𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 | an apocalyptic novel ©

Chapter 71

Weird Encounters

2035

Aidan

I haven't seen the girl or the little boy for the last three days. No, I didn't specifically look for them, I just lived my life, like I have the past two years. But now, with the knowledge of not being alone, I don't feel as easy as I have before.

I don't plan on going out today but my feet don't want to stay still.

My whole body tingles, I need to do something, I can't just live with the thought of knowing there are people out here and completely ignore them.

I'm going to look for them. For her, at least, because I need to tell her the truth.

And if she wants to shoot me, fine.

That thought surprises me.

I don't know what has gotten into me - but suddenly I find myself packing my backpack to leave.

And I'm going to look for her.

I'm outside. Because my mind can't keep quiet and my feet can't keep still. The weather hasn't worsened, nor did it get better the last few days. I'm still quite sure that the weather anomaly announced will be bad. Worse than anything before.

My bunker will hold against it, no doubt, but I'm not too sure about the situation of the two strangers.

Lost in thoughts, I walk along the streets of the absolute mass destruction from the past weather anomalies. There are parts of the Bronx that look worse than the others.

Some houses have collapsed like a fragment built out of playing cards. Others still stand, their roof torn off or their windows shattered. Everything is overgrown by plants, ivy and moss. Grass grows between the cracks of the asphalt on the street. The parked cars on the sides of the roads are dented, their paint scratched and the windows either completely missing or matted. One thing is clear - this is the apocalypse. And I'm living in it.

I have been wandering through the Bronx - like I always did back when I didn't know someone was living near me.

A part of me always likes sitting on rooftops, looking out into the open world and imagining how it all looked like before. It reminds me of the times when I stood outside of the barracks on the base at night and just let myself think.

My feet dangle in the empty air beneath me. I'm sitting on the rooftop of a three-story house.

Everything is awfully quiet, it seems like even nature is holding its breath. Only the faint noise of birds chirping makes a slight difference to the silence. Nothing, in particular, stands out from the plain colors of grass and cracked asphalt - nothing except the shape of a girl marching along the street under my feet.

My breath hitches when I spot her braid dancing in the wind.

So far, she doesn't seem to have spotted me. I don't move or make any noise, because I am particularly interested to see how she always managed so far to live in such a dangerous world. Valencia was her name, wasn't it?

The girl moves quite fast, it's like she has a certain goal to reach. A grin steals itself on my face when she suddenly trips over a crack in the asphalt and curses. Normally, I do not gloat when someone trips or falls, but just something about this situation is like a cherry on top.

And as if I'm not already making it worse, I open my mouth. "Didn't see that coming, huh?"

Valencia whirls around to my voice echoing through the empty street. "Fuck off!" she yells at me.