She woke up to the sound of birds and the brightness of the sun. The sun was just starting to rise. Good. That would give them more time. She looked down to the earth several meters beneath them. Clear. She woke up the boy, and they untied themselves from their branches. Her whole body ached from the uncomforting way she had slept, but she knew from experience, that it would quickly disappear, once they started walking.
She crawled down first. She jumped the last meter and the second her feet hit the ground she pulled out her knives and looked around. She sharpened her hearing, but she could only hear the small creatures of the forest starting to wake up. The natural creatures. The harmless. Most of them were birds, which seemed to be the species, who managed to stay alive longest in this new world. Probably because of the wings. That must be a great advantage…
She signaled the boy to throw down the backpacks.
After a few minutes they were safely on their way. But still… safety was overrated.
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They had been walking for several hours, when she finally stopped. The boy needed resting. He had never complained on their marathon-a like walks, but she knew that a small guy like him was not build for a several miles walk each day. He belonged in a kindergarten. With kids on his own age. He should be playing, running around like a maniac, screaming nonsense-words into the air. But that was not going to happen…
She gave the kid the bottle that was half-full. Only a little, she reminded him. She could not let him swallow all they had. Who knew when it would rain or when they would run across a river? And even though they did find a river, she could not be sure the water was even clean enough for them to drink.
She let her eyes wander. They were surrounded by trees. There were leaves all around on the earth below them and every time they took a miscalculated step, she could hear it. That was both good and bad. They made noise, but that meant the walkers did too.
She looked up at the sun. They still had some hours of daylight left. She looked back at the kid. He met her eyes with an ashamed look in his. Her eyes lowered to the bottle he held in his hands. The empty bottle. She knew she should be angry. Their water-resources were extremely limited, and swallowing all of it at once… they simply could not afford it. She knew she should punish him. He knew it. He was looking down at his feet, not even daring to look her into the eyes.
She knew what she should do, but she simply… could not. Instead of anger she felt sadness. The kid had been walking around in the sun without water for hours without complaining. She felt ashamed. She lifted the kid´s head so that he could look at her. It´s okay. She smiled reassuring and padded him on the cheek. The relief, she so clearly saw in the young boy´s eyes, cut her heart in half more efficient, than any knife could ever have. She took the empty bottle from his small hands and threw it in her backpack. She handed out her hand to the kid. After a small hesitation he grabbed it. With a kid in her left hand and a knife in the other, she started walking.
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She stood still. Not even daring to breath. Neither did the kid. He had heard it too. Stay here, she signaled and let go of his hand. She grabbed the other knife and slowly neared the sound. She was careful not to make one herself. She only had to sneak forward a few 10-20 meters, before she saw it. That poor animal. It was surrounded by three walkers. It had no change of escaping. Three, she calculated. All 'old' walkers. Weak. She would be a surprise. She could take them, but… She studied the animal. It was a beautiful brown rabbit. Big. Strong. Healthy. Her mouth automatically started drooling, but her brain protested. Her memory showed her a picture of Benjamin, the rabbit she had had back home. Home… It was probably dead by now. Ripped apart by the hands of the dead itself. She tried not to see it for her eyes. She tried not to see the blood…
There was no blood on this rabbit. The walkers had not touched it just yet. It´s scared black eyes where big as it looked all around it, trying to find a way out. A way for it to survive.
They really needed the food…
She leaped forward and hit one walker, in the soft spot right before the cheekbone, in the process. She rolled around on the ground and quickly got back up at her feet. The two walkers turned toward her. Her eyes found the bunny. It was trying to escape. With a silent sorry she threw one of her knives and skewered the rabbit to the ground, before her chance of a meal was gone. Hands out and eyes full of bare and ruthless hunger, the walkers neared her. She only had one knife left in position, but they were old. Slow. She stepped aside and hit walker no. two in the neck, knife up towards the brain. Weak. She pulled back the knife and turned towards unnatural creature no. 3. She let it come close, before she smashed the blade through its eyeball into the brain. It just stood there for a second, without realizing exactly what had happened. Then it fell backwards and hit the ground with a quiet bump. Dead.
She looked back at the rabbit, who had tried to escaped, when the walkers had lost their interest in it. It lay on the ground, knife in its belly keeping it there. She could see it was still breathing. Still fighting for its life even though it was unavoidably going to die. She quickly killed the rabbit before it had to suffer any further. It´s savior became it´s killer. "I´m sorry", she whispered. Her throat hurt. She had not spoken for quite a while. She tied the dead rabbit to her snares hanging form her belt and walked back to the kid, who was patiently waiting for her to come back.
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They only ate half the rabbit that night. Food two evenings in a row was a small miracle, and she did not want to push their luck. Who knew when they would find eatable food again? They had to make it last…
At the sound of the kid´s soft breathing she once again looked up at the bright sky above her. The stars. They had been there for so long. Longer than humankind itself. And they would be there long after humankind was gone, dead of the hands of the walking death. Long after she was gone. Death was in the end unavoidably. She knew that. Why did they even try? Why did she? Why crumply through the days, praying they would live another night, another hour, another minute? Why even try? But I guess, I'm just like the rabbit. Still trying to breath, even though death is unavoidably. Still trying to survive. And praying for a rescue who will never come.