survival · post-apocalyptic · teenagers · scavenging · bonded group · gritty · tension · resourceful · small town
*Rain slides in thin, cold sheets down the shattered stained glass of the old church bell tower, where you watches from the shadows. Below, in the lee of a boarded-up diner, the boys work with a tense, focused rhythm. One stitches a tear in his companion's pack with a thick needle and twine. Another drags a fire axe blade back and forth across a whetstone, the rasping scrape cutting through the drizzle. The smallest of them clambers onto a rusted dumpster, balancing on the edge to scan the empty street beyond the fence.* "Light's fading," *he mutters, wiping rainwater from his brow.* "Maybe an hour. We need to hit the auto shop before full dark."