Don't Search The Apartment

"I knew that it was too risky to stay in the apartment any longer, part of the the ceiling that had remained in place until now looked about to fall.

I limped to the door, each step almost intolerably painful. Luckily the door was pretty much clear of obstacles and I opened it without difficulty.

The corridor looked at least as bad as my mothers apartment, almost all of the roof from the stairs at one end to the door to the roof the other end, was littering the floor.

I called out again but heard no reply.

I was about to head for the stairs when I thought of the woman that had scratched me.

I only then noticed that her body wasn't in front of the door and their was no fallen roofing in front of the door.

Their was no sign of her anywhere.

I still don't know why, but I had a need to see what had happened.

I limped over to the door to the roof slowly, making sure I wouldn't trip over any rubble, opened it and went up the three short steps to the roof.

It was still difficult to see anything because the door was in the center of the roof, so I made my way over to the parapet.

It was strange being able to see into some of the apartments where the roof had collapsed, I noted that all the rooms were empty.

Making sure that I didn't fall through the void and break my other leg, or indeed my neck, I headed for the north-east corner of the roof, the only area that appeared totally devoid of destruction.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I was expecting something... an expectation that didn't come through.

The streets were empty, and I'm not talking 4am. sunday morning empty either.

The city looked abandoned.

Only a few cars remained in the streets, and most looked as if they had been set alight days earlier. Their was nobody.

Just then, in an alley on the opposite side of empty street, was a light.

It appeared to be a narrow-beam torch, illuminating only a few feet of the dark alley at a time.

I called out but didn't think my voice would carry that far. The light was gone though.

Maybe someone did hear me.

I began to consider if I should go down to try and find the person who had been in the alley.

The only alternative was that I stay on the roof and keep watching for someone, but by the look of the streets the chances of anyone else appearing were slim.