Feminine lips were loosely spread apart and were reflected in a small square-shaped mirror. It was plastered on a tattered bathroom wall that filling up with patches of moss and lines of ivy. A young lady full of natural raw beauty had dark red hair, pale freckled skin, and citrus-lime eyes was leaning forward, looking at her lips.

She wore a black, thin cotton sweater, a long thick denim skirt with brown leggings, and tweed boots. A quick pucker later, she pressed fruit-flavored lip balm all over her mouth like she was a kid using it for the first time, although she was clearly in her late twenties.

It’s just lip balm, Melanie, you’ve used it before…. But just like virtually everything else in this world now, it’s become rare and soon, there’ll probably be no more ever again.

She leaned back, and with her eyes endearingly focused on the lip balm, she looked at it like it was one of the most valuable treasures in the world. After a solemn sigh, she glanced at herself in the mirror and noticed her patchy, broken-out skin.

I wonder if I’ll find some moisturizing facial soap, makeup, or any other beauty products ever again….

She also paid attention to the scribbled graffiti all around the wall of the unisex bathroom. Names of girls and silly confessions of love caught her attention over the immature and dirty jokes. As she read one of the cutest ones, a large heart with flowers surrounding the names of two people, her now glossy lips slowly smiled. She quickly realized she was forgetting her mission, so she shook her head and turned away.

Melanie put the cover back on the plastic case of lip balm and tucked it away in her pocket. With one last look at all the graffiti on the bathroom walls, she opened the door and stepped back into a ransacked convenience store. Everything was a complete mess, evidently the result of chaotic looting. As she perused the rest of the aisle in the convenience store, Melanie moved aside empty boxes and pieces of trash, searching for anything useful.

“Find anything good?” A good-looking black man stepped out into the farthest end of the aisle, with a large navy-colored backup slung over his right shoulder. He was in his late twenties with short faded hair and sharp narrow hazel eyes. He stood a few inches over six feet tall and wore cargo pants and a dark gray button-down shirt.

“Yeah, lip balm.”

“Huh?”

“I put a few sugary snacks in the plastic bags by the door and some bags of beef jerky, but that’s it so far for food. How about you?”

“Same, mostly snacks. A few cans of soda, but nothing too healthy.”

“Well, this place is pretty far, so let’s take a little more time to check around.”

“Sure, we need need to leave no later than four-thirty so we won’t have to travel in the dark.”

“Ok.”

Ed crossed over to another aisle and continued his search. Melanie walked over to a refrigerated section in the back corner. She opened the door examined the expiration dates on the few energy drinks that were there, and then shook her head after looking at the ingredients. On the adjacent wall, there was a small opening, either from a destroyed vent or a small window. Her expression changed as she focused on listening to her seemingly quiet environment.

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“Ed!” Melanie called out.

He made his way to her. “What’s up?”

“Do you hear that?”

Zooming growls and dull clanking echoed in the distance.

Ed paused for a second, “Yeah, sounds like a car.”

Melanie rushed out of the building, hid behind one of the stall pillars, and peeked around the edge in the direction she heard the noise. A few seconds later, Ed snuck to the edge of the building across from her and also looked out into the distance.

The landscape was a mix of erected rock formations, large broken trees, and patches of green plant life. In the lone destroyed gas station, Melanie and Ed kept low profiles as they waited to decipher what was approaching. A billowing cloud of dust made its way toward them and quickly dissipated back toward the horizon.

Ed reached for a sheathed fixed-blade knife attached to the leather belt around his waist. Melanie looked toward him and gently placed her right hand on the handle of the revolver sheathed to her waist.

“Ed, you do the talking, okay?”

“Sure thing”

They braced themselves as the cloud of dust cleared up and drew closer to them still. A beat-up dark blue sedan rolled to a stop, trailed by grumbled kicked-up dirt, and a few moments later, its engine sputtered to a stop.

Melanie and Ed exchanged glances, observed the car, and patiently waited.

The car remained still, and no one could be seen inside.

“Should we leave?”

Ed narrowed his eyes. “It’s the safer option, although I don’t think we’d be able to outrun someone in that car if they wanted to harm us.”

“Yeah… And that car might be useful to us…. But more importantly… it just occurred to me… what if someone inside is hurt and needs our help?”

“Well then, I’ll go first and you cover me.” Ed pulled out his knife and walked toward the car.

Melanie unholstered her revolver and followed him from the right flank.

When they reached the vehicle, Ed carefully circled it and kept his knife extended forward. Melanie was down on one knee with her arms extended fully forward, ready to fire.

Cautiously, Ed looked through the window and saw somebody hunched over in the driver’s seat, face down on the passenger’s chair.

Without taking his eyes off the person, he informed Melanie, “I see someone inside, but they seem to be unconscious.”

“Okay, I’m ready. Be careful.”

Ed slowly opened the door with his right hand and kept his knife held up with his left. After the door fully opened, he hopped back and took a moment to see if the person would react. After nothing happened, he said, “I’m going around to pull them out.”

“Hold on, let me get closer.”

Melanie stood up and walked forward until she was a few feet from the car door. She looked around the car and nodded. Ben put his knife back in its sheath and quickly dragged the person out of the car and onto the ground, leaning them up against the rear door. It was a young man in his twenties with short spiky black hair, jeans, and a white tee stained with blood.

“Is he alive?” Melanie moved a little bit closer.

Ed crouched and examined the guy.

“He’s still breathing… I don’t notice any bleeding or any exposed wounds.” Ed stood up and looked around the area, scanning for any signs of danger. “We need to leave soon, otherwise we won’t make it back before dark.”

“We need to take him back with us.”

“And risk having another mouth to feed? What if he’s a looter or something on the run?”

“What if he’s the innocent one who was attacked and escaped? Look, let’s take him back and if he survives, we’ll talk to him and figure things out from there. I don’t want to leave him here to die.”

“We won’t be able to carry him on our bicycles. And it looks like his car is out of gas.”

Melanie put her gun away. “Well thank God we just so happened to be at a gas station. Let’s open up the storage reservoir. If there’s still gas, we’ll fill this car up, and if it starts, we’ll fill up as many gas cans as we can find, and take it all back with us. We’ll also be able to make it back faster. Let’s put our bicycles in the back first.”

Ed shook his head. “Fine. I hope you’re right about this.”