Chapter One

The hands on the clock just wouldn’t move faster. As much as Leah willed them forward, it felt like they hadn’t moved at all the past hour. It didn’t help that there were no customers at all at the moment, leaving the place eerily quiet. She leaned over the counter, staring at the rain coming down steadily, before dropping her head in her hands, letting out a soft groan. Leah had gone through the shop what felt like a hundred times, but she could only fold all the musty-smelling vintage shirts once. 

She looked down at the notebook in front of her, knowing that she was procrastinating. What she should be doing was write her application for college, the deadline rapidly approaching. What she did instead was doodle absentmindedly, words completely abandoning her in her time of need. What were you even supposed to write in an application letter? 

Overwhelmed, she reached for her headphones for comfort, only to remember that they were lying in her locker, in the back of the shop. She missed their comforting weight around her neck.

“Hey slacker!” Kit’s familiar voice sounded through the thrift store, immediately lightening Leah’s sour mood. Kit had been Leah’s friend ever since the first day of high school, twelve years ago. Their friendship even lasted through Kit’s year abroad, when she decided to study in London for a year, forcing them to be apart with Leah’s low funds. Between her and her mom’s low income and desperate need to save up for college, there was no way she could visit her friend overseas.

Leah had hoped that, by the time Kit returned, her own life would have made a turn for the better, optimistic she’d have something to show for the year apart. Her step-dad, however, had other plans, suddenly passing in a car crash that not only devastated her mom, but also significantly lowered their income. Within two months after Kit went abroad, Leah and her mom had to find a new place to live, which was the dingy apartment in the bad part of town they lived in now. 

That was six years ago now. Suddenly, she and Kit were twenty-four. 

“Leeee-ahhhhh?” Kit waved her hand in front of Leah’s face, pulling her back into the present. 

“What? Sorry, I zoned out…” 

“Quiet day, huh?” 

“The worst.” Leah gestured at the pouring rain. 

“Fortunately for you, I have something to brighten your day,” Kit said mischievously, rummaging through her tote bag.

“You found my will to live?” Leah quipped, earning her a sneer from Kit.

“Actually, yes.” She procured something from the depths of her bag, holding it up for Leah to see. Leah gasped, reaching with eager hands. 

“You didn’t!” She cried out, filled with disbelief. Kit didn’t say anything, but the smug smile on her face told Leah everything she needed to know. Kit had actually gone and bought the game she’d wanted for months now. “You hate going into that place!” Leah was still in awe, remembering how Kit always complained in the electronics stores, perpetually hot and smelling like computers that had been switched on for way too long. 

“Just imagine how much this means I love you.” 

Leah walked around the counter to throw her arms around her best friend, pulling her into a tight hug, game still clenched in her hand. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

“No problem, Leah.” Kit shot her a smile. “See you Sunday, as always? You can show me the gameplay.”

#

Hours later, once her shift was over, Leah grabbed her bike and pedaled home as fast as she could, despite her sore legs from standing all day. She could feel the game burning a hole through her backpack, warm against her coat, begging her to be played. All she had been able to think of was getting lost in the beautiful, dystopian world, playing as Valda. It was the perfect form of escaping her boring, yet somehow simultaneously stressful life. Valda didn’t have college applications to write or bills to pay—she had enemies to defeat and quests to fulfill. 

When she finally arrived, drenched to the bone, she took the stairs two at a time, all the way to the fourth floor, which housed their apartment. 

“Mom, I’m home!” Leah yelled, kicking off her boots, anticipation threatening to make her explode. “I’ll be in my room, okay?” She had already reached for her door, when her mom appeared in the hallway. 

“It’s almost time for dinner. You should freshen up first.” 

“I will. Give me ten minutes, tops.” Without waiting for a reply, she escaped into her bedroom. She dug into her backpack, pulling the new game out, and took a moment to take it in, marveling at its cover. It showed a young woman—Valda—from behind, her long, dark red hair moving in the wind, bow on her back and a spear in her hand. She looked out over a gorgeous, obviously dystopian landscape, a mix of nature and ruins below the mountain she was standing on, a couple of deer grazing in the distance. Above her, the sky was littered with dark and looming clouds lined in an ominous red, the title of the game popping out at her:

ECHOES.

Leah didn’t waste another second, savoring every moment as she peeled at the thin strip that would make the whole protective foil come undone. Truly one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. She popped the disk into her console, starting its installation. Hopefully it would be done by the time she finished dinner. 

