Power

Chapter One

I feel like i'm reaching out to something that never existed in the first place. Everything fell apart when the riots started, people were dying before that but it just made everything worse. Power went out across the world, illness spread, and people dying became a normal occurrence. Illnesses that have been curable for hundreds of years became deadly again. I ran. I had nothing worth saving at home. Even now, i'm running. Im running away from my fear. My fear of getting close to people that is.

People either joined big groups and hid in big cities, or stayed in small parties and hid in the woods away from the big cities. I hated going near cities. I stayed in the forest, far from the main roads and cities of any kind. I don't have a great social background, and I haven't come across many people that wanted to be friends, so I stay alone.

My long black hair fell over my shoulders as I bent down to finish packing my bag. I had to keep moving, staying in one place for too long would kill me. I zipped up my bag and threw it on my shoulder. I started walking away from the main roads, further into the forest. Once I got deep enough into the trees I pulled my black mask off my face and took a deep breath. Wearing that mask all the time gets annoying. Its an air pollution mask so it has a filter and a respirator. I found it in a hospital about a year after the riots. I have an extra in my bag just in case this one breaks. The air around me smelled musty and rotten, but it also smelled like flowers and the woodsy smell the outdoors usually has.

I pull my mask back on and continue walking until I found what I was looking for. A small pond in the middle of a bunch of trees. Jogging over to it I quickly pulled the mask down again and bent down and washed the sweat off my face and neck. The summer heat reached well over 90ºF two hours ago. Wrapping my hair up in a rubber band, I pull the empty water bottle out of the side pocket of my bag. After filling the bottle, I reminded myself I needed to clean the water later. I decided to leave the mask down for a while as I grabbed a bandana and wet it in the water. I was wearing black legging and a green tank top on. I also wore black converse and black ankle socks. Not the best outfit for the weather but it was all I had.

Wrapping the bandana around my neck, I pull my mask back on and notice the sun would dip below the tree line in about an hour, and decided to sleep here tonight. There wasn't much need for a fire, and it wasn't completely dark out, I decided to go hunting.

Walking away from the pond, I made sure my footsteps were light and quiet. Everything seemed still. I had a knife in my right hand, my fingers stretching around the hilt. I hear a scurry behind me. I quickly turned around just in time to see a rabbit run behind a tree. I might as well wait for something I can actually get. I look around. A squirrel slowly climbing a tree caught my eye. It didn't seem to have noticed me. Pulling my arm back and squaring my feet, I take a deep breath. I hit it in the back of the head. I quickly run up and collect my catch. Its pretty fat, tonights gonna be a good one.

When I get back to the pond I start building a fire. I collect trigs, branches, and some dry grass. I put two rocks on the outskirts of the pile. Pulling matches out of my pocket, I light the fire. I sit down in front of the fire and pull the squirrel off my belt. I quickly sharpen my knife against a sandstone I keep in the front pocket of my backpack. After I sharpen my knife to the point that I was happy with it, I started butchering the rodent. When i'm done I lay the meat on the rocks. I sit back and wait for my dinner to be done. Today has been a slow day. I haven't really gotten anything done. When I ran away, during the riots, I didn't plan to be walking the forest and living off natural resources for two years. Not that I haven't run into people, they just want something from me. Some want me dead, some want my knowledge, others just want my body. Thats why I tend to stick to thick forest and being alone. The stuff I do get, I get from small cities. Cities that I'm almost completely sure no one inhabits.