Is this us?

It was too hot.

The air was too stifling.

It was just too much.

Miranda sighed and kicked a piece of brick down the pile of rubble. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her gloved hand and made her way down the pile of broken building pieces. She walked around the hole in the floor, glancing down at the multiple levels below. Miranda always found that hole odd. It was like something had blown a hole straight from the roof through the center of the entire building.

One would think that would be impossible, but she had heard stories of the time before the End All. The technology had been so great that it almost seemed like people had extraordinary abilities. Weapons of mass destruction, computers built to intercept government secrets, and vehicles that moved so fast you could travel thousands of miles within a single day. From what she had heard, those times were frightening and amazing. Medical science was said to be unmatched by all of those who had come before. Yet, not everyone was cured.

Though the tech of that once great world had been mighty, the people were still plagued by poverty, violence, and illness in every country; some worse than others. Not much had changed on that front since the End All, but people were a bit more equal nowadays. People farmed and hunted for their food, used clothes they had scavenged from the old high rises and department stores, and weapons like guns had been abolished right after the events of the End All.

Nevertheless, Miranda still ventured out into the old cities, wandering through the overgrown vines and vegetation that had taken root over the years, looking for clues to the people of the past. Who they were, and what she could learn from them.

"I just feel like there is more to the End All like there is more to our lives."

Miranda spoke out loud to no one in particular as she glanced down the alleyways, noting the rats that scurried by.

"There you are." A smooth voice came from behind her and Miranda smiled, turning to look at her friend.

Alex was about a foot taller than she was, making him almost six foot and four inches. That made him much taller than everyone else in her village, and at eighteen she could only hope he was done growing. His dark brown hair hung loosely about his muscled shoulders, and that roguish smile was enough to send all the young women in the village stuttering. None of that mattered to Miranda though, he was her best friend.

"Oh please, you knew where to find me."

Miranda replied as she looked down at the deserted newspaper stand.

"Yeah, you're right, but why does it always have to be here."

Alex sighed, as he took a practice swing with the iron rod he had picked up.

"You never find anything new in these ruins. Everything was picked through decades ago."

Miranda rolled her eyes at her friend's remarks, as she pushed her way through what was once an old library. The ceiling had long since fallen in, and the books had been stolen or destroyed from the elements. She had read every one of them and learned all she could from the history books. The joy, the sorrow, the fear, and the violence of those centuries had been forever etched in the pages of these books.

"There isn't anything new in there either."

Alex quipped, as he leaned against one of the shelves and watched her move from wall to wall.

"Why are you so against this place?"

Miranda snapped, tired of his attitude.

"Why are you so against learning about the past?"

Alex shrugged noncommittally.

"What's the point. The weapons are gone, the people are gone, and we have started over anew. We are peaceful for the most part, and people apparently are living cleaner than they ever did in those days."

Miranda made a noise of irritation.

"Because history repeats itself, Alex. We have to learn from the mistakes of the past. The End All should have never happened, and hopefully, it won't again."

Miranda turned quickly and walked in an opposite direction, irritated at her friend, though she heard him close behind her. He had promised her mother he would always be there and for the past twelve years since her mother's death, he had been.

Hovering. Watching. Getting on her nerves.

She continued down the hallway, belatedly noticing the change in the air. The warmth of summer had retreated, and a chill ran through the hallway like a ghostly hand caressing her spine. She leaned into the breeze, following it toward and opening behind a large tapestry nailed to the back wall.

"How have I never noticed this?"

Miranda wondered aloud, moving the cloth slowly and stepping closer to the opening. As she moved to step inside the dark tunnel she felt a firm grip pull her back, and she stumbled over a fallen office chair.

"Alex what the hell?!" She screamed as she righted herself and dusted her hands on her pants.

"Look, we need to go."

Alex said sternly, his eyes darting around the area.

"Something feels off. We need to go."

Miranda raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Stop being paranoid, I just want to see what's in there."

Miranda shoved past him and was instantly shrouded in the darkness behind the tapestry. She waited for a second, assuming he would be right behind her, but the tapestry never moved. With a shrug she moved forward, feeling along the wall, letting it guide her further down the tunnel. She heard a faint clicking noise and gasped when a light sparked along the top of the walls illuminating the way with a dimly lit flame.

As she came to the end of the tunnel she saw a tiny room. The flames gathered into a small fireplace, and a dusty desk sat close by. She walked into the room, looking at the dark, empty walls, and ran her fingertips along the cracked wood. She could feel the years of age and dust that had accumulated and smiled at the thought of someone sitting back there, writing quick notes and ideas down on loose paper.

Miranda took a few steps closer to the fireplace, and let her hand linger along the mantel. She let her imagination run wild, thinking of what the room must have been used for long ago, and who would have been hiding away, and what they would have been writing.

Then she felt it.

Something long and metallic.

She pulled the key away from its perch and studied it for a moment.

"Weird..." She thought aloud and looked back at the desk. "Hm..."

Miranda knelt down and looked around the desk for any keyholes. She found nothing, no drawers or cabinets of any kind, then a thought struck her. She ran her fingers along the very bottom of the desk and grinned when she felt the opening.

She placed the key inside and gave it a gentle turn. She heard the tiny gears inside grind against each other as the lock sprang open and a hidden compartment dropped down. Miranda fell back in shock as she watched the papers flutter to the ground, and heard a heavy clunk against the stone floor. Miranda got to her knees and moved closer to the papers and the item that had fallen.

She pushed the papers to the side and felt her fingers come into contact with something smooth and cold. As soon as she touched the object she felt a strong pulse push through and around her.

"What is-" Before she could finish her thought she heard a commotion outside, and a pained yell.

"Alex?!"

She grabbed the papers and the object and stuffed them quickly into her pocket before running out. As she burst through the tapestry she was blinded momentarily by the brightness of the afternoon sun, and she shielded her eyes quickly with her hand. Once her eyes had adjusted, she looked around quickly for her friend.

"Alex?"

She called, but there was no reply. She moved quickly, exiting the old library at a jog that quickly turned into an outright run. Something didn't feel right. Alex had warned her, and she hadn't listened. She looked around as she moved through the old streets, looking for that head of dark brown hair, but the ruins were quiet and empty.

Once she had made it back to the forest and was on the path back to her village she stopped. She leaned against a tree and tried to catch her breath. Her heart was racing and she was a ball of nervous energy.

What was happening?

Her hand, having a mind of its own, slid into her pocket and clutched the object she had taken. She swallowed hard as she pulled it from its resting place and held it up to inspect it. Dangling from a long silver chain was a beautiful heart-shaped locket made of silver and a deep blue stone.

It sparkled in the setting sun, and she was oddly calm as she stared at it. Slowly she opened the clasp and slipped the chain around her neck before closing it securely under her fiery red locks. It sat comfortably on her chest and she smiled until she felt it again. That pulse of….something. The same energy she had felt back in the room.

“What is going on?”

She asked aloud as a wave of dizziness began to settle on her senses. She stumbled a bit before allowing herself to slide down the tree. As the edges around her sight darkened, she heard the faint snap of a twig, and then she was gone.