All that's left

A Story by Trina4444

the first part of a short story. A girl named Eva walks the rubble of the earth.

All that's left

I pull on my gloves, thick leather, old and worn, they were my grandfathers. I found them after he died. Then I strap on my mask. I lock the door behind me and walk up the stairs to the outside world. We live underground for protection. When I’m at the top of the stairs I look around. I see nothing, not a soul around. Our neighbors must be asleep in the early morning. I see old tree trunks without leaves and without bird nests, (even in midsummer) the dirt turning to mud in the night. I walk in paths where grass and flowers once flourished. I study the swirls of dust over my toes that seem to dance in this light. When I was little I used to love the songbirds chirps, now with only silence I feel my usual loneliness creep into my mind. I am searching the piles of junk where beauty once dwelled. All I see is filth, ugliness and cold loneliness.

As I’m walking to the place I left off from yesterday. That’s when I see it, right in plain view a diamond ring. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I bend down to pick it up and examine it, I’ve seen fakes before but this is beyond anything I could ever hope to find out hear. As I stow it in my bag, I stumble upon the book I found this morning in some old boxes. I haven’t read it yet but it looks like someone’s journal. I go through my day searching and sometimes picking things up that I think might have some value, a watch here, a broken laptop there. With no one around I‘m free to think and forget my surroundings.

My brother Carter searches like I do but he ventures farther and lets me stay closer to home because he thinks its safer for me. My sister Zahra and my mom stay home, do housework but they write most of the day. There’s no need for them to work, with us out here. Its better anyway I like to get out of the house. It feels unnatural to stay inside your whole life but my sister has no problem with it. When the sun is more than halfway across the sky I stop and survey what I have searched: a bronze looking watch, a laptop that can only be used for scrap. About a dozen coins they used to called pennies that are made from copper, a chain from a bike, a few aluminum cans. And finally the ring I found this morning. Even without the ring it was a good day. So I decide to stop early and go to sell my things.

The market everyone gets their food from is in an old stadium I think they used to watch sports in, but not anymore. It was turned into a government facility to give out food rations in exchange for scrap. Anything they don’t want people take to my father’s shop, where my father has worked out a system of bartering. For example a teacher can come look for work at his shop and others will give my father things in exchange for his working out a teaching system. After I get a share of food for my brother and I (I always get food for him and I and he gets food for the rest of the family) I decide to stop at my fathers shop and see if he wants to walk home together, when I remember the journal. I had meant to read it today but didn’t, I find a nice blanket to sit on and start. I could never read it at home because my mother might see it and get worried. I open to the middle of the book.

Dearest, 2/26/14

Today I saw strange men outside they broke into Toby’s house across the street. Luckily Toby was at work and didn’t get hurt but they trashed his house. I am terrified that they may come back to our street. I don’t have anyone to tell now that Tarra’s gone. I have no one. My life just began and now it’s slowly coming to a stop with the war getting closer, I don’t know how long I can stay here. I am determined that I will get through this even if it means I will be alone. Everyone says the store is running out of food, I’m running out of money anyway. I haven’t seen tom since we left home but he is fine. Is he? Yes I feel certain.

Sarah

2/27/14

They came in the night dragged me outside without time enough to even put on my coat. They may come back soon so this will be my last entry, good luck to you reader.

Sarah

I can barely breath. I know who wrote this. It was my grandmother. She lived through it and died of an infection about ten years after this. Leaving my grandfather with a daughter. I’ve heard that it was bad back then but I feel scared to read the rest of it. Tomorrow I will show it to carter, he will know what to do.

There is an unusual crowd around my fathers shop and I feel a chill of worry down my neck. I break into a sprint as I hear yelling.

“Dad?“ I say confused “Dad! Where are you? Its Eva!”

“Eva?” he says, I can’t see him. “Why are you here? Go home! I’ll be there! Go!”

I run as fast as I can, but I know what I will find at home. No one is there the house is as still as death. I want to crawl up in a ball and scream, but I calm myself and run out the door instead. I frantically run from house to house looking for some one to help me calm down. The street is dead no one is around anywhere. I must find someone to help make sense of it all. I have no one.