Godsend

Esurient

May 29th, 2015

Hunger was a cruel mistress, constantly nipping at Lacie's thoughts, whispering savage things to her. Lacie had been traveling with her new companion for the better part of a month, the two of them sharing the food they had stolen from Nathan. After slinking out of Nathan's house, Lacie had taken a moment to become acquainted with the girl who had saved her life.

Paige was her name, or at least that's the name she went by; it was difficult for Lacie to discern between the truth and lies with people as of late. Paige claimed to be nineteen, though Lacie never would have guessed; she was maybe exactly five feet tall, and as svelte as they come, definitely less than one-hundred pounds. 

When Lacie had asked her how she ended up in Indiana, Paige explained that after Dupe day, her college was shut down, prompting her to fend for herself in any way she could. Lacie asked Paige where her dupe was.

"I never had one, which was a relief for me honestly; I couldn't handle that. What about you?" Paige seemed to be generally interested in Lacie's story, though Lacie wasn't eager to tell it.

"After the dupes came, my parents focused more on my dupe than on me, so I left." Lacie lied.

"See, that's what I'm talking about, they just take everything from us." Paige had a look of disgust strewn upon her face, she genuinely hated them. Lacie liked Paige's distaste for the dupes.

After becoming familiar with each other, Lacie and Paige had to decide where to go next; they knew their food stock wouldn't last forever. Lacie was convinced that Chicago was the best idea; the city had gone radio silent a while back, which made her think that the cities food bank was left unattended. Paige was reluctant to accompany her, but she also didn't want to be alone. The two girls began walking to Chicago, doing everything in their power to avoid confrontations. They walked the interstate the entire way there, coming across only a few token people, all of them on pilgrimages to other places, many of them accompanied by dupes. They claimed that Chicago was a dead zone, completely picked clean of all resources, but Lacie was convinced that her salvation was there, and pressed on. 

By the time they had actually reached the city, their food supply was completely exhausted; the two girls did not grasp the concept of rationing food, burning through their reserves very quickly in consequence. Lacie and Paige stood in the center of the south side of Chicago, the streets completely desolate; dead bodies peppered the streets, some were even hanging from light posts and traffic lights, Lacie got close enough to read a sign that was nailed to a body.

Scourge

"Lacie, there's nothing here, we should leave, I don't like this." Paige's eyes darted across the rooftops, the horrid sight was damaging her calm.

"We need to find something, we haven't eaten in days. Let's search some houses." Lacie adjusted the backpack on her shoulder. She couldn't bear to be wrong, this was her idea, she needed to find the payoff.

"Lace, please, this is scaring the shit out of me." Paige stood in front of Lacie to get her attention.

"Don't call me Lace." Lacie snapped.

"Whatever, we need to go now! This place is fucking done. If we leave now we can catch up with that group of people we saw a while back." Paige pointed in the direction from whence they came.

"We are gonna starve, Paige!" Lacie shouted, "These people are dead, fucking dead. We are alive, and I intend to stay that way; we need food. Besides, these were dupes, they got what was coming to them. Unless you want to end up like these stupid fucks, then lets go." Lacie began walking further down the street.

Paige trailed behind, keeping a weary eye on Lacie as they walked.

The two girls aimlessly searched the buildings, finding nothing to use or eat. A few times, they attempted to enter a building, only to be greeted by a gun and a swift kick out the door. They begged for a morsel of food, but the stalwart denizens of the ghost town would not budge. Lacie looked over some of the bodies strewn across the street and noticed that most of them didn't seem to have been murdered by anything; they were skin and bones, curled into the fetal position, starved to death.

Lacie could feel the hollowness in her stomach growing, but she persisted on, determined to make good on her bet with Chicago. Lacie glanced at Paige from time to time; she was getting weaker, Lacie could see it, she wouldn't last much longer. As they daylight ebbed away, the two girls stopped for the night, taking shelter in one of the many abandoned buildings. They found a relatively unscathed town home, complete with beds and blankets. Lacie tore the kitchen apart, looking for food, but found nothing; she turned all the knobs on all the faucets, but the only noise she could hear was the rumbling of her stomach. 

From her room, Lacie could hear Paige crying, repeating one phrase.

"I want my Daddy."

Daddy.

Lacie thought about the family she had left behind, her mom, her dad, even their dupes, they all seemed so far away now.

She was alone.