What happened next, Melody didn’t expect. There she was a wreck crying her eyes out as she remembered, well, everything she once loved. The stranger came over and began to comfort her. Melody was not used to hugs or any kind of social interaction. It had been so long since someone tried to comfort her, but right now, she needed it. Her life was falling apart more than she thought possible.

The brunette began to tell her everything was going to be okay, but Melody couldn’t see how. “How can you say that?” Lizzy asked through her tears. “Everyone I know and love is… gone.” Her voice broke on the last word, which made Melody begin to cry even harder.

The brunette began to cry as well, but she still kept saying comforting words. Although she didn’t know her, Melody appreciated it. So rarely did Melody show emotion anymore. This was one of those rare times when she let everything out, and it hurt. But even though it hurt, it was helping Melody. For so long she had kept everything inside, and letting everything out was for the best.

It took a bit – it felt like hours to Melody – before she stopped crying. Her tears just kind of dried up, and she didn’t feel the need to cry anymore. Everything that had been piling up inside her these past couple of years had finally been released. She was still unsure how she felt, but she knew it was better. There was a need to mourn over her parents, her friends, everything, and the weight felt lighter now that Melody accepted the fact that they’re gone and they’re not coming back.

With her red eyes, Melody looked at the girl who had just comforted her, a stranger. “I’m… sorry you had to see me go through… that. Thank you though.” Not many people would have comforted Melody if they had spied her breakdown. Most people would shoot on spot and then rummage her corpse in search for whatever goodies lie in her pockets. Through the stranger’s kindness, Melody could tell that this archer was different.

>>“I’m… sorry you had to see me go through… that. Thank you though.”

Sarah's tears were still flowing down her face. It was a slow, but steady stream. She wiped her cheeks, but the tears were replaced.

"It's okay. We all have to go through it. At least you have closure," she stated.

She was thinking of her own family. She still didn't know what happened to her family. Her parents, her brother, her cousins, aunts and uncles. They could all be dead. Or, they could be alive. She may never know.

"It's called purging. It helps you grieve or vent, depending on the situation. It's good for you to do."

Closure? Purging? Was that what it was called? And did she really have that? Maybe that was what she was looking for all along though. Two years down the road and she still hadn’t accepted it. Nevertheless, this was painful and Melody was always going to have a bit of pain to carry with her for probably the rest of her life. Maybe if somehow things started to look up in the world, things would change. She didn’t see a cheerful future ahead of her though.

With the tears dried up, she looked at the girl who still had some tears in her eyes. Melody didn’t understand why this archer, a stranger, would be so nice to Melody. It’s not like she did anything to deserve it. “Why?” she asked, “Why did you console me when you don’t even know me?”

She didn’t understand why or how she was still alive. And why was the stranger still here. With Melody incapacitated for a little bit, it would have been an easy getaway without being forced to get any blood on her hands. Melody looked at the woman with a puzzled look as she awaited a response.

>>“Why did you console me when you don’t even know me?”

The brunette smiled as a few tears ran down her cheeks. There wasn't really a good reason for what she did. In the world they lived in help was a foreign word. To help another would put yourself at risk in the ruined world they lived in. If you wanted help you had to give something in return. This world focused on trade.

"No one should have to deal with sorrow alone. Even if something like this happened in the world before, I still would help you. It's who I am," Sarah tried to explain.

She wished she could cry and grieve like the girl had. That wouldn't happen though. The young woman was stuck in a sort of limbo. Her family could still be alive, even if the probability was low. Then again, her family could have died. She may never know. The blonde was lucky in that sense.

"Everyone deserves a chance to move on."

>> “Everyone deserves a chance to move on.”

Moving on was such a difficult thing. It was what Melody had been craving for two years now, but it was something that evaded her until today. The difference between moving on back in the lighter times and moving on today was that no one was there to help her move on. She was all by her lonesome self without anyone to talk to.

“I – I didn’t think it would be possible to get on with my life. For so long I had been fighting it,” Melody confided in the stranger, “Maybe I just needed someone to ask the right question for me to let it go. I’m not sure if that makes any sense.” Why did she feel safe? It was strange to feel this because for so long she hadn’t felt any kindness, any comfort, but this random woman who Melody considered killing earlier made Melody feel the safest she had felt in a long time.

Melody stared around at the rubble around her. Her eyes lingered on the bloodstained patches. That’s when Melody saw it. A rat slithered out and stopped on the blood furthest away from the two of them. This crying and emotional purge had made Melody even hungrier than before.

