A Little Snooping

Her eyes wandered around, scanning the contents atop the rusty shelves that were slowly falling apart. There wasn't really much there that she needed but she made do with the few things that she had found. 

A flashlight, batteries, some snacks and a few cool drink cans. She knew it wasn't much and it wasn't very healthy, but with all the fruits rotting due to the smoke and the lack of a proper functioning kitchen, it was all she had. 

She decided to do a little more snooping around before she left to loot somewhere else. She found three doors at the back of the store- One was for the bathrooms, another one was labeled as the managers office and the last one was a plain door. She looked at the managers office, thinking that would be a a good start. 

She grasped the handle and pulled it downwards and the door surprisingly opened with a slight creak. 

She walked in, coughing a little due to the musty air and dust and ashes that had collected in there for possibly the last three days. 

It's been three days since it happened. Three days since the world turned upside down. Three. Days. 

She waved her hand in front of her face to try and chase away the unnatural contents in the air and walked in. It was dark, really dark. Her hands traced the walls searching for a light switch and found one a little ways from the door. She flicked it both ways but the light did not come on. 

'That's just great', she thought to herself. She opened her bag and got out the flashlight as well as the batteries and loaded them in. She switched it on and looked around. 

The office was a mess. Papers were scattered along the table and the floor. Crumpled balls of paper, soda cans and takeaway containers were lying in and around the little bin near the door. Some drawers in the metal cabinets were opened while others were closed or laying on the floor with its contents spilling out. The chair layed overturned on the floor. Paintings and certificates on the walls were askew and the mirror at the corner of the room, on the right side of the desk was shattered. 

Sabrina carefully navigated her way through the mess to the cabinets, searching for anything of value. Nothing but files and receipts in there with the occasional paper clip and pack of staples. Shutting the draws, she made her way over to the desk with her fingers crossed, hoping that this wasn't an utter waste of her time. 

She did a once over on the desk and found a blank notepad with some pens, pencil and an eraser. She took it. Who knows? Maybe she'll get bored during these end times and take up art as a career? Yeah, no that's stupid. But it may help her keep her sanity in check. 

After finding nothing else of importance on the desk, she checked the drawers on it. Starting with the right drawer she found a newspaper clipping about the new technological advances made by the company that got everyone in this mess. "Vision," she spat out like the name like it was poison. She glared at the man in the picture, Victor Vision. Oh how she wished she could punch that stupid smirk off his face. Her dad admired his boss so much but was absolutely distraught when he found out what that monster was actually planning. He tried to save his family but things didn't go as planned. "Saving the world, my foot" she said gritting her teeth. She crumpled the paper and threw it across the room. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. 

She stuck her hand into the draw, feeling around for something, anything. She felt something quite peculiar on the roof of the draw. Now I'm pretty sure that drawers aren't supposed to have pieces popping out like that. 

She pushed the supposed button and a secret compartment opened behind her on the wall. A little cubby. She eased it open and pulled out a handgun. Her eyes widened. A gun?! What am I supposed supposed to do with a freaking gun? Well, duh it's obvious but I can't kill anyone. Though they'd probably be more than happy to kill me and steal my supplies. 

She stared at the gun, eyes still wide, mouth slightly agape while she continued to mentally argue with herself. A few moments passed until she came to a conclusion. I'll keep it. Only for threatening purposes but if the situation calls for it, I will shoot. I wasn't taught how to use a gun for nothing. 

She winced a little on how she said that last statement but shrugged it off. She checked the clip and it was loaded. She kept the safety on in case and grabbed a few packs of ammunition from the cubby as well as a gun holster which she strapped on through her belt loops and put the gun in. She resumed to checking the desk drawers and feeling for anymore secret compartments. She didn't find anymore hidden compartments but she did find a walkie talkie and a first aid kit. She slipped the kit in her bag but kept her walkie talkie in her pocket and kept the flashlight in her hand. She did one final check around and once she was satisfied, she left the room. 

She decided to check the bathroom next. She didn't know what she expected to find there but maybe she'd find something worthwhile. 

She stepped towards the door, trying to shake the feeling that something was wrong. She grabbed the handle and pulled. The door didn't budge. She tried again. Something was blocking the door. 

Who would barricade a bathroom?

She grasped the handle, and turned so that her shoulder was facing the door and gathering all the strength she had, she slammed herself against the door. 

The door moved and was now slightly ajar. She was hit with a rotten stench. She gagged and looked through the little crack that she had made and saw the trail of a dark substance leading towards the door. 

Gears were turning in her head. The trail coupled with the sickeningly sweet stench and the weight against the door...what if it's- her face paled- OH. Oh no. Nope nope nope. She was not going in there. Granted, the world at this point was terrible, but there was no way she was going in a bathroom with a dead person. 

Deep breaths. 

She put a hand to her chest and steadied her breathing. 

She turned her head and looked at the unlabeled door. Third time's the charm, right? Right. A little optimism didn't kill anybody. 

She made her way to the door and was about to open it when she heard shuffling coming from inside. She pressed her ear to the door in order to make out something, anything. Maybe something wasn't placed properly and fell? Or maybe there was an animal in there? Maybe a rat? Could it be a person?

After hearing nothing else, she couldn't conclude her thoughts. She put her flashlight in her left hand and grasped the gun, still in the holster, with her right hand. She slowly pushed the door open with the hand that held her switched on flashlight. She pointed it around the room, seeing nothing, she turned to the wall and found a light switch. 

The lights buzzed and flickered on, dimly lighting up the room. 

'Good enough. Atleast something works.'

She looked around. The room was fairly large. Boxes were laying on metal shelves while the empty ones were thrown carelessly in the corner of the room, looking like an avalanche waiting to fall. Well some of it did fall, perhaps that was the sound she heard earlier? There was a mini kitchen and sitting area that looked abandoned on one side of the room. The sofas in the sitting area were surprisingly not that dusty but they were tattered and torn. 

At the end of the room, there was a vending machine, with the light inside still working and full of snacks. 

'That's... strange. Why would this of all things be in proper working order?'

The sight of it was unnerving and she made a point to not go near it. 

Her eyelids felt heavy. When was the last time she slept? Well, a week of hiding from Vision's goons really messes up your sleeping schedule. Not to mention the freaking apocalypse.

She made her way to the couch and layed down. Her eyes closed and she was welcomed into sleep as the darkness engulfed her.