A World Now Lost

North America

Kat had hated August ever since she could remember, especially the sixth of August: her birthday. Today was her fifteenth and that meant she had to leave everything she knew behind.

Emerging from her bedroom and seeing the twins playing. Leaning down and kissing Lidya and Ceaser's heads. Bidding each a soft goodbye she made her way into the makeshift living room and seeing a blue suitcase and gun resting on top with a note from her mom 'good luck sweetie.' Written in her tell tail swirly writing.

This was normal for her mother, sometimes dissappearing for days on end to find food for her children. Forcing back tears Kat took the gun and suitcase, packing it quickly with her limited possessions.

Walking out of the door without shedding a single tear, she travelled through the quiet dappled forest and headed towards the faint sound of a running river.

She arrived around midday, the sun was beating down on her. Pausing by the river she lent down, dipping her head under and taking a few gulps of water before resurfacing and taking a look around. The coast was probably about fifty miles following the river, the ghost city about thirty miles the other way; animals from the city, dogs and cats and even a few horses from the outskirts had all come to the nearest freshwater source.

Amongst the thriving populations of rodents that had taken over America in the roughly eighteen years there were packs of dogs, Huskys, Dachshund to name but a few odd dogs in a pack she had seen. Horses of all shapes and sizes, wobbly foals and old horses wandered around safely.

Along with the population boom of the domesticated animals came the migration of other predators and animals escaping from badly maintained nearby zoos. A few animals died off due to the bad conditions but many survived and thrived much to her families worries.

Hurrying towards where the coast was she soon realised that she could never make fifty miles as fast as she would like. Remembering things from a pony she had when she was younger she found an old ish horse, probably around twenty two she approached it. It seemed sound enough, approaching it she watched it gallop away and groaned. It looked like she would be walking.

A wobbly legged foal approached her curiously and she greeted it softly before it also turned tail, having never seen a human before.

By the time she left the area it was probably around three and she didn't think she was even half way there. Stopping she started to try to find food for the evening, starting to feel peckish. Leaving her suitcase by a large oak tree she went off scouting hoping to high heavens she could find somewhere nice to set up.