External (Book 1&2)

17|Skyscraper

We stand directly under the skyscraper, looking up at it. The tower seems to go one for miles into the sky, hiding even the sun behind it. Shattered glass lays below our feet making us aware of our every step.

"Are you sure you want to enter something like this?" I say in a last attempt to get them to back out.

"If it was going to fall, it would've by now." William says, walking forward. I sigh, following him inside and Marcus after me. The lobby is void of anything from Old America. The only thing in it is branches and leaves, covering the floor below. The walls are bare of any decor or paint, but instead just reveals the metal underneath. There is a row of elevators on the left wall, but the slit between the doors are filled in with the vines that encase everything.

We follow William as he walks towards a door which sits directly next to the elevators. It's window is busted in, so we can see the stairs behind it. I try to push the door open, but it doesn't budge.

"Damn" I mutter mostly to myself. The door must be rusted closed or something. William taps my shoulder and lightly pushes me away before trying his own luck. Still even with the two men pushing at the same time, the door doesn't cooperate.

"Let's find another set of stairs." William says, giving up on that door. I walk away from it and the three of us separate, searching for another way up.

I let my hand trace the walls beside me as I walk, my fingers brushing against the cool metal. I make my way to the back of the building, passing by the empty room. I peer into each one, making sure that there are no stairs in any of them. As I look into the next one, an eerie feeling sends a shiver down my spine. A single metal chair stands up straight in the middle of the room, facing the door. It is unnatural that even after over a hundred years the chair still stands, impossible even. It only reassures my thoughts of there being human life still on the surface.

I tear my eyes away and keep searching. It doesn't take long after to find the door leading to another set of stairs, which this time the door is much more complying. I call to the others, who reach where I am in seconds.

We head up the countless steps, reminding me of those few steps up to Mortelli's house. This is so much worse. The steps seem to never end and each time we reach a door to enter a floor, there is more steps to go up further. People in Old America must have been so fit if they needed to walk up steps like these everyday.

Against one of the walls on every flight of stairs, there is a large window showing the outside. Some of the floors, don't have glass to cover the empty blank wall. It was okay to deal with on the first ten floors, but now that we are on floor thirty-four, the emptiness on this floor proves to have some problems. Mostly being the cold wind that blows through at impossible speeds. Making us sway in the wind as we grip onto the rusted railing. Also, since it rained last night, the stairs also proved to be in fact wet in some areas. So, when the wind sways us, it's hard to not fear slipping and falling down.

"Can we take a break." I speak for the first time after almost half an hour of climbing. We had all stayed quiet, in our heads, to keep our concentration. I didn't want to be the first one to break, but my legs were screaming at me with fiery rage. We stop on the thirty-seventh floor.

I sit on the floor, resting my legs while taking a large gulp of my water.

"This view is amazing." Marcus says as he is looking out the window. This floor thankfully had glass covering the hole.

"I know." I answer. I have to work on bringing my breathing and heart rate back down. Who knew walking up stairs would be so difficult.

"It shouldn't be too much longer." William says after taking a long swing of his own water. He has his jacket zipped up and pulled close to his chest, reminding me that we have those. I usually only wore them at night, so during the day, they slip my mind. I dig into my bag, pulling out the jacket and throwing it on. It warms me instantly, protecting me against the cold air.