Flesh (n.s.)

two

Niall's POV

I woke up to Andrew shaking me awake, making me shoot up and reach for one of my knifes under my pillow. Andrew pushed down my shoulders and shone the flashlight in my face.

"Relax, it's me, Andrew." He whispered, causing me to relax and lay back down.

"Sorry. What's up?" I asked, voice groggy.

"Get back up, buddy. We're going scavenging." He said, turning back around and packing a backpack.

I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes and grabbing my flashlight from the side table. "Why so late at night?"

"Not late at night," He shook his head. "Early morning."

At that, I nodded, knowing that we would get ready now and by the time we would have to leave, it would be dawn and light outside. Perfect weather and light.

"Alright. Who else is going?"

Andrew helped me up from where I was sitting and handed me my belt with my katana holder and knife holders. "Liam. The rest are gonna hold down the fort."

I shrugged on my windbreaker and attached my belt through the loops of my jeans. Then I followed Andrew downstairs where he quickly kissed Carrie on the lips goodbye, we each got a spoonful of canned peaches, and then we were on our way.

The sun was rising over the hill behind the Inn, lighting our way down the dirt road until we reached the downtown area.

Small shops lined the cracked sidewalks with broken windows and busted doors. Some of the signs were very faded, and some were swinging so that they almost fell off of their hinges. Trash was scattered along the road: plastic bags, moldy boxes, and ripped fabric. It was like a scene from a movie about an evacuation or something. That's probably what happened. A mass evacuation.

I stood there for a moment, taking in the sight, wondering what could've happened here. Frantic evacuation, a giant raid, or just continuous scavenging journeys.

"Hey," Liam said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Let's get a look at some of those clothing shops, huh?"

I tore my eyes away from one store front where a Roamer was slumped against a trashcan, innards missing.

"Y-yeah, let's go."

We walked over to a small shop that had windows still intact, unlike most of the others, and Andrew busted open the door. We then stepped through the splintered doorway and emptied the dusty room, glad to see that it had some shelves of pants and such still in place.

Some clothes were scattered all over the floor, but I made my way over where the long-sleeve shirts and jackets were. I was browsing the dirty racks when a cloth was thrown on my face. I jumped and then pulled it off quickly to see Liam snickering.

Holding the piece of clothing up in front of me, I saw that it was just a nice, black and gray Raglan t-shirt.

"Oh," I said, smiling at the new shirt. "Thanks."

"No problem," Liam shrugged. "Thought you'd like it... and the fact that it's not white."

I looked down at the white t-shirt I was currently wearing which was now more tan than anything and had rusty-red blood stains all over it. I nodded in agreement with Liam and proceeded over to the bottoms.

By the time that I had made it over to the shoes after choosing some long pants, jeans, and shorts for myself, Andrew and Liam were already selecting boots of their sizes and Andrew was picking out a pair for Daniel.