[Ratvan]

Kirai was roughly awoken from her delirious sleep by a skeletal hand snapping her head this way and that, the light dim as it was hurt her eyes and the man continued to stare down at her, his face seemed familiar somehow she thought sleepily that it might have been her grandfather by the way he softly but firmly held her chin but realisation slowly crept back....his name was Holst. Samuel Holst. he was a Doctor of sorts she hazily remembered. Then came the admonishments, do this do that, pack your things, hurry up. Always the same, she knew that he cared, she knew that he was looking out for her but she was so tired, her body ached there was a constant growling in her stomach as the small rations that she had stored had long since been finished.

He was trying to make her feel safe, she felt sorry for him there was not much safety left since the event. Pushing the last remains of her belongings into her pack she hastened to the doorway as quickly as her tired frame would allow. Just as she was ushered from the room she glanced at the air vent system desperately wanting to crawl inside and sleep some more, then she remembered the sounds and her hope faded. The only place that she had found to feel safe lately had just become somewhere where she feared to go, she could not describe the sounds they were not something that she remembered hearing before.

Taking the left turn on the corridor Kirai saw more rooms and the Doctor disappeared into one and began searching, Kirai stood and watched him for a while. He was a good man, and as hungry as she was she knew that he must also eat soon. Determined to find food for the pair of them she turned and entered the room adjacent and began searching, hoping and praying to find food and water trying and failing to put the thought of the noises from the ventilation from her mind

 

[Ratvan]

Sleepily Kirai searched the room, her eyelids felt heavy and the lighting did nothing to alleviate the pounding in her skull. She rubbed her eyes as knelt on the floor looking under the bed. She blinked and forced her blurred vision to focus, there appeared to be something stashed out of reach. Sliding to her belly she worked her wiry frame under the bed and retrieved the item that she spotted. Cold plastic touched her finger tips and she grasped the bottle and pulled it close to her chest as she worked herself back from under the bunk.

The seal was still intact, a momentous feeling of hope and success raised in her chest as she stood and started towards the door intent on sharing her prize with Dr Holst, despite his insistence she still could not refer to him as Samuel. Her grandfather taught her to respect her elders and she still clung to his lessons. As she approached the doorway she froze, those noises were back. No, they sounded like footsteps, she risked a peak around the door frame and saw a large character ascend the stairway and turn down the other corridor. The brief glimpse she had of the person was wearing a strange helmet and garishly orange jumpsuit, they were also holding something heavy in one hand.

She darted into the room that Dr Holst was searching, clutching the bottle to her chest. She sprinted over to her guardian "someone else is here" she whispered hurriedly as she got close all thoughts of the water and hunger forgotten in her fear. "They've gone down the other corridor, what do we do?"

 

[Ratvan]

Kirai looked crestfallen as Samuel told her to stay put, she did not want the man to leave her alone in this strange place with strangers about. She made to grasp his hand but he was already out of reach after handing her the food that he had found. She was debating going after Samuel and was in the process of working up the courage to stepping out of the room when she heard the gunshot and a scuffle. The gunshot shocked her to the core and she felt the loss of the liquid that spilt to the floor. Not wanting to waste the rest of the water she quickly downed the remainder and thrust the food into her satchel along with the empty water container. She had decided what to do and sprinted along the corridor to the room where they had holed up and slept in previously. Quickly she threw herself into the air vent and moved about 5 metres along the shaft, waiting for her heart rate to return to normal she retrieved one of the food jars from her satchel and started to eat the paste to settle the pains and cramps in her stomach ignoring the taste of the puree and her tears as she waited and prayed for Samuel to find her