I gathered up Mark’s equipment, since mine was soaked in spit, and walked off to look for shelter. I went in the opposite direction from which we came. I took my equipment as well, just in case any of it still worked. I walked for what seemed like hours through the abandoned city. Finally I came upon an old, dead looking building. The door was slightly open, so I nudged it to open it all the way. I looked in cautiously. I was weary so I got out Mark’s flashlight and turned it on. I looked around with the little light and didn’t see anything that should catch my attention. Or so I thought.

I stumbled through the destructed hallway and entered the first room on my right. It looked like an old closet that would be used to hide cleaning materials. Brooms, mops, buckets, liquids, sponges, stuff like that. But what puzzled me is that it was empty. I shrugged and set my stuff down. I was tired but didn’t plan on just sleeping on concrete floor without looking for something. After digging through everything, I finally found a dry pistol and magazine, and a flashlight for the end of the gun. This was good because I could just stick the flashlight on the barrel of the gun and have a free hand for carrying stuff, if I found anything.

Once I was prepared I slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway. I walked slowly and quietly, my gun in a defensive position, using the light to guide my path. I entered a door to my left and looked around. It looked like what used to be and old bedroom. It had a window, a bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. The bed had blankets. Score number one. Not only that, it had a mattress and a pillow. I looked through the dresser. This had been the room of a young man. I didn’t mind because that means that he had t-shirts and whatnot.

I grabbed several pairs of old shorts, a few t-shirts, the pillow, and the two light blankets. I made my way back to the closet. I was only about ten (10) feet from one room to the other. I walked in the small space and set the stuff down. I went back to the other room and got the mattress and moved it into the closet as well. There was enough room to fit two and a half (2 ½) of these in the closet so it wasn’t that small. I set the mattress in a corner and put the blankets on it along with the pillow. Then, after shutting the door and setting Mark’s flashlight upright, I pulled off my soaked clothes. I dried off with one of the bigger t-shirts then slipped on a pair of the shorts and a t-shirt.

I thought about my little space for now. It might have been easier to leave everything where it was and just stay in the other room, but my decision wasn’t based on easy or not. This little closet didn’t have a window, the other room did. So it was worth it. After changing and getting what I could of the crap out of my hair, I put the stuff on the bed how I wanted it. It wasn’t cold so I put the thicker blanket under me and the thinner one on top. The pillow was a little stiff, but a fluffed it up and it was actually okay. I turned off the flashlight and laid my head back on the pillow. I thought about the events and Mark. I tried not to let myself, but I cried a little. After wiping away my tears and telling myself he’s gone to a better place, I fell asleep.