heavenward | n.scatorccio

It was only now, stepping off the cracked asphalt of the school parking lot, that Julianna realized just how claustrophobic the past six days had been.

They had been trapped within those walls, waiting, holding their collective breath, clinging to some fleeting hope that someone would come for them. A rescue, a miracle. Something. But no one had. No one was coming.

Now, walking past the rusted chain-link fence that had surrounded the school, their only shield from the outside world, Julianna felt an overwhelming mix of emotions. Relief, dread, fear, curiosity.

But mostly, dread.

The town of Wiskayok stretched out before them in shambles, unrecognizable. Julianna had never liked her town, it always felt too small, too suffocating, like she could never escape it. But seeing it like this? She almost missed the dull normalcy of it all.

Cars were abandoned in the middle of the streets, some with their doors left wide open, their headlights still flickering weakly, even though the batteries must have been dying. One sedan had crashed into a lamppost, its windshield shattered, the front crumpled like a piece of tin foil. Another car was overturned entirely, its wheels spinning lazily in the air, as though it had just happened moments ago.

Blood painted the sidewalks and streets in long, streaky smears, leading to places Julianna didn't want to imagine.

Guts spilled out of a body half-covered by a toppled trash can, the sight so gruesome she had to look away. The windows of every shop they passed were shattered, glass crunching beneath their feet as they moved cautiously. Some of the stores were looted, shelves emptied of their contents, while others were left eerily untouched, the broken glass framing what looked like perfect still-life scenes of another world.

They passed the diner that Julianna used to frequent with her mom when she was younger. The neon 'Open 24 Hours' sign had flickered weakly every time they went, but now it hung lopsided, dangling by a single wire. The windows were smashed, and the booths inside were streaked with blood.

She caught a glimpse of a toppled plate of pancakes on the floor, and her stomach churned.

"How did it all go to shit so fast?" Natalie muttered, her voice cutting through the silence.

Julianna glanced at her, her crowbar swinging loosely at her side. Natalie had been quiet since they left the school, her usual sharp confidence dulled by the overwhelming reality of the world outside.

"They couldn't contain it" Shauna answered grimly, stepping over a fallen 'No Parking' sign. "It spread too fast."

"Too fast for people to lose their minds like this?" Natalie raised her eyebrows, motioning to the street around them.

Taissa adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, her voice low but steady. "Fear makes people do crazy things. Survival makes it worse."

The group fell silent again, their boots scuffing against the pavement. Julianna tried to focus on their surroundings, scanning for any signs of movement. It was so quiet, unnervingly so, like the town itself was holding its breath. No birds chirped, no cars drove by, no voices carried on the wind. Just silence.

The news reports had said Wiskayok caught the outbreak late, but that hadn't spared it from the ruin.

She imagined people barricading themselves in their homes, clutching whatever weapons they could find, terrified of the screams outside. Or maybe they'd all fled, piling into cars and speeding out of town, only to meet the infection somewhere else.

"This is so fucked," Natalie said, breaking the silence again. She kicked a piece of debris-a dented soda can-out of her path.

"Language," Taissa muttered, though her tone was distracted.

It was obvious she didn't mean it, everyone just needed something to fill the silence with.

"Seriously?" Natalie scoffed. "That's what you're worried about right now?"

Taissa ignored her, instead focusing on the street ahead. The tension between the two was palpable, but Julianna had learned quickly not to intervene.

Shauna, too, seemed content to let it play out.
They walked in a loose line, Shauna and Taissa up front, Natalie and Julianna trailing behind. Julianna held her bat close, her knuckles white against the wood. She was getting better at killing the infected, but the bat still felt foreign in her hands. It wasn't a weapon. Not really.

"You okay back there?" Natalie asked, glancing over at Julianna.

Julianna nodded, though her throat felt dry. "Yeah. Just trying to keep up."

Natalie smirked faintly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "You're doing fine. Better than Jeff would've, anyway."

That earned a small, reluctant laugh from Julianna. "Yeah, he would've given up by now."

They rounded a corner, and the sight ahead made Julianna's stomach drop.

