Needless to say, the happiness of Kimiko's birthday was ephemeral. Time marches on, emotionless, indifferent, dominant, omnipotent….

The first few days were overwhelmingly silent. Minami, Charles, and Kimiko all laid low within their small saferoom. Minami was often prone, due to her injured and tired state. Charles, from time to time, would walk over to the woman's side to check on her and, if it were necessary, care for her. Bring her food or water, change her bandages, help her up to go to the bathroom. It was hard to believe that he was still just a little kid while he acted like a parental figure to the actual parent.

In the meanwhile, Kimiko would often read or draw to occupy herself. Acting as a method of escape, such activities allowed her to retain a bright, optimistic view of the world, devoid of any corruption or failsafes of human nature, especially in where she was right now. Blood, torture, suffering death: Kimiko was aware that such things existed, but they were irrelevant, far away, fantastical, dreamlike.

Ah, but everyone needs to hit that stage, when they need to wake up and see that the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows….

[_]

"Ack...Urgh…"

"Minami, you're sick."

The stench of vomit and blood assaulted the entire room, forcing the trio inside to breathe such a pungent, fermented stench that would leave a sickening imprint on anyone's psyche. And if the odor wasn't memorable enough, surely the sight was. Minami was on the brink of death from her illness: her skin was borderline white, wrinkled, cracked, parched, dehydrated. Her hair, once a sharp, commanding tone of black, was now graying, succumbing to both time and fatigue and strife. Her eyes, once an alluring, intimidating in the face of danger yet gentle and loving when with her family, the stark hazel irises…..now dilated, void, submissive.

Afraid.

"I'm...not...sick...it's just...I'm tir-...oh no…"

Because Minami was too exhausted to move herself, Charles quickly guided her head to the designated teal bucket, where she, of course, threw up. Kimiko stared, disgusted and scared, but also weirdly entranced by her mother's ill state.

"Here." The boy with blue eyes handed Minami a thermos with cold water. "Drink this, lie down, and rest."

The ravenette graciously accepted the container and followed what Charles said without any sort of complaint or question.

"Thank you...why...are...you...doing so much...for me?"

"...You're the only family I have left."

A short answer that spoke much more from what Charles didn't say.

"Hey, Kimi. Wear this, please. It wouldn't do us well if you got sick too."

The little girl shifted her crimson eyes from her mother to her new 'brother'. In his left hand was a black facemask, presumably to prevent Minami's sickness from spreading to Kimiko byway of the wair. Charles himself was wearing a white medical facemask, and on his white t-shirt, stains of vomit and blood were evident. Minami's vomit and blood.

Taking the mask and wearing it on her face, her breathing restricted but protected, seh curiously switched her gaze between Minami and Charles. "Is….is my mom….is she okay?"

The male sighed. "It doesn't look good. On top of suffering flesh wounds, now those wounds are infected, and she's gravely sick. I don't think...she has a great chance of making it."

"She won't….no, mom can't die! She's...she's my hero. She's invincible!"

"...Kimiko, no one's invincible. Life isn't exactly like those stories that you always read while you're cooped up in here. Not everyone gets a happy ending."

"B-but...so you're saying...we...w-we just...we just watch her die? Is that right, Charles?!"

"Kimi…"

To calm down the female, Charles gently grasped her shoulders and lowered himself down to her level. He would gently place his forehead onto his to sort of increase the intimacy and make Kimiko less agitated. "She needs antibiotics. We don't have such supplies, and as it looks now, I don't think Minami can survive at all for another 24 hours without it. I don't even know if she'll make it /with the medicine/, but a slim chance is better than none….right?"

The tears from Kimiko's eyes momentarily ceased. "H-how...how do we...get the medicine? How can we s-save mom?"

Charles's voice dropped to a low whisper. "Today's Wednesday, which means there will be a supply drop today. If we can get to the correct drop location, we can snag the antibiotics and get out. However, there's going to be many others that want what we want, and they will hurt us if we get in the way. It's goin got be dangerous out there, and if we're not careful, we could very well die out there."

Kimiko tilted her head in confusion. "Why? What's out there?"

"You don't-?! ….Your mother must've done a good job at protecting you, hasn't she? What am I doing, trying to drag you with me? Hm...just stay here and care for your mother."

"No."

"Kimi-"

"NO! I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing while you go out there, where you say it's dangerous. I want to go outside, and I'm going to go outside to get. That. Medicine!"

Such determination was so strong that the fervor in her words stood in the air well after it was articulated.

