The Key To It All

Dark grey smoke covered the town in thick blanket. A lone girl stumbled through the deserted streets, hand covering her mouth as she tried her best not to inhale a lot of the tendrils of smoke that would lead to her hacking and attracting unwanted attention.

Her surroundings were quiet and quite eerie to be honest, with only the crackling of fires within the ruins of buildings and the low whistling of the wind, wafting stray litter in a calm manner. The smoke danced it's way around and ashes settled on the ground like a thick carpet.

Sabrina Keys looked around, eyes darting to every nook and cranny that she could see through the thick smog, trying to stay alert of her surroundings. If she was trying to avoid a surprise attack in this apocalyptic town, she was doing a terrible job considering that she was walking out in the open.

Water

Her mind repeated like a religious chant. Two cars, lay wrecked in their parking spots. The others, probably taken as they were still in proper working order. To her delight but also surprise, she stumbled across a convenience store.

She gasped in utter happiness but immediately regretted it as she fell into a fit of coughing. She regained her composure and studied the building that came to her like a miracle.

It had taken a beating that's for sure but it wasn't as bad as the stores and buildings around it which were beyond repair at this point. The store was mostly intact albeit for the broken glass window and part of the sign flickering as it's other half layed on the floor, ripped apart. The door was hanging off its hinges and the lights were out. Graffiti was sprayed across it's walls like an untold warning. She could barely make out the various items displayed on the shelves within the store.

Without thinking she limped over to the door and made her way inside.

Much better

The store had cleaner air, even though it was still a bit smokey. Breathable. She shrugged her shoulders and stalked over to the back of the shop where she thought bottled water would be.

She found the refrigerator and smiled widely.

Fate had been kind to her today. One lone bottle sat at the top shelf within the refrigerator , just within her reach. She stood up on her tippy toes and snatched the bottle. She looked at it as if it was gold and clasped her dirty hands around the bottle in a loving embrace.

She sighed and looked out through the window and into what was once a reclusive but homey town. "I wish you guys were here with me." she said quietly to herself. Pictures of her parents and her older brother flashed through the 17 year old's mind. She bit her lip and blinked back her tears. She fumbled with her silver chain.

Now is not the time to let your guard down. You need to survive. They're safe now.

Her mind flicked back to the present, staring at the bottle of water. She curled her fingers around the cap of the bottle and twisted it. It opened with a pop. It took a lot of self control to not just gulp down the entire bottle. She needed to save it. Who knows when she'll find more clean water to drink?

Wiping the stray droplet of water off her lip with the side of her hand, she then closed the bottle and deposited it into her backpack. She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear and then got up and walked around the store, looking for things to aid her survival.