Unforeseen

Chapter 4-Wandering hopelessly

Three weeks.

Three weeks had gone by since their daring escape and they were both still getting used to their newfound freedom.

After the first few days of walking endlessly, they both arrived at civilisation, lucky too because J didn't have much food left and she just ran out of water. The civilisation was barely a small village but for them, it was awe-inspiring; after they absorbed their surroundings, they raided the bins outside the local restaurant and found some food that was only a couple of days out of date.

They relaxed in the village's park for the next couple of days, trying to stay away from human eyes as much as possible. Theo had to hide away for obvious reasons, so when acquiring food and exploring the village he hid in J's hood, it was cramped and his claws would constantly dig into her neck but until they found a way to remove the collar, it would have to do.

They were eventually forced to move on as the residents knew everyone nearby and when a small scruffy child suddenly appeared out of nowhere people started talking, one kind man even approached her to ask if she was okay; she was scared and didn't want the human contact so she immediately fled away. They left the next morning.

They came up with a routine, they would walk for a few days, arrive at a village or a town, stay for a couple of days, and leave before anyone could grow suspicious. Of course, concerned civilians would still go up to the poor girl to ask if she needed any help but every single time she would flee rather than face her fears of talking to adults and risking Doctor Terries' men finding her.

This went on for two weeks until they eventually started seeing an increase in human activity of people travelling in all kinds of transportation which constantly made the pair gape in amazement.

Interestingly enough, the more people J saw, the less she was questioned as to why she, as a seven-year-old, was walking alone in filthy clothes. She thought it would be the contrary but it appeared these people were much more apathetic than those in small villages.

J couldn't complain, she didn't have to run away as much and with the influx of so many people, it meant more would stop for lunch, leaving food behind which she would take and eat immediately. Whether she liked the increase of humans or not she couldn't deny it had great improvements for her stomach and successively for her health.

When they finally arrived at the source, both Theo's and J's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, in front of them was the city of New York. They agreed this would be the optimal place to hide. Here, it was easy to flee behind the nooks and crannies of towering buildings, blend in with the thick crowds and that wasn't mentioning the vast supply of food that would become available to her.

Walking into the city for the first time was unnerving, it felt almost like they were walking right into a bellowing beast, being swallowed by its looming teeth made of its high-sky buildings. The pair couldn't help but awe at the sight of them racing against each other to touch the blue sky above, J had never felt so small, she felt like a tiny ant amongst giant dinosaurs.

The week went by quickly consisting of touring the city, looking through various garbage in search of food, running away from every human eye, and avoiding dark deep alleys after an incident with a man with a knife who wanted to do unspoken things to her, fortunately, J was able to kick him away with help of her training, Theo didn't even have to get involved.

As the days went on she had to learn how to familiarize herself with all kinds of different scenarios that came with a city, for example, the loudness of the bustling cars and chattering people were enough to send her into a panic.