Rushing into the bathroom, Leah realized she was running out of time. All she could do was change into dry clothes and maybe dry her hair a little. When she looked in the mirror, she noticed her eyeliner had smudged, too. She was trying her best to do all three tasks at once, and failing miserably, multitasking definitely not belonging to Leah’s skill set, when her mom suddenly stood in the doorway, letting out a soft, “Ahem.” 

Startled, Leah let out a string of curses, pressing a hand against her rapidly beating heart. 

“Just ‘mom’  is fine,” her mother joked. Leah couldn’t help but roll her eyes, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “Are you nearly done? Dinner is ready.” 

Leah pointed at her raccoon eyes, laughing. “Just have to get rid of this and I’ll be right there.” 

#

Echoes was everything Leah had hoped it would be. The perfect escape, with a stunning and fierce main character, whom she loved within moments of starting her main quest. Leah spent all her time drawing, creating, and even making a proper start on her application letter, hoping to be part of a game like this herself one day. She knew she wouldn’t get far without an education in game design, her game the perfect motivation to get things going. 

On Sunday, like every Sunday, Kit came over. As they waited for the vivid purple dye to work its magic on Kit’s hair, a simpler black dye sitting atop Leah’s head, Leah showed her friend the game. Together they’d gotten so lost in the game’s world, their hair dye had turned their hair weirdly crisp, making them both giggle as they went to rinse it. 

Leah couldn’t thank her enough, not just for the game, but for being her friend in general. Kit may have looked intimidating back in high school, and more so as she got older, but her goth looks, tattoos, piercings, and big black boots were nothing but a ruse, hiding a giant heart, and Leah was glad for it. 

Time always flew when she was with her best friend. Monday came around within the blink of an eye, separating Leah from her game for most of the day, though she had found fresh excitement. Even the rain and mushed leaves in the gutter couldn’t ruin her mood today. 

She started off work at lightning speed, cleaning the whole store before opening, sweat covering her forehead, only for it to be dead quiet all over again when she finally opened the doors, time going by at a snail’s pace. 

“Want to get started on labeling those winter sweaters with me?” Her manager, Paul, offered. Winter fashion was still a couple of weeks away, but Leah would do anything to make time move faster at this point. Anything so she could go home and play her game.

Back home, Leah helped her mom in the kitchen, telling her all about her day. After dinner, her mom pulled out her budget notebook to plan for the rest of the month, and Leah realized she might not get to play at all today. She wasn’t about to tell her mom, though, not wanting to stress her further. Leah dutifully helped and planned, her game slowly disappearing to the back of her head, budgeting demanding her full brain power. By the time it was done, Leah felt ready for bed.

#

When Leah roused, she felt like it should be the middle of the night–based solely on her level of exhaustion–but there was a bright light coming from somewhere, casting a strange blue glow all over her bedroom. Dazed, Leah looked around her room, trying to figure out where the light was coming from, when she spotted her controller on the ground, emitting a bright blue light. Leah got up from her bed, positive she’d switched off her console. Her dazedness made way for agitation, now in search of her TV remote so she could turn everything off again. Feeling around in her bed, rummaging through her blankets, her TV suddenly switched on by itself, emitting that same bright blue light

“What the hell?” Leah held up her hand, shielding her eyes from the screen. When she moved closer, squinting at the brightness of it, she could make out a landscape. A landscape she recognized all too well, after all those hours playing this weekend. 

ECHOES! 

Leah rubbed her eyes, convinced that she was, in fact, dreaming, though part of her knew she was wide awake. She felt around the back of her TV, pressing a couple of buttons, but none of them worked. As a final solution, Leah tugged at the power cable, positive that would do the trick, but the bright light was unstoppable. Leah decided that it wasn’t worth losing sleep over—it wasn’t like she hadn’t fallen asleep with her TV or game on before. 

When she walked past her window, moving to close the gap in her curtains, she spotted movement outside. What was wrong with the parking lot? It looked like a desert instead, cars parked with their wheels buried deep in red sand, a couple of cacti standing tall and proud between them. Leah blinked a couple of times, unable to form a coherent thought about the situation. 

“I should write this dream down…” She mumbled to herself, dropping herself in her armchair, knowing she had a dream journal squeezed in its pillows somewhere. Yawning, she barely managed to open it, her head lolling as sleep came over her again. She didn’t notice when the walls crumbled, the desert creeping its way into her room, and everything, slowly but surely, changed around her.

Chapter Two

Leah wasn’t sure what woke her up. It could be the insane heat, though the incessant chittering and scratching noise she couldn’t quite explain probably didn’t help. It was likely the combination of the two that roused her from her sleep. She could feel sweat drip down her temples. Why was it so damn hot? She had just restocked the sweaters at work the other day, autumn relentlessly marching in. 

