A shock of bright light awoke Kai the next morning. Her head pounded from the nightmare memory from her past. The sun was high overhead, signaling to her that she'd slept into the afternoon. The fact didn't surprise her; she had lately been spending most of the night awake and sleeping through the day.
'I seriously need to get some more stuff to eat.' The thought rattled in her head as she looked through her pack to see what rations she had left. A pack of pudding cups, some crackers, three bottles of pop and a pack of some candy she'd grabbed as she'd made her way out of the store before its security force could get her. Kai sighed sadly, her plan was back firing horribly. Pulling down the tarp and stuffing it back into her pack, she rolled up her blankets and put those away too. The one thing she longed for was a night in a room, not woods or an alleyway far away from any people. She wasn't an anti-social person but most hotels wouldn't let her spend the night looking like she did. She hadn't had a shower in awhile, her cloak was torn and then there were the two noticeable parts of her mutation.
She removed her cloak from her body and pushed that into the pack as well. When she'd left her home it'd been stuffed full of supplies, mostly food, but now most of that was gone and it was getting familiarly light. She reached behind her and pulled at the tail that hung between her spread legs. Pain shot from the tail and it confirmed that it was still functioning. She looked up at the sky and was nearly blinded by the rays stretching from the sun. The large bat wings on her back spread in front of her eyes and she turned away from the sky as the leathery folds of skin repositioned themselves on her back. Sighing again, she remembered the hours she'd spent that night as her skin had ripped open, new bones and muscles had formed, and how the next morning she'd awoken to find herself a mutant.
Breaking out of the trance she'd been in, she attached her pack to her chest while avoiding her wingspread. Looking up once more at the sky, she pulled on the pair of goggles that she'd purchased with just about what she'd had left in her wallet. Setting her mind on finding the nearest gas station, she flapped her wings and raised herself off the ground in a few swoops.
The doors slid open as Kai stepped onto the metal walkway leading into the market. Her boots clanked harshly as she pulled her hood up so no one would be able to identify her. In her entire life, she'd always been the good girl, taking care of her sister, standing her father's blows, trying to finish homework while having screaming parents in the room across the hall, and not being able to do anything because her damn parents thought she was spoiled enough. Her anger at her parents consumed her at that instant, and she had that feeling in her brain. The rattling, power pulsing through her entire mind. She hurried off into a nearby aisle, just before a nearby magazine stand exploded, sending shards of paper and wood flying in all directions. Now that she was on her own she realized that no one would really take her back now so she had to make her own life. Just as she was reaching for a box of dry cereal and some other things that would last and didn't have to sit in a fridge to stay fresh, footsteps reached her ears and she quickly put back her thefts and pretended to be pondering choices as a security guard came wondering past her, not noticing Kai smirk at him as he passed her. Only stores with no cameras would have security guards as this wasn't one of those huge chain supermarkets that were popping up everywhere. Not wanting to wait in the store any longer, she grabbed some cereal, candy, chips, and anything else within reach, stuffed it under her cloak and made a run for it.
Just she cleared the check out counters she picked up speed and didn't notice that her cloak had swung away, revealing her back and the black tail wrapped around her left leg. Kai also didn't notice the white-haired African woman standing in line and watching her as she sped for the doors and the outside light.