章 1: the meeting
"Two years have passed since the outbreak of the war—two years that have changed everything, The cities that once pulsed with life have become ruins, and the sky rains shells instead of water, The night, once a refuge for rest, is now filled with the echoes of screams, The faces of the people have changed, filled with sorrow and fear, as though the war has erased every trace of peace, leaving behind a deep wound in the memory of all who lived through it."
"The boy moved cautiously between the rubble, his eyes scanning every corner, every lifeless body, as if searching for remnants of hope amid the death, The scene no longer stirred any fear in him; he had grown accustomed to the frozen faces and bodies claimed by the cold before death took them. In a world where mercy no longer had a place, the boy knew he had to become a hunter in a sea of corpses to survive.
He knelt beside a body stretched out on the ground, his trembling hands carefully searching its pockets, His fingers picked up anything that could be sold—coins, a rusty ring, or an old watch that had stopped ticking long ago, Everything had a price, and every item could bring him closer to his only goal: collecting enough to buy a piece of bread to quell his hunger.
He knew that in this world, there was nothing but misery, yet his heart, despite everything, still beat with determination. Deep inside, he held onto a faint hope—that one day, he would no longer need to search through corpses, and he would find food without having to reach into the dead of war."
As the boy searched through the pocket of one of the bodies, he felt a cold grip seize his leg from behind, His blood froze for a moment, and he turned slowly to see a bloodied hand reaching toward him, accompanied by a faltering voice moaning, 'Please... boy... my daughter... take her, don't leave her.'
The woman was drenched in blood, barely able to speak, her face etched with a pain her body could no longer endure, Beside her, a small girl stared wide-eyed at the scene, trembling, not fully understanding what was happening, but knowing that life was slipping away from her mother.
'Take her... please... don't let her die here,' the woman begged again, her words breaking with her labored breaths. The boy tried to pull away, retreating from her grip, desperate to distance himself from a scene he wasn't ready for, But he couldn't, The mother's voice, full of pleading and despair, tore at his heart.
'I... can't...' the boy whispered, trying to move away without looking into her eyes, but he felt a heavier weight pulling him toward her, The woman was taking her last breaths, her tears mixing with blood, flowing silently as her final plea hung in the air: 'Please... don't leave her...'
Then, she collapsed entirely, her head falling quietly to the ground, and with her last breath, a final tear slid down her cheek, crying, begging... before the heavy silence settled over the place.
The boy swallowed hard, his heart pounding wildly, Oh God... what kind of mess is this?** How could I take care of a child when I can barely find enough to feed myself? He froze for a moment, lost in his thoughts, while the girl clung to her mother's lifeless body, crying in bitter silence, As he tried to process what had happened, he noticed a patrol of soldiers approaching from the distance, coming to inspect the bodies, **Oh God... if they catch me here, I'll be dead for sure.**
The soldiers carried out their brutal method of confirming their victims were dead, firing shots into the corpses, Panic gripped him, unsure of what to do, In a split-second decision, he lay down as if he too were a corpse, stretching his body among the dead and pulling the girl close to his chest, He positioned her mother's body over them, using it as a human shield.
The soldiers drew closer, firing into the bodies one by one, "Leo" felt the impact of a bullet passing through the woman's body above him and wished his own heart would stop beating for a moment so it wouldn't give him away, He thanked God that the girl didn't cry or make a sound, or else they would have been discovered immediately.
Luckily for them, the shadows grew as night fell, and the patrol passed quickly without further inspection, But the boy knew the danger wasn't over, Spending the night amidst rotting corpses was far from safe, With darkness came the hungry dogs and animals that fed on the dead, He had to wait for the patrol to move far enough away and escape before the night unleashed its beasts.
"Leo" held the girl tightly, his eyes watching for any movement, knowing their survival was only the first step in a long series of battles awaiting them.
He gently pushed the mother's body aside, ready to flee, For a moment, he forgot all about the girl, who remained clinging to her mother's dress, He walked away quickly, his steps fast as if the ground itself were urging him to flee, He didn't look back, just kept walking, trying to forget everything behind him, But with each step, his conscience weighed heavier, **Am I really going to leave her like this?** He glanced back one last time and saw a sight that shook him to his core; a starving dog, its eyes gleaming, inching closer to the girl.
**Oh, damn it! I can't leave her like this.**
"Leo" ran quickly through the bodies, slipping now and then but never stopping. He reached the girl, who was still clinging to her mother's dress, and without thinking, pulled her into his arms, The girl clung to her mother's gown, but he gently tugged her free, just as the dog lunged toward them, But it wasn't over; soon, it became clear the dog wasn't alone, A pack of starving dogs began to chase after them, their growls rising as they approached, their heavy breaths cutting through the air like they were coming straight from the depths of hell.
"Leo" ran as fast as he could toward a nearby abandoned house, With a final burst of effort, he entered the crumbling building and hid inside, He carefully placed the girl on the ground, his hand trembling from exhaustion and fear, The girl's tears flowed slowly down her cheeks, but what stunned him was that she made no sound, She didn't cry out loud or speak, She just sat there, silent, as if she understood that everything around her had changed .
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