Working my way through the prompts people left me~ =v= CE left me a choice between Befriending and Breaking… so HERE IS THIS!
Stay Alive.
That was the only thing that mattered anymore. It was wonderful to see everyone embrace that truth, after all the years when Aleta’d known. It didn’t matter what happened to anyone else, as long as you stayed alive. Alliances, promises, honor, pride… nothing else mattered. You stayed alive.
It only took one swing of her crowbar to cripple the thing that was once a man. It gurgled, and she brought her weapon down again. Again. Cold, thick blood splattered across her face, but that didn’t matter. Until it’s head was pulp, she wasn’t safe. You had to stay alive. She didn’t bother to wipe the viscera off when it was still.
It was easy enough to pry open the automatic doors of the grocery store, and soon she was creeping along the aisles. Most of the shelves had been emptied before things had gotten really bad, but you never know what you could still find. There could still be some cans of food lying on some forgotten shelf, a clean apron that could be torn up for bandages.
There was a sound, and she froze, pressing low to the ground and straining to hear. Metal on metal. Footsteps.
Low breathing.
She didn’t relax as she made her way towards the source. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t one of them. Humans weren’t any better than the creatures they turned into. They just screamed when you cracked their skulls. Whoever they were, they were alive. That meant they were smart; they had resources and weapons, and the more that THEY had, the less was there for her. Stay Alive. Anything to stay alive.
She caught sight of the girl, kneeling in a half-collapsed aisle, her arm between two fallen shelves, feeling for something. She hadn’t noticed Aleta. She was weak, pathetic. It would be easy to ambush her, cripple her long before she could grab the axe lying on the floor beside her.
She didn’t know what made her pause that day.
The girl’s eyes were the most vivid jade she had ever seen. Her voice had been low, with a strange accent that drew out her o’s and u’s. When she stood, she towered, and yet she smiled like it wasn’t the end of the world.
The only rule was to stay alive, and nothing else mattered. Alliances forged with a handshake and tears of happiness were meaningless. Promises of protection and friendship were empty words. Green eyes that smiled didn’t change anything. All of it could be destroyed, as long as she stayed alive.
The catching of her breath and racing of her heart and flushing of her cheeks, didn’t matter.
Stay Alive.