a/n: Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading this! This chapter is super short, but its about to get really good! Sooo... enjoy!c:
The ailing bus rattles along the road, trying best as it can not to puncture a tire from the piles of debris littering the forlorn streets. As it rolls slowly to a stop I set my head down on the back of the seat in front of me. It is worn, the leather cracking with age and neglect.
Abilene nudges me with her foot once the bus door clatters open. I sit up to see what she is staring at.
A man has come on to the bus. He is hunched over, wearing a large light brown trudge coat and a sad excuse of a wool hat. After a once over, I rest my head again; he is just another homeless person, like Abilene and I.
Young girls like Abilene and I belong in orphanages everyone would say, those who meet us at the rare job opportunities tell us this every time we have no home to register on the sign-up sheet, if they even care at all. But I know what the orphanages are like. They're where the grey coats come to pick and choose the best ones to sell off to the highest bidder. There's no place to run at an orphanage.
The dilapidated bus finally shudders to a stop in the downtown district. The homeless man stands and walks to the exit. My sister and I follow, none too closely, behind. The street is lined with abandoned building, years out of business as the world slowly crumbled around those who thought they were building a better future. We watch from the door of the bus as he walks to the nearest building and sits down in front of it. He pulls a cup out of his pocket and begins jangling it for passerby, if any stupid enough decide to come along this late at night. I shake my head and try to picture what this road-side would look like if the world hadn't have come to an end. I wonder what my sister would be like, what I would be like, what my parents... I close my eyes and begin walking, tired to the bone.
My sister and I got a job this morning at a clothing factory. I can tell that Abilene is tired and sore, but she doesn't show it, and I don't either. As an older sister, it is my duty to set a good example for Abilene. I only have three more years until I meet my demise, leaving Lena to fend for herself after me for another two years. I grab her by the hand and pull her along. It wouldn't be long until the grey coats began their routine search for stray girls to take. I shudder, thankful our shelter isn't too far from here. We try our best to shield our faces from the wind as we walk down the street, past the homeless man, toward our makeshift home. I can see it as I round the corner.
The homeless man is still in plain sight, but I hardly pay attention. Once we walk into the building that has become our makeshift home, I breathe a sigh of relief. My breath puffs out in front of me. It is cold out. I stare at my hands, the gloves worn through at the tips of the fingers, wishing they could do more to provide heat for us.
The whole entrance is completely destroyed, the ceiling is caved in at some parts, busted and layering what light comes through the skylight with a dirty film. I step over a ceiling bar and fix my wool hat. Dutifully, Lena walks over to the abandoned receptionist desk and ducks under it. I follow close behind, ready to get to sleep. Once completely under it, I settle. Lena curls up into a ball as I cover the hole of the desk we are under up with boards and other forms of debris, so that if someone does come into the building, they wont notice either of us as we are sleeping.
"Wren?" my sister asks.
"Yes?"
"Are we going to have to work tomorrow?"
I sigh. Money isn't really a big issue with me. I have been able to make a life with Abilene since my parents died in Kansas two years ago. After fleeing to Oklahoma, I have taken all responsibility of Abilene onto myself. "No," I said, "we don't."
I should have stayed awake.
That's what I think when I wake to the sound of my sister screaming. Immediately after I am hauled up. I fight with all of my might, and Lena is screaming. I scream too, once, before I am knocked out cold.
The grey coats, I think. That is my last thought. They found us.
a/n: Well thanks for reading guys! Review and tell me what you all think! I'll have a new chapter as soon as I get some lovin for this chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Peace!