Maggie had never seen a dog in real life — only once, on an old billboard — but she instantly knew that this scrawny, cowering creature on a chain was one. The dog had its tongue out and was panting heavily, either from the scorching heat or from this dog`s life. She hesitantly reached out her hand and immediately pulled it back. Someone`s gentle hand settled softly on the girl`s shoulder.
`Meg! He`s probably wild...` `But he`s on a chain. That means he has owners. Jerry, can we find them? Please!` Jerome was about to object but swallowed involuntarily. A powerful smell of charred meat hit his nostrils. Not long ago he would have thought some garbage dump was smoldering nearby, but now, after days without food, there was no mistaking that smell. Maggie caught it too and grinned nervously. `Did Woody catch another rat?` `I hope... yes.` Jerome had not been sure of anything or anyone for a long time. Woody was a great guy, but too easily swayed by Jim`s opinions. Today he`s roasting a rat, and tomorrow... `Keep an eye on him, Meg. I`ll be right back.`
Jerome returned to the pier and stepped through a narrow doorway crowned with dried dandelions and a faded sign on the porch — `Temporary Shelter. John and Mary.` On the threshold he was met by Jim`s ringing laughter. `Well, Jerry, you`re just in time for lunch!` Woody was prodding a half-decomposed corpse with a red-hot brand, and Jerome instantly vomited. `I bet Woody will wolf it down and ask for seconds!` `What the hell, Jim, stop it! You need to rest properly, buddy. Grab a rod, try catching something for lunch. We walked so far to get to this damn lake.` `There`s no fish in this lake! There`s nothing to eat here, Jerry! And I still have to feed you and your girl!` `I`ve offered more than once to go our own way. You`re the one who kept saying we need to stick together.` `Exactly! Look for yourself what happens when you`re a loser!` Jim kicked the corpse in a rage and its lower jaw clacked against the upper one before falling off, as if echoing his words. A moment later he nervously wiped his eyes with a filthy sleeve and laughed again, quieter now, with a rasp in his chest.
`And what else am I supposed to do, Jerry? Sit and cry? That`s your job. You`re the family man here.` Woody smiled awkwardly but looked away. The brand in his hand crackled; fat from the charred skin dripped onto the concrete floor. `We are not eating that,` Jerome said firmly. `Of course we`re not.` Jim spread his arms. `We`re civilized people.` He stepped closer. He reeked of sweat, swamp water, and something sour. `But you know what`s funny? A month ago you would`ve said the same thing about a rat.`
Jerome was about to retort, but was interrupted again — this time by Maggie, who burst onto the porch and blurted: `There are people alive here! I saw writing on a huge building: Caution! People!` `I don`t think they`ll be happy to see us,` Jim objected. `We could at least try to talk to them. Woody, dear God, what are you doing?` Maggie saw Woody with the brand and felt the hair rise on the top of her head. `You want to talk, you go talk! Woody and I aren`t sticking around.` `I`d try... Woody, sometimes you`re a decent guy, and sometimes you`re just...` `We`ll try,` Jerome grabbed Maggie`s hand and led her onto the porch. `Let`s go, Meg. It`s time for us to go our own way.` Maggie didn`t argue. `Let`s check that place out!` `Lead the way.`
But from a distance it was already clear there wasn`t a soul around. The writing only looked menacing from afar, and the wide-open front door invited them into a dreadful atmosphere of abandonment and decay. Just in case, Jerome and Maggie circled the skyscraper several times, carefully peeking through the shattered ground-floor windows to avoid an ambush. Once they were sure the place was now inhabited only by rats and cockroaches, they finally ventured inside.
The lobby had served its former occupants as both kitchen and bedroom. Moldy pots, makeshift beds and cots — all of it had become a mass grave for human skeletons, of which there were a staggering number. Jerome hadn`t seen a more horrifying sight since those vile creatures — like small lizards but with razor-sharp teeth — had attacked their group of survivors, slaughtering everyone except him and Maggie, who managed to hide in an old refrigerator. That evening Meg became a complete orphan, and Jerome`s hair turned whiter than the ash that blanketed the once-bustling metropolis in a thick layer.
Men, women, children... Jerome surveyed the room with disgust, trying to piece together the terrible event that had caused the mass death of the settlers here. `Meg, you should go outside. Go out and let me know if you spot anyone nearby.` Whether her adolescent mind couldn`t fully grasp the scale of what had happened here, or life in the Wasteland had done its work, Maggie was surprisingly holding herself together.
