Clothes, Kenleigh needed clothes. One might think that was a stupid need when the human race was close to extinction, but it wasnât, not for Kenleigh. All of her clothing was ripped or in tatters, covered in dirt. Hanging them out in the rain didnât do much to help, either.
A year ago, everyone she loved was killed by a cruel, cruel disease. The dead filled the roads like a wicked reminder, decaying bones and rancid smells. At first, the smell of the dead almost caused Kenleigh herself to kill over, but after a year of decaying, the smell seemed to almost disappear. Almost.
Looking over to her right, the girl saw a rather creepy looking china doll. Its face was cracked in many places; a hole was in its left eye. A skeletal hand curled around the doll, gripping it for dear life, or maybe death.
Kenleigh touched the holster that held her pistol, long out of ammo, as she trudged on. One bullet sat in the chamber. She was too afraid to waste her last bullet. While she never used the gun, the fact she had one more chance at using it gave her a small sense of protection. Of course, she wasnât vulnerable. Kenleigh had long since resorted to her series of knives that sat in her pockets and rested in her rucksack.
Her stomach growled, and she frowned. Food now consisted of canned food and occasionally the hunted animal. Kenleigh mostly ate canned goods, too afraid that animals might be sick. Only, animals couldnât contract the dark virus, they couldnât get sick. She never ate fish, and she never drank water other than the rain.
She didnât know why she carried on.
But in the back of her mind, she did know. She needed to find others. She needed the reality that she wasnât alone in this city, in this world.
Kenleigh had always found it cruelly ironic how, in most entertainment, the virus was in New York City. Nobody had thought it would begin in a third world country, being brought back by a doctor returning home.
London, England was where the virus really took off. Being an air born virus, it could kill one within a matter of days. Symptoms were the worst, at least which is what Kenleigh had heard. She really didnât want to think of that now.
Her thoughts drifted to Roiben, her best friend. With his blue eyes and unnaturally white hair, many thought he was strange. Awkward and unruly, Roiben had been a contradiction that nobody understood. Except Kenleigh, she understood him like the back of her hand. He had been one of the first to pass away.
A sigh escaped the girlâs lips as she looked upwards. Dark storm clouds ominously loomed overhead, telling the girl that she would be able to refill her water rations soon. It was a known fact, to her, that all water was filled with diseases. She didnât even trust the fresh puddles she trudged through on her way home.
Home consisted of a long abandoned warehouse, untouched by even the dead and certainly not the living. Several stray animals hung around the warehouse, sort of like guards. And if they werenât massive canines, she didnât mind the company.
Kenleigh hopped the chain link fence that surrounded the factory, greeted by a massive black dog. The canine snapped its jaw at her, growling and snarling, telling her she was unwanted. Swallowing her fear of large dogs, she slowly took off her bag, grabbing a small glass jar with disgusting pickled eggs in it. She wouldnât eat this even at the end of the world.
The girl opened the jar, dumping the eggs onto the ground near the massive animal. She didnât want to kill it, but she wanted it away from her. Plus she didnât think she could take on a dog that large with a simple knife. The dog stopped growling and sniffed the eggs, its liquid black eyes staring at Kenleigh as it did.
After a while, the dog calmed down enough to start eating the eggs and let Kenleigh pass through. She had never seen that dog before, it was new and Kenleigh wanted it gone.
âEnjoy your meal, mutt.â She said in reference to the canine, slipping inside the rusted doors just as a clap of thunder roared over her. The flash of lightning and thunder seemed to shake the warehouseâs foundations. It wouldnât collapse though; Kenleigh had been through worse in the warehouse.
Putting her bag on her makeshift bed, the girl dragged two buckets outside. Another clap of thunder and a flash of lightning came overhead just as the rain began to fall. Kenleigh scowled as it threw needles into her back and face, drenching her in a matter of a minute.
Walking back into the warehouse, a smallish dog lopped inside and almost smiled at Kenleigh with its brown face and striking blue eyes. She knew this dog; she had taken a liking to calling him Blue on behalf of his odd eyes. Kenleigh patted the dog behind the ears, hearing a small whine escape the poor animal. Like everything else, he was hungry.
Sitting on her bed, the girl took the time to open a can of mixed fruit. She hadnât eaten today and might as well have
something. She dished out a small amount for Blue who ate the fruit in hungry bites. She ate the rest and then set the can down, watching in amusement as the dog stuck his nose into the can, followed by a slurping noise.
She watched as the rain fell down and was glad that she would have some water. Of course, sheâd have to boil it before it was drinkable.
Blue sat at her feet and Kenleigh was glad. It reminded her that things were still living, and if animals were alive, other people were bound to be too.
âPlease, let at least
one person be out there.â She asked the rain as it fell, a prayer lost in the roar of thunder.