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

swirling in the clouds overhead. Rebecca was in a heavy black coat, on her knees in the snow, back turned to him and looking down at something he couldn’t see, her long red hair flowing in the wind.
    Her hair is back!
    Luca stepped toward her, and heard her murmuring. As he drew closer, he saw her pulling petals from one of the roses with a million petals, saying, “He loves me; he loves me not,” over and over.
    “I’m here,” Luca said, but she either didn’t hear him, or was ignoring him, as she kept counting the petals, tossing them to the ground. As he circled around her, he saw there must’ve been 500 petals on the ground in front of her splayed blue dress, which flowed over the snow like a blanket.
    “He loves me; he loves me not,” she said, oblivious to his presence, her eyes closed.
    “Rebecca,” he said, kneeling down in front of her, “I’m here.”
    “He loves me; he loves me not…”
    He reached toward her hand as her fingers plucked a petal free, and touched her.
    Her eyes opened wide, but they were all black.
    Luca jumped back, startled.
    She kept counting, “He loves me; he loves me not…” only now her eyes — her alien, black eyes — followed him as he backed away.
    “ Rebecca? ”
    “He loves me; he loves me not…” she said, ripping petals from the flower, faster now, though her dark eyes never left him.
    “She can’t hear you,” a girl’s voice said behind Luca. He turned and recognized the older teen from the pictures Rebecca had shown him at her house — her sister. She wore a long black dress, which blew around her like a tapestry in the wind.
    “Alexis?” Luca said.
    “She’s gone.” Alexis said, no emotion on her face.
    “No,” Luca said, “She can’t be gone. I can save her.”
    “Just let her go. She’s better off here, where Mother can’t hurt her.”
    “No!” Luca said, “I can protect her!”
    “No,” Alexis said, “No one can. It’s too late. Too late for all of you. He’s bringing them all.”
    “What?” Luca said, “Who?”
    “The Man in the Middle; he’s not who you think he is. And he’s preparing to eat you all.”

    Rebecca gasped, sucking for air, then caught her breath as her eyes went from black to blue. They were both back at The Sanctuary, with Desmond holding off an angry mob.  
    “You’re alive!” Luca said, eyes tearing up as he hugged her.
    “Luca?” she asked, her voice thin and shaky, “What happened to you? You look older.”
    Luca looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him with wide eyes, shocked into silence.
    Desmond looked down at Luca and nodded his head, “You look about 25 now, buddy.”
    Rebecca’s mother, who must’ve seen what happened, came over, practically pushing Luca out of the way, and fell to her daughter’s side, crying, and holding Rebecca, “I’m so sorry, baby.”
    She looked at Luca, eyes red, “Thank you.”
    Luca said, “You’re welcome,” then noticed something.
    Luca saw the movement too late to warn Desmond, as a man slipped behind him, and punched him in the back of head, knocking him to the ground, out cold. It was only after the man picked up the gun that Luca recognized who it was — Boricio.
    Boricio looked at Desmond’s gun oddly for a second, as if he’d recognized it or something, then turned it over in his hand and handed it butt end to Brother Rei.
    Two pairs of hands grabbed Luca tight around his arms and yanked him away as Rebecca screamed, “No!”

    * * * *

RYAN OLSON: PART 1

    Elmore, Georgia
    February 26
    8:17 p.m.

    Ryan had hoped to reach Alabama by nightfall, but they’d had to flee the highway five times thanks to the seemingly endless piles of vehicles littering the road. The world around them was pitch black, slowing Ryan’s driving to a crawl.  
    If the moon was out, it had been choked by the low-hanging churning dark clouds.
    Driving on the highway in complete darkness was an accident waiting to happen, as they’d discovered two nights earlier when they plowed into a stalled VW at full speed. If Ryan believed in miracles anymore, he’d consider it one that they all escaped without a scratch. Their Honda Odyssey however, wasn’t so lucky.
    Ryan, Carmine, and Gramps found themselves stranded and having to walk two miles, inching Gramps along in a wheelchair, and praying to find shelter before the monsters found them.
    Their luck had lasted a little longer, leading them to a hotel just off the highway where they found