After that for a while, the only sound that I heard was the steady echo of my footsteps. The lights above flickered now and then, never fully going out, but never stable enough to feel reliable either.
I exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of my neck, trying to shake off the weight that had settled there.
That could have gone worse.
That thought came naturally, almost out of habit, but it didn't sit right. There was no version of what I had just seen that could be called "better." At best, I had arrived in time. At worst…
I didn't finish that thought.
Instead, I glanced around at the empty rows of cars.
"So this is a safe-zone."
The words left my mouth without much energy behind them. If anything, they felt more like a dry observation than a joke.
A place where people hid. A place where no one came when someone screamed. A place where the only difference between safety and danger was whether someone stronger happened to walk by.
"Yeah… makes sense,"
