Adam slammed his hands over his mouth. How had they spotted him? Sure, he had peeked out once or twice, but his body had been solid as a pillar.

"You have five seconds to come out before I open fire!" Blondie shouted.

"Please come out, sir." Black-haired called. "We only wish to talk. We will not harm you, unless you give us a reason to."

Adam weighed his options. They weren’t looking too hot. He could dodge fists, sticks and even molotovs, but bullets?

He stepped out into the clearing with his hands raised.

"I'm here." He spoke. "Don't shoot."

“Drop your bag on the ground!” Blondie demanded.

He complied. Live on the streets long enough and you knew when someone had you by the balls. He stepped into the red sunlight and approached until he was a car length away from the two girls. Both were adolescents, half a head shorter than him. Blondie had wavy hair and was dressed in a combination of a uniform jacket and skirt. A cloak was draped over her shoulders. Her companion had short and fluffy hair and wore the same uniform. She smiled at Adam, while Blondie kept a stiff lip.

"Hello, sir," Black-haired said. "Where might you be from?"

"No funny tricks," Blondie demanded. "Try anything and I'll blast you to pieces."

A crazy gunwoman and her rational partner. Ripped straight from a cowboy film. Adam supposed Black-haired was meant as the likable of the two. Then again, if Blondie did end up capping him, he doubted Black-haired would feel beat up about it.

"Steeldale. You?" Adam replied. His eyes shifted left and right, scanning the area. Not a lot of places to hide in a desolate parking lot. The remaining cars were too far away to matter. If this ended up a confrontation, he’d have to charge forward and hope for the best.

"Where the heck is that?" Blondie asked.

“It’s the original name of the city,” Black-haired responded. She tapped her chin with her fingers. Her other hand held a machete, its blade stained with cherry-red. “I haven’t heard anyone use it for a while. He must be one of the refugees from the landing.”

The landing? What?

Blondie shrugged. "Collapsed City sounds better. Alright, mister, which part of the city are you from?"

"I go everywhere," Adam replied. It was the truth. “Stayed in the hotel on 4th street last night.”

“A wanderer, eh?” Blondie said. She clicked her tongue. Her gaze was directed at his cap and jacket. You’re not from Raz’s group, are you?”

"Not now, Saria.” Black-haired chided.

"Never heard of him," Adam said.

"Alright, I know you aren’t telling the truth. No chance you haven’t heard of Raz." Blondie—Saria, whatever—scowled. Whoever this person was, it brought up the kind of bad memories that only be overcome by heavy ammunition to the face. "I'm warning you, buddy, you better start telling the truth or else..."

"I am doing that, you crazy broad!" Adam growled back. "Fuck me, I have no idea what both of you are talking about! What Collapsed City? Why is the sky red? And how did you know I was hiding back there?"

Saria’s finger tightened around her rifle’s trigger. Black-haired then waved her arm out, causing her to halt. She stared at Adam.

Saria looked ready to pull the trigger until Black-haired waved her arm out. She stared at Adam. "You truly don't know why the sky is red?"

"No! It should be blue!

"Humor me, mister," Black-haired said. "Do you remember climbing a pyramid, as a red pool swallowed others below you?"

Adam gaped. "You went through that too?"

Saria and Black-haired shared a glance. "We did.” Black-haired said, “But not with you, exactly. When was this?”

“Last night.”

“And what happened after that.”

"I woke up in the motel. I saw the red sky and everyone was gone. There was this red skinless monster that invaded the motel and I killed.”

Black-haired nodded, with satisfaction. "I think I get it now. We were right; you are indeed a refugee from this city. The difference is that you didn't land in with the others."

"You keep saying that," Adam said. "What's it mean?"

"Oh boy, you are in for one big surprise," Saria said. She sighed and holstered her rifle on a sling. The leather straps ran across her back. Her anger vanished. She turned the other way, looking at her surroundings. “Lucy, you handle this.”

“This might be a lot of take-in, try to stay calm, okay?” Lucy said. She wasn’t smiling any longer. She inhaled and exhaled in the same manner nurses did, before they informed you of the bad news of the day. “You aren’t in your original world. Instead, your city was transported into an alternate reality—this one.”

Adam recoiled as if her words had physically slapped him in the face. "Say what?"

“It’s a reoccurring phenomenon. At random times, places from other worlds materialize into this world. We refer to this as landing, since they usually fall from the sky. No one knows why.” She paused.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Adam exclaimed. “You’re telling me that Earth is gone? ”

“Is that the name of your homeworld?”

“Yeah?” Adam said. “You girls aren’t from it?”

Lucy shook her head.

“Then where are you from?”

“A star-world called Astraea,” Lucy said. “Just like you and Earth, we are barred from returning to Astraea.”

She looked at him as if he were a mirror into her distant past. Adam didn’t notice. Hissing static roared inside his eardrums as pressure built up inside his chest like a near-boiling kettle. His hands couldn’t stop trembling.

“This city landed a year ago. As for why it’s deserted, it has to do with the red pool pyramid event. That was a trial to determine who got to land alongside the city. Those who managed to cling to the pyramids got to live. Those who fell into the red pool, though…” Lucy hesitated, before continuing. “We never saw them again.”

