Isolation

City Mall

June 10th, 2018. That was the date today, two months have passed since the day everyone vanished, the day I was left alone in a rather large city. On Cumberson St. there's a very large mall. Divine River Mall is what it's called. I've always wanted to go there ever since I was left alone, but it was always such a far trek. I don't have a drivers license and I don't own any other means of transportation, so walking there always turned me off from going. But on June 10th, 2018. I made the long walk there, and so far, I think it's worth it. Currently, it is 6:28 PM. Usually I would've been home by now, but here I am, at the mall.

Before I entered the large push doors, I sat on a bench near the entrance, pulling my bag from my shoulders and plopping it onto the ground, gently unzipping the zipper, then reaching in. I grabbed a half empty bottle of water out from the bag and uncapped it, taking a swig of it then sighing out in relief. I needed to stay hydrated at all times. Now, there was no doctors, no people, no nothing to help me in the event I get injured or malnourished, so I made it an absolute must for me to carry around at least 2 bottles of water.

After the drink, I also grabbed myself a snack bar. It was some no-name brand not worth mentioning, but it was pretty tasty. Once I had finished snacking, I threw my bag over my shoulders and made my way to the entrances. The doors themselves weren't all that fancy, just had a few green strips and silver coloring. I pushed the door open and entered the mall.

It was quiet, If I yelled into the mall, I'm sure the echo would go to the other end of the mall and back. The stores, all of them were open, lights on and everything. Weird. I decided not to think anything of it for now and proceeded. There were a variety of stores left and right. Stuff like Sp*rtchek, GameS*op, Boatho*se, L*ds and HotTo*ic, including a thousand more stores I couldn't count. Wandering around, hearing my own footsteps vibrating throughout the entire place, I eventually came to a place that specialized in Bikes and the like.

I walked in the store and looked around for a moment, a light jingle was playing very quietly, making this place seem at least somewhat alive. Inside this store, right away, smack in the middle of it all were a bunch of bikes, lined up neatly from height and complexity. It was a strange sight. Even along the walls, some even on the wall itself there were bikes. All of them looked very shiny, very new. I walked around the place, admiring how detailed some of the decals were on the bikes. Feeling the rubber grips and even pulling the brake handle back a bit. All of it was satisfying to me.

Then it brought me to my previous situation. Money. I didn't have any left, not a single penny. What was worse is I was eyeing up a bike, looking alluring for some reason.

I wanted it.

But, the problem is that I couldn't steal it. Morally, I couldn't. My thinking is that; despite being completely alone, I still wouldn't steal something someone once owned. It just, doesn't feel right...

CLANK, CLANG!!!

W-What...was...that?

As I was turning around, I caught sight of somebody standing right at the window of the store, mouth agape, eyes wide. At first, all I did when I saw this person was try to reach for her, but as soon as she realized I actually existed, I saw her shake her head with a scared expression on her face, turning around then running down the long, empty halls, her footsteps louder than anything I ever heard before. "W-Wait..! Who are you?!" I tried yelling out, but the person didn't stop, she kept going, running like her life depended on it.

"Who are you.." I muttered under my breath, clicking my tongue then dashed off after her, she was already long gone from sight, but finding someone in such an empty place couldn't be so hard, right?

It turns out, there's more hiding places to go to now that there's absolutely no one around. This is the time where I just sighed, giving up early and sitting down in one of the food court chairs, placing my elbows on the table. 'If you're listening, I'm not harmful! I just want to know what's going on, please!" I waited for a response, anything would do, just please, tell me I'm not going crazy...

There was no response.

I sunk my head down, staring at the floor with a pathetic look on my face. When suddenly I began to hear gentle footsteps, it was obvious whoever was trying to approach was trying to keep quiet, but it would be hard since we can't hear anything else but our breathing and heartbeats. I turned my head upwards, and there she was again, standing before me. Shoulder length, bob cut blonde hair, emerald green eyes that sparkled like gems, and a skin shade of a very gentle white color. I don't know who this was, but this was another human being. Another person, another life. In front of me.

"...I-I--"

"Shh..don't speak."

She quickly interrupted me, I zipped my mouth shut and just stared at her, with her staring right back. My nervous eyes wandered about for a minute before fixing on her again. All she did was sit down and stare intently at me.

"Who..are you?"