The Left Overs

The City Center

"Wake up," Kody whispered, shaking Alice gently. She woke with a soft groan, trying to shoo away his arm until she was fully awake and then she sat up. "Is it time?" She questioned and he nodded, helping her off the couch. "Let's go." Alice and Kody grabbed their bags, shuffling around in the darkness of the cafe and walking into the cold, still night. The only light came from the moon, which was mainly covers by clouds so it didn't provide much help as they guided their way through the narrow streets of their neighborhood.

Kody had a tight grip on Alice's hand as to not lose her and she felt incredibly ridiculous for feeling flustered, but in the dark, her cheeks were bright red. She felt embarrassed and ashamed, feeling stupid for thinking about a man who was 10 years older than her, and especially in the situation they were in. 'Well... I guess if we're the last people on earth we'll have to...' She stopped and shook her head, feeling her cheeks growing more heated.

A huge screech suddenly filled the cold air, breaking the silence. It sounded distant but still made Alice jump. The horrid sound have her shivers. She felt lucky that they were far away from the creature, but it still unconsciously made her body begin to shake.

They tried to ignore the way their eyes manipulated the shadows, tricking Alice and Kody into thinking there was more than their shadows around them. They walked for two hours before reaching a sign stating 'CITY CENTER' printed neatly on a large, green sign in white writing next to a baron highway.

As they stepped out from the streets and into an open shopping mall, they found themselves suddenly surrounded by Skyscrapers and shopping centers. "If there's really no one left.. Does that mean I can get clothes wherever I want for free?!" Alice exclaimed and Kody quickly shushed her. "Oops, sorry" she whispered as they wandered around the mall, hand in hand. Alice's mind hadn't really grasped the harsh reality of what was happening and was dealing with minor, positive things like clothes, freedom etc.

"Shut up and focus," Kody growled, gripping her hand, "we need to find out what's going on, help me look for..." He wasn't really sure what exactly they were looking for, anything really. He stayed silent and yanked her hand, walking with her around the empty mall. All of the stores were open, which means everyone must have been at work.

Kody was lost in his thoughts, wandering around aimlessly as Alice stayed observant, glancing around at everything. She suddenly let out a loud gasp as someone grabbed her, covering her mouth. She turned to see someone also had a hold of Kody, he was struggling but couldn't break the hold.

"Hey, asshole stop struggling" Alice heard someone whisper to Kody. He hesitantly obeyed and the man started to explain. "We're just as confused as you guys alright? Let us take you back to where we're all staying and we can try and make some sense of this."

Once they had let go of Alice and Kody she had a chance to glance at them. The person who had grabbed her was a girl with long, wavy hair that was tied back into a messy bun. She was wearing a flannel shirt, black leggings and converse. The thing that stood out the most about her was how her bright blue eyes stood out against her pale skin.

The man who had grabbed Kody was tall, with neatly kept hair and a chiseled jawline. As they walked Alice noticed he seemed to have a permanent scowl across his face. He tugged his leather jacket closer to his body, ignoring everyone completely.

Soon they arrived at an abandoned but very clean and tidy storage shed next to the mall. It didn't look very big on the outside but when they went inside it seemed enormous. Everything was bare, besides a group of people, maybe 10 or 11 of them sitting in the middle and talking. They were all different shapes and colours and sizes. Alice notice there was a boy sitting in the corner away from the group but was quickly brought to the attention of A girl in the Centre who stood and looked at them with a warm smile, "you survived this far, good! We're uh... Not really sure what's going on here, but we all need to stick together, right? We haven't been able to find any signs of life for two days." Alice and Kody looked up to each other as if asking each other if they could really be safe here with these strangers.