Before heading out, the girl left a note near the front door letting her parents know that she would be going downtown to look for food and that she would be back soon. Just in case they returned while she was gone.

The girl walked with determination. She was going to bring back tons of food, enough so that her parents never had to leave again. Well... maybe not that much, but enough to prove that she could find food too. Perhaps they would be so impressed by her resourcefulness that they would have no choice but to bring her along should they go on another food run.

The day was not too hot, thankfully. It was late winter for most of the world, but for a desert resort city, the climate could still be dangerous. The girl walked along hiding from the watchful sun under her umbrella. She wore some shiny new pink sneakers for the occasion, having just bought them for physical education class this year. On her back was a new bag which she had filled with six water bottles, a flashlight, a notebook, pencilbox, and a portable charging device for her phone. The portable charging device was originally a novelty given to her by an aunt who had picked it up while vacationing in East Asia. It could be charged by shaking it, so you could tie it to your arm or leg while walking and it would slowly charge. Great for when you went hiking or if you were to take a long walk down to the city during a countrywide power outage.

As she walked, she listened to music from her phone through her earbuds. There was no signal, but she had downloaded some of her favorite songs a while back. It never occurred to her, but if she hadn't done so, there was a chance she would have never heard those songs ever again.

"Here I am.

Just walking down the street.

There you are.

Hoping maybe we will meet,

On a sun-ny day tomorrow.

Before we all get to old

On a day that's not too cold.

On some clear blue day tomorrow.

Hopefully it's not too bright

A day perfectly all right.

You'll be here with me tomorrow..."

The girl hummed to herself as she walked, stepping to the slow beat. She crossed over a large bridge that represented the divider between the suburban area and the main city. The bridge was completely devoid of vehicles.

She looked over the edge of it, squinted eyes scanning the major highway that passed underneath it as it disappeared into the sandy reddish horizon. Seeing and hearing absolutely nothing but the sun baked pavement and the wind blowing overhead, she continued on her way. As she neared the city, she tucked her umbrella back into her backpack and walked in the shade of the gleaming buildings. Here were the first signs of discord. There were smashed store windows and a few crashed vehicles on the street. As the girl skirted around the twisted wreckage of a red truck, she caught a glimpse of a bloodied hand sticking out of the shattered windshield. Its degloved tarry form jutted out sticky with dried blood, with yellowed parchment skin curled around the wrist. Exposed browned fat tissue glistened in the light. The sight was a terror to the girl, a brutal unveiling of a harsh reality, one that her mind had been keeping at bay. She gasped at the sight, covering her eyes; she jerked herself away.

To the convenience store, to the convenience store, she repeated to herself in a mantra, trying to will her mind back into order. She walked onward, alternating between repeating the phrase and sounding out song lyrics in her head as music oozed from her earphones. Eventually, when she was far enough, she was able to calm herself down. She was careful to avoid car wrecks from that moment onward.

At last, she turned a corner at a familiar bus stop and saw the familiar convenience store with its signature bright green overhang. EasyLarks. Next to the entrance was a large five foot tall model of a grinning fat bird giving her a thumbs up: Mark the Lark. She smiled and gave it a thumbs up back, the traumatic encounter fading to the back of her mind. She paused out of habit and looked both ways before crossing the empty street. It suddenly occurred to her that she could probably run around in the wide street now that there were no cars. A part of her wanted to try it as it was something she could never have done before which felt a bit exhilarating. But her stomach grumbled and so she quelled the thought and moved onward to her destination.

The store was dark and the glass door hung ajar. The sun had retreated behind a nearby skyscraper casting the store in its shadow. One of the display windows was missing and there was glass littered all over the floor. The girl quickly put away her phone and earphones. She quietly stepped around the glass and eased the door open, poking her head in to listen carefully.

Silence

The girl withdrew her head and fumbled around in her backpack for her flashlight. She withdrew it, clicking it on and scanning the store through the broken window. There didn't seem to be anything left on the shelves from what she saw. But there might be something on the ground or hidden in the back rooms. The girl hesitated, fear and hunger battled in her mind. Eventually hunger won out. She turned to give Mark the Lark a quick good luck pat on the head before easing herself through the front door as quietly as she could muster.

