A drop of water hit the pavement. Then another. A soft pattering sound began to spread across the street. The boy flinched at the first cold drop that touched his face. Like even rain startled him now.
Willow walked ahead of them, boots splashing lightly against the wet pavement. She didn't slow down. Didn't look back.
Nathan and the boy followed a few steps behind.
Water slid down broken windows and gathered in shallow cracks along the street.
Nathan adjusted his bag and glanced up at the sky. "Of course it starts now," he muttered.
The boy said nothing.
He kept his eyes on Willow's back. She still held the weapon loosely at her side.
"Excuse me." The boy said quietly looking at Nathan.
"When did all this start happening?"
Nathan glances at him..."you don't remember that too?"
The boy shook his head. "I don't remember anything."
The rain grew heavier for a moment, drumming softly against metal and broken glass.
Willow spoke without turning around.
"Memory loss can happen...especially if he wasn't human anymore."
The boy's hands curled at his sides.
Nathan puts an arm around the boy's shoulder. "Come on, give him a break."
Willow finally looked over her shoulder at him and then kept walking.
Nathan looked at him with a smile.
"It started around 6 months ago...some reports like weird attacks, people acting strange and then cities started shutting down." He glances at the boy.
"I can't imagine how it felt for you...you must have been terrified...waking up to this without remembering any of it."
The boy looks down.
Nathan's smile softens. "It's okay now. You're lucky we found you."
The boy gives a weak smile.
They kept walking. Their clothes soaked and wet strands of hair stuck to their faces.
"Where are we going?"
"Wow" Nathan said without a dramatic expression. "We saved you from getting shredded and you don't even trust us."
The boy blinked, unsure if he should apologize.
"Relax, i'm kidding."
Willow took a turn. A sharp turn. They both followed.
"Nathan, check the surrounding."
Nathan scanned the place sharply...."it seems clear."
Willow started going up a a cracked concrete staircase into an old apartment building..both followed. 1st floor...she unlocked a door and stepped inside first.
The place was small but organized. Supplies stacked neatly. Blankets folded. A battery lamp glowing faintly in the corner.
Willow threw her bag on the couch and crashed onto it.
Nathan exhaled loudly while peeling off his soaked jacket. "Home sweet temporary disaster shelter."
The boy stood at the door awkwardly. Unsure if he was allowed to get inside. Water dropped from his sleeves onto the floor.
A soft sound broke the silence. A small cat padded into the room, tail raised. The cat walked straight to the boy and rubbed against his legs. The boy crouches down to pat the cat.
Willow looks at him. "Don't."
The boy stands back up quickly...
"I'm sorry"
She looks away. "Your hands ...you have blood on your hands."
The boy looks back at his hand.The rain had washed most of the blood away, thinning it into faint pink streaks across his skin.
But it hadn't disappeared completely.
Nathan stood there drying his hair before grabbing the boy's arm and dragging him inside. Nathan guided him a short hallway and pushed open a door.
"Wash up." He tossed him a towel from the shelf. "Take your time."
In the living room, Willow still stared at the scanner. Still beeping.
...
It was raining heavily outside and the sky was getting dark. The rain hammered against the windows. The boy has finished washing. He wrapped the towel tightly around his waist and stepped into the hallway, bare feet silent against the floor.
Voices drifted from the living room.
He stopped.
"We can't fully trust him."
"Willow, we can't just leave him."
"That's what you said about Anne."
"....that was different."
"Yeah, but at least the scanner wasn't pointing towards her the whole time"
The steady beeping can be heard again.
"It's still pointing towards him.." Willow put the scanner infront of Nathan's face.
Nathan sighs, "maybe it's broken..."
Willow turns off the scanner and sits silently.
"One wrong move from him...one sign...that's all I need."
The boy went back down the hallway. He chose the first bedroom he saw and slipped inside, closing the door softly behind him.
A few minutes later, there was a knock. Nathan opened the door and got inside.
He was holding a folded set of clothes.
"Figured you'd need these. And they're clean." He placed them on the bed and turned around immediately, facing the wall.
"Go ahead..i'm not looking."
The boy hesitated before starting to put on the clothes. When he was done, he sighed and looked at Nathan.
"I don't want to burden you."
Nathan turns around to look at him. "You're not a burden."
"I can't even argue with her."
Nathan goes silent.
"If she thinks i'm dangerous...which i might be, i can't argue with her or prove her wrong. I don't know where i was six months ago. I don't know where i was yesterday. I don't even remember my name."
Nathan sits at the edge of the bed and gestures for him to sit down too.
"You know those creatures were humans too"
"They were?"
Nathan nods.
The boy's hands tightened on his lap.
"We don't know how it happens. Or why. Not yet...I mean. That's why she's cautious."
"Did you survive all this time by yourselves?"
Nathan looks at him and smiles.
"Short answer. No, we didn't. After a lot of things happened a lot of survivors were saved by the military and taken to evacuation zones. We were taken to a safe zone outside the city and that's where we met. And right after three and a half months it was announced that they needed volunteers to go out and collect samples from outside the safe zone. She volunteered and I couldn't change her mind. You saw how stubborn she is...so i just tagged along. You know ....fun stuff."
Nathan lays back on the bed.
"They asked for people with scientific background. She majored in chemistry. Top of her class...I heard. They gave us tools and everything we might need and they scattered the volunteers into different places."
"...oh.."
"Maybe you were in the safe zone too."
Nathan looks at the boy. "Do you have any memories of that?"
"I have no memories of ....anything "
Nathan got up.
"You can rest here for the night."
He paused at the door.
"Try to rest." And then he left.
The door clicked shut. The rain continued outside. And it was night now. For a few minutes, the boy just sat there. His gaze drifted slowly around the room. Nathan's bag rested beside the bed, half unzipped. Supplies and tools visible inside. Then his eyes moved to the night stand. A framed photograph.
A man. A woman. And a little girl between them. All smiling. Dust has gathered along the edges of the frame.
It wasn't Nathan.
It wasn't Willow.
The boy stared at it for a long moment and picked it up. Someone used to live here.
.....morning....
The rain has stopped but the sky was still gray.
Nathan knocks on the door.
"Hey buddy, I have snacks for breakfast."
No answer.
"Are you still asleep?"
No answer.
"I'm getting in." Nathan opens the door.
The room was empty. But the window was open. Curtains stirring faintly in the morning breeze.
The family picture was out of it's frame and sitting on the bed faced down.
"Thank you for helping me." , written on it with shaky handwriting.
Nathan sighs.
Willow comes and leans on the door frame with crossed arms.
"He left, didn't he?"
"Yeah...and he took my bag."
....