Hanish finally, as exhaustion set in, reached the craft store. He noticed the doors were not broken, and he fell against the wall. He felt hopeless, and he slid down. “Where are you?” he spoke. As he looked back down, he noticed a gleaming piece of metal next to the door. He leaned down and snatched it up. He felt as if it were a blessing from the universe. The key to the door was just left there out in the open.

  He used the key to unlock the doors and went in. The building was smaller than he expected. “Aleaha,” he shouted, then realizing that he meant to say Janice. He shouted again, “Janice, are you in here?” He heard no response. He walked in, looking around. There wasn’t a soul in the store. He noticed a skeleton hanging against the storage area, a crochet needle in the rib cage.

  He yanked it out, and the skeleton shattered, bones scattering to the floor. Hanish jumped back when he noticed spiders crawling all around the floor. There had to be at least ten of them.

  His heart pounded in his chest. He was terrified of spiders; Aleaha had been the one who could hold her own when it came to them. He figured it was because of her night shifts as a nurse. She wasn’t scared of anything, or at least he thought she was scared of nothing.

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  He flew out of the building, noticing that another building was off in the distance. He couldn’t make out what it was until he started walking again.

  His feet began to slow on him, the realization that he was tired hitting him; his feet were wet from sweat. Sore and deflated, he needed to rest. He walked towards the next building, starting to feel his feet drag as he noticed it was a coffee shop.

  The doors were busted open, so he figured one, if not both, of the women had been in there. He approached slowly and entered. The building was bare, as if it once had been a cafe, but it was no longer. He sighed as he saw it torn up. He decided he would have to rest here for the night. He made himself a small setup in the corner.

  Settling down, Hanish opened one of the backpacks, and a can of spam rolled out of it. He grabbed it, cracking it open by the tab. He decided to dig in when he saw, across from him, a rat that looked sad and depleted. He picked out some of the spam and placed it on the floor. The rat ran to it, taking it in its paws and mouth, then ran away from him. He felt like the rat was him.

  Hanish picked at the spam, eating it slowly as it mashed between his fingers. After he finished the can, he drank a bottle of water and chugged it. He then dropped down on the floor, his head hitting the ground. He closed his eyes, finally coming to the sweet relief of sleep.