Out of Time ~ Umbrella Academy [ 2 ]

2

When Five reached Sunnyvale, TX, he hadn't known what to expect. The article had said everything was practically disintegrated, but he didn't fully believe it until his eyes landed upon what remained of the town.

Everywhere he looked there were piles of ashes, imprints of buildings and broken cinder blocks scattered here and there. The wildlife surrounding the town had begun to grow back, but there was still burnt tree stumps and ash blowing in the air.

The only sign of life was that of a street that was slowly in the process of being rebuilt. Knowing that he had to find out what had happened, Five thought it best to start with the workers.

The first man he managed to reach looked to be middle aged, his head bald and shining with sweat with a small brown beard that was in desperate need of being cleaned due to the crumbs still stuck inside. He was wiping his forehead and placing a yellow construction hat back upon his head when he caught sight of Five, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion while his co workers all glanced at the boy as well.

"Excuse me, sir, could I ask you a couple of questions?" Five asked, causing the man to blink in surprise. "Uh, sure?" the man said, sounding as confused as he looked. "What are you doing here, kid? This isn't a place for someone like you to be running around in."

"My parents and I are on our way to Dallas and our car broke down. There are people helping them right now, but I wanted to explore for a little bit so I snuck away and found this town," Five lied, the man relaxing a bit and smiling warmly at him in response.

"Curious, are ya?" the man chuckled. "Go ahead. Ask away." "What exactly happened here?" Five questioned causing the man to chuckle again. "That would be a good question to start out with, huh? Well, son, this used to be the small town of Sunnyvale until it was burned down a little over a year ago," the man explained.

"How did that happen?" Five asked. "No one's quite sure, but some suspect the barn on the side of town caught fire and the dry season made the crops catch fire and soon the rest of the town. It was terrible. No survivors and not a single building left standing. Well, all except one," the man said.

"One survivor?" Five perked up. "No, one building," the man explained. "Just on the outskirts of town, about a mile down the road. The fire stopped right before it could fully reach the house, but it still has some evidence of burning on it. I wouldn't get too close if I were you. Some say it's cursed since it's the only thing left standing."

Five hummed, making a mental note of just where the house was. After all, it was a little suspicious that one house was left untouched.

Five pretended to check his watch and let out a small groan before saying, "Oh no. I'm gonna be late. Mom only said I could be out for a couple of minutes and she's going to go on a rant if I don't hurry on back. Thank you, sir. I hope you all get this town up and running soon," he said, before quickly turning around and gagging at his own words. He didn't even wait for the man to respond before he began lightly jogging away.