File #13

As I settled into the camp, surrounded by fellow survivors, the campfire crackled, casting flickering shadows on weary faces.

Engulfed in a mix of exhaustion and curiosity, I found myself engaged in conversations that offered a brief respite from the weight of our circumstances.

I met a survivor there- Emma who I told about my friends, before awkwardly realizing that she was one of my classmates.

I sat by the crackling campfire, its warm glow offering a temporary respite from the cold night air. My hands cradled a cup of lukewarm soup, the taste was bland but comforting in its familiarity. The events of the day weighed heavily on my mind, a constant reminder of the harsh reality we now faced.

Emma, a fellow survivor with a determined spirit, turned to me, concern etched across her tired face. Her eyes held a glimmer of hope, a small spark amidst the darkness.

"Hey Marie, you holding up okay?" she asked, her voice filled with empathy.

I mustered a weary smile, my gaze momentarily lost in the dancing flames. "As well as one can in this mess, I suppose. It's... it's been tough."

Emma nodded, her eyes scanning the horizon as if searching for answers. "Yeah, it's rough for all of us. But you're tough, Marie. You've been through a lot."

Her words resonated with a mix of gratitude and resignation. It was true—I had faced challenges I never could have imagined. The world I once knew had been torn apart, leaving behind only remnants of a life that now felt like a distant memory.

"I guess... It's just hard to believe how quickly everything changed," I confessed, my voice tinged with a hint of sorrow. "One moment, I had a normal life, and now... now I'm here, fighting to survive."

Emma's gaze softened, understanding glimmering in her eyes. She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, the warmth of her touch grounding me in that fleeting moment.

"We're all in the same boat, Marie. None of us asked for this," she reassured me. "But we adapt, we find strength within ourselves that we didn't know existed. And we stick together."

I nodded, my weariness mingling with a newfound determination. "You're right, Emma. We have to stick together. It's the only way we'll make it through this."

A flicker of a smile curved Emma's lips. "That's the spirit, Marie. We'll get through this together, one day at a time."

As the night grew darker, my thoughts wandered to Lord, our enigmatic companion who had been conspicuously absent. The last time I had seen him was in the confines of my mansion, a place that now held haunting memories. My father, transformed into a parasite, had met his demise when my mother, consumed by fear and desperation, pushed him into the clutches of that horrific creature. And my mother, her fate sealed, had joined him in that abyss of darkness.

Lord, ever the enigma, had vanished into the shadows, leaving me with unanswered questions and a gnawing sense of unease. What had become of him? Where had he gone? I couldn't help but wonder if his absence held some deeper meaning, some hidden purpose.

"He's always been a bit of a lone wolf," Emma remarked, breaking the silence that had settled between us. "Lord, I mean. I'm sure he's out there somewhere, doing his thing."

Her words did little to quell the unease within me. Lord's mysterious nature had always kept us on our toes, his motives and intentions known only to himself. He was a puzzle I couldn't quite solve, a presence that simultaneously intrigued and frustrated me.

"Yeah, that's Lord for you," I replied, my voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and resignation. "Always mysterious, always doing his own thing. But I can't help but worry about him sometimes."

Emma's gaze softened, a comforting understanding in her eyes. "I understand, Marie. We all have our own demons to face in this new world. Lord, well, he's got his own way of dealing with things."

My mind wandered back to the memories of that fateful day when Lord had appeared in the forest, just as I was about to poke a beehive. I remembered the sheer ecstasy that had coursed through him as he smashed that beehive into a bloody mess of broken honeycombs and crushed insects. It had terrified my ten-year-old self, to see him derive such pleasure from an act of violence.

"He has a way of keeping us on our toes, never quite knowing what he's thinking," I murmured, a touch of uncertainty seeping into my words.

Emma chuckled softly, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Lord has always been like that, even before all of this. He has a knack for defying expectations, for surprising us in the most unconventional ways."

I couldn't help but be both captivated and unsettled by Lord's unpredictable nature. He was a reminder that even in the chaos, even in the midst of uncertainty, there were still layers of complexity that defied explanation.

"But remember, Marie," Emma continued, her voice filled with conviction, "we can't let ourselves get too caught up in his enigmatic nature. We have to focus on surviving, on staying strong."

A solemn nod escaped my lips, the weight of her words settling upon me. She was right—we couldn't afford to be consumed by the mysteries of Lord's actions. Our primary goal was to persevere, to keep moving forward in the face of adversity.

"You're right, Emma," I replied, my voice laced with determination. "We can't let ourselves get distracted. There's too much at stake. We have to keep pushing forward, no matter what."

As the crackling of the campfire filled the air, we sat in silent contemplation, each lost in our own thoughts. The world had changed, and we had changed with it.

The campfire crackled in the background as our conversation drifted into a companionable silence. At that moment, I felt a flicker of hope ignite within me, bolstered by the support of those around me.

Though Lord's absence weighed heavily on my heart, I knew that I couldn't dwell on the past. Instead, I had to embrace the present and face the challenges that lay ahead. The camp became my sanctuary, a place where resilience and camaraderie thrived amidst the chaos.

I never knew why I constantly reminded myself of how good things are because it isn't perhaps Lord will always be right, I'm just a kid sheltered from reality all her life.