She's gone. They're gone. Gone, gone, gone. How long has it been? Since I saw my wife die.. Since I gave up my place to give my daughter another chance at life? At hope? I sat in the abandoned grocery store, lazily eating from my jar of peanut butter. It was dark and ominous, a light flickered on and off from the ceiling. There were a bunch of commodities sprawled all across the floor, knocked off from their shelves. I could recall a time where an employee would've had this place spotless.. But that time was long gone. Gone, gone, gone. I finished my jar of "food" throwing it onto the floor and getting up with a bit of effort. I fastened my back pack and slung my rifle off of my shoulder, into my hands. I gripped it, by now it was second nature. This tool was the closest thing to a friend out here. It'd been seventeen years since humanity fell. Something hit us. Something horrible, something.. [i]angry.[/i] Took us by surprise. It's actually funny, really, the best years of mankind wiped away in an instant and basically reverted back to the stone ages. Classic. To this day, I'm still not exactly sure what the hell happened. First glance, I was convinced it was a storm of some sort. But a second glance spat logic at me, and told me no storm was capable of bringing humanity to it's knees. Earth, Mars, Venus.. Ghost towns, now. Shame, really wanted to visit Venus too. I exited the old grocery store and began my walk toward what I felt would bring me answers. Salvation.. "Traveler.." I muttered. I had begun this walk many years ago. And I was so close to reaching it. My footsteps echoed throughout the forgotten city of Moscow, and occasionally I'd step in a puddle. For some odd reason, the sound of splashing water caused by my boots was satisfying. Shut up. I'm weird. Moving on. I looked up at the buildings that had been covered in moss and vegetation. Mother Nature was a petty bitch, and decided to take back what was hers. Who could blame her, though. Certainly wasn't ours anymore. My train of thought was broken, by a blood curdling scream. "AIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!" I instantly looked around and called back. "Hey! Where are you!?" I said, my breathing getting heavy and erratic. "HELP! H-HELP ME, STOP, PLEASE NO! NOT IN FRONT OF MY SON, PLEASE NO!" The woman cried, her accent of Russian decent. Wasting no time, I started running. I used my hearing to try and locate the woman in need. I shouted advice. "Scream! Scream as loud as you can, I'm coming! Help me find you! I'm coming!" I yelled. "HELP!! I'M HERE! PLEASE HELP, PLEASE! HE'S TRYING TO.. PLEASE HURRY!" She shouted back, in between grunts and screams. I ran faster and faster, adrenaline pumping through my body like a spigot. I eventually ran into an alleyway, where I saw a young boy on the back of an older man, who was ripping off the clothes of the screaming woman. The man stopped for a moment, to take the young boy and swing him off his back, where he hit the floor. The woman screamed again. "NO, STOP! MY SON! DON'T HURT HIM! PLEASE, JUST LET US GO! I'M BEGGING YOU!" "I'll let you go after I'm done with you, you fiesty bitch..! Now, stop moving and just let this happen!" "Hey, asshole," I called out, raising my M4A1. "Get off the girl. Right now. Hands up too, while you're at it. No sudden movements either, I swear to god, I'll kill you right now if you look at me wrong. Get up!" The man paused, slowly raising up as the woman he was assaulting fixed her ragged clothing. He turned to me as he put his hands up. I kept walking toward him, until the barrel of my gun was pushing into his chest. I backed him into the brick wall. "You're scum. I'm literally fighting back every instict to not -blam!-ing waste your sorry ass. She had her kid right there, how could you do that to a family!?" My voice amping up in anger. "Do that to a family.." He started. "I do everything for a family. Mine in particular. And I'm sure you have done the same. Please.. Forgive me for what's about to happen." Before I could even question what he meant, I heard footsteps behind me and the cold steel of a knife puncture itself into my back. I screamed in pain, dropping my gun and falling to the floor, writhing in pain. "Good job, honey," the man said, as he squatted down and began removing my backpack, as well as my clothing. The woman who had stabbed me started doing the same. She paused for a miniute, and snapped her fingers. "Dmitri! Hurry, hurry! Help papa loot the body! Remember when I taught you how to do that?" "Yes, mama.." The boy said timidly. "You pat down.. And check every pocket.. And if he's wearing something warm, then you take that too." He spoke, walking over. My eyes were open, and I could still hear, but I couldn't move any part of my body and I stared off into space, in a puddle of my own blood. I felt their hands search and pull things off of me, my ammo, my backpack, my clothes.. I had lost everything. It was gone. Gone, gone, gone. "Papa.. Is.. Is the man dead?" The boy spoke. "I'm not sure but that doesn't really matter right now, Dmitri. Now, come. You can wear and carry his coat. Your mother and I will carry everything else." The man spoke back. The woman removed the knife from my back and propped my body up against the wall. My eyes were still open, and I felt her fingertips take and close my eyelids. "We need to come up with another stage. He... He could've shot you. Then what would we have done?" The woman said, referring to the man. "You're right, dear. But now's not the time to be thinking on what happened, we got what we needed. Come, let's head back home to the village." I heard the footsteps walk out of the alleyway. And I was left here to die. Son of a bitch.