Are you crying?

The shouting, the gunfire... The man's commanding voice... All resounded in the air, despair and insanity in tangible form. Cindy tried to block the sound, like an scared child.  

I felt really disgusted to see her like that. The man that swore to protect her and be with her was unable to do anything but stand motionless... I feel so useless....

We didn’t hear the voice for a good period of time, so we assumed it just disappeared. Or we were going mad… John contracted the botulism after seeing the vision. And there’s nothing to disprove that maybe you can get other illnesses as well… I don’t know… I just wanted to die in that moment.

All I just wanted was to be free. I was an idiot. My suffering before this was nothing! I was just being a whiny bitch back then. I really understood what real pain is…

While we huddled in a corner, trying to drown out the noises, we heard a broadcast. It came from a small radio, sitting over the counter of the shop.

“Can anyone hear me? My name is Richard Clarke… I’m from Richmond. It is hell out here. I’m transmitting from an abandoned mall. God, I’m the only one left. This thing, it killed all of my platoon. Please… If you happen hear this… Send help. Please… any help. I don’t know how long I can resist. Communication with the army has been cut-off… Please… Help me…”

I turned off the radio. We didn’t need any of that… Cindy was in shock, looking at the barricaded door with a stoic face, like if she could see beyond it, beyond many yards…

Looking through the shelves of the store, I found a bottle of tranquilizers… Without thinking, I downed a few… Cindy too… We just wanted the pain to go away…

We were still scared, even with all the sedatives we took, huddled in a corner inside the shop. The screaming and roaring sounds from the looting haven’t stopped, the moron with the megaphone kept condemning everyone who didn’t follow his word.

Eventually, the stress and weariness took hold of us. We quickly fell asleep, the noise outside trying its best to keep us awake but to no avail… Before falling asleep, I checked the clock in the store… 2:00 AM.

It was a deep slumber… When we woke up, we could feel perfect. Refreshed… And we woke up on our own. The clock said 2:00 PM; there was no noise or screams… It was all quiet. We peeked through one of the shops windows… there was nothing on the street. Sure it was devastated, but there were no traces of life on it.

“Is it over?”  Cindy murmured, trying to find someone.

“Stay here. I’ll check it out.”