December 16, 2014. 10:30pm, five hours after the Purge
Alone on the desolate streets a small child stumbles, her black hair is torn and tattered and blows against the chilly, evening wind. Her cracked, bare feet padding against the cold asphalt of a once bustling city. Eyes brimming with tears she looks as bodies of family, friends and strangers litter the corners and sidewalks, their blood pooling out their bodies and spilling onto the streets, forming a macabre river, her feet splashing in it as she staggers, unsure of where to go. She clutches a worn rabbit tightly to her chest, a bittersweet memento of her home, the one she escaped from when the soldiers arrived, their badges gleaming with the reflection of the light from her mother’s old oil lamp. She remembered the coldness that flashed in their eyes, the fear in her father’s voice as he dropped to his knees, clutching her mother’s frail body against him, tears brimming in his eyes. She could still hear his cries and pleas for mercy ringing in her ears, repeating itself like a record. She remembers standing in the corner of the doorway leading into the kitchen, peering into the den as they barged in, their gruff voices barking out orders. The sounds of the gunshots were next, as the soldiers shot both her parents dead in cold blood, she wanted to cry out but didn’t, somewhere in her six year old mind she knew they’d kill her too if she was captured. So she did the only thing she could think to do, run.
The air outside reeked of death as the ran through the massacre of what used to be her home, hot tears spilling down her cheeks as the realization hit like a ton of hot bricks, everyone was dead. All her friends were gone, her teachers, everyone, carcasses of animals rotted away, attracting flies and other vermin to their next meal. Continuing her run she felt a slight sliver of hope fill her heart as she saw, not far ahead, bright yellow lights shining in her direction. Letting out a broken sob of glee she darted towards the lights, but she didn’t see them; the tanks creating the light, the blockades keeping her away, and she didn’t see the soldiers standing behind the light, their shadows obscured from view, their guns all trained on her and her alone.
A single shot rang out into the night sky, the child stopped frozen in place as the blood trickled from the wound in her chest, staining her favorite pink nightgown.

Only a soft gasped escaped the girl’s lips as she too fell alongside her people, the stuffed rabbit falling from her grip and landing in a puddle of its owner’s blood. Hands twitching slightly, tears continued to fall from her eyes as she felt her own life slipping away from her, a hard cold wrapping its arms around her in a chilling embrace. Suddenly a voice rang out, a calm, soothing voice that belonged onto to her mother, a weak smile played on her paling lips as the voice continued to call out to her, the chill that once consumed her body was now replaced by a tender warmth. Closing her eyes the child accepted this warmth and slipped far away.