Five Lives Left

Episode One: Trapped

*Kirstie Ceres's Point of View*

Trees. Darkness. Loneliness. Waking up from a certain nightmare was merely the reality. The world either round or flat, would always be in the same place. Different races fight over and over because of greed and the capacity to gain power over the other. And in all honesty, it's just a massive loop cliché that the alphas in the food chain never get tired of repeating. They wanted to get what they wanted, even if it'd kill everyone, in pursuit of their will. This is the universe I'm living in; rather a constant inferno and suffering that no one dares to deny because it is indeed hell out here.

Yes, it was always the darkest of mornings for me: the everyday cries of the hopeless children, the shouts of the homeless ones, and the loudest greaves of the dying. The constant noise certainly drives me insane and for sure, anyone in this current state agrees to it. Because it's like an abandoned asylum here, where you could wake up not by an alarm of your favourite track but by gunfire and ear-piercing screams. Being alive in this situation was pointless; you get to live and just... wait to die. Every time when they would turn this place up for a massive massacre, it'd be deafening. The loudest gunshots and the noisiest turrets would turn up and terrorize everyone.

"We're the only ones alive here", I'd mouth every morning with hopelessness in my tone. Despair was beginning to fade away as I knew how impossible it was to survive being a runaway.

Two-hundred and sixty-five citizens, on my recent count, in this hidden rural town only wanted the same thing as mine: the freedom to live in harmony and the way most of us wanted for a long time now. Everyone here, including me, were left with no choice but to fight back like the remaining troops protecting us. At this point, I find the government itself useless and most probably, the president's trying to sell the entire planet for quick cash. Well, he's friends with the fucking nazi leader wannabe.

Damn it.

From two thousand citizens of NCR down to just less than three hundred? Quite outrageous to know that this chaotic nonsense would drop into something; something awful like death itself. Death was truly inevitable and that thought would not stop me from keeping the mindset.

Making my last two spoonfuls of powdered milk was the sign for me to get out of this Lara Croft's ruins. But how though? I was supposed to be a fighter like them, and yet I was treated like some sort of mogul diamond in an auction to be guarded instead. I was the only one left here, not even the rest of my family who were alive out there were present. The only family I could treat as of this moment was none other than Aaliyah and her children. However, I couldn't entirely admit that she's a really close friend of mine; for me, she seemed to be more of a filler than a real sister. My guts told me not to fully trust her. If I did trust her, it'll only mean that she ain't an awful person like how some stated about her.

Aaliyah's a nice person in my perspective because of how friendly she's been especially when talking to me. It piqued her interest whenever the topic is about men and my romantic side. One day she'd laugh because I still don't give a shit about getting a man. Who cares about being in love anyway? It's not like a man would get me out of this shitty hole of a hideout. And the mere fact that if ever I did get myself a man, he'd probably die early before chapter one ends.

Sipped the last of my delightful glass of milk and it was time to walk ahead to Aaliyah's. What good would have she done right now? I bet she failed the middle school chemistry quiz that she's currently struggling over remaking the cure for my seizures I got from my childhood.

My slip-on felt tough as soon as my feet touched it. It has been quite a long time since I bought one, and I outgrew it though. Well, a bit because I'm only a petite woman. How could I even buy one? We're trapped here in this wretched place. Realizing that made my blood boil hotter than the milk I prepared earlier.