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For the first ti eyes, as I prayed that everything would be normal when I opened them once more It was not
Slowly I raisedeyes She reht that perhaps I should hit her,to touch her aspect Throw soum stacked before the counter It was a soft projectile but hard enough that it would get someone’s attention Maybe it would wake her up, but I didn’t think it would work, and I couldn’t bringat the defenseless wo candy from a child
I took a s heavily as I looked around the store Though it hadn't been crowded, it was easy to pick out every person ast the racks of souvenir clothes (clothes that didn’t sell much anymore, at least not to tourists as we had few of them now) and candy counters Mainly because they were all as still as stone too I doubted throwing so at them would work either
It was eerily quiet within the store I didn’t hear anyhad been banned a o (I now realized why), but I didn’t even hear the hu crowd The muted murmur of conversations had vanished The street sounded just as dead as the store now appeared The hum of the store’s air conditioner made my hair stand up evenhush
I turned toward the door but the blinds had been drawn over theto block out the suht It was impossible to see if the rest of the world had been as affected as the store I tried to believe that it hadn’t, that this store was an isolated incident, but I kneasn’t A cold chill, that had nothing to do with the ac unit, raced down my spine The room swam and blurred before me as fear threatened to choke me
The store was cool but I eating profusely I could barely breathe as I tried to gasp in air but h me, it burned its way up my throat Myon copper pennies, but I was somehow able to keep it down This was the weirdest, creepiest,I had experienced in years, but I could not throw up in this store The act of doing so so than the situation surrounding me now
I was hyperventilating though I knew that I couldn’t breathe and yet the s I needed fresh air, I needed out of this store My bag was still on the counter, but I was reluctant to grasp hold of it I was surethe milk home
My mom!
My heart was beating with the force of a jackhah , aard step back Was my mom like these people? Was she one of them now, or was she like me? Was there anyone else like me? Was I the only one? And as I still able to move while they couldn’t? What had happened to them, would it happen to me?
That thought causedfroain They remained frozen Not a one of them had moved in the past five minutes I hadn’t even seen the, didn’t they? Were they dead? Would they ever ain?
The questions rolled rapidly throughme, but I didn’t have answers to any of thein to fatho anywhere near the wo If my mom wasn’t like this, then I suddenly had to deliver that milk to her And if she was…