The sun was out a little earlier today. Or was it just because the sepia haze that blanketed the sky thinned out a bit quicker? It was hard to tell. Alyssa was counting silently to herself. The filter and visor covering her face would burn themselves out and she would succumb to the poisoned air if she was out here too long. Another canister emptied, she tossed the now oxygen-deprived cylinder into the back of her truck and replaced it with a new one. Perhaps she would be able to trade it for some meager coins later on. The mask did nothing to filter out the stench of decay that was characteristic of the marsh, but the thirteen year old had long since adjusted to it. Like all of the other thirteen year olds, she lived a hand to mouth existence. It was why she was riding out into the wastelands in her buggy right now, searching for anything of value in the ruins. Supply runs like this were never not dangerous. A 50% chance of death always lingered above everyone's head out here, even higher if you were alone. Alyssa was the latter. But it wasn't as if it would make a difference if she died. Humans were more or less a lost cause now. A rare occurrence. Ever since they'd sucked the earth dry, Mother Nature had inflicted her cold justice and returned balance to the world. Nobody really knew where the insects came from, but they had wiped out most of humanity...save for the few who still clung desperately to the edges of existence. People of Alyssa's caliber who doggedly leaned on had carved out some makeshift civilizations. It was this very makeshift civilization in which she was headed back to right now. Her cargo was mostly empty. Like always. Back she went to the stacked cities, filled with pollution and crime and people displaced by the wrath of their own planet. It wasn't much, but it was home. At least, the only home she had ever known. The last thing Alyssa expected was for all of it to disappear in a single day.
