26) Treasure and Death.

We sit for a moment, getting to grips with our emotions, and calming down.

'Do you think there are more of them?' I ask.

Judy Shrugs. 'Probably. Would explain why no one seems to come here.'

'Well, I suggest we grab what we can from here, and then get back. We get as much as we can carry, and hopefully enough to begin building a life for us both back at that camp.' I say.

Judy gives me an odd look. 'Us?' She says, enquiring.

I nod, then realize it may not be something a woman would want to hear, given what she has been through... at the hands of other men.

Before I can speak she leans over quickly and hugs me. It feels nice, to be connected to someone else, someone I feel I can trust. She looks up at me, smiling eyes, and I know she feels the same. I raise my hand and push away a scruffy lock of her hair from her face.

'Come on, as nice as this is, it won't do to get mashed by another of those great brutes.' I say, reluctantly moving gently away. She looks hurt, but knows I am right.

We both stand, but she still has a hold of my hand, as if letting go might mean I disappear. Hopefully I won't.

Now the town seems peaceful, but I know it won't last. I look over the edge of the chasm, and cannot see the bottom. It is dark, with white mist coming out from it. Whatever hit there made a real mess of the immediate surroundings, but otherwise many buildings seem intact. I walk to my right, and I can see what appears to be a main street, with small, medium and large buildings going a long way down, with side streets off.

'I reckon we split up, go first building we come to, and go in and methodically go through every nook and cranny, getting what might seem useful and drop it out into the street in a pile. Then find a way to bring it back.' I say.

Judy looks at me, she is clearly unnerved by the idea. 'There are a lot of hidden places in there, and anything could be lurking waiting for us, easy prey. I doubt I could survive.'

She squeezes my hand tighter. She looks as if she has survived more than one scrape, scars and knocks to show for it. I feel sure she could just as well as I could. No doubt she is worried I might go, and she wouldn't see me again.

'OK, we'll do it together. You can hold the axe, and if anything jumps out on us you hit it and I'll run away.'

Judy laughs. We don't need to say any more, we just go ahead and try to get it done. The first building is dark red, very tall, but all of its windows are blown out. Obviously they would be, if there was another great war, it's amazing that anything survived.

I push hard on the wooden door to the building. It is heavy, and takes some effort to move. As the door finally opens, a cloud of dust sweeps out, and it stinks. Clearly it hasn't been opened in a very long time. It appears dark, and stairs lead up to other floors. The walls have little of what was green paint, and plaster is flaking off besides.
I can hear scratching sounds, Judy must hear it too because she wields the axe, gripping it tightly and moving around ready to swing

Neither of us feel good about this, but what choice do we have?

First floor, weak half broken door, leads into what appears was an apartment. There is furniture here, if I could carry it we could use it in our shacks; a sofa, two chairs, a small table, a cabinet, all in good enough condition. Hopefully we can find some kind of cart or something to move it all.

Everything is covered in thick dust, no prints, as if it were left like it after some great attack, everyone fled, and nothing has changed since. So sad, and yet so beautiful. Like some kind of time memorial to Man.

It is a small apartment, a connected living area, to open plan kitchen. Two closed doors lead off. The kitchen has utensils, knives, forks, cups, metal plates. I begin to grab at them all, stack them on the sofa.

Judy continues to look all around, seems more scared than I am, but I won't admit it to her.

I open wall cupboard doors, and there are wasted packets of food, no longer rancid, just dried to dust. there is a large basket in one, good enough to carry things for now. I open one of the doors, it is a wall cupboard, big enough to walk in. Wonderful! I find a shovel, brushes.. tools! A saw, a hammer, nails, rope, all sorts. I just throw all of the things into the basket, quicker than I should: making noise.

Finally, we can't take the tension any longer, we need to take the stuff and go, while we still can. Once last thing, the other door. I look at Judy, and can see the concern on her face.

'Take what we have, we can come back another time.' She says quietly.

'We need something more to trade, so we can get better food, and more water.' I reply. It is the sensible thing to do, but I share the nagging doubt she expresses.

No time to waste, we don't want to be here after dark. I grab at the door handle, it comes away in my hand, but the door swings open. Light filtering through from a ragged curtain, enough to see it is a bedroom.

I step through, my senses tingling all the time. A double bed sits against a wall, covers and sagging pillows. I grab at them, thinking they can keep us warm, before Judy can say no, I pull back, exposing two corpses, long since rotted, leaving only what remains of their skeleton. I feel sick, not from what I see but what has gone on here.

I look through drawers, find an old watch, not working but maybe good for trade. There are clothes, in a half open suitcase, possibly my size, and a dress. I pick it up, hold it for Judy to see, I smile at her, picturing her in it.

She returns a look of complete disdain. 'No dresses, I won't ever wear a dress again for a man to enjoy.' She says. sounding dull, angry. the look on her face is fearsome.

I just nod and throw it aside.

Once last cupboard, then we go. I open it, and stand back in shock at what I see. How could such a peaceful place hold such things?

The entire cupboard is lined with guns, rifles, automatic, hunting, handguns, ammunition in bags. It is like Alladin's cave, chock full of goodness.

It is enough to lift both our spirits. Judy doesn't hesitate, grabbing a black automatic rifle. She picks through ammunition, draws a clip and slides it in, cocking it easily, before pointing it ahead of herself.

'I guess you're ready for action.' I say cheerfully. She smiles back broadly, handing me the gun.

'I'll stick with a couple of handguns. We'll take as much as we can carry.' Without another word she leans in, grabs a black bag and piles stuff in. 'What we can't carry, we'll come back for.' She says, sounding more and more in control.

I smile. 'I like your style!' I say. Judy gives a mischievous look back. I follow her lead and fill what we can. Together we go back out, I grab the basket and anything I can carry, laden with it, and we head back.

As we step outside, back into the fading sun, we look down the main street, a veritable trove of treasure waiting for us to plunder.

I turn back, ready to head home, only to be confronted by two more of the great brutes, standing, staring at us with lascivious red eyes.

'Humaaaaan, time for dinner, and you're it!' One screams...