Home; I Found With You // Ryeji FF

why them?

No matter how hard she pressed the pedal or how fast she sped down the dark, empty roads, she remained trapped in that abyss, swallowing her whole. She couldn't breathe, her hand tightening on her shirt that felt like it was constricting her.

Ryujin's eyes squeezed shut, trying desperately to contain the pain, to keep it from destroying her.

Before she knew it, she was back at the lookout. The Evo screeched to a halt, and Ryujin jumped out of the car, collapsing to her knees.

Tears streamed down her face, a relentless flow of guilt, regret, and sorrow.

"I'm so sorry..." she mumbled, pressing her forehead against the cold gravel. Through her sobs, Ryujin spoke to the empty air, her voice cracking with every word. "Please, forgive me... I should've tried harder..."

But I tried so hard.

She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms as if the physical pain could somehow lessen the torment within.

"Why them? Why now?"

She lifted her head, staring up into the night sky, the stars blurred by her tears.

"God, why are you doing this to me? Do you like seeing me like this? You're taking everyone I care about!" Her screams echoed into the cold air. "I just wanted to... I... I just want reasons to stay..."

The night offered no answers, no solace, only the distant sound of wind rustling through the trees.

Perhaps it was better for her to just leave– spare everyone, spare herself from any more pain.

'Sleep the pain away,' She repeated to herself over and over again, hoping her mind could over power the aching in her stomach.

It had been two or three days since she had eaten. The supermarkets around her area were already cleared out, and the ones she knew to be fully stocked were guarded by savages who would kill on sight.

Taking her chances, she pulled over at a strip of stores just outside her town. Like all the others, it had been stripped bare. She could barely feel her legs on the way back to her car, lightheaded and dizzy, her vision beginning to blur.

She knew that if she kept going like this, she wouldn't make it to her car. With her last bit of strength, she stumbled into a thrift store.

'Of course, there would be corpses here,' she thought, ducking behind some shelves, hoping she hadn't been spotted.

But as she hid, she no longer had the energy to get back up or to fight. Her consciousness was fading, and she couldn't stay awake any longer. She lay there on the floor, clenching tightly onto her kitchen knife, her free hand on her rumbling stomach.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, she imagined herself gorging on her favorite chicken nuggets from the corner take-out shop down the road from her home. She could almost taste the crispy texture and the cheap quality of meat that her parents said would kill her in the long run if she consumed any more.

She heard footsteps approaching the store entrance; she knew the end was near, but anything seemed better than where she was.

In the distance, there was a commotion, but she didn't have the energy to care.

Then, she sensed a presence behind her. Her body instinctively went into fight-or-flight mode. She rolled over and extended her arm, pressing her blade against the stranger's neck.

Her eyes narrowed on the man squatting in front of her. Her vision was blurry, but she couldn't let him see that her defenses were lowered and she was a hair away from losing her grip on reality.