A Fanged Secret

Chapter 5

After walking for what feels like forever we finally made it to the centre of the large beautifully abandoned city. The tall buildings have vines snaked up through  their broken windows and flowers bloomed through the cracking in the concrete. The clouds begin to spit as I look up to the sky. Dark clouds swirl above, completely blocking out the sun. We look around for some sort of shelter when Cathrine call us from behind.  "There's a small grocery store down that way, we just have to get there before the rain picks up and we should be alright." We all nod and make our way down the long, narrow road. The sidewalks are lined with glass and bullets, every once and a while I see a needle sitting abandoned. When we get to the building I can see that its a Walmart, however, its smaller than expected. We make our way through the parking lot and step through the shattered windows. It really is impressing how they managed to shatter every window on every building in sight. Once we get inside we quickly split to look for any salvageable resources. It's dark and dreary yet I decide to walk toward the clothing section to explore the shelves in the dark. I see a usable orange backpack in a pile of other shredded ones. Swinging it over my shoulder I head to find what I can from what hasn't been burned or torn. The aisles are small and hard to search due to the broken shelves that lay on the floor but after a while I manage to find a few things.  I shove a couple shirts and a few pairs of pants into the bag and make my way to a different section. This time I'm looking for food and water. The aisles are also bare like the clothing section but I decide to make my way through anyway. When I get to the end of the aisle and turn the corner I see the brown haired girl holding two mostly unscathed water bottles. It's probably a good idea to ask for her name at least. I make my way over as she searches some shelves.

"Hey," I say, "What's your name?" I think I startle her because she jumps as I start talking. She turns to me wide eyed and stops searching the shelves.

"I didn't see you there, you scared me. My name is Joy," she says, now smiling. "I found a couple of water bottles, but not enough for everyone;" She held up the two full bottles of clean, clear water.

"It's better than nothing, besides, we haven't checked all the aisles yet," I say trying to reassure her that she's doing good. "I found some extra clothing, just a couple of pairs of pants and some shirts," I casually mention while gesturing to the fully stuffed backpack then we continue walking together down the aisles.

Ten minutes later our small group gathers to assess our findings. 

"Six water bottles, two pairs of jeans, three shirts, a case of tomato soup, and a half-full box noodles," Shawn lists all the items while we try to wipe our disappointment away. The haul honestly isn't bad for how mutilated this place is, I attempt to shove the clothing back into the backpack. Cathrine sighs and looks out one of the broken glass windows,

"We should camp in here, the rain has picked up enough that we cant even see two meters in front of us." She says enthusiastically. 

"The sun is going down anyway, It would be safer for all of us if we stayed here," Shawn adds.

We cant see the sun, but from the way the world gets darker and darker by the minute is enough to have us predict that night time is upon us.

"We don't have any sleeping bags, it would have been a rough night if this place didn't have any," Maverick says as he points to the bedding section, "but we're in luck."

 We all know it won't have much, but it's got to have something. While making our way over we discuss possible places for us to take shelter in the near future. Ideas getting thrown left and right.

"Why don't we find a trampoline park, those are always fun," Abigail suggests jokingly.

"We need to be serious about this, why don't we go to the more residential areas, find a house that's still in tact." Shawn lectures.

"A lakeside Cabin!"

"Were in the middle of a city."

Back and fourth they fight while Maverick, Cathrine, Joy, and I continue into the aisle and grab whatever we deem necessary and usable.

"None of us searched over here because all the lie necessities are on the other side of the store," Maverick says as we scan for blankets. It's not the warmest day in history that's for sure. I walk farther into the aisle behind Maverick and Joy and spot something on the top shelf, a small sheet similar to the one that covered the hospital bed mattress. I stop and try to reach but I'm not quite tall enough, 

"Sorry mate," Abigail grabs the sheet from over my head and tosses it to Shawn. They seem to have settles their argument.

"We decided that at dawn we're going to head to the residential area. We can find a house with a basement and hide out down there." Shawn sighs and starts hauling sheets back to where our other supplies is laid out.

"Fae, there's another aisle of sheets down there," Joy says pointing a few aisles down, "go find some there, we'll take these ones." I nod and split from the group. When I get there I can see a few unscathed pillows, but not much else worth taking. After collecting the pillows and placing them in a small pile I make my way to the third bedding aisle. At the end of it a figure stands tall. Among brown glass and shredded sheets. It's height is the same as the shelves, and its presence is cold and hollow. I swear I could feel my heart skipping its beats as static overtook my ears. I can feel the heat escaping my body as I reach for a nearby pillow and hurl it toward the creature. It obviously didn't do much. I stumble backward while it slowly approaches me. The static in my ears getting greater, the heat in my body now completely gone. Then as soon as I'd seen it, it disappears. I stand wide-eyed and horrified. Twisting backwards I rush back to the others to warn them about the strange presence that accompanies us.

"T-there's something... I," I try to form some kind of sentence while catching my breath. They all turn to me with confused and concerned faces.

"Fae, calm down, what happened?" Shawn says while coming to stand in front of me putting his hands on my shoulders. All I manage to muster up are three words,

"We aren't alone," after I say that, the colour drains from all their faces.