Us In the Dark || S. Fisher

Epilogue

5 Years Later

Seeing the apartments in such poor conditions made me feel nostalgic. Moss and vines grew up the sides of the building with graffiti littering the lower half. Some of the windows were broken and the grass was overgrown, with weeds everywhere. It gave off a familiar post-apocalyptic feeling.

"Let's take one last look around, for old time's sake," I said.

I walked up to the front and tried the door but it wouldn't budge. Something from the other side was probably blocking it. I scanned the area and remembered the broken windows. I could climb through one of them to get the door open from the inside, and so I did. Is this breaking and entering if nobody lives here anymore?

Once I was on the other side, I moved the pile of rubble that was blocking the door out of the way and opened it to let them in. When everyone was inside, that's when I got the chance to look at this place. The lights were out so our only source for seeing was from the sun. I walked past each apartment and thought of everybody I knew who lived there. Remnants of police tape hung from some of the doors and water stains seeped from the ceiling. That same overgrown grass had somehow made it inside making the place look more alive than when people still lived here.

"The elevators are out," Ash called from down the hall. I knew that nothing electrical would work but hearing her say that to confirm it still surprised me just the same.

"The stairs it is then."

"Aw damn it, I didn't feel like climbing stairs today, or any day actually," Todd complained. The four of us shared a good laugh and began to climb up anyway. We decided to check out Todd's old place first. His bedroom/father's garden was filled with the dead plants.

"Such a waste of good weed. Larry would be so disappointed," Sal said, shaking his head a bit.

"Forget Larry, I'm disappointed!" Ashley cried out. Giggles filled the room before we moved on to the next apartment, Sal's. One thing I didn't mention was that whoever was here to "clean" the apartments did a horrible job. Blood stains still covered the floor and couch. I instantly regret bringing everyone here. So much loss underneath one roof. I promise you all didn't die in vain.

"This is so depressing and unpleasant," Todd said, breaking the small silence. I always loved his bluntness.

"Yeah... but it was home at one point so I still see the light here, even if it is unpleasant," Sal spoke up. He then went to check out his old room and came back shortly after holding something.

"Look what I found," he said, holding out the thing he had. It was a polaroid of Sal, Larry, Ash, Todd, and I all sitting on the floor of Sal's room just chilling. I remember that day. A new album dropped by Sanitys Fall and so we decided to have a listening party. The album was a masterpiece. It made Larry shed tears at one point (he was really into it).

"I thought I had lost it but after some digging, I found it under my old mattress," Sal explained. We spent a couple more minutes looking around before we decided to head next door to my old apartment. There was nothing special there. Just old dishes that never got washed that ended up growing mold and some blood stains on Rob's bed. There was a pit in my stomach when we decided to leave. The last place we went was Larry's old apartment. We collectively decided to light a joint in his memory, indulging in a classic puff puff pass until it was gone. High, feeling happy, and a bit hungry, we decided it was time to go.

"So you guys are gone tomorrow?" Todd asked. We ended up at the local diner for food, inviting Travis and his boyfriend as well for a bite to eat.

"Yup. A new set of scenery will do us some good," I said.

"Do you know where you guys are going?" Ashley asked.

"Nope, but that's the fun part though!"

The End

Sorry if this ending kinda sucks but I was stuck with writing the epilogue so this is what I came up with. Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading. Imma take a break from writing for a while but I'll be back in New year. Merry Christmas, and if you don celebrate, happy holidays! Bye.