The Ruins Of Tomorrow

38. Before I'm Gone

It had stopped raining by the time I reached the city.

There was no sign of life but the sound of the wind and the last drops of rain. The roads had deep cracks as if something smashed them and the city seemed to be deserted for the most part. It was huge, which I had never once visited Philadelphia before. I only saw pictures of the city online and on brochures. I remembered my parents briefly talking about this place years ago.

Back when they spoke about things without arguing or fighting afterwards. It was one of the few peaceful memories that I still found myself thinking about.

The towering skyscrapers were so high up as if they could touch the clouds.

I passed by an alleyway and saw a written message sprayed with paint across the brick walls. Beware of the dead. Further down the alley was a chain-link fence and I saw hands poking out as a bunch of biters were trapped.

I rushed back down the sidewalk until I found a drugstore. A worker stood behind the counter, blazing at me with glowing eyes. They had their uniform on with a red cap and a name tag that stood on the left side of their chest. The biter didn't seem to expect company as it growled at me aggressively. Its hands tried to wiggle out from the rope tied around his waist. "I'm sorry, you stuck to your job until the very end," I said to the dead employee before I pushed my pocket knife into its head.

I decided to check further back of the building as I found a door that led to an office. There were boxes stacked on top of each other as I searched through them and felt relieved when I saw some supplies that I could use. I took out a first aid spray from one of the boxes and shoved the canned food in my backpack. At the bottom of the box, I saw a couple water bottles that were still sealed.

I swallowed hard and chugged down half the bottle until I stopped to cough. It was slowly getting dark and I felt drained from the long trip to come here. I decided it would be best to stay here for the night and head out first thing in the morning to find other supplies and a better place.

I headed out the office and double checked the rest of the building before locking the doors and settling in for the night. The wound on my leg was still bleeding and hurting terribly as I went to grab the first aid spray and some bandages. I fetched a rag from my bag and poured some disinfectant medicine on my leg, instantly flinching from the burn. It felt like a small fire on my wound.

I sucked in a breath and held it in as the pain lingered up my leg, sending down chills all over my body. "Come on, Scarlet!"

My eyes were watery and I wanted to cry out from how much it hurt. I wrapped the gauze around my leg a few times before tying it and pulling down my pant leg. I grabbed some disinfecting medicine and unwrapped the bloody cloth from my hand. The cut on my palm was swollen and very red around the skin. I poured the medicine on the wound, already wishing the pain would stop. Lastly I wrapped more gauze around my hand and leaned back in relief.

Before I went to sleep for the night, I had a little bit of food that I'd found. The canned peaches and salty crackers made me lick my lips afterwards as I was starving since the morning. I tossed the empty can of peaches across the slippery floor and laid my head down on my backpack and tossed the blanket on top of me.

Even after what felt like hours, I had trouble staying asleep. I kept twisting and turning, and gasping for air as I kept waking up. My mind was cluttered with thoughts and I felt very cold. I turned to my other side again and looked up at the ceiling. I felt a warm tear slip down my cheek as I sucked in a hefty breath.

I fell asleep as the last thing on my mind was Thomas and the look he gave me after we left his home long ago.

~