Wishful Dreaming

13

The gate to the elevator slowly creaked open, and the two boys still holding each other's hand made their way out slowly. The whole building was silent, allowing them to hear the steady downpour of rain outside, giving them both mixed feelings. On one hand, the rain was good, providing clean fresh water when they barely had any. However, the rain could also make them sick as it wasn't the warmest where they were at, and they would be forced to find shelter from it. It would be okay though, after all, it's just some rain.

They walked into the only room open, and Mono paused to look at the mannequins sitting down on several chairs, suspicious of them. However none of them moved as the children walked across the damp floor and into a small bathroom. The sunlight outside was dim, but both could tell it was daytime. Surprisingly, the bathroom was not wet like the other room, not having any leaks spread on the ceiling. Seven was grateful, since he knew he was going to get soaked outside, the clouds not indicating letting up anytime soon.

Mono was the first one to try opening the small window in the room, struggling with it for a second before Seven got up on the table to help. Together, they forced the rusty window open, a rush of cool air hitting them as soon as they did. The boys enjoyed the unfilthy air, it not being nearly as stuffy as inside the hospital, however much of it was polluted. Taking in a deep breath, Mono jumped out the window and landed on his feet outside, not having to help Seven on the short jump he didn't turn around.

They were protected from the rain for a short second, but soon they were completely in it, being soaked in seconds. The city streets were a little brighter than the room, having more access to the small amount of sunlight. The paved walkways were all broken and oddly bumpy, but were fine to walk on nonetheless. Clothes and trash littered those paths, nobody claiming them. For a second Seven considered taking something to help combat the weather, but decided that it may be better to not do so, as there was no telling where the clothes came from or who it used to belong to.

Everything was mostly quiet, save for the rain and the boy's footsteps. That was until they got to a wider part of a road, with apartments lining each side of the street. There, the boys could hear a consistent thumping, eerily coming from people falling out of the higher floors. It made Mono's stomach twist from the thought that those thumbs were humans, who were most likely dying on their own terms of self motivation, which made him want to look away. Seven didn't like it either, trying to convince himself that those weren't people but rather clothes, explaining why there were clothes all over the streets. It sort of made sense to him, but he still knew the truth, he just didn't want to think about it.

Mono rushed into the first open building he saw, wanting to get out of the constant rain and away from the sound of falling people. Seven entered right behind him, wet to the core and shivering a bit, hoping that he wouldn't get sick. Getting sick in this world could easily lead to death, and he didn't want to die yet. The building was a little damp when they first walked into it, though got somewhat drier as they went up. Most of the doors were boarded up with a couple planks, there was trash on the ground, and holes decorated the walls and floors. It was only when they were going up the second flight of stairs winding upwards in a spiral like fashion did either of the boys hear talking.

On instinct, they froze, but as they listened more, the voice sounded normal, almost fake. It wasn't the growling and huffs of a deformed person, but that didn't mean the kids trusted it any more than those. They started to make their accent to the top more carefully, now wary of the strange voice they heard. Refusing to go up the stairs with a dead body on it, Mono walked towards an opened door, which was also the place where the voice was coming from.

A few steps into it, the floor above cracked and broke, a man with almost no face left after it twisted into itself, fell through from above. Mono stopped moving and forced Seven closer, not knowing if the man was going to come after them or not. The deranged man didn't actually, instead he scrambled onto his feet and hurriedly ran into the next room over. Both boys had no clue what was going on, hearing a loud crashing noise before everything went silent again.