Can you take this lonely girl?

And pick her up from off the ground?





There was no doubt that the situation was getting worse. She hadn’t been here as long as the others in the cramped corridors, she had preferred to wander around the grounds instead, wandering through the constant darkness caused by the still looming ash. Now, as she sat in one of the dark corridors, listening to the moaning and the coughing, she feels sick and claustrophobic. She gags at the smell of the dead around her but keeps her eyes closed, blocking out the sounds. Blocking out the sights. Blocking out the thoughts. By sitting here, she reminds herself of just how hungry she is. She just wanted to go home, wherever that was. All she knew was it wasn’t here. It would never be here. She felt the tears begin to slide down her face and she curled up, feeling more alone and silent than ever.


I sat in the corridors with my fingers pinching my nose. With a more sensitive sense of smell, I was beginning to feel faint. We were all so weak, we could not do anything but sit and feel sorry for ourselves. We were too weak to find leadership. I knew that, the wolf part of me craved to be that leader, but I could not be, not to these strangers. A wolf looks after his pack. My pack consisted of my son and Joanna, no one else, just them. I was friendly yes, but people were starting to get vicious, even moreso than myself, pick pocketing and stealing food. Everyone was desperate. Trust was running low, we were all dying criminals. I sighed and looked beside me to see a young blonde haired woman sobbing and my heart pangs. I shuffle closer, giving her my coat and I smile. It’s all I can do to distract myself from the pain.


She sits there, silently sobbing away, her breath catching in her throat as she inhales large starved inhalations and with it comes the smell. She tries to stop, but now that Shyra has started, she does not know when she will stop. She tucks her legs in tighter to herself and can feel the people crowding in, getting closer, getting closer, getting... It is in this instance that something warm is put around her and instantly, she grabs it, tucking it closer into herself. It smells of man and she flinches for a moment, but she didn’t want to look up, she didn’t want to see the sights around her. But obviously, she needed to thank this stranger and so, her wide brown eyes peak out from behind the coat to see a middle aged man, his green eyes flecked with blue and his hair a dark brown colour. He is smiling at her and she smiles back. It is all she can do to stop the tears.


I see the young woman staring at me and I can’t help but feel sorry for her, her brown eyes are soaked with exhausted tears and her face is pale with hunger. I reach into my pocket slowly, not taking my eyes off her incase I frighten her and I take a small piece of bread out. It is beginning to go stale, I can smell it even over the dead. It’s hardened but it was still edible. I hand it to her without a word and nod before relaxing, feeling my bones shift and muscles tingle. I alter form to my wolf, knowing its strength will keep me alive and us both warm. I reach my muzzle out and nudge her, letting her know everything was ok before I lay beside her, pressing my warm body against her. I could forget the hunger, forget the pain, if only I could sleep. I didn’t know who was going to save us, but I could feel if they didn’t come soon, there would be an unrising.


The man hands her a small piece of bread and to begin with, she tries to hand it back. But he seems to insist so without thinking about her dignity, Shyra stuffs it into her mouth chunk by chunk, feeling its slightly hard crumbs slide down her parched throat. She cries a little more, but only with sheer joy. She stares at the bread and sighs before looking back up to see the man is gone, but a wolf is now stood there. Shyra whimpers and shuffles back, but seeing the neat pile of clothes behind the animal and the soft gesture on its face, she realises it actually is him. A smile creeps onto her strained face and she strokes the creature’s wet nose, giggling softly as he sneezes. She pulls off a bit of bread and feeds it to him as he lays beside her. The warmth is engrossing and she lays sideways, entwining her fingers in his warm thick fur. She at last feels relaxed and is ready to fall asleep when suddenly, there is a loud shout. It is the Chancellor. And he means business.


I hear the shout and arise to my four legs. It’s Joel. I feel my heart leap into my throat with hope. Someone was finally doing something. I look around me and see people weaving their way through the dead like zombies, moving towards the cries. I too stand and nip the girl lightly. She gets up, holding onto my fur as I make my way through the crowd, growling at anyone who comes close to us. Eventually, we stand before Joel as he shouts out orders and I nod. I was on patrolling duties it would seem. I look to the silent girl grabbing onto my fur for support and am curious as to what it is she would be doing. She doesn’t say anything for now it would seem and I see people beginning to filter off to begin their duties. At last there would be order. But would it be enough.


Shyra stands in the crowds, holding onto the wolf’s thick fur for support to help her tired body stand upright. She nods as he says that like herself with no powers, they had to find any way to help. Perhaps she could patrol the borders with this male stranger that had been so nice to her. She wasn’t exactly happy about having to carry bodies with her being so weak and fragile. But she’d do all she could to help. She opens her mouth to thank the man telling them all what to do and that she understood when she feels that tickle in her throat and before she knows it, a strange meow type sound comes out of her mouth and she begins to curse. Loudly, and profusely. Shyra snaps her mouth shut again and puts her other hand over it. The word “Bastard” echoed over the hall and she coughs very very embarrassed. In future, she’d just keep silent and let her gestures and facial expressions do the talking. She just hoped the man didn’t think she was calling him a bastard.


I stand there, lower than the rest in the crowd when suddenly, the woman begins to shout profanities. I growl and nudge her when I realise she actually has no control over it. I rub my head against her reassuringly and can all of a sudden realise her discomfort. I screamed like a little girl when I came to even be close to fire. Clearly, she had torrett’s or something. As Joel finishes, I nod and begin to walk away, taking this girl with me. I felt protective over her, so perhaps she could help me on patrol. She could perhaps pick up wood to supply the fires. Anything to keep our lives burning, like the dead corpses that would now be laid to rest.






Because it's not enough,

No, we growing up, we're giving up, we're moving on...





Shyra Talownski & Blake