Flo

  Flo stumbled after the Shadow as he pulled him forward. Flo would never have thought that he would one day hold hands with a Shadow. Really. He never did.

  In general, he had never held hands with anyone... It was a good feeling. Safe. Nice.

  He almost got butterflies in his stomach if the person and the situation weren't so terrifying. The soldier was wearing the red mask, but Flo was sure that it was the man he had recently followed out of stupidity. The voice. Flo had recognized the voice. It sounded just as clear as before. As if they were not running for their fate.

  Flo was sure. It was the same voice. The same person.

  The man (or was he just a boy?) held Flo with his uninjured hand. It felt cold and smooth. Almost not like the hand of a human being. He did not tremble and did not seem out of breath. The silvery hair shimmered slightly. Flo stared at the hair so as not to see the destruction around him. He trembled. He felt sick.

  "Come!" growled the shadow. "Don't slow down!"

  But Flo was out of breath. Only the adrenaline kept him on his feet. "I..."

  "Walk! We're almost there! Or do you want to stay here? All the vilgers are dead!"

  Of course, Flo didn't want that. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go to his bed. He wanted to crawl under his bnket and pretend that nothing had happened. "I..."

  "Come. Burgstadt will already have activated the security protocol."

  "This..." Flo was dizzy. But he followed the Shadow, which pulled him mercilessly on. No predator followed them. Maybe they were all dead, too.

  The two were lucky. Burgstadt was not yet gone. But the emergency arm was already sounding and the doors were closed. Steam rose from the chimneys and they heard the gears of the engines creaking and howling. "Run!" The Shadow and Flo passed by the stairs that Flo had descended. "Quick!"

  Flo would have liked to tell him that he was already running as fast as he could, but he had no breath to do so.

  "Come!" The Shadow ran all the faster. Flo stumbled breathlessly. "That’s good!" said the shadow suddenly, clutching Flo's hand tightly. "Very good."

  What‘s good? Flo wanted to ask, but that didn't happen either. Instead, he saw what the Shadow noticed. One of the elevators was still there. One of the windows was smashed. Perhaps the work of one of these cat-like monsters. Shards were everywhere. The Shadow pushed Flo in, then followed him.

  Flo fell. Shards of gss cut into his palms. Then he heard something hissing. Next to him sat a tiny kitten. Spotted like a cheetah and with the eyes of a wolf. At the same time, the city began to move. The elevator cracked as it was pulled away with the city on a steel cable. "Ah."

  "Wolf cat!"

  "What?" Flo looked at the Shadow. The animal hissed and held its rge ears ft, unusually fluffy wolf ears.

  "That's a wolf cat! It's only a few days old."

  When the soldier tried to grab the animal, Flo took it in his arms. Instinctively. The soldier just nodded, then turned the turntable to set the elevator in motion. If they didn't go up, Burgstadt would pull the elevator behind it. Flo clutched his belongings and now also the animal child. If the city reached the sea, they would drown. If they didn't fall out of the open door first.

  The elevator did not move. Neither did the hub.

  "Hm." The Shadow only shook his head, then kicked the turntable. Immediately it moved. "Hold on."

  Flo pressed himself against the wall, then he heard the rattle of the steel cable. The elevator creaked and was pulled up. It wavered. Flo fell forward. Only the Shadow stood between him and the open door. The tter blocked him as if Flo weighed nothing.

  The wolf cat meowed and cwed into the fabric of Flo's clothes. At least it sounded like a meow.

  The elevator dangled swaying under Burgstadt until they finally reached the outer wall. Slowly they drove up and finally arrived at a locked door, which opened automatically when they got to it. Just like the other elevator door that Flo leaned against. And so he did fall again and nded on hard ground. The Shadow stepped over him without a care in the world.

  "Follow me. I'll take you to Level 3. You can't stay here", he said unperturbed.

  "Where are we?" Shivering and staggering, bag and wolf cat tucked under one arm, Flo stood up. Behind him, the door closed with a mechanical beep. The sound was foreign to Flo.

