Claustrophobic | Skephalo

A Detour

gah sorry it's been so long since i've updated!! this week has been super crazy with schoolwork and traveling :( i promise u guys won't have to wait this long again!!

•••

Darryl

It wasn't until the end of the second day of the trip that things began to go wrong. Darryl knew something bad would happen eventually, but he assumed it would be because of Vincent, not a lack of food.

"We should have stocked up before leaving." Zak states, flipping over his empty backpack.

"It's fine, we can probably find something nearby," Darry responds.

"When was the last time you've seen anything but trees?"

"Uh... Yesterday, maybe?"

"We won't see any actual buildings on this path until we get to my neighborhood. It's just the route we took, the one away from all the roads."

Darryl sighs, ignoring the growling in his stomach. It would be a while until they got to Zak's house, and there probably isn't anything unexpired inside anyways.

Why did we take the wooded path again? Oh, right. Skeletons.

"I hate to say it, but we might have to make a detour. I'm starving," Darryl complains.

Zak just shrugs. "Okay. Let's go this way, then." He led Darryl in a complete different direction, cutting out of the woods completely. They followed a small walking trail for a couple of blocks, before reaching a small plaza.

It looked similar to the epicenter in the sense that it was covered with vegetation. Darryl assumes that no one has been there in a long time. The lights on the entrance sign flickered occasionally, taking both boys by surprise. Neither of them had expected anything out in the middle of nowhere to work.

"We're definitely lost. I don't remember this place at all." Zak breathes, reaching out to touch the sign.

His hand is slapped away by Darryl before he could.

"It could shock you."

Zak sticks his tongue out and touches the sign anyways. It doesn't shock him, but it still scares Darryl half to death. Zak gives him a playful smile, almost like a puppy would after they know they've done something wrong.

Darryl just rolls his eyes, wondering why he cares so much about an idiot.

No, he's not actually an idiot. He just likes to mess with me. I think he knows exactly what he's doing.

Almost instinctively, Darryl heads towards a grocery store located in the back of the plaza after seeing it on the sign. He hears Zak trailing behind him, and smiles to himself. It was either the thought of eating that was making him happy, or the fact that he was finding himself always thinking about his best friend's trollish personality.

•••

Vincent

The road to Zak's old house was long, and it was times like these Vincent wished he had a car to drive. Or a driver's license. But he just never had the chance to learn how before the apocalypse.

Vincent travelled alone, a few hours behind some other Skeletons who he picked to come with him. He told them he needed time to think to himself for a while, not completely lying, but also mostly wanting to be alone.

He thought about the old days a lot, how him and Darryl met way back in high school.

The science teacher entered the room with his hand on Vincent's shoulder, practically dragging him inside. Fifteen sets of eyes darted up towards him, making him want to scrunch into a little ball and hide.