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Chapter Twenty Three

In their new world where adults vanished without a trace, throngs of teenagers now found themselves thrust into a reality without authority. With this newfound freedom, one particular group of adolescents discovered the ultimate playground: an abandoned supermarket, untouched by the ravages of time. Underneath the fluorescent glow of the store's lights, a motley crew of teenagers gathered, their faces lit up with excitement and mischief. Without adults to enforce rules or morals, the aisles of the supermarket became a treasure trove, ripe for the taking, especially aisles of which they could not touch before - mainly alcohol and cigarettes.

Amidst the chaotic scenes now unfolding, Tess stood apart, her expression a mixture of disappointment and disapproval. With her arms folded in front of her, she shook her head at the immaturity of the whooping and hollering teens who were in a frenzy in front of her. Feeling a presence she turned her head and watched as Cassandra joined her with Gordy, both of them obviously sharing her sentiments. Tess' gaze returned to the teenagers ravaging the shops, their laughter echoing off the empty shelves as they stuffed their arms with goods. She turned to Cassandra, her voice tinged with disbelief and frustration.

"Can you believe this? We go a couple of days without adults and it's all gone to shit,"

Cassandra and Gordy nodded beside her, both of their eyes reflecting a mixture of agreement and resignation, "I know," Cassandra agreed, "it's hard to watch. But what can we do?"

In front of them a pair of boys wheeled past in a trolley laden with different alcohols. Tess scoffed at their stupidity, "I doubt some of them will survive the end of the week," she winced when the cart smashed loudly into one of the street lights and both boys tumbled and crashed into the many bottles, groaning and giggling. "The adults have gone for a couple of days and all rules have gone out the window,"

Gordy also scrunched his nose in distaste at some of the teens surrounding them, "It seems all forms of decency has gone too,"

Cassandra nodded, placing a comforting hand on Tess' shoulder, "I understand it's frustrating, But perhaps they're just trying to find some semblance of normalcy in all of this chaos. It's not easy for any of us."

Raising her eyebrows at the sound of smashing windows, Tess turned her attention back to the teenagers, her understanding fleeting as she could relate to them all, but hearing and seeing the destruction, disappointment started to temper. As the teenagers continued their raid on the supermarket and various stories, the trio remained on the sidelines, silently observing the scenes unfold. In a world without adults, they realized the lines between right and wrong had been blurred, leaving them to navigate the complexities of their new reality on their own. Hearing loud hollering, Tess' eyebrows furrowed in exasperation as she watched her brother and another of his friends wheeling another shopping trolley overflowing with bottles of alcohol. She stood mouth agape in disbelief, as they attempted to maneuver the overloaded cart across the pavement, their laughs echoing like little school children.

With each clatter of glass bottles and raucous bursts of laughter, Tess' frustration grew. As the trolley lurched past them, she shouted her brother's name disappointingly. Seated in the middle of the trolley with a boyish grin across his face, Clark turned to his sister and gave an overzealous wave. Calling his name a second time, her protests fell on deaf ears as he merely gave her a salute and continued his reckless escapade.

"You need to speak to everyone," Tess stated pointedly towards Cassandra, who was smirking at the scene in front of her.

"They're not going to listen to me," Cassandra sighed, "I'm the voice of reason and they hate that."

"Cassandra, we can't just stand by and watch this chaos unfold," Tess exclaimed, her hands gesturing emphatically, "You're one of the oldest, you need to make some order in this madness."