YOU ENTER THE MARKET

You park near the entrance and grab your utility knife from the glove compartment. A few quick scrapes clear enough molten rubber from the windshield to see properly, though you’ll definitely need that new wiper blade. Now it’s time to get some information and supplies.

The store’s automatic doors whoosh open as you approach—at least the power’s still on. You step inside, and immediately the wrongness hits you. The fluorescent lights hum normally overhead, but the aisles look like a tornado went through them. Shelves knocked over, products scattered across the floor, shopping carts abandoned mid-aisle with groceries still in them.

“Hello?” you call out. Your voice echoes in the empty space. “Anyone here?”

Nothing.

You walk deeper into the store, stepping carefully around spilled cereal and broken glass. That’s when your foot crinkles on something—a piece of paper. You pick it up.

OFFICIAL EVACUATION NOTICE – SALALI COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

MANDATORY EVACUATION: 8:00 AM – ASSEMBLY POINT: BROOKFIELD MARKET

ALL RESIDENTS MUST REPORT BY 8:00 AM FOR TRANSPORT TO DESIGNATED SAFE ZONES

You check your watch: 8:17 PM.

Twelve hours. You missed it by twelve whole hours.

The abandoned cars in the parking lot suddenly make sense—people left them here when the buses came. And you’re standing alone in a picked-over grocery store and no idea where the “designated safe zones” even are.

“I guess I should have actually listened to those news reports,” you mutter to yourself.

You start moving quickly through the aisles, mentally cataloging what you need: water, non-perishable food, that windshield wiper, maybe some basic tools…