Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 12 - The Emerald City (Part II) - I

  It took Natalie a full hour to find the park Cinza was talking about—assuming it was the right park. It was more than two blocks away, but Cinza hadn't known what store she was at, so Natalie had to hope it was the right one.

  The park was much darker than the rest of the city, with the trees blocking out so much of the city and only the paths having any actual lights. Even those were forlorn, many flickering or broken altogether. Trash littered the area in every direction. As Natalie walked into the park, she noticed people left and right with tents or air mattresses, or even just laying on the dirt with ragged blankets.

  The entire place made her feel uneasy.

  She quickly made her way through the trees dotting the park to the west side. It couldn't be called a forest in any way. Though they'd grown fairly naturally, most of the trees had obviously been cut down. It was a pretender to the real thing. Natalie didn't draw any comfort from it, not when the hum of the city still surrounded them and ragged people stared at her from every direction.

  She stood out too much. These people were wearing very practical clothes, in varying states of overuse and decay. Windbreakers, rain jackets, layers upon torn layers. Natalie, in sharp contrast, was still wearing the last dress she'd picked out from the store, a very soft and comfortable blue with swathes of patterns that faded in and out, reaching down to her knees. She had dark jeans and her new jacket on too, but she desperately wished she'd changed back to her t-shirt. The dress marked her to the crowd, too nice and too pretty.

  Natalie tried to tuck it into her jeans as she walked, but it stubbornly fell back out again after only a few steps. Frustrated, she gave up and just zipped up her jacket tight, so that only the lower part of the dress was visible.

  She kept walking, trying not to look around at the groups of people. Their eyes were sunken and glazed over, their faces gaunt and dead-looking. She'd seen dead people before, and these people reminded her of the same glassy-eyed, empty look. A few called out to her as she passed, but she ignored them and sped up a little, as fast as she could manage without actually running.

  A nook set into one of the trees beckoned to her. There wasn't anyone within a few dozen feet, and she could sit against the trunk so that no one could sneak up on her, just like Cinza said. She sat down, brushed the dirt off of her clothes, and settled in to wait. She had no idea how long it would take to get from Rallsburg to Seattle.

  Natalie didn't have any books, or any music, or anything to do at all. All she had left was magic, but there were so many people around. They kept giving her odd glances, too. There weren't any other kids around that she saw. Are they looking at me because I'm just a teenager? Is it the clothes?

  ...Or do they know what I am?

  She was feeling pressure again, the relentless foe she'd avoided all day. She wanted to get rid of the dress, in the vague hope that they might stop looking at her, but she couldn't. She didn't have anything else to wear.

  Cinza said to wait here. I don't have any way to get back to the house. I don't have my bus pass and I don't have the money to get another one. I have to wait.

  She tried to calm herself down, taking deep breaths like Hailey always said. She wanted to close her eyes and retreat again, but she was too afraid to look away for even a moment. Her vision kept darting back and forth across the space in front of the tree, checking on each of the small groups visible from her little spot. They were preparing for bed, or having a last minute meal, or just talking in low, dull voices.