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II

chapter name: prologue

The sun was bright, and Karl's sunglasses had broken the day prior. That wasn't exactly a bad thing, but it was kinda annoying seeing that he hadn't come across a gas station or a walmart in a few days. He also needed some new shoes, and clothes, his jacket was starting to feel a bit tight.

Karl just kept walking down the middle of the road he was on, not really knowing where he was going, he never really did. His phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket. It was his maps app telling him he was going to approach a shopping center. You'd think in a post-apocalyptic realm there wouldn't be electricity, signal, animals. That wasn't the case, because one day Karl had just woken up and he was the only one person there was. Animals roamed freely, the crops still grew, plumbing still worked, electricity ran perfectly, and the one thing that was really confusing is that food didn't go bad or decay, at least the food in stores didn't. Nothing 'went bad' and that was good for Karl considering most of his favorite drinks are carbonated.

There are only a few things that Karl carried with him everywhere he went. He had a brown satchel that had his phone, charger, notebook, pens, soap, and some other small things he had found and took likings to. Karl knew that it was November right now, that's why it was so cold, and don't get him wrong, Karl loved the cold, but it reminded him of thanksgiving and christmas. Holidays that were nationally celebrated with family, Karl didn't mind being alone for a few reasons. He never got along with people well anyway, he could do whatever he wanted, and he had no relationship obligations. There is one thing that Karl did miss about other people, the contact of human touch.

Karl went through his entire teenage life dating nobody, he had to figure himself out. When he turned 19 he knew that he was pansexual with a liking to guys. Of course Karl had started to begin his life at 20, after a year of goofing around with his friends. The day he turned 21 he woke up alone, and that's how it had been ever since. It had almost been a year since that day. He was use to doing everything alone, and yes it did have its perks but at the same time it could be miserable.