It used to be an office building.

Inside, the lobby was deserted. There was not much of a surprise in the fact. This did not stop her from walking inside, carefully closing the door behind her, making sure it didn’t make any noise.

She wasn’t sure if the building was empty.

A sheaf of yellowed papers was strewn around the floor; some of the sheets were splattered with dark brown. Others were torn.

The small couches that used to be somewhere by the left wall were now disemboweled and shredded mercilessly, their filling littering the area. The glass dome enclosing the lobby desk was shattered, its jagged edges protruding like a mouthful of twisted teeth.

She looked over the desk, and did not flinch when she saw what she supposed used to be the secretary scattered over the parquet. Offering the woman a silent prayer in her mind, she turned and walked in the direction several signs indicated as “cafeteria.”

She didn’t plan to stay long.

She wanted to be out of Washington DC before nightfall.