FogRunners

Chapter 2

Max grins at me wickedly as we fill our bags with as much food as we can get. I giggle as he shoves a strip of chocolate in his mouth. I open my mouth and he puts another strip of chocolate in my mouth.

"C'mon Keegs, let's get out of here before they come." Max says and I nod before taking another row of chocolate. We run to the window and I watch Max as his muscles strain to open it.

"Hurry Max," I urge when the sound of doors opening fills the air. His blue eyes look at mine. They are wide with a hint of panic. This stops me cold. Max never gets worried.

"It's not opening," His voice comes out hushed.

"What?!"

"Hey, it's ok. I'll get you out. You have my word."

I jerk awake, panting and covered in cold sweat. I swing my bag onto my back as I get up, rubbing out the sleep in my eyes. My throat burns and I regret finishing off the bottle of water before I passed out. I raise my arms above my head and roll my head from side to side. Shaking my head, I walk to the door and step through the hole where the door should be. When I am back on the street, I look up to the sun and figure I have around 5 or 6 hours of daylight left. I need to find food and water. Soon. I sigh as I begin walking up the street, keeping the sun behind me. Keeping an eye out for any unwanted guests and another eye out for any promising stores or buildings that could have any form of food. Staying away from too clean buildings because they usually have the traps, I find one that looks like it has been raided once or twice. I ease the door open, one hand ready to grab my dagger. I squint into the dim room, the only light that is being offered is the splotchy yellow light coming through the dusty and dirty windows. I do a quick scan of the room. Judging from the shelves that have either fallen or collapsed and the broken slushy machine in the back corner, I am guessing this was a corner store like 7-eleven.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I call softly. No response. A faint smile finds its way to my lips as I dig through the shelves. A small sigh escapes me as I see the familiar red box of KitKats. I quickly flip the box over and saliva fills my mouth when three wrappers are hidden underneath. I quickly scoop them up and shove them in my nearly empty pack. After a thorough search, I end up with the three KitKats, an assortment of different energy and protein bars, three bottles of water, one of which I drank, one battery and a battered packet of original chips. The chips and chocolate are an amazing find, although cans of food are usually more filling. Once my finds are securely packed, I pick my way through the debris and go behind the counter. I open up the cupboard behind the counter and a shoot of happiness and relief shoots through me. There is a can at the very back. The label has been scratched off but I don't really care what it is. I scoop it up and carry it to the back of the shop. A door is open just ajar, practically begging me to go through it. I shrug. What do I have to lose? I am about to go through when I hear shuffling. The door creaks loudly and I freeze when the shuffling stops. "Who's there?" I bark. No response. "I know you are here." I say, making my voice low and menacing.

"Get out," The two words are said so low that I barely catch them. I raise my eyebrows. The voice definitely belongs to a boy.

"No," I reply defiantly. No one tells me what to do. I step through the door and freeze when the blinding light shines in my eyes. "Get that out of my eyes!" I growl. The light goes down out of my face and I take in the boy. Well, man. His light brown hair is ruffled and a rough stubble is starting to grow around his chin. His clothes are dirty and crumbled, his blue jeans have a large hole in one of the knees. I frown at the state of him but then quickly realise that I probably don't look much better.

"Do you have a death wish?" He asks, tucking his legs under him and slowly standing. He is tall. Very, very tall. The top of my head coming to the start of his shoulders.