The Ruins Of Tomorrow

05. North

The last time I'd been to a city was when we were being transported to the military camp. Everything was a complete mess during that time. Criminal activity was rising everywhere, bad people raided stores, car wrecks kept occurring every minute, no one was safe. There was a lot of it on every corner and nothing could be done about it. It just happened so quickly and no one bothered to interfere since it was considered to be too late.

I kept getting a swarm of discomfort every now and then. Even more when we reached the end of the main road that led to two different paths. I had to scan my map again, trying to decide which route was safest to take. Cutting across the city would expose us greatly. It would leave us in an open area and a target behind our backs, but it could grant us a better chance at finding food and other supplies.

We needed to keep low. As much as we needed to find more food and water, it would be pointless to run into something unfortunate. I didn't want to keep thinking about what happened with Ronald and Daniel. It was a matter of time before they radioed their group for backup and if that happened instead, it would screw over my plan. It would trample everything.

I glanced over to check on Thomas who was sitting on a log, kicking his feet in boredom. We'd ditched the wagon in the end, it lasted half an hour before it jerked apart and the wheels swerved to the left. Thomas didn't care about it as much as I did, it didn't stop me from trying to fix it either. I just wanted something to go right for once.

"I don't think this is going to work," I said, looking back at it from an angle.

"Are you sure you screwed the nails back in?" He said, crouching beside me with his arms above his knees.

"I did all of that and the stupid—the freaking wheels don't want to stay attached," I grunted and tossed the metal tool to the side.

He drew his head back quickly. He knew I usually left things untouched, not bothering to fix something like bikes or scooters, but I kept trying only to see him smile, or else I wouldn't waste my time on such things. "It's okay." He waved back his hand. "We could always just find something else to use along the way."

I'd noticed Thomas shaking his head, he tried staying awake by pinching his hand every minute or by slapping his cheeks whenever I wasn't looking. I'd figured he was exhausted by the amount of times he'd yawned in the past ten minutes. I don't remember the last time we sat down to take a break that wasn't less than five minutes.

I whipped out my map from my pocket and took out a red pen. I bit the cap off, trying to see what was the closest checkpoint so we could rest awhile. There was a store 4.4 miles out from here and the town we're headed to would just be another couple miles out.

"So what's this town called?" Thomas asked, bumping his shoulder with mine, he tried getting a glimpse at the map in my hands. "You want us to take a safer route, right?"

I nodded and stuck the cap back in the pen. "The city is dangerous. I don't want to risk it. We're cutting through a town called Terrenceville. It will lead us to Oak Ridge."

We entered through the employees' backdoor of the store on the other side of the building. We passed a bathroom and water fountain, finding the front entrance and the small checkout area. It was rather chilly and the place felt stuffy. I hadn't noticed how red my hands appeared after I continued to rub them to keep warm.

Thomas wasn't bothered by the cold as much, but that was because he had two jackets and a sweater underneath. He was the only one who had a pair of fuzzy gloves and thick socks. It hadn't snowed quite yet, but I could feel the air getting colder and the sky turning more sad.

He approached the aisles, taking his index finger and sliding it across the dusty shelves. He rubbed his fingertips together and spun around until he was facing a section of candy and bubblegum. I was searching behind the counter when something made me look up.