They piled back into the van, Roxy taking the wheel again. She nudged the vehicle back out onto the semi-cleared streets.

Through the streaked windshield, Tommy watched the remains of downtown Denver drifting past in a blur.

The van rolled through an intersection, the gentle swaying of a tattered banner hanging from a light pole the only sign of movement.

“What the hell happened here?” Tommy said.

Zero glanced back at him. “The Globalists happened. This is there doing. All of it.”

“It’s just so quiet.”

“Yeah? Maybe they came in, stripped the place of the dead, shipped the living off to FEMA camps.”

“Why, though? If this is a conspiracy, I don’t understand the motivation.”

Zero sighed. “Depopulation, Tommy boy. The elites want a world of half-a-billion. That means less than one-in-sixteen get to live.”

“That still doesn’t explain why.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Roxy said. “He’s already tried to tell me this crap at length.” She smirked and lowered her voice. “Oh, you’re so naive. You’re such a slave. You need to take the red pill. Whatever, man.”

Zero leaned back and smirked. “Tommy’s starting to open his eyes, aren’t you Tommy?”

“I don’t know. Seems a bit farfetched. You really think there’s some plan for a global government. Damn, they can’t even get local government right.”

“That’s because there are too many of us to enslave. Or, at least, there were.”

Tommy leaned towards the window, a vaulted façade rising in the near distance. “What is that place. Looks like a train station, or something.”

“Union Station,” Zero said.

“We should head there. Might be worth checking out."

Roxy peered through the streaked windshield, arching an eyebrow. "You thinking they could've had a pharmacy inside or something?"

Tommy gave a shrug. "Makes sense to me.”

"Could be worth a look,” Zero said. “Big place like that was probably overrun in the initial wave. Lots of folks looking to bail on the city."

"If it hasn't already been picked clean," Roxy said.

Zero nodded. "And if it has, no great loss except for the time searching it."

She steered them around the roadblocks and detours, eventually guiding the van up along the edifice's approach. The street opened into a grand pedestrian plaza encircling the station entrance, accented by ornate stonework and decorative planters.

Even in its present state, the station's elaborate archways and intricate brickwork still managed to exude a sense of grandeur.

Roxy killed the engine. “This is our stop. Grab what you need.”

With weapons at the ready, they climbed down from the van and approached the shadowed entrance with caution.

Zero swept his rifle over their surroundings in a slow arc as they pressed forward, checking the nooks and crannies around the entrance. "Clear so far. But keep sharp, people."

Tommy's boots scuffed over the shattered glass littering the ground as they entered the terminal's main lobby. A light haze of chalky miasma hung in the air.

He edged forward cautiously, the barrel of his shotgun swinging from side to side as he strained to detect any movement or sound.

His boots kicked through a scattering of abandoned luggage and debris—half-crushed satchels, crumpled paperbacks, and random articles of clothing that had seemingly been shed in haste.

Silence pressed in from all sides, the only sounds being the thud of their footfalls and their own panting breaths.

"Damn," Roxy said, her machete sweeping aside a pile of office chairs. "Looks like this place got the worst of whatever went down."

"Keep it tight, Rox," Zero said, slinking forward with his rifle raised. "They could still be lurkers hunkered down somewhere in here."

Tommy winced at the prospect, his gaze washing over the balconies and alcoves ringing the lobby's upper level.

Distant thumps and pattering sounds filtered through the stillness, disorienting him as his head whipped around, unable to locate their source.

Gripping his shotgun tighter, he forced himself to scan methodically, sweeping from left to right. Waiting. Watching. Listening.

Roxy's gaze met Tommy's, a silent exchange passing between them as a tight, humourless smile creased the corner of her mouth.

Tommy ventured forward, Roxy in the lead with Zero sweeping behind, covering their rear.

"Well," Roxy said. "If there were any meds in this place, I'd wager they're long gone by now."

"Keep it moving," Zero said. "We check the premises thoroughly, then get the hell out."

Tommy couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched. His finger tensed around the trigger guard as his eyes strained through the shadows for any hint of danger.

He jumped as a flurry of movement exploded out from a dark alcove nearby—just disturbed birds bursting forth from their roost.

Tommy held his breath until the frantic flapping subsided and silence reigned once more.

Zero raised his rifle, peering through his scope.

"You see anything?" Tommy asked.

Zero gave a shake of his head before gesturing towards the far end of the concourse. "Shipping and receiving area up ahead. My money's on that being our best shot at finding anything useful left."

