The elephant in the compartment perched on the tray in the form of a worn-out postcard. It was crumpled and had a corner missing as though it had been torn off. Zoe flipped it over. Facing it down, she was unwilling to read it for the thousandth time since they had received it. The words burnt brightly in her mind but it made no sense.

Come to The Fields.

“Who do you think send it?”

“I don’t know” replied Zoe.

Zoe gazed at the moving landscape out the window ignoring Leo. The metro was passing through one of the numerous Red Zones. The remnants of the war were clear as the barren sky. There were no birds; living or nonliving. A few skeletal remains of the once massive skyscrapers still stood amount the mounds of rubble. The cities were never rebuilt and the inhabitants had slowly moved on. The Red Zones were turned into scrapyards or dumping grounds only visited by Scavengers.

“Come on Zo! You must have some idea.”

“I don’t know.”

“Sissy! Why won’t you tell me?”

“Don’t call me that!”

Zoe slammed her hand on the tray sending the postcard flying to the floor. She counted to ten like her father had taught her to do when she got angry. Leo grabbed the card and slipped it back on her.

“Do you think it’s about Mom? She liked flowers,” he asked.

“She was a Botanist. She loved flowers. She …”

A tear fell on the faded red lily but was quickly wiped away by Zoe. Those were her favorite flowers. She switched on the holographic screensaver. The sound of raindrops filled their compartment.

“This looks like Father’s handwriting,” she whispered, “But why would he send an old postcard?”

“It’s low-tech. Maybe he doesn’t want to be traced.”

“Maybe.”

“Doesn’t Uncle Jack work at The Fields?”

“Yes, and so did Mother.”

“What do we do?” he asked.

“I think we should visit Uncle Jack at his house and ask for his help.”

We have arrived at station 4.

Zoe and Leo got off and made their way out of the station. A figure swiftly followed them.

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“Do you have it or not?”

“You find him and get that formula!”

“I don’t care how!”

Zoe ran back to the couch and nudged Leo. They pretended to eat their sandwich. A tall man in a black suit came in the French window.

“Sorry children. Work call. I had to take that,” he sat opposite them, “So tell me what are you doing here?”

“It’s a month now. Where is Father?” Zoe asked.

“We miss him” Leo chimed in.

“Sorry children. I can’t tell you that. You know your father does top-secret research.”

“But Uncle Jack, he’s never gone so long without calling us,” Zoe said.

“You are the spitting image of your mother. Do you know how we met? The three of us.”

“No” they replied.

“It was during the war. Your father and I, we were stationed in the red zone. During one of the raids, we got separated from our group. We didn’t have food and our oxygen was low. So, we took turns staying up and keeping watch. Somehow, we survived that night. Your father, he was wounded but I never knew he was hurt. At dawn, a search party rescued us. Your mother was one of the doctors at base camp.”

Jack paced to the door and then back to the couch. Leo moved closer to Zoe. He opened his backpack and snuck out cans of pepper spray for his sister.

“She was a brilliant woman. Did you know she had found a way to extract the neurotoxin from lilies and developed it into a viable medicine?”

“No” Zoe and Leo shook their heads.

“Of course, you didn’t. She didn’t trust anyone! I gave up everything and followed her but all she did was ignore me. Even after I became the CEO of The Field, she wouldn’t trust me. She refused to share the formula with me. All because of your father! She loved him! She trusted him!”

Jack had circled behind them. He grabbed the children by their hair dragging them off the couch.

“Let go!” yelled Leo.

Zoe sprayed the pepper spray but the can was at the wrong angle and missed its target. Leo gripped Jack’s hand trying to get free.

“Computer lock down the house,” Jack instructed.

A figure crashed through the French window.

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“How do we know we can believe you,” Zoe asked.

“Yeah!” Leo said.

The figure smiled at them. He held out his palm. In it was the missing corner of the postcard. Zoe and Leo looked at each other and then at the man.

“Take it and join it to the postcard,” he said.

Zoe grabbed the corner and Leo held the card up in the air. When the two pieces touched, they joined together. The postcard was in one piece and the red lilies turned into their family picture.

“Woah! How did that happen?” Leo asked.

“Your father developed that technology. It’s one of his many -”

“Where is Father?” Zoe interrupted.

“He’s safe and recovering. We are on the way to see him now.”

“What about Uncle Jack?” Leo asked.

“He is not a good man. He poisoned your mother when she wouldn’t give him the formula. Then he kidnapped your father but he managed to escape. He was worried about both of you but there was no way to be sure that Jack was not keeping an eye on you.”

“Then why did you send us the postcard?” Zoe asked.

“For your safety. We were following you through your GPS watches. We were going to collect you once you got out of the station but instead of going to the office as we expected you went to your uncle’s house.”

The car stopped outside City Hospital and the man got out. Zoe held out her hand for Leo. Holding hands, they made their way to their father.