Forgetting the Apocalypse

5. The Survivors

Mara's pov*

Although my old map is now useless since I've crossed the border into a new state, I didn't want to get rid of it. Now I'm in Colorado. Well what's left of Colorado. Judging by the weather, I'd say summer is coming to a close with the cold breeze in the air. Thank mother nature! I have no idea how I faired the previous summers, but this one has got to be one for the records. The heat was unbearable and made sleeping during the day nearly impossible. If I did sleep it was probably due to passing out of heat exhaustion.

However, the worst part of that due to the heat, the smell from everywhere was intense. The smell of rot lingered on almost everything. For sure you needed to take advantage of the rains. They helped wash away any scents as best as they can be. They also provided much needed refreshment.

Now my mind is wandering. Thinking how my first winter in the apocalypse is going to be like. What necessary adaptations am I going to have to make? My books only go so far in helping by explanation, I'm the one who's going to have to endure it. Common knowledge is that the nights will be cooler than the day on average. So how would I be able to travel at night in the dead of winter?

One thing's for sure, I'm going to need better clothes.

It also has me wondering how the dead ones will do it. In no way because I have any empathy towards them. But out of simple curiosity and theory. The heat doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest, so would they even feel the cold? Would it make them slower? None of these questions are helpful right now. I'll deal with it when the time comes.

Coming up ahead is a small gas station. It looks like all the boards on the windows seem to still be intact. Not a bad sign for the dead ones but that might also mean that survivors are holding up in there. Normally I wouldn't take the risk but I need to check it out for two reasons. One, I'm out of water. I could wait until it rains again and get some then but I have no idea when that will be. Two, being a woman and having your time of the month in the apocalypse really sucks.

I finished the last of the Kotex a few days ago not even for its purpose but when I cut my leg pretty good on some barbed wire. I didn't have any gauze left and since I needed to stop the bleeding right away, well blood is blood and they're absorbent so why not? Now that I'm thinking about it, that's three reasons. I need more gauze and bandages.

So yeah, I need to check that gas station out.

Carefully climbing up the fence and the power box on its side, I make my way to the roof. Opening the skylight, my first reaction is to vomit. The smell of rot is ever so present everyday but I don't think this place has been ventilated since day one. There's definitely something dead in here. I leave the skylight open in hopes it will clear the air and as well in the case that I need to get away quickly. I won't have to fumble trying to open the damn thing.

Gently I drop down onto one of the shelves. When I reach one of the registers, I see the dead thing that's causing the smell. It's a woman, small but looked to be middle aged. She had a gun in her hand and the back of her head is missing. Actually splattered on the wall behind her is more accurate. One glance at one of her arms and I see the bite marks. She took herself out before they finished the job. I would've done the same thing if that ever happened to me.

I put a cover over her and take her gun. It's another revolver and I put it in my pack.

It takes me only twenty minutes to clear the store. I found everything I needed. Including a bottle of whiskey, a bottle of vodka and a map. There were other things I could've taken but I saw no reason to over stuff my pack. And who knows, more survivors could find this place. They might need some supplies too. So I put a few arrows leading up to the roof that way they can find the skylight.