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

behind them.
    “No, the hatch was locked from the inside. Nobody’s up here but us.”
    “So, where the hell did he go? We would’ve seen him slip out downstairs, right?”
    “Maybe he got past you and slipped out one of the other exits,” Ed said. “Why are you so worried about whether the kid got away? He stole from us. If the aliens don’t get him, I might go looking for him.”
    “He’s just a kid,” Brent said.  
    “Yeah? And what if he decides to shoot us? Will you sit back and let him because he’s a kid , or will you fire back?”
    “Fire back, of course.”
    “Well, he may as well have shot at us by taking our weapons. If we stayed downstairs, we might have wound up dead. Or at least you would’ve been killed.”
    “What do you mean I would have been?”
    “You’ve got a shit gun, you’re slow, and your remarkably out of shape for a thin, young man. They would’ve gotten to you before me.”
    “And you’d let them?”
    “I’m not your babysitter. We’re working together, but if you can’t keep up, you can’t expect me to always bail you out. I’m looking out for me first. That’s the only way I can ensure my daughter’s safety.”
    Brent said nothing. After all, what could he say? That Ed was being a big jerk? This was life now, and Ed was a no-nonsense kick-ass soldier, spy, or whatever the hell he was prior to October 15. Brent would have to hold his own and hope to hell he could keep pace. That was his only chance of seeing his family again, assuming he and Ed could even get back to their planet.  
    Brent had assumed they could, that Ed had some idea how to get back that he wasn’t sharing. But now, on top of a hotel out in the middle of nowhere, he wondered why he’d allowed himself to believe that. It wasn’t as if Ed had said they could get back. It wasn’t as if Ed was a scientist or someone who even understood how they’d managed to get sucked over to a parallel world. Ed was a soldier simply following orders in hopes of keeping his daughter alive, and maybe, if the other girl was still alive, finding her.
    What if the powers-that-be at Black Island were simply using Ed as a pawn? What if they had no idea how, or no desire, to deliver them back to their world? Besides, why would they? If their goal was to repopulate the planet and start over, that probably meant they needed everyone on the island. Why would they allow anyone to return home? Unless . . . they planned to come over, too.
    Brent wanted to ask Ed all these questions, and a hundred more, but was afraid of the answers. Ed was a practical guy. He wouldn’t tell Brent something just to make him feel good or to give him hope. If anything, Ed might shade things negative, so he could manage Brent’s expectations. Brent opened his mouth to ask Ed what the odds were that they’d ever get back home.
    But then his mouth closed.
    Because truth was, Brent needed to preserve the illusion that he may someday see Gina and Ben again.

    * * * *

BORICIO WOLFE: PART 2

    Soon as Boricio took the gun from Quiet Eyes, it seemed like every sanctu-fairy in the fucking place was willing to bow down and swallow his load, starting with the head sanctu-fairy himself, Brother Rei, or Brother Rainbow Brite, as Boricio had taken to thinking of him.
    Rainbow Brite looked at Boricio, eyes full of surprise, while Boricio did his best to look like he couldn't believe it himself. He sure as hell didn’t see any reason to let the fairy fuckers know he could do that shit any time he wanted during any one of the 60 minutes the Good Lord had given an hour.  
    “Brother Boricio,” Brother Rainbow said. “That was excellent work. New Unity needs more good men like you.” He looked around at the cluster of onlookers, then turned his eyes back to Boricio, though Boricio knew every word was meant for them.  
    “There’s a place here for you,” he said. “An important one. The world has changed, and we’ve had to change with it. The Good Lord has blanketed our lives with more mystery than ever, first striking The Prophet ill, then bringing sinners to the surface. Yet it is all for the best,” he scanned the crowd, then turned his eyes back to Boricio. “For now we can deal with the sinners, cast them where they belong, and establish a more effective leadership to keep us safe in the most uncertain days the world has known since The Flood.”  
    Brother Rainbow turned his face grave and stroked his chin. “We need men, real men