The absence of the familiar welcoming ding-dong gave her the feeling that the store was welcoming no more. The store felt foreign wreathed in shadows. She began creeping up and down the lanes flashing her flashlight in front of her. So far, nothing out of the ordinary, just empty shelves. All snacks were gone, no candy, no ramen. There wasn't anything left on the medical supply shelves either. She got down on her hands and knees and laid her head flat to the floor scanning with her flashlight. There were various dark shapes, dust bunnies, and bits of rotting food. Then, her flashlight caught a glimpse of something blue. A tubed can of chips. She put the flashlight on the ground and stretched her arm in, touching the tube. Something moved, brushing her hand. She yelped, knocking the can to the other aisle and withdrawing her hand. Suddenly a skittering form crawled out toward her face. She pushed herself back up to a sitting position and stomped on the cockroach with her foot.

Splat.

Bullseye.

Gross.

She shivered in disgust.

She went over to the next aisle and picked up her prize: an unopened can of chips. Cheddar cheese flavored too. She cracked it open and wiped her dusty hands on her hoodie before rapid fire crunching down five of them. She was still hungry, but she tucked the rest of the can away in her backpack for later. She continued to the magazine rack. Full of dated issues from a month ago. Then she came across a rack of sunglasses fully stocked. She grabbed a pair with frames in the shape of a fat unicorn with a rainbow mane running across the top of the lenses. Very cool. She tucked that into her backpack too.

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The freezer aisle was not particularly helpful, having been emptied a long time ago, all that remained was already rotten. The industrial sized preservation units were completely empty as well. She went over to the register and climbed onto the counter, scanning the shelves above and below. Just various trash, some newspapers, and scratch-cards. All the cigarettes were also gone.

Finally, she got to the door marked "Employees Only". There was only darkness beyond here. She nervously looked back toward the dimly lit front of the store, contemplating if she should just leave now. No, she had already come so far, there could be a pile of food in the back of the store. Perhaps no one had thought to check?

The girl slowly turned the handle and pulled the door open. She was met by a stifling darkness. She could barely make out a dim gray sliver down the narrow hallway where perhaps a ray of light was shining in from somewhere. Hand trembling, she nervously pointed her flashlight into the murky blackness, almost afraid of what that narrow white beam might reveal. So far, nothing. She stepped through the door as it automatically swung closed to but a small crack behind her.

On her right was what looked like an opened supply closet. Her heart sank, it looked ransacked as well. That meant people had been in the back already. There were knocked over bottles of cleaning agent, a broken mop, and an empty toolbox. She picked up a bucket hoping maybe she could use it for something but it had a large hole in the bottom.

The next door on the left was marginally more ornate as it was light brown faux wood rather than the dull synthetic gray like the rest. When the girl shined the light on it, she saw a gleaming plaque with the words "Manager's Office". The door was firmly closed. A quick inspection of the side window did not reveal much as the blinds were closed. The girl tried the handle, it turned effortlessly. She pulled the door open and peeked in, running the light over the brown crisscrossed patterns of the maroon carpet. There were windows but the blinds were shut and they appeared to have been boarded up allowing no light in. As the light beam swept through the door crack it found a dull green couch and what looked to be a small personal food preservation chest.

The girl opened the door wider to take a look and caught a dark figure out of the corner of her right eye. She swung the flashlight around and saw a pair of gray trousered legs looming in the darkness. Unable to stop herself, she shined the light upward to reveal a swollen blue face with red bulging eyes pointed in opposite directions. The dead man's mouth was gaping open almost as if he was still gasping for air. She yelped and fell backwards out of the doorway into the hall. She clamped her hand over her mouth and scooted out the rest of the way letting the door close shut in front of her.

As the girl sat there gasping for breath, she failed to notice the curious lack of smell coming from the body. She closed her eyes and tears dribbled down her cheek. Here she was, sitting here alone in the dark with nothing but a thin white beam of light to light her way. She didn't know if she could do this anymore. The darkness was overwhelming, who knew what else might be lingering in the next room? Was it even worth it? But there was a part of her, the determined part that told her that she had to keep going. It was just a dead person, they can't harm you.

And so after a moment, she took a deep breath, swallowed, and got up. She crept slowly to the employee lounge, peeking around the corner. Thankfully it was empty, although the fridge was open along with the preservation chest and looked pretty ransacked. The cabinet doors were all opened and empty save for bits of paper plates and other junk. There was a pool of dark liquid coming from behind the fridge that she carefully avoided.

