Him and Her
Part 1A
Vacant were her expressions, lost were her thoughts. The world had taken its toll on her, and now, she was alone and hungry. Misplaced were her instincts, broken was her compass, directionless, and misguided, she continued to walk, hungry and alone.
She walked miles on end, waiting in search of food. Perhaps a warm toast, buttered with the creamiest kinds of butter and jam. The thought itself provided comfort on most days. More than her aching belly, and her shattered will, she hungered for survival. The world had died, but luckily, she was here. She believed she was part of a grander scheme of things, destined for something more splendid, bigger, and more infinite than her singular self.
At night, when there was no fire for warmth or blanket to burrow under, she would grab cans, bags, and ragged pieces of cloth to create a makeshift blanket. The blanket would provide her with hope, hope that burned brightly in her dark brown eyes.
Times were not always so desperate. She was not still unkempt. With her curled up brown hair, she used to walk with elegance and grace. She was the epitome of perfection. That was before the disaster, of course.
Now, it seemed as though strings of black and white had washed over the whole world. It had turned all that was beautiful, grey. She was now, not so elegant, and neither as graceful. Torn were her clothes, and messy was her appearance. She walked, what felt like years, hiding and dodging the suspicious metallic silhouettes and loud whirring from the skies. She moved, sticking closer to the buildings and the alleyways. Always avoid the road, she told herself.
Eventually, she reached what seemed to be a desert. She never left her mansion, never ventured out. She had all, and she had people to bring her everything. Now, as she was alone, she found herself in tears and regret. A whole life spent lavishing over what was perishable. She walked ahead, directionless, and misguided. She walked, hungry and alone.
Part 1B
“There was a man, many years ago, and he told me never to look back and to keep running. Never look back, Ozcar, you are the chosen one. There will be times you will question these messages, but they will guide you and help you survive one day. Momma loves…”
The whirring sound of the tape recorder came to a stop. Ozcar moved about restlessly. It had been almost two months since the apocalypse.
All the beauty, all the love, and all of life had passed along. All gone and washed over in precisely 24 hours. The system override took place at 7 in the morning. The remote bug installation, at 8am. Chaos broke out at precisely 9.15. By 9.16, the machines had control over anything with electricity in them. 9.18, quiet. 9.19, quiet. 9.20, every nuclear missile rose from its slumber and soared towards the skies. At precisely 9.21am, there was hellfire.
All that lived walked and breathed died in the next hour.
Ozcar sat behind his rickety chair, watching, as the horror washed over the earth. He could have saved some people, some children, his mother! He could have saved her from the machines! He heard a faint whisper at the back of his head, “you have to do this alone, kiddo. Momma loves you. Momma loves you”.
The word ‘chosen’ always perplexed him. Why was he the ‘chosen’ one? What made him so special? He paced around the room, still one eye glancing towards the blast doors. He feared that the machines would eventually find him, and he would be just as dead as the billions before him. Another body amongst the rotting corpse. Another brick in the wall.
However, fate always has plans.
There are times in everyone’s lives where something peculiar or unexpected happens. Something magical. Something extraordinary!
Their meeting was not fate, however. It was destiny!
Part 2A
She walked tirelessly. Same old day, same old pain.
She was parched, from her thirst, her knees wobbly and red. There were some nights she would crawl, grabbing away at the sand, in hopeless desperation. She wanted to cry, but her eyes were as dry as day-old tarmac. Where there was once light and beauty, there was now hunger and pain in those eyes.
She continued to walk, in hopes of finding something. She knew not why she chose to walk this path, but her fate too would change.
She was too tired now. Her legs finally gave in, and she fell to the ground. She tried to grab on to anything that was nearby, to pull herself back up.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her shook, and the rock she grabbed on to now began to rise. White, puffy smoke hissed out of the currently opened entryway. She stared into the endlessly long ladder that propped out of the rock.
Out of curiosity and now finding herself, bathed in warm, hopeful energy, she made her way down the ladder.
Part 2 B
Ozcar was pacing up and down, checking the packs of food, and tallying them.
He had to plan and prepare for the day when his resources would give in, and he would have to emerge out of the underground base. By his calculations, this would be in another 207 days. Just enough time, he thought, before –
The alarms rang loud, and the ‘door open’ glared and flashed in red.
He ran to his room and grabbed his grenade launcher and minigun. If it were a machine, this had to be what could potentially kill it!
He cautiously opened the blast doors and slowly made his way near the entrance.
Part 3, finale.
She made her way down, slowly, hopefully. Perhaps there would be food or new clothes, she thought to herself.
He was cursing in between breaths. He hoped this day would never come, but it did.
She moved around a little.
He moved cautiously.
She moved around the pillars.
He made his way to the entrance and pointed his minigun up. Nothing, there was no one here!
She moved back.
He turned around.
*THUD! *
They both crashed down but slowly retreated away from each other. She was fearfully shocked, and Ozcar was panic-stricken.
He questioned the very nature of the disaster, could there be more like her? Was she a machine?
She moved closer, and so did Ozcar.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Sara,” she replied softly.