And what was that fucking scratching noise? 

Leah scrunched her nose, and finally gave in, opening her eyes to slits, forcing herself awake from her dream-like state. She turned toward the source of the sound and had to rub her eyes, sure that they were fooling her. When her hands came away, the creature was still crouched there, grey butt with a black and white tail sticking out from under some sort of blanket, stubbornly digging at something. Leah could only think of the raccoon she’d seen in the parking lot the other day, wondering how it had managed to find its way inside. 

“What the hell?” Leah said out loud, startling the raccoon in the process. It dropped the apple it had managed to scavenge, teeth marks still fresh in the juicy flesh of it, before making a break for a piece of tarp that seemed to be the door, disappearing out of sight. 

The sound of the apple rolling over the well-worn floorboards triggered something in Leah. As if she hadn’t been able to process anything before now, completely hyper-fixated on the raccoon and its noises. Now that it had left, Leah finally took in her surroundings, eyes roving over the room, hungry for information. Warm terracotta colored walls surrounded her. The wooden floor was covered in a reddish sand that crunched under her bare feet, gathering in heaps in the corners of the room and against the furniture—if you could give the abstractly shaped pieces of nature that much credit. There was a table made of a slab of wood that looked like it was cut straight from a tree and dragged towards this house. Its maker had put the slab on top of  four uneven rocks serving as the table’s legs and called it a day. Paper, scrolls, and books littered its surface. Next to it were two stools, which weren’t more than logs cut off at different heights. A closed, ornate chest rested against the wall to her right, sitting beneath a hole in the wall serving as a window. It looked strange to Leah, almost as if the outlines of the chest were too sharp, too high in contrast, compared to everything else in the room. In the middle of it all, standing out like a sore thumb, was Leah’s very own armchair, her cozy, fluffy blanket dropped to the floor, surely full of teeny tiny grains of sand she would feel for the rest of her days. She could feel it sticking to her sweaty, damp skin now. 

What was she supposed to make of all this? Disoriented and woozy, Leah’s knees buckled underneath her. Afraid of her legs giving up on her, she moved over towards one of the logs to sit down, asking herself if she was still dreaming. Her question was answered when she sat down on the hard log a bit too enthusiastically, hurting her tail bone in the process. Leah winced, sucking in air through her teeth.

Definitely awake then, even if her surroundings suggested otherwise. 

Leah wiped the sleeve of her hoodie over her forehead, messing up her bangs. If only she’d been dressed for this insane heat. Though, looking down, she was mostly grateful for actually being dressed. Wherever she was and however she’d gotten here, at least nobody had seen her naked.

Probably anyway. 

Instinctively, Leah reached for her headphones around her neck, letting out a sigh of relief as she felt them in their place. She took them off and placed them on the table next to her so she could take off her hoodie in hopes of cooling down a little. She tied it around her waist, put her headphones back on, and started rummaging through the scrolls and books, hoping to make some sense of it all. Leah quickly realized that none of the words were even slightly familiar, despite her speaking three languages. In fact, they seemed to be made up of an entirely different alphabet altogether. Nothing like the alphabet she had grown up with, nor the characters used in Asian or Arabic languages, from what limited knowledge she had of those. 

Mechanic buzzing outside interrupted Leah’s search. It had been eerily quiet this whole time, but it had gone unnoticed until the air was filled with metallic clangs and whirring from outside. Leah abandoned the pile of useless information to make her way over to the door, pulling the tarp aside.

The scene behind the tarp could only be described as a vast desert, resembling the desert Leah dreamed up in the parking lot last night. Cacti stood tall and proud, some bearing fruits. The difference was that there were no cars parked in neat rows between the cacti this time. Red sand had kicked up into a sandstorm, hovering in the air like a fine mist, stinging Leah’s eyes. Even through the red cloud, Leah could tell that the sun was bright and hot as hell, explaining the clamminess covering her skin. 

Something moved in the distance, slowly creeping closer to Leah, though she couldn’t really make out what it was with the sand limiting her vision. All she could really see was the outline of something deer-like—maybe an antelope?—with long straight horns on its head. As it crept closer, Leah could barely make out the color of its fur, the redness of it blending in perfectly with the sand. It moved strangely, limping. Almost… machine-like. 

A gasp escaped her as the animal turned its head, its bright-yellow lights for eyes moving in Leah’s direction.  She stared at her bare feet, frozen in place as her brain tried to process this newly obtained information. 

There was only one explanation. Was it a logical one? No. But it was the only one; 

She had somehow ended up inside her game. 

