I awoke with a sudden boom. Another earthquake. The dog started to bark. "Shhhhh. Sam. Shhhhh." I calmed him. This has been going on since December. The world looks like a campfire pit. Filthy and full of ash. Just seven months ago I was living in a nice little house with my mother and father in Chicago. Now I'm traveling the country looking for a safe place to live. I'm only fourteen and all of my family is dead. Just seven months ago my world was perfect. I had friends. I was a straight A student in school. Now I'm living like a caveman. Everyday I see stuff that would make you want to vomit. I walk with my dog Sam for miles and miles on end everyday. All the food we have is in a tiny knapsack I keep slung over my shoulder. Theres somedays when we have to be in hiding all day. The reason? Cannibals. I've seen it happen. A person makes the wrong choice of going with the strange men for some food. Well , thats what they tell you. Then you hear their screams and two minutes later theirs nothing but the sound of raggly old men laughing at the terror they have become. Somedays I find myself sobbing just because I'm alive. I wish I would have died just like my parents. Then I would be in heaven , like them. I wouldn't have to act like and adult and worry about food and water and a safe place to sleep. I don't have a choice. I only have Sam to protect me and hes in bad shape. Two weeks ago he got shot in his left rear leg with a arrow. He now limps along the road in pain. I had been thinking of putting him down, but I would die too. I grabbed the map to check where we were. For the past couple days we had been traveling through Salt Lake City. We had been making our way to San Francisco for seven months. I don't think Sam can make it all the way to San Francisco now , but I'm not quitting. We have come all this way, from Chicago to Salt Lake City to do what? Not quit. Thats for sure.
My name is Riley. I am a fourteen year old girl. And I am a survivor.