Dust in the Wind

Chapter 10 - Reunion

Aminia finished tidying up the kitchen table as Felicia once more finished her story. She felt like she should just type it out so she could hand a tablet over to the next person that wanted to hear it. She was sick of the story already, the memories they brought back making her flinch. Pulling out some cookies Aminia placed them on the table along with some cans of soft drink. Felicia chuckled, it was just like when they were kids, she picked up the can, running her thumb over the smooth surface. Aminia took a seat and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest, 'If it was anyone else sitting there I would have thought they were pulling my leg...'

      Felicia looked up at her, 'So you believe me?'

'Why wouldn't I? You have no reason to lie to me.. plus you know it wouldn't end well for you,' Aminia through her a toothy grin before continuing, 'Plus, you're the most serious person I know. I don't think you could dream something like this up.'

      'Thank you?...'

Aminia smirked before having a more serious expression take over her features, 'And knowing you, you want to do something about it. Right?'

      Felicia shrugged, 'The only way to do that would be to go back to the facility, and I couldn't find that if I tried.'

      Aminia nodded, clapping her hands together as silence descended between the two. Felicia jumped, looking at Aminia as the woman got to her feet, 'Well, let's not worry about it now. I'll show you to your room.'

      Felicia rolled her eyes, 'I know where your guest room is Min.'

'So? I'm just being a good host, now stop whining.'

      'Hey! I'm not whining!'

'Prove it. Shut up.' Aminia grinned as Felicia's mouth clamped shut, a slightly disgruntled expression twisting her features. As she opened the door to her friend, revealing the small bedroom, she placed a reassuring hand on Felicia's shoulder, 'I know you'll think of something. You have some time off work right? To readjust to normal life or something?'

      Felicia nodded, 'What about it?'

'Use it to figure out your next step.'

      She nodded again, her brow knitted in thought as she thanked her friend, entering the room that was hers for the foreseeable future. Aminia closed the door as she left, calling over her shoulder that she had to go to the shop and fix some merchants cart. Dinner was in the fridge. Felicia couldn't help but smile as she sat down on the bed. Aminia never questioned her story, they'd practically been joined at the hip while they were children and they trusted each other with everything.

      The frown reappeared as she thought of what her friend had said, what would she do next? More importantly, what could she do? Going to the city leaders was out of the question, every last one of them was in on it. Very few people would believe her outside of her small circle of friends, and even fewer would be willing to risk their lives on a single person's story. She couldn't involve anyone else, she just couldn't. Too much was at stake. Reaching over to the bedside table Felicia picked up the clear tablet that rested there, deftly pulling up a map of the continent. A few finger taps later she was looking at a satellite view of the ruins of Phoenix. First thing first, she had to find out where the hell this facility was.

The next two days seemed to pass in a blur for Felicia as she spent her waking hours hunched over the tablet, sketching out a rough plan. She turned to look at the tablet once more where she'd attempted to discover more about this Talbot character. Not a single entry could be found. With a tisk of annoyance she began the calibration of her new Portable Personal Device, or PPD for short. She hated calibrating them, it took too long. But it couldn't be helped due to her previous one being broken by her fall into Talbot's Facility and then taken from her.