“Where’d the rest go?” Adam croaked out.

“Fled the city due to society breaking down. Or gotten killed by the monsters. Saria and I have been through this, but even still…” Lucy said. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

He envisioned it in his mind’s eye. Steeldale dropping into existence beneath the cherry-red sky, half its population missing. Tremor shaking the city as gravity flexed its muscles, toppling weakened buildings and sending its citizens into a panic. They realize that half the city is missing, and the rest share the same dream. The authorities try to take control, but one fistfight escalates into another, forming a chain reaction that fractures Steeldale from the inside.

Faces of people he knew flashed through Adam’s head. Trent and his boys. The nice homeless shelter workers who had given him hot soup and bread on a cold Christmas day. The opponents he had faced on the streets. Consumed by the red pool, or devoured by the lawlessness of this damned world.

Society had never liked him. He, in turn, had flashed it the big middle. But this? Never, in his wildest delusions, had he wanted this!

Mary. Oh god, Mary’s grave! Was it even still intact, after all the chaos?

“He's been standing there for five minutes.” He heard Saria say. “Is he okay?”

“Well, why don’t you ask him?” Lucy said back.

A muffled sound of protest, then he registered Saria kneeling next to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked.

"Lady, does it look like I am?" Adam barked. He then laughed, bitter and loud. “God, everyone vanishing was bad enough, but this? It's on a whole another level. I'm done. Just done.”

"It’s not all bad,” Saria said. She flinched when Adam glared at her. “Er, I mean, it’s not like everyone in this city died.

“What my friend means to say…” Lucy interjected, “…is that it’s not all hopeless. This world might be built from the ruins of other worlds, but it doesn’t mean we refugees haven’t banded together to form new societies. Saria and I come from one such place: West Junction.”

“It’s a nice little town,” Saria added. “We scavenge from the ruins, grow crops, keep the peace. Traders swing by and we sell them our scrap.”

“It’s not comparable to what Steeldale might’ve once been, but it’s a start.” Lucy finished. “It’s a reason to live.”

“West Junction, huh…” Adam said. If he recalled correctly, a bunch of scientists had tried building experimental factories there. It failed, due to money issues. He fought in the bowels of one of its abandoned warehouses, once.

“Hey, uh…actually, I don’t know what your name is,” Saria said.

“Adam.”

“Adam. Gotcha. Apologies for acting rough back there.”

“It’s nothing.” Adam sighed. “Not like I’m one to talk.”

“So, Lucy, what are we going to do with him?” Saria asked.

The black-haired girl hummed for a moment. She stepped forward, her eyes wandering all over his body. She paid attention to his physique, the damage on his clothes, and the bag on his back. “Say, Adam, what you got there?”

“Stuff I collected from the motel. Mostly food, but I also had a knife.” He replied.

“And you did it all by yourself?”

"What's with the questions?" Adam snapped. "Why do you care?"

"Well, it's not like you have anything better to do, no?" Lucy retorted.

Adam opened his mouth to protest, then sighed. "Fair. What do you want, then?"

"Answer my previous question."

“Yeah, yeah, I did it on my own. There was one of those skinless monsters that I had to set on fire. Nearly ripped my throat out, too. I would’ve taken the sheets, but they were too heavy.”

“Experience with scavenging, then?”

“Family died. Got kicked out of the orphanage.” Adam said. “I survived on my own, for the most part.”

“I see, I see,” Lucy said. “You must’ve gotten into lots of fights.

"Yeah. Started a lot, finished a lot.” It had practically been his part-time job. The income came from the wallets he stole.

“In that case then, would you like to spar?”

“Say what?” Adam gasped.

Lucy grinned. and winked. “Afraid of hitting a girl?”

“No.” Adam stated, tone blunt. He didn't often get into fights with girls, but it didn't mean he was some chivalrous moron who refused to defend against them. Was Lucy trying to wind him up with these questions? Best to just stonewall her.

Lucy giggled. “Kidding. It’s not appropriate to fight here. Also, I would certainly kill you. We’re built a bit different.”

He didn’t know what to say to that.

“Still, though, I'd like to know that you're not just bragging. Therefore..."

She turned on her heel and marched towards the other side of the parking lot. Her boots crunched across the hard tarmac. Upon reaching the halfway point, she lifted her machete and reversed its orientation. The handle was facing outwards, the blade directed at Lucy’s own body. She didn’t look concerned at all, instead sporting a small grin.

“Hey Adam!” she called out.

“What?” He called back. He saw Saria shuffle away out of the corner of his eye. Just like the mobs back on the streets, when he and his opponent had gone at it.

“Dodge this!”

And suddenly, Lucy was in his face, the machete’s handle aimed straight at his nose. He jerked his head aside in the nick of time, allowing the blow to sail straight past him. The moment it did, Lucy froze, then stepped back to sheathe her weapon.

“What the fuck was that about?” Adam snarled. “You trying to kill me now?”

“No, just checking if your story about killing the monster was true. You have good reflexes, by the way.” Lucy said. “Let’s get you back home.”

"...Pardon?"

"West Junction." Lucy said. "What, you don't want to come?"