“How… How is this fucking possible?” Leah asked out loud, eyes drawn back to the machine inching closer. Her skin tingled as its swiveled its head, searching for her. Leah spun on her heel and went back inside to come up with a plan. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, her heart beating fast and hard in her chest.

“This can’t be possible,” she hissed to herself. “It isn’t possible. It isn’t!” She paced back and forth through the room for a moment, reaching for her headphones, tracing the logo with her finger as she often did when she felt an oncoming panic attack. She stood still and forced herself to take a deep breath, thinking back to the exercises her therapist taught her. 

“Five things you can see,” she mumbled, scanning the room. She counted her armchair, the strange chest, and one of the stools, before her eyes were drawn to the pile in the corner. Exercise forgotten, she closed the distance, pulling the blanket aside to reveal a pile of weapons. A sword, a spear, a bow and quiver with a couple of arrows—all kinds of items to fight with. Or more specifically, if her preposterous theory turned out to be true, to fight a machine with. 

#

A way out. That was what she needed. Leah had played the game long enough to know that she wasn’t physically capable of taking out one of those Foragers, even if this one had seemed damaged, judging from its limp. So her only other options were to run or hide. Unfortunately for Leah, the shabby little house didn’t seem to have a back door of any kind, but maybe there was a way for her to get back home? All she needed was some kind of portal, or a bright blue light… Maybe there was a controller hidden in the cushions of her chair that would be able to teleport her back home somehow! Leah physically dived for her chair, pulling its seat cushion away, revealing nothing but crumbs, what looked to be a red skittle, and a five cent coin. Perfectly useless. She wiped the messes onto the floor—all of these items would blend in perfectly with the sand anyway—and put the cushion back. She reached for the blanket next, but there was no clue, no sneaky way back under there either. 

Panic climbed back up her throat, debilitating Leah. Could the Forager smell her out? Could it smell her fear? Was she nothing but a sitting duck? A perfect prey for the machine to kill? 

“Shit, shit, shit…” Leah hissed as the whole room started shaking and vibrating in time with the machine’s every step, inching closer and closer. All Leah could do was crawl on hands and knees toward the door, hoping that, if the machine would come in, it wouldn’t see her right away and she’d have a chance to sneak past it. It was far from a perfect plan, but it was better than nothing. Leah held her breath, knees pulled against her chest as she mentally prepared herself to run as fast as she could. 

Her mantra was interrupted by a series of loud clangs right outside. It was a vaguely familiar sound of metal on metal and scuffling feet, both human and machine. A mechanical roar sounded, followed by a loud whack and a pained, human moan. Something tumbling and rolling… Leah was too scared to check what was happening, but she could imagine what the battle looked like… and what the Forager’s opponent looked like. 

It had to be Valda. It had to be! 

A couple of loud clangs later, there was a sort of gurgling groan, followed by a complete, heavy silence. A blanket that weighed on Leah almost as much as the fear that had frozen her in this spot until now. She finally let go of the breath she’d been holding, lungs physically aching and slowly got back up on her feet. Leah stood there a moment longer, flush with the wall, every inch of her backside pressed against the terracotta clay. 

“That was that…” Valda’s voice sounded. 

Leah immediately made her way outside, met with Valda, who had just crouched over the dead machine, probably scavenging it for scraps and parts. She was about to reach for Valda’s shoulder when suddenly, before Leah could even blink, never mind utter a single word, Valda had her spear aimed right at her throat. The eyes that Leah had come to know as a liquid golden-brown were dark and angry, scrutinizing Leah’s every breath. 

“No! Please wait, Valda, please!” Leah pleaded, hands up in the air. Her heart was pounding so hard and fast, Leah was sure it was audible, even if she couldn’t hear it herself over the blood rushing in her ears. If Valda wanted to she could kill Leah with one swift movement of the spear currently aimed at her throat. Leah had done it, playing as Valda. She knew how easy it could be. 

“I’m not an enemy. I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Leah, and I just want to find a way back home!” 

“Where is your home?” Valda asked, still skeptical. She took Leah in from the top of her head to the tips of her bare toes, pressing in closer with the spear, the tip of it nicking Leah’s skin. “And what are you wearing? Where are you from?” The tip of her spear seemed to radiate a cold air against Leah’s throat, so close that she was afraid to swallow. Every ounce of Leah’s focus went to standing as still as humanly possible, making it hard to answer any questions, despite the urgency in Valda’s voice.

“I don’t know what happened. I’m… I’m not supposed to be here. I was back home, thinking I wanted to get away, and now I’m here. I didn’t mean to get stuck in a game, I was just… Frustrated,” Leah blurted out. She barely made sense to herself, the words sounding absolutely preposterous to her own ears. She wouldn’t even blame Valda for stabbing her at this point. 

