James+Cassidy

Walking out of the city, I smell death, smoke and clouds of ash. I am heart broken at the recent turn of events. I hear burning, crashing debris and screams although they might not be there. What will I do? How will I survive? I need shelter, food, water and warmth, because it is freezing. I turn around and get one last look at the city I once called home. My dog is my only companion. I will have to look after him as well as myself.

2 weeks later

I am nearing a broken down home. Maybe I can find some rats or birds to eat, after only having worms and bugs ever since the event that changed my life. Perhaps some water that may have gathered after the storm. The only water I have drunk was either from a little, filthy pond, or sucked out of vegetation. It is a wonder how I have managed to survive all this time. I open the door into the old house, only to see a dead person rotting away on the floor, with a million flies wandering around. What to eat? The person that the rats have been chewing on, or the rats - any of these would drive a person off the edge, but I was hungry and desperate. I decide no and try to look for other things to eat. I look out a small window and see an old car that looks like it hasn't been touched for over 10 years. I open the door, find the key and turn the ignition. It starts!

Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn it off and look for food. I find an old bucket and decide it could come in handy. There were some tasty beetles on the front doorstep and I gather a few in a bucket. My good fortune continues when I find 2 lizards eating a dead bird. I grab them and kill them humanely, along with the dead bird. These could last me all day I thought as I crawled into the old car.

Driving down an old dirt road, I realise all good things don't last and that the future is bleak for me. I try not to realise, but I notice that I am running out of fuel fast, and I am only going 70kms per hour. I am getting hungry, so against my will, I pick up a few bugs and put them in my mouth.

Off in the distance, I can see houses, about a dozen of them all lined up. I just hope they haven't suffered the same fate that myhome did. I get out of the car which had nothing left in the tank. I enter the small village and see if it was deserted and my heart sinks. Walking into a hut, I notice that it is not deserted, not by any means. Inside the hut, are people, human beings, with food.