Chapter 4: Chapter 2 – Town of the Dead

Yes, they are most definitely bones! Old, human bones, at that. At least five decades old. A bit inconclusive since most of it is underground, I don’t have Xray vision and I’m not going to start digging without a shovel. Yeah, I don't need the data to be absolutely conclusive. I mean, there’s no guarantee I’m going to bathe any time soon, and I can’t be sure I’m going to be changing my clothes tonight. While these clothes are somewhat resistant to dirt, it’s not like they can’t get dirty.

Exhale.

Okay, I think I’ve concluded that there’s no need to panic. I’ve never seen human remains before, but if I think about this rationally, old bones can’t hurt me, and whatever killed this person is probably long gone. I should take a look around town, maybe I can find out what happened? Or at least find something interesting?

Sounds like a plan.

I walk to the entrance of the building closest to the remains and take a peek inside. Completely collapsed on itself. Second floor and the roof are on ground level. Rotten books, dishes broken ages ago. There are shattered bones here and there, but that’s it. There’s an overwhelming smell of mold, and enough impurities in the air to cause a warning to appear. I don’t think I should go in there. Doesn’t seem like there’s anything there anyway.

I shudder as I step back from the doorway. Disgusting.

… Are all of them going to be like this? I take another look at the buildings around me, and it does look like most of the buildings are made with a lot of wood. And… Wood can’t weather the ravages of time without help. Not as well as stone can, in any case. And not like this!

Huh. Regardless, I need to find a way out from this town. A road would be so much better than just aimlessly walking into the forest. This can’t be all that’s left of civilization… Right?

Might as well look if there’s anything in the other buildings as I make my way through these overgrown streets, too.

I walk up to the doorway to the next house on my way through. It’s essentially the same as the one I investigated first. Roof’s fallen down to ground level. This one doesn’t even have a second floor, though. As a result, it’s a bit less cluttered. The floor’s collapsed, and it’d be difficult to walk in there. Yeah. Doesn’t look like there’s any reason to go in.

Next house… Is essentially the same. Again. It’s just dirt, ruins, and very smelly. I’m not sure what I’m even expecting to find. Isn’t this just a waste of time? Isn’t it likely that anything of worth that’s been here would’ve been looted ages ago?

I step away from the doorway again. The smell of mold isn’t very nice, but I guess I’m starting to get used to it. I hope it won’t stick to my clothing. It’s one of those really stubborn smells that just won’t go away! Based on the buildings here, I’m starting to think that maybe they don’t have electricity in this… World? And that means, no washing machines. Handwashing is not something I’m looking forward to, for sure.

Come to think of it, yes, that’s very likely. As I noted earlier, the air’s clean here. Like, pre-industrial sort of clean, if my eyes are to be believed. And that implies, the industrial revolution isn’t even a thing here.  Good for the environment, potentially bad for me!

… Unless they’ve found some special method of reaching an industrial age, I could run into some serious problems. While my augs are going to run for a while if I don’t overuse them a whole lot, this could turn out really badly.

Building after building, nothing.

This hasn't been very encouraging so far. I have absolutely nothing to show for my efforts.  I feel a pang of desperation as I keep going. Surely there has to be something! Somewhere!

... How strange.

This next house has an odd… Aura? To it. Like, some sort of completely inexplicable residual thing. My eyes aren’t giving off any warning signs, but it does seem like those particles I filtered out of my normal vision are thicker here than in the other buildings. Actually, I can’t see anything else without the filter here!

There’s a sign hanging above the doorway, swaying lightly in the wind. Weird that it hasn’t fallen off yet. Doesn’t look like it’s going to stay up for much longer, though. What is that picture and that text supposed to mean? Is that a… Wizard hat? Either way, I wonder if these things I see mean that something’s been done to give this building some sort of resistance to the elements? It even has a door. It has seen better days, though. Thankfully, it’s open. Won’t have to touch it.

I peer inside.

Compared to the other buildings, this is nigh pristine! The roof is still up. The floor hasn’t caved in and doesn’t look too rotten. Well, okay, there’re broken bottles and other assorted garbage on the floor, but the house itself is okay. I see a counter and some displays attached to it, but I can’t really see if anything’s in them. The smell of mold coming from the inside is obvious, but… Maybe I should still check it out? There could be something of interest in there that I don’t have to dig for!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

I open my shoulder bag, grab my mask and put it on, after which I make damn sure to close the bag properly. I’m not going to breathe in mold if I can help it, nor am I going to get it on my possessions! Might end up a bit smelly for the foreseeable future, though.

I cautiously step in. The floor creaks but carries my weight.

You are reading story From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World at novel35.com

So far so good.

After stepping in and finding myself in front of the counter, I take a look around. It sure does look like a shop of some sort. Very vintage. There’re larger displays to the sides from the counter, some bookcases, a fireplace. A chandelier is hanging from the ceiling, just above the counter. Have to be careful with that, even if it looks like it’ll stay up for a while yet!

Too bad I didn’t get to see this store when it was actually in use. Could’ve been cozy. Now, it’s full of broken glass and trash.

Can’t see anything of interest on the counter from the customer’s side. It’s covered with broken glass, an assortment of dirty bottles, small pieces of crystal and books ravaged by time and neglect. The small display cases attached to it are empty. So, I turn my gaze first towards the larger displays to the right and make my way to them.

The glass of the display is covered by years of accumulated dust, but I realize that it’s so dark mostly because of the textile underneath. And, well, there being nothing in there.

So, I turn around and walk up to the ones to the left from the counter, and…

It’s the same.

From a cursory look at the bookcases, I can’t see anything I could use in them, either. On one hand, I’d love to take all the books with me, but on the other they’re not faring too well, and I have no idea about their contents. For all I know, they could be books about bird migration. And I don’t think I need a few excerpts about that.

I can’t help but frown as I start to feel frustration and anxiety settle in. I’ve somehow already wasted a few hours exploring this town, it’s getting darker, and I haven’t found anything yet! Not even a clue as to what happened here!

I shake my head. Stay focused!

To be honest, I shouldn’t be too surprised. Whoever owned this shop probably took most of the interesting things with them. And who knows how many scavengers and the like this town has seen. I don’t even know where “here” is. All I know is that something happened here decades ago that left a bunch of people dead and the town abandoned. How am I supposed to figure out what happened here? Heck, I can’t even read their letters!

And at any rate, there’s still one place I can check.

I haven’t checked behind the counter, yet!

I walk up to the small door on the right-hand side of the counter. Seems like it opens towards the customer rather than the shopkeeper? I place my hand on the top of the door, and lightly pull it towards myself.

Crack!

I jump and yelp in surprise, quickly pulling my hand away from the door.

Oh, shoot. I broke the lock! Why was it locked?! … Not that it matters, but still! I can’t believe I broke it!

I hope no one heard that!

A deep breath. At least the door is now open. I make sure I don’t touch the door as I step behind the counter. I don’t want dirt on my clothes!

… There’s nothing here? All I see is more broken glass, some crumpled paperwork and a bundle of… What is that, fabric? Okay, that looks really suspicious.

I take a hold on one of the folds in the fabric and carefully pull the messy bundle of fabric upwards. It sure feels like there’s not enough of it to cover this amount of space! It’s definitely hiding something!

Encouraged by my conclusion, I proceed to deliberately pull the fabric away from whatever it has to be covering. As I finally pull the entire bundle away and, I find…

A safe? I hope it has something interesting in it!