Valda, however, eased up a little, her spear seeming a little less menacing now that it was at a more respectable distance from her throat. 

“Do you think this is a game?” Valda asked, her brows knit closely together in a frown. “People are dying here.” She gestured wide at their surroundings with both arms, the spear finally moving away fully, giving Leah space to relax her muscles. 

“That’s… Not what I mean. It’s hard to explain.” Leah scratched the back of her head, trying to find the words and failing miserably. “Could you help me out real quick? There’s a bunch of scrolls and books inside and I don’t… I can’t read whatever language it’s all written in.” 

“How do you know my name?” Valda asked, that skepticism flashing across her face again. 

Leah waved it away. “I’m hoping those papers inside will explain that for me,” she said. “Please?” She tried, giving Valda the best puppy eyes she could muster, when she got an idea. “I’ll reward you!” 

Valda’s eyes brightened, almost as if Leah had said the secret password to gain access. Valda always got rewarded for her quests.

“I wanted to check this place out anyway. I might as well.” 

Leah couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. 

#

Before Leah could even point Valda in the direction of the table, Valda had her nose buried inside the chest under the window. Leah had thought it looked strange earlier, but she hadn’t realized that it was simply beckoning her, begging her to open it. 

“What’s this?” Valda asked as she turned around, inspecting Leah’s armchair by walking around it. She tentatively touched the armrest as she made her way to the other side, finding Leah’s blanket. 

“It’s my armchair. From back home.” 

Valda nodded, lifting the blanket to her nose and sniffing it. “What animal is this made of?” 

Leah scrunched her nose in disgust. “It’s not an animal.” 

“Why would you bring your armchair here? Do you live here?” 

“No, I told you, I want to go back home.” 

Valda frowned, dropping the blanket on the floor again, giving it a fresh new coating of red sand. Leah scoffed and marched over, saving her blanket from the ground and draping it over her armchair instead. Valda was too busy to notice Leah’s scorn, already moving on to the pile of weapons in the corner. She inspected them, but quickly draped the blanket back over them. 

“Is this what you wanted me to look at?” Valda asked, making her way over to the table. Before Leah could respond, Valda’s eyes focused on Leah’s headphones. “What’s that?” 

“My headphones. I listen to music with them—or I would, if I’d have my phone on me.” Leah patted her pockets, coming up empty handed. Not that her phone would work here, but having some music would be nice. 

“Those look new though,” Valda said, reaching out to touch them, stopping just short of them and dropping her hand. “They must be hundreds of years old.” 

“Huh? They are new.” 

Valda shook her head. “What are you, a time traveler?” 

Right. Leah had forgotten what year it was exactly, but the game happened in the far future. “I… I guess you could put it that way.” She let out a loaded sigh, before deciding to just take the plunge. “You’re a game in my world, Valda,” Leah started. “We have disks with games on them, sort of like… decision-based movies? Where you have control over the main character. It’s hard to explain, really, but my point is that I think I’m more of a portal traveler than a time traveler.” 

Valda raised a quizzical eyebrow in response, either unconvinced or very confused. “It sounds like you’re feeding me 2000’s history books.” She put her hands on her hips, eyebrow still raised.

“It’s 2022 where I live. So I guess that would make me both? But I can’t travel through time back home or anything, I just… I somehow stepped through my TV, I think, and now I’m here.” 

Valda’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline with how high she raised them, when Leah got an idea. 

“Okay, you know what? Check your quest log,” Leah suggested. “Check it, and tell me there’s a quest that’s got anything to do with ‘bringing Leah home.’” 

Valda squinted with what Leah thought was suspicion. Curiosity getting the better of her, Valda did as she was told, her right hand moving up and making swift movements in mid-air. Her eyes were scanning, as if she were reading, though Leah couldn’t see anything aside from a faint, bluish glow on Valda’s face, reflecting in her eyes, and a sort of blurry space in the air where Leah suspected the interface was. She watched Valda go through the log, eyes going wider and wider as more time passed. Finally, with a swift flick of Valda’s wrist, the blurry space and the blue glow disappeared.

“I don’t understand…” Valda muttered, slowly shaking her head. “You shouldn’t be here. You can’t be here.” Valda put her index finger on her chin in an overly animated way; a gesture Leah had seen Valda make on the screen when Leah had left to grab a drink, forgetting to pause the game. 

“I just need to find my way back home,” Leah said firmly. “I think there might be some information here, but it’s not… English or anything.”

“English is pretty much a dead language now, so that makes sense…” Valda mumbled as she turned over a book.

