Silver Umbrellas

Eight-- Bared

Small scale disaster struck the next day, when Alice volunteered to show Lili the way to the convenience store now that her leg was healed. Thank you, inhuman healing speeds. Liechtenstein did her best to memorize the bends and twists in the path they took, and the two girls arrived within two and a half hours. The noisy pitter-patter of raindrops on their umbrella didn't stop them from talking amicably almost the entire way there.

The heavy downpour of the day before had done an unforeseeable amount of damage on the roof and walls of the store. When Oregon and Liechtenstein arrived, they were shocked to see that the store was almost completely gone!

"Oh, no..." Alice murmured before picking up the pace of her stroll, which forced Lili to follow suit so she wouldn't find herself unprotected by the umbrella.

In the past, they could have closed their umbrella for a few moments inside the holey store; now there wasn't enough ceiling left to cover one person's head. The skylight above the  half-eaten check-out desk had fallen during the night and shattered against the floor, leaving chunks of broken glass on the dirt floor. Underneath each shard was a section of perfectly untouched floor, but the rain had eaten everything around those shards already.

Lili kept her hand on Alice's shoulder as they picked their way across the store and found themselves at the entrance to the back storage room. Well, what was left of it, anyway. The door was lying on the ground, decayed in a slanted angle going down from right to left. The older girl watched with wide eyes as a stray droplet landed on the flat surface, and immediately following that a sizzling sound was emitted. A dent began to form beneath the acid.

Behind the doorframe was open sky and nothing more, absolutely nothing more. The rest of the water bottles that had been waiting there were gone-- broken open, spilled, and then dissolved. The box of granola bars had been better protected, but it looked like the two girls had gotten there just in time to rescue them.

Alice handed Lili the handle of the umbrella before scooting closer to the shelf and snatching the cardboard box down. Inside were three bars, still wrapped and untouched by human hands. Before discarding the box where it could be broken down by the rain, she stuffed the three precious meals inside the pockets of her baggy windbreaker. "This isn't good..."

"Nein, it's not," Liechtenstein agreed fearfully, though she managed to smile anyway. "But it's alright, still! Ve still have vater back home, enough to last us for a vhile. Come on, Alice. Is there any other place ve can check before going back?"

Oregon shook her head, making her braid twist where she had stuffed it inside her coat for its protection. "The days are getting shorter because it's winter, and we can't be out after dark. The village is in the other direction, three hours from the shack. We don't have enough time..."

"Vhy can't ve be out after dark?" Lili asked curiously.

"It's just a rule... There are probably other monsters out there that come out at night. The Tanglers are bad enough, but they stay by the city, thank God." She seemed uneasy at the thought of monsters being out there in the thin forest, where they could attack while the humanoids were vulnerable and all but defenseless.

"Alright," Lili consented after a moment of silence that was broken only by the wind and the rain. "So, ve have to vait until tomorrow to go to this village. That's not so bad. Let's get back to Yao and Tino now, and tell them vhat's going on."

Liechtenstein held the umbrella because she was taller, and Oregon kept a grip of the bottom of Lili's shirt so they wouldn't accidentally walk too far apart absentmindedly. It took them less time to return, seemingly, and when they went in they didn't look forward to telling the other two the bad news.