Staring at the rat with hungry eyes, Melody automatically stood up, and took a couple steps toward the rat. Keeping her eyes on her prey Melody told the stranger, “You probably want to cover your ears again.” After giving the archer enough time to cover her ears, Melody focused on the high clink of glasses, took a deep breath, and screamed.

The rat over yonder began to twitch in pain. Melody quickly walked over to it and grabbed it in her hands. She stopped her high-pitched scream and quickly snapped the rat’s neck. There would be dinner tonight. Hesitantly, Melody looked back over to the brunette. She was unsure how the stranger would react to her choice of hunting.

>>“I – I didn’t think it would be possible to get on with my life. For so long I had been fighting it. Maybe I just needed someone to ask the right question for me to let it go. I’m not sure if that makes any sense.”

The brunette just nodded. Sometimes all it took was someone to say a certain thing. Though, sometimes there just needed to be someone there to help you through it. Everyone was different.

"You probably want to cover your ears again."

Sarah didn't question the girl before covering her ears the way she had before. The archer had heard the rat moving before. She had figured it was only a matter of time before the hunger in the blonde took over. When the blonde snapped the rat's neck, she cringed a little. Sure she had killed before, but this felt so much different. The girl in front of her was fighting for survival by eating a creature that could be filled with disease.

'And all that meat will do nothing for her,'[/color] she thought. An idea popped into her mind and she started going through the small pack she had taken off earlier. When she found what she was looking for, the brunette smiled in triumph.

"Here," she stated as she held out one of the packs of crackers and a small bag of dried fruit. She wasn't sure if the girl would use either, but it was better than a full meat diet. That could kill you. "It's not much, but it's all I have on me. Fish meat is hard to dry out the way I want, so I don't have any meat."

>>“Here,”

Melody turned toward the girl and saw her holding out a pack of crackers and a bag of dried fruit. Quickly in her mind she thought about whether it could be poisoned or not, but she decided that she didn’t care at the moment. Something other than rats? Something actually baked? It felt almost too good to be true to see.

She approached her and almost took then food but then asked, “Are you… sure? That’s like food from before…” How could this stranger be living so nicely that she had food – real food? And how could she afford to give it away? It looked so much better than the rat Melody just killed, but she was unsure how her body would react to real food.

>> “Are you… sure? That’s like food from before…”

Sarah smiled as the blonde took the food. Her question was kind of cute. The brunette was used to people being shocked that those in Celeste’s Bunker ate the food of the old days. It had been a while since she had seen the refreshing and shocked attitude of someone who hadn’t seen the food she ate regularly since the bombs went off.

”I’m sure. I have more at home. I’ll probably be back by tonight, tomorrow at the latest.”

The twenty-six year old smiled sweetly at the other girl. She hoped she didn’t sound rude. She was trying to be honest with her. It was something she had tried to keep about her life before the explosion.

Melody took the crackers and dried fruit from the stranger. She was still a little wary. As she turned the crackers over in her hands, she muttered, “I don’t even recall the taste of these.” She decided to save the fruit for later as she stuffed it in her pocket.

Opening the crackers was like opening a present on Christmas. Her face lighted up as she took in the smell. Maybe to a person before the explosion, the smell wouldn’t be that noticeable, but to someone who hasn’t experienced actual food for so long, it was heaven. Melody pulled out one cracker and put it in her mouth, savoring the taste. Something happened that hadn’t in a long time; there was a fraction of a smile across her face as she closed her eyes just to commit the cracker to memory.

After the cracker came another, and then another, until she had devoured half a bag. Melody told herself to save half the bag. It would be something to feast on later – maybe with some rat to go with it before. She gently put it in a pocket with the dried fruit.

“Thank you,” Melody told the girl, “I still don’t completely understand why, and I probably never will, but thank you.”

Sarah watched the blonde's face glow as she opened the pack of crackers. The brunette hadn't seen someone so happy for something in a long time. Then again, most people she saw had a few of the old world's things. Watching the blonde eat the crackers made Sarah think of a time when her mother fed a young child that had been evicted from their home.

By the time the archer pulled herself from her memories, the other girl had eaten half of the bag of crackers. It suddenly made Sarah wish she could give more to those who had survived the explosions. However, the brunette knew she couldn't. Actions like that were dangerous now.

>>“Thank you. I still don’t completely understand why, and I probably never will, but thank you.”

The brunette shrugged. "Sometimes a reason isn't really needed," Sarah smiled.