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.⋆｡⋆🌧️˚｡⋆｡˚☣˚｡⋆. ◟ ✦ Loneliness makes us all a little crazy. ❞
SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD KAI MATHIESON sighed as she drew another tick mark next to the five already scrawled into the wall before making her way to the basement.
It's been six years since the rain first fell. Six years since Kai was left utterly alone.
The curly-headed girl's heart dropped as she looked at the shelves in the storm shelter. As expected, there were only a few days' worth of food, including the bags of nuts and berries she got that morning. Maybe she could make it stretch, but it was only a matter of time.
Her childhood home used to feel filled with love and joy, but now it was suffocating. It held many restless nights and painful memories of the one day her mind couldn't escape. She tried leaving before, but before she could get far, it felt like she was having a panic attack and would rush back. Now, however, she didn't have a choice.
The past week or so, Kai wondered if it would be better to die from starvation or the rain. Or better yet, being shot by one of the Strangers?
The teen survivor didn't know what the future held for her or if she would last long enough to see it. All she did know was that it was time to face her fears.
Kai gathered her things, stuffing them into one of her mother's backpacks as they were much larger than the ones she had in elementary school. As she zipped it up, she looked somberly at her childhood bedroom. Since Kai started sleeping in her brother's room, nothing had changed over the years. Sometimes, she felt like she could feel their warm embrace as she tried to force herself to sleep.
While shoving the remaining food from the storm shelter, she suddenly heard bangs on the front door, and the home alarm system went off. She glanced at the home surveillance camera and saw a group of men at the front of the house. From one viewpoint on the security cameras, she saw one man with a sleeveless shirt revealing a snake tattoo.
The teen's eyes widened in fear as she tried to think of how they found her. She's been extra careful when I went out for food the past week. However, she was new to scavenging. Then she swallowed as she remembered forgetting to cover her tracks that morning.
Kai grabbed her bag and hurried out of the room, slowly peeking around the hallways to see if the bastards entered the house yet. Luckily, they hadn't, and she ran to the back door, pausing to ensure it wasn't raining.
She glanced back at her childhood home for the last time, hiding, when she saw the armed men storm inside. The teen took off into the forest behind the house. Glimpsing behind her, she saw some armed men following her as she quickly diverted from the original path. Her breath shook as she pressed on into the unknown.
