out of time ! 「 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 」

𝟎𝟑. | tomorrow

          ❝ YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THE APOCALYPSE, WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU DO? ❞

"I thought we were done with the Twenty Questions," Five grumbled.

"It's not a game, I'm asking," Lola emphasized, careful as she clambered over the rubble that littered the streets. "We have to do something."

"Food, we're looking for food." Five's tone was snappy, but Lola had figured out that it usually was. If their situation was going to last much longer, she knew she'd have to get used to it.

Electing not to argue, Lola quickened her pace to try and keep step with Five. "It can't be hard. If the world only ended, what, a day ago? Food hasn't gone bad yet."

"We still don't know what caused the apocalypse," the boy shot back, prompting Lola to roll her eyes.

She hastily moved in front of him, forcing him to stop reluctantly in his tracks. "Oh, and you think a food shortage caused this?" She asked, gesturing out toward the carnage that surrounded them. Five surprisingly didn't have a retort this time. Lola sighed, straightening up. "Exactly, now let's go. There's a general store around the corner."

Beginning to walk again, Lola was acutely aware of Five's footfalls behind her as they began their walk towards the nearest convenience store. Perhaps its supplies would be limited, but it would still have something.

In the apocalypse, something was better than nothing.

The store that Lola took them to was a shadow of its former self. The roof was half caved in, the shop windows blown out, and the door hanging off its hinges. It wasn't unlike anything else they'd seen so far.

"We should go for the things that are set to expire soon, they won't go to waste that way," Lola said, carefully entering the store as glass cracked beneath her feet. Sidestepping the products that laid about the floor, she seized a fallen shopping basket before beginning to peruse the aisles—Five doing the same.

They moved in relative silence for the better part of several minutes, the shop just spacious enough that they could avoid one another in their searching.

Lola tried to stray from the junk food that littered the store, though she knew her options were limited at best—and she would eventually miss the taste of a greasy potato chip if they were stuck here for long.

Dropping some trail mixes into her basket, alongside bags of jerky and cans of tuna, Lola knew the pickings weren't exactly favorable but they'd do well enough.

"Are you allergic to anything?" Lola called out, holding a jar of peanut butter in her hand.

"Are you?" Five shot back.

Lola sighed, setting the jar aside. "That wasn't an answer." She decided not to press the matter further. Irritating her only companion in this new world didn't seem like something she wanted to be doing.

Instead, she exited the aisle to find herself towards the back of the store. Cases of water littered the wall, most torn open or blown to smithereens.

"We'll need water," she announced, kneeling down to begin sorting through the various bottles. Five came over now, dropping some more snacks into the basket—alongside a jar of peanut butter. Lola smiled to herself before continuing, "Contrary to popular belief, water can go bad. Well, not the water itself, but the bottle. It'll degrade and trust me, we do not want that." There was a part of Lola that took pride in knowing such a fact, glad all her reading had done her some good—even now. "Can you grab me another basket?"

Five heaved a sigh, but headed back toward the front of the store as Lola continued her sorting. "We should be trying to figure out what happened," he said, his voice carrying through the store as he began back.

"And do what?" Lola asked, almost tiredly at this point. She took the outstretched basket from Five, setting it beside her. "It's already happened."

"I am not staying forever," Five emphasized suddenly as Lola gave him a sidelong glance. She could practically sense the frustration radiating off of him. "I just— I need to—" His hands balled into fists held out in front of him. Despite his efforts, the aura of power that surrounded his hands wouldn't budge.

With a loud cry of frustration that made Lola flinch, Five shoved the nearest display and stormed out.

Lola sat in his wake, shoulders falling. No amount of reading could help her here. And so, she continued to sort the food they'd procured—trying to evenly distribute the weight between the two baskets so neither would be too heavy.

When she was done, she pushed herself to stand and took up each basket. As she walked back outside, her knees suddenly buckled and she felt herself stumble.

Suddenly, Five, who'd been lingering outside the storefront, had caught her by the arm before she could fall. "You need to eat," he said, narrowing his eyes at her once he gave her a cursory once-over. She didn't appear injured.

"Funny," she chuckled, despite the way her knees threatened to shake. It was like they could no longer bear the weight—but the weight of what, Lola didn't know. The baskets weren't that heavy. Maybe she was hungrier than she thought. "It's almost like that's why we came out here."

Five still kept a grip on the girl, her balance still in question until she suddenly shook her head and held out one of the baskets.

"I'm alright, just carry one of these and we can head back," she told him, taking a deep breath. Despite the obvious skepticism written all over Five's face, he didn't say anything to the contrary. Instead, he let go of Lola and took the basket.

The pair of them began back toward the department store in silence, silence that was neither tense nor awkward. Unfortunately, it wasn't comfortable either.

"Tomorrow," Lola said suddenly, an affirmative nod accompanying her words.

Five's brows furrowed. "What about it?"

"That's when we'll start trying to figure out what happened."