"Kimiko...please...Charles...stop…"

Minami was struggling to speak, and even moreso to get up. A true mother. Ignoring her own pain in order to look out for her child's well-being, even though she was far from an ideal condition.

"Kimiko." Charles slowly stood up, reached for the carbine that laid against the wall, and took an extra magazine, placing that in his pocket. "I won't stop you if you go out with me, but, please, I beg of you, think this through."

[_]

"Safety switch is here. While it is on, the gun won't fire. Just switch it like so. Remember, don't switch it on when you don't need to, and only place your finger there when the time comes for it to be necessary. This can kill whomever you point this at. Remember the magnitude of your actions, especially when this is in your hands."

Handing the pistol to Kimiko, Charles swung his own rifle over his right side. The sort of air that he carried with him was one of a cold, but internally caring military sergeant: he had his objectives, and he was going to accomplish them without any sort of mistake or failure.

That includes Kimiko's safety.

With the 1911 in her hands, the weapon felt...surreal. In her hands exists the quintessential tool of death, and the black, foreboding outer layer contrasted sharply with her petite, pale hands. The weapon has caused many wounds and scars and bloodshed, and yet, the current user was devoid of even any concept of such things, both mentally and physically.

Kimiko spent a little time fiddling with the weapon, almost as if she were treating it like a toy. The barrel, the safety, the clip, the hammer, the grip, the trigger. Once she gained a proper hold of it, the pistol suddenly felt in tune. No more did it feel as an outcast, but more as an extension….no, a completion, as if she was meant to hold a firearm in her hands and realize her true self.

Wait a minute, where was this coming from?

Her zen was interrupted, and it disturbed Kimiko enough to drop the weapon and squeal. "EEK!"

Clink.

"What the-?! Good grief, Kimiko, keep a tight grip on that thing."

Charles picked up the downed 1911 from the pavement and handed it to the little girl once more. "I guess your attire doesn't really have a good way of holstering it, per say. Just keep it in your hands and don't let it go. Please?"

"Sorry… I don't know what came over me before. I got it now. Let's get going. The more we're out here, the sicker mother is getting!"

Urgency now reset in both of their minds, the two would silently continue to maneuver through the various alleyways of the Chinese city. Their pace was deliberate, but it was also incredibly careful, as the last thing they wanted was to encounter another scavenger that might not be above murdering children.

"Stay close, Kimi. I can't stress that enough."

"I'm here, I'm here. I'm not leaving your side, Charles."

Seconds of tension would evolve into minutes of dread, as each turn of the corner potentially held the presence of an enemy. And yet, everything was silent. Not even the scurries of rats or raccoons could be heard. Were things really this lifeless?

"Jesus...Christ...ugh…"

"What's wrong, Charl-oh my…."

One of the passages the two went through was filled to the brim with the stench of decay, so strong that one was capable of tasting the bitter, vomit-inducing, rotten palate it produced. One could also hear the soft yet constant hum of flies, their primal nature drawn to physical manifestations of horror and filth. No single sign of life or humanity was left within their frame. The body was unclothed, and it was entirely lacerated, decorated with tears, dried blood, wounds, and some other….bodily fluids. A lack of an external appendage at the pelvis, as well as slight indentations on their chest. Their short turquoise hair, once graceful, now marred….it was easy for Charles to deduct what had happened to this person.

A solitary black book, as well as broken, red, elliptical glasses laid peacefully next to the victim of rape. She was probably no more than 15 years old…

"For God's fucking sake...dammit...Kimi, don't look!"

Kimiko, on the other hand, was both confused and...mesmerized. Step by step, the child couldn't help but look at the victim as a canvas, almost as if her mutilated condition was almost….an art form. Blood, the quintessential elixir to life, no arrayed, exposed, evaporated atop the perfect medium: its opposite, death.

Her hand would drift forward, as if she were in a trance, so that it would lay upon the bluenette's naked chest. "...Why...how do I feel nothing but cold and emptiness? I feel no sort of beat, like what I have on my own...when I place my hand on my heart. Do you have no heart? Have you given up? Have you fallen down? Have you been destroyed?"

"KIMIKO, STOP THAT!"

Charles would then tear Kimiko off of the dead body, a clear look of fear on his face.

"What the hell? Why were you touching her? Good god, you know how...that was...Kimiko, we need to focus on your mother, right?"

"My mom? My mother….My mother! What the….why….why did I touch her….."

"Kimiko, come on, we have no more time to waste, we /need/ to get moving."

He'd never say it out loud, but I know what he was thinking at that time:

'What the fuck is wrong with her?'