10 minutes to go.
Dong, dong, dong... My heart wrenched, it was beating fast. Fast enough to burst open.
I had to get home, and quickly. No one stays out after sunset. It's a dangerous time. Not unless you want to get killed.
Sweat rained down from my face. I was running as fast as I could through the wasteland, the plastic bag shattering in my hands. Garbage and stones scraped my bare feet, but I didn't care to stop. I had no time to waste.
It was getting colder and colder, the wind was blowing roughly onto my face. I could feel it slicing through my flesh. The only thing left calm here was the sky. It had it's own grayish-brown color, like an old newspaper covered in dust. The sky was low, it seemed to be pushing down on me, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I tried breathing in, but the disgusting fishy smell told me not to. Surrounding me was the center of London city, or was... Now it's just a pile of ruins. There was no one to be seen, no plants, no animals, not even the slightest of a shadow. But I knew better. Within a few minutes men, robbers, murderers...whatever you want to call them would be roaming the city, banging on the doors of the remaining houses and taking food and supplies, killing anyone who disobeys.
1 minute...
I have to get home, I thought. Now it's just a game of speed.
I looked up at the sky again. Had the sun set already? I couldn't tell. You never can these days anyways. The pollution is so thick they act like brick roofs. The sun, the moon, the stars, they're only a memory of the past.
Pong, Pang, Pong... I shivered at the sound of rattling metal and glasses.
Never walk alone, Never look back, Never go out after dawn...
Something told me the "night game" had already started.
I took a deep breath and then turned back, but they were only mice. Thew, I thought, but not until long voices started coming out of the dark.
"Hey, is that a girl over there?"
"I think so, yeah. And look, there's a bag in her hand."
"At this time of the day? Wow, brave girl."
"Not from now on.""
I shivered at the sounds. They were deep and thick. Skilled robbers, or maybe they were... I couldn't stand the thought.
I grabbed the bag even tighter with my shivering hands, and tumbled through the scraps, picking myself up again and sprinting like crazy. I could see my road down there. Criss-cross through a few trails and I would be at home.
My lungs burned like crazy. Go on, I told myself. A few more steps and I would be in the dark passageways. There I may be able to find a place to hide.
But where were they? I thought. I couldn’t hear any more voices, not even the tiniest bit of footsteps. It was complete silence.
Did I loose them? I knew it wasn't possible, but I had to think it that way to make myself feel better. I had to hope. I stopped in the middle of the passage way, taking in deep breaths and trying to slow my heart beats. It was so dark I couldn't even see the back of my hand, but that meant they couldn't see me either. Or at least that was what I thought.
Suddenly, a strong fist pulled me to the left, forcing me to bend down and covering my mouth. I tried to stand up and struggle free, but the arms that held on to me were firm. I wanted to scream, to cry for help, but who was there to help me? My mum, tears trickled down my face with the thought of her. I had to get to her. The medicine in my bag, it took me a whole day to find. It was the last bottle left. Although the pills wouldn't cure the cancer, at least it would last my mum another year of life. After that... I couldn't stand the thought. But I would find a way, I knew I would. My mom was dying. Be there a minute later and she may be...gone. With that thought I found my strength again, but then something stopped me from trying to break free.
Suddenly, in front of me came footsteps. There were the same that I had heard before.
"Where did she go?"
"There, that way!"
My heart froze. If the man wasn't one of the robbers, who was he then?
As the footsteps slowly died away, the hand on my mouth gently retrieved. I immediately broke free, taking with me a piece of glass and pointing it at him.
"Who are you! And...why did you help me? What do you want!"
"Hey, hey, sorry to scare you, but I mean no harm. I was out here still looking for something until I realized it was turning dark already. And then as I started walking home, well, I saw you."
I moved a step backwards, wondering whether to belief him or not.
"Um, could you please put that glass down first...Look, I've got a torch."
I loosened my grip on the glass, suddenly realizing it had already made a deep cut in my skin. Then the light shone out of his torch. I looked up and realized he was only a boy of about 17 to 18, not much older than me. He was skinny, with dark, brown hair, dashing blue eyes, and a warm smile hanging on his face. This was the first time in years I talked to someone of my age. Children don't normally appear on the streets. Even if they do, they're busy gathering supplies and finding food. No one has the time to talk, much less play. But this was not the reason. I try not to remember people's faces because these days, you don't get to see the same person twice. It's a dark time, well it always has been after that happened. I don't like talking about it, no one does. It was a day no one could ever possibly forget -- a happy start for the rich but a nightmare for the poor.
Our planet was dying, everyone could tell. They designed a space ship that would provide the daily needs and entertainment for 10 million people. After the governments got their tickets, they sold the rest of the places for a billion pounds each. A billion pounds for one person! That's ten times more than my family could ever earn in a lifetime! The poor sold their houses, their cars, their jewelry, their everything, they finally earned enough money for their children to get on. But that was only a dream. The rich who got their tickets suddenly found the space too small. They wanted rooms to be left for their future generations, they wanted schools, forests, fields, rivers, gyms, swimming pools, theaters, bars, shopping malls, everything they could possibly think of. At last only a million people got on, that's only 0.01 percent of the population! The citizens went crazy. On that day they planned to smash the space ship and all boarding. Everyone was shot, including my brother and father.
After the space ship left, all the factories stopped, people didn't have enough to eat, drink, or use. Schools, work, all the shops closed down. People began stealing, killing, bombing. The planet turned into a mess. Earth lost its control, it began to tear apart, bring its people along the way. Natural disasters began dominating the planet, dead bodies were as usual as water in a swimming pool. It has only been 6 years, 6 years and 90% of the world's population had died out. The planet is now no more than a wasteland.
I shuddered at that, coming back to the reality.
"Hey, you ok? You look kind of pale."
"Um, yeah, thanks. I...have to get home now."
"Oh yeah, of course. Want me to walk you home?"
So we started walking through the narrow passageways, making as less noise as possible. Finally I got to the familiar doorsteps.
I stuck the keys in the door knob, turning back to look at him.
"I...thank you for saving my life today."
"No problem. I’m Peter by the way."
"Elisabeth."
"We'll meet again, won't we?"
I nodded. For the first time there was hope.