Eclipse

Chapter 23

Time: Night

Place: The City

The looming tangerine-colored tower wasn't far, but walking wasn't our first choice. My mom had started teaching me to drive about six months ago, and now it was about to pay off. I motioned for Tamara to wait by the barricade as I ran back inside the building. The dead police officer was still slumped at his desk, his belongings untouched. A quick search of his belt buckle revealed a couple of sets of keys, but only one had a car alarm remote attached.

I slipped back outside and showed Tamara the keys. She smiled, relieved at the thought of not having to walk all the way to the tower. Hopefully, this would make the trip safer too.

There were no police or security cars near the entrance; this had to be his personal vehicle. I clicked the remote, waiting for the alarm. Nothing.

"We'll have to search for it. Hopefully, the range on this thing is decent," I said.

Tamara groaned, her exhaustion showing. I felt the same—sore and tired all over.

We headed down the stairwell, moving from car to car, trying not to attract the few monsters still lurking around.

"Hey, Vahn?" Tamara stopped me. "Let's check the back lot, farthest away. My dad always said employees either have a designated area or park in the back to give customers closer spots."

I nodded, following her lead. Within a minute, the car's horn responded to my frantic clicking.

Tamara's instincts kicked in; she scanned the area, peeking over the cars. None of the creatures seemed to notice.

"How's your driving?" I asked.

"I haven't started yet. To be honest, I'm kind of scared."

"Okay, I got it," I said, trying to sound confident, though a flicker of anxiety slipped through.

The car, a standard blue sedan, sat in good condition—no dings or scratches, clean on the outside. Inside, it was fairly tidy, with just a few pieces of trash scattered around. It wasn't hard to tell that the officer had been neat. The engine turned over smoothly, and I let the car ease out of its spot.

"Let the car move itself," I muttered, reciting my mom's words as I hovered my foot over the brake. I pulled out and headed for the exit but misjudged the turn, scraping the side.

"Keep watch, please," I said nervously.

"You're fine. They're just wandering aimlessly right now," Tamara reassured me.

We reached the parking lot exit, which led onto a small ramp, feeding us onto the main street—unfortunately, in the wrong direction.

With the dim light from the eclipse and the orange glow casting eerie shadows, I struggled to make out shapes clearly. I ran over a curb making a U-turn.

The streets were mostly empty, save for a few scattered monsters. But something had changed since the last time we navigated these roads. All the sewer grates were glowing with the same tangerine hue as the tower. The storefronts, too, had transformed. Some remained untouched, but others were unnervingly different—each one drenched in a single color. Entire stores, from walls to shelves, were either pitch black or stark white, the objects inside swallowed by the monochromatic void.

"Are we still in the real world or... somewhere else?" Tamara asked, scanning the streets like me, searching for signs of life.

"I don't know," I admitted. "At this point, it feels like another dimension. Just the two of us."

We talked about what had happened earlier, about how we'd seen real people until the very end—right up to that last elevator. Then we fell asleep and got separated. Since waking up, everything felt... wrong, like some other world had layered itself over our own. The streets were proof enough of that.