“Wait, then how are we even… Never mind.” 

Valda grabbed scroll after sheet after book, letting her finger wander over the pages as she read, taking her sweet, sweet time. Leah had half expected her to simply look at a page and absorb the information within seconds without having to read it. 

“This is mostly Echoes’ research, from the looks of it. It mentions a mysterious device that can open a portal. If you really are a portal traveler, this device should be able to transfer you back home.” 

“That’s great!” 

“It could be, if it exists. Maybe it’s something the Echoes used to work on, but considering that the research is here, they’ve likely abandoned the plans.” 

Leah’s hopes were crushed within seconds. “What… What if you finish all your quests? Save the world from eternal doom? Wouldn’t that give us more options to find out?” 

“Us?” Valda raised that eyebrow again. “I hope for your sake that it’s simpler than that. It could take me years to save this place.” 

Leah giggled nervously. “I guess it could be worse. I could’ve gotten stuck in Animal Crossing. Then I’d definitely be stuck forever if ‘saving the world’ would be the way out.” 

“What?” 

“2022 humor,” Leah said, feeling her breath hitch in her throat. It had only been minutes, maybe hours, and she was already well on her way to her second panic attack. 

“Are you okay? You look sick…” Valda’s hands hovered near her, as if to catch her if she’d faint. At least she’d gotten Valda on her good side, despite everything. 

“I think I’m having a panic attack…” Before Valda could squeeze another word in, Leah started rambling, her anxiety getting the better of her. “I need to get back home, Valda! I… I can’t be here. I can’t! I need to go to work… And what about college? Oh fuck…” Her breaths came quick and painful in her throat, her lungs not inflating enough to let the proper amount of air in. 

“Hey, Leah,” Valda grabbed a hold of Leah’s shoulders. “Leah. You need to take a deep breath.” 

“I’m trying!” Leah replied, frustrated. She wanted to scream, to tear her hair out, to cry and throw a tantrum. She tore herself free from Valda’s grip, pacing the room again, when her eye fell on her armchair again. She could almost physically feel the light bulb pop up over her head. 

“Yeah… yes!” She got back into her armchair, curling up into a ball. “This is how I got here, so this is probably also how I get back. It makes sense.” Leah let out a laugh of total desperation, bordering on hysteric, cheeks wet with tears she didn’t know she’d been crying. She grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her head, hiding herself underneath and put her headphones back on. Leah was positive that Valda was watching it all unfold, thinking that Leah was absolutely unhinged, but if she did, she was kind enough not to say anything. 

Leah wasn’t sure when or how she fell asleep. 

Chapter Three

Leah woke up with a start, throwing the blanket off herself, coughing and thrashing. It had gotten so hot underneath that she couldn’t breathe, leaving her choking. She got up from the armchair, tears brimming in her eyes as she realized that her nap hadn’t changed anything about her surroundings, and Valda seemed to have left her to fend for herself. 

“What am I going to do?” She asked out loud, her throat so dry and scratchy that saying a couple of words sent her into another coughing fit. She needed water. And she needed to find Valda again, if she wanted to survive. 

Leah angrily wiped at the tears, which were instantly replaced with new ones, and pulled her hoodie tighter around her waist. She made her way over to the junk corner again, tearing the blanket off so violently that she took some weapons down with it, sending them clattering to the floor. For at least a couple of minutes, Leah stood completely still, ears perked, straining to hear if she’d alerted any machines, only relaxing when she was positive nothing was coming to kill her. 

Weapons at her feet, she grabbed an ax that looked like it could cleave just about anything in two. If only she was strong enough to lift it properly. Instead, she grabbed the spear, resembling Valda’s. It was much lighter, but it seemed like a weapon that begged for precision—a skill Leah didn’t have. Her only other options were a small dagger (no way she’d come that close to anything), the bow and arrows (she was the worst shot in history) and a sword. The sword was curved and big, but not as heavy as the ax. It seemed easier to wield than the spear, so Leah took it. She was just about to leave the place, when she spotted a flask on the table that hadn’t been there before, right next to a book, open to a page with a map. After sniffing its contents and taking a tentative sip, Leah concluded that it was water. Slightly metallic water, compared to back home, but water nonetheless. She couldn’t be too picky, considering how thirsty she was, unable to stop herself from downing half the flask’s contents, chastising herself right after for being greedy. Who knew when she’d be able to get her hands on more drinking water? She turned to the book. There were two faint X’s scratched into the left side of the map, all the way over in the west. One right through what looked to be a town called Shallowshant. The other south-west of that town, in the middle of the desert. Valda may have left, but at least she hadn’t left her here to die. 