`It`s fine, they`re just skeletons. Why are they all under the beds, Jerry? Were they attacked by the same animals that came after us back then?` `I don`t think so — those eat everything without a trace, and all the bones are intact. I think it`s time to get out of here, Meg!` `But we haven`t searched everything yet! I can`t remember the last time I ate.` `Fine... I`ll try to go up to the higher floors, and you search the dining area. There should be an entrance to the kitchen somewhere. If they didn`t die of hunger, there`s a real chance of finding food here.`
Jerry was out of luck again. The elevator shaft on the first floor was blocked with furniture and construction debris, and the service staircase led to a door locked with a keypad. He had been punching buttons fruitlessly for about ten minutes when Maggie found him. `Maybe try knocking?` Maggie suggested. `Thanks for the advice.` `Don`t mention it. The kitchen is locked. Something about contamination. I didn`t understand.` Jerome punched in another combination. The red light blinked. Nothing. `To hell with it.`
He leaned wearily against the wall. Maggie stepped closer to the panel, ran her finger across the buttons, frowned thoughtfully, then suddenly started pressing numbers. The lock beeped briefly, a green light came on, and a second later the door clicked. `You`re kidding me,` Jerome finally said. Maggie shrugged. `Those numbers were scratched on the wall near the dog.` `Near that dog on the chain?` `Yeah.` `And you just decided to remember them?` `Why not?` Jerome stared at her for a few seconds, then silently pulled the door open. `Sometimes you scare me more than the Wasteland.`
Behind the door was another stairwell, but there was no staircase leading to the third floor — just the same junk-filled elevator shaft and a door opening onto the floor. The rooms here looked nothing like living quarters or offices. There were no beds, no kitchens, no traces of settlers. Only metal, wires, and a thick layer of dust. In the center of the hall stood a strange machine. A tall cylindrical structure nearly touching the ceiling. Inside a cloudy glass reservoir, something shimmered with a faint bluish light, and dozens of cables stretched toward the device.
`What is that thing?` `No idea.` Jerome slowly circled the machine. On the metal housing, a faded label was still legible — `Synthesizer: Prototype`. `Probably some kind of pre-war laboratory.` `Think there`s food in here?` `You`re incorrigible.` `So that means no?`
Jerome said nothing. Only a quiet hum broke the silence, so faint it could be mistaken for the wind. Then he walked to the wide window on the far wall — or what was left of it: most of the glass had long since shattered, sharp shards jutted from the frame, and hot wind blew freely inside. From here, the view stretched across nearly the entire city.
Below them spread the lake, the pier, half-flooded streets and gray blocks stretching to the horizon — and two familiar figures near the entrance to the skyscraper. `Damn.` `What is it?` Maggie came closer. Below stood Jim and Woody — they appeared to have just reached the building. Jim was the first to look up, and even from that distance they could see him freeze, then jab his finger upward. `They spotted us,` Jerome said.
And almost immediately, a shout from below: `Jerry!` The wind stretched his voice between the buildings. Jerome leaned out of the broken window: `We`re up here!` `Find anything?` `Don`t know yet!` `Then wait! We`re coming up!` `No, Jim, listen...` `Or what?` Jim`s voice turned harder. `Your rules again?` `It`s tight in here. Let us check everything first.`
Jim squinted: `Check what exactly?` `I don`t know yet myself.` `You don`t know, huh? But you sure look like you already found something interesting.` `Jim...` `Woody and I haven`t been able to eat for days either, in case you forgot.` `I`m not hiding anything from you.` `Of course not. That`s why you`re up there with Maggie. Alone.` A pause hung a beat heavier than usual. `Don`t start.` `Start what? I`m just stating facts. You always do this, Jerry.` `Jim...` `We`re going to try coming up ourselves. Whether you like it or not.` But he was no longer listening — he was heatedly explaining something to Woody and pointing at the upper floors.
`Damn it,` said Jerome. `What happened?` `They`ve decided to come up. If they get in, this ends badly.` `You think Jim`s completely lost it?` `I think he`s been heading that way for a long time.`
Jerome stepped onto the landing. The heavy door was still open; distant voices echoed from below. He looked at the keypad, hesitated for just a second, then shut the door and punched in the lock code — the lock clicked and the red light came on again. `I hope you know what you`re doing, Jerry,` Maggie said quietly. Jerome looked at the dark staircase beyond the door, and for a moment it seemed the strange machine in the lab had begun to hum a little louder. `No, Meg.`
Jerome regretted his decision very quickly, but the consequences spiraled out of control even faster. Every escape route was suddenly cut off, and moments later a furious Jim was already pounding on the locked door. At first Jim threatened. He vowed to break down the door, get to Jerome, and personally slit his throat. Then rage gave way to hope. He bargained, offered to split whatever they found equally, swore he`d forget all grievances. When that didn`t work, he began to plead. Then to beg. And a few hours later he was screaming and cursing again.
`Jerry! Open the door! Do you hear me?! You think it`ll save you? This door? I`ll get to you no matter what! Fine... fine, the hell with it. Let`s talk like people. Just talk. If you found food, we`ll share it. I swear. Equal shares. Like before.` `No.` `Why?!` `Because I don`t believe you.`
`I was angry! God, who isn`t angry these days?! Jerry... please. We`ve been through so much together. Don`t make me die here. You hear me? I said don`t make me die! Damn you. Damn you, Jerry. Open the door and I`ll forget everything.` `No. Go away.` `Open the door and I`ll kill you, you bastard!`
At last everyone was so exhausted they collapsed into sleep. Even Jim suddenly fell silent and went to sleep in the lobby among the skeletons. Jerome was woken by Maggie`s scream. The machine had somehow switched into operating mode and clamped her arm up to the elbow, and she was sobbing, trying to pull free. Jerome`s chest went ice-cold, but suddenly the device flashed green lights and released Maggie`s arm. Her entire arm was coated in a strange jelly-like substance with a surprisingly pleasant smell that made the mouth water and triggered an irresistible urge to taste it.
