It had been a whole month since the last time Emma had last seen her uncle—or at least she believed that was how long it had been. When your home was completely surrounded by snow, leaving you no way out, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed. To make it worse, she had had to turn off all of the electronics in the house that were not dedicated to heating the small cabin in the middle of the woods.
Before Emma had turned four years old, the gates to hell had opened up, and the world had descended into chaos as demons had destroyed the world. Her uncle had had some knowledge that it would happen, so he had been prepared for it as much as someone could be prepared for it. He had known how to avoid the giants, which had all died mysteriously three days later, and he had known how to avoid the smaller demons, building a treehouse so they could not reach her
Ten years later, the world was more calm. Demons continued to roam the world, but they were far fewer in number, and now, the biggest threat to humanity was itself—again, as her uncle would say.
That was why Emma found herself alone in the small cabin her uncle had built for the two of them. Her uncle had left her though to find food where the other living humans were likely to find her and hurt her or even kill her. She had plenty of electricity, food, and water left to last her a long time, as long she used it wisely.
Still, the thought was daunting. Her uncle had never been away from home longer than two weeks, and that had been because he had been hurt while he had been traveling. Something must have happened to him if he had been gone for so long. It had crossed her mind several times that he might have finally abandoned her, but she always reprimanded for such traitorous thoughts. The man had been protecting her for ten years, and he had never even threatened to do such a thing.
Something must have happened to him. Whether he had simply been trapped in the snow. The blizzard had come rather unexpectedly. Then, again, that had hit only a week ago. He should have been back long before then.
Emma sighed, and she rubbed her belly. There was a heavy weight there. It had come after the first week her uncle had been gone, and it had gotten worse and worse each day. Rereading some of her favorite books and comics helped to ease it while she had it, but her mind would always drift back to her uncle.
Emma would wait for him another few weeks, but eventually she run out of food. Eventually she would have to brave the world on her own.
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