Chapter 1

Mel sat on her bed, beat headphones slapped on her ears, listening to Queen's, feeling the growl in her stomach. Clenching her eyes shut, she listened to Freddie Mercury belch out the lines to Bohemian Rhapsody. Today marked 14 days, 2 weeks since her mom had come home. Something that didn't boed well for Mel.

The cupboards were bare except for two or three cans of spam; which Mel hated with a passion that only someone who knew what was in it could understand. The house was silent, still, dark, and cold. The first hints of winter had started just yesterday and Mel knew better than to start the fireplace yet. Shivering, she thinks, Great, cold and hungry. Could it get worse?

That's when she heard a sound, ripping the beats from her ears and slamming the stop button on her walkman. She holds her breath, whispering so low even the words were inaudible to her own ears, 'They can't hear me.'

The sound came again, popping her eyes open, she slowly slides from her bed to the boarded up windows of her room, only a slit allowing access to the outside world beyond. Down the dead end street, she sees a lone figure. It moved quickly, towards her home in a trench coat several sizes too large, face covered with a breathing apparatus, large snow googles, and a battered hat. A backpack, and another strange square long box on one side, the handle of a blade on another. It wasn't so much that, but the gun that made Mel shiver. The person was slightly squatted, moving at a quick walk, trench tails dragging as it came towards her home.

'Scavenger,' Mel whispers again, now just enough for her ears to hear.

The person stops in mid stride, leg outstretched, headed to the house to Mel's left. Then the person darts from view. Mel knew the drill and ran silently down the stairs to the 'hobbit hole' of a closet under the stairs. Her mom had always told her to hide in the cupboard inside that closet where the heater for the house once sat. Clutching her walkmen, she waits. The sound came a few minutes later as the back door is smashed in. She could hear the sound of glass shattering as the door slammed against the opposite wall.

Covering her mouth to muffle her now frantic breathing, Mel squeezes her eyes shut again. In her mind like a mantra, Mel whispered, Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet.

No sounds came, no footfalls on glass covered floors, no old wood floors creaking from weight placed on them. The only sound that came was the sound of hinges squeezing slightly. Mel takes a sharp intake of breath. It was close, too close. Holding her breath, she waits. The scavenger was right on the other side of the door, a slight scuffing sound the only indication. Mel's heart was screaming in her chest, beating so quickly she thought she'd die.

The cupboard door swings open violently and a harsh but muffled woman's voice snarls, 'Show me your eyes!'

Mel didn't understand, her arms going up to show her surrender, but the voice said louder with more venom, 'Show me your eyes now!!!'

The bright light in Mel's face was enough as she looks up, the masked face and AK-47 pointed at her. She could see the finger poised on the trigger as Mel gasps out, 'I'm not one of them!!!'

Suddenly the light goes off, the masked figure disappearing from the closet. Mel sits there stunned, thinking she should be dead. That's when the muffled voice comes, 'Come on out, sorry to scare you.'

Mel didn't move from her crampt spot for a moment until the person sticks its face back through the hole and pulling the breathing apparatus away says in a young woman's voice, 'God, can you even understand me?'

Mel nods, staring at the reflective goggles as she slowly gets out of the cupboard and closet. Standing up and dusting the dirt off her, she looks up at the woman and asks, 'Who are you?'

The woman/girl shrugs and walks back into the kitchen where the door stood wide open, glass covering the floor. She moved lightly in her combat boots, missing the glass with ease as she opens cabinets looking for food. Mel gulps before asking in a shaky voice, 'Left cabinet to the fridge.'

Goggle woman/girl turns to her and smiles saying, 'Thanks, kind of surprised you would tell me that.'

'My mom said if I was found, to give away the location of our food. Food isn't worth our lives.'

The goggle woman/girl stops in mid reach, asking, 'There are two of you?'

'No, my mom's been... gone a while.'

Google woman/girl nods, not asking more as she opens the cabinet and pulls out one of the spam saying, 'Sweet mother of God, haven't had this in years.'

She looks back at Mel, a goofie grin on that half face Mel could see and in that instance Mel realized the woman was likely her age. The goggle girl asks, 'Hungry?'

Mel shakes her head just as her stomach betrays her and growls loudly. Goggle girl nods murmuring, 'That's what I thought.'

With that the girl cracks the can open, slices the chemical meat, and halves it on the only two plates in the kitchen. She sits down, throwing off her pack, the long black box that hit with a heavy thud, and set the AK within grabbing distance, saying, 'Sit, eat with me. Tell me your story.'

Mel still in some shook and a little leary moved forward, standing awkwardly by the chair for her. Goggle girl sighs, head falling before she says, 'Listen, I'm not a threat to you. In fact, I'm not going to take any of your food but what I have just taken. You are hungry, I'm hungry, sit.'

Finally Mel complies, sitting and picking up a piece of the slimy pink goo meat saying, 'This stuff is disgustingly salty.'

The goggle girl says, a piece half way in her mouth, mumbling, 'I just think protein and sodium, part of a balanced diet.'

Mel eats her's in silent protest until she feels the urge to ask in a shaky voice, 'Wh-Wh-what about your eyes?'

