Monument 13

Astrid

I wake up early the next morning. I grab a pack of muffins from the food aisle and I find a microwave that wasn't damaged from the earthquake and plug it in in the Pizza Shack. I pop a banana and chocolate chip muffin in for thirty seconds. I eat, and the tables around me fill in quietly within the next half hour.
"Lily?" Otis walks up to me from his table, carrying an empty plastic plate.
"Yes?"
"Will you get some benadryl from the pharmacy? I think Henry has hay fever."
"How can he get hay fever? There are no plants in here and the ones outside are all dead."
Otis shrugs.
"Just get the medicine, please."
I push myself out of the booth and make my way across the floor. Lila comes running up to me.
"Where' you going?"
"To the pharmacy, wanna come?"
"Yeah!"
I hold her hand and walk down the hall. We pass the gate and security camera, dark and foreboding. Lila suddenly stops, tilting her head.
"Lily?"
I kneel down to her.
"What?"
"I hear something."
I listen carefully. I hear it too.
"I think it's coming from outside!" Lila whispers frantically. I rush to the security camera and turn it on. The blank screen jumps to life. Something is outside. And suddenly, I know what it is.
"OTIS!"
Otis comes running.
"What?"
I point to the screen. He walks over and bends over it, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the red air outside. And then he sees it too, and looks at me.
"A puppy."
I nod.
"We have to save it!"
"Common, Lily I–"
"Otis."
"Fine, figure out a way. I'd help, but-"
"You can't. I know. Just stay here."
I rush to Payton, shoving a air mask into his hand.
"We're going to save a dog."
He stares at me for a second. Then, realization passes through his eyes, realization that everyone, even dogs, have the right to live, even if it is the apocalypse. And he nods.
"I'll come to," says Scarlett. "What do we need."
"A ladder, a hammer, an extra air mask and–" I pause for a second, "Duct tape."
Scarlett rushes to find what we need as Payton and I struggle to open the hatch. I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, trying not to see Molly, but I know her body will still be there. I rub her shoeprints away with my foot, so I don't remember. Payton puts his hand on my shoulder. His voice is muffled from the air mask. I look at him through the green plexiglass front plate. He smiles a small half-smile.
"I know it's hard, just– try not to remember."
I nod, just as Scarlett comes with the supplies. It turns out we don't need the hammer or the duct tape. Scarlett and Payton hook the one end of the rope ladder to two hooks and hang the other end over the edge of the building. I climb down to the dog. I scoop her up in my arms and begin climbing up the side of the building, when I hear something behind me. And then,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY DOG?"
Someone grabs my foot and pulls. Hard. I scream, and kick the man in the forehead. He lets go of my foot for a second, and I take the opportunity to climb as fast as I can. The dog in my arms is whimpering and growling. The man jumps up and grabs my foot again, this time taking both off the rung. I'm now hanging by one arm, with a dog in one hand and an angry O guy hanging onto my foot. Suddenly, I hear a ear-shattering scream from above. And then a body jumps over the edge. Payton. He tackles the man on my foot and they crash to the ground, ten feet below. I rush to the top, handing the dog to Scarlett.
"He- he jumped," says Scarlett, in shock. "He took his mask off and jumped."
I grab the mask and duct tape and climb down again. As I climb, I hear them fight, and suddenly I hear a huge crack. I wince, wondering who won. I jump the last five feet or so and land hard, rocking on my boots. Payton stands over the man, watching the blood ooze from his head. I wonder how he won, when the other guy was at least twice as big as him. Maybe he was just newer to the air, maybe he had actually eaten in the last few days and was stronger. Or maybe he was more determined. Then, he turns to look at me. His mask is off. His eyes are clouded with anger.
"Payton?"
He jumps on me, pushing me hard and banging my head against the ground. I yell and kick him in the stomach. He is flung off and lands, hard, on the ground a couple feet away. I spring up and rush to him. He looks up at me, angry, and grabs my foot. Before he can do anything, I lean over and duct tape the mask to his head. He yanks my foot and I crash to the ground, and he pulls at his mask. I dive over, jam the mask back on his face and hold him down until he looks up at me.
"I'm ok," he says quietly. We climb up the ladder and go back to the hatch. Scarlett places the puppy (probably only a few months old) on the ground. She's dirty and bloody, and skinny as a stick, but she barks a sweet bark and takes off down the hall.
"We need to name her," says Scarlett. I watch her zoom across the room, fast for a dog her size, and say, "Astrid."
All the children love Astrid. They pet her and take turns feeding her dog food. I fill a kiddy pool with water and soap and clean all the grime off of her. Turns out, she's white and fluffy under all that crud. She licks everyone's faces and seems happy as can be. She's like a therapy dog. Finally, for the first time since the hail storm, I think we're going to be alright.

A/N

Another really late update yay!
Sorry about that.
I threw in the dog from the actual Monument 14, and I named her Astrid to tie it in.
I hope you enjoyed :)