1Gabriel slowly crept out of his hiding place and looked down the long alleyway. His stomach was growling again and he needed to find food. Usually at this time of night the streets were deserted and he would be able to find something to eat without people staring at him. However, as he brushed his long blond bangs out of his eyes, he noticed that was not the case. People were running all over the place as if they were in a great hurry. He'd never seen anything like it before. Many of the stores lining the streets had windows broken out and people were taking whatever they wanted. His mom had a word for people who did things like that, but he couldn't remember what it was. He wasn't entirely certain, but he was pretty sure it was breaking some sort of rule.
He frowned slowly as he felt his stomach growl once more and turned starting down alleyway heading for the other entrance. He didn't want to be in the middle of whatever was going on at the stores. The streets on the side of the alley were essentially deserted. Most of the people had gravitated towards the chaos in the shopping center. Gabriel had almost wished one of the shops with the broken windows had contained food, and a warm place to sit. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten real food, and the weather had started to turn cold. His crawl space wouldn't keep him warm for long.
He sighed trying to clear his mind, continuing on his quest for food. He knew there had to be something he could eat laying around somewhere. He walked for what seemed forever, but really couldn't have been more than a few blocks before he stopped in his tracks. In front of him was a small building with all the windows lit up and he swore he heard music. The outside door was painted green with a small wooden sign with the name "O'Donoghue's" written in a fancy writing that Gabriel had never seen before. He didn't know why, but the sight of the building and the sound of music made him smile. Surely a place that looked so inviting wouldn't mind if he stepped inside just to warm up, he thought to himself and opened the door slowly, stepping inside.
Malia Taylor looked up from the bar as she heard the bell ring over the door. It was something her boss had insisted on putting in, and it drove her absolutely mad. However, tonight she appreciated the notice that someone was coming into the pub. With all the madness going on a few blocks over, she wanted to be on the lookout. So far, O'Donoghue's had managed to avoid the wreckage. People were handling the news they had received a few days ago in all sorts of different manners, and the regulars at the pub had decided to spend these precious moments together celebrating the lives they had. Malia couldn't blame them. She had decided to go on with her life as usual and enjoy it. There was nothing she could do to change things, no point worrying about what's coming.
She was torn from her inner musings when she was the little boy standing in the doorway. The boy hadn't seen a wash cloth in ages. He didn't look more than eight years old and was dirty from head to toe. He was fidgeting quietly, playing with a loose string on her shirt looking around the room as customers looked at him. Malia tried to put on her best smile to calm the boys fears.
"Can I help you young man?" She asked him waving him forward.
"I…I was ..wondering if perhaps I could sit in here and get warm…" He said looking around.
"Sure thing dear, are you hungry?" Malia felt her heart break as he looked up at her quietly and nodded quickly. "Alright, have a seat. I'll get you something from the back."
Gabriel sat down on the barstool slowly looking around the room. There was someone sitting in the corner playing a string instrument responsible for the music he had heard. It sounded really nice, but most of the people weren't listening to it. They were looking up at the television watching some news anchor talk. His mom had liked to watch the news when he was younger, but he never much cared for it. They talked too much. Gabriel turned back to the counter tuning out the conversation, though he though he heard the words "This is it, the end," a few times from people in the room.
Gabriel forgot what they were talking about when he saw the tray the lady was bringing in from the back. There was a large cheeseburger and fries in basket, and beside it, a root beer float. He felt his mouth watering at the sight. He'd hadn't seen anything that looked so good in a long time. The lady smiled at him and sat it down.
"Eat up boy," she said with a wink. "How are you gonna grow up if you just stare at your food."
Gabriel giggled happily picking up his cheeseburger beginning to eat. It didn't take him long to finish off his burger, and he sighed happily feeling his hunger pangs go away as he picked up his root beer float. A customer walked up and got the remote from Malia turning up the television. Gabriel turned slowly looking at it as the news anchor came back on the screen.
"I repeat, the missiles have been disarmed. This crisis has been averted." The man was saying, and to Gabriel it seemed as if there were tears on his cheeks.
Gabriel looked around the room slowly sipping from the straw in his root beer float. Many of the customers looked the same way. They were crying but looked happy. Gabriel didn't know what he missed, but it certainly seemed important.