BLUE IRIS

Iris

Silence.

THE WORLD had turned into a deafening silence of danger and uncertainty. And in the darkness where sadness and horror lingered.

The night fell. It was time for me to move.

The desolated pet shop had been my shelter for the past few days and the safest place so far as no one who would think of getting pets nowadays. A dog was probably a good idea, but the food was not easy to search in this world full of chaos.

After shoving my extra shirt and the only blanket into my backpack, I slipped my feet onto the old running shoes and ready to move out.

After a few steady breaths, I walked out, determined to find a new place where I could stay for a few days or longer. I had been running from places to places for two weeks now and I hadn't seen or met any living human being other than the littered dead bodies everywhere, burned or decomposed.

I couldn’t remember the last time I talked—probably the day I escaped, and I missed my own voice. Talking to myself would make me crazy and singing would make me cry and hungry, so, I just kept my mouth shut.

The cold breeze smelled death. A ghost of pain rippled through my body. It had been like this since the unknown deadly virus wiped out the country. My labored breathing and my steps against the asphalt echoed through the darkness.

I picked my way to the intersection, hoping to find an apothecary. The weak light from the silver moon was the only guide I had to follow.

I knew for a fact that it had been raided, but by any luck, I could find a stash of painkillers or any medicine I could trade with food when I met survivors.

Passing by rusting vehicles lined at the sides of the deserted road, the Bowl of Hygieia printed in the white wall came to view. I sighed in hope, but it quickly crumbled down when I noticed the open tail lights of the SUV parked in front.

Hustling, I ducked down and hid behind the car. After everything I had been through, it taught me many, and one thing was to trust no one other than my own instinct.

Silhouettes of a man and a woman hopped out from the SUV. The short curvy woman walked toward the trunk, pushed up the hood, and took something, then left it unlocked.

A click of gun and murmurs were the only thing I could hear. They marched to the apothecary door in somewhat in rush. Alerted, the man’s handgun was out and aimed at the glass door, and the woman cautiously tailed behind him.

A few minutes later, I slowly and carefully walked to the SUV, hoping to find something to fill my grumbling stomach. When I got into the trunk, it was empty, only a stinky blanket that smelled blood, and nothing else my eyes could find. It must be their first stop, and I could not find any food.

Shit!

Hurried footsteps crouched against the broken glass made me stiffen. It was too late for me to run, and when they spotted me, I was dead.

My instinct kicked in. I got into the trunk and covered myself with the blanket, then someone shut the door down.

A moment later, the engine revved.

“This isn’t enough,” said an angry male voice. It was almost a roar.

“We don’t have time to search around, Frost. We need to go back right now.” A soft voice came from a woman.