[Win – 6:40 a.m.]
Lin and Kao took the south stairwell.
Palm and I took the west.
The school feels heavier today.
Not louder.
Just heavier.
Like grief had mass.
[6:46 a.m.]
We pass shattered frames and a crushed vending machine.
Palm keeps looking at me like he wants to say something.
I keep pretending not to notice.
[6:51 a.m.]
We reach the cafeteria.
Chairs upside down.
Food trays half-covered in dust and something darker.
Palm finds a granola bar under a broken table.
He tosses it at me.
"Still counts as treasure, right?"
I force a smile.
It doesn't reach my eyes.
[6:57 a.m.]
The back door to the cafeteria storage is stuck.
Palm kicks it open.
We step in, expecting rats.
Instead… it's empty.
And oddly quiet.
A full wall of canned food. Sealed.
"You've gotta be kidding me,"
he whispers.
"It's the holy pantry."
[7:03 a.m.]
We're still sorting through the cans when the door slams shut behind us.
Palm jumps.
I grab my rod.
No footsteps.
No groaning.
Just silence.
I try the knob.
Locked.
He laughs nervously. "Of course we get stuck together. Plot armor or punishment?"
I don't laugh.
He sighs. "Win…"
[7:06 a.m.]
The flashlight flickers.
We sit down on a crate together.
"I keep thinking about Mik,"
Palm whispers.
"If I hadn't let go of his hand…"
"You would've died."
"I know."
A pause.
"I just wish I didn't."
[7:08 a.m.]
He leans his head against the shelf.
Then turns to me.
"Do you ever think about it? You know… if this hadn't happened?"
"What?"
"This day. The apocalypse. Everything."
I stare at the wall.
"Yeah."
He's silent for a long time.
Then:
"Would we have ever been just us?"
I turn slowly.
"What do you mean 'us'?"
He doesn't answer.
Just stares at me.
Like he's scared.
Like he wants me to know.
But also wants to run.
[7:10 a.m.]
The flashlight dies.
Darkness.
Only his breath.
Only mine.
Only the space between us, smaller than it ever was.
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