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We travel for over two hours. Riley is exhausted, but we can’t rest out in the open. I need to find her somewhere safe for the night. We’re still well over a mile from Haprin, but I can see the first city lights in the distance. I keep encouraging her to move as quickly as possible.
“What are the chances we’ll find some water somewhere?” she asks, breathing hard.
The small amount contained in the canteen had only lasted the first hour, and we haven’t come across any clean water.
“We’ll find some,” I tell her. “We just need to make it to the city limits. Once we get there, finding what you need should be easy.”
I have no idea if what I’m telling her is true or not, but I know our chances will be better close to civilization. If I have to invade a private residence to get her what she needs, I have no problem doing that though I hope I don’t have to go that far.
As we finally reach the edge of the city, I see exactly what I need.
Behind a power station sits an industrial park. Most of the lights are out though it isn’t very late. There are very few vehicles in the area, and I steer us clear of those that are running. Far off to one side is an old, dilapidated building with several broken windows.
“See that?” I point the building out to Riley.
“The warehouse?”
“Yes, on the far left,” I say. “It looks abandoned.”
We move closer, sticking to the side of the building. There are no vehicles in sight aside from a rusted-out truck. I peer through several windows, shining my flashlight into them, but there are no people in sight either.
“I think it will suit us for the night, at least,” I say.
“How do we get in?”
I give her a half smile, smash in the nearest window, and help her through it.
“Subtle.” Riley presses her lips together. “What if there’s an alarm?”
“It would have gone off when the other windows were broken,” I tell her. “There is no active alarm system here.”
We go through the main warehouse, past rows of empty shelves. There are a few stacks of broken down boxes lying about and filth everywhere. One crate holds a stack of cloth on bolts.
“No one’s been in this building for a long time.” I take Riley’s hand and lead her toward a staircase along the back wall. “Let’s see if there are offices upstairs.”
On the top level, we find a decent-sized office and start to make camp for the night. Riley retrieves a dusty bolt of cloth, shakes it out, and starts making a bed of it while I check out the rest of the upstairs for any kind of supplies.
There’s running water in the bathroom, which I use to fill up the canteen. I break into a vending machine and grab the single bag of potato chips inside, but there’s no other food or drink to be found.
“Stay here,” I tell Riley when I deliver the water and chips. “I’m going to find more supplies.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Riley grabs my hand and squeezes it for a moment. I can see the worry in her eyes.
“I’ll be careful,” I tell her.
I head outside and check out the surrounding buildings. None of them look as abandoned as the one we found, and several of them do have alarm systems. I can’t risk being found so close to our hiding spot, so I break into a run down the side of the main street.
There is little traffic this late at night, and I stick to the shadows near structures. Haprin isn’t a big city by any means, but I do find a shopping center not far from the industrial park. I break in through the back door of a closed grocery, grab a sack, and shove it full of food and energy drinks. I’m in and out in three minutes. Even if I did trip a silent alarm, I will be long gone before anyone gets here.
I return to Riley, and she digs in quickly. I feel no need for food, but I do drink a decent amount of water. I leave the rest for Riley. We still have a long trek ahead of us in the morning.
“I need to give you your injections.” She takes out her bag and removes two hypodermics, already loaded.
I take off my shirt to give her better access to my veins and sit in the office chair. Riley slides the needle through my skin, loading me up with TST and FOG. I feel it surge into my system with a flash of white-hot pain, but it diminishes quickly.
