Chapter 2: An Office Building

A couple of hours later a girl walked out of a ruined supermarket, if one had been near for the past few hours they would have heard a beautiful symphony of screams. Sophie jogged off, mutants have been known to be attracted to the smell of blood so she didn't want to stay there for much longer. This was also one of the reasons she was careful not to get blood on herself, the other was that it was annoying to remove from clothing. She looked around briefly before heading off in the direction she had been going before her trip into the supermarket.

Avoiding the holes in the pavement with a skip in her step as she walked along, she looked for any more buildings that might have something good in them.

After a few minutes, her scarlet eyes spotted a small building, it was an office building with four floors that was in relatively good shape. The building was still mostly straight and most of the windows were missing, the few remaining were cracked at best. There was a missing support beam in between two of the windows on the third floor and the glass doors on the first floor were wide open and the glass itself was long gone.

Sophie walked up to the building and peaked her head in through a missing window. The front lobby had an unrepairable secretary desk as well as a dozen or so rusted chairs scattered around the sides of the room in various positions. On the right of the desk was an elevator with broken doors, one twisted at an odd angle, and a door with a stairs sign above it. To the left, Sophie saw two doors each with hard-to-read signs, presumably bathrooms.

Walking up to the desk she saw that the computer was still there, albeit with a smashed-up monitor, but this was still a good sign that this building may have some good things in it. She looked to the other side of the desk to see an office chair on its side with a skeleton sprawled out nearby. Vaulting lightly over the desk she saw that the computer itself was gone.

Disappointment flashing in her eyes, she kicked the skull like a kid kicking a rock down the street. As the skull bounced a couple of times and rolled outside she turned and started to walk towards the staircase but paused mid-step.

"Hmm, guess it couldn't hurt to check the bathrooms first." She thought aloud as she spun around on one foot and made her way there instead.

Going into the bathroom closest to the desk first she opened the door and went inside. After a brief check around she found nothing worth noting and went into the other bathroom. As she had just done in the other bathroom she looked around to see nothing and checked the stalls. In the fourth stall, she opened it to see a skeleton on a closed toilet with a gun on the ground beside it. Briefly thinking the word "Coward" before picking up the gun and examining it. Looking at the gun and brushing off some sand, she saw that with a bit of maintenance, and maybe a part or two, it could probably function. With a small smile, she tucked it into her bag, briefly checked the last stall, and left the bathrooms.

Leaving the bathrooms she once again went towards the stairs and opened the door. On the other side, she was faced with a standard staircase made of concrete and a rusted railing, with thin layers of sand and piles in the corners, the staircase was anything but clean. She carefully pressed her foot on the first step and put her weight on it. After feeling no movement she carefully took another step and then another. After a few steps she became more sure and walked up the stairs at a decent but careful pace. Soon reaching the second floor, she saw a metal door with a rusted handle. Going to open it, she found the handle wouldn't budge. Preparing herself, she then put more strength into it.

*CLANK*

With a loud clank and to Sophie's annoyance the handle broke off still in Sophie's hand. After lightly scoffing she tossed the handle to the side then lightly kicked the door a few times before backing up and shoulder slamming the door.

*BAM*

The rusted and weak hinges gave way and the door broke off from the frame. With a loud thud, the door settled on the ground flinging sand away and dust into the air.

"Brute force always wins." Sophie said to herself, at this point in her life rather used to talking to herself when scavenging or wandering. One's self was the best companion she would always tell herself.

On the other side she saw several cubicle blocks and a few side rooms, as well as a small office in the corner that likely used to belong to a manager. The cubicles themselves were mostly empty, a few papers here and there, or occasionally other supplies like a stapler or pencil, of course nearly none of it was in a useful condition but she still picked up a few of the staplers and other supplies that were in comparatively good condition. Only a few of the cubicles still had their monitors, most of which were fully broken, but to her surprise, one of the cubicles had a monitor with only one or two cracks and even a computer with its side missing somewhat hidden underneath a chair. She put the monitor into her bag. She then kneeled, picked up the computer, and looked at it. Through the missing side and she could see that at least half of the components were broken or missing but she put it in her bag anyway.

Looking through the rest of the floor there wasn't much that stood out besides a dusty old copier that was probably old even before it was abandoned that she pried a few parts off. The third floor was similar, she only picked up a few odds and ends. She hoped the fourth floor might have something better.

She started to walk up the stairs to the fourth floor but without warning the ground started to shift underneath her—the stairs to the fourth floor were collapsing. Quickly jumping back she landed on her side with a thump and skidded a bit in the sand as a deafening crash sounded out, any step past the third to the fourth floor was now crashing downward.

Sophie carefully stood up and dusted herself off. Looking towards where the stairs used to be she decided that even if she could still get up to the fourth floor it was no longer worth the trouble. Stepping back to the stairs slowly she looked down and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Looking down towards the stairs that went back down, while blocked quite a bit, did not collapse as well. As long as she was careful could make her way back down easily.

Taking the first step down as carefully as a thief, she made her way back down, after climbing over some rubble she made her way back down to the first floor.

At the bottom of the stairs she took her bag off and looked inside, it was rather full now and it was time to head back to a merchant that would buy scrap. Heading back outside she squinted her eyes a bit at the harsh sun before she began retracing her footsteps and started to head back the way she had come to this decrepit and lifeless city.