Godsend

Ephemeral

May 2nd, 2015

The days swiftly drifted by for Lacie, coalescing together, each indistinguishable from the last. After being scolded by her parents for her sultry actions, Lacie departed from home, floating from one momentary place of solace to the next. Lacie was pleasantly surprised to see how easily a fifteen year old girl could get by on her own. Her new found independence eliminated any feeling of homesickness she might have had.

Despite the food drought and martial law in effect basically everywhere, Lacie found naive young men to take her in; to be her knight in shining armor, until they ran out of food, of course. Lacie was resolute in her desire to live life to the fullest before she inevitably died. Falling asleep every night, expecting to never wake up, that was her reality.

But the day never came.

After a night of fervent partying with the pig of a man she was currently staying with, Lacie once again woke up on a filthy couch, surrounded by strange people she didn't remember meeting. She had come to this "Rapture Reception" in hopes of finding somebody to leech off of for a while. She had been to several doomsday parties before, and usually found someone willing enough to let her stay around, at a price, of course. Lacie didn't let the thoughts of the sexual favors she had to commit plague her mind as long as she had a full stomach and a warm place to sleep. But she felt it was her time to take as much food as she could and bail.

Lacie pried herself off the nauseatingly damp couch and began looking for some semblance of clothing. There was one other girl that Lacie could see, a petite redhead wrapped in the arms of a man on the floor. The girl was wide awake, a look of trepidation upon her face; Lacie suspected that she was probably here for her next meal as well. After nicking a pair of sweatpants and a drab sweater that didn't fit her, Lacie slipped on her Toms that were left at the front door from when she arrived the previous night. Lacie picked up her backpack and made for the kitchen of the house, treading as tenderly as she could. From what Lacie could tell, the house was built from Popsicle sticks, for all the creaking the floor made as she scampered about.

Before even opening the fridge, Lacie could feel her mouth salivating; she couldn't remember the last time she had actually eaten more than just synthetic cheese and nasty milk. Lacie subtly unzipped her backpack and opened the fridge, beholding of the glory of actual lunch meat and Swiss cheese. The house owner, Nathan, was the manager of the local Safeway, and had managed to steal a copious amount of food before the government re-purposed it. To his chagrin, all of that food would soon be gone.

Lacie grabbed the packages of ham, turkey, bologna, salami, pastrami, and uncooked bacon, and put it in her bag. Along with the Swiss cheese and powdered milk. The meat and cheese would have to be eaten first, lest it spoil and get wasted, But what Lacie was really after was the pantry, where the non-perishables would be. 

From the living room where Lacie had been sleeping, she could hear rustling clothes, she would have to hurry. She began opening doors in the kitchen hastily, briskly searching for the goods. As her panic began to sink in, Lacie found a door that opened into a downward spiraling flight of stairs. She hesitated a moment, before quickly studder-stepping down into the darkness. Lacie felt around on the walls for a moment, looking for a light source of some kind. Her dainty fingers came across what felt like a light switch; as she pulled it up, Lacie was awestruck to see the narrow walls lined with canned goods.

Before she could begin taking her pick from the cornucopia of food, Lacie heard a voice from behind her.

"You little bitch." The voice echoed from the top of the stairway. Lacie looked up to see Nathan begin stepping down the spiraling staircase. Lacie tensed herself up and moved to the back wall; she was sure she could out-maneuver him if she had enough room. Nathan was a large man, his gut protruding out in front of him. 

As Nathan fully descended the staircase, Lacie waited for her moment to flee. The man's robust form almost spanned the width of the narrow corridor. Before Lacie could think of what to do next, she lunged forward, attempting to use her agile frame to slip past him. As Lacie was sliding in between Nathan and a wall, Nathan leaned into her, pressing her hard against the can-lined wall.

Lacie couldn't move, her ribs began to throb with pain as the shelfing stabbed into her. Nathan reached around his side and grabbed Lacies arm, pulling her in front of him. Lacie could see the grease on him, it disgusted her, but she couldn't turn away; Nathan held her head in place and began dragging her to the back wall of the pantry-basement.

"This is it." She thought, "This is how I die." Lacie closed her eyes and his hands tightened around her throat. 

The room began to dim around her, a hazy tint of red washing over everything, her body filling with warmth. Before being fully embraced in the haze of mortality that she felt, Lacie was pulled back. As the haze fell away, Lacie could see Nathan face down on the dank floor, a large kitchen knife protruding from the back of his neck. Lacie grasped at her throat, inhaling deeply, breathing life back into herself. Lacie looked up to see who had saved her, who was actually her knight in shining armor. The petite girl from earlier stood behind Nathan's body, her frail hands trembling. She stared deeply into Lacie's eyes, the look of fear still embodied in her. Lacie picked up her bag,

"Help me pack this stuff up."