Finally, the storage room. The last door on the hallway, also the closest one to the back entrance where she could see sunlight seeping in from under the cracks. The door to the storage room was wide open. As she stepped through into the darkness, she thought she could hear a faint thump coming from near the front of the store. But that was quickly forgotten as she picked up the sounds of scuttling all over the floor. The girl swept the floor with the light, chasing darting forms, but found only scraps of cardboard and torn bags.

Move quickly, little one.

The storage room was full of torn open boxes, various empty metal shelves and food preservation units. Overall, it looked pretty thoroughly ransacked but she employed her previous tactic and got down on the floor, shining her light underneath the shelves.

Shadows scurried away under the piercing light, and she hoped it was just shifting darkness and not something else. There was a gleam near her. She deftly reached in and scooped up a multi-use swiss army knife tucking it into her hoodie. Nice. Further down she could see a few bags of chips and even what looked like a plastic tray of cookies. She went between the shelves scooping them up trying to ignore the sounds of scuttling around her. One of the bags had a hole in it and was filled with black brown six-legged scurrying forms which prompted her to immediately whip it across the room where it smashed against the wall. She brushed herself frantically and stamped her feet just in case any had got on her.

She methodically combed through the shelves and alternated between stomping and dodging palmetto bugs. In total there were four bags of chips, two cups of dried noodles, and a tray of cream filled cookies. She also found a crushed cardboard box of bandages and a small bottle of vegetable oil. She was covered in dust, but not too bad a haul. She happily went back to the hall and tucked her prizes into her backpack.

Then, she heard a sound causing her to freeze. Almost like a rapid thumping brushing noise, like something large wriggling around in an enclosed space. She shined the light back down the hallway and saw nothing... Except...

The door to the manager's office was opened.

The girl could only see the front of the door as it opened toward her, but it was clearly getting wider, she could see the gleaming plaque turning into view. She couldn't move.

Quickly. Quickly, little one...

She shook herself into action, it was time to leave. She moved toward the back door, toward the sunlight. She grasped the round doorknob looking nervously back down the hall, but it wouldn't turn. It was locked.

She flashed the light down the hallway, she could see a desiccated hand appear, it dragged forward, revealing the back of a head. The girl frantically jiggled the doorknob and searched up and down the door for a way to unlock it. There was a keyhole on the doorknob. Why is the door locked from the outside? Maybe it was locked from both ends?

The girl couldn't help but look back down the hallway again. She screamed and almost dropped her flashlight. The figure on the ground was looking right at her. The bulging deep red eyes jiggled in their eye-sockets as he jerked around the door. There was a rope dangling around his neck and his mouth was gaping open. She could see bright red fluid dripping from the creature's mouth but also pale fingerlike protrusions coming from where his tongue was. His throat appeared to be pulsing, but he made no sound save the scrabbling as he pulled himself around the door toward her.

The girl desperately began pulling on the metal door hoping maybe it would just magically open. It didn't budge. Tears began blurring her vision as panic set in when she suddenly got a flash of an idea. She pulled out the swiss army knife. She had never picked a lock before but at this point this was all she had. As she flicked through the various components (without a clue as to what half of them were), she could hear the soft scratching and dragging sounds behind her getting closer. She put the flashlight in her mouth and crouched down, sticking a thin pick into the keyhole jostling it while turning the doorknob.

She turned to look down the hall again. The creature was only a few feet from her with a trail of red behind him. She panicked and began rattling the doorknob. Open open open, please come on. She just needed the lock to turn. Just spring open for me. Please please please.

She could hear the soft thump behind her, dragging closer… closer… But she dared not look.

Suddenly there was a click and the doorknob turned. She fell back as the door swung open.

The creature was right behind her.

She pushed off the floor, feeling one of her braids get knocked aside as the former store manager made a swipe at her. She snagged her backpack and slid out the door, pulling it shut behind her.

Silence.

She panted as she stood there in the alleyway, adrenaline rushing. She took a moment to catch her breath before looking around. There were torn open trash bags and knocked over trash cans, but not much else.

Suddenly there was a thump on the metal back door causing her to jump. She began quickly moving away back toward the main street.

The girl trembled as she walked, but this time with exhilaration. She was still alive. She was still alive.

She stopped in the middle of the street, plugging in her earphones. She didn't care that it was dangerous, she closed her eyes and tilted her head up.

"And we tryyy tryyy today,

So we can flyyy flyyy tomorrow,

As I pray everydayyy

That hopefully...

You will be...

Here with me tomorrow."