Screams filled the air as people ran around the broken down town in a frenzy, no one paid attention to others. They only cared about surviving the disaster. People cried out in horror as they watched the looming shadow inch closer to the already half broken houses, riddled with waterlogged wood and mossy stones that struggled to keep the tightly packed houses together. The tall crumbling skyscrapers that seemed to have been built a lifetime ago had vines growing out of them, the gray color having slowly faded to a muted dark yellow. The old guard railings at the top of the yellowing structure were eroded and broken down. There were small alleyways in-between the tall towers, rocks occasionally tumbled down the sides of them into these trash filled gaps. Occasionally there would be people in the alleys, trying their best to sleep and have something, anything, over their heads. It didn't matter if it was a dumpster or a piece of concrete, the only thing that mattered was avoiding the calamity upon them.

Rain streamed out onto the ground in the alleyway, each drop of water seemingly louder than the last, as they hit the floor.

A resounding BOOM penetrated the already scream filled air with another layer of overwhelming despair, blood spilled out on the wet ground and the limp body of an already mangled man was laid on the floor.

Eyes gouged, his light brown hair stained red with the already pooling blood around him.

A little girl sat beside him, choking on her tears as she sobbed and held onto the man like he was the only person that she had ever known.

Slowly, a tall shadow approached them. The silhouette was blurred from the downpour and the tears in her eyes.

As the shadow reached her, the noise of a gun loading and the sound of heavy footsteps mixed. She looked up at the tall figure, he was looking down at her with a look of pity as he pointed the gun at her, and the little girl's figure stopped shaking as she met the eyes of the man that killed her father. There was a pained look in his eyes, why was he the one feeling pain? He hadn't lost someone close to him, had he?

The light in the girl's eyes was dull while she kept staring into the figure's eyes, which slowly softened. He lowered his hand holding the gun and turned around to walk away.

He looked back at her one more time before saying something she couldn't understand into a device. She looked back at the body beside her, tears started to prick at her eyes again and then flowed over like a burst dam as all her emotional barriers finally came down. The pelting rain being the only noise to console her.

Sometimes, mercy was the worst form of salvation.

The day's time crept by impossibly slow.

What was she supposed to do when the only thing that used to keep her distracted from the tragedies was the lifeless body beside her? Nothing was worth living for anymore, but she supposes that's not quite true, as she still had to survive.

Survive for the people she had lost.

She couldn't think straight, her sense of reality dampened by an early dose of brutality.

The rain kept pelting down and time continued to pass.

No one saw her or her father. No one tried to help her, no one to give her comfort or refuge.

In an attempt to keep herself alive, she crept under a rock and laid against the wall trying to keep herself grounded.

Nothing worked. Nothing could make her mind admit that what had occurred was real.

When the sun had gone down, the man was back for her. Her fathers body was still lying still. She tried to find any comfort she could, fear was still fresh in the air.

The last thing she remembered of her father was the smell of blood and rain.

The floor was cold, a faint ringing could be heard in her ears while she got up.

Where was she? Where had she ended up after the catastrophe passed?

In the back of her mind she heard rhythmic beeping akin to the noise of a medical monitor. She'd only heard one once but she couldn't forget easily.

Trying to locate the beeping was troublesome, no matter how much she ripped up her surroundings or focused on where it should be, it was nowhere to be found.

"What's ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■? Wait ■■■■■■■■■■■■■? Can ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■?"

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■."

The broken, muffled words entered her ears like a discordant melody and she frantically looked around in search for the individuals behind it. Then the words started to sound out a bit clearer as if they were calling out to her.

"I hate ■■■■■■■■■. Guess we have to send ■■■■■■ into ■■■■ place."

"I feel ■■■, she's ■■■■ five."

"This shit actually sucks. W■at's the point in doing a test first if we alr■■dy know it won't be d■ep enough?"

"To be honest i don't know, but we can't go against ■■■■■■'s ■■ders. You want to keep your soul, right?"

"Yeah yeah sure. I'd rather ki■■ ■yself than give m■ ■■■■ up t■ ■■■■■■."

"Now shut up before they hear us talking."

"Quick call her down!!"

"■■■■■■ ■■ease come down to the labo■■■■■■."

Before she could think about it, a wave of black washed over her vision and by the time she woke up, not a peep was heard.

She was alone once more, no one to comfort or help her. No one would ever come back for her and she knew that, but nothing could make her accept it.

She desperately wished for someone to come and comfort her, to tell her everything would be okay.

But nobody came.