once we existed☾

pinky promise☾ | 9

I glanced towards Emilia. Her eyes were warm, brown but distant - floating in a faraway galaxy. I still have a funny feeling about her and her Dad, but shes turned out to be quite nice. Maybe I'm just overthinking. Micaiah and Mum talk and laugh in their own world, Mum's cheeks lit up like a candle. I'm happy that she's happy. "Ick yuck, beans!" Octavius exclaims, spitting it into a paper towel. 

"Yuck! Can you do that in the other room!" Mum says, disgusted. "You should savour those beans too," Alya exclaims, adding extra chips to his plate making his eyes light up in excitement, "We won't have many left by the end of this winter." 

"What do you mean?" Leo questions as all our focus turn to Alya. "I thought we had plenty of canned food left to last the year!" "Well, there would have been, if we had five people, not seven. We have eight cans left." My eyes widen in horror. "That's not enough! We'll use them up in one night!"

"Which is why we need to savour them. From now on we'll be two to a can. We'll also be cutting down on mushroom, soup, milo and spaghetti. We're running low on those too." My eyes snap over to Mum's. Her face is pale. "Milo!" wails Octavius, his bottom lip pouting. "I'm sorry, Tavi," Alya says sadly, "I'll try to get you some more soon."

»»-----　　-----««

"The shelves are bare!" I stare at the shelves in front of me except for a few rats scuttering around at our feet, nibbling at the last few remaining crumbs. Shards of glass were scattered across the store - the supermarket had obviously been broken into by the broken windows surrounding us. 

"Well, there's no one to stock them, so I suppose that makes sense," Leo says. "Let's check the stock!" Mum suggests, running her hands through her curly blonde hair. Alya's stayed home to look after my brother. 

"Yeah nah," I say, "There's no point. They would've all been raided by now," "Dammit, why didn't I think of this beforehand," Mum mutters, her voice breaking. An idea pops into my head - a great one, though dangerous. "What about the bare apartments, where people have discarded?" 

"But wouldn't they have already been targeted?" Mum says, frowning. "And it's not safe for you to be out often. With your asthma." "It's worth a try," exclaims Leo, resting his arm on my shoulder and squeezing my hand. My mother sighs, giving up. 

»»-----　　-----««

"I knew she'd say yes," I exclaim, "Though there wasn't many other options," says Leo, slinging a bag over his shoulder. "You prove a point," I say, kissing Octavius atop the nose. "Get some sleep, okay honey?" I say to my half brother. 

He wraps me in a hug, his chubby arms tight around my waist. He can barely touch fingertips. Tears run down his cheeks. "Oh, no, Tavi," my heart shatters and my eyes water to see him this way, 

"Pinky promise you'll come back," I hold out my pinky and intertwine it with his. "I promise," I look into his bright green eyes and hold the urge to cry. 

Alya wraps a scarf around my neck. It's homemade I'm guessing, as it's itchy but warm. I thank her.

»»-----　　-----««

The streets are bare. Petrichor emanates from the stalks of grass here and there. This is no longer the place I grew up - instead a bare post-apocalyptic wasteland. Buildings are adorned with faded graffiti and broken glass. I avoid standing on anything red, whether its spraypaint or not. 

"Are you ok?" Leo whispers in my ear. I shiver in the cold. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just weird," He chuckles quietly though it didn't help make light of the situation. 

We head into a house. I pull my gloves over my pinky finger, the one which I made the pinky promise with, on my left hand. I gulp. I hope to keep his promise as I pull the door behind me.