It was the pharmacy, or what was left of it. The windows were gone, the shelves ransacked. But that wasn't the worst part. Three bodies lay sprawled across the entrance, each one riddled with bullet holes. Blood pooled beneath them, dark and sticky, congealing in the midday sun.

Shauna stopped short, holding up a hand to signal the others to do the same.

"Don't get too close," she warned, her voice tight.

"We need to move," Taissa said, her eyes darting around. "We're too exposed out here."

"Agreed," Natalie said, gripping her crowbar tightly. "Let's keep going."

They pressed on, stepping carefully around the bodies. The smell was worse than anything Julianna could have imagined, a sickly-sweet stench that clung to the back of her throat.

As they walked, Julianna's mind wandered to the military truck she had imagined so many times, rolling up to the school to save them. She had pictured soldiers in clean uniforms, handing out food and water, leading them to safety. But now, looking at the state of the town, she realized how naïve that was. No one was coming.

For now, they were on their own.

And so, they walked, keeping their eyes on the road ahead, their weapons at the ready, each step taking them further from the illusion of safety they had clung to for the past six days.

The climb to the second floor had been slow and awkward, with rubble and debris making every step precarious. Julianna's palms stung from gripping the jagged edges of the collapsed staircase as she pulled herself up. Her bat, slung awkwardly over her back with a piece of fraying rope, kept knocking against her side as she moved.

Natalie went first, scaling the stacked shelves with ease, her crowbar tucked into her belt. Shauna followed, grumbling under her breath as she hoisted herself up with Taissa's help. Julianna brought up the rear, feeling a familiar wave of self-consciousness as she struggled to get a good grip on the desk to pull herself up to the smashed window above.

"Need a hand?" Taissa asked, already reaching down to grab her arm.

Julianna shook her head quickly. "It's okay, I got it." Her voice came out softer than she intended, but she didn't want anyone to think she needed help. She dug her fingers into the edge of the desk and, with a grunt, hauled herself up.

The smashed window was jagged and dangerous, but they had no other option. Natalie stood just outside, already on the roof, scanning the horizon while Shauna leaned back inside to offer Julianna her hand. This time, Julianna didn't argue. Her muscles were burning from the climb, and she let Shauna pull her through the broken glass and out onto the roof.

Once outside, the first thing Julianna noticed was the wind. It was colder up here, sharper, cutting through her thin long sleeve top like a knife. The second thing she noticed was the view.

From the roof, Wiskayok looked even worse than it had on the streets. The devastation stretched as far as the eye could see, crashed cars, burned-out buildings, the faint haze of smoke lingering in the distance. And then there were the bodies. Dozens of them, littered across the streets like discarded toys, some too mangled to even resemble human forms anymore.

"Jesus Christ," Shauna muttered, her voice low. She stood next to Natalie, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she stared out at the carnage.

Taissa stepped up beside them, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the horizon. "There," she said, pointing.

Julianna followed her gaze to a white building with a thick navy-blue stripe running along the side. It stood out starkly against the muted grays and browns of the town, and even from this distance, it looked sturdy. Intact.

"The police station," Taissa said. "That's our target."

"It looks so far away," Julianna murmured before she could stop herself.

Natalie glanced over at her, her lips quirking into a faint, humorless smile. "Yeah, well, it probably feels even further when we're running for our lives."

"Great pep talk, Nat," Shauna said dryly, though there was a faint edge of amusement in her voice.

Julianna didn't respond. Instead, she stared at the building in the distance, her mind racing. It did look far. Too far. And now that they were up here, exposed and vulnerable, the full realisation of what they were doing began to settle over her. Why was she doing this? Why had she agreed to leave the relative safety of the school to risk her life for weapons she might not even know how to use?

She clenched her fists, her fingers digging into her palms. Because they needed her, she reminded herself. Because she wanted to prove she wasn't useless.

"We need to plan our route," Taissa said, turning back to the group. "We don't want to stay out in the open for too long."

Shauna nodded, stepping closer to the edge of the roof to get a better look at the streets below. "If we stick to the alleyways and avoid the main roads, we should be able to stay out of sight."

