𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

002. oh, look! we got kidnapped!

"WHERE IS EVERYONE?" Dexter wondered, kicking over a rock into one of the gaping black pits in the sidewalk. It tumbled down, but there was no sound to indicate when it hit the floor. Dexter gulped.

"Let's not go near that," Theo suggested, dragging him away by the collar.

"I mean, where the hell are we, let alone everyone else," Paris threw up his hands, plopping down on an overturned fire hydrant. "Do you think I could take this home with me?"

"Focus, idiots and Dexter," Xandra snapped her fingers, pacing along the sidewalk. "We have to figure out where we are."

They had walked down the several flights of stairs to Esmeralda's lobby. Paris shoved Theo out the door to make sure the air was safe, then bounced out after him, instantly heading for the biggest black hole he could find. After a few minutes of exploring the block Esmeralda's building was on, they regrouped before the main entrance, careful to not sit on any glass.

"Everything looks exactly the same as our New York. Just... destroyed," Dexter reported. "It looks like some sort of giant earthquake struck."

"Or the Maze Runner is coming to life," Paris chimed, digging through the debris that was gathered at the foot of his fire hydrant.

"But we couldn't have slept through an earthquake, could we?" Dexter was still talking, almost to himself, running over the thousands of possibilities in his head. He paced back and forth, muttering to himself. "And where would all the people have gone. There would be bodies, if there were any dead. Plus, Esmeralda's apartment was clean, so it happened a good while after the party... At least three hours..."

Theo was watching the skyline, eyes narrowed. "I think I see a pigeon."

Xandra frowned, lost in her own thoughts, too. She was no genius, and she didn't expect to figure this out, but if she didn't try to find a solution, she thought she might go crazy. Already the aftereffects of the party were wearing off; panic was creeping up on her like a shadowy beast, and she felt her heart kick up in speed. She had no idea how to handle this situation.

Paris wasn't handling the situation at all. He was waving a pipe through the air like a lightsaber, making sound effects with his lips, his knee bouncing like a race car engine.

"Could you cut that out?" Xandra snapped. "You're being obnoxious."

Paris looked affronted. "Excuse me, I'm practicing the Jedi arts."

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't think idiots can become Jedi, dumbass."

"Know, you would not," Paris did his best Yoda voice. "Dumbass also, you are."

"God, I hope you fall into one of those pits."

"I'll come back with a new sense of my past," Paris said sagely. "Haven't you seen the movies?"

"Those movies were trash."

He gasped loudly. "You're trash!"

"You're just a little baby who can't handle your emotions, so you're resorting to jokes," Xandra retorted. "Grow up."

"Oh, and you're doing so well at handling your emotions," he mocked, bowing low. "All hail Queen of Emotional Sensitivity! Tell me, how's suffocating your depression going?"

She clenched her jaw. "You little dick. What's it like coming from the country with the ugliest men?"

"France has prettier girls, at least. What are you supposed to be, a goth tree?"

"Just because your male ego is threatened by women taller than four foot zero--"

"My male ego is threatened by your ugly face!"