we fall?” she asked.
    “I don’t think so,” he said. “Let’s go somewhere.”
    “Where?” she asked, looking at him,confused.
    “There,” he said, pointing to a nearby mountaintop, which glowed in a weird orange light.
    They floated fast through the falling snow. Below them, in the middle of all the snow, was a circle of greenery and vibrant flowers, a place untouched by the winter. And in that grass, a wooden swing set with red seats, even nicer than the one he’d sat on with Paola.
    They landed softly and he let go of her, though reluctantly. They were surrounded by