I started to panic. The time for me to return to the surface was drawing near. I had to get going soon, but what would happen if Dylan wasn’t able to take me? What would happen if he were caught? If he were caught, I would be too.
Dylan must have noticed the fear in my eyes because he looked intently at me and instructed, “Allie, you’ve got to get out of here on your own. Go back to Dr. Wilcox’s house. He’ll give you what you need to return to the surface.”
Chapter 10
Stunned, I watched in a daze as Dylan’s form disappeared into the foliage, trailing Mrs. Miller out of the garden. My heart sank as he vanished. All I could think about was how I would get back to Sunnyville without Dylan. Better yet, how would I find Dr. Wilcox’s house? I never paid attention to how to get there. I did know he lived on the other side of town, but there was no way I would be able to find my way back. It was impossible.
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I strived to contain the panic I felt rising in my chest. There had to be some sort of way to search for where Dr. Wilcox lived. Maybe Oceania had some type of search engine for addresses analogous to the street databases we had on land. If I could just find something like that here, I could do a search for his home address. I concentrated on the many pathways I’d walked on with Dylan in Oceania, wishing for the umpteenth time in my life that I had a photographic memory. Nothing popped out in my mind, so I opened my eyes.
First, I had to get myself out of the gardens, which was a lot easier than trying to remember where a potential database could be. Trudging through the dirt and underbrush, I followed the blue signs scattered on silver poles throughout the gardens indicating the exit with bright red letters. Winding through the dense forest for several minutes, I finally found my way onto the bustling walkways of downtown Oceania. A train whizzed past, bringing me out of the stupor that I didn’t realize I was in.
After the last train car passed by allowing me to cross, I found myself on one of the pathways edging around the Central District area. Diverting towards another path that, I knew would lead me further into Central, I scoured every direction for anything resembling a search panel. High-rises began to crowd in around me as I traveled closer to the epicenter of Central.
Blinking lights lined in a row on the ground caused me to pause. I’d become accustomed to knowing that they outlined the pathway of an oncoming train and I needed to stay clear. Shields rose outside the area of the train to keep pedestrians from accidentally being run over, and as the train whizzed past, they lowered, and I resumed my search.
Twisting around to my right, I wound through the throngs of people to get a better look around. The pathway forked into two different directions: one even deeper into the heart of Central and the other towards the main residential sector. There wasn't much on this street, or the opposite one, so I took a guess and decided to go right. I walked about two blocks before I saw something on the side of a building resembling an S.I.N.D. (or search information near downtown) panel. Brushing my fingertips across the panel's touchscreen, a window came up asking for my login.
"Ugh," I cried aloud as I smacked the touchscreen panel. Why did Dylan have to leave me alone with no instructions on how to find Dr. Wilcox or how to get back to the surface? It was all so frustrating!
I spun around and faced the street. People continued to walk by and ignore me as if I was any other person in Oceania. As different as Oceania was in every other aspect, it still garnered the apathetic populous of any metropolis. I sighed. Nobody here was going to help me. My best bet was to get on the train and ride it until my memory was jogged. Luckily, it was the only place I knew of in Oceania where a code wasn't needed to access it. Not to mention that it was free.
Keeping my distance, I found a line of blinking lights on the ground and followed it until I reached a train station. Finding a seat as far away from other people as possible, I gloomily plopped down on the bench at the station. Sighing, I bent forward, resting my chin on my right fist.
Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before a train came whizzing to a stop in front of my bench. As soon as the train purred to a stop, a flood of people got off. I patiently waited for them to exit, and then boarded. I found a place to sit all alone near the front of the car. The doors slid closed and the train hummed as it swiftly left the station behind.
I tried not to panic as I watched the buildings whisk past me. What would happen if I couldn’t get home in time? Gran would surely call the police…and how could I truly explain to her where I was?
“Dearie, are you okay?”
“Um, yes…why do you ask?” I peered over in the direction of the voice. An