Unable to take the hefty book with her, Leah tore half of the map out of the book, folded it twice, and shoved it in the back pocket of her jeans. She didn’t have a compass or a sense of direction, but maybe she could ask someone for help, and hopefully that someone wouldn’t stab her… 

With fresh panic bubbling through her veins, Leah pushed the tarp aside with her shoulder, flask in one hand, bulky sword in the other. It was still light out, which gave her hope that she hadn’t slept for too long. Valda could still be nearby. The sand storm had died down a little and there didn’t seem to be any machines in the vicinity, so she was off to a good start. She turned around in a semi-circle, hoping to see something, anything, on the horizon that could point her in the right direction. Instead, her eye fell on a cactus. A fruit bearing cactus. She checked her surroundings once more, a shiver running up her spine despite the heat, and set out into the sand to get the fruit, only to burn her feet almost instantly. 

“Shit!” Leah let out, dropping the flask as she jumped back into the shade. She sat down, feet up, soles burning so badly she was positive she could hear them sizzle. She crawled to the edge of the shade, reaching for the flask sitting in the sun, barely able to reach it without having to touch the hot sand. 

Shoes. She needed shoes. She couldn’t wait for the sun to set. Who knows where Valda might be if she’d wait that long! Leah rushed back inside and put the flask and sword on the table, diving back into the corner in search of something to put on her feet, coming up empty handed. Whoever lived here was probably wearing their shoes, unable to go out without them. Maybe the chest that Valda had looted? She rushed over and found it empty, as expected. It wasn’t really big enough for a pair of shoes to fit in there anyway. Leah slumped against the wall next to the chest. She was beginning to consider simply letting the soles of her feet burn off in the sand—a sacrifice she’d have to make if she wanted to catch up to Valda—when she spotted something under the bed. A perfect pair of ugly brown boots! They were at least two sizes too big on her, but it would have to make do. 

Leah set out again, flask and sword in hand, in a pair of boots that would definitely give her blisters, which was still better than second degree burns. She went straight for the cactus she’d spotted earlier, lifting her sword to cut the fruit off, when she saw a shimmering in the distance. It could very well be a figment of Leah’s imagination, a Fata Morgana, a mirage… but it could also be Shallowshant. 

“Only one way to find out,” she muttered, changing course for whatever was taunting her in the distance. Cactus and fruits completely forgotten, Leah started walking. 

#

Leah had walked and walked, but the town seemed to come no closer for a while. Sweat was dripping down her forehead, resting on her cupid’s bow. Hell, she was sweating in places she didn’t know could sweat! Not at all used to the desert, her eyes felt drier than she thought possible, blinking becoming similar to a full body workout with the effort it cost her to close her lids over her dry eyeballs. She shook the flask, trying to guess how much water was left. Parched didn’t begin to cover how she felt in this heat that felt similar to residing in an oven, but she didn’t dare drink any more until she reached the town. Leah had no clue how much time had passed, or if time was passing at all. Every time Leah glanced at the sky to see if the sun had moved, she was blinded by it. She was starting to think the town had genuinely been nothing but wishful thinking, when she reached more solid ground. Her thighs ached as she tread on the dry dirt, hard under her feet compared to the soft, slippery sand, as if her legs only just now realized how exhausting their walk through the desert had been. 

With solid ground came palm trees around an oasis, surrounded with a couple of stalls and merchants looking to sell their wares and, in the distance, a town. Not wanting to get her hopes up, Leah pulled the folded map from her pocket. She barely managed to pry it open, but once she did, she could clearly see the oasis on the map, leading right up to Shallowshant. 

She’d made it! 

With renewed vigor, she marched past the merchants, each of them trying to grab her attention by yelling about the items they sold. Leah ignored them all, only one goal in mind: Finding Valda. 

A guard was posted at the gate, making Leah’s confidence waver. She’d just have to tell him that she was here for business, then he’d surely let her in. Chin high and back straightened, with a fake confidence she didn’t feel, she walked over to the guard, only for him to shoot her one look and let her in without a word. 

Leah let out a meek ‘thank you,’ shoulders hunched as she quickly slithered past him. Within the confines of the gates, Shallowshant was a lot bigger than Leah had expected it to be. Some of the buildings seemed to be at least three floors tall, all of them that same terracotta red as the house in the desert. Red sand lay like a fine mist on the dry ground, crunching under her boots as she walked deeper into the settlement. The sun was finally setting, lights switched on along the path Leah was walking. As she went in deeper, she ran into more people, every single one of them shooting her confused glances. She was horribly out of place in her jeans and T-shirt, her hoodie still tied around her waist. Her headphones likely didn’t help, but she didn’t want to take them off. She didn’t have a bag to carry them in, so taking them off meant carrying them in her hands along with the flask and sword, or leaving them behind altogether. 

