For a few days after that, little changed with her routine. Awaken, feed the chickens, wander around the city, and then return home with whatever spoils she had liberated from the massive shop.
On the third day, she had found the BOATS, or as she thought of it, OATS, section, and her worries about chicken food somewhat abated, although the location of it moved each day.
On the morning of the fifth, the world shifted again.
-
There were birds outside, now. None she recognised, but instead a mix of everything, as if somebody had raided a zoo. Everything, from strange fat ground-dwellers to small songbirds. She thought once that she'd spotted a hawk, or something similar far above, but the chicken seemed calm and there was no alarm call from the cockerel, roosting somewhere in the depths of the city.
Her daily walk revealed other wildlife, rats and mice scurrying away at her presence, squirrels darting in and out of windows, and once, a glimpse of a cat, well fed and sleek, its fur a tawny grey.
She had woken up that morning with tears streaming down her face, deep sobs wracking her system as the dawn light filtered in through the window, but thinking back on it now, the dreams which had set it off remained a distant haze. She knew it was to do with her family, to do with the Ending, but detail eluded her, and her emotions were strangely muted.
She existed in a dream, day by day, a wandering ghost.
Her trip to the store, which now had a sign outside declaring a FEUD MARKET, went as normal. She picked up food for herself and several canisters of oats, this time finding them hidden at the back of the shop, behind a bookcase, which she had to move by pulling a very obvious lever.
She was considering going back for what might've been maple syrup, but her basket was already heavy enough, and she didn't know if it would last overnight anyway. Often, when she checked in the morning, the things she had taken the day before were gone.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
She had stopped leaving offerings at the checkout stand on her way out, so she was a little surprised when, upon her exit from the building, she heard the clearing of a throat.
-
The man behind the register was so young that she hesitated to even call them such, they were maybe sixteen at the most. He had, he stated, simply woken up that morning, and the first thing he truly remembered was as she had entered the store.
That night they ate together in her cottage, the chickens roosting on the windowsill in the evening light, the doors thrown open to let in the late summer air.
It had been winter yesterday, but when yesterday had been, she couldn't say. She suspected that she still spent days lost, circling her home in a stupor, or walking through the empty streets. The chickens helped ground her, her worries about their safety, their endless desire for food and gossip drawing her back to life.
She watched the boy as he ate. He was still dressed in his work uniform, his eyes empty as he stared out into what was left of her garden, and then when the meal was done she tucked him into bed in the guest room, running a hand over his forehead as his eyes fell shut.
Cleaning up the plates and crumbling up the last of the bread heel for her sleepy chickens and the wild birds, she wondered if he would still be there in the morning.
-
He was not there in the morning. The bed was neat and made, as it had been every other morning, as it had been since…
Her mind drew blank, and after a moment of confusion, she shook herself out of it. Prodding at the missing memories was like worrying a sore tooth, it would only worsen the pain.
She knew where to find him, anyway.
-
He was, once again, standing behind the checkout as she left, although he hadn't been there when she'd arrived. She had checked, peering behind the wooden desk, at the space where there should have been… Something, although she knew not what anymore.
He didn't remember her, or the day before, but he did eventually remember the chickens, dredging Sightmind's name out of his memories with little to no prompting, and he agreed to come back with her. It wasn't like there were any other customers for him to serve.
-
They spent the day touring the empty city together in relative silence, and that night, as she tucked him into bed, she carefully tucked Sightmind under his arm.
As she lay in her own bed, the covers tucked up to her chin, she stared out at the skyscrapers, and noticed that one of them had lights in the window.
Perfect. She would investigate that in the morning.