Alto

“Mat-sorry Alto, do we have any water left?” Janus croaked, his voice sounding hoarse. They had gotten so wrapped up on telling their stories that they hadn’t even thought of supplies. Luckily, there were still some villages willing to trade some water for Janus’s decent amount of leftover money, but at where there were now, there hadn’t been a single civilization in sight.

“Yeah, yeah you can drink the rest of the bottle,” Alto said. They’ve been walking and running all day and night but we aren’t even close to the ocean. “Hey Janus, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Janus said contently, gulping down the water from the bottle.

“Ok, so how do you know about ULTRASONIC if you said that nobody except people in Sunken and Overhead know about it?” he asked.

“My sister was taken as an Exceptional, right? But they didn’t want me. I lived in the orphanage in the Commonwealth with her after my parents left us when he was 10. She was my only friend. After she left I tried escaping. That’s how he got this,” Janus explained, rolling up his right sleeve and pant leg. The skin underneath the clothing was blistered and brownish, contrasting with his pale complexion. He then lifted his shirt up, revealing more blisters and darkened skin. What was interesting was that they were only on the right side of his body.

“Heat wave,” Alto said, his surprise showing no matter how hard he tried to conceal it.

“Yeah, when I had escaped into a forest, one of those had struck and burned down most of the trees, causing a wildfire. I like to think of myself as a survivor, but my injuries still withstand me from doing some stuff,” Janus confessed, tears forming in his eyes. He quickly brushed it away.

“It’s ok Janus,” Alto cooed, not really knowing what to do. He wasn’t the greatest at comforting people.

“No, Alto you don’t get it. After what had happened I was brought here by a girl. She never told me her name or why she brought me to the other side of the ocean. She said I was important, and she told me where my sister was taken. She was like family,” he paused. “Then she left,” Janus said as he sat down on the grass.

“Keep going,” Alto said, curious. He could see in Janus’s eyes that there were things that he had bottled up for too long. He sighed, then continued.

“After she left I began seeing things. Seeing things at night. I saw some kids at my orphanage and the girl,” Janus murmured. “I never saw my parents.”

“Do you know…” Alto trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“No, I know what you’re asking. No, I don’t know if they’re alive,” Janus said calmly, his voice giving nothing away. “But I know one thing. The girl kept telling me to look. To keep his eyes open. She’s been telling me this in my dreams since she had left but not yesterday. Yesterday I was with you throughout the night and I didn’t see her,” he whispered the last sentence, staring off into space. “I think she was telling me to look for you.”