The Years After

Chapter 30

        March 4. 4 months later.

        The Palace still houses those who lost their homes. Some workers fled with the other tourists, north to the United States. Others simply stayed to "die" in their homeland. Since all the tourists left the Third Town, Second Town, and Fifth Town, we don't get any more shipments from the Master Town. No supplies and you lose people. The Second Town was bombed and well right now, it's pretty much a ghost town. Their people spread all around the towns and some entered illegaly into the United States. They do planting, so that's pretty much how we get our food these days. Fishing is also a main food source. Electricity still runs in the city, but it's not far from being taken away. The leader technically abandoned his towns and put his main focus on the Master Town. I am walking around a city which was once streaming with continuous night and day life, which now is deprived from any more continual life. I was half expenting a ball of tumbleweed to roll across the main street of what was once Downtown. That lonely tumbleweed rolling around, in between ever-standing high rises and financial buildings. Fading into another district of a desolate Third Town. I was with Hulk and Julissa, we were sent to scavenge the hospital in Downtown in search for medical supplies in case power ran out. Hulk was driving in a small, black pickup truck. Julissa and I decided to walk. It was awkward walking into an abandoned hospital. What if there's something in there?

       "Hey Julissa, what if we walk in and suddenly the elevator stops and the doors open and there's a woman in a nightgown trying to come in?" I jokingly told her.

        "Well if you don't shut up, you'll be the only one seeing that woman, becuase I am not going in there." She said, a bit irritated.

        "I was joking." I also answered irritated and she laughed. We went in, and it wasn't how it's described in apocalyptic or horror movies, messy and bloodstained. No, it was clean and perfectly ordered. Not even a single paper misplaced. It felt eerily, the tourists left leaving this place in perfect order. Hulk came in behind us and he said,

        "Let's all go together." I was thinking of saying but we're not gonna get enough supplies, but then there's a grocery store across the street, so we could use the shopping carts.

                "Let's get shopping carts, they're across the street, that way we can get more stuff." I proposed. They both nodded and we all ran outside. We entered and got in one of the glass elevators. The screen to select a floor was touch and we chose, Fourth Floor: Medical Equipment. Even if it was just the fourth floor, we were already high enough to see the roofs of the smaller buildings. Ding! The elevator doors opened and this floor was completely cold. We were lucky enough to have brought a jacket, otherwise this cold would have been unbearable. We walked down the hallway, past some medical rooms until we reached the door labeled medical equipment.

        "What do we get?" Hulk asked.

        "Basics. Syringes, needles, gauze, bandaids, stitches, aspirin, asthma medication, gloves, hospital gowns, antibiotics. Just whatever you think is basic and if you find something that sounds like it works, don't hesitate, just get it, if you feel like we need it, then we do." Julissa said. After two hours of long searching and trips back and forth, we finally filled up the truck and headed to the hospital to unload. After that we ate lunch and we were heading to the Palace when Hulk got a text message. 

        Message (1): Mark: Urgent Meeting, Warehouse in 30 minutes. 

        "Meeting guys!" Hulk said inside the small truck. "Let's go pick up the cousins." 

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        We picked up, Alex, Bryan, Nicole, Hunter, Diana, and Kay. We were riding in the back of the small truck and Hulk and Julissa in the cabin. It felt good driving high speed with my own little "rebel squad" in the interstate highways which were now empty, except for a few other people with cars driving down IT 98 to the Warehouse. Once we got there a couple 7,000 or so citizens were walking in with us through the doors. It felt more like a stadium, except that there was no seats, field, open roof, or hotdog stand. There were muffled conversations until Mark stepped up.