Born to Fight Read Online Free PDF

us.
    In this room his arms are stretched out and his face is smiling. He is offering love, and for that we have stuck him in this dark room where no one looks anymore. Yet, even in the dark, his arms are stretched out. Even in the dark, he offers me something—companionship.
    My eyes grow heavy and I let myself relax into the darkness, I don’t think I will ever escape from.
    I don’t know how much time has passed. I wake and open my eyes, leaning over. I'm hungrier than I've ever been, but I feel sick. Bile heaves from my lips. I cough as quietly as I can.
    I turn and stand using the door again. I click the lock slowly and listen. There is nothing.
    I wait an extra second and open the door silently. There is nothing in the hall. The papers are there but the lights don’t flicker. The lights aren’t on. There is a light at the end of the hall, making the rest of it dimly lit.
    I squint, but I see nothing.
    I take my first steps out into the dim light of the hallway. My feet shuffle along the papers and cold cement. I can't be quiet. As much as I want to move silently, I am too tired.
    I lean against the wall and walk clumsily. I need to find Leo. I need water and food. I need so many things. It feels hopeless. I will never find them all. Not all the things I need.
    My pockets are still full of fluid bags and the other pocket has my knife I stole. I reach in carefully and take the knife out.
    At the end of the hall, I find an open door. The fresh air seems to be coming from there. Inside is a huge set of cement stairs. I cry when I see it. I push myself to the huge stairs and start crawling up them. I force my mind to shut off and climb. I won't let my brain try to let me lie down or tell me I can't climb them all. Like my father said, I am a strong girl. I can run fast and far. I can't let my mind tell me I can't do it.
    I just climb.
    It's hard and it hurts, but in my mind I am in the forest with Leo. He is standing next to me. My bow is in my fingers. I can feel a slight breeze on my face. I can feel things in the air. Freedom and peace.
    The wind starts to smell.
    I can smell food and people. I can smell the towns.
    My body knows the food is there and it pushes harder. I climb the stairs with ferocity and strength I didn’t know I had left. I can feel the water running down into my parched throat. I can feel the meat between my teeth. I don't even care what kind of meat…just roasted meat that leaves a flame-cooked taste in my mouth.
    The light gets brighter and brighter, the higher I climb. When I get to the top of the stairs, I cry harder but my eyes are dry.
    There is a huge door. I stumble into it and take the silver handle in my hands. I don’t check what's behind it. I burst through it. I stumble out into an alley. There is a garbage bin beside me. It looks like the ones at the breeder farm.
    The building in front of me is huge and broken, like in the cities. The wind is full of smells. People, food, sewage, dust, and city. I remember the smell from before. I remember before. I turn in a circle and realize, I am surrounded.
    Broken buildings are everywhere. I am in a real city. A destroyed city.
    "No," I whisper and look around, horrified.
    I see garbage to my right and cringe. I look down at myself to see the pants I stole are covered in blood and a stain from the pee. I am covered in old, dry blood. I shake my head in a twitch and drop to my knees. I was bleeding from somewhere. The blood on my pants is old and dry. It's brown and gross. My hands are also covered. It's cracked and flaking.
    I push myself up and walk along the alley. I don’t see people, but I know the infected live in the cities. I'm like live bait. I wreak of old blood and urine. I am too tired to fight them or run. I grip the knife in my hand and stumble.
    I feel a hand on my arm. I swing weakly at the owner. I see a man with an old shopping cart full of paper and blankets. He smiles an old smile.
    "Get in," he says.
    I start to fall but