Tommy adjusted his grip as they crossed the atrium towards a set of double doors—or what was left of them. The metal frames were mangled outward, evidence of a mass exodus in a state of panic. The pock-marked tiles surrounding the shattered doorway only fuelled Tommy's grim imaginings of the sheer mayhem that must have unfolded here.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Behind them, Roxy's boots scuffed to a halt. "Hold up." She raised an arm, machete levelled forward as she strained to make out whatever had caught her eye.

Tommy froze in place, watching as she made a series of hand signals he didn't understand. Zero responded with quick gestures of his own before taking a knee next to Tommy and waving him down as well.

“What’s up?”

“People,” Roxy said.

“We should speak to them. Maybe—”

“No. We're leaving. Now."

Before Tommy could protest, a crash echoed from the shipping area.

Roxy bolted back the way they'd come with Zero close behind. Tommy sprinted after them.

More noises—grunts, shuffling feet, indistinct shouts.

Metal clanged against metal.

Roxy led them in a zigzag pattern through the debris field of the main lobby, using overturned furniture and shattered pillars for cover.

Shots ricocheted off the stone floor nearby, spurring them into an even faster retreat.

"There,” Zero said. “Head for the side exit!"

Tommy lengthened his stride, ignoring the burning in his lungs.

More gunfire, whip-cracks of noise that sent plumes of masonry blasting skyward all around them.

He tucked his head as they sprinted for the exit.

Roxy flung the door open and they tumbled outside, slamming it shut behind them. She began piling debris in front of it while Zero and Tommy took up defensive positions, weapons trained on the entrance.

"They went out the side door,” a loud voice said. “Let's go, go!"

Roxy finished reinforcing the door just as it shuddered from the first impacts on the other side. "Here they come! Get ready!"

Tommy braced himself, shotgun levelled at the fracturing wooden frame. His finger tensed on the trigger as one of the steel kick-plates started to bend inward.

"Wait for it…" Zero lined up his sight. "Let them commit, then open up."

But the banging stopped.

The door remained still.

“What are they doing?”

Zero narrowed his eyes. “Wait.”

“Over there.” Roxy pointed to another doorway.

"Move, move!" Zero pushed Tommy towards an alcove along the building's side, returning fire as armed men surged through.

Roxy sprinted ahead, using her machete to cut a path through a tangle of waist-high debris fencing them in.

Tommy followed in her wake with Zero covering their retreat.

They vaulted over the barricade, bullets kicking up dust around them.

Ahead stretched a trash-strewn alleyway bracketed by the looming facades of office towers.

"This way!"

They pounded down the alley, leaping over refuse and broken glass.

An intersection opened up ahead, but a high chain-link fence blocked their exit.

"Boost me up," Roxy said.

Zero obliged, using his shoulders to vault her up and over the top in one smooth motion. Roxy landed in a crouch on the other side, machete at the ready as she scanned for threats.

"All clear over here. But we’ve got to move, people!"

Tommy scrambled over next with Zero's help.

Zero hauled himself up right behind, slinging his rifle over the top and dropping gracelessly on the other side.

"Come on, this way!" Roxy took off at a lurching sprint through another alley.

Around the next corner, a ground-level loading dock offered a shallow channel of cover.

Roxy slid down into it belly-first, swinging her machete in a tight arc as she led them on.

Gunshots cracked behind them, pockmarking the concrete a few feet to Tommy's right. He flinched, hunching lower and quickening his pace.

"We're not going to be able to keep this up," Tommy shouted over Zero's return fire. "They know the terrain better than us."

"Head for the next intersection," Roxy said without breaking stride. "Proper street on the other side. We can double back towards the van."

A thunderous boom shook the ground beneath them as something detonated.

Tommy covered his head, feeling the concussive force of impacts all around him.

"Look out!" Zero shoved Tommy aside as a bullet ricocheted off the brickwork next to him.

Tommy blinked away grit, squinting towards the intersection Roxy had mentioned.

Roxy was already scaling the barricade, using the wrecked remains of an overturned dumpster as a makeshift ladder. Tommy and Zero scrambled up behind her, clawing their way over the other side to find a mercifully clear street waiting beyond.

“Let’s lose these assholes and get back to the van.”

Tommy's lungs burned as they sprinted down the empty street towards their van. He risked a glance over his shoulder—no sign of their pursuers.

Tommy willed his aching legs faster, Zero and Roxy flanking him.

A piercing crack split the air, followed by a whipcrack of bullets zinging off the asphalt around them.

"Down!" Zero pushed Tommy to the sidewalk as more shots peppered a parked car further up the street. Zero rolled for cover behind its engine block, returning fire with controlled bursts.

