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

on another trip. She said yes, and the next thing they knew, Luca was back in Las Orillas, in the middle of a freshly mowed lawn, looking at his old house with Rebecca beside him.
    “Is that where you used to live?”
    Luca nodded.  
    “It’s really nice,” she said. “We didn’t have anything like that. What did your parents do?”
    Luca thought about it, but then felt bad that he couldn't remember. Then he wondered if he’d ever known. Was eight old enough to know what your parents did for work? Yes, of course it was. It had to be. Did he not know, or could he not remember? Luca finally said, “I’m not sure,” though saying it out loud made him feel like he lost something important.  
    He said, “Come on!” then took Rebecca by the hand and ran inside the house. No one was home, but that was fine. Luca wanted to show Rebecca his toys, not his family. He showed her his Lego collection, including his TIE-Fighter and his newest prize, the Ninjago Fire Temple.
    “Isn’t it awe-awe-awe-awesome?” Luca sang, just like he did all through late September and early October of the previous fall, back when the Lego Ninjago Fire Temple was the pride of his bedroom.  
    Luca caught his reflection in his closet mirror, then dropped his Lego dragon on the floor where it shattered to pieces.  
    He had expected to see his eight year old self. They were in his house and his dream, after all. But the young man looking back at him hadn’t been a boy for some time.  
    “It’s okay,” Rebecca said. “You can still like Legos.”
    Luca smiled, then showed Rebecca his favorite books, his lightsaber collection, and his three favorite Nerf guns. She even watched him play the Zelda video game and sat beside him while he beat his favorite boss. When the boss was dead, Rebecca told Luca he was cute. He turned from the screen, dropped his controller, and told her she looked pretty, even without her hair.  
    Rebecca touched the top of her head, as though she had forgotten, then lost her happy face to a sad one. “I’m so ugly now!” she said.  
    “You’re not ugly at all.” Luca shook his head. “You’re awe-awe-awe-awesome.”  
    Rebecca laughed and told Luca he was nice. She said she hadn’t really known too many boys, especially nice ones. And though she had thought Carl was nice, she was wrong. “Have you seen Carl?” she asked.
    Luca shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since the day they took him away. I know they’re keeping him somewhere else. Linc told me it’s a place called The Hole. Do you know where that is?”
    Rebecca nodded. “I’ve never seen it, but it’s in the basement of the women’s house. That’s where they put people when they’re really bad.”
    “Oh.”  
    Luca was silent for a while, and didn’t really know what else to show his friend since she was way too old for any of his sister Anna’s toys, and too young for anything in his mom’s room.  
    “Do you miss your house?” Rebecca asked.
    Luca scrunched his nose. “I’m not sure. I guess I do. I miss my mom and dad and Anna. And I miss my toys. But I’m forgetting what I really miss, instead of what I’m supposed to miss.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Luca shook his head. “I don’t know how to tell it.” He sighed,   “I don’t know where I put the memories. It’s crowded in here.” Luca pointed to his head. “And I think I might be running out of space because there’s new stuff I don’t understand, and the old stuff that I do understand is getting harder to find.”
    Before Rebecca could ask Luca to explain, there was a knock at the door.
    “Who is that?” Rebecca said, startled.
    “I don’t know,” Luca was already on his feet and on his way to the front door. He opened the door and was instantly shocked to see Will, though it was barely Will at all.  
    Almost Will stepped inside the house, not formed like Luca or Rebecca.  
    “Hi Will,” Luca said.
    “Who are you talking to?” Rebecca asked.
    Luca turned to Rebecca. “My friend, Will. You can’t see him?”
    Rebecca shook her head.  
    Luca turned to Will. “Are you really here?”
    He had to ask since he could barely see Will, a semi-invisible shadow with Will’s wild hair and beard and general shape, but none of his skin and little of his coloring.
    “Good, you can see me,” Will said, “I needed to tell you something, but I haven’t got long. Brother Rei is asking me to leave the compound tonight, after dinner.”