Post Apocalypse

October 16th, 2020.

Winter was approaching. The frozen, unmerciful gusts would too much to handle without some form of shelter. Jackets always helped but a place to bunker down was a requirement rather than a choice. The amount of time it took to find a new stable shelter was, unfortunately, much longer than they imagined.

The current residential area that Eli and Casey were searching, had little in terms of protection from the elements. Many homes had shattered windows and broken doors from the scavengers that had been here before. Very few offered any hope for food or running water..If it held anything of value, it would be a grueling search to be found.

Laura's current location told the story of a once beautiful mall. Signs saying "50% off jeans" and the like, it was clearly geared towards teenagers and young adults looking to make a statement. Three stories of hit fashion stores, food courts, jewelry departments, and gaming hubs lined the halls. What was still left is exactly why Laura was here.

When winter is upon you, you will tell yourself that you are not ready...

Another day, another myriad of depression sources. The soft sigh that escaped Laura's lips immediately turned to a soft white mist. The empty, trash-covered floors over the supermarket she had been residing in remained unchanged. The same decayed and moldy cardboard containers, the same empty soda cans and the same decaying, insect-riddled corpses. Laura stepped over one now, cringing inwardly as her heel clips a limp arm. She had never been squeamish, though something about the soft thud of the bodies limp arm hitting the ground caused her to shiver.

She had already scoured this superstore, most of it having already been looted before she had even arrived in this city. Her eyes trail over the stores around her, eventually settling on a small food-market. After checking her rapiers where still in position on her hip and back, she stepped through the long since broken down opening gates, bumping it open with her knee as she moves down the isles. She pulls up the front of her jacket, protecting her nose and mouth from the stench of decaying food.

Meandering around the corridors produced only a few cans of beans and some rotten corn. Not the best I've done... She packs the food away beside her rags and gear in her backpack before slinging it back over her shoulder. With another white sigh she adjusted her jacket, cracking her neck as she meanders into a clothing store, finding only a knee-length pink skirt, a baseball cap and a hoodie. She raises an eyebrow at the skirt, sighing before tossing it aside. She stuffs the jacket into her backpack beside the cap. She quickly moved from the clothing store to a nearby gun store. After spending a few minutes trying to get open a safe in the back room, she gives up, settling for an empty Colt Pistol and six shotgun shells.

Satisfied that she had enough to last her the night, she moves to the superstores upper levels, returning to her sanctuary in the rooftop gardens. She had been up here for the whole week. Her position offering her a perfect view over the decimated landscape and car park surrounding the store, whilst also having some overgrown flowers and grass so that it was not abhorrently depressing. She drops onto the towel that had been her bed, setting her backpack aside as she unholsters her two rapiers. A smile tugs her lips as she gently runs a finger over the length of their blades, removing the small black sharpening rock from her backpack's front pocket. She slowly begins sliding along the blades length, the sharp sound of a sharpening blade calming her as she hones their edge.

Thinking back to the previous years she sighs. She had only had to kill a real person once, and his face still haunted her dreams. Dreaming and sleeping used to be the one leisure in a destroyed world, and now even that had been taken from her. Tomorrow she would venture to the city center. Maybe there, she could find another survivors. For now though, she simply lay back. Both swords clutched to her chest as she collapses into the blackness of unconsciousness. Continuing her search for peace, and for another night she failed to find it.

"Do you think it's going to rain?"

The sky was dark with greying clouds, slow moving as the bitter breeze pushed them along, nipped at the back of her neck. The hair on her skin rose, grasping for any sort of warmth within the chilled air. Her fingers grasped the neck of her jacket, pulling it up and holding it tight against her skin. Her head lowered and her shoulder lifted up, crossing her arms to complete the look of defying the weather. She even scrunched up her freckled nose, looking around at all the tattered and broken buildings.

She walked at a moderately slow pace, her boots shifting the small pebbles and dirt below her feet. Her eyes followed the flowing fur before her as the canine traveled a little further ahead. "Because if it snows I'm going to be pissed." She chuckled at the thought, looking over her shoulder at her father who trailed closely behind.

The dog that walked ahead trailed off to the side of the road, nose plastered to the ground. It came to a stop near one of the many homes, all aligned perfectly along the street. The canine's head rose and it's tail wagged. It whined softly, almost beckoning Casey, come look. The young woman raised an eyebrow, her mouth dropping out of curiosity. "What is it Sam?" She let her arms and shoulders drop, jogging the next few paces to meet the dog by her side. Sammie looked up at the auburn haired girl, nudging her hand. The young woman, although never looking back down at the dog, scratched the top of her head softly.

Casey's gaze followed that of where her companion's was, leading her to the tanned door and the broken windows. The lawn was brown, but the remnants of small flowers lined the pathway to the front door. Casey could imagine the deep purples and the vibrant reds that they used to be, but they were nothing more than drying, dead stems and leaves now. She sighed as she returned her focus to the front door.

There wasn't any direct movement from inside. At least not in the front rooms. "Do you think a Z is inside?" She looked over to her father before finally looked down at the canine beside her. "Is that what you smell?" Casey knelt down, rubbing her hand along the dog's head. "Or is it food?" The dog simply looked at her with a blank face, it's brown eyes not even blinking.

Casey sighed. "I wish you could talk." She then stood up with a huff. Turning to the older man and shifting her jacket again, she asked,"So, what do you think? Want to check it out?"

As the sun rose the following day, Laura woke with a sharp gasp. Her breath coming out in short sharp puffs of white as her mind slowly begins to comprehend her surroundings. The same questions she asks herself every morning pinging around her skull.

What is your name? Where are you? Are you safe? Are you alone?

With effort she forces her breathing to calm down, the image of a mountains of corpses still clouding her mind as she regains control of herself.

Laura. Supermarket roof. Yes. Yes.

She rubs a hand through her unruly crimson hair, pushing it away from her eyes as she stands slowly. Today was the day she would move on. Her universal rule of moving at least once a week kicking in. After standing, she tightens the belt on her hip along with the harness over her back. With both swords in place, she slings her backpack over her shoulder. The weight comforting between her shoulders. The relaxation of routine.

Three hours later she was striding down the center of one of the main roads that crisscrossed through the city. Instict told her to stick to the storefronts, to not make herself so obvious. But hell, at least if someone attacked her she'd know that she wasn't the only one alive. She sheer impossibility of that hope immediately dampened her mood.

Hours of looking for another place to set up camp were fruitless. Though, pacing down a smaller street near the city edges, she found footprints in the dust of the ground. Kneeling she gingerly trails her index finger around the edge. So I'm not alone. The thought was both comforting and terrifying. She exhales gently, standing once more as she rests a hand on the pommel of her parry-blade, setting off to follow the tracks, the faintest of smiles tugging her lips.

~~

The tracks had been a dead end. Leading into a small house which had contained the rather depressing bodies of a large male and a younger child. Both several months old. She couldn't bring herself to check them for gear, instead muttering a slight prayer and returning outside. She followed the street as the sun went down, eventually deciding it was time to set up camp, finding the first multi-story home she could. Laura had always wanted to be up high. She shoulders open the door, moving into the dim interior. Inside, a lone zombie meandered through the corridors. She sidestepped him, taking little joy in the outmaneuvering of the beast. It's lack of sense leaving it to be a very small accomplishment. She made her way upstairs, finding the first bedroom. Inside, the door shut behind her with a cabinet pushed up against it, she lay on the floor. The bed too unnatural to her by now. She remained where she was, simply staring at the roof. Thinking.