Changed: Outbreak

Chapter 6: Deserted hope

[K's pov]

We entered the deserted city soon after we left the laboratory to begin our journey. Puro, Colin, and Lui returned just in time before we left. We bid our goodbyes and hugs, and now we're here. Destroyed civilization in which I used to be part of. Dusty winds under the hot sun as we travel through the wastes of the human civilization. Empty buildings towering up to the sky. Roads filled with dust and sand. Abandoned cars piling up on each lane of the road. It is sad that a once thriving society, now crumbled to dusts.

Occasionally, Scott points out his paw towards establishments worth of interest. Sometimes a department store, or a bookstore. Sometimes even a medical supplies store. We entered one of the libraries that are seemingly still intact, and inside we found shelves upon shelves of books. "We found gold, Doctor K." Scott stated as I reach out my paw under my lab coat for something. I pulled out my flashlight and turned it on. I shined the flashlight on the shelves, and we discovered dozens more rows of shelves holding books. "This is a lot of books, but unfortunately we can't take all of them. You can take a few that are interesting and will be great for our bookworms." I replied and Scott gave me a nod before walking towards the shelves of books, and I remained standing by the entrance.

"How many books should I bring?" Scott asked as he starts to examine the books within the first shelf. I look at the size of the duffle bag Scott is carrying with him. "Since you are a Protogen, you can bring in five books. Also, if I'm correct, your visor acts as a night vision to help you see through the dark. Am I correct?" I asked and Scott gave me a nod.

"Correct. It's one notable feature of the visor that I grew to like about. I didn't even know it has a night vision feature up until later when I accidentally turned it on. Do you wish you have night vision goggles?" Scott asked as I noticed him picking up a book and placing it inside his duffle bag. "I can technically make one whenever I like, but it's time consuming and I would rather focus on bigger things. The answer is a no." I replied and Scott pulls out another book to put into his duffle bag.

An hour passed by as we chatted in the library, and we eventually left to continue on the journey. The sun is now facing the south side direction, and only a few hours left before sunset. Honestly, I have never explored the ruins of the city at night. It's all ruins at daytime, but will it be a different story once the dusk hits? We picked up the pace of our journey, walking slightly faster as we race against time. It would be bad to arrive at the abandoned industrial plant at night and search for the ship in the dark.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination. In front of us is an industrial plant, and the state of the plant is no worse than the tall infrastructures of the city. The signboard of the industrial plant has been scribbled by nature through time, and is illegible to even make out of. Windows cracked and shattered, some even boarded up. Front doors broken down, either from forced entry from the early times, or forced entry from the present times. Scott approached the entrance first, standing by the broken doen doors. "Are scavengers possible?" He asked as he turn to look at me.

"Scavengers are indeed possible, but I doubt that any humans are still alive after seven years of the riot breaking into the laboratory and the initial outbreak. If you are to put this into statistics, it would take at least three years for humans living in bunkers to leave out of their holes and scavenge the ruins for supplies. But, according to a news article, if I remember correctly, there's only a few bunkers funded by the government to which all are reserved for rich people, or VIPs--"

"--There's also no guarantee that everyone that got into the bunker are all clear and not infected with the virus. Taking it into statistics again, around 50% to 70% of the bunkers are inoperable because of one or more of the residents who entered the bunker are infected. Seven out of ten people would immediately die within the first and second years of being within the bunker, with only a few remaining lucky people who actually have acquired the virus but has a slow incubation period within them. One of them is you--"

"--Three years before opening the bunker, and half of the operational bunkers have failed before opening their doors from trying to keep everyone alive with lacking supplies required to live. They either have failed because all died from starvation, or died from the virus itself. On the other hand, a few managed to live with only a few survivors who are infected. Another four years to reach our present time, and they would've died already before reaching this industrial plant. So yeah, Scavengers are slim to nothing to even exist."

I explained, and Scott appears to be dumbfounded by my answer. "Wow, that is some explanation you got. It must've been a reason as to how and why I had a crush on you back then." I raised an eyebrow on Scott's reply before smirking and standing close next to him. "How confident of you to say, and I bet you still do now." I stated and Scott's visor began to show strokes of line just below his eyes, presumably resembling a blush. I raised my paw and placed it over the mane of Scott. I began to rub his mane gently, and I notice his tail wag happily as I rub his mane more.

"Your body is showing a different answer." I stated as I pull my paw away. The Protogen let out a sigh of relief, and his tail soon calms down from the wagging. "Despite a year later, the admiration is still there for you. L-Let's stick to our plan. The ship is probably still here somewhere." Scott stutters as he heads inside the industrial plant, and I followed by from behind. With the flashlight on my hand, we explored the interiors of the abandoned industrial plant. Rays of the sun shining through the gaps and hole, illuminating the room so little.

"Ouch!" I heard the cry of Scott, and I quickly turns towards the direction of his voice. "Crap! I stub my foot paw on something." I shined my flashlight towards Scott before shining it on the floor. It took me a good few seconds to realize that Scott bumped his foot paw against the part of the ship we're looking for.

"Looks like we found the ship... Buried in sand."