Roblox Piggy Book 2: H.O.P.E

2.1 - Store

Lucinda

Freedom always had a price to pay.

At least, that's what I forced myself to believe. When I agreed to tag along with Zizzy and Pony on their hunt for batteries, one part of me didn't expect much while the other told me to be ready for anything. Sooner than I had expected, we arrived at the store. It was somewhat secluded behind stone walls and cars, which made me a bit suspicious about the area around us, but I deemed that as a minor concern for the time being.

"Remember," Zizzy reminded us for the third time. "We're going for batteries and getting out of here!" Her arms were crossed, and her face was gentle but stern at the same time. Pony chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks turned pink. "Fine, but if I find any carrots, I'm taking them!" He declared. His face then changed to one of nervousness. "...The carrots here wouldn't have expired by now, right?" Zizzy glared at Pony while I simply rolled my eye and looked the other way.

There were tons of cars either up right or tipped over on their sides. My guess was that this place was crowded and someone was infected amongst them. That was more evidence from that upsurge board I found back at the outpost. The infection continued to spread like wildfire even as my train of thought was on its rails. I continued to look around the parking area we were in as Zizzy gave Pony a small lecture. Then I saw something that made me gasp.

A lime green wall was on the other side of the parking lot, and there was one word on it.

Metro.

The moment after my brain finished processing that one word, I fell down to my knees. My breathing grew heavier as a million thoughts rushed through my head like a hurricane. My hands immediately flew up to my head and gripped onto my hair as tightly as they could. My eye widened as it stared on the ground like it was the most interesting thing ever. My heart was pounding harder than ever as I let out what sounded like a groan and a cry of pain.

"Cindy!" Zizzy called out as I heard her rush and get down infront of me. Her hands gripped my own as she gently forced them out of my hair. "Metro...Bunny...Abandoned..." I muttered incoherently. The zebra seemed to catch wind of what was happening to me and gently grabbed onto my shoulders. "Cindy, calm down," she soothed. "It's all in the past now. I know it hurts, but you have to keep moving forward."

I shook my head. "You...you don't understand...I-I can't...!" I couldn't keep moving forward if memories of the actions I did before were going to keep coming back to haunt me everywhere I turned. While I knew that I was forced to abandon the ones I cared about, it still felt like I could've done something to prevent it. Those alternatives continued to haunt me, even after almost a year. I had no idea how long it would take for this guilt to go away.

"Cindy."

I stopped my mental rambling before looking up at the zebra. "I can't speak for the ones you've lost," she spoke. "But I do know that if they were here, they would want you to live on for them." I bit my lip once I realized that Zizzy had a point. Rose, my parents and my friends wouldn't want to see me in despair. I know that Zizzy was trying to tell me to be strong, but I led myself to believe that I couldn't be anything but strong.

This was the first time I showed signs of weakness to anyone, and I didn't know what to think of it. I let out a shaky sigh as I forced my breathing and my heartbeat down to their normal paces. "I think..." I struggled to get out. "I think I'm okay now." Zizzy smiled and pat my shoulders before helping me up to my feet. I assumed that I fell into a panic attack once I noticed the metro on the other side of the store. I wondered if it was the same one as the one Bunny was in.