When David woke up, he was outside. He was in a forest, sleeping straight on the ground. And he was alone. He sat up, and instantly felt like his head was being stabbed by hundred of needles. So, he laid himself back down, and found a bottle in his pack that was laying on the ground next to him. He sat back up, and drank. Then he brushed a hand through his hair. A few twigs and leaves fell out. He realised he was covered in blood. Not his own. Maybe Erin’s. But probably Lena’s, based on the limited information he had. He tried to remember, but he couldn’t. He had no idea what had happened after he had picked up his daughter. But he was outside and alone, so she was probably dead. That should have made him sad, but he felt empty. He wasn’t feeling anything at all, except for his headache. He drank some more. His eyes felt dry.

He carefully stood up, and looked around. A few meters away was Lena’s pack. It was covered in blood. If she’d been okay she would have kept it with her, so that was just confirming his theory on her state. He opened both packs and put as many useful things from hers into his. He couldn’t carry both around so he had to limit the amount of things he had. His brain seemed to be working without him, his actions completely disconnected from his thoughts. He left her clothes, the pack of cards, a few personal things, but for some reason he couldn’t explain he felt compelled to take her key ring that was attached to the zipper. It had a photo of the three of them : Erin, Lena, David. He remembered Erin was dead. She’d turned into a monster and he’d beaten her to death. That should have made him feel something too but there was nothing.

He started walking in a random direction.

===

He looked through the cans of food, discarding any that were damaged, stuffing the rest into his pack. He’d already eaten all his microwave packs already. Cold, which didn’t actually make them taste any worse. Cardboard tastes the same hot or cold. Once his pack was full he stood up and started walking towards the broken glass door at the back. That’s when he heard a sound in that direction. Someone had stepped on the shards of glass on the ground, making a scrunching sound. David crouched low and silently made his way further into the supermarket, away from the canned food aisles that would attract whoever was in there with him. He could hear the other walking around the shop. Then he bumped into a shelf, and a jar fell onto the ground. He froze. It felt like the loudest sound he had ever heard. For a second longer there was silence then he heard a man’s voice.

‘‘Come out ! Right now ! I have a gun and I will use it if you don’t !!’’

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David considered his options, then sank deeper into the darkness. He could hear the man slowly getting closer. He walked back a little more.

‘‘I’ll give you three seconds to come out ! Otherwise I’ll shoot on sight ! I will, I really will. I’m warning you ! 1 !’’

This man was clearly crazy. Even if he did reveal himself before the end of the countdown, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t get shot.

‘‘2 !’’

He walked back to the ver end of his aisle and hid behind the shelf. He watched through stacked products as the man walked over to where he had been hiding and… tripped on the jar, fell and hit his head on the shelf. Once he was positive that the man was ot moving, David walked over the the unconscious body and looked down at it. He wondered if the man was dead, and after hesitating for a few seconds he chose not to check for a pulse. Instead he picked up the gun, and left the shop.

He sat down on a random bench, in a park that must have been very nice before the spark, but was now burned and destroyed. He stared down at the gun in his hand. He didn’t actually know how to use it but he figured it couldn’t be that hard. And if it was, then he would just have to act confident enough in his threats. He thought of the night the military base had gone up in flames. If he’d had a gun back then, would he not be alone right now ? He tried to repress the thought. He often wondered about how things could have gone differently. But things had happened how they had happened, and he couldn’t rewrite the world with ‘what if’.

He actually scared himself, ever since that night. He kept having dark intrusive thoughts. He kind of felt like destroying everything. Maybe having a gun wasn’t such a great idea.

He was so lost in his thoughts and alternate timelines that he didn’t hear the boy until it was too late. There was a gun pointed at his forehead.

‘‘Give me your food. And your gun.’’

David cursed himself internally, then, staring at the boy, he slowly started pullig his pack off his shoulders. Then he suddenly flung it at the boy and ran. He heard the boy curse, and then start running after him once he’d come over the surprise. He dashed out of the park, then skidded around a corner and started running through the streets at random, trying not to stay in a straight line for too long. The boy wasn’t getting distanced, but he also wasn’t using his gun, so David stopped zigzagging and just ran straight on. Now he wasn’t turning every few meters, he coud go faster, and he was starting to gain on his pursuer.

Suddenly he heard the sound of glass breaking behind him. He slowed down to look back. The window of a shop he had just run past had exploded, and the boy had fallen back onto the ground. Another kid stepped out through the broken window, holding a metal pipe in his right hand.

‘‘Where the fuck is he ?!’’ he yelled. He had a bri’ish accen’.