The Ruins Of Tomorrow

33. You're Not A Man, But A Monster

The sky appeared bright white, as a small amount of snow was already coming down. We hid our vehicles in the underground parking garage. It led straight across the movie theater as there were abandoned cars and we figured it would be best to not leave it out in the open.

My head had been throbbing since we arrived and I've been trying to ignore the pain, but it was already challenging enough. We stopped at the end of the sidewalk, taking in our surroundings and saw the tall buildings standing side by side with each other. Dean had to take out his map as Melissa pointed down the road. "We should go this way. I remember there are a few stores in that direction."

"What do you think, Scarlet?" Noah asked, looking down at me.

"I only remember the main street and a few other buildings that way," I said, pointing to the opposite. "But we should look at the stores instead. I know most of them were locked up from the last time I remember, so I don't know if they've been searched or not yet."

"We will split groups so we can search the most here. I want us to head back home before it gets too dark or the weather gets worse. Everyone has a radio, so please use it in case of emergencies."

We all nodded at his orders as Melissa and Noah followed him across the street and I saw them vanish through an alleyway. I turned around as Liam was looking down at his map again. "It's probably important to not stay outside for too long in case someone spots us. We should pick a building and get in and out quickly."

We followed him towards the back of a diner place. We peeked through the windows as it looked fairly empty, but the front doors were locked. We traveled around until we saw two double doors that must have led to the back of the kitchen. Liam whipped out a crowbar from his backpack and propped it in between the doors. He grunted and pulled back with a lot of force as the right door burst open. It was completely dark as we took out our flashlights and looked around the corners before stepping all the way inside.

"I'll start in the manager's office room," Gabrian said. "We should also look to see if there's a pharmacy or clinic nearby after this," he said, gesturing with his finger and turning down the hallway.

I let Liam search the kitchen for any salvageable food, as there could have been supplies in the storage room or in a pantry. I stepped foot into the dining area, scanning the front of the diner before I searched the long counter. Red booths were nestled against the smudged windows with a pleasant view of the outside. Unfortunately, though there was not much to look at nowadays. The snow was slowly piling up in the big streets as it wouldn't be long until the roads got more dangerous. 

I looked back at the countertop and clicked one of the buttons on the cashier. I gazed behind me and scanned over the big whiteboard with daily specials written on it. They had their popular tomato soup with grilled cheese on Fridays and broccoli cheddar soup on Wednesday.

The thought of it made me hungry, but also sad. I looked around the tables again, wondering what it must have been like to sit down at your favorite restaurant one last time and not being able to do it the next day because everything in the world went wrong.

It was like that for everyone. Like going to the pharmacy one last time to pick up your prescription, or going to school excited about a field trip, or clocking in for work. The day everything changed was the last day for most people. It was still sometimes hard to believe. The thought of it all again caused my head to throb again. 

I heard something outside as soon as I looked back out the windows. I thought it was the wind messing with me, but the noise made my heart drop. I heard whistling down the street and it was a specific tone being played out loud. I walked closer to the windows and peered closely at the glass until I saw someone standing in the middle of the road, staring right at me.