"And if we run into infected?" Natalie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We take them out quickly and quietly," Taissa replied, her tone firm. "No messing around. We can't afford to draw attention."

Julianna swallowed hard, her grip tightening on the handle of her bat. Quickly and quietly. She wasn't sure she was capable of either, but she didn't have a choice.

"Let's move," Taissa said, already heading for the other side of the roof.

As they prepared to move, Julianna took one last look at the police station in the distance. It might as well have been on another planet for how far away it felt.

But she took a deep breath and followed the others. Because for better or worse, she was still out there.

The group moved cautiously across the rooftops, the air thick with tension and the faint stench of smoke wafting up from the streets below. Each step felt precarious, the old, weathered surfaces of the buildings groaning beneath their weight. Julianna found herself trailing slightly behind the others, her bat in one hand and her eyes scanning their surroundings as if something might lunge at them from the shadows at any moment.

Ahead of her, Shauna's steps were slightly off. Barely noticeable, but enough for Julianna to pick up on. The way Shauna hesitated before stepping over a gap between two roofs, her hand brushing against Taissa's arm for balance, then quickly pulling away as if to avoid seeming weak. The way her fingers occasionally flexed at her sides, as though she was trying to shake off something that wasn't there.

Julianna's brow furrowed, her eyes lingering on Shauna's back. She didn't seem like the type to scare easily, more like someone who stuffed her fear into some dark, locked corner of her mind and let it fester until it became anger. But this? This was different.

As they moved to the next rooftop, the distance between Shauna and Taissa widened slightly, leaving a small gap in the line. Julianna quickened her pace, falling in step next to Shauna. She glanced at her, hesitant, then spoke just above a whisper.

"Hey," she said softly, her voice low enough that the others couldn't hear. "Are you... okay?"

Shauna stiffened at first, as if startled that Julianna had noticed. She quickly straightened her posture, her steps becoming more deliberate. "I'm fine," she replied curtly, her tone clipped but not unkind.

Julianna hesitated, unsure if she should press further. She wasn't great at this—talking to people, figuring out when to push and when to back off. But something about Shauna's reaction didn't sit right with her.

"I just—I don't know," Julianna said quietly, keeping her gaze forward to avoid making Shauna feel cornered. "You don't have to tell me, but if something's bothering you, I get it. This whole thing is... it's a lot."

Shauna didn't respond at first. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of their footsteps and the faint murmurs of Taissa and Natalie up ahead.

Finally, Shauna let out a soft sigh, her voice barely audible over the wind. "It's stupid," she muttered.

Julianna glanced at her, surprised she'd even said anything. "I don't think it's stupid," she offered gently.

Shauna's lips pressed into a thin line, her gaze fixed on the edge of the roof ahead of them. "I'm not... scared of heights or anything," she said, her tone defensive. "It's just— I don't know. Being up here, looking down... it feels like the ground could disappear at any second, you know? Like one wrong step, and that's it."

Julianna nodded slowly, her own gaze drifting down to the street below. From this height, the town looked even more broken, even more lifeless. The cars, the bodies, the blood, it all felt like it belonged to a piece of fiction.

"I get that," Julianna said after a moment. "But it's not going to disappear. We're careful, and we stick together. We're okay."

Shauna gave her a sideways glance, something unreadable flickering in her expression. "You're weirdly calm about this," she said, her voice almost teasing.

Julianna shrugged, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Heights don't bother me. Honestly, they're kind of comforting."

Shauna raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. "Comforting?"

"Yeah," Julianna said, her voice quieter now. "I don't know. There's something about being up high., it makes everything feel smaller. Less—overwhelming, I guess."

Shauna let out a soft laugh, more exhale than sound. "You're definitely weird," she said, but there was no malice in her tone.

Julianna smiled faintly, deciding to take it as a compliment.

Up ahead, Taissa turned back toward them, her voice cutting through the quiet. "You two good back there?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Shauna called back, her tone brisk as she picked up her pace to close the gap.

Julianna followed, her bat swinging slightly at her side. She didn't say anything else, but as they continued across the rooftops, she couldn't help but notice the way Shauna's steps seemed just a little steadier now.