Tommy scrambled behind a dumpster, chest heaving as he peered over the rim. He couldn't see the shooters, but the gunfire's origin seemed to be coming from a rooftop somewhere above them.

Zero shifted his aim and let off more shots.

Brick shattered and glass exploded in a shower that sent the rooftop shooters scrambling.

"Go, go, go!" Zero waved them forward in short rushes from one piece of cover to the next.

A searing graze scratched along his calf as Tommy launched himself behind an abandoned newspaper box. He grunted, adrenaline numbing the pain as he hugged the sidewalk and crawled, Roxy right behind him.

Tommy blinked away smoke, the acrid stench of smouldering debris clawing at his throat. Bullets whipped past overhead as he scrambled on his belly.

"We're sitting ducks out here!" Roxy shouted from a nearby doorway. She motioned towards a fire escape crisscrossing the building's brickwork above them. "Up there, we can get to the rooftops!"

Zero blind-fired a few more suppressing bursts before giving a terse nod. "Do it. Tommy, get your ass in gear!"

Tommy hauled himself to his feet and sprinted for the rusted metal ladder, Zero providing cover fire to keep their pursuers pinned down.

He scrambled up the fire escape's rungs, pulling himself over the railed platform above and crouching behind the bulwark.

Roxy came next, shimmying up with her machete tucked under one arm. Then Zero dashed for the ladder himself.

"Hurry it up!" Roxy said.

With a grunt, Zero heaved himself over the railing, panting hard. "Let's move."

They scrambled higher, circling up another level until reaching the roof access door.

Tommy barrelled through, shotgun leading into the open aired maze of vents and piping snaking across the rooftop.

Roxy came through next, followed by Zero.

Tommy scanned their surroundings, squinting against the hazy daylight.

A wide alley separated them from the next row of buildings over.

Tommy forced his legs into motion, charging headlong across the roof and leaping the gap.

He landed hard, the impact shooting up through his knees as he stumbled to keep his footing.

Zero joined them a split second later, wheezing from the exertion but showing no sign of slowing down.

Tommy didn't dare look back as he raced after Roxy, who was already vaulting a piping bundle and angling towards a lower tier of rooftops beyond.

More pops and cracks split the air around them as bullets zipped past, their pursuers having caught up and found a fresh angle of attack.

"This way!" Roxy banked hard, scrabbling down a slanting section of roof and sliding to a stop next to a gaping ventilation shaft.

Tommy followed her down into the dark hole, the thin metal grating clattering under his boots as he landed in a crouch.

Zero hit the floor behind them, letting out a wheezing rasp as he covered the breach with his rifle.

Roxy pointed down the vent tunnel then took off in a crouched run.

Tommy fell in behind her, barrel raised and every muscle tensed.

The vent shaft corkscrewed and branched off in multiple directions, their path illuminated by occasional slits.

Tommy focused on keeping Roxy's heels in his sights, the dull clang of their footfalls echoing in the constricted space.

Part of the vent caved in just ahead of him, fresh daylight spilling in along with a hail of rubble and debris.

Roxy hit the brakes, hunkering down, and waving Tommy and Zero back as dented ductwork cratered in front of them.

They backtracked to where a crossvention allowed them to exit via a horizontal vent slat opening onto another roof.

One by one, they emerged blinking against the afternoon glare. They were now several blocks west of Union Station, back in the shadow of the high rises closing in on all sides.

"That should've bought us some distance," Roxy said between laboured breaths. "But they'll pick up our trail again soon enough. We need to get off the high ground if we're to make it back to the van."

Zero surveyed their new surroundings before giving a nod. "She's right. Let's use that alley over there. Stick to the side streets and double back under cover. With any luck we can shake those assholes for good."

Tommy’s thigh muscles burned from their endless sprinting. But the thought of collapsing into the van spurred him forward as they headed for the alley at a jog.

They wove through a labyrinth of crumbling side streets.

Piles of rubble and tangled debris barred their path at every turn.

They slowed only long enough to carefully pick their way through before continuing their advance.

At last, the hulking archways of Union Station came into view ahead.

Tommy's chest burned as they neared their destination, senses on high alert.

Weapons raised, they crept the final stretch in a half-crouch, swivelling to scan every doorway and alley mouth for any sign of another ambush.

But the ravaged street remained still, the quiet broken only by their ragged breathing.

Tommy skidded to a halt, his mouth dropping open.

The van stood smouldering in ruin, a blackened, gutted carcass.

Shattered glass and twisted metal.

Movement flickered from deep inside, shadows dancing across the smoke-belching interior as flames consumed the van from within.

"You have got to be kidding me…"