The Bloodshed of Winter

Eh, I liked the bread a lot, so it was worth it

They put everybody into a deep sleep, we were supposed to wake up the next day, but for now, I was dead asleep. I dreamed I was with my sister, we were in the garden of my old house, my mom was having a conversation with my dad, we were five, Grecia had a bouquet of flowers in her lap, she said she was going to give them to our mother. "Do you think mommy will like these?" She had asked. "Of course she will," I said, it wasn't a lie, our mother had loved flowers, they were her favorite scent and sight. "You want to add a bow?" She asked. "Sure, I'll get the ribbon," I said. I got the ribbon, a pink one, our mother's favorite, and put it around the stems. "Let's give it to her." Grecia smiled. We went to our mother and father's spot. "Hi, mommy!" I had said. "We made this for you!" Grecia giggled. Our mother took the flowers and smiled. "Thank you girls, they're beautiful!" She had said. Our father smiled "Do you girls want to go out to get ice-cream?". We squealed and hopped into the car. The dream went forward, we were turning six, it was our birthday, we were opening presents, I got a toy horse, Grecia got a toy lobster, her favorite animal, we spent the rest of the day playing with them, our dad and mom came out with a beautiful birthday cake, it had flowers going up its sides, I could tell my mother had made it, every cake on the bottom or side would have her logo, the two golden rings, and her diamond earrings, it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. The dream went forward, my mom leaving for the store, getting the call about her death, her funeral, then my dad, giving me her rings and my sister her earings, then him tuning into an abusing, drunk, crazy person, then the separation, and then meeting Adryan at school, us becoming friends, going in the woods.

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulders, it was Sky. "It's about time you woke up." She huffed. "Sky?" I asked. "That seems to be my name." She grumbled, "The thing that made us sleep kept you asleep longer than everybody else." I nodded. "How'd you find me?". "The second I woke up, I went to look for someone, it just so happens I found you." She explained. "Oh," I said. Sky wore her hair in a braid, she had a grey jacket with a fur-lined coat with matching boots, hat, and gloves. "What's your weapon?" I asked her.

"Throwing knives." She had a wild gleam in her eyes. "Oh." I looked at her hand, she held a knife with blood on the rims of it. "Did you already kill someone?" I asked. "Yeah, three, you should've seen them, they were screaming 'No, no, don't kill me.'" She grinned. "Check your weapon, it appears to be very nice." She said. I looked next to me, a small silver gun with a couple of packs of extra bullets. "Oh, cool!" I smiled, I had always wanted to hunt with a gun, they were just illegal in region two. Sky smirked "Don't waste all the bullets." Sky might've been crazy about boys, but she definitely acted differently around girls, she seemed to be more confident, more herself. "Did you see anyone from two?" I asked. "You know, besides me?"

"Nah, after you woke I planned on going to find other people, just needed to make sure you didn't die." She said, "But now it's too late to go, so it looks like we'll be camping out here, do you know how to build a fire?"

"Yeah." I grabbed some sticks, two rocks and built my fire. "Good, I got a rabbit earlier, we cook it." She said.

We ate the rabbit in silence, then Sky spoke, "You're not the only one who had an abusive parent." She muttered. "What? You have an abusive dad?" I asked. "Mother, it started the same way it started with your dad, we were at home, mom got a call, my dad was dead, I was only five, I didn't know what to do, my dad was my everything, the person said, 'Hello, is this Razi Fadlock? I hate to inform you, your husband has passed away, he was in a car crash.' We were devastated, I would spend most of the day in my room, one day my mom brought me downstairs, she sat me down on the couch, handed me a pin, it was a silver owl, my dad's favorite animal," She pointed to the owl pin on her jacket "After that, I would barely see her, one day she came out, she looked awful, pale, skinny, her eyes were sunken, she walked over to me, grabbed me by the hair, dragged me to my room, and yelled at me, then she took an empty bottle, smashed it over my head, it left this," She pointed to a scar from her right cheek down to her neck.

"Oh, Sky, I had no idea," I muttered. She scowled "Of course you didn't." "Go sleep Sky, I'll watch out for people," I said. She didn't object, the second she put her head down she was asleep. I thought about my sister, Grecia was out there somewhere, every morning we were supposed to hear the names of the fallen warriors, I hoped I could see her again, maybe we could even win together. But what about Ace and Lazari? Taylor? Even Adney, Runa, and Jaxson? I hope that they are safe.

After a little while, Sky woke up "Adelaide? You were supposed to wake me up." She said. "Yeah, but I didn't want to," I muttered. "Fine, I'm gonna go find some other people, are you going to come?" She asked. "Sure, why not?" She took my hand and pulled me into a possible death zone.