Alternia Comics

   "Where are we?" Paul couldn't stand the silence anymore. Jen had led him out of school in the middle of the day to go chasing a ghost. If only he hadn't mentioned his father's stories, Jen wouldn't have the second clue that made her hungry for the third.
   "Off the map." Jen crawled through yet another small hole in the wall. Paul struggled to follow, cursing quietly as his pants tore on a jagged bit of the broken wall. They had crawled through more than a dozen similar holes, or ventilation panels between rooms. And broken doors. Paul much preferred the doors that required a bit of manual labor to open, rather than these ragged openings.
   "That's a fact. How come no one fixes this stuff?"
   "I don't know. Must have just forgotten about this section of the colony. It's been like this as long as I can remember. I used to come down here when my parents were fighting. When I knew it was going to be a long, loud one. Gimme a hand with this door? Thanks." Paul held the door open as Jen ducked under his arm. "I'd pack a lunch and see how far I could go. My parents rarely noticed I was gone, and no one ever found me. And one time, I found something neat." Her eyes lit up again.
   "What'd you find?" Paul slipped through the door, barely manging to avoid having his hand crushed as it slammed shut behind him. "Remind me to be more careful around here."
   "Noted. And if I told you where we're going, it wouldn't be a surprise!" Jen winked before she scrambled over a small pile of debris.
   "As long as you know where you're going..." He watched her legs disappear and she crawled over the crest of the pile and through another hole. He sighed softly.

   Kevin tumbled out of the vent he'd just kicked open and on to his bed. "Good to know these vents go everywhere. Wish the fans would have been on the map too though." He set the journal down on the bed and walked over to the dresser. He docked his wrist computer and spoke to his desktop workstation. "SAL, download Marten files to my wristcomp and open new recording there." He waited for the computer's chime before speaking again.
   "Ol' Jack had his journal and now I guess I have mine." He changed his shirt and picked up his school bag, dumping the contents on to his bed. "By now I'm probably a wanted criminal, albeit a junior criminal."
   "Correct." the computer chimed in. "You are wanted for truancy, inciting truancy and evasion. Average sentence for these crimes is four months suspension from school and three weeks incarceration at a juvenile detention center."
   "Thank you, SAL. That's nothing compared to — wait, what? Inciting truancy?"
   "Correct. After you left school, two of your classmates followed suit. Jen Linkletter and Paul Wilson."
   "Where are they now?"
   "Unknown." Kevin repacked his bag with some changes of clothes, food packets he'd been saving and his cash savings. Jack's journal went in last.
   "Great." He picked up his wristcomp and strapped it on, then the charging station went in the bag. "SAL, delete all records of this conversation from the desktop. In fact, forget I was here at all this afternoon. And delete all Marten files from the desktop." He pushed his backpack in to the vent, then climbed in after it. He left the vent cover on the bed. "Thanks a lot, Jack. End recording."