𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗬 𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗦 ᵉˡˡⁱᵉ ʷⁱˡˡⁱᵃᵐˢ

ᴠɪɪɪ. 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦

Her parents watched from afar, talking in hushed voices. The two girls played with dolls and action figures, making them argue, laugh, and cry. Aitana made up small voices for the characters she created in her head, as any girl her age would do with Barbies. Dina's voice was the same for everyone, the men barbies having unusually high-pitched voices. But it was okay, it added character. They made dramatic stories and events.

"Estoy cansado," Dina whined as she stood, Aitana didn't pay attention to the girl, assuming she was going to complain to their parents and continued playing. She had gotten so caught up in playing, she didn't notice Dina falling fast asleep in her moms arms, or hear the door of the toy shop open, or close, or an engine starting, or a car driving away. She just continued to rotate through the activities in the toy store, until she noticed the quietness and her sister's absence.

After a while, Aitana traveled towards the front door where she had thought her parents were, but there was no sign of them. She peaked her head out of the room to see the once bright streets now dim and dark, and no car in sight. Her heart dropped, and as much as she wanted to scream and cry, she didn't. The faint sound of groaning made her shut the door gently as she took in a deep breath, realizing her parents were long gone, and most likely not coming back.

What a birthday.

The young child pulled the small slide from the corner over to the front door to block it off, it scraped against the hard floor making it squeal as she dragged it, not being strong enough to lift it. Aitana then covered the back door with a shelf that was, surprisingly, super light. The child added books and nicknacks to make it heavier, but then again that probably wouldn't hold back any type of human, maybe a runner or two, but not anything more.. it was slightly pointless.

And with that, she sat in the middle of the toy store quietly, curled in a ball as she shook and shivered, her hunger eating her from the inside. Her stomach burned every time she moved. That night she didn't sleep, the sounds of the night kept her up. Shuffling that traveled past the doors that separated her from the zombie-infested world was the main concern in the night. She hadn't moved, she refused to move, scared that if she did a whole army of Clickers, or Runners would attack.

Until, one day, she estimated two nights after she was left to die, the faint shuffling became louder and the sound of someone banging their body against a door was heard from behind her, coming from the back door. Finally, the shelf fell and Aitana quickly ran and crouched under a small kiddie table in the corner of the room as the door was slammed open to reveal a woman and a man who looked to be in their forties. Aitana stayed quiet as they looked around the room, their words sounding like bubbles to her.

Then, as she tried to move from a squatting position to her knees, the back of her heel hit a chair making it squeal as it dragged across the dirty floor. The couple went quiet and the woman marched over to Aitana, going to pull her up from behind the table. The young child quickly ducked away and ran to the other side of the table. The woman said something to her, but she didn't understand anything. "¿Qué?" She asked quietly. The man rolled his eyes, saying something along the lines of 'She only speaks Spanish' or 'She won't understand us.' It was a fifty-fifty chance really.

The woman walked over to Aitana and pulled out a chair, shoving her in it before turning to the man who was shaking his head, covering his mouth with his hand. They went off in a duo, having a hushed conversation which made Aitana think of two nights ago when her parents sat in the same corner, having the same hushed conversation.

"No me dejes. No me dejes." She begged quietly while clasping her hand together. Her eyes were shut tightly as she prayed, prayed this random duo wouldn't leave her, prayed they saw her weak, skinny, tired figure.