When the Clock strikes 12

Chapter 8 [Kathryn's Path] - Day 8 - The Good Old Days

Devan awoke to the icy cold wind against his face, "Brrrr," he shivered, "I'd better get up and make breakfast for me and Kathryn." when Devan thought of his friend, he remembered what she said during their time at the village, "Maybe moving to Canada isn't such a bad idea.". Devan pondered the thought, then he pushed it to the back of his mind to focus on more pressing matters, "Either way, we need to eat."

Devan had finished making breakfast, and he sat down and thought about what to do to pass the time. "Maybe I could count cards, or jot down some notes down..." Devan's mind wandered over to his companion, "I hope Kathryn likes the eggs, I'm not sure if this level of cold can affect it." Devan sniffed, "I should take down the traps." 

Devan started to carefully roll up the razor wire as to not cut himself, and pack away the barricades. Devan stored the traps in crates, removed the lifeless corpses from the razor wire, and did his best to remove all the murky blood that had stained the razor wire. After a tiring and excruciating half-hour, Devan finished storing all the barricades and razor wire, "Phew! Glad I didn't cut myself on that razor wire, that would've been painful." Devan wiped the sweat off 

As Devan walked back to his base, he saw Kathryn happily scarfing down the eggs, "I guess the cold didn't affect the taste." he smiled. "Hey Kathryn, I just took down all the traps, do you need anything." Kathryn looked up, a bit surprised, "No, not really. Why do you ask?" Devan shrugged "I dunno, I guess I kinda miss those long talks we used to have." "Yeah, now that you mention it, I guess we haven't like that talked in a while."

"So uh, anything you miss from before the outbreak started?" Kathryn scratched her chin in thought, "I guess I miss when we used to eat food from Big Burger, their chicken burger's were amazing!" Her mouth watered at the mere thought of their perfectly cooked burger, "Oh yeah! I remember that. And that time we got lost in the supermarket and it took almost an hour before we got out." Devan chuckled as he reminisced of the funny moments the two had together, "Too bad we can't go there anymore," Kathryn said as her cheerful voice dissolved into a gloomy puddle of disappointment. In an attempt to salvage the situation, Devan came up with an idea, "I mean, we aren't that far from our hometown, we could always drive there." Kathryn's face brightened once more, "Hell yeah!" she exclaimed, "Let's start packing, I'll drive."

"Hey Kathryn, catch!" Young Devan hurled the baseball in Kathryn's direction, "Uuf. I caught it!" Young Kathryn cheered and held up the ball like it was the holy grail, "Nice one Kathryn! Now throw it back." Kathryn threw the ball towards Devan, and he effortlessly caught it in his old leather glove... This continued until the two were called inside, "C'mon you two! It's time for dinner!" In the doorway stood a tall brown-haired figure, "Can Kathryn have dinner with us?" Devan asked, putting on his best puppy eyes, the tall figure sighed, "If that's alright with her parents." The pair's eyes lit up with excitement, "Yes!" They triumphantly exclaimed, "Don't worry, I already asked." the two happily ran inside the distinctively turquoise house, "How do those two have so much energy?"

After Devan and Kathryn had driven for what felt like forever, they finally saw the entrance sign to their hometown: Portland, Oregon. "Man, this brings back memories." Devan sniffed, "And cold of course." Kathryn chuckled, "Who would've guessed?". As the two friends drove down the barren streets of Portland, a familiar building entered the frame, "Wait a sec... is that-" Kathryn cut Devan off, "PRICE CO!!!" he winced, "Oops, sorry." Devan pulled into the lot, "It's cool.". As Devan parked the car, Kathryn unbuckled her seatbelt and burst out the door.

"Kathryn, wait up!" Devan panted, though he could normally surpass Kathryn in her most energetic state, he couldn't do much in the winter cold, "I'll see you at the entrance!" once Devan heard this, he decided it was no use, and just walked the rest of the way.

Once Devan arrived at the entrance to the mall he saw Kathryn staring wide-eyed at the mess that once was their favourite mall, "I mean, I can't say I didn't expect it. In the mall, there were broken windows, all the shelves were empty, and the Large Christmas Tree that was once a thing of beauty was now uprooted and lay flat across the pristine marble flooring of the mall "After you, Kathryn."

When the two entered through the large glass window, they could immediately differentiate it from the icy winter air, "How the hell does this have heating?" then it hit him, "Oh yeah, the solar panels." "Huh? Solar panels?" Kathryn looked to Devan for an explanation, "They installed some solar panels a few months before the outbreak happened." This was indeed what happened, however, their reasoning remained unclear, "Then why don't we stay here for the night?" Devan pondered the answer, "Alright, it would be nice to be somewhere with air conditioning for a change." 

The pair started to walk around the mall, and they visited many of the landmarks from their past. Once they made it to the back of the mall they found a very special fast-food restaurant. "Hey, is that Big Burger?" Kathryn gestured towards the giant neon sign of a hamburger that was affixed to the wall, "Yep, looks like it." 

Kathryn reminisced the many memories the two held together; the classic patty smell, the slightly chemical-tasting lemonade, and the many conversations about whatever happened to be relevant at the time. Devan smiled as he too remembered the pleasant memories, but was interrupted by his own thoughts, "We should probably get ready for the Starvation Point." Kathryn nodded in agreement. 

END