The Shelter

Part 1 - The Ghost

The rocky ground covered with countless pieces of broken glass, the musky smell of blood and dust, the empty building echoing her footsteps, everything was a familiar scene for Karma. It was still the same as the first time she'd come, afraid and in denial, the area unfamiliar territory.

She winced as she stepped on a piece of glass, the loud crunch piercing the deadly silence. Her blood pounded in her ears as her instincts sang 'DANGER'. The sound rang in her ears even after the silence had come back. She took a deep breath in, then pushed it out. Everything was too loud. They were most sensitive to sound.

She reminded herself that tonight was a charge day and that she wouldn't be heard. She wouldn't be hunted. She laughed mentally. How ironic would it be if she died here.

She couldn't remember if her eyes were open or not, although it wouldn't have made a difference in the inky darkness that surrounded her. She kept walking, her mind picturing the area as she dodged objects with ease. It had taken her six months, but she could finally navigate without using her flashlight. She was glad she didn't need it anymore as it reduced the chances of being caught, and being caught was the worse thing that could happen.

She felt her head brush against a pole that she knew had been hanging loose from the ceiling and she stopped to turn her body in another direction. She walked over to the broken chair she knew she'd moved recently. It was better than sitting on the ground where she would usually cut herself by accident with one of the thousand pieces of glass surrounding the area. She had enough injuries without adding glass shards on the list.

She shivered as a cold wind blew through the open window on the wall next to her and whispered across her skin. If she focused long enough, like she sometimes did, she could almost hear it retell the story of what happened here. She rubbed her arms, trying to find any warmth. She'd left her jacket at the Shelter, it was almost summer, but now she was seriously regretting it.

She hesitated to turn her flashlight on. She didn't need it, but she really wanted to escape the suffocating darkness. She reassured herself she was safe in this small corner of the room. X's couldn't fit in small buildings, and they didn't usually explore places if they knew they weren't going to find any food. Except Karma was in the building, and for them, she'd taste as good as a Thanksgiving meal. If she valued her life, she would make sure they never found her.

Her logic and will to see won and she turned her flashlight on. She promised herself it was only for a moment. It was better to not use the batteries. They'd been running out of them for a while now, and these were the only ones she had left.

Soon enough she would have to come during the day. Whilst the X's were more active in the night, knowing that it gave them a bigger advantage as humans couldn't see as well as they could with their infrared vision, the darkness gave Karma a perfect opportunity to escape the Shelter unsupervised. As soon as she would start sneaking out in the daylight, she would become suspicious. Everyone was scouting during the day and it would be terribly easy for someone to see her slipping away, terribly easy for someone to ask for her and for no one to find her in her room, where she's supposed to be if she's not scouting. There wasn't a single person that wouldn't report it to Oberon and then it would be game over for her. They'd found her once when she'd been careless and naïve five months ago, and they'd assigned someone to watch her constantly. Luckily, she managed to convince them to leave her alone again, but if they knew she was still doing it, she'd be followed once again and they'd never let her go. She knew what she was doing wasn't allowed and risky, but she would go mad if she couldn't come here anymore.

Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the vivid light the flashlight brought when she turned it on but they finally did and the sight that greeted her was the same as ever.