100 Left

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Anna

I walked though the abandoned streets of New York City. I imagined them bustling with people as they used to, but it's pointless. I know it will never be like that again. Fifteen years I've been living here and it's never been this silent.

It's only the third time I've left my apartment. At first I was too scared. Worried the aliens would notice they missed me and take me. But it's now been 5 days since the Invasion. I figure they won't be back any time soon.

I wandered around until my stomach began to rumble. I spotted the McDonalds my mom and I would always go to for lunch on Fridays. Mom. I hadn't realized how much I missed her.

No, I scolded myself, I've gotta stay positive. If I want to survive I've got to remain positive.

I went in and headed towards the back, to the kitchens. I made myself a burger and some fries. As I packed the items into a bag, I heard a crash. I figured it was probably an animal of some sort and continued stuffing the paper stack with food.

Another sound. My curiosity won over and I walked towards it. I found myself in the storage room. No animals, just a bunch of boxes.

"Hello?" I called.

Then to my upmost surprise someone answered.

"Who's there?" The voice asked, with obvious fear.

Excitement welled up inside me. Someone else. I am not alone! Someone is left from the Invasion!

"I said, who's there?" The voice asked again, obviously the voice of a child. A small girl.

"My name's Bethany," I said, speaking softly, trying not to sound too intimidating. "It's okay. You can come out. I won't hurt you. I promise."

Out from behind a cluster of boxes, a head peeked out. She had crazy, curly blonde hair and her face was covered in dirt.

"Hi. What's your name?" I asked.

"I'm Anna," She said.

"Well, Anna, you're pretty tough to survive the Invasion. Do you want get cleaned up and have dinner with me?"

Anna climbed out from behind the boxes and walked up to me. She was wearing a faded pink and white plaid shirt that was torn at the bottom, and filthy blue jeans with holes in the knees. Her head came the middle of my stomach. She was probably around seven years old.

"You're very pretty. I bet Jay would wanna meet you."

I tried not to blush.

"Well thank you. But who's Jay?" I asked.

"He's my friend. He found me the day after the Invasion. We all stay together at that big hotel on Trey Avenue."

"So there's more people?"

I couldn't believe it. Almost a week I've been here and never noticed any signs that anyone was left. I felt kind of angry that they never found me. Mad that they let me believe I was all alone. But I couldn't stay angry for long, because the fact that I wasn't alone after all made me insanely happy.

"Oh yeah. We have like 20 people already. Jay figures there's more. We have Scouters go out every morning to search for more people." Anna answered matter-of-factly.

"Really? Are you a Scouter?" I asked.

"No. I'm a Gatherer. We go out to get food and water and supplies. I was getting some here but when I heard the door open, I got scared. I thought it was the aliens coming back," Anna said, looking down, embarrassed.

"Oh that's okay," I said trying to comfort her. "Hey let's go back and find Jay and all those others you talked about. They'll probably be glad that you found another person."

"Oh yeah! I didn't think of that! A Gatherer finding a new person! Jay will be so proud!" Anna said, her blue eyes full of excitement.

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the door. I laughed and gave in, following her out onto the gloomy, empty street.

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AUTHORS NOTE(AN):

SO EXCITED:) You get to meet Jay next!!