Gemini

Chapter 1* The Find

Chapter One* The Find

I creep stealthily along the rough brick wall, keeping an eye out for danger. The wind rustles my auburn hair, bringing with it scents of rotting, decay and death. I feel hollow, and my stomach rumbles, but I am used to that. I have been used to that for almost a year.

Today is the three hundredth and sixty fifth day of my existence. No, I am not one year old. I start counting from the destruction of earth.

It is the year three thousand. Exactly one year ago, the earth as we knew it ceased to exist. Gory details of it are etched perfectly into my mind. I remember how people were torn apart by hands the size of houses, how their insides spilled out until the ground was slick with blood. How the screams of the terrified and the doomed filled the air. I watched my house burn to the ground along with everything I ever knew.

My hand touches the cool surface of my leather pouch. Inside holds the few treasures I have left- The shard of a broken pencil from my school days, a necklace from my old life.

My name is Kayla Richards. I am 17 years old. A year ago, I knew how to do math and flirt with boys. Now, I have learnt to hunt and scavenge, and keep myself alive.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so good at that. If there is no one else left in the world for me, why do I live at all?

An old diner with the words ‘Tori’s Takeout’ peeling off the dirty glass windows has a black trash bin toppled by the side. My eyes light up. After a quick glance to check if the coast is clear, I sprint across the street to the diner, dodging cars, my auburn hair streaming out like a war banner behind me.

The trash bin might as well be a bucket full of treasures. Inside I find a piece of stale vegetable, and a scrap of meat. Meat! How long has it been since I had a scrap of meat? I hold it to my nose and inhale deeply. Underneath the moldy scent is the fragrance and aroma of beef. Heavenly. I stuff my hoard into my leather pouch and dig through the trash bin, coming up with a piece of bread and a broken china plate. Both go into my pouch too.

Satisfied, I am about to leave when the smell of grapevines tinges the air. Freezing, I sniff. Yes, definitely grapevines. There is no winery here, and even if there was, it would’ve been plucked clean by me. That leaves only one, terrifying option…

Dionysus.

So you might have guessed that zombies destroyed the world. Isn’t that what was trending before? The answer is probably way off your radar. Things of mystique, etched onto temple walls thousands of years old, coming back to haunt us? Pfft, ridiculous. But there is no denying that the things, or rather beings, that destroyed human life were the Greek Gods.

And stupid as it sounds, one of them is coming to get me right now.

Clutching my pouch securely to my chest, I set off at a sprint just as a magnificent sandaled foot comes into view. Where to hide? There are many skyscrapers around and I can easily duck into a lobby, but if the building collapses it will be my end. No, I need somewhere inconspicuous, somewhere where the god will give no second glance.

It catches my eye. An abandoned warehouse at the end of the street. Low lying, unremarkable and a perfect hiding spot. But it is at the end of street. I doubt I can get there in time, but it is my only chance.

I force myself to run faster. I was never an athlete in school, but a year of fending for myself and escaping from Greek Gods have their uses. I reach the warehouse, sneaking a peek behind me. A wall of grey smoke is sweeping the street, crushing everything in its path, bringing with it the scent of fresh grapes. A luring, but deadly, aroma. I turn back to the entrance.

Some blood is on the floor. Fresh blood. I look up and see a thread caught on a rusty nail hammered into the door.

My blood starts pumping until I feel lightheaded. Someone is in there, no doubt about it. The person might very well be dangerous, I think. My hand inches to my pouch and pulls out a gleaming dagger. I shouldn’t go in…

An ear splitting roar makes the decision for me. Without further ado I slip inside, and musty darkness overwhelms me. If the person is a cannibal, driven mad by starvation, or if this is a trap…

Today may very well be the day I die.

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What do you think? This is just a new story that I'm trying out. It's called Gemini and will be continued after ASD is finished. Please vote, fan me if you haven't, and comment! :) 

Who do you think is inside... xD