[Chapter Two]

It had been so long since she started walking, the paths were all new to her and none have any specific direction. She had no idea where she is going at all in the first place, her constant walking had left her returning to her original spot by the stream. She had wandered around for too long that her decaying body could not keep up and became soft. Coincidentally, she was near a tall rock before her body gave up on her. She sat with each of her legs beside her, creating a W shape. Different species of bird flock to the surrounding trees, perching on branches as they sound off their specific calls. The sunlight poured down as it escapes the slightly thick canopy of leaves, it was serene. The peace did not last too long as the girl hunched over, black blood oozed from her mouth as she tried her hardest to prevent herself from spitting it on the ground. The droplets that had escaped her lips trickled silently down her greenish chin. She felt somewhat choked as the once liquid black blood started to coagulate at the back of her throat, not long after she had a fit of coughs. The blood was rather unsightly against the weeds and grasses, the insects rushed their tinny limbs as they evaded the questionable liquid.

It was almost sundown when she had stopped vomiting blood. The blood had turned from black to red, her face remained passive over the amount of blood she had thrown up. The worn-out dress she wore had been soaked with blood, her face stained red but she didn't wipe it off. The surrounding had a tint of red and orange as the day was turning into night. After three days of sleeping in the forest, she had made the bottom of the trees, where there are roots at the surface of the soil her resting place. This night was also the same. The howls of the wind and the quiet movements of water in the stream were her lullaby.

Rustle~

Rustle~

Rustle~

The bushes shook with tremor from the movement inside it, the rabbit that she had encountered a few days has decided to return returned. Its nose twitched swiftly, the fur was muddy as it hopped about never straying far away from where it had hopped out off. The sunrise was a few hours away but some creatures were adamant about waking up early. Aside from the rabbit, other small and furry animals such as squirrels and raccoons have started to quietly leave at their most quick pace that they could muster. Their small movements stirred her from her sleep, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness around her. She can faintly see outlines of the trees and the animals which were moving. She slowly tried to stand up and follow along, her instincts telling her to follow along. The animals mostly ignored her presence, it was as if she was invisible to them and continued never once glancing on her way. The paths that the animals took had lesser trees and there would be fragments of pavements peeking through the weeds. She and the animals have ventured far from the water source she assumed as the sound was not present anymore the trees have lessened in number gradually as they walked further. The sky had turned from black to bluish then to purplish before the first ray of sunlight was first seen in the sky, turning the surroundings brighter and slightly golden. An animal was walking near her, it was slightly tall and had a lean built. The fur was brown with a white stripe lining the short tail that swayed behind it from time to time, on the head, it had a little protrusion of a horn. A deer, she thought in confusion as she remembers following a pair of feather-like silhouettes when she spots them in the dark after she had stood uneasily from her resting position. She decided not to think too much about it since the parade of animals dwindled as the animals dispersed and broke off from the others. Mice ran about as they evade the steps of other animals and their predators.

Awoooo~

The small number of animals accompanying her have run to separate directions when they heard the loud howl. The frenzy had left her confused as she also ran, her instincts to survive kicked in keeping her from stopping. She had felt that there was something wrong in her direction but left it as it is.

It didn’t take her long before she was met with the first wrecked and abandoned building, not much is left intact. She didn’t stop running though and she was greeted by more buildings in a far much worse state than the first. Trashes were littered everywhere, it was nearly identifiable. A faded colored building with the main door still intact was the second building she entered, like the house before, the glasses were littered. Not one mirror or glass was spared as the shards lie hazardously on the ground, her feet becoming wounded from stepping on the broken pieces but she couldn’t care less.

The staircase was left dusty and is the only part of the building that was not greatly affected, she made an experimental step on the marble stairs littered with dead vines. It creaked under her weight but there were no other changes so she continued her way up to the second floor of the building. She could not guess what it looked like and the purpose of the building before it became like this. Her footprints imprinted in the dust had specks of blood, she had just discovered when she turned to look down below from the last step. The red looked as if it were roses blooming in the snow, it seemed lonely as it is. Her eyes traced the bloodstains back to her feet. Glass shards pierced her skin, blood and dust mixed and hardened, but she couldn’t feel it.

She stood several days within the building, not leaving the place, staring from the second floor down to the wreck below. She saw another person, much taller than her walk in a swaying manner as he limps. He too was rotting just like her, a few blocks away there were others but they walked crouching as if hiding from something. They came inside buildings, carrying more and more stuff. Resources maybe, she mused as the people would gather now and then; they dragged with them long sticks with spikes.

“There’s one at 3 o’clock, we’ve isolated it from the others, sir.”

“Any word from the east?”

“None relevant sir”

“Block off all exits and make sure to not kill it.”

They nod off to each other, while the little girl watched on from her place. They moved swiftly and stationed themselves each turn leading to the man walking funnily. The man stumbled from a fallen post. They began to close in on the fallen man, behind each man swinging the rod was another holding a net. When they were close enough, the man on the east threw his net first as others followed suit. The girl saw there were others like the one trapped inside the nets moving and closing in on the group. She watched on as the group left hastily, dragging the man behind. The chaos commenced when the captured man began screeching loudly as the others followed the direction where the group fled to. She didn’t know if it was normal but the number of persons like the man in the net grew although not all followed the group to regain the man. They littered the streets, what once were streets. They just stood there looking dazedly and unmoving, it was as if they were waiting for something. One of them incidentally locked eyes with her, it was not long before the others locked found her location. It was as if all heads snapped to where she was on the second floor of the building.