Subsist

Chapter One

There used to be few cities that never slept while the rest of the country tucked themselves in and drifted off into sweet unconsciousness. That was until The Night happened. The screams were heard both day and night along with the sound of gunshots fired by innocent people just trying to get by. It had been twelve years since the country erupted into what it is now. Eighteen year old Chrona pulled the large brown blanket over her head and tried to drown out the sound of a screaming woman and her child. By now she should be used to it, but the tears still managed to make an appearance on her olive toned skin eventually racing their way to her long, wavy, dark brown hair line. The screams were ended with a gunshot that caused Chrona to jump in her bed. 

There was a soft press on the blankets. Chrona sniffed back the tears and tried to play it off as allergies. She made a small crevice in the blanket and looked to see a orange face looking straight at hers. Meow. The cat softly slid through the crevice and under the blanket. "Olive.. why are you awake?" Chrona smiled and figured Olive was saying the exact same thing about her owner. She held the cat close to her body and sighed. "Eventually everything is going to be okay again." Chrona whispered into Olive's ear before giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. 

Chrona lifted her head above the covers for a brief moment to check on Ambrose, her younger brother who was fast asleep. She slipped her head back under and bit her bottom lip. She wished she could give her brother a better life. He probably had no memory of life before The Night. After all, he was only four when it happened, Chrona, seven. A few more tears escaped her brown eyes as she reflected on the memories she held dear. She would give anything to bring back those days, to give Ambrose a better life, to not live in fear anymore.

When Chrona opened her eyes sunlight reached its way down the staircase. She pulled the blanket away from her head and looked around. "I already fed your cat, so don't worry." Ambrose said through a yawn before plopping back down on the small bed. "Thanks." Chrona replied and looked to Olive, munching away on the leftover meat. Chrona looked back to Ambrose and his small bed. Since he was only four when The Night occurred no one could go out and get him a bigger bed without risking lives. 

Chrona shook away the thought in her mind. "Are they awake?" She asked. 

"I don't know, why don't you go up and check?" Ambrose replied. "And while you're up there can you get me something to eat? Thanks." He brought the blanket up over his face and gave a thumbs up to his sister who rolled her eyes. "I'm not your butler."

Chrona threw the blanket off of her legs and stretched before rolling off the bed. Her feet pressed flat against the cold concrete which sent chills up her spine. She walked slowly up the staircase which led her to ground level. The concrete turned into wooden flooring and the temperature rose slightly, though, it made a huge difference to Chrona. 

She walked silently across the floor in attempt to not wake her possibly sleeping parents. She looked through every doorway and dropped to her knees when she got to the large main window in the living room. She stumbled across the floor as pieces of concrete sliced her knees and dug themselves deep into the palm of her hands. 

Chrona reached the refrigerator and stood quickly, hidden by the large appliance. She slowly opened the door and squinted her eyes as she scanned the chipped plates with a few pieces of meat on them. She reached to grab a piece on a small yellow plate. She bit a piece off and nodded. Squirrel. She got an extra piece and shut the door. A creek on the floorboard caused her to freeze and panic. Chrona kept her back against the wall and peeked around the corner of the refrigerator to see no one there. 

She dropped to her knees, held the pieces of squirrel with her teeth and crawled quickly back to the basement bedroom. 

"Here, it was this or mint leaves." Chrona replied and threw both pieces of meat at the large lump in the blanket. She made her way to her bed and looked under the metal frame for a small brown box. Reaching as far back as she could she slid it toward her body with the tips of her fingers. 

When she opened the box pictures unfolded themselves and crumpled papers sprung to life and landed on the floor. New and used pens and pencils stayed at the bottom of the box. She reached for a pen that seemed to be running low on ink. She scribbled on her wrist and sighed. When is my birthday again? She thought to herself. Normally on her birthday she would receive a pen or pencil with a few scraps of paper for her to write on, and ever since the items became rare she embraced the small gifts. She found a small sharpened pencil a piece of blank paper. She smiled brightly and looked over to Ambrose ready to tell him of the great discovery only to see him passed out, Olive licking his lips from the leftover tastes of meat. Chrona laughed softly, shaking her head, she pressed the pencil to the paper and began writing. 

Chrona sat up at the sound of creeks against the floorboards upstairs. She looked quickly to where Ambrose stayed fast asleep. She slowly got off her bed, making sure to not make any noise. She crouched to reach under her bed and grabbed a small pocket knife, which would stand no chance against this intruder if they happened to have a gun on them. Chrona jumped at the touch of Ambrose on her shoulder. Who is it? He mouthed. Chrona shrugged. 

She handed Ambrose the knife and looked at him for a good minute. Stay here. She mouthed and looked back up the staircase. Ambrose grabbed her arm and made sure to get her attention before shaking his head. I'm going. He replied. Chrona shoved him away shaking her head. "They need least one child living." She managed to whisper under her breath.

Chrona reached her hand under her bed and felt around for her bow and arrows. Her eyes never leaving the door. Eventually her finger pricked the tip of the metal arrow. Before she could grab the bow a blood curling scream emanated throughout the entire household. The scream sounding so much like her mother's caused Chrona to dart quickly up the stairs. Without thinking of the transition from cement to slippery wooden flooring Chrona threw the arrow before her body came crashing to the ground her head slamming against the concrete. 

"Chrona!" Ambrose yelled out from the basement. His feet hit the concrete hard as he came up to check on his sister. Chrona attempted to tell him to stay down but the pounding in her head kept her mute.

Her blurry vision managed to focus on the pistol the stranger pulled from his pocket. Adrenaline rushed though Chrona's veins as she looked to Ambrose who was inches from her. "Ambrose, get back!" She screamed.

A shot was fired and Ambrose stumbled back and fell back down the staircase.