3.3
They'd entered a clothing store, which appeared to be on the nicer side–at least, as nice as clothes could get in an isolated, post-apocalyptic city.
There were quite a few customers, and the ambience in the shop was loud enough for Echo to feel comfortable dragging Jelani into a corner and answering his question.
"Based on your description of this 'Blake' guy, he'll go to Portland at the ideal time, when rogues are the least active."
"And when would that be?" Jelani asked in a low whisper.
"Based on what I know," she replied, "rogues are most active by far during twilight, and slightly more active at night than during the day. Of course, since we're talking about Portland, it'll be dangerous no matter what time it is."
She glanced over her shoulder, checking to see if any of the shoppers were in earshot. "But most importantly, they're more active when the moon's fuller."
"So are you saying we should go during a new moon?" Jelani asked. "But wasn't the moon pretty big last night? We'll have to wait for a while."
"That's not what I'm saying," she quickly replied. "If you were a rogue, when would you want to laze around and do nothing else?"
"Ohhh." Jelani nodded, realizing what she was suggesting. "It's right after they're most active, isn't it?"
"Yeah. The moon phase only affects how active they are at night and at twilight, so the day after the full moon, right after twilight passes, is when it'll be safest to go."
"Do you know when the full moon is?" Jelani asked.
"We'll need to figure it out for certain while we're here, but, from what the moon looked like last night, it should be about a week from now."
"Alright. I'll look forward to it," Jelani said.
But then he added, "There's one thing I'm wondering about, though. Is it really that dangerous? Apart from a few freaks," he said, thinking of the skeleton and the wolves, "every rogue I've seen has been super weak. Even if I had to fight a hundred right now, I think I would win."
"Then you can be my prince and show me the way to the city center like a real gentleman," she said sarcastically.
Then, she narrowed her eyes. "Forget everything you thought you knew, cause it's not even comparable out there. When we get to Portland, you're gonna see nightmares in real life."
"Scary," he replied, amused to see her talking like that.
"It is."
Jelani looked around at the racks of clothes, remembering their current role as robbers. "You wanna wait until night and then break in somewhere?"
"That'd be safest, but what'll we do until then?" It was still early in the afternoon, and Echo didn't want to waste her precious time in the city.
"It'd only be a few hours," Jelani countered. "We can just chill."
"I'm already hungry," Echo argued back. "I don't think I can resist all these food places much longer. Imagine the luxury we'd be in if we had money."
"So you wanna break in somewhere right now?"
"Yeah," Echo decided. "Let's get a quick plan going."
Echo's improvised plan was as follows: she would light the designated building on fire (she refused to explain how she would actually do this), and then, when everyone else was fleeing the area, Jelani would sneak in and take the money.
"It'll be perfect," she said, proud of her quick thinking. "Everyone'll be so scared of the fire that they won't notice a thing."
"Yeah, but there's a reason they're scared of fire. You think I'm immune to it?" Jelani replied, not particularly liking the idea of sprinting into a cramped, burning room.
"You'll be fine," Echo assured him. "You just have to time it right. Make sure you don't go too early, cause it'll only be a small fire at that point."
"Alright, let's just do it," he muttered unenthusiastically. "What kind of store should we go for?"
Echo paused, thinking deeply.
"...Yo."
"What?"
"This store is perfect." She pointed at the ceiling. "The one we're in right now."
Jelani once again set his eyes on the racks full of clothing, but this time, each shirt and each pair of pants seemed to be scrutinizing him with sinister eyes. The store, their home, was about to get obliterated.
Nobody noticed Jelani as he crept around to the back of the store and, ignoring the "Employees Only" sign, climbed a flight of stairs to the second level, which, turning out to be additional storage, was completely devoid of people.
He walked across the dark room full of boxes and clothing racks to the lone, dusty window on the other side. Leaning against its cool wooden frame, he gazed down at the swarms of people traversing the sidewalks below.
He'd only lived in Hoodsdale for two years, and he hadn't made much of his time there, but it was still his home. He'd grown to feel some affinity towards the messy shopping district and its people, who stubbornly trudged around, believing that whatever they were doing was far more important than it really was.
He watched as a few of those very same citizens cried out in panic, yelling as they pointed at the storefront beneath him.
Within seconds, everyone in earshot was aware of what was happening and a frenzy of screaming civilians flooded out of the building and into the street.
Jelani could smell the smoke.
He calmly crossed the storage room before descending the first few steps of the staircase, crouching down and peering into the store to see what was happening.
A murky cloud hit him like a brick wall, forcing choked gasps out of his throat as he looked down in shock at the retail store. What was once peaceful, neatly folded rows of clothing had become a flaming room of hell.
The fire's long tongues licked from ceiling to floor, and Jelani had to squint not only from the smoke but also from the blinding red heat of the flames.
He needed oxygen, but his throat reflexively rejected the polluted air.
He remembered that he needed to go forward–to dive into the flames and take the cash register–but every ounce of his animal instinct recoiled from the monstrous, glowing burn.
The clock was ticking. His cells needed satiation. He couldn't hold his breath forever.
His gaze narrowed, and he raised his elbow to shield his vulnerable eyes.
Leaping over the railing, he dropped some eight feet to the floor in the midst of a massive fire. But he sprung off the ground and out of those flames so quickly that it was as if they had never touched him.
Flying through the simmering air of the shop, his squinted eyes swiveled left and right, frantically trying to recall where the register had been.
In a crash landing, he collided head-first with a full rack of flaming shirts. Their burning fabrics buckled as his body smashed into them, and he could do nothing to prevent the flames from engulfing his own shirt as well.
Now no more than a burning silhouette himself, Jelani lunged to the store's back wall and closed his hand around the heavy metal register.
The pain of fire burned deeply into his skin, but his mind was clear as he accelerated forward, throwing his full weight against the wall.
The brick was two layers thick, but his flaming body smashed cleanly through it and into the dark alley beyond. Fragmented bricks flew everywhere, colliding in midair with the thousands of metal coins that leapt out of the register, which had been torn in two from the impact.
Jelani tumbled onto the hard dirt ground, rolling over desperately as he fought to extinguish the flames that were eating away at his flesh.
But there were too many, and they burned too brightly. His efforts were futile–his body was destined to burn.