Absolute Desolation

“It’s sort of beautiful, don’t you think?”

The broken down buildings with their crumbling foundations were littered all across the city. Not one building still stood in its entirety. Not since seven years ago.

“Beautiful? Lola, are you crazy?”

She flipped her pale blonde and blue hair behind her shoulders and leveled a stare at the boy next to her.

“Oh, come on Avery,” she chuckled. “Why do you have to be so stuck up all the time?”

“Because! You know nobody is allowed in the city, let alone the buildings! We shouldn’t be here.” His arms flailed at his side as he talked, his face growing red beneath his black hair. It made for an interesting combination. He was standing far away from the balcony, safely in the room behind her.

Lola propped her chin up on her palm and a wistful look passed her face.

“I think there’s a great deal of beauty in such absolute desolation,” she said, as if he hadn’t even talked. “It’s just so sad.”

“Yeah, of course it is. Boohoo. Now can we go?” Avery whined.

She didn’t even have to look behind her to know that he was pouting, his face screwed up in frustration. Lola turned on her heel and pushed past him to the room. She started digging around in the wreckage of the furniture, looking for anything useful.

“No we cannot leave, Avery. And you very well know why. Resources back at the base are getting even lower and the only way to get them for cheap is steal or scavenge. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like becoming a legit criminal.” She looked up at him from under her eyelashes to gauge his reaction.

He puffed out a breath, looking extremely annoyed and uncomfortable. His eyes darted around the room, as if someone was going to jump out at him. Lola stood up and sighed.

“If you’re so damn scared, go stand watch at the door.” She placed her hands on her hips and popped a leg out. Her foot started tapping impatiently. “Well?”

Avery groaned but stalked over to the door barely hanging on its hinges. He peeked out from behind it and nodded that it was all clear at Lola. She rolled her eyes before bending down to search through the rubble.

“Ow! Shit!” she exclaimed as her head banged into a side table. “Dammit, that really hurt!”

A small box fell from the top of the rickety table and crashed to the ground. They both watched in shock as it popped open and a small ballerina poked out. It started to turn in a circle and soft, classical music began to play.

“Oh, my god,” Lola whispered, a smile slowly spreading across her face. “Music.”

She began to hum along with it, nodding her head and moving her body with the music.

“Lola, what are you doing?!” Avery exclaimed. His intense horror grew as she started to dance around the room, pirouetting and leaping over broken furniture. He watched as she twirled around the balcony, the rotting wood groaning underneath her feet. “Lola!”

Avery ran to the music box, scooped it up, and snapped the top shut. His fear over getting caught had transformed into fury. He stalked over to Lola, who was standing still on the balcony.

“Are you insane?! You know that music and dancing are banned. You’re going to get us caught!” he shouted.

“I don’t care!” Lola yelled back. “I haven’t heard music since I was forced to stop playing violin. I hate the stupid fucking restrictions that the new government has put on us. I hate that we can’t go into the Inner Cities. I hate that we have to live on the outskirts of humanity. I hate this life!”

She glared at Avery, disgust and hatred for the world they now lived in coursing through her body.

“I know Lola, I know,” he sighed. Avery pulled her to him and hugged her against his chest. “I hate it too. But there’s nothing we can do.”

“Hey! What are you two doing here?!”

Lola jumped out of his embrace and looked down at the ground. Three city sentinels were standing there, the emblems of the new government shining on their armored uniforms.

“Shit!”

Avery and Lola ran from the apartment, their original mission forgotten. They tripped over broken toys in the hallway, but made it to the stairs. Voices drifted up from the bottom of the stairway and they glanced at each other in panic.

“This way,” Avery whispered.

He tugged Lola behind him and crossed the second floor landing. They slipped behind the door and shut it softly. When it clicked closed, they ran down the hallway and into the only apartment with a full door. Lola locked it behind them and slumped against the wood.

“Avery, what are we going to do? We’re trapped,” she whimpered. Her usual iron nerves had snapped completely.

“We’ll be fine. I’ll get us out of here,” he promised. His eyes traveled around the room, looking for any possible escape. “Come on.”

He lead her over to the balcony and they peered over the edge together.

“We’re gonna have to climb down. It’s only two floors down, and it looks like there’s enough footholds. We should be fine.”

Lola hugged him once, then swung her legs over the railing. They slowly scaled their way down the side of the apartment complex. Once in a while they heard the voices of the sentinels searching the rooms. It only spurred them on faster. Avery made it down before Lola, and he stood watching her awkward progression to the ground.

“Chief, I found them!”

Her head snapped up at the exclamation. One of the guards was standing on the second floor balcony, staring at Lola. She yelped and lost her footing on the boards.

“Avery!” she screamed.

He ran to catch her and they tumbled onto the ground together. The angry guard ran from the balcony.

“Run!” Avery yelled.

He grabbed her hand and they took off, twisting down the ruined the streets. They made it to the edge of the city and jumped into the broken down parked car they had hidden.

“Drive, drive!” Lola urged.

Avery cranked the engine over. Instead of looking for the whole in the fence they had made, he drove straight through the chain-link barrier. It rattled loudly but gave away.

Darkness was settling on the Outer Lands, and Avery sped up. Being out in the open late at night was never a good idea.

“Hey, Avery.”

He glanced over at Lola and smiled.

“Yeah?”

She giggled and pulled an object out of her bag.

“Look what I have.”

“Hmm?” His eyes flitted over to her quickly, and he instantly halted the car. The breaks screeched in the dark silence. “You took the music box?!”

Lola’s pale hair glowed in the moonlight, looking almost ethereal. The blue shone even brighter than normal. An impish smile spread across her face and Avery couldn’t help but think that she looked like a fairy.

“What? I couldn’t help myself.”

She opened the lid and the ballerina slid out. The soft music was painfully loud and echoed across the barren desert.