"My ride to where?"
"Sanctuary." She turns to the side, gesturing for me to exit the building. "Jarek doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Why not do what she says? I've got nothing now, except the responsibility for getting my friends killed. Whether Aldith intends to send me to a nice place or the hell I deserve, it doesn't matter anymore. I walk outside and stop a few feet from the cliff's edge.
A gigantic creature made of flesh and metal stands there, his eyes at my chest level. He offers me his enormous hand.
I guess I'm supposed to sit on his palm. "Are you my taxi to Sanctuary?"
The behemoth nods.
He looks familiar, but I know I've never met this creature before. I think I heard stories about him.
"Are you the golem?" I ask. "The creature Sefton created out of magics?"
He nods.
With a heavy sigh, I climb onto the golem's hand. Aldith had called him Jarek.
The golem walks through the city, and no one dares to get in his way or question him about where he's going or what he's doing. Maybe he can't talk, but I wouldn't be surprised if he can write. Eventually, we leave the Capital City behind, heading out into the ravaged wasteland beyond it. The Echo destroyed both worlds, but I have no idea what Earth looks like now.
Jarek takes me to the gateway that joins the two worlds, a spinning black disk high in the sky. For Jarek, reaching that height proves no obstacle at all. He raises his hand just as the gateway spirals open, then stretches his hand through it to set me down on the cracked pavement of a city street.
I turn around just in time to see the golem's hand retreating into the Echo. The gateway shuts.
Where am I? It looks like a city. But which one? The destruction wrought by the Echo might have made it impossible to tell, or at least very difficult to figure out. I don't get why Aldith wanted to drop me here. Sanctuary? I don't think so. But I have nowhere else to go. Might as well explore my new environment.
And pray I haven't been tricked into walking into hell.
Chapter Two
Sarah
I lie on the beach, stretched out on my tummy on a soft towel, and let the warmth of the sun penetrate my skin and warm me from the inside out. The apocalypse might have destroyed the world, but I've found a lovely new home here on the Lost Coast, in what used to be called Northern California. I don't remember the day the Echo struck, or what happened after that. But oddly, I do remember where California is.
Yeah, amnesia can be totally confusing.
My new friends here at Sanctuary took me in, despite having no idea who I am or how I got here. I woke up on this very beach two months ago, dressed in ragged clothes and with no memory of who I am or how I came to be here. Months and still nothing. My life before I found Sanctuary remains a gaping black hole.
A few days after I turned up here, Allison, one of my new friends, asked me what I'd like to be called. The name Sarah popped out of my mouth. Is that my real name? I still don't know. How old am I? Everybody took a poll and decided I must be twenty-eight. Works for me.
I roll over onto my back and slip on my sunglasses. I'm glad my friends have the ability to teleport to basically anywhere they want, because they bring home a lot more than food. They grab fun things too. Like Allison says, "Everybody needs to feel normal, even if it's only for a little while." My towel and my shades came from a partially destroyed department store in Yuma, Arizona. Or what used to be Yuma. Echo creatures took control of the city not long after the gang came home.
Ahhh, the sun feels so good on my skin. I asked if I could sunbathe in the nude, and Allison said sure. Dax, her grumpy British husband, threatened to "knock the bloody daylights" out of anyone who might spy on me. But that was unnecessary. The Sanctuary gang obeys the rules of etiquette in our camp. No Echo creatures have come here in months, which is the only reason I'm allowed to sunbathe alone.
Maybe I used to love nude sunbathing before the apocalypse. I definitely love it today. With the trees providing privacy, I feel totally relaxed for the first time since I woke up here.
An angry yell echoes from high above me and further down the beach. It draws closer every second, almost as if the person doing the yelling has been launched through the air.
Whump.
Sand sprays up and rains down on my body.
I jerk into a sitting position, my eyes flying open, and gape at the man lying near my feet. The shock of what just happened ensures that I don't do the smart thing. No, I just sit here staring at the man.
He pushes up onto his straight arms, seeming dazed. He blinks rapidly several times, then his attention lands on me. On my breasts.
I still can't move. While he stares at my body, I can't stop myself from admiring him too. The man has a muscular physique, and his clothes have gotten torn. Only a few scraps cling to his torso, and his pants have been ripped in various places. His hair is a mess.