Morning arrived too soon, harsh and unwelcome, as pale light seeped through the cracked, grimy windows of our temporary refuge. Anna, my mysterious companion, was already awake, silently preparing for the journey ahead. Her movements were precise, practiced, the calm efficiency of someone who had grown accustomed to the constant threat of danger.
She glanced over, noting my bleary eyes and exhausted posture. “you need to get up,” she said flatly, voice devoid of sympathy.
I nodded groggily, struggling to force my aching body upright. Every muscle protested, my empty stomach growling angrily, demanding sustenance I couldn’t provide. I felt weak, exhausted beyond measure, but there was no choice I had to move.
“Where are we going?” I asked quietly, fear tightening my voice despite my best efforts to hide it.
Anna slung her small, battered backpack over one shoulder and gripped her worn baseball bat tightly, its surface scarred from frequent use. “There’s a skyscraper not far from here,” she explained tersely. “The higher floors are usually safer—less accessible to roamers, and sometimes there’s still food or supplies untouched. We need anything we can find.”
Her eyes flicked critically over my soft, overweight frame, skepticism clear in her expression. “Stay quiet, stay close, and don’t slow me down.”
We moved carefully out of the crumbling building, stepping cautiously onto the debris-strewn streets. The sky was gray and oppressive, clouds hanging low and heavy, casting the ruined cityscape in a perpetual twilight. Buildings loomed around us, skeletal remnants of a once-vibrant city, their windows shattered and fa?ades peeling away to expose rusted steel beams beneath.
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Every step was agony, my legs heavy and unresponsive, breath coming in sharp, painful gasps. My shoes, ill-suited for anything but office corridors, offered no support as we navigated uneven pavement littered with glass shards and rusted metal. Anna moved effortlessly ahead, footsteps nearly silent despite the challenging terrain, a stark contrast to my clumsy, labored progress.
Periodically, she glanced back, eyes narrowed in frustration, clearly irritated by my inability to keep pace quietly. My breath rasped audibly in the oppressive silence, each ragged gasp seeming impossibly loud, echoing off broken buildings and raising my anxiety further.
We passed through streets that had once bustled with life, now eerily empty save for occasional shambling figures glimpsed in distant shadows, their guttural moans carried faintly on the stale breeze. Each sighting sent fresh spikes of panic surging through my chest, pulse quickening with dread.
The skyscraper rose slowly into view, towering starkly above surrounding ruins. Its upper floors, though damaged, appeared mostly intact, offering a slim hope of refuge and supplies. As we approached, Anna’s pace slowed cautiously, her grip tightening around an old ragged bat, knuckles whitening from tension.
“Stay alert,” she warned softly, eyes scanning the area for any threats. “We don’t know what’s inside.”
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to straighten despite trembling legs and gnawing hunger. With dread thickening in my chest, I followed Anna towards the ominous building, desperately praying we would find something—anything—to sustain us until my time here finally ended.
