It had been over five hours since my mother had told me to wait in the small bunker under our home. She had gone in search of food, telling me to wait here, in this cold and damp space until she came back.
It was often too dangerous as of late to stay even in the first floor of our home, with murderers plaguing Anthropolis from the famine that had only worsened throughout the years, mostly from the city being isolated from any other civilizations, the wall that surrounded it protecting us from the dangerous beasts that lived beyond that my mother often warned me were monsters that preyed on humans, devouring their flesh while they were still alive.
Worry was beginning to settle within me, a cold shiver running down my back. She had never left me alone in the house for more than an hour or so, usually gone stealing something, anything that we could eat quickly before returning home after. But five hours?! That was far beyond normal, even in this hellscape of a city that we were forced to call home.
She could have been killed, or could have been kept as hostage, I knew that. Those types of events were unfortunately quite a common occurrence in Anthropolis, the city being subject to horrible crimes with not much that could be done to put an end to them, the desperation overriding most peoples common sense; the hunger, the need for food in this city often too much for people to bear.
I thought it would be the best if I were to wait it out for I knew there would be little I could do if someone starved enough wanted to kill me, especially since I was alone.
I head an abrupt thud at the door, the walls giving a shudder from the force of the person at the door. Whoever was there clearly desperate, the sound of the door flinging open just by force, the door slamming on the wall, the sound echoing through the house, the walls shuddering as it was slammed shut.
I could feel my muscles tense as the footsteps sounded from above, frantic on their motions.
But I stayed underground, if there was an intruder in my home like I suspected, then it would be best for me to let them take what little I had stored in the home than to risk being killed, or eaten if whoever was just above felt desperate enough.
But all my suspicions dropped as I heard the desperate, almost broken voice that sounded from above.
"Sky," the voice choked out. "Please...." And then silence.
I recognized who the voice belonged to almost instantly, my mother.
She was the only one from the family other than myself that remained alive after all the terrors that the famine had brought upon us, my father and sister both being taken from us, gone without a trace, neither of their bodies found.
I rushed up the old wooden steps of the bunker, the dust from the filthy space invading my lungs, but I ignored it as I ran up the steps, taking them two at a time as I finally opened the rusted door.
When I surveyed the ruin which was our home, I could see blood covering the carpeted floor, coating it like paint as it slowly seeped through the carpet.
My mother was nearby, her body practically limp on the floor, her throat cut open, blood flowing like a waterfall out of her exposed neck, her eyes wide and desperate as they darted towards myself as she tried to bring herself to her feet once again, though quickly collapsing, her neck going limp from blood loss, her head resting unnaturally on the wooden floors, already covered in my mothers blood.
I instantly kneeled over her, the amount of blood covering her clothes seeming almost impossible.
Her eyes bulged as she seemed to try to speak, her mouth opening. But with her throat being cut so deep she could barely get the words out, only a short trail of blood running down her mouth.
"Sky!" She said as firmly as she could, even in the state she was in. "You have to leave this city, it's... it's grown much to dangerous, for me, you, for practically anyone at this point!" She said, her voice exasperated as she gritted the words out, clearly struggling to keep herself awake.
I couldn't even form words, I thought this had to be result of the blood loss, that she couldn't really be meaning to tell me to leave this city, to make myself vulnerable to whatever awful monsters lurked beyond the wall, the ones my parents had warned me of since I was a young boy.
She gripped my arm, squeezing it as hard as she could in the state she was in.
"It's the only option we have left!" She said, tears forming in her eyes. "This city... it's going to kill you if you don't find a way to leave!" She screamed, her voice hoarse.
I could feel tears begin to form in my own eyes as I jerked my head to the left, looking through the shattered window of our ruined home into the distance of a city in equal ruin.
I could see them then, a group of people, the four of them sprinting towards our house at a rapid pace. I could see one of them, a man with limbs so thin I could practically make out the shape of bones holding a knife coated in blood, my mothers blood. All of their eyes filled with something I had come to recognize instantly; hunger.
To this severity, they had probably lost all common sense, all rationality they had probably retained when the city hadn't had such an apparent lack of food.
It was clear that the door wouldn't hold them back for long, for even though they all appeared to be quite thin, I knew that the desperation would aid to their strength, and in their numbers would quickly break into the house. Which meant... I had to leave.
But I didn't want to leave my mother behind, couldn't leave her behind after all that we had been through.
She had always been there for me my entire life, there when both my father and sister had likely disappeared and probably been cannibalized over a year ago now, bringing me what scraps of food whenever she could. And now she was on the floor, only having minutes, if even that to live.
My eyes darted from my mother to the group of the starving who seemed to be getting closer and closer with each passing moment.
I could feel tears begin to well in my eyes, my mouth quivering as I realized I couldn't save her, that the knife had cut in too deep for any chance of her keeping her life.
"I'm... I'm so sorry mother." I whimpered, struggling to keep my voice even.
She looked to be trying to smile, but her life was quickly receding, her eyelids only half open now.
I could barely hold back my sobs as I stood up, my body trembling as i began to run through the few rooms it took to get to the back entrance of the house, tears flowing down my cheeks as I swung open the back door, the hinges creaking as I stepped out into the night sky, the moon showing high in the cloudless sky.
I turned back once more. I could hear the sounds of the people I had seen in the distance, yelling and screaming as they had caught up to my mother, probably devouring the food she had been able to secure like wild animals.
I looked into the distance, to the once great city which now lied in ruin, plagued with hunger and crime.
I didn't have any choice now, with my mother likely being dead now, the person who had provided for me since the famine had started.
But now, with my entire family being dead, I had to learn to provide for myself, and this terrible world that had come to be, I would have to learn how to face it.