Fade (Walker #74033 fanfiction) Book 1

Chapter 2

Jevden glanced out the window and squinted against the bright sunlight. He hadn't intended on sleeping so late, but his work had kept him up through the night. He sat up in his bed and looked around. The room was painted in shades of toned blue, but it was hard to make out from all the clutter. Computers, satellites, and other electronic devices sat on desks pushed up against the walls. Jevden reached over and picked up the walkie-talkie on the table closest to him and turned the dial. He was only met with static. He sighed and put it back down, dragging himself out of his bed. The wall directly opposite of him was partly covered in tally marks, which stood for the number of days that he'd been here. The other half was supposed to represent the number of survivors he found. Jevden emotionlessly picked up a piece of chalk and added another line to join the group.

193. 193 days that he had been searching. And zero survivors were discovered.

He frowned. After all this time, he'd hoped that some progress would've been made, but it seemed as if everyone disappeared off the planet. He knew they were somewhere; the Solar Storm didn't kill everyone, it mainly just wiped out all technology that had been created. Unfortunately, that had been enough to throw the human race into chaos, seeing as there was no fuel, no transportation, and no way to be protected from the seething rays of the Flare. It was marked as the most catastrophic natural disaster to occur in history. However, he had enough knowledge of electronics to get some of them working again, and had managed to reprogram them, allowing them access to the dead satellites in space. Once he was able to get them working, he let them scan the earth, on the lookout for any remaining humans. But, as time went on with very little results, he eventually lost the hope of finding anyone. For all he knew, there could be communities established underground, never to return to the surface again. One of the devices hissed with static for a moment, but he paid no attention, figuring it was nothing, and left the room.

Jevden had set up his home in an office building but was only occupying three areas; besides the bedroom, there was the break room and the main area acting as his living quarters. The only mission he planned today was to explore more of the city, but he decided to get something to eat first. He walked into the break room and opened the fridge, only to find it nearly depleted. He growled in annoyance; it had slipped his mind that he was almost out of food. The only benefit of living in a city that was deserted was that he didn't need to ration, though he was sure that would change in a few years. He returned to the bedroom, put on his black backpack, and tied up his sneakers before venturing out into the outside world.

The air felt warm and sticky against my skin as Jevden walked down the street past abandoned buildings. They blocked most of the sun, leaving the city submerged in shadows. He looked down at my watch and saw that it was only 10 in the morning. His brow furrowed. The closest supermarket that was still stocked was about an hour walk away, but today he didn't feel like trekking for that long. Normally, he stayed within the city limits, not wanting to walk in direct sunlight, but he decided that today would be an exception. Grabbing the water bottle still left in the backpack, he drank about a third of it, relishing in its cool, refreshing taste, and turned right down one of the streets leading to a gigantic field that formed by the edge of the city. Traversing through it would cut the time at least in half, but the heat from the sun would slow him down a bit. He sighed, and stepped out into the light, feeling its warmth like a comforting embrace.His determination returning, Jevden started through the field.

The heat wasn't as bad as he expected, and he found he was able to go faster. About a mile to the left, he could see the city, with tall skyscrapers rising high above the streets. He gave a small smile; a few days ago, he would've gone around the long way, but now he saw how foolish of a choice that was. About halfway through, he stopped to a rest by a cluster of trees that formed into a forest he had never noticed before. Jevden sat down at the base to catch his breath, and downed more water from the bottle.