The goggle girl stops in mid-bite. She slowly puts it down, looking up at Mel. Mel felt a sudden chill inside as the girl sighs and pulls off the goggles. Her eyes were shut, but the asian slant was unmistakable as well as the black hair and pale skin. A large scar split through one eyebrow and down to her jaw on one side. She opens her eyes and Mel jumps, one eye had gone white, the other gray. Mel starts to shake but the girl holds up her hand saying quickly, 'Don't jump to conclusions! I am not one of them either. My dad was white, mom was asian, I inherited my gray eyes... or eye I should say, from him.'

Mel grips the table hard and asks, 'Wh-what happened to the other?'

'A fight with a kazert, ended worse for him than me. I lost my sight in one eye, he lost a body.'

The girl waves her hand in front of her face, and then goes back to eating. She had to be a few years older than Mel, maybe seventeen, eighteen? Mel asks it, 'How old are you?'

'How old are you?'

'I'm fifteen,' Mel says quickly, proud to have lived that long in this world.

The girl nods as she pulls a folded paper from her trench pocket and asks, biting into another slice of her spam, 'What's your name fifteen?'

'Mel.'

The girl stops her unfolding of the paper and asks, 'Mel?'

'Melody Fitzherbert.'

'Oh Mel, short for Melody. Like it, what's on your walkmen?'

Mel looks down, having fogotten she was still clutching it like a lifeline in her other hand says, 'Oh.. uh... Queens?'

The goggle girl nods with a smile, saying as she continues to unfold the thick paper, 'Awe Queens, been years since I heard them. Any favorites?'

'Um... Queen Killer?'

'Is that a question or statement?'

'Statement.'

The goggle girl nods as she spreads out the paper and Mel finally realizes its a map, certain towns are circled and some of those circles are crossed out. Mel chews on her last bite of spam and asks, 'What's that?'

'This?' Goggle girl asks, smiles and says, pointing out the door, 'See those?'

Mel looks out at the two large funnels that she always thought were the legs of the sky and asks, 'Yeah, what about them?'

'Do you know what they are for?'

'Nope.'

'A long time ago before the outbreak they generated electricity, those are the cooling towers of a Nuclear power plant.'

Mel knew about nuclear power from her mom's history lessons, but that had been at their last house. Mel nods and says, 'Ok, so?'

'So I've come to shut it down properly.'

Mel frowns, confused and asks, 'I thought it was?'

Goggle girl shakes her head as she gobbles down the last slice of her spam and says, 'Nope, none of them were. So I'm here to fix that.'

Mel looks at the towers, then back at the map as the girl crosses out the town she was in and she asks, 'So... you've done all the others that are crossed out?'

The girl grabs up the map swiftly, folding it just as quickly, and says, 'Yup.'

'Are - are you about to leave?'

'Yup,' the girl says sliding her goggles on, slapping her badly mangled cowboy hat back on, and picking up her pack and rifle.

'Your not going to take my food, or kill me?'

'Why would I do that? I scavenge when I need to, but I'm not a thief. Anyway, your mom will probably be back soon, don't want to stick around to find out what fun she would have with me.'

'She's been gone for two weeks,' Mel says, not even thinking.

The girl stops as she grabs for her AK. For a second, Mel could tell from her set jaw goggle girl was really thinking about that. Finally she says with a sigh, 'Listen, I can guarantee that your mom isn't coming back if it's been two weeks... has she been gone longer?'

Mel shake's her head, the goggle girl nods and says softly, 'Listen, I hate to break it to you but your Mom's likely dead.'

It stunk, but Mel knew it was likely. Her mom was only supposed to be gone for a few hours, now it was two weeks. Mel shallows hard, holding back the tears, and nods.

Goggle girl nods, picks up the gun and heads to the door. She's about to walk through and stops, slowly she looks back and says, 'Listen, I know your alone now. But if you want to survive you need to get to a haven quick. The kazert are quick at picking off lone survivors.'

'Your alone.' Mel says, pointing to the front of the house, 'Only scouts go ahead of their group and no one has shown up. Scavengers hunt in packs, your alone and seem to be doing fine.'

'True, but I chose this lifestyle. Anyway, I've said my peace, see you.'

She steps out of the house. Mel hesitates then runs forward, glass clinking under her feet as she yells out, 'Wait!'

Goggle girl shushes her quickly, having just left the back porch, breathing apparatus in her hands. She says in a harsh whisper, 'Don't yell, kazert love to hunt that way! Rule one!!!'

Mel covers her mouth, whispering, 'Sorry.'

Goggle girl smirks, and Mel asks, 'What's your name?'

The girl smirks harder at Mel, seems to debate, but finally says with a quirk in her lip, 'Naname.'

'Naname what?'

'Just Naname.'

Mel nods as the girl starts to turn away, but Naname hesitates before turning back, asking with a shrug, 'Want to come with me? I'll help you get to a haven.'

Mel looks back at the house, her heart squeezing in hopes of her Mom's return. But she shakes her head saying, 'No... I'll stay.'

Naname nods, pulling up the apparatus, saying in that muffled voice, 'Ok, see you around Mel... hopefully.'

With that, Naname slinks away, moving faster than Mel expected with all that gear on her. Besides her mom, Mel hadn't met another unaffected, and around her age no less. Naname was out of sight in a blink and once again the house was silent, still, dark, and cold.

Author's Notes: I hope everyone has enjoyed the first chapter, reviews are always appreciated as they help me craft both the story and its characters. With my schedule, I'm hoping to have a new chapter weekly, should no disasters arise.