Bombs were dropped. Buildings shook. Children were left abandoned on the bloody and crumbled streets of Seattle. Wails echoed throughout every corner. Sirens hollered and flashed. I was constantly rubbing the dust forming in my eyes and trying my best not to choke on the intoxicating smoke polluting the air. The fact that the sun was almost completely blocked did nothing to help, as I clambered over bodies in search of a place to stay. I did not know the time, but I knew it was getting close to sunset soon, and I needed somewhere to sleep for the night.
Cursing under my breath, I forced myself to not be disgusted by the stench being given off by the corpses lying around my feet. I was alone in all of this. No allies, no companions, no family members. Had it just been a coincidence that the missile came into contact with this country on my birthday? Today had been the day I had been waiting for, for several years. A glorious, beautiful 18. But I no longer felt the excitement of it. Not when there was hell all around me in all directions.
A hand suddenly grabbed onto my leg, causing me to topple forwards onto the ground. I turned around to stare into the face of a half-burnt woman and unknowingly let out a horrified shriek. Not caring that she was still alive, I managed to use my free leg to knee her in the nose and scrambled away. Survival of the fittest had always been my motto in times like these.
Thankfully, no other strangers tried to attack me as I continued down the road in search of a safe place to set up camp. Buildings and homes had all been crushed and destroyed, to my utter dismay, so I was forced to keep on walking for what must’ve been ages before I came upon a tiny, empty shed. I quickly glanced around at my surroundings before entering what I now deemed heaven. There wasn’t any food or a bed inside, but it was better than having to be outside in the cold. I noticed a lock on the work shed behind me and used it to shut the door, worried that someone would try and kill me in my sleep. I’d seen enough movies and books to know that chances of those were quite high.
After clearing away the junk on the ground, I took out my almost dead flashlight and made myself comfortable on the ground. Compared to the other people I had seen wandering around like zombies, I was probably one of the lucky survivors. With a sigh, I was about to close my eyes and go to sleep when I heard a voice from behind me. “Hey, old lady. Move it, will you?”
Nearly jumping out of my skin, I aimed the flashlight at the owner of the mysterious voice, who recoiled back in surprise due to the bright glare. I was almost shocked to see that it was only a boy, still probably in his 6th grade of primary school or something. He probably meant me no harm, but I still had the need to grab ahold of the knife in my backpack, just for good measure. “Who are you?” Was my reply as I tried to get a good look at him and see if he was wielding any weapons.
“What? Who are you?” He demanded, glaring at me with sleepy eyes. I pushed away the temptation to punch him and instead responded with, “I’m Reina. I thought this shed was empty so I came in here to stay the night. Your turn now.” He said nothing for a while until he finally decided that I wasn’t going to do anything to him. Best that he didn’t know I had a knife. “The name’s V.”
“V? Really?” I doubted that was his real one, seeing as how ridiculous it sounded. What sort of person would name their own child ‘V’ anyway? Well, certainly not mine’s, that was. “Well, duh! As if I would tell a stranger my real name!” V sniggered rudely, not seeming to care or even notice that I was older than him by at least 6 or 7 years. Once again, I resisted the desire to punch him and let out a shaky laugh. I was about to tell him off for acting that way towards an older person, but he was already conked out, snoring loudly and everything. That meant I would have to do it tomorrow then. Sighing in irritation, I leant back and closed my eyes. It wasn’t long before I was also in dreamland, all thoughts about the destruction outside long gone from my tired mind.
(( 791 words. I hope I'm not too late... ))