Ryan shielded his eyes, being greeted with more light, since the hospital was so dark and closed off. When he cleared his vision, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Ryan stood there, taking the scenery in—the dry, cracked pavements. City streets were filled with wrecked cars, trash, and empty buildings as far as the eye could see. No lights. No grass. Not even people. It was something out of a ghost town. Gray clouds covered the sky, with only a streak of sunlight emerging from them.

  What...?

  The air was thick and dusty, distracting him from his thoughts. Ryan coughed and rubbed his eyes. While it didn’t smell or look as bad as before, it still wasn’t pleasant or inviting.

  How did this happen? What happened to the city while I was...?

  Ryan shook his head, still in shock and disbelief. He tried to pinch his cheeks, hoping and praying this was all a bad dream, but nothing happened. He turned around and looked up. Ryan couldn’t make out what the sign said, as letters were missing and had marks plastered all over, but he figured it differed from the one he and Daisy had gone to. The building stood on a small hill. The now-ruined city was over the horizon.

  No clue if anyone was in hiding or if they had all up and left before things escalated. As much as Ryan wanted to get a head start and inspect the area right away, he decided to rest up to avoid the risk of further injury. He slowly moved his arms and legs before stretching his body, releasing the tension from his muscles. He smacked his cheeks, jolting his mind and brain awake. Regaining a little of his energy, Ryan made his way into the heart of Roburgh.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The once luscious and noisy city had become a quiet, lifeless, and empty place. Ryan figured the first course of action would be to look for other people, or at least find a phone booth to call for help. He tried the police station and fire department, but nobody was there. Despite the doors being locked, someone had trashed the inside of those places. He even tried calling the government, but nobody would pick up from the other side. No signal. Low battery. No way to charge it either.

  “Ugh, come on...”

  Ryan felt an urge to scream at nobody except for the wind. He threw up his arms, running out of options and patience. There had to be some way to get a signal around here and call for help. The darkness lingered in each building as the howling winds brushed against his skin, giving him goosebumps as little hairs rose from the back of his neck and limbs—no idea what could be inside. Ryan never had a problem with the dark before, but he also had never been in a situation like this one either. Still, whatever it could be, he had to take the plunge and get to the highest floor possible.

  He swallowed the lump in his throat and placed a hand on his chest, trying to calm his beating heart down. His other hand gripped his phone tightly. Ryan set the phone to power-saving mode, giving him more time to process things and look around for the highest altitude available. With his eyes set on the new objective, he took a step forward.

  Something hit him in the stomach as he hunched down and wrapped his arms around it. His stomach growled as he gritted his teeth and let out another groan. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time he ate. It wasn’t the best time for that right now, but he also couldn’t go out and complete his objective on an empty stomach, either.

  Ryan let out a sigh. “Guess that’ll have to wait.” He said to himself. “I’ll need to memorize this and come back later.”

  With that, he turned on a heel and set off to find something, anything, to eat and fill his tummy with. That was going to be easier said than done, though. Would this city even have anything left?