(I) The Day of the Dead

The world has gotten to be a dark place. A warzone. A battlefield. Anywhere she looked were ashes and corpses, piling up on the stone-cold ground and with a smell starting already. Dizzy shook her head and walked around the lost streets. She pulled her jacket closer around her body and held her hand in front of her mouth, not knowing was ugly deceases was flowing around in the air. She walked around for what seemed like hours but could not get the feeling of draught and fear for what comes next out of her head. The sky started to darken, and she decided to find a corner without corpses to stand for a moment.

Dizzy pulled up her pack of cigarettes and put one in between her lips, while fetching for her lighter in her purse. The flame ignited and lit up a little around her, as if it had been an idea flowing above her head. She heard some talking a little away and decided to go see what was going on. She threw away her cigarette and did not notice as it caught up on some dry leaves and started growing. She decided to leave it to be, knowing that this place could not be any more of a mess.

When she arrived her eyes immediately fell on a big group of people who had just arrived. They all looked rather young, confused, sad and angry and some even had all the looks plastered on their faces. She knew exactly how most of them felt. Betrayed, in need for some structure or even peace. Never had she ever been in a situation like this and it was both thrilling and scary at the same time. She did not know any safe place anymore, and the streets were not getting warmer. But she had been told to wait and be careful, because at this moment it is safer outside than it is inside.

Dizzy looked at the group of unknown people and decided she wanted no more of this, so she stood up and faced them all. She was about to open her mouth to talk, when yet another gun shot was to be heard and having no other protection, the group of newcomers, including herself, sought to the ground for comfort. The minutes went by, and she expected something else to happen, like a body falling to the ground or a scream but nothing was said, screamed or yelled. Instead she heard a small ticking, a small bomb just waiting to blow up. Changing everything and everyone, filling the air with dread and an explosion big enough to shatter the ruins of the ghost town that this city has gotten to be. She lifted her head a tad, just enough to look without being noticed, and when the coast was clear she stood up with a determined grimace. Maybe this was the start of something new. The start of a new era. This could bring many things, but good and bad and she decided for herself that she was curious as to how it would fold.

The walked around a little, and that turned out to be more and more walking. Seeking warmth and safety. Her hands were shaking and with a little to almost no cash in her pocket she was not even scared to be targeted anymore. Covered in dirt and blood, she looked for something, but she was not even sure what she looked for. Hungry was she, but most of all tired was she. She was so tired that she did not even notice this new group of people, who seemed to be talking some homeless youngsters. Dizzy was still young, but she felt old. She felt like she was about to die, but not from old age. From neglect and maybe even the cold. She must have made a sound, because in no time 9 pairs of eyes turned in her direction.

Dizzy did not even think before acting, not knowing if they could be a threat or worse, she quickly ran away with cold feet. Her pulse rose quickly and as soon as she got behind a corner she stopped to catch a breath. She had never been a runner, and her daily doses of cigarettes did not help her out either. She was not used to just run away from anything anyway, she used to have the willpower to stand her ground, but this was a tough time for her, and almost everybody else. She rested her head on the wall for a couple of seconds before sneaking away.

The next couple of days went with hunger, exhaustion and shadowing the new people. She caught one of them in the act of kneeling down besides someone and she caught another in the act of giving a handshake to someone else she knew. She had no idea what was going on, so she decided to flee. With a growling stomach and no where to go, she tried her best at trying to get herself some money. Dizzy knew that her mother had been in the same situation she had, and the apple does not fall far from the tree.

An old lady had just come out of a bank, and she thought this could be her chance. She held her breath and ran towards the lady crossing the street. When she got to the woman Dizzy grabbed the purse and started pulling it towards herself. It started to become a battle of who should get to keep the purse, but Dizzy was hungry. Her eyes darkened as she thought about what she was doing, but her stomach growled louder than her mind and conscious did. At first, she was afraid to hurt the woman, but she started screaming up and that was drawing attention. Dizzy shoved her elbow into the elder woman’s side, hoping she would let go but that was not enough. Only after knocking her own head into the woman’s, the old lady let go of the purse. Dizzy shoved the woman away with her free hand and ran away with the purse held tightly to her chest.

The adrenaline shooting through her veins made her whole body tickly and soon she stood on the middle of the street laughing loudly like a maniac. Her chest started aching and she had trouble breathing from the laughing. She was sure she got a couple of weird looks, but she did not care the slightest bit. That whole scenario was so absurd, she thought. She looked down on the purse and opened it to see if she had gotten some goodies.  Inside the bag was some waste, a small handgun, Dizzy stopped and grinned while picking it up and turning it in her hand. It was a small revolver, but that was the only thing she knew. She decided to keep it and then went on with her search. She could feel a big bump on the side of the bag, but she could not figure out how to get to the bump so after finishing looking through the bag she decided that there was nothing worth keeping, so she ripped it open and her eyes started glowing.

The bump was a huge roll of 100 notes and Dizzy felt like she had just won the lottery. She looked around to make sure no one were watching her and then she took the money and left the purse on the ground. She stood up and walked around for a bit, deciding what to eat. She wanted to waste as little money as possible, so the local bakery was where she headed to. The new baked bread smell hit her nose and her mouth watered. She bought one loaf of bread and headed outside. She handed the baker a note, and she immediately noticed the look he gave her. She could sense his thoughts and knew what he was thinking. What is she up to? How did she get this money? Who did she kill to get it? Is it fake? Dizzy’s eyes where stone cold as the man inspected the note right in front of her, so as soon as he gave her the bread loaf and her change, she left without a word.

She quickly found a spot outside to eat, and as soon as she had taken a bite she quickly devoured the rest of the bread. Dizzy was so focused on eating that she had not yet seen the man approach her. As soon as she did see him, she moved away a little and drastically looked around to see where she could run. But he was standing, and she was sitting, so just getting up would take enough time for him to get her. She looked up at him and made sure to keep eye contact as she slowly grabbed the handle of her gun.

"What do ya want?"