"The boy is gone" Sashe, a petite blonde girl with pale skin, said. Kath, a tall buy skinny man watched her eyes patiently. They were the only 2 in the bunker since last week when John, an older gentleman died of some unknown disease. Sashe had just found the boy yesterday morning, it was weird he disappeared so fast. He seemed sickly so they'd given him the last of their food rations. Of course that meant they'd both gone a day without eating, Kath had gone 2 since he wanted to preserve food for Sashe who has been looking worse and worse over the past few days. Now he had to scavenge for food,, and more importantly water. As Kath walked through the rubble that was once his city he reminisced on his past.
Just a few years ago things had been normal. Kath would walk to some local pizzeria with his nameless friends. The fog made everything from a few years back very forgettable. At least it wasn't as bad as Chicago which was now a giant crater in the Earth. They decided to demonstrate their nuclear power on 3 cities. Chicago, London, and Tokyo. That was back when television still still worked and the world started freaking out. Back when that was the worst that could've happened. Back when people still lived. About 5 minutes later Kath stumbled upon a park bench. The boy was lying dead next to it. If he could make it look like some rare synthetic beef, Sashe would probably eat it.
30 minutes later Kath had the meat minced. His old, rusty, and dull knife did the job well enough. While he did feel bad for the child, food and especially protein were rare these days. All the smoke and ash in the air scared away all the animals, well the few that were left. Although in a few days Kath and Sashe would probably need to move again. It was common if you stayed in one place for long the organization will find you. While they claim they'll save you they really don't. If you don't provide anything for them, they'll make sure your body does.
Kath felt like someone was watching him as he walked back to the shelter. It was strange since there weren't many people anymore, they had all died over the past 3 years. If he had to guess over 95% of the population were dead. Not to mention there were quite a few people in the organization. Looking down Kath really wondered how many people were left. There were skeletons and bones everywhere. This city that was once thriving was now broken and dead. Although maybe it would be more alive if cars or boats were still viable. But they weren't since they implemented electricity scanners.
When Kath got back to the shelter Sashe was asleep. She really was looking paler by the day and Kath was starting to worry. They'd been travelling together for a year and a half now, if she died he'd be all alone again.
Sashe was thrilled when she woke up a few hours later to find Kath roasting some delicious synthesized beef. She watched as Kath slowly rotated a metal stick he popped the meat on. He was slow and melancholic just as always, his expression never changed. She was starving when he first saw her. He looked the same back then with cold, dark eyes. Sashe didn't know why he saved her, buy he gave her food and nursed her back to health. For that, she loved him.
After the 'synthesized meat' got to a nice brown color on the outside, Kath walked over to Sashe. She was staring blankly probably reminiscing about her old life. Unlike him she could remember everything, it must be a huge burden. "Hey Sashe, food is ready." Kath said while gently tapping her shoulder. She was slouched over, her frizzy dirty blonde hair hanging over her shoulder. Sashe's lost eyes gazed up at Kath, she said nothing buy took the food with grace. Her weak, trembling arms almost dropped it twice. She was getting weaker by the day and it really wasn't a good sign. "Hey Sashe" Kath said as he recalled from his memory, "it's your birthday right?" She looked up groggily and gently a warm smile came to her face. "Oh it is." She responded in a light tone. Kath reached into his unripped pocket and pulled out a beautiful silver necklace. "I found this today while searching for food." Kath said while Sashe took it in her hands. "OH it's beautiful" Sashe whispered while clasping it around her neck. "I love it so much thank you." Kath looked at her with the necklace on, his eyes still empty. "It was no problem at all."
As the two finished their meals Kath talked to Sashe about moving Shelters. He didn't want her to take many things because of how weak she was looking. Kath also wanted to finally travel out of the city and into a more rural land. He hoped there might be some undisturbed farm that could hold them over for weeks while he found medicine for Sashe. Just then, something banged into the shelter door.