“Is he dead?” a boy with chestnut colored hair asked, looking down at the body in front of him.
“Of course he’s dead otherwise he wouldn’t be here!” Rae replied shortly, slightly annoyed at her companion.
Frank scowled at the red head next to him.
“I know! What I mean is why hasn’t he opened his eyes yet? He should’ve been running for the hills by now, thinking that he’s gone insane.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he had a really terrible death,” she shrugged in response.
He chuckled lightly.
“Do you know how ridiculous you just sounded? A terrible death? All deaths are terrible,” he exclaimed.
“No shit, Sherlock! You know what I mean. Besides, you do actually have deaths that are worse than others,” she stated.
“No, you don’t,” Frank disagreed.
“Frank, being murdered is worse than dying in your sleep,” the red head tried to explain her point.
“Unless you are murdered in your sleep,” he replied smartly.
The two of them were so wrapped up in their argument that they didn’t notice that the person lying in front of them had opened his eyes.
Gerard slowly opened his eyes. At first the whole world was just a blur, but his focus finally returned and he saw two people, a boy with several tattoos adorning his arms and a girl with red hair, both looking barely younger than him, arguing. They weren’t paying attention to him and he slowly started to sit up.
“He’s awake,” the girl stated, finally noticing him.
“Good morning, sunshine,” the guy grinned.
Gerard looked at the two staring at him intently before looking around. He had no idea where he was except that he was on the sidewalk outside an old brick building.
“How do you feel? Are you okay?” the girl asked him seriously.
He looked at her and then at the guy sitting next to her.
“I’m Frank,” the teen introduced himself. “Welcome to Una.”
The guy named Frank turned his attention to the girl before continuing, “You know it’s kind of ironic that it’s called Una when it’s actually the second life and not the first. It should actually be called two or second or something…”
Frank stopped talking as he noticed Rae glaring at him. He knew that glare and understood that it meant he should shut up. Of course he wouldn’t dare say another word. This guy intrigued him for some unexplainable reason and if he kept talking, Rae would literally chase him away.
Gerard opened his mouth to reply, but nothing would come out. He cleared his throat and tried again.
“Gerard,” he croaked out.
“Like Frank said, welcome,” Rae smiled pleasantly at him.
“Where am I?” Gerard wanted to know.
“You’re dead…” Frank informed him only to receive a hard punch in the arm from Rae. “Mfph!”
“You’re on Una,” Rae replied, ignoring Frank’s groan.
“What do you mean I’m dead?” Gerard asked confused.
“Dude, you…” Frank started, but was cut off as Rae elbowed in the ribs.
“It’s a long story, but we’ll explain it all to you in due time,” Rae told Gerard, offering him a comforting smile.
Gerard looked confused from the one to the other and then his gaze stopped at Frank.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
Frank looked at Rae, afraid to get another punch or maybe even a kick. Rae shook her head, sighing.
“Tell me!” Gerard insisted a little angrily.
He just woke up, but he was already infuriated by the two strangers in front of him. He had just been in a car accident and he didn’t appreciate their sick jokes or vague answers. However, there was no sign of the car or any proof of the accident as far as he could tell and that confused him even more. How long was he unconscious or in a coma? What was going on?
Rae sighed once again before she decided to answer him truthfully.
“You really are dead.”
“What are you talking about? I’m right here,” he stated.
“You’re dead, dude. Plain and simple,” Frank shrugged innocently.
“I’m not dead!” Gerard insisted through gritted teeth. “I’m breathing and I’m talking to you two loons. I can’t be dead. Can I?” he asked, voice cracking at the end.
“This is the afterlife. Once you die on Earth, this is where you come,” Rae informed him. “Some people anyway,” she added.
Gerard wanted to laugh out loud and tell her that she was crazy, but one look in her eyes told him that she was being completely serious.
“But how can that be?” he wondered quietly, the reality still refusing to dawn on him.
“Like she said, it’s a long story. Come with us and we’ll tell you everything you need to know,” Frank told him, getting up and offering him a hand.
Only now did Gerard notice how short he was. He was hesitant to accept his outstretched hand, because he still wasn’t sure if he should trust them, but since he didn’t have much of a choice, he extended his hand and Frank helped him up.
“How did you die anyway?” Frank asked as they started up the street and Gerard informed him of his car accident.

