The clacks from his boots resonated through the deserted, ruined vicinity as he walked through what were once streets.
Each step echoed a little too loud, like a reminder of the devastation that had befallen his beloved village even though the village was still in the same miserable state.
Dr. Hamm paused occasionally, squinting through the landmarks that no longer existed, trying to recall from his memory what once existed at every spot.
The old bakery where Mrs. Chen used to wave at him every morning was now nothing more than a pile of crumbled walls and shattered glass.
The fountain where children played—where his own Mara visited the most with him and her mother—was cracked down the middle, its cheerful vicinity brimming with people now replaced by an eerie silence.
"What is all this?" he muttered under his breath, adjusting the heavy leather bag that had been uncomfortably positioned on his shoulder for the past hour.