Maggie licked one finger, then another, and after scraping off some of the substance with her other hand, she shared it with Jerome. Jerry latched onto it like a vampire sinking its teeth into its prey. `It`s sweet!` Meg smacked her lips with pleasure. `Keep it down! Jim doesn`t need to know about our find.` Jerome and Maggie ran the machine again, this time with empty vials they found on shelves in a cabinet. Unfortunately, the machine didn`t support any other mode and required a form to coat with a bio-organic layer. Somewhere inside the machine there was surely a pure edible product, but Jerry never dared to try opening it.
That evening they stuffed themselves, and the next day, after a morning feast, they held a war council and decided to fortify the window, rest, and stock up on energy for a big push. They had run out of water, but they found a large empty aquarium and suitable tools, and Jerome evaporated all the water and collected the condensate. The water still smelled a bit off, but they had no other choice. Getting out unnoticed was nearly impossible: Jim and Woody kept watch in shifts.
Woody was especially good at it. He seemed never to sleep at all. Stationed in the courtyard, he either scanned every corner with a predatory gaze or was already eating another raw rat. Woody was in his prime and seemed as though he had been made for this hideous post-Collapse world. Jim, on the other hand, had deteriorated badly. Gaunt, with yellowed skin and enormous dark circles under his eyes, he looked more like a skeleton risen from one of the corpses they had found in the lobby. His stomach stubbornly rejected raw food, and only the thought of revenge got him out of bed each day and brought him to the locked door.
`Fine! You want to stay in there forever, go ahead! I`ll just watch you eat the girl, then your fingers, your manhood, until there`s nothing left of the traitor I once knew! Jerome! You`ll die in there, you filthy rat!`
Jim called Woody, and together they completely barricaded the door. In doing so, he also sealed off his own path to revenge and sank deeper into depression. Hunger began playing dangerous games with him. In his eyes, Woody was a servant, a slave, ready to give his life without hesitation — and Jim took this for granted. Jim stared at Woody for a long time. Woody sat hunched over yet another rat. Blood dripped from his fingers as he chewed slowly, deliberately, as though performing some routine task.
Once Jim had found it repulsive. Now it stirred envy. At first he tried not to think about it. He turned away. Closed his eyes. Imagined roast meat, bread, soup — anything. But his brain kept returning to the same thought. Woody eats. And I don`t.
Each morning Jim woke weaker. He rose with difficulty. His hands trembled. Dark spots drifted before his eyes. Sometimes he thought he smelled things that didn`t exist. Sometimes he saw people in empty windows. One night he awoke to his own groan. His stomach cramped so badly he lay curled up, unable to take a full breath.
Woody slept beside him. Huge. Warm. Alive. Jim banished the thought immediately. But it had already taken root.
The next day he caught himself looking not at Woody`s face, but at his neck. And then — feeling genuine regret that Woody was too big, too strong, and too resilient. That night Jim barely slept. He lay with his eyes open, listening to the wind howling through empty windows and the growling of his own stomach.
At last he couldn`t take it. Slowly rising from the floor, he found the knife and looked at Woody. Woody sat motionless with his eyes open, looking like a ghoul. A person can`t go that long without sleep. To make sure, Jim waved his hand in front of Woody`s unblinking pupils several times. The moonlight lit Woody`s neck invitingly. Unable to fight himself any longer, Jim raised the knife with a trembling hand and pressed the blade against the broad neck of his friend. Woody seized his arm in an instant and with several swift movements drove the knife into Jim`s chest, but Jim was so weak he only let out a muffled groan.
Woody drank his blood under the moonlight for a long time, and the next morning when Maggie peeked outside once more, she saw Woody standing in the middle of the street holding someone`s gnawed arm. He stared at her with a hollow gaze, and once again the hair on Maggie`s head stood on end.
And so they lived, side by side — savages next to a savage — until the machine suddenly ran out of shells. Jerome and Maggie had put on some weight and were now strong enough to set out on a journey, but the only door was completely barricaded from the outside, and beneath the window Woody kept watch around the clock, having fully lost his mind and merged entirely with nature. Maggie was terrified of him and often cried, but now that the food source had dried up, Jerome knew he had to act fast. It was already too late today, so he decided to spend the next day packing and move out the following night.
But come morning, Meg was gone. Jerome looked out the window — Woody sat peacefully in his usual spot, statue-like. This room had only two exits: either the window or a hole in the ceiling leading to the third floor, but Jerome had forbidden Maggie from even thinking about that from the very start of their stay. Of course — it was her last day here, and she wanted to see what was up there. `Maggie! Meg! Can you hear me?` Jerry shouted. From outside came Woody`s feral roar. He threw himself at the wall several times like a big cat. `At this rate he`ll actually make it up,` Jerry thought grimly, and with great effort pulled himself up, trying to squeeze through the gap in the floor of the story above him.