Ignoring the confused—and sometimes blatantly disgusted—glances, Leah marched on towards what she thought would be the center of Shallowshant. Along the way she found a makeshift tent with a workbench underneath. It was a sight she remembered from playing the game, where Valda could create arrows and do small upgrades to her weapons and armor. 

She was about to turn into the street just beyond the workbench, when she heard a commotion further ahead. It sounded like people cheering and chanting. Curiosity getting the better of her, Leah followed the sound towards a crowd, standing in a circle. She was too small to look over the rows of people, but too tall and chubby to squeeze through.

“Excuse me,” she said, forcing her way into a woman’s view. “What’s going on over there?” 

“It’s a brawl. I’ve placed my bets on the redhead.” 

A brawl? She hadn’t come across one of those before while playing. Maybe a machine or one of the Echoes had found its way within the walls for Valda to battle? Assuming the redhead was Valda. Leah walked around the boisterous crowd, just as a man with two small children cleared out. Leah quickly moved into their spot, managing to squeeze herself in between two women to the second row, where she could catch glimpses of Valda as she circled the pit, eyes on a man with gigantic, bulging muscles, a bald head and a scar over his left eye. He spat on the ground, right before he let out a roar and pounced, aiming to tackle Valda from the looks of it. Fortunately, Valda was nimble, not just moving out of his way, but kicking him to the ground in the process. The crowd went wild. Someone started a chant, shouting Valda’s name over and over, everybody else quickly joining, except for Leah, who was too worried about Valda’s wellbeing as the man stood back up, blood pouring out of his nose. A vein was genuinely throbbing on his forehead, steam almost literally coming out of his ears as he lunged at Valda again, kicked to the ground again within seconds. 

“You could yield!” Valda suggested, gracefully landing on her feet. 

“Never!” Came the growl in response. 

Within another minute, Valda had him pinned down, arm pulled so far behind his back that Leah was sure it would pop out of its socket any second now. Hands in front of her eyes, Leah looked through her fingers as the man finally admitted defeat. 

The crowd cheered and roared. Money exchanged hands, not just in the crowd, but also from a person at the fighting pit’s gate to Valda as she exited, the man following behind her, shoulders slumped. 

“Better luck next time,” Valda told him, clapping him on the shoulder. 

“I’ll beat you next time, Freckles.”

Without really ending the conversation or saying goodbye, they went their separate ways. Leah had to rush to intercept Valda, catching her before she could walk off. 

“You again?” Valda said, voice going up as if it were a question. 

“You left the map behind for me. Of course I was going to come find you.” 

“I didn’t just want to leave you behind without a safe space,” Valda admitted, a half-smile on her face. “I’m glad you found it.” She was about to leave it at that and walk off, but Leah stepped in front of her.

“I need your help, Valda,” she said, insistent. 

“I helped you already, didn’t I?” 

“No, I mean—yes, you did. But I need your help finding or making that device thing that can get me back home.” 

“I already told you, I don’t know anything about that.” 

“Well, then help me figure it out.” 

Valda frowned, but didn’t give her an outright ‘no,’ which made Leah hopeful. 

“I’ll rewa—” Leah started, but Valda interrupted her.

“Don’t you dare say you’ll reward me. You didn’t last time.” 

Leah groaned. “Fine, I don’t have anything to reward you with. But I can be your sidekick! And in the process we can find out more about the device thing. I’m pretty sure you need to have a conversation or two with the Echoes yourself, I might as well tag along.” 

Valda let out a little snort-laugh, crossing her arms over her chest. “Sidekick? You don’t even know how to fight.” 

“I can fight!” 

“You’re holding your sword the wrong way around.” 

Leah’s cheeks went hot as she turned the sword in her grip. “I knew that…” She mumbled, earning another one of Valda’s painfully scrutinizing glances, eyebrow cocked. “Okay, fine! I don’t know how to fight. But you can teach me and I promise you it’ll be worth it! I know this gam—this world! How else would I know that a Forager’s weakness is between the two chest plates?”

A silence fell over them. Leah squeezed her sword’s handle so hard her knuckles turned white as she mentally begged for Valda to say yes. All she needed was a yes! She’d get Valda to help her along the way. 

Valda relented, dropping her arms, a smirk curling up the corner of her lips, creating a dimple in her freckled cheek. "Maybe,” she said. “But first, I want to see how you fight.”