Page 3 of The Hollowed
Crime ran rampant, too.
Luci had seen this sight more times than she could count. Flashing lights, armored uniforms, tension thick in the air. She instinctively tried to slip past them like always, but this time, a firm hand raised and halted her footsteps.
“Sorry, can’t let anyone in or out,” the officer said, his tone indifferent. It was a weak excuse, barely more than a wall of words.
“What do you mean? I need to check on my friend,” Luci shot back, her voice trembling not from the cold, but from the simmering dread building inside her. “She’s not answering my messages,” she added. After all, she hadn’t dragged herselfthrough this concrete city just to be turned away.
Not now when something felt undeniably wrong.
“Yeah, yeah, the grid’s on lockdown until we get the situation cleared,” the officer muttered,
voice flat and devoid of all concern.
Luci loathed many things — cold coffee, cheap lies, and being constantly under surveillance. But her disdain for officers and their addiction to authority ranked near the top.
She carried a badge too. Hers just happened to have the title ofdoctorengraved on it, a title earned, not handed out. But even that didn’t give her the right to treat people like they didn’t matter.
“Well, is everything okay? I walked here all the way from Maryland Ave,” she continued, the chill starting to nip at her fingertips. “The least you could do is tell me something — anything.”
“Yeah? That’s a hell of a walk.” The officer gave a low, humorless chuckle. “Might wanna start heading back before it gets even colder out here.”
Luci briefly fantasized about grabbing the smug officer by the collar and knocking the wind out of him, just enough to make a point. But even that thought risked everything. One wrong move and her contract with the Institute would go up in smoke. So instead, she inhaled deeply, let the burn of frustration settle in her chest, and pivoted on her heel.
This wasn’t new. Lockdowns happened more often than city updates. If the grid was frozen, it probably just meant a few hours of silence before her messages went through. A few hours before her screen lit up with a casual “What’s for dinner tonight?” from Danielle, like nothing had happened at all.
Everything will be fine,she told herself again and again as she trudged back into the haze of the city.
By the time Luci returned to the hospital complex where she was lucky enough to live, exhaustion had burrowed deep into her bones. All she could think about was wrapping her stiff, cold hands around a warm drink.
Maybe, just maybe, there was still one last packet of hot chocolate left in the cupboard.
She stepped into the elevator and leaned against the wall as it climbed up to the thirteenth floor. With every passing level, she prayed her brother hadn’t used the last of the good stuff. It was barely mid-afternoon, but the day had already chewed her up and spit her back out.
As she reached the apartment door, the chip in her palm activated the lock with a faint click.
Another tiny convenience, courtesy of the Prometheus collective. The door slid open, and she was met by a familiar sight: Noah hunched over his laptop, typing furiously with his usual focus. It wasn’t one of those sleek holographic models everyone flaunted. No, his machine was a clunky relic, one Luci had secretly spent months saving up for, just to make his life a little more bearable.
He never asked for it. Never asked for anything, really.
Noah had sacrificed more than just time and comfort to look after her. Years of his own life, aspirations paused or cast aside completely. In truth, no machine, no matter how advanced, could ever repay that kind of loyalty.
“You look cold,” Noah called from behind his computer screen, his eyes never leaving the glowing display. It made Luci laugh. He hadn’t even looked up, yet he had still managed to clock herstate perfectly.
“Freezing actually,” she replied, peeling off her layers with stiff fingers before rummaging through their nearly empty cupboard.
They were running low on essentials again. Nothing dire yet, but she’d been putting off dipping into her bank account. Another time loan wasn’t an option she wanted to consider, not this soon and certainly not after the last one.
Noah pitched in when he could, but in their world, time was often more valuable than money, and he had already given her plenty of both.
“I’ll stop by the store on my way back from work,” he said casually, still typing.
Luci didn’t need to ask how he knew. After so many years of coexisting in the same cramped apartment, their thoughts often ran on the same wavelength, predictably intertwined and dependable.
“You sure? It’ll be late by the time you get home,” Luci said, still hunting for the box of hot chocolate packets she’d stashed away for cold gray days just like this.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine. The hot chocolate’s in the other cupboard,” Noah replied, not missing a beat. “You moved it the last time you got mad at me and started deep cleaning the entire kitchen.”
Luci’s lips tugged into a smile. The days had blurred together lately, one bleeding into the next until everything felt like an endless loop, but he was right, she had moved it. Sure enough, the box sat exactly where he said it would be, waiting patiently for her like a silentI told you so.