I would be blown away by the charm of it, but the signs of mayhem are all around us here. We pull our shirts over the lower half of our face; although the stench is only slight, decomposition has long ago started and is almost done. Most remains are predominantly skeletal.
Pulling up our shirts is more involuntarily to the gruesomeness than necessary. It's the same scene we encountered in so many other cities. Cars stopped in the middle of the road, or driven into storefronts, dead bodies, some entangled with each other, both people dying while trying to kill the other. The ruins of a large, double-decker yellow bus stands lonely, by the side of the street; part of it is burned out, where it was struck by a smaller truck.
The sounds of birds are less here; some fat crows hop across the street, hoping to find another piece of flesh from what's left of a once bountiful smorgasbord.
Colin's grip on my hand tightens, the scene, affects him as much as me. Silently we march on, cross railroad tracks, and keep going until the sun starts to lower. Houses line one side of the road and what seems to be a high school on the other. It's getting darker as we continue our silent walk through the dead city.
Once the sun is completely gone, Colin lets me pick a house, and I opt for one on the right side, not that it matters much. He kicks the door in again before we creep inside. The air is stifling, and the smell makes us gag and run back outside.
Whoever died in there, we don't need to investigate. Death is all around us; we leave the door open and make our way towards the next house. At the fourth, we get lucky. It's empty and abandoned, with only a slight smell of decay from dead plants and cages that must have held hamsters or mice. We close the door to that room and open the windows, allowing a slight breeze from outside to air out the rest of the house.
My mind goes to the caged animals; I wonder how many died. How many people had pets that depended on them for food and water and who were unable to come back to take care of them? It's not only cats and dogs; I think of the amounts of zoo animals and livestock everywhere. The aliens did not just kill humans on a scale that is probably only matched by the plague in the middle ages; they killed so much more.
In this house, too, we find a well-stocked pantry and opt to raid it rather than eating through the supplies we got from the other place. Once we leave this city behind, I'm not sure if we'll find as much food.
I discover fresh linen in a cupboard and make one of the larger beds for us before devouring several cans and some still surprisingly good crackers.
"I'll take first watch." Colin offers.
Gratefully, I kiss him and snuggle up inside the soft bed. It doesn't take long before I'm out.
Chapter 3
It's still dark when Colin wakes me bleary-eyed. We give each other another kiss, and he takes his turn to sleep while I make my way through the house. During a throughout search of the kitchen, I find some Nescafe. We don't have any hot water, but even lukewarm, granulated coffee is better than none.
I make myself a cup and sip it while looking into the semi-darkness. Through the open windows, I hear an owl hoot and the screeching of some fighting cats.
A large dresser, on the other wall, holds an array of family pictures. Unsuccessfully I try not to look at the smiling faces seemingly staring back at me. Silently asking what I'm doing in their house. I don't know these strangers, but they remind me too much of all I've lost.
Thankful for the darkness, I avert my eyes, contemplating for a second to turn them over. But somehow, that seems like a sacrilege to me. We are the intruders in their house, after all.
Coffee in hand, I take a seat by one of the windows opening into a wide backyard. From here, I hear Colin's deep, even breathing from the bed across the room and smile.
This situation could be so much worse, and I'm grateful to have him by my side for a change. Everything is easier to take when we're together. A beam of moonlight makes my ring sparkle, teases a smile from me. I caress the diamond, remembering when Colin gave it to me. What a happy night that was.
I think of Martin, Blake, Maggie, and all the others who are probably starting to worry about us by now. I'm not sure if they were informed of our return or not. I hope not; I hope they assume we're still up there and don't think we crashed, which is probably the story Ka had in mind to explain our demise. Anger wells up inside of me, but I push it back down. I don't want to think about him or his traitorous ways; there will be a time and place for it. I shelve it for now.
I take my engagement ring off and put it on the necklace I always wear; I don't know what is waiting for us in the days to come, but I do know I'll feel better with the ring safely hidden under my shirt.
After a while, the sun starts to come up, and I watch a fox and her offspring frolic in the yard before it's time to wake Colin.
After a quick breakfast of cereal in evaporated milk—which is not as bad as it sounds, we hit the road again. The more we walk, the closer we get to the city center, and more death surrounds us. Here the streets are choked with abandoned and crashed vehicles, some so
