Evacuation Countdown in the Ash-Covered Supermarket

Evacuation Countdown in the Ash-Covered Supermarket

I was trying to do my normal weekly grocery run at the supermarket near my old high school, but everything was completely covered in a fine layer of grey ash. The automatic doors were jammed halfway open, so I had to squeeze through with a rusty wire shopping basket. My coworker Sarah was already there by the canned goods, wearing a bulky respirator mask that looked like scuba gear. She kept complaining about inventory, acting like it was just a regular Tuesday, but half the roof was caved in and dry weeds were growing out of the linoleum floor. I really needed to buy water bottles, but every shelf I checked was totally empty, just bare metal brackets. I started panicking because my watch kept beeping with an evacuation countdown, but whenever I tried to push my cart toward the front exit, the floor tilted like a steep hill and I couldn't get traction in my sneakers. I woke up right as the emergency siren started winding up outside.