𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 | an apocalyptic novel ©

Chapter 82

Dancing under a burning Sky

2035

Valencia

The rain doesn't stop for a long while. We are stuck in this shopping mall.

I try to push away what happened between us.

Aidan doesn't seem to mind - hell, he even seems like he's forgotten what he just did.

We keep exploring the upper floor. There is a music store with records hung up in the storefront window.

This is Aidan's fascination because he stops short in front of it and points out many various artists on the labels whose names I have never heard before.

I just smile to encourage him. But then, he enters the store and looks around in it.

I follow him - to distract myself from either worrying about my brother or what is going on between us both. The music store isn't big, it has two rows of shelves with records organized in them. On the one wall, electric guitars are hung up and on the wall adjacent three huge posters of what I assume are singers or artists are plastered on the withered yellow wallpaper.

"No way! Even record players and a gramophone?" Aidan nerds out.

"A what?" I ask.

"You can listen to music on it without electricity. It's pretty old-school," Aidan explains and walks to the shelves with the records, where he then mindlessly flips through them.

"Ah, okay," I mouth and look at the guitars hung up on the wall.

"What?!" suddenly sounds behind me. "They have this one?" Aidan exclaims and holds up a square paper case with an artist's name written on it in a creative font.

I shrug, not knowing what to say to that.

Of course, I can't remember ever listening to music. Sometimes, I sang to Henry when he was younger, but I never got the chance to listen to a record - as far as I can remember.

Aidan walks over to me, doing a little happy dance with the record in his hands.

"Do you know this artist?"

I shake my head. "I never got the chance to listen to music."

Aidan seems surprised. "Not even in your childhood?"

I shake my head again. "At least, I can't think back to it."

Something that looks like realization washes over his eyes. "Okay then ... we can listen to it together."

"What?" escapes my lips.

But Aidan doesn't reply and just makes his way over to the place where the record players and the gramophone are standing. "Come on, I've been waiting years to get a chance to listen to that one. I had the others on tape."

The dark color of the record shines in the dim light when he takes it out of the paper case and places it on the needle of the gramophone. The lever squeaks when he turns it a few times.

And then ...

Soft notes start to play. I don't know what to feel. It sounds beautiful, almost like I have heard it before.

I feel my eyes sting from the feelings I experience with it. The sound is a bit tinny, but the music echoes through the entire music store, overpowering the rain still pouring outside.

"This ... is ... "

"Music? Yes," Aidan whispers when he walks over to me. I swallow.

"Do you like it?"

All I can do is nod. The music doesn't have any vocals in it so far, it is only a soft melody playing straight for my soul.

"Did people dance to music?" I suddenly ask. Aidan nods.

"What kind of dances?"

"It depends on the rhythm. Some dance Waltz, others dance slow. It depends."

My lips part. "I never danced before," I admit. I regret saying it the second the words leave my mouth because Aidan suddenly stretches his hand out. "Care for a dance?"

My eyes widen. "I can't. I don't know how."

I can't be near him like in the bookstore again. I don't know what he'd do to my feelings again.

He chuckles. "That's alright. I can show you."

I sigh but can't argue because he already grabs my hand and pulls me to him. "How do you know how to dance then, Smart-ass?"

He chuckles. "I've had occasions."

I feel his hand on my waist and his other hand holding mine up.

"You have to tell me what to do."

He smiles. "Put your left foot back. Then your right foot, but leave some space between them. Then your left fo- ouch!"

"Sorry!" I apologize and lift my foot from stepping on him.

"It's okay, it's the other left."

I laugh. "Okay, let's do it again." I already want to lift my foot again, when bright lightning strikes the air outside, followed by a loud crash.

"Holy Fuck!" I shriek, startled by the noise. We tear apart from our pose and I cover my ears just when another lightning bolt slashes through the rain. The thunder shakes the entire surface of the floor we are standing on. Even the record has stopped playing.

"What the hell?" I whisper, trying to catch my breath from the shock.

We are both as surprised. No dancing then.

We are strangers, after all.

Maybe it was wanted by the odds.

We flee from the thunderstorm to the lower floors, since the idea of getting fried alive by lightning doesn't seem appealing.

The ground level is the one where we entered through the bike store. Aidan's green bike still leans against the wall he parked it at. We walk along the stores in the mall, trying to kill time.

I spot one clothing store with mannequins lined up at the storefront, their plastic bodies halfway disassembled, and instantly think back to the two deceased people we found in the basement. Shivers creep up my spine.

I didn't notice how long I had been staring at these mannequins until I realize that Aidan had gone ahead and is waiting at a Food Plaza in the mall for me. Quickly, I jog over to him and try to avoid his eyes looking at me. I know, he knows what I saw there and I'm not ready to talk about it. The food display counters of the cafes and restaurants of the Food Plaza are empty, except for the silverware still placed in them. Dining tables and chairs are turned and toppled over. The Food Plaza has a sign that has crashed down to the tiled floor.

Next to one cafe is a small kid's playground with a slide and trampoline. Moss has collected on the slide and the trampoline is dusted with debris.

I instantly think of Henry. When he was little, I took him to a playground once - once and never again. The ladder of the climbing tower broke off and Henry almost fell. I was scared and therefore avoided playgrounds since that incident. But at the same time, I feel bad for deciding that. I'm sure that Henry would have liked it.

We navigate our way through the destruction of the Food Plaza until we come to a small hallway leading to the lower level - the parking garage. An elevator leads to it - or it used to. The wires holding it tore apart and probably left the elevator rushing down to the parking garage, never to ascend again. Right now, we are looking down the elevator shaft, seeing nothing except darkness.

"Okay, interesting," I say and turn around again, to leave the hallway and return to the Plaza.

"There could be a cool car down there," I hear Aidan call after me, followed by a "Hey, I'm joking!" when he hears me sigh exaggeratedly.