𝕬𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙 | ℭ𝔖, 𝔑𝔖, 𝔎ℌ

𝕰𝖕𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖉𝖊 𝕺𝖓𝖊

𝕾𝖚𝖗𝖛𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖑 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖘𝖙

She spent a good five minutes looking back and forth between the interior and exterior of the Starbucks. She could still smell the fresh coffee grounds. With a heavy sigh, she allowed her head to fall against the metal frame of the glass entrance. She knew it. She knew something was going to happen. Just not what exactly.

There was a long moment of silence. She was left to her own thoughts. Given time to contemplate things like 'where the fuck did humanity go?' and 'am I dead?'. You know... the usual questions someone would ask themselves if they figured they'd stepped into an alternate reality.

She gasped again, eyes widening. Was that what this was? An alternate reality? Had she stepped into a post-apocalyptic world? She groaned at the thought, trudging further inside and toward the front counter. Not a single soul in sight. She half expected for a starved zombie to pop up from behind the counter. When that didn't happen, she began to doubt her previous conclusion.

She halted before the huge counter, standing perfectly still for a second before shrugging. She stepped behind the counter and went over to thr coffee machine... Only to find that the damned thing had no power to it. She felt the tears pooling into the back of her eye sockets as she sniffled pitifully. She slammed her open palm onto the counter and let her head fall back dramatically.

"I just wanted some coffee. Was that too much to ask of you, oh universe?" She exclaimed loudly.
"So there is someone else." A masculine voice called out behind her. She startled, whipping around. She snatched a spatula from the opposing counter, narrowing her gaze at the man standing on the other side. The masculine figure laughed. "A spatula isn't going to do much."

"Hah, my apologies. Thought you were a zombie." She smiled, letting her guard down upon figuring out that she was speaking to another human.

"You're good." He grinned, leaning against the countertop. "What's your name?"
"Ah, manners. Right. My name's Khalin. Yours?" She extended her hand, waiting patiently for him to accept.

"Karube. You have a nice name. It suits you." She gave a nod.

"Well, Karube... Do you-by any chance-know where we are?"

"No idea. My friends and I were running from some policemen when there was sudden silence and a weird, distorting sound." He answered.
"I heard some similar sounds while walking in here, but then everyone suddenly disappeared. I had thought I stepped into an alternate reality or something... Hence the fear of zombies." She explained her experience, placing the spatula onto the counter upon realising she was still clutching onto it rather tightly.

"Do you want to stick with my friends and I? Maybe we can all figure out what happened."
"I'll stay for a moment... But once the sun's down, I'm finding somewhere safe." He nodded.
"Understood. My friends should be just outside. We said we'd join back up when we're done searching."

"Smart." She hesitantly followed, hands in the pockets of her jacket.

Stepping out into the centre, she noticed something was... different. It wasn't just that people were gone. Had those small cracks always been there? Had the buildings always looked... old? She shook off the odd feeling before walking over to Karube and his friends.

"This is Arisu..." he trailed, motioning toward a man with shaggy hair and a poor sense of style. Well, by her standards, anyway.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Khalin." She extended her hand, tilting her head when he was hesitant. She knew she was trustworthy, but he didn't.

"Pleasure's mine." He finally took her hand, giving it a firm shake. She smiled.

"And Chota." Karube finished, motioning toward his shorter friend.