There were few who remained. Those of us deemed unworthy of chance. The outcast, forgotten wanderers on Earth. I was the youngest, only 6 when they shut the doors on me and locked themselves inside. I still remember seeing my mother on the other side of the door mouthing “Trust no one, I love you” as the doors bolted shut. I knew she didn’t love me, even then. What mother would leave their wailing child? But something in my gut knew she was right and the moment the doors closed, I had to leave. I had to find somewhere isolated and so I walked and I never stopped.
At first, the land still belonged to us. Our paths and roads stayed clear for long enough. The world was quiet then but, as the land became theirs, the world began to speak. Everywhere you went you heard life. Sounds I’d never heard before became my every day. Birds would sing in symphonies unknown before. Each morning they were louder. From one bird, to a forest, to a world of song. The presence of the sun was welcomed by the birds.
It would be another 8 years before I’d see anyone again. I knew I was safe alone and I didn’t want to trust anyone else. I couldn’t trust my mother to look after me, how could I trust a stranger? I’d made my way to the outskirts of a decaying city. I needed supplies; new tools to hunt with, clothes to fit my growing frame, and any left behind grain I still might be able to eat. The empty spaces were dangerous. Larger groups made them their domain and the houses would crumble around you as you entered them. The edges were often picked dry so you’d have to venture deeper for what you needed. It used to be easier when I was smaller, people wouldn’t be looking for children, they were all Inside, so I’d be able to sneak through the shadows unharmed but now I carried like an adult and, although I probably still looked young, I couldn’t stay hidden like I did before.
The journey would take time, methodically going from house to house until I could find all I needed and it was starting to get dark. Creating light would not be safe here so I headed for one of the abandoned homes to bunk down for the night and eat some meat I’d cooked that morning.
Entering the house, I left the door unlatched ready for a quick exit incase anyone was inside but a once over let me know I was alone and I locked up and headed into to back rooms with views of the overgrown gardens and more protection from being caught. The house wasn’t bad. It showed the signs of life before. A smashed photo frame lay on the floor, the drawers in the bedrooms all open and ransacked, a spring pushing through the seat of the chair in the corner, technology which had bo more electricity to run. There wasn’t much I could use but it was shelter and I settled down.
A banging woke me some point in the night. I reached for my knife I kept under my pillow and jumped to my feet.
“Who’s there?” A voice called out. “Answer me!”
I hesitated, this was the first time I’d been near anyone.
“What are you doing in my house?” The voice demanded.
“I… I’m August. I’m heading to the city tomorrow and then I’ll be on my way,”
“Drop your knife, I’m coming up,” as they spoke, a wood panel on the floor flung open and a lit figure began to emerge. A woman, taller than me with a face that looked as though it had been weathered from years of hardship looked back at me.
“Come down,” she called and I obliged. The panel led way to a deeper tunnel that went underground and at the bottom could see light radiating. Within minutes we were both stood in an open room just staring at each other.
“You must be…”
“14,” I answered.
“But that’s not right, there was only meant to be one child and she was called…”
“Sophia Rogers?” I answered again.
“How do you? Sorry, I’m lost. I’m Kate by the way and this is Research Station 75 Sector 3,”
“You’re an Insider?” I looked around me and realised we were stood in some kind of control room. Screens lit the walls and images of the city and the surrounding forest were displayed on them all.
“I’m with the UN Armed Forces. A team of us have been watching the surface for the past 8 years. That’s all I’m at liberty to say. We’re not here to hurt you, only to observe but when I saw you sleeping I thought you were her. Wait, how do you know her name?”
I thought back to the last time I saw my mother, the words she mouthed to me. “I don’t know, my mum used to work for the government and she mentioned the name before everything started. My memory held onto it incase I ever came across someone with that name…” I fumbled through a lie but Kate looked convinced, “I’d like the leave just before sunrise, if that is ok with you,” I asked.
“Of course, you can stay here the night and I’ll take you to the surface then,” she showed me to a room with a bed and some blankets and left the door ajar. A few hours later, she came and woke me again. She kept her word. She offered me a shower and some bread for the journey which I willingly accepted and we began to head up again.
The sun was just creeping up as we made it to the surface but something was off. The world was quiet.
“Where are they? Where are the birds?” I panicked as I glanced at Kate,
“What birds?” She replied.
To be continued…
The piece above was inspired by a writing prompt on Reddit which reads: The birds would always sing louder in the morning now that the humans were gone. One morning the singing stopped.
Hoped you enjoyed! I’ve had a lot more time on my hands lately so I’ve been writing and filming! I have a few videos to upload to my YouTube channel I restarted in January and then neglected and a few posts for here!
You’ll notice a hair transformation during them as some were filmed in the pre fringe- not completely lost it in lockdown- era and some were filmed after! If you want to see them I’ll post on here when they are up so feel free to follow!
Stay safe out there!
Love Jen x
Jennifer Pickering 