Gone

Chapter 1

Mina bent down towards her reflection in the puddle alongside the crumbling highway, dreading what would face her. When she first saw the person on the glassy surface, her immediate thought was, "Who is that?". But, she realized, the face she glimpsed in the water, was her. The scraggly, unkempt strands of hair, the smudged, filthy face and grimy tatters of clothing, the wild look of being hunted, the cheeks hollowed out from hunger and the sagging bags under its eyes, were all foreign to Mina. But, then again, the last time she had looked in a mirror had been before the war.
You're wandering off your task, a small voice, the voice that had kept her alive for all these years, reprimanded her. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she forged on with a purpose. Trying to ignore the rest of her reflection, she focused on her eyes. They were a brilliant, piercing green, and combined with her once beautifully kept midnight black hair, had made her pretty. Nowadays, though, pretty didn't keep you alive. But, what she was really looking for, was her pupils. They seemed slightly larger than usual. Was she just being paranoid? Or had her worst nightmares become real? She leaned closer, praying she was wrong, trying to believe so much that she nearly toppled into the murky puddle. And with that glance, her hopes of everything being perfectly fine shattered. She knew now, for certain, that she had the Virus.
She groaned, fighting back tears of frustration and hopelessness.
"Sissy?" An alarmed voice rang out on the silent scene of destruction.
You've got to keep it together, she reminded herself, You've got to keep a straight face for Emmett's sake. Composing herself and hurriedly brushing away a few stray tears, she turned to face her little brother.
"I'm alright, Bug." she soothingly reassured him.
He sagged visibly, his worry abated, and tried to summon a scowl at his loathed nickname, but he was too relieved to respond negatively. Emmett's tiny form, framed by the setting sun, waddled towards her, his ribs poking through his threadbare jacket. It hurt Mina to see him in such condition, because Emmett was what kept her going, what gave her a reason to live. He had always seemed too fragile, too innocent, to survive in this harsh, cold world. He had golden locks of hair, and sparkling, energetic eyes. He had always seemed to be so full of energy that he practically ricocheted off the walls, but now, when food was scarce, his once unending energy seemed to fade, and he walked with the gait of one forlorn and exhausted. Sometimes he had the look in his eyes of one many past his years. His four-year old body seemed to host a old man.