After Night Falls

After Entry

Marie was first through the hole in the wall. What first struck her was the sight of it all. She took note of the smears on the walls of buildings, the reddish-brown streaks leading to open doorways.

"Whatever happened here was not good," Brad mumbled, stepping up to Marie's side.

"Oh gosh," Crystal said," stumbling over loose debris, "I think I'm going to throw up."

Max knelt, snapping on a latex glove before lightly touching a nearby stain. "It's very likely blood," she confirmed.

"Let's get you out of here," Jane said, grabbing Crystals shoulders and gently guiding her back through the entrance.

Axel shook his head at the two. "If she can't handle this then she's useless to us," he shouted to Jane, causing her to come to a stop.

"She just needs some time to adjust," she plead.

"She knew that it wouldn't be a pleasant sight," he objected, "she can stay, or she can go back to the ship. If she cannot adjust now, I won't have her here to compromise our mission."

"Our mission is to find out what happened here three years ago," Jane argued, "I highly doubt that the people who did this is still here."

"I disagree," Marie countered, "Jake and I never found evidence of another entrance. There's a good chance whoever did this was locked in here with the rest of the city."

"Then they probably starved to death," she replied desperately.

"Maybe not," Max interjected. "There's not a lot outside the gates to eat, so it's very possible that they had, or have, some sort of food source inside the gates."

"That makes sense," Axel agreed. "So, Crystal, are you with us or are you going back?"

Crystal swallowed, looking around at the surroundings. "I," she began shakily. "I," she looked at the blood stains, then at Jane, who gave her a sympathetic look.

Steeling her gaze, Crystal nodded. "I'm with you."

"Good," Axel replied tersely, "then we need to get moving. We only have a certain amount of day light and I want one of these buildings secured by dusk."

He looked around and picked out a small building to the side.

"We start there," he ordered, pointing. "Make sure it's securable. If you need me, which I trust you won't," he looked at them sternly, "I'll be outside talking to the drill team. Dismissed."

Crystal stuck close to Jane, and they both stopped outside of the building, letting Jake, Marie, and Brad go inside first. Each had their guns raised and flashlights on, walking in slowly.

It was a small building, nearly comparable to a hovel, had it not been for the solid structure of the building.

There were four rooms, the largest being at the front. Marie theorized this to be a small shop, due to the number of overturned shelves and broken bottles.

There was a small bathroom in the connecting hallway, one that Brad intended to use as soon as possible. He didn't particularly enjoy pissing in the weeds.

Jake was the first to enter the bedroom. It was small, but despite all the dust, he found it cozy. The small bed was quite preferable to his sleeping bag.

The last room consisted of a small stove and oven, set into the counters, a few cabinets, and a square table in the center of the room that had been overturned. The chairs to the table were nowhere to be seen.

"All clear," Jake shouted to the girls outside, while Brad shoved past him to ensure his claim on the bathroom.

"Well this is quite cozy," Jane observed, hopping onto the bed and sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Crystal giggled watching her, and went over to join her, waving at the air in front of her face as she went.

Jake leaned against the doorway, watching Marie study the shelving units silently.

"You can join me in securing the building or you can leave, but I don't appreciate people studying me," she said to him without turning.

"And why is that?" he asked, using his shoulder to push himself upright so that he could join her in the center of the room.

"People think that just by watching they can figure someone out," she answered, uncovering a wide board. "They're wrong. There's always more to a person than what you can see on the outside."

Jake nodded his head thoughtfully. "I suppose that that is true, but you can still learn a lot about them from what they do."

Marie let one side of the board drop to the ground, using her foot to test its flexibility.

"Think we could use these to cover the windows?" she asked, looking at the rest of the fallen units.

"I don't see why not," he theorized, "they seem thick enough..."

Marie nodded in agreement and started to sift through the mess to gather the boards.

Jake thought about pursuing the previous conversation further, but decided that it would be against his better judgement. It was already unusual that they had the interchange at all; the previous exchange felt like the most she'd talked to him since they'd left the ship in the first place. He didn't want to press his luck.

"Alright ladies," Axel shouted, walking through the front door, "the building a winner?"

"There's a real bed!" Crystal called from the back room.

"Ah," Axel sighed, a brief and surprising look of excitement crossing his features, "enjoy it while you can..."

He started to walk out of the building, but turned, facing them again. "In the case that I was unclear, you're all sleeping on the floor tonight. Make the most of it."

Crystal huffed, muttering to Jane under her breath about the unfairness of the situation, when Axel came back, Brad close on his heels.

"Everyone! Head count!"

The group rushed to the front room, lining up next to Marie and Jake, allowing Axel to count them quickly.

"Jane, Crystal, Jake, Brad, Marie, and me..." His eyebrows furrowed.

"Where's Max?"