“Yeah.”
“Well, where are they?”
He glances around the area, cocks his head for a moment, and then looks back at me.
“I have no idea.”
I rub my hands up and down my arms as a chill runs through me. No women, children, or dogs. What about cats or other pets? I could hear the faint chirping of birds in the trees and the constant buzzing of insects, so there were some animals around. Why not dogs?
“There’s a shopping center less than a mile from here,” Falk says as he tosses the cigarette butt away. “Let me check on your leg—do you think you can walk that far? Then we can go stock up and see if we can find anyone.”
“I think I can,” I say. “How will we bring stuff back?”
“We’ll have to just bring what we can carry for now,” he says. “There are bound to be shopping carts or something we can use. I’ll figure out a better way later.”
Falk and I go back inside where he unwraps the bandage from my leg, cleans the wound again, and bandages it back up. It’s painful but not unbearable, so I decide I can make the trip. Despite Falk’s rather foul mood, I don’t like the idea of being left alone in his apartment.
We head off down the street with one of Falk’s rifles strapped over his shoulder. He keeps a slow pace so I can keep up as we make our way to the shopping center.
There is no sign of another living being, not even when we get to the main road. It’s slow going with my limping, and we have to dodge a lot of cars that have smashed into utility poles or are just parked up on the sidewalk, and there are bodies of men everywhere. I keep my eyes on the ground as we pass the cars. I don’t want to see the passengers inside—or worse yet—no one inside.
Falk takes the side streets, looking for signs of life. There are none. Every time we pass another neighborhood, I keep thinking we’ll see someone this time, but we don’t. We only see more bodies—all men.
The empty cars in the street bother me the most. I can’t help but wonder who was in them. I also can’t stop myself from checking the back seats for child restraints. Every time I see one, I shudder.
Still no signs of women or children.
Falk leads me to a strip mall parking lot. One half of the mall is completely destroyed, right down to the ground. The only stores standing are a nail salon and a sandwich shop, and the windows are broken out of both of them. The bodies of two men hang out of the smashed building, their blank eyes staring at the sky.
“What’s going to happen to them all?” I ask.
“Cleaning up would be a big job,” Falk says. “In a couple of days, it’s going to be a lot worse.”
“Did you have to go there?”
“It’s true.” He shrugs as he climbs through the broken window of the sandwich shop, carefully avoiding the bodies. “Hopefully, someone will start organizing—putting things back together.”
“We haven’t seen anyone at all.” I follow him inside but don’t get past the entrance. There’s nothing but rubble inside.
“Maybe they’re in hiding.” He doesn’t sound convinced or convincing as he maneuvers around debris trying to get back behind the counter. Everything inside is smashed and useless, so we go back outside.
“Maybe we’re the only survivors.” I can only whisper the words, barely able to comprehend the thought.
I look up at Falk as his face tightens and his lips smash together. He looks like he’s about so say something right before he focuses in the distance.
“We’re not,” Falk says. “Look.”
I follow his nod with my gaze and see three men in dirty jeans and flannel shirts appear from around the corner of the strip mall. One of them points to us, and they all start heading in our direction, waving. As they approach, I can see they’re all in their early thirties, and their clothing is filthy.
Falk stands up straight and touches the gun at his hip briefly before letting his hand fall back to his sid
e. He’s tense and alert, like he was when we first stepped out of the hotel.
“Don’t say anything.” Falk looks at me with those intense eyes as he speaks.
“Why not?”
“I’ll explain later.”