***

Gerard carefully observed his surroundings as they walked along the sidewalk. They were surrounded by tall brick buildings. The traffic was terrible. Car horns sounded everywhere as cars stood closely together waiting for the light to turn. The sky was overcast with dark clouds. He was surprised to see that the streets were fairly clean. People moved along, completely ignoring one another. They seemed almost sullen.
He hadn’t been paying much attention to where they were going until they stopped in front of one of the buildings. None of the buildings were painted which was slightly odd, but not the most important of his worries at that point. The second they entered the building, he knew exactly where they were.
“Starbucks?” he asked surprised.
“Yeah, the greatest place on Earth, right?” Frank grinned broadly. “And on Una for that matter.”
The threesome ordered their coffees and found a table near the back of the store.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Gerard wanted to know from his place across the table from them.
“This is the Afterlife. When you die on Earth, you come here,” the red head started to explain, but he cut her off, “You already told me that, but you haven’t explained to me why you said that.”
“Because it’s the truth,” Frank said. “Heaven and hell? Up until this point, I still don’t believe in that.”
“I’m sure there is a heaven and a hell, but not everyone goes there when they die. You see, Una is like a parallel world to Earth, except that there aren’t copies of you on each of them. Let me explain it to you. The place you die on earth is the place you show up here on Una. When you die in a hospital and it happens to be situated in the same place as the railroad on Una…”
“Splash!” Frank interjected, cutting Rae’s explanation short. “Like you for instance. If Rae and I didn’t find you when we did, you would’ve been road kill all over.”
The red head felt like smacking him. He really wasn’t making this very easy with his tactless comments.
“This is ridiculous,” Gerard muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Maybe, but that doesn’t make it any less real,” Rae insisted.
“Let’s say I believe you,” he stated. “How exactly does it work? I mean why did I come here? Why not heaven or hell?”
“My opinion is that the severity of your death determines whether you end up here or somewhere else. The people here all die badly,” Frank claimed.
“But that can’t be true since according to you everyone dies badly,” Rae argued. “No, Nana’s theory is that people who die young come to Una. It’s like a second chance at life. No one over twenty five shows up here. Everyone’s always younger than that.”
“And if you die on Earth and you’re younger than twenty five years old, you come here?” Gerard checked.
The two people sitting in front of him nodded in response.
“Then my sister will be around here somewhere!” he suddenly exclaimed, jumping up.
“Wait, what?” Frank asked, for once being the one confused.
“My sister was in the car with me when we got in the accident,” he hurriedly explained.
Frank frowned deeply. This wasn’t normal. Sure, people eventually remembered their life on earth, but when they first show up on Una they merely remember the basic details: their name, how old they are and how they died. Gerard shouldn’t be remembering his sister just yet.
“Wait a second, you remember her?” Rae asked also stunned.
“Of course I do! She’s my sister and I have to find her!” Gerard exclaimed, heading for the door.
“Hold on! You can’t just run off!” Rae called after him.
Gerard ignored her as he ran out and back down the street. He needed to find his sister and make sure that she’s okay. If this place was what they told him then he needed to know if his sister was still alive or not. If he didn’t find her then there might be a good possibility that she survived the accident and right now he just has to cling on to that hope.

***

“Mother…” Rae gritted her teeth to stop her exclamation. “That idiot has no idea what he’s doing!”
“Tell me about it,” Frank agreed, jumping up from his seat. “But we have to catch up to him before he disappears.”
“You’re right, we have to find him,” Rae nodded as she ran out the door, Frank short on her heels, and looked up worriedly at the darkening sky.
This was really not good.