Run

Chapter 1).

I whip my head behind me, looking for my pursuers and my heart must have skipped a beat or two when I see that they aren't there. I start to run even faster now, ignoring my aches and sores of my screaming, burning muscles, and ignoring my body's silent plea for rest. But then again, I should be use to this by now. I've been running away from everything, people, my problems, you name it, ever since I can remember. 

Running away is what I do. Running away is my solution and alibi when I can't find a better one. Running away is what I am, and who I am.

"Where are they?" I ask myself even though I have a sickening feeling that I know the answer. 

They are probably terrorizing someone else now that I have proved I'm not an easy target, but still, there is no way to tell for sure, a little voice in my head answers me. If anything, I have to make sure these people get off my tail somehow so I can find out where my family is. 

'Family.'

The word echoes in my head, bouncing off of invisible walls. The name sounds so unfamiliar to me, so foreign, that I almost want to laugh in a sick and psychotic way. The only thing that stopped me was knowing how dried-up my throat is, and I don't fancy coughing up blood either.

Does a best friend and his sister fall into the category family?  

Immediately I stop myself so I won't be reminded of what happened. What is happening. But it's too late and I'm already being dragged back to yesterday morning, and a familiar wave of despair crashes down on, like it has so many times before, and it immobilizes me.

"Drew, can you pass the bread please?"     My eyebrows lift in an inquiring way as I take another bite out of a turkey leg.                                                                                                                                                               

"I don't know, can I?"  My best friend, that I know all too well, starts to smirk contagiously at me and I can't help but do the same too.

I roll my eyes a bit, but a smile still plays on my lips. 

"May you pass the bread please?" I emphasize the word, 'may', and a girly giggle escapes my lips before I can suppress it in time, but that just makes Drew smile even more.

"Yes, I may," he responds with a big grin plastered onto his face while he leans over our make-shift table to hand it to me. 

I quickly put the turkey leg onto the side of my dish and wipe my greasy hands on the napkin next to me as he drops the slice of bread lightly onto my plate. I greedily take a big chunk out of the soft and somewhat stale bread, knowing that despite its plainness, it's still a treat.

 Bread has been a rarity ever since the bombings occurred a couple months ago, wiping out half the world's human population and possibly more. Though, bread and other resources like that only appear in the 'market' maybe once or twice, if we're lucky. Since we don't have any money to trade with, usually a a dead squirrel will suffice for one loaf of bread. But, it isn't easy helping your best friend take care of his eight-year old sister in an abandoned apartment building with shards of glass and ashes still scattered everywhere. 

At least this is just our current home for now, in another week we'll have to start moving again to search for a different place. The one thing everyone learned after the first round of bombings happened is that you don't want to stay in one place for too long.  I don't know how Drew's sister, Lily, is going to hold up once we start moving though. Drew and I think she has a stomach bug because whatever she eats or drinks ends up spilling onto the floor. 

At least, we hope it is a stomach bug and nothing more then that because we don't have the skill or the resources to help her if it is. This is no place to raise a child in, but it is the best we can do so hopefully our best is enough.  

We made a make-shift bed int he corner for her, but it's really just a whole bunch of rags and half-scorched towels that we managed to find. We piled them up on top of each other so it is easier for her to lay on, and I feel a twinge of guilt for Lily. Everything here is basically make-shift, made with our scrawny little hands.

Trying to look on the bright side, I think to myself, 'At least we have survived this long.' 

As I'm being pulled out of my thoughts I faintly hear Drew speaking, filling up the painful silence that usually occupies this empty room.

"So, KC, have you noticed that there aren't nearly as many rabbits in the market as usually? There's a shortage or something like that, we'll have to just start hunting down squirrels from now on again, I guess, but even they won't stay here for long." He's trying way to hard to make dinner conversation.

My eyes snap up to focus on his face when I hear him say 'KC,' the ridicuolous nickname he gave me. Leave it to a boy to give a girl the nickname KC when her full name is Coohra Kassandra Woods.

My emerald green eyes meet his sky blue ones for a brief second and I automatically shift my gaze back to my empty plate. Opening my mouth up, I start to say something. I don't even get a chance to inhale before I'm interrupted by his sister

"Drew......My stomach hurts," Lily whimpers, in a weak, strained whisper, and my doubts about our survival start to surface again like an unforgiving ground hog.

Drew takes a quick glance at me, our conversation now forgotten, and I can see the worry in his eyes that were glowing with mirth just minutes ago.

 He says, "I'm coming Lily."

He gets a groan from the corner as a response.

Since we already scarfed down our food, I say in a light voice, "I'll clean up while you take care of that little rascal  over there."

He forces out a chuckle and nods his head then starts walking over to Lily while i walk over to the sink and start my kitchenly duties by washing off two dishes. Lily wasn't hungry and she refused food no matter how many times Drew and I pestered her to eat. I sigh and take a quick glance out the window while drying off the dishes, but soon I'm staring out with wide, fear-stricken eyes. It takes a second or two for my brain to register what is actually happening, and when I do I feel like someone just slammed a jack hammer onto my chest.

Three silver, metallic air crafts are hovering up  a couple hundred feet up in the sky, and a soft, gentle 'hummm' emanates from them. But don't let it deceive you, there is nothing gentle about these air crafts.

It's already too late when I realize what is about to happen, and the only thing I can do now is give a warning, but even that might not help. I drop the dishes, abandoning them and they clatter to the floor just like my heart as I try to steady myself . Setting the quickest pace that I can muster without alarming Lily, I rush over to Drew, and whisper quietly in his ear,

                                                                                "They're bombing us."

One thing you guys need to get use to is my cliffhangers. *Rubs hands mischievously*. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! Yes, I know it was short and Chapter two is probably going to be shorter, (for suspension of course), but Chapter three you're in for a real doozy. I use that word freely. 

I have most of this story planned out and half of it on paper, and feel free to chat with me about the story or really, anything at all. Oh, and happy late Christmas, or whatever you celebrate, anywho, I guess I'll see you till next time. Or you'll see me. Whatever, ^-^ ^_^