Chapter Eight: Hugo:

Location: Nice, France

Day Thirty-Nine

Everyone is trying to run to the ocean. How can we be even sure that it’s still there? Most of everyone that I have talked to is determined to find out. At this point, I don’t really see the point anymore. We have all gotten used to the sand at this point. We have no use for technology anymore. I am amazed that the buildings are still standing in all of this sand. Most of us have given up on looking for survivors. If they are alive, they will find other people. We could be all walking on graves right now.

Some people have joined up into camps. Others are solo. I go back and forth depending on the situation. I still couldn’t have predicted that Y2K would turn out like this. They got the technology part right. Where did all of this sand come from? I heard that the scientists are trying to study it. Heh, good luck with that. They won’t have an answer for this one.

It didn’t look like normal sand. It killed anything that was electronic. The plants were buried underneath it, but it didn’t kill all of the trees. Plus, the temperature didn’t really change. It’s still cold around here. That’s the only way that I know it’s still winter. Oh yeah, that’s another thing. Instead of snow, we have sand and it still feels like it’s freezing. I can’t imagine how it’s going to be when it gets hot.

Today, I was alone. I shoved my hands into my pockets as I walked down the sand-covered streets. I missed the sound of music and laughing. Nothing felt like reality anymore. I keep expecting to wake up from this endless nightmare. Hell, I even miss my friend’s horrible violin playing.

I haven’t decided if I wanted to go to the ocean yet or not. It just feels pointless to me. I’m amazed that I made it all the way from Paris to Nice on foot alone. I still don’t have a plan of what to do next. What would be the point anywhere? I would just end up back where I started. I did have a couple people I was travelling with a couple of days ago, but we got separated. I don’t even know what happened to them. There’s no way to contact them either. Do I really care at this point? Not really.

Nobody really cares about money anymore either. Franks are used as fuel for the fire. Because what else can you use money for these days? The supermarkets are empty. Everyone pretty much just raided the storms for everything that they could carry. The police didn’t even bother to try and stop them. What was the point, anyway? The world going to crap takes more priority over someone stealing stuff. Even I took a couple of things on the first day everyone went into panic. I guess we use the loot for trading, but really you’ll end up getting the same shit back again. So what’s the point?

I stopped in my tracks in front of that a dress store. The big glass window was broken and the mannequins stood naked as if waiting to be taken away. One of them still had their body intact while the other one was just a pair of legs. For some reason, I understand how they felt. I shook my head at the whole mannequin’s chipped face.

And they are trying to go to the ocean… I don’t see the point myself, but what’s the point of loitering around this empty city either?

I froze when I heard someone stepping on something like metal. When I turned my head, I realized that I wasn’t alone anymore.