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NaNoWriMo!!! The Beginning...
Nov. 2nd, 2009 10:03 amAs usual, Artemis wakes with a start, calling out to her late twin brother whose name she no longer remembers. He died a long time ago, in her arms, when the world came to an end. She doesn’t remember how either event happened—if she ever even knew to begin with.
Cool morning light is leaking through the cracks in the shelter wall; rays of white gold lance the shadows that lay about the cavernous room, catching the dust motes that spin lazily as they dance to the nearest surface. Artemis is propped up in her cot on adrenaline and confusion, chest heaving with each greedy breath. The nightmare has already begun to fade, and as the images and themes slip from her memory her back stiffens. She supports herself with her arms, hands braced against the cot, swallowing as she glances around the shelter and remembers that she is alone. Strange how it never feels that way when she first wakes.
The sluggish signal from the ancient motion detector finally reaches its destination and the remaining fluorescent blubs flicker to life, humming and pulsing as the irregular current from the solar generator bridges the gaps between fuses and conductors. It’s a pale, sickly light that fills the room, banishing the shadows as it bounces off the white linoleum and painted concrete walls. The cots that line the wall like broad, cloth bookshelves sag from the weight of the dead, bodies that were long gone by the time Artemis discovered this sanctuary. Their stains remain, no matter how hard she scrubs, and though there is nothing in the air she still catches faint whiffs of the corpses now and then.
The shelter had failed them, once, long ago. Or perhaps its occupants had failed each other; Artemis will never know. She does not even know why the shelters were built, or what they were supposed to protect people from. This is her third shelter in as many years. She wants to keep moving, but the journey is hard, and the winters are harder.
And she does not exactly know where her destination is.
:D Excited!!!!
Cool morning light is leaking through the cracks in the shelter wall; rays of white gold lance the shadows that lay about the cavernous room, catching the dust motes that spin lazily as they dance to the nearest surface. Artemis is propped up in her cot on adrenaline and confusion, chest heaving with each greedy breath. The nightmare has already begun to fade, and as the images and themes slip from her memory her back stiffens. She supports herself with her arms, hands braced against the cot, swallowing as she glances around the shelter and remembers that she is alone. Strange how it never feels that way when she first wakes.
The sluggish signal from the ancient motion detector finally reaches its destination and the remaining fluorescent blubs flicker to life, humming and pulsing as the irregular current from the solar generator bridges the gaps between fuses and conductors. It’s a pale, sickly light that fills the room, banishing the shadows as it bounces off the white linoleum and painted concrete walls. The cots that line the wall like broad, cloth bookshelves sag from the weight of the dead, bodies that were long gone by the time Artemis discovered this sanctuary. Their stains remain, no matter how hard she scrubs, and though there is nothing in the air she still catches faint whiffs of the corpses now and then.
The shelter had failed them, once, long ago. Or perhaps its occupants had failed each other; Artemis will never know. She does not even know why the shelters were built, or what they were supposed to protect people from. This is her third shelter in as many years. She wants to keep moving, but the journey is hard, and the winters are harder.
And she does not exactly know where her destination is.
:D Excited!!!!
