Adjourned

01

Thomas thought John was one of the most stubborn kind of the human race.
He had enough alibi for his accusation on John's persistancy.

Once, they raided an unattended skyscraper for the sake of John's amusement. Thomas, him being cautious or in his dear friend's term "stuck-up", disagreed without second thought.
As if the world hated him, he suddenly found himself climbing an unfinished project at the dead of night.

They nearly faced death by plummeting 64 feet to the hard ground.

Though that was only one reason, it was enough to prove that John was entirely out of his mind as well.

"Thomas. There's a shopping mall nearby."

JOHN.

"We're not going there. We're here to find our family members."
John slung his arm over his shoulder, whistling joyfully.

"Come on, sourpuss."
Thomas stared flatly.

"John."
The other made a face.

"Thomas."

If we don't find them soon, we'll lose track and who knows if they're gone.
Plain dead, and it'll be our fault.

Smoothing his scruched forehead, the stakes were running through his mind.

We need to find them. We need to-

His heart accelerated at the sudden hook of a muscular arm. He made a self memo to remind himself of unplanned arm hooks from John.

"We'll find them. Promise."
He couldn't say if he was amazed by his stupidity or his confidence as a whole.

He tried his best not to raise his brow. "Promise?"

John smiled reassuredly, "Promise."
He sighed tiredly.

"You owe me so much."
"That's why I made an oath."

There were times when Thomas wanted to say something, but it'd always stay stuck in his throat.
He wasn't sure why, he had a feeling it might have been shame.

Why can't I tell him?

He was shaken by a tap on his forehead.

"Had a vision?"
Pale eyes twinkled humorously.

"Yeah. It told me you were an idiot."
"Sassy."

Their laughs filled the empty shells of buildings.

The concrete grounds were empty with no signs of life. Unattended buildings and shops, their windows shattered broken and resources stolen. The day made their surroundings harmless, yet unsettling with no further knowledge of the abandoned wasteland.

He wasn't sure why these areas were called zones. Eversince the world government was taken down by a bunch of activists, names of places were wiped out and everybody did whatever their hearts desired.
It was sweet having unlimited freedom, however the endless possibilities people could make use of were beyond controllable.

"Man, every moment I look at this place, I wonder what the others did to make such a mess."

He shrugged, "It's pretty juvenile compared to what the Freedom Reign did to the governers. Genocide and all."

At his own words, his skin chilled in fear.

"One messed up society we are."
"That's one way to say it."

They fell silent. Inhaling the solitude of the zone.

He could spot shards of glass on the ground, all of different shades. Clear, green, brown, some yellow and red.
Then he would find grey rocks in weird shapes.

They really outdone themselves.

Feeling a nudge on his shoulder, he looked over to John.

He pointed straight towards a run down plaza.

"There it is."
Almost immediately, they were sprinting to the miserable mall that was left alone for years.

"It's not that bad."
He wasn't as sure as John yet.

Despite the rubble surrounding the mall, the entrance was clear of hinderances.

"Alright. Time to use those things you call 'guns'."
"Glad you acknowledge the truth."

Gripping onto the handle, John pulled with countless hours of hard labour.
The door budged open, dust drifted in the air, tickling Thomas' nose.

"I take back what I said. It looks like the aftermath of Black Friday here."

Thomas laughed.

He had to agree. Banners and signs were torn ruthlessly, mannequins disembered and rubbish splayed across the floor.

"It's like an apocalyptic setting. Perfect for movies."
The other nodded in approval.

The area seemed familiar to him. As if he had walked on the same ground back before.

"Let's go up by the escalator."
"It doesn't work."
"Then we climb normally."

Still insistant.

Dust danced in the light that peeked through one of the larger windows as they ran upwards to the second level of the silent building.
They looked like rebelious adolescents in a spree to vandalize.

"Let's see what we can find here."
"Well, I see a game store."

The floor was wide with paths leading to ditfferent corners and shops, making it hard to cover the whole area within a limited time period.

"John, think useful."
"Aye."

The mission. The real objective.

Pale brown eyes fixed on his, John listened.

"Let's just split up and check. Report when you find something good or anyone at all."

"Roger."
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