The Fire

Disgruntled, Luke began to rummage through the timbers of what had once been the entrance to the shed; at the same time, memories of his past, which now seemed distant, began to well up in his mind.

That very entrance was where he last saw his friends and where he had to say goodbye to all of them. Now there was nothing there. Meredith managed to create the shoe rack with her own hands, the rug that some of them stole from some clothesline, and even the wood of the floor was almost gone. It was a long fire.

"Can you tell how many days ago that happened?" Alexis asked him, moving closer to see the destruction more clearly. The entire floor of the second floor had collapsed to the first one, and now only the plumbing pipes were left standing.

Inexpressive, Luke turned to answer her. "The smells from a fire only linger in the air for a few hours. After that, the soot from the smoke covers everything. Even if they died here, I'm not able to tell."