The Day The World Ended | ONC 2024 LONGLISTER

6| paramilitary

"I was underground," Kaylyn said as they walked. "The parking lot of the mall. That's where I was."

Simon had no idea how long they had been walking. Novah was gone. Mellie looked... He couldn't quite put a finger on what she was feeling. But it seemed like Novah's death had flipped a switch in her. She was quiet but she didn't look like her usual frightened self.

"The parking lot?" Simon asked. "Maybe we can find a car from there. Were they still working?"

"Probably." Kaylyn shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't check. I just...ran the first chance I got."

"What if the building above had collapsed?" Mellie asked. That was the first thing she said after getting down from that bridge.

"That's possible too."

"Hopefully we can find a van," Simon said. "That would have more space. Show me where this mall is."

"It should be close." Kaylyn turned in a circle. "I came from this direction. So, yeah. It's hard to tell now that everything has changed."

"So we are going to drive around the country forever? Is that it?" Mellie asked.

"We'll have to find a hideout. Somewhere safe. A van is a temporary arrangement. Fuel will be a problem." Simon checked his phone. "Same as the phones. Batteries are dying down."

"I have the charger," Mellie said. "But there's no power still."

"Someone will do something, right?" Kaylyn asked, looking a bit panicked. "We have to what is going on around the world. The government can do something. Right?"

"If they are still alive," Simon pointed out. "I think it will take a day or two for everything to get even a semblance of normalcy. Otherwise, we'll have to literally kill to survive."

"Oh, great," Kaylyn sighed. "We are going back to the stone age or whatever."

"Let's find this mall then," Simon said, pocketing his phone. 

It was easier than he thought it would be to spot the wall. Even though everything had drastically changed, the large building stood—now charred and half-collapsed—taller than the others. The trees around it were just blackened chunks. There were things that suspiciously looked like human corpses and Simon avoided them as much as he could. They had to climb down through some rubble, but the parking lot was mostly untouched. 

"My jeep must be here too," Kaylyn said, looking around.

"We don't have to waste our time searching for a van then," Simon stated. "Do you have your keys?"

"I'm supposed to..." She started to dig around her pockets. "Got it. Yeah."

It took a few seconds to where the beeping came from. Kaylyn had to lock and unlock it again for them to find it. Fortunately,  the yellow Wrangler was still in perfect condition. Kaylyn happily found some snacks and drinks stashed in her jeep too. Simon was surprised that no one else seemed to have come looking for their cars. Most probably, most of them were too dead to care about their cars. And people seemed to have actually gone into hiding once the night fell. Even they would have been still under that bridge if it wasn't for the fight.

Novah would have been still alive then. 

Simon shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. There was no use of what was gone. The three of them had to stay alive. And, as Mellie said, they couldn't waste their lives. Novah died so they could live. She wouldn't have wanted them to stay and grieve. She would have wanted them to move on.

Who thought he would have started to feel protective of two kids he met a day ago?

But there were no longer two. He had to protect the one who was still alive.

***

It had been a month since that day on the bridge. 

A lot had changed over that short time. Somehow, someone had managed to get electricity back. But it was just the lights; there was no television or radio. The only way people found out whatever was happening to the rest of the world and the country, was from rumours. They had no guarantee that they were true, but what else could they do? 

People were still roaming the streets, never staying in one place for more than a few days. This included Simon, Kaylyn and Mellie too. Once Kaylyn's jeep ran out of fuel, they stole another one. They had been taking food from surviving shops and houses, just like everyone else, but soon they ran out.

First, it was disgusting to cook random animals over fires, but they had to survive. Having to eat lizards was not the weirdest thing that happened in the last month. There was talk of people eating each other. Simon's group had yet to witness this but many people they had met told them to stay away from cannibals.

It was a time when you couldn't trust anyone. You could only trust yourself. Sometimes even that was not possible.

There was another rumour that sparked Simon's interest. The remaining militaries and close associates had formed some sort of paramilitary organization. They were acting like a government. They would soon start to distribute food as rations, and also water and clothes. Simon had no idea whether this was true, but he hoped it was.

"Hey, look!" Mellie suddenly perked up in her seat, pointing at something far away.

She had cut her hair into an uneven bob which barely touched her nape. Even Simon gave up trying to be clean-shaven. It was impossible to shave without a proper razor. 

"What is that?" Kaylyn poked her head out of the car window.

A few meters away from where they had parked, some workers had climbed atop some pillars, trying to fix something.

"I think they are trying to fix a digital billboard," Mellie pointed to a truck beside them.

The truck looked nothing like how those things used to be: clean, shining with advertisement pictures. The paint was peeling off this one, dust covering the surface. Simon thought he could even see some rust in places. But, yes, Mellie was right. They were taking out a giant screen from the truck.

"Oh, like a public TV or whatever?" Kaylyn squinted at it. "Why?"

"If that paramilitary thing is true," Simon started. "they might want to give people messages, right? It's not like we have TV and internet now."

"This is smart, though," Mellie said, still staring at it in awe.

A month ago, a billboard playing the most 3D movie you have seen in the middle of some buzzing city was not some magic trick. But now, after losing every ounce of normalcy in a single minute had reversed their brains to a state that even something as simple as a colourful light bulb was something to be amazed at. 

"Heard they are taking over." A new voice said from outside of their stolen car and they jumped in surprise.

It was one of the many wandering people who were roaming the street next to them, squinting at the billboard in the same sense of surprise as Mellie. He scratched his scraggly beard and turned to face them.

"Huh?" Simon blinked at him. "Who's taking over?"

"Haven't you heard?" The man asked. "Those military or paramilitary or whatever guys. Heard they've been working since that day. Only now they are starting to get a hold of things."

"That's good, right?" Kaylyn nodded at the men working on the billboard. "It's better to have some sort of order than...whatever we are doing right now. Running around like headless chickens?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know. Military rule sounds a bit too much."

"It's better than nothing," Simon turned to look at the workers. They had managed to get the screen up and were shouting orders to one another. "We can't live like this forever, can we?"

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