Eva turned towards her and set the bag she’d been carrying down on the ground. In one quick motion she gathered the thick strands of chestnut hair that had fallen over her shoulders and pulled them back, looping her hair into a simple chignon.
“I don’t recognize any of the Soldiers but we can’t take the chance that they recognize me. When we go in just keep your eyes straight ahead and try to look inconspicuous. We should be able to board the transport without any problems.”
Zoe nodded and adjusted her own hair. She wasn’t used to it feeling so slick and straight at the nape of her neck and pulled tightly enough to give her a slight headache. She checked her own ensemble again, content that she looked as similar to Eva as she could.
“Follow me. Remember to just act natural.”
Eva led the way as they entered the hall, the awaiting transport sitting empty in the berth of the station directly ahead of them. From Zoe’s peripheral vision she could see the Crown Soldiers watching them, following their movements. Not a single one seemed to recognize Eva, who looked decidedly different with her long hair pulled back discreetly.
Together they passed through the pneumatic doors of the transport under the watchful eyes of the Crown Soldiers. The interior reminded her of a futuristic rendering of a train from Earth with slick aerodynamic lines and fancy seats arranged into compartmentalized sections. Like the world around them everything was steel, glass, and monochromatic. In fact, the only color she ever really saw was in the picturesque projections of the glass walls. They took adjacent seats in the middle of the car, the bag Eva carried placed protectively between them. It only took a few moments for the transport to come alive, humming with a slight vibration as it began its departure.
The glass wall panels came to life as they moved. Stretched out beyond them lay a wasteland of barren vegetation, wilted trees, and dried up river beds. The atmospheric light was dull and grey and Zoe couldn’t tell whether it was day, night, or somewhere in between. There were no animals scampering across the land, no birds flying in the sky, not even a sun.
“This is depressing. Who chose this view?” she asked.
Eva looked up from the bag she had been rifling through and shook her head. “No one. That’s Terra.”
“What?” Zoe took a second look at her surroundings. She turned saw the real Royal City stretched out like a behemoth, all concrete and steel against the same grey sky. She stood with the city on her left instead of behind her and the wasteland to her right.
“This is what it really looks like?” She looked from left to right, trying to understand how the dystopian landscape to her right could be the same land beneath the never-ending expanse of concrete and glass that made up the city.
“It’s been like this for most of my life.” Eva closed the bag and leaned back in her seat, her right leg crossing over the left as she sunk into the overstuffed cushions.
“It explains so much about Evan.” Zoe snapped out of her thoughts and sat down again, turning her attention towards her companion. “I remember him telling me he was taking a tour of the California coast, having already made his way to Ventura and Santa Barbara from San Diego. No wonder he was so enthralled by the ocean.”
“I think I remember a lake we once swam in as kids.” Her eyes froze on the middle-distance as a forgotten memory came back to the forefront of her mind. “There must have been a few of us there. The water was cold but we welcomed it. We swam until we were tired, splashing each other and having contests to see who could hold their breath underwater the longest. One of us, I can’t remember who, stepped on the jagged edge of a rock that was hidden in the ground beneath the water. I’d never seen blood like that before.”
It was a familiar story. “That happened to me, too. I ended up with a scar in the shape of a half-circle on my instep.”
Eva’s eyes focused on her, a curious expression on her face. “About the size of my fist?” She held her hand up to demonstrate the size.
Zoe’s memory was fuzzy at best, but she definitely remembered the pain and the ugly scar. “Yes, about that size.” She brought her right leg up, knee to chest, and set her heel on the edge of the seat. She unlaced the heavy military-style boot Eva had lent her and pulled it off. It fell to the ground with a loud thump. She angled her foot until they could both see the half-moon shaped scar carved into her skin.
Eva looked astonished. “It must have been you.”
“No, I remember. This happened at the lake in-” her mind went blank. She’d had the memory in her head not a moment before, and now it was gone, the walls of the memory fading away into one she didn’t recognize. She was certain she’d been alone in the memory, but now there were others, one child clearer than the others. It was a girl with dark chestnut hair and bright blue eyes, and a cute face with an exuberant pink smile. She looked like Eva.