“Who are you people? What is it you want with us?” My mother asked, maneuvering herself between me and the five men. It was a symbolic gesture at best. Any one of them would have been more than a match for the two of us combined if they were looking for a physical confrontation.

One of the men sighed and stepped forward from where he was standing, just behind and to the right of the man who had spoken. He had shoulder-length blonde hair with vibrant blue eyes and a scar on the left side of his upper lip. He walked up to my mother and extended his hand.

“Don’t pay Jason any mind,” he told us, “He just likes to intimidate newbies. Thinks it’s fun for some reason. I’m Duncan, and we represent the Red Crest. Pleasure to meet you.” He held his hand outstretched towards us.

My mother looked at him suspiciously, then hesitantly put her hand out to clasp his. “I’m Carmen and this is my son, Aston. Um… I’m sorry, I’d heard rumors that there were people already living in this city, but I didn’t think we’d run into anyone for a while. Who exactly did you say you represent again?”

Duncan laughed. “Oh, I see, you’re not in the know. Some of the people who come here are more informed than others about what they’re getting into. Well, first of all, it wasn’t hard to spot you kicking up all that dust on the way here, so that’s how we found you so quick.”

“You were lucky we were the ones who saw you,” Jason interjected, “you might just as easily have been spotted by the Black Talon.”

“We’re the Red Crest,” Duncan continued, “one of the squatter colonies living here in the Hollow City. The Black Talon is another. There are five of us total. Of course, the Red Crest is easily the best one.”

“No doubt,” Jason affirmed, nodding his head.

“So that’s why I’m thinking you ought to roll with us. We could use a few more people right about now.”

“Roll with you…” my mother seemed to be having trouble taking this in. She gave her head a small shake to refocus herself. “Okay, listen. Thank you very much for the offer, but Aston and I didn’t come here to join any group. We just want to be left alone for a while.”

“So what precisely did you come here for?” Jason asked. His tone, while not quite accusatory, was distinctly pointed, as though he were a teacher trying to lead a fumbling student to come to the right answer on her own terms. He walked forwards and Duncan fell back to let him stand before us. Once again, the strange unease that I had felt when we first entered the city began to worm its way back into the edges of my consciousness. It was as though the very air around us was changing to accompany Jason’s change of tone.

My mother looked back at Jason. He wasn’t quite as tall or good-looking as Duncan, but he was broader through the shoulders and bulkier in the torso. He had wavy brown hair that he kept short, a square jaw, and an air of authority to him. Duncan may have been the diplomat of the crew, but Jason was definitely the leader.

“We just wanted to come here for a change of pace.” My mother told him.

“Nobody comes here just for a change of pace. What’s the real reason?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

Jason and my mother stared each other down for a moment, then Jason inclined his head knowingly.

“I see, it’s one of those situations.” he said, tapping his eye to indicate where my mother’s bruise was, “well, you certainly wouldn’t be the first. Still, I’m not sure how you think you’re going to survive on your own out here. How do you expect to feed yourselves?”

“I did a little research,” My mother said, “back when this place was being built there were a lot of goods shipped here to stock the grocery stores, and some companies never shipped their stuff back. I figure there might be some canned food still around.”

“There was,” Jason confirmed, “but we polished that off years ago. I hate to break it to you, but there’s only one way to make it out here these days, and that’s to grow crops. Farming in the Hollow City is tough, you’re not going to be able to do it on your own. The way I see it, your options are either to come with us and join up with the Red Crest, or hop back in that car of yours and try to find a life for yourselves somewhere else.”

“That’s not true,” I piped up, “You said there were five squatter groups, right? I’d say that gives us four more options. I don’t see why we should have to choose yours when we don’t even know you.”

All eyes turned to me. Jason looked a little sheepish that he had been caught, but he laughed it off.

“You’re pretty sharp, kid,” he commented, “how old are you? About fourteen? Fifteen?”

“I’m ten.” I replied.

“Ten?” He exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise, “You’re an awfully long drink of water for ten, aren’t you?”

It was true, I was abnormally tall and well-developed for a boy my age. My father was a very large man, and I took after him more than I cared to admit. I was already nearly as tall as my mother, and whenever I was in a crowd of children my age I stuck out like a sore thumb.

“You know, Jason, if he’s ten he might still be young enough to have a shot at being a skyliner.”

The speaker was one of the other men who was standing behind Duncan and Jason. He was lean and his tousled black hair fell around his naturally gaunt face. He had high cheekbones, a slightly hunched stature, and I could tell from the way the others reacted that he was probably the kind of person who didn’t talk much, but whose words were always heeded when he decided to speak them.

“Craig makes a good point,” Duncan said, “If we started training him now he might still have time to catch up to the other boys. He’s already got height, and that’s the one thing you can’t teach, so if he’s any good at running… Hey kid, are you a good runner? Are you fast?”

