The city is a little more empty today

[dr_schreber]

John will probably be the first one to notice it, because of the way he's tuned in to the city and everyone in it. Sarah and April probably won't take long to realize they're in an empty house though

Comments

[j_murdoch]

The City hums quietly in the night. The absences of half a dozen of its members are nothing to its functioning, but to John's senses, the familiarity of the departures leaves a yawning gap. Almost at once he stops the bread truck and reaches out mentally, searching for first Schreber, then Rat, combing alleys, buildings, and beaches. Rat's cab he finds empty on a lonely street. That is the only sign of life. Quickly he rakes the City for the others, his mental attention setting pebbles and small objects quivering. The next day there will be notices in the paper about a minor earthquake. Nothing

[sarah_branigan]

The phone startles Sarah out of a deep sleep. Phone calls in the middle of the night are never good. It takes her a second or two to reach for the phone. "Hello?" she asks groggily.

It's right as she's answering the phone that she notices Daniel isn't in bed with her.

[j_murdoch]

"Sarah? It's John. Daniel's gone. Harley's gone, Rat's gone, Gibbs, Tom, Thorn...they just vanished." He's not panicking, but tension sings in his voice. "Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

[sarah_branigan]

"...what?" That would most likely be a no. Sarah rubs the sleep from her eyes and sits up. "Daniel didn't -- none of them said anything about leaving the City."

She flips on the light and blinks away the after-image. A familiar object leaning against the wall catches her gaze. "His cane," she says, as much to herself as to John. "He wouldn't leave his cane."