An Unlikely Ally

Chapter 17 - Arty's discovery

Arty walked in and out of several buildings along her way, finding it rather easy since most of the windows were smashed and or the doors as well. "I must admit human structures are very strange, they are in such an unnatural shape, 'square' as I come to learn. Their stuff stands out from the natural formations of rock, yet they are as hard as stone, even more so sometimes." Arty tapped the brick wall inside of one building, in it were scattered remains of bodies, tables and glass fragments.

"No clothing here, no animals, but smells of rotting food. Not sure if useful for John." Arty stepped around a body before heading outside through an open window and continuing downwards

While outside she stopped to look around, watching the sounds of the breeze illuminate the world around her and seeing the origin points of animal sounds in the trees and distance. "I have seen a bigger 'town' than this but it is far and John would take too long to go there. I will tell him once I finish here." She noted to herself as she continued.

She had explored the entire lower half of Pawling but came across buildings of varying interest and had decided to go further right and back up.

"There are a lot of dead humans... I counted over 50 so far, having learnt the meaning of some facial expressions thanks to John, they all have a terrified expression..." She noted grimly and kept on, taking care to avoid the bodies that lay in the streets and the large pools of blood that surrounded them.

She eventually found her way through a large clearing, it was a large building opposite to a football field. She picked up her pace and walked up to the front door, it was glass in a metal frame but was severely bent inwards and glass shards and fragments were littered across the floor.

She pushed on the frame, it scratching against the floor before the gap was big enough for her to squeeze inside. There she was in a hallway that was barren and surrounded by lockers, some were flung open and others were tipped over. Papers and leaves littered the hallways, with signs of the elements taking hold of the building.

She cautiously walked through the hallway before she encountered a door to her right, she stopped and quietly swivelled before reaching for the surprisingly low door handle and twisting it as the door quietly clicked open and she stepped inside.

Hearing nothing and deciding it was safe, she opened her face plates and started scanning the room. Small tables lay strewn across the floor, papers littered the floor as well as coloured pencils. She stepped forward but her foot collided with a brown book and she stopped to pick it up.

"A book, I can't 'read' these since the words are invisible. Humans apparently use dark substance called ink, they can see it but it has no texture." Arty shook her head before she went to place it down, however she paused when she felt something on it.

She brought the book back up to her before she felt the front cover again, this time feeling a particular pattern. Her claws traced the grooves, they were intentional but she was unable to discern human embossing, but felt it was interesting enough to keep, for herself at least.

She went back out into the hallway while she held onto the book in her right hand, she saw identical rooms but they all contained a similar layout and varying levels of disarray.

As she neared the end of the hallway, she noticed the air was getting thicker, much more damp. Her face plates were closed so her sense of smell was highly limited, but she wanted to keep it that way as she felt off.

"This building is too clear... Humans are dead everywhere, except here. Why?" She asked herself as she continued.

The hallway rounded to the right in an L-shape and she followed, dodging a toppled-over water cooler and backpacks. At the end of the hallway was a large set of double doors which piqued her interest, she sped up her careful creeping to a walking pace as she approached them.