Silence Falls

From that loud resounding noise, everyone started with alarm and revolved in place in exploration of its source. Hermanni stood with his hands smeared in dark muck, the grate that had sealed the tunnel now at his feet from where it had crashed from his grip.

“What the…” Bam launched before stooping down to glance through the entrance of the unsealed tunnel. It was cleared. For once, he took the leadership of being the fearless one and slithered on through the muck to the other side. Once there, he checked his perimeter to establish it was safe before lending a hand to everyone else coming through behind him while Bert focused on Hermanni in suspicion.

How did Hermanni get the damn grate off when it was effectively welded on, Bert reflected to himself before shaking it off to climb into the tunnel. They didn’t have time to evaluate all this, not when there were divisions of military trained soldiers hunting for them. Hermanni was the last in, and after he slithered through he turned around to install the grate back on. His already striking eyes began glowing, and the old hefty metal soldered itself back into place in a jiffy, so he could shoot across a long grass field after the others.

“Whoa, what is this place?” Alexis inquired softly. At their back was an old building that was probably three or four stories high. What was once the parking lot also had been used as a dumping spot for trash a long time ago, and what was once smooth concrete slabs were now cracked with willful weeds protruding from below to taste the kiss of the sun again.

“This was that mall that was only opened for three hours before they shut it down that I was talking about earlier.” Bert returned, smiling up at it in fascination. This place must have made a remarkable memory for the lucky kids that got to enter through its doors for those short hours before it closed, Bert speculated to himself, unfortunately I wasn't lucky to be a part of that due to the incessant bible study I underwent at the insistence of my deranged parents.

“Hey, Bert, it’s getting dark out here. I think we should hurry up and find a way inside this place. We could stay here for the night.” Otep pointed out to him, her feet throbbing as well as her body from the long hours migrating here as well as those random tussles along the way. By the look on everyone’s face, they felt the exact same way.

Bert nodded in compliance as he sauntered around to the entryway of the building that was generously chained up with a monstrous impassable padlock keeping the chains together. Bert cursed to himself, and placed his hands on his hips, contemplating on what to do now. “Anybody wanna step up and pick a lock for us?”

“No time for all that! How about you nail it with this?” Connor proposed, supplying a hefty rock he located by his feet, and handing it to Bert with a smile. “After you, my man.”

“Fuck you, Connor.” Bert grinned as he turned to confront the door. With one superb hit, the bulky lock surprisingly burst into two and clanged when it hit the ground. Everyone felt satisfied that there wouldn't be an hour long trial to get the locks off. Tonight they’ll finally get to languish in a sheltered place again rather than take their chances out in an accessible campsite under the swampy skies. Maybe if they’re lucky they'll have plumbing that'll help soak away all the sweat and swamp grime off of their skin so they could remember what clean skin felt like again.

The group cautiously stepped inside and took in their shadowy surroundings through fatigued eyes. The mall surprisingly wasn't in shambles from the homeless or junkies breaking in. The mall was actually in impeccable condition after being entirely preserved after all these years, except for it being dark and everything shrouded in dust and cobwebs from years of neglect. The kids were in admiration by each unspoiled store they passed.

“Oh my god, please tell me they have a mattress store up in here! I will literally make it my new address and live happily ever after there.” Natasha whined in displeasure, her body letting off aching pangs all over with every action she made. They all needed rest, about ten years of rest to make up for this one hectic morning. All their bodies needed rest before they started disintegrating to the floor like dominoes.

“Do you think they’ll still have electricity running through here?” Demitria asked, stifling a yawn with her small hand.

“I have no idea, but I guess it won’t hurt to see. Bam, you wanna come check out the generator with me? It’s probably down in the basement somewhere.” Bert requested from Bam, and instantly regretted it. Surely the young man, as drained as they were, would furiously oppose in the obscene fashion that was designated as ‘Bam-like’.

Bam surprisingly acknowledged with a mute nod, accompanying Bert to where he presumed the basement would be stationed. After what felt like an hour or more and several inaccurate turns later, the lights abruptly turned on, unveiling all the stores within and their products featured on their shelves. The girl’s eyes ignited up like children at an amusement park, save for Otep. The mall had clothes, games, electronics, sporting equipment, pools, plants, beds, and more! Everything they could ask for was there, everything a person would require was there...except for food.

“Alright ladies, calm down your excitement for now. We need to go find that mattress store Natasha was moaning about. I, too, need my beauty rest.” Cris jokes, jerking them from their day dreams of trying on all the clothes around them and making them laugh instead. As much as they wanted to examine their surroundings, they knew Cris was right that they all needed sleep. Besides, this mall and all it’s valuables will be waiting for them tomorrow, and hopefully won’t turn out to be just a fantastic dream when they wake up. They've already had so many marvelous dreams they were plucked from by the ringing alarm of their wretched existence that was their life.

Hermanni watched the group head up to the second floor, and went off to secure the entryway they had come from from straying interlopers. By the time he returned, the last two from the basement were also headed up the stairs. Few seconds passed before Hermanni finally went upstairs himself after them, but only to monitor them. He located every single member to be lost in the world of dreams producing a smile upon his face as he studied them all. While up there, the group had managed to cram four king size beds together and lobbed a pyramid of never-ending blankets and pillows on top, had scrubbed themselves off with a bucket of water they compiled from one of the nearby bathrooms, found a section on the many beds to call their own, and gave in to their exhaustion. Turning the store light off with a snap of a finger, Hermanni dragged the curtains on the entrance of the store closed, and went off to explore the inside on his own.

Humans had bountiful toys and clothes of different designs, it was astounding to him. Hermanni couldn’t determine which store, brimming with information, he wanted to learn from first until one especially caught his eye. In a display window within a book store, Hermanni eyes were attracted to a thick heavy book that had the title spelled as D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y on the front. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that he had to study it first and foremost. Taking it with him, Hermanni ruled he should find a room for himself on the ground level. There was nothing wrong with the mattress store, it’s just he wanted to be able to defend them by being closer to the approaching peril, and what better place to do that than to find a room on the ground floor? His family wasn't out of the woods just yet, and Hermanni couldn't keep them holed up here forever by obscuring the mall’s outward appearance as abandoned with his powers while the inside was going to be an undercover prosperous home. Until then, Hermanni would have to figure something out.

In the meantime, Hermanni concluded his room was going to be the TV store. After messing with the buttons on black and silver square boxes, Hermanni managed to turn one on, and out of nowhere was the weather channel. He surged back at the view of a little woman chatting to him and tilted his head, not understanding what she was saying. How can I ever begin to understand them, he began to speculate before gazing down at the book in his hand and at the TV before him. Perhaps they can help. Hermanni’s eyes began to glow as all the TV’s within the store turned on at once to a different channel. Opening the book in his hands, Hermanni sat himself down and began to research well into the night the English language.