“What does me being fast have to do with anything?” I asked, confused.

“Enough of this,” my mother said, “You’ve hardly even met my son and already you’re treating him like a piece of meat. Come on, Aston, we’re going back to the car and leaving. I was stupid to come here.”

She grabbed my hand and began marching in the opposite direction. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go. We had only just gotten here, maybe we should at least spend the night? I didn’t voice my objections. I could see now, just as I had on the way here, that my mother’s mind was made up and there was no changing it. I stole a glance back at the five men. They weren’t making any move to stop us, but I could see disappointment on their faces. They bickered with each other, exchanging words that I couldn’t hear as my mother put more distance between us. I returned my gaze to the road. I couldn’t remember which way we had come from, and I hoped that my mother had done a better job of keeping track. Unfortunately, it turned out the she too was a bit turned around by complex layout of the city.

“Oh hell, where is it? I thought this was the right road.” she grumbled to herself, “This whole place is a maze.”

We turned here and there, searching for any landmarks we could use to get our bearings, but as we walked around we became ever more hopelessly lost. The more we wandered the more visibly frustrated my mother became. Finally, she sat down on the curb of the sidewalk, exhausted by the day’s events, and rested her face in her hands.

“What am I doing, Aston?” she asked me.

“Looking for the car?” I ventured, rather unhelpfully.

“No, no, I mean what am I doing here? What possessed me to think this was a good idea? Coming to an empty city in the middle of a desert? I could have gone anywhere. I could have gone anywhere and I brought us to nowhere.”

I could see the telltale shine of water as it began to glisten around the corners of her eyes. What she said was true, the idea to come here was a bizarre one on paper, but I felt like I knew where she had been coming from.

“Anywhere else would feel like just another part of the same planet that dad’s on.” I said, “This feels like a whole new world entirely.”

She looked at me and smiled through her tears. “Exactly. It’s silly isn’t it? Of course it’s still the exact same planet earth where we’ve always been, but I wanted it to feel different. I wanted to go someplace where I wouldn't feel like I had to worry about him showing up in the middle of the night, so I brought us here, where we have to worry about a million other things. I’m such a horrible mother…” she broke down and started sobbing.

I wasn’t sure what to do or what I could possibly say. My mother had rarely allowed me to see her like this before. This was the first insight in my young and inexperienced mind that the situation we were in was, in fact, dire. We were trapped in the middle of nowhere with no food, no water, no idea where our vehicle was, and surrounded by strangers whose motives we didn’t understand. I looked around the streets again, and even though nothing visibly moved the buildings and the ever-darkening shadows felt like they were pulsating. I couldn't see the sun, but I was sure night was starting to fall, and the darker it grew the more impossible it became for me to shove the unnerving aura of this city to the back of my mind. I could feel my heart beat more frantically. Primal sensations within me screamed that there was something horribly wrong here, some force that my five senses had no means to identify but that these older instincts knew well to be wary of. I was struck by the overwhelming urge to get off these streets as soon as I possibly could.

“Why don’t we head inside somewhere and go to bed?” I suggested, “We can find the car tomorrow, right?”

My mother pulled herself together, nodded, and rose to her feet. “You’re right. We can do a better job looking once we’ve had a bit of rest. There’s a hotel right over there. Let’s see if we can get inside.”

We walked up to the hotel with every intention of breaking in if need be. Surprisingly, however, it was unlocked and we were able to simply walk through the front door. We found ourselves in a lobby with plastic trees arranged here and there and a wall of artificial rock in one corner. I was sure it would have made for a very impressive indoor waterfall, but due to the power not being on it wasn’t working and neither were the glass elevators on either side of it, so my mother and I found a stairwell and began climbing.

We wouldn’t have had to climb far to reach the first level of rooms, but we passed that level and kept going, our instincts driving us higher. Sure enough, the higher we climbed the less we felt the disquieting effects of the oppressive atmosphere below. I felt my muscles begin to relax, not even having realized until now how tense I had been. By the time we finally exited the stairwell, made our way to one of the spacious suites, and collapsed onto the comfortable beds, our situation didn’t seem quite so horrible to me anymore. Sure we’d have to skip a few meals, but finding the car with our minds fresh shouldn't be too difficult. We could simply head back, have a nice big dinner at some restaurant, and forget we’d ever been here. I’d gone back and forth a few times today on whether I wanted to stay or leave, but that feeling I had gotten on the street sealed the deal for me. I didn’t like it here, and I wanted to get out first thing in the morning. Lying there on the cloudlike mattress, I resolved to keep a positive outlook. This would all work out in the end.

Maybe if I had known about the eyes that had been watching us as we  entered the hotel, I wouldn’t have been so sure.