  "Eh?" He wanted to turn to the door, but the Shadow was already moving forward. And he didn't wait. So Flo hurried after him.

  "Come on. Don't dawdle."

  "Where are we?" repeated Flo. The corridor in which they found themselves was grey. Grey walls, grey floor, white light... Somewhere there was a beeping and something was whirring mechanically.

  "Level 2. Next to the boratory. Come now!"

  ?2?“

  "Yes. Come... Oh. A problem."

  "Huh?"

  "Hush."

  "Wha..." Surprised, Flo blinked and backed away behind the back of the Shadow in front of him. Someone was standing in front of them. Another Shadow.

  "Number 100? You're te. Who is that?" When he had come, Flo did not know. He hadn't heard him. This man was also wearing a red mask.

  "A civilian. Saved him. I take him to Level 3", Flo's rescuer answered curtly and emotionlessly. "He's injured."

  "Ah." The other Shadow spoke just as emotionlessly. He sounded almost bored. As if he were completely untouched by the horror in front of Burgstadt. Was that a superior? They looked almost identical. Hair, physique, even the voice was somewhat simir.

  "Good. He can‘t be here." The second Shadow looked at Flo. His eyes, as red as the mask, seemed cold.

  "I know." Flo's rescuer nodded. "I was just about to do that."

  "What’s inside there?" The Shadow pointed to Flo's bag.

  "What’s inside your bag?" his rescuer repeated.

  "I... Ah..." At first, Flo wanted to beg them to spare the animal, but he couldn’t see it, although he felt the weight of the wolf cat. "Purchases?"

  "What exactly?" the man asked further.

  "Spare parts... I sell spare parts and…", Flo stammered. "One charger, one battery... Purchases."

  The other shadow nodded. Then he walked past them without a word.

  "Come", repeated Flo's rescuer.

  "Yes... You? So... What..." Flo stared at the bag in confusion. Unmoving.

  "Wolf cats can become invisible. Young animals do this instinctively when they feel threatened. But they are still too young to become invisible at will. They have no control. You're lucky." The Shadow grabbed Flo's hand again. "Come."

  The still-invisible wolf cat meowed softly.

  "Oh." Then Flo remembered something else. The name... "Is your name truly 100?"

  "Hm."

  "Yes or no?" That's a very strange name.

  "It's my Number."

  Number?

  "Come. No more questions. Those will only stop us. Come with me!" said the Shadow. Number 100.

  It took some time until they arrived at another elevator. On the way there, they met no one else. It was almost quiet in the barren corridors of Level 2. Only their footsteps could be heard. Their footsteps and the whirring of machines. No. Just Flo's steps. Number 100 moved silently.

  The elevator was nothing more than a rge iron cage. Number 100 opened a grate and led Flo inside. Then he pressed a turntable again and the elevator started to move, rattling. After a short time, a thick iron door opened to Level 3. Flo looked directly at the back quarter of the Level.

  "Go."

  "Ah... Yes..." Flo nodded and stepped out of the elevator. The iron door closed before he could thank his rescuer. All that remained was a wall. There was no trace that this was the door of an elevator. "What?"

  "Mew?"

  "I think so too!" The wolf cat had become visible again and was rubbing its little head against Flo's leather jacket. "You're really a cutie. But what do I do with you? How did you get into the elevator?... I..." I almost died!

  "Mew?"

  "Yes... Let's go home."

  Red light lit up the streets of Level 3. The arm siren was heard for a short time until it finally fell silent and the normal light illuminated the paths again. No one was to be seen. Everyone hid in their huts, quarters, workpces. This was required by the security protocol.

  Flo reached his shop without being seen. He put the wolf cat in a basket and let himself fall into his bed. He put the backpack on the ground. He hadn't checked yet to see if anything else had fallen out.

  Exhausted, he looked at the tiny creature.

  "What am I going to do with you? What do you eat? Will you also be 2 meters tall?"

  "Mew?"

  "You need a name..."

  "Mew."

